One of our clients had a very specific request for a shot; they wanted tables to slide smoothly apart on the floor with the talent still sitting at them. It was obvious a custom solution was required. They considered using dolly tracks or a camera gimbal to try to achieve the effect, but we knew that wouldn't allow for the necessary precision to create a high-end result.
The answer? Motion control, of course. Our 6-axis robot allowed us to get the precise, smooth motion they needed so the VFX team would be left with the least amount of work possible. Since robot moves also repeatable, we could run the shot multiple times with different talent and desks and end up with the exact same timing.
We prepped the shot in our studio the day before by marking the floor and programming the camera move so that when the clients and talent were on set we would only need to work with the talent and dial in lighting. We think it turned out pretty great. Since everything went so smoothly we were also able to capture some of the other shots on the shotlist with our robot, adding a little extra production value for the entire video.
See the BTS process breakdown video here:
And check out the final video here: