Coin World: iPad Release Video

In anticipation of Coin World releasing their first iPad app, we created this exciting video to show off the features and get coin collectors pumped about the release!

Rockfish: Creative Reel: Pitch Video

The video team at Rockfish just knocked out this little gem. It's a collection of our creative works that will be used during pitches. 


Rockfish: Creative Reel:  Pitch Video from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.

Sam's Club: Holidays with the Danderfields

Part of Sam's Club's holiday campaign includes 3 webisodes featuring the Danderfields; a quirky family that LOVES the holidays and all the traditions that come with them.



Sam's Club: Holidays with the Danderfields: Episode 1 from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.




Sam's Club: Holidays with the Danderfield's: Episode 2 from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.




Sam's Club: Holidays with the Danderfields: Episode 3 from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.


Rockfish, in collaboration with Janamation, produced the 3 webisodes that can be found on youTube and .samsclub.com/​holidays

Janamation handled on-set production, and did an amazing job with the "Mockumentary" style shoot.

I was responsible for the edits and all post-production, including the 3d title tags, editing, color correcting and final output.
Stuart Lipincott composed the amazing soundtracks, and sweetened the voice audio.
Jason Ferrar designed the look of the title cards.

Samsung 3D TV

At Rockfish, we were working on a promo for the Samsung 3D tv. After a couple weeks of working on the project, the directive drastically changed. We only had 2.5 days to compete the new direction for the promo, and this is the final product.


Samsung 3D TV Promo from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.
You can see it in action here:
www3.samsclub.com/entertaining

Sam's Club Mobile App Release Video

Sam's Club released a mobile application for their members. It's "Saving Made Simple" wrapped into a functional, easy to use app for iPhone, BlackBerry and Droid. This video premiered at a large cooperate meeting and is now available to give the public a preview of what they can expect in the Sam's Club app.

Sam's Club Mobile App Release Party from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.

The Studio at Rockfish worked around the clock to get this video out in time for a cooperate meeting. We even wrangled renders remotely from Siggraph in Los Angles.

Calvin Ly created some amazing style guides for this video. They gave the 3d renders an amazing visual punch. Eric Hinson used Particular to create the 3d stroke elements. Stuart Lippincott did most of the render wrangling.

I pitched the idea to the Sam's Club brand managers and delegated the production process to the team. With help from the application developers, I was able to screen capture simulations of the app on all three platforms. The simulations were taken into Final Cut Pro and cut down for efficiency. I modeled the iPhone, and purchased the Blackberry / Droid models from TurboSquid.com; then rebuilt the textures/shaders to mesh with the iPhone model. I used Maya and Mental Ray for the nice depth of field renders and camera animations. The tricky part of the composite came in getting the Maya cameras into After Effects so the Optical Flares, Lux Lights and cloud particles would move in the same space as the 3d phones.

The sound track was found on FirstCom.com



Member Mark Fish Oil

Members Mark fish oil supplement is extremely popular with Sam's Club members, because of their "No Fish Burp" formula. Now, others will know how superior Members Mark is compared to the competition.

Members Mark Fish Oil from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.

Through Rockfish, I've had the opportunity to work on many Sam's Club videos, and this one has been a fun project.

The fish, pills splashes and pill spill were all modeled in separate Maya scenes and rendered out separately. The bottle was also modeled animated and rendered out of Maya, but with an included shadow pass layer. The 3d elements were combined with the graphic style in After Effects.

I was responsible for art direction and execution of this project. Stuart Lippincott modeled the fish, and animated the dynamic " pill splash". Stuart also did an excellent job composing the soundtrack and sound effects.

I modeled, animated, textured, rendered and composited the remaining scenes.

Cisco Pitch Work

We all know how meetings can turn a planned day of production into a confusing frenzy of notes, donuts and coffee. See how Cisco can make your life easier.

We Know Meetings from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.

One of my first challenges at Rockfish was to execute a video for a client pitch. I brainstormed with Eric Hinson and Matt Warlick and we came up with a solid Kinetic Typography treatment to execute the concept created by John Cox and the rest of the Rockfish pitch team.

John Cox did a great job as a Voice Over talent as well.

I directed the style of the video, and animated all but one line of the video. I also laid the final audio together with the final timeline. After Effects and ProTools were the only software tools used.

Eric Hinson animated the "Lots of Re-occuring Meetings" scene.

Revolutionary Series Bumper

Revolutionary was our biggest non-Christmas series at CCV in 2009. This series was a high impact, edgy, tech-driven, series that challenged stereotypical beliefs about Christianity.

The inspiration for this bumper came from the Ford F-150 truck commercials for 2009. I watched them multiple times, studying the creative use of imagery matched with the sarcastic dialogue.

Revolutionary Series Bumper from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.



I took the lead on this bumper, creating the rough script that was later refined by one of our writers. The artwork for this series was rich, with little graphic nuggets nested subtly inside the Photoshop file. I was able to amplify some of those elements, and easily create additional graphic content to match the style.

All the work was done in CS4, utilizing Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects and Adobe's new Media Encoder.

Audio track from First Com.

Bankrupt

This is a Series Bumper, used to amplify the opening weekend of a financial Sermon Series at CCV.
When I came aboard, the series was already planned out. The art work was approved and most of the video content had been shot and/or edited.

Bankrupt from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.



I came up with the idea of flying through a "Bankrupt" board in 3d to add a little more consistency to the series. At CCV, we try to make sure the staging, lighting, artwork, videos and motion graphics all work together to create an experience.

With only a week till Series Kick-off, I had a tough challenge ahead of me if I wanted this bumper to impact the series opener.


All in All, the bumper was a success, and added a new dimension to the "Bankrupt" series.
The Graphics guys really helped out by creating a clean vector art playing board graphic.
I first modeled the shape of the playing board, then the houses and hotels. Next, I purchased some of the playing pieces from Turbo Squid. I was able to find all the pieces except the hat, so I quickly modeled the hat. Since the Turbo Squid files were for 3dMax (I was using Maya), I had to convert the files and rebuild the texture for the playing pieces.

Once the camera was animated, I added a little animation to some of the pieces for a little extra effect. Then did a couple test renders using Mental Ray, and exported the batch of frames.

There is some slight post work, with the old film look, and the dissolve of the logo. I did all that in After Effects, and found a cool audio track from First Com.

Power Ball Campaign

While working with Copper Post Digital, I worked on an ad campaign for Power Ball. We did a couple 30 second commercials, and this one won a couple awards (Addy's and Telly's).

Power Ball Campaign from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.



I was specifically responsible for creating the 3d Power Ball, and tracking the ball into a real world environment. To accomplish this, I surveyed the shot locations to take basic measurements of the set. These measurements were a integral part of getting believable shadows, reflections and camera angles into the live footage.

During the surveying, I took a Dora-The-Explorer kick-ball to all locations and bounced it around. I later used that to inspire the animation of the Power Ball.

Power Ball Campaign from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.

ASU Men's Basketball Campaign

While working for Copper Post Digital, I worked on the ASU Men's Basketball Season Ticket Campaign. This was a fun project that had an amazing style.

ASU Men's Basketball Campaign from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.



My specific job was to create a 3d hardwood floor that animated over the desert floor. I handled all elements of the 3d design, with direction from the project manager.

I used Maya and Mental Ray to complete the job.

Encounters Sermon Bumper

This is the Sermon Bumper for the "Encounters" series at CCV. The artwork was very inspiring, and led me to create an environment, bringing the artwork to life in it's own space.

Encounters Bumper from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.



Sermon Bumpers fill the space between the last element of the worship set, and the time it takes for the pastor to get in position on stage.

One of my main responsibilities at CCV is to create a motion graphic package for each Sermon Series. The typical graphic package consists of a Looping Entrance Graphic, Animated Lower Thirds, Slow Communion loops, and a Sermon Bumper.

I get an RGB version of the series artwork from the graphic artists, and find creative ways to break apart their artwork into animated graphics.

Audio track from First Com.

Resolution Bumper

This is the Sermon Bumper for the "Resolution" series at CCV.
This is a fun new style I've began to explore. There are some particles flying around and a little shaky effect on the camera as it animates from title to title. My inspiration for this style comes from Video Co-Pilot and Andrew Kramer's video tutorials.

Resolution Bumper from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.


Sermon Bumpers fill the space between the last element of the worship set, and the time it takes for the pastor to get in position on stage.

One of my main responsibilities at CCV is to create a motion graphic package for each Sermon Series. The typical graphic package consists of a Looping Entrance Graphic, Animated Lower Thirds, Slow Communion loops, and a Sermon Bumper.

I get an RGB version of the series artwork from the graphic artists, and find creative ways to break apart their artwork into animated graphics.

Audio Track from First Com.

NASA Competition

While attending the Art Institute of Phoenix, I had the opportunity to be involved in a competition involving NASA and ASU's business school. There were several schools involved in the competition, and the final judging took place in Coco Beach, Florida; near the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA Competition from Nick Pitcavage on Vimeo.



As the Director of CG, I was responsible for all 3d elements, from concept to completion. I managed a team of 2-3 other 3d artists, as we completed the elements needed for the Directors vision to come to life.

My main area of concentration was the International Space Station Model, the Astronaut Animations, and creating the Texture Library. I was also responsible for all the camera animations and render managing. During this project, I utilized various render passes, so the rendering was quite a task to manage.


Our team won the competition! And our two commercials were aired on NASA TV.