SANTA MONICA - Windmill Lane and its sister studio Miss Jones (www.missjones.com) teamed up to create the live action and visual effects featured in a new spot for Sun International that promotes its Atlantis resort. The :60 Cycle of H2O takes an imaginary look at the life cycle of a water droplet, as it moves from the spray of an inner city fire hydrant to its place in a tropical paradise in the Bahamas. The drop returns to the city in the form of rain, landing on a young girl's finger tip, revealing the magic of the resort hotel.
Director Meiert Avis and the Windmill team shot the live action, which included underwater footage. Lead animator Kirk Cadrette and the crew at Miss Jones studied water effects and then created the magical movements using Alias|Wavefront Maya, along with Next Limit's Real Flow. Real Flow aided in the fluid dynamics, helping to create the effects of water droplets bouncing and interacting.
Miss Jones credits include editor Jim Rhoads, assistant editor Nage Canchola, and Flame artists Rob Trent and Ali Levanthal. Paul Lear of Pacific Data Post and Bob Festa of Riot provided color correction. The agency was Ground Zero.