Verte Vogue

Verte Vogue is a fictional luxury fashion brand that pioneers sustainable leather-making. Its mission is to revolutionize the fashion industry by offering eco-friendly leather alternatives without compromising on quality or style.

This CGI project was created to research and develop processes to generate beautiful, blooming CGI fauna like mushrooms and moss.

Making-Of the Making-Of Sustainable Leather

The production phase involved creating detailed 3D models of mushrooms at various growth stages using Houdini. Its procedural modeling capabilities ensured realistic and dynamic mushrooms. We used Redshift for photorealistic rendering, highlighting the organic textures and materials.

Houdini’s flexibility allowed us to generate various mushroom types by adjusting parameters. This adaptability let us tailor the visuals for both scientific accuracy and creative needs.

Quixel Bridge allowed us to seamlessly transition from grey models to fully detailed environments, quickly populating scenes with high-quality textures and models. This integration added an extra layer of realism to our CGI mushrooms, optimizing our workflow and ensuring polished, professional results within tight deadlines.

For enhanced realism, we emulated lens effects in post-production, such as barrel distortions and chromatic aberration, which mimic the imperfections of real camera lenses. We also incorporated a new step into our workflow using DaVinci Resolve for color grading. This process infused traditional film workflows into CGI, making the digital environment feel more like a real film set.

To enhance the visual storytelling, we used strategic lighting to direct the viewer’s eye and emphasize key elements in the scene. By carefully placing and adjusting lights, we created focal points that guided the audience through the narrative, adding depth and dimension to our CGI mushrooms.​​​​​​​

To enhance the gentle nature of the video, we utilized Altered Studios to change the voiceover from male to female. Although we have an in-house male voice artist, we found that a female voice better complemented the project’s serene and nurturing theme. This voice alteration allowed us to maintain the high quality of our in-house recordings while achieving the desired tone and atmosphere for the video.​​​​​​​

Roy was deeply inspired by the ongoing movement towards sustainable materials as alternatives to current, less eco-friendly options. This movement represents not only a shift in industry standards but also a significant opportunity for our studio to attract new business. It’s exciting to be part of such a transformative period, and we believe that our work can help accelerate this change.

Currently, much of this innovation is happening in America, but we aim to bring these groundbreaking ideas to Singapore and the surrounding region. With brands like, Stella McCartney, renowned for its luxurious vegan handbags, we hope to raise awareness about sustainability and inspire local businesses and consumers. An everyday item like a wallet, made from sustainable materials, can make a big impact by showing that these alternatives are not just viable but also comparable in quality and style.

Roy mentioned, “It’s cool that there’s such a movement towards sustainable materials. I believe one day it will change the industry, and we can help accelerate that change. For those interested in this transformative journey, I highly recommend watching this TED Talk. It aligns with our mission and highlights the potential for positive change we can achieve together.”

We made the world greener with VFX: DBS Live Better