Breakiron Gives Diamondbacks the Glitz for Second Consecutive Year on Bank One Ball Park’s JumboTron Monitor
Phoenix, Arizona — April 2003 — BREAKIRON Animation&Design today announced development of the 30 action clips displayed on Bank One Ball Park’s JumboTron Monitor for the Diamondback’s 2003 season. The clips, designed by sole proprietor Charlie Breakiron, highlight each player and his stats using 3-D digital graphics.
Throughout the 2003 season, Bank One Ball Park’s JumboTron Monitor will display information for each player featured during a game in six seconds of animation that ends in a still picture before play resumes on the field. First, a 3-D card crosses the screen with the featured player’s live footage. The card then pauses and flips over to show the player’s photo. Synchronized with the card’s final movement, player stats move across the screen with a glow of light and come to rest next to the card. Animation also fills the background.
Ramon Plaza of Ramon Plaza Consultants, former marketing specialist for the Diamondbacks, had approached Breakiron earlier this year with the 2003 stats display concept. This concept was originated by Plaza’s former colleague Gary Thomas, Arizona Diamondbacks’ JumboTron Director. Thomas wanted an animated baseball card that turned over, showing a player’s action on one side and his photo on the other.
“Charlie’s quality in any type of 3-D animation is always in the upper echelon. His work is crisp and clean, and the colors he uses truly bring out the feel of the elements and animation,” stated Plaza. “With our different backgrounds — Charlie’s in animation and mine in production — Charlie and I mesh well together in creative production, and our collaborative efforts meet at the center. I’m truly pleased with the 2003 stats animations. Charlie’s abilities and quality work took Gary’s idea to the next level.”
The entire project took less than four weeks. Breakiron worked closely with Plaza and also collaborated with the other two members of the development team: Gary Thomas and Brad Thompson, editor of Downtown Digital Post.
“Using 3-D digital graphics, I was able to synchronize a number of elements to show off each player. The background, the movement and turning of the card, the way the stats slide in from the side — all came together using video compositing and digital graphics,” said Breakiron. “I worked with the Diamondbacks development team on individual project milestones so they could understand the process every step of the way. They provided input at each stage.”
Active March 31, opening day, the 2003 JumboTron stats display uses glowing highlights similar to those in the special effects on the animated Diamondback’s logo often seen on the JumboTron. In collaboration with Plaza and Metropolitan Audio-Visual, Inc., Breakiron was highly instrumental in designing that logo last year.
Completing the 2003 JumboTron display was Breakiron’s last job in Phoenix prior to joining Serious Robots in Raleigh, NC. Breakiron will continue to offer his services through the team at Serious Robots.
Stated Breakiron, “I started working at the Raleigh location this month, but am happy to continue doing business with those in the Phoenix area — data will be traveling fast across the digital wire.”
Organizations seeking to leverage Breakiron’s talent can do so through Serious Robots by contacting Breakiron at charlieb@seriousrobots.com.
About BREAKIRON Animation&Design
Charlie Breakiron owns and operates BREAKIRON Animation&Design, a sole proprietorship delivering high-end 3-D graphics and animation using the top-performing Softimage animation solutions. Industry-savvy and experienced, 14-year veteran Breakiron has served leading graphics houses such as: Fox Animation Studios (feature film Titan AE); Quiet Man in New York (AT&T, Disney); Janimation in Dallas (new Barney show, K-Mart); Metropolitan Audio-Visual (Diamondback logo effects) and more. Pixel Liberation Front (PLF) hired Breakiron for a cinematic promoting the 3-D action/adventure game Medal of Honor. Breakiron performs well under pressure — his high-quality work and outstanding creativity are critical assets to any production team. For additional information and samples, please visit http://breakiron.com.
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Cathy Streiner
The Corporate Pen
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