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Levi's robot holding up a pair of jeans in a Bangkok alley

Case 01 • Film & CG

Levi's

Quality Never Goes Out of Style

2025

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The challenge

Show Levi's as something even a machine would want. Not a product shot, but a character who finds out what it means to be human — warm, funny, slightly surreal: classic Levi's storytelling in the visual language of near-future sci-fi.

The solution

A robot finds a pair of Levi's drying in a Bangkok alley and has his first feeling. A CG character in live action, built to look photographed.

Our role

  1. Pre-production
  2. On-set supervision
  3. CG character
  4. VFX
  5. Compositing
  6. Colour
  7. Sound design

At a glance

Levi'sClient
2025Year
Film & CGDirection

Idea

Vibe

“It’s Cyberpunk… but a little less dark.”

A daylight future instead of neon nights — technology living alongside people, not replacing them.

World

Bangkok 2052

Dense residential blocks, street food, drones and airships in the distance: the real city, thirty years ahead.

Story

A curious robot reads the leather patch, sparks fly, and from then on he dances, laughs and tries to eat noodles without a mouth.

Music

“Bright, bouncy, and a little abstract.”

The track drives joy, not tension.

Pipeline

  1. 01

    On-set supervision

    HDRILens gridsReference plates

    We supervised the shoot remotely from the first day: lens and camera data, HDRI and chrome-ball references, texture plates, and the robot’s blocking with the director and DP. Every frame was shot with CG in mind.

  2. 02

    Matchmove & scene geometry

    fSpy3DEqualizerBlenderNuke ModelBuilderMaya

    The film is made of locked-off shots. About 80% of the cameras were solved from a single frame in fSpy, 3DEqualizer was used for lens distortion, and the streets were rebuilt in Blender and Nuke ModelBuilder as shadow catchers and contact surfaces.

    Read the full breakdown →
    The same plate with the camera solve overlay
    PlateSolveDrag to compare

  3. 03

    Character

    MayaZBrushBlenderSubstance PainterMari

    A street character, not a sci-fi hero: brushed aluminium, matte steel and denim-toned metal, a cap and stickers. With no mouth, all emotion comes from LED eyes, head tilt and sparks.

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    Robot render with final materials
    ClayMaterialsDrag to compare

  4. 04

    Animation

    3DEqualizerMaya

    The full-body motion of the on-set performer was solved in 3DEqualizer and became the base layer: retargeted onto the robot rig in Maya, then stylised by hand — head tilts, LED reactions, hand mechanics.

    Read the full breakdown →

  5. 05

    Cleanup

    NukeAI inpainting

    The performer was removed from every plate: roto, paint and 3D projection in Nuke, AI inpainting on static areas with manual refinement, then degrain and regrain. Each plate looks as if the actor had never been there.

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    Clean plate
    PlateCleanDrag to compare

  6. 06

    Compositing & set extensions

    NukeACEScgCinema 4DKitbash3D

    Multi-pass EXR renders in ACEScg, matched to the on-set HDRI and grounded with contact shadows, haze and lens effects. Subtle CG extensions add height and future architecture without turning Bangkok into a digital city.

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    Final composite with weathered walls
    BeforeAfterDrag to compare

  7. 07

    Colour

    DaVinci ResolveACES

    Graded in DaVinci Resolve under ACES: warm daylight on skin, denim and streets, cool cyan in shadows and metal, a soft halation over everything. Delivered in Rec.709 and DCI-P3.

    Shot after the grade
    LogGradeDrag to compare

Behind the frame · 9 chapters

  1. 01Camera tracking for static shotsLocked-off shots, fSpy for speed, 3DEqualizer for lens distortion — and under 15 minutes per camera.
  2. 02Scene geometryStreets, walls and props rebuilt as shadow catchers — 90% in Blender, the tricky parts in Nuke ModelBuilder.
  3. 03Character trackingThe performer in the green suit, tracked as a 3D object and handed to animation as FBX.
  4. 04Concept & designA street character, not a sci-fi hero: worn metal, denim tones and a cap.
  5. 05Modeling & texturingClean topology for animation, layered wear for character — and 8 UDIMs at 4K.
  6. 06Rigging & animationHuman in timing, mechanical in execution: a performer’s motion on a robot rig.
  7. 07Facial expressionNo mouth, no face muscles — emotion through LED eyes, light and a tilt of the head.
  8. 08Cleanup & plate preparationRemoving the performer from every plate — manual paint where it matters, AI where it repeats.
  9. 09Integration & compositingMulti-pass EXR in ACEScg, every light layer adjusted in comp — two render engines in one sequence.