With a nod to a famous Hollywood scene, ‘Dinosaur’ tells the story of the trouble that occurs as a consequence of Crunchy Nut’s irresistibility. Two petrified men are running from a terrifying and hungry dinosaur, eventually finding their hiding place in an industrial kitchen. As the raptor crashes about hunting its ‘dinner’ our heroes look on anxiously, fearing for their lives. When all seems to be safe once again, one man turns to his buddy and says, “Whatever you do, don't make a sound”. But Crunchy Nut proves too irresistible, and the unmistakable crunch again puts them in jeopardy.

'The dinosaurs seen thundering around a kitchen in Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Dinosaur were rigged and animated in Maya, with the CG Asset (which was used for all dinosaurs, with a few colour changes added later in Nuke) creating using Maya, ZBrush and Mari.

The director had a very clear vision of the dinosaurs actions in each shot before shooting started, but the size and shape of the kitchen really dictated the animation – it was a challenge to fit three 10-foot dinosaurs in a very cramped space!

The tail was of particular focus – it had to interact with the set in a realistic manner, such as when it collides with the fridge, and couldn't swing through any walls or objects. To avoid any intersection and to make sure interactions were correct an accurate 3D model of the kitchen was created for the animators to use as a guide in their scenes. This was helped by measurements taken on set, which were also used as a guide for lining up tracked camera to the backplates.

The physical effects shot on set provided another important consideration for the animators, who had to work within the limitations of the movement and timing of the props being manipulated on set, while maintaining quick and aggressive movements as it smashed its way through the kitchen.

To add further realism, a muscle system was created in Maya to help add weight to the dinosaur, which had some subtle but highly effective results, helping it move more believably. Maya's integrated Muscle System was used for this. The challenge was to figure out the correct position of the muscles for an extinct creature and how they would interact with each other and affect the skin and the overall movement of the dinosaur. Existing animals such as crocodiles, lizards and horses were studied for reference.

Zbrush was used to define large details such as muscles and folds in the skin. On top of this, Zbrush was the perfect tool for creating the tiny skin details. A traditional method of sculpting with the clay brush was used, then tiny details were added using some custom made alphas all on layers so that changes could easily be made along the way. A very useful trick was to use the Mask by Cavity function, and then export this as a map to use as a layer in the texture.'