Case Study - Infinite Rainbows

A show about rainbows. RAINBOWS!!! How could this be anything but fun and relaxing? Well, buckle up.

360° of Rainbows

We've all seen a rainbow and it is magical. A lucky few in this world have seen a double rainbow. One guy on youtube who has become very famous comes to mind. Did you know that there are seven more rainbows out there that you most likely cannot see? The Producers came to me with a complex sequence with our expert standing in a field describing all nine orders of rainbows that exist in the right conditions. A combination of handheld cameras and drone shots that swung 360 degrees around our speaker. The ask; could I create each rainbow in the sky as he is describing it and have them appear in the sky where they would appear if we could see them? But they can't be too obvious or colorful. I love me a challenge, but this one was going to be a tricky combination of camera tracking, timing, masking, compositing and visualization if I was going to pull it off. Not all nine appear the same. Some have less colors, some are closer to the ground, some interact with other orders and some should be more vivid than the rest. It was a complex dance of highlighting them as they are mentioned and showing how they fit into the hierarchy in the nine different orders. In the end with the help of Cinema 4D and After Effects, I was able to make this into one of my favorite shots I did all year and was very proud, and relieved, when it was done.

All about angles

Most of the other animations centered around explaining how and when you get the best view of a rainbow. Every person who sees a rainbow, even at the same place and same time, see their very own rainbow. It all comes down to the angles. What is the angle of the bead of water, the source of the light, the height and location of the viewer. All that results in a rainbow that is different to every viewer. I always thought that was cool.

Finding other worlds

AAnother request was to show how those same principles of catching the perfect view of a rainbow, can be applied to how NASA is finding planets outside of our solar system. Catching a stars reflection of an orbiting planet here on Earth. Giving us a look at planets billions of miles away and their potential atmosphere. I really love my job.