# XO3D — Full content export for LLM ingestion > Expanded companion to /llms.txt: full page text for the same curated set of > pages, generated from the live build so it matches what is actually published. > For a lightweight index instead, see https://xo3d.co.uk/llms.txt > > Scope note: this mirrors llms.txt's curated selection (studio programmes, > production services, selected case studies/use cases/industries, studio & > approach pages, founder profiles, thinking essays, contact). It intentionally > does not include every guide, resource, or blog post — see /sitemap-index.xml > for the complete URL list. --- ## Studio programmes ### Product Launch Visuals from One 3D Asset | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/launch-visuals/ XO3D Studio # Launch Visuals. Everything your product launch needs, built from a single 3D asset. A product launch is not a single film. It is a website hero, a social campaign, a press kit, a trade show screen, and a retailer listing, all needing to look like they came from the same creative decision. We make that happen from one build. See our launch work →Discuss your launch → - Services - Launch Visuals Selected clients Planning your brief Updated 4 September 2026 ## What is a launch visuals suite and who is it for? A launch visuals suite is a coordinated set of product films, stills, social edits, press assets and optional interactive experiences created from one approved 3D product asset. It is commissioned by brand and marketing directors, in-house creative teams, founders and agencies preparing a physical-product launch across several channels. XO3D begins with the launch date, audience, channel plan and required asset list, then sets the creative direction before building or preparing the CAD-led model, materials and lighting system. Film, stills, colourways and platform formats can then be produced in parallel, with staged reviews keeping the product and visual language consistent. Scope is determined by product complexity, the condition of the source files, the number of deliverables and variants, the channels they must serve, the review process and the fixed launch window. The result is one directed visual system that can support web, social, retail, press, presentations and events before and after launch. Questions before you brief ↓ Why launch visuals need a specialist ## Most product launches use the same assets everywhere. The best ones build once and scale. When a brand launches a product using separate suppliers for photography, video, social content and web assets, the result is visually inconsistent, the lighting changes, the colour temperature shifts, the product looks slightly different in every context. Buyers notice. Trust erodes. We build your product once in 3D, to a standard that can render at any resolution, any format, any angle, and produce your entire launch suite from that single asset. Every frame shares the same lighting rig, the same material language, the same creative direction. The result is a launch that looks considered, not assembled. What's included ## What we deliver as standard in a launch suite. Deliverable 1 ### Hero Launch Film. 30–90 second master film at 4K, directed through our product animation process. The definitive visual statement for the product. Deliverable 2 ### Social Format Suite. 16:9 (YouTube / website), 9:16 (Reels / Stories), 1:1 (Instagram feed), 4:5 (Facebook). All cut and graded from the hero film. 16:9 · Website / YouTube9:16 · Reels / Stories1:1 · Instagram feed4:5 · Facebook Deliverable 3 ### Stills Library. 15–30 product CGI stills extracted from the 3D build at up to 8K resolution. Studio renders, lifestyle composites, and detail close-ups as required. Deliverable 4 ### Product Interactive. A web-embedded 360° product viewer. Optimised for desktop and mobile. Embeds directly into product detail pages. Click and drag to explore. Deliverable 5 ### Colourway Variants. If the product exists in multiple colours, finishes or configurations, we render all variants from the single model build, without the cost of a separate photoshoot per colourway. Colour: Black / Grey Deliverable 6 ### Press Kit Assets. Hero image, lifestyle image, and a white-background packshot, formatted to press kit specification. Additional on request ### AR Model (USDZ / GLB). Exploded mechanism animation · Investor deck still set · Trade show screen loop · Retailer listing images per SKU · AR previews (iOS USDZ / Android GLB) for product page embeds. The advantage ## Why one 3D build outperforms mixed production. ### Visual consistency. Every asset, film, still, social, interactive, shares the same lighting rig, material language and camera direction. The product looks identical across every touchpoint. ### Efficiency at scale. We build and approve the 3D asset as a reusable production foundation. New formats, colourways and camera angles can then inherit the same product, materials and lighting system instead of starting from an empty scene. Brands extending that foundation month after month can move into a Visual Content Partnership. ### Pre-launch production. We work from CAD files and engineering specifications. The pre-manufacture visualisation workflow lets the launch assets progress before the product is manufactured, so the campaign can be ready for the release window. Process ## How a launch visual suite is produced. - 1STAGE 1 ### Launch brief & asset inventory. We review the launch timeline, the channel plan, and the full list of assets required. We build a production schedule backwards from the launch date, identifying what needs to be in review at what stage. - 2STAGE 2 ### Creative direction. We agree on the visual language for the launch, the environmental context, the lighting mood, the colour grade direction, the film edit rhythm. Shared with the brand or agency before any production begins. - 3STAGE 3 ### 3D build & material development. Model, materials and lighting rig are built and approved. Material and lighting tests are shared at this stage, because this is where the look of the launch is decided. - 4STAGE 4 ### Parallel production. Film animation, still renders, social formats and interactive build run in parallel once the 3D asset is approved. This is the efficiency of single-build production, every deliverable shares the same source. - 5STAGE 5 ### Staged delivery. Assets delivered in launch priority order, hero film and key stills first, then social formats, then interactive and press kit. Full delivery completes at least one week before launch date. Who it's for ## Launch Visuals briefs come from. ### Brand Marketing Directors. Managing a major product launch who need a single production partner across all CGI deliverables. ### Advertising and design agencies. Who have won the launch brief and need a specialist CGI studio to produce the visual assets within their creative direction. ### Start-ups and scale-ups. Launching physical products, often before manufacturing is complete, who need investor-grade visuals to support a launch event or crowdfunding campaign. ### In-house creative teams. At established consumer brands who need premium CGI output to match a campaign that live-action photography cannot deliver at scale. Launching through Kickstarter or Indiegogo before manufacture? See how we build crowdfunding CGI campaign assets from the same product source. For paid channels, explore our digital advertising content. For named proof, see the construction robotics AUAR launch visual suite, the CAD-led Petalite launch system and the premium consumer Sony WF-C710 launch work. Before you brief ## Your programme questions. ### What is included in a launch visuals suite? A launch suite can include a hero film, platform-specific social edits, a library of studio and lifestyle stills, colourway variants, press images and an interactive product view. The final set is agreed around the launch plan. Every approved output comes from the same 3D asset, material system, lighting language and creative direction. ### How far before launch should we brief XO3D? Brief XO3D during campaign planning, before the launch date and channel commitments are fixed. Early involvement gives the team time to define the visual direction, audit the source files, plan reviews and sequence delivery around the launch priorities. The production schedule is then built backwards from the date the first approved assets must be live. ### What does XO3D need to start a launch suite? Start with the product brief, launch date, audience, channel plan and required deliverables. CAD files or an existing 3D model are the strongest product inputs, supported by technical drawings, material and finish references, brand guidance and any approved campaign direction. XO3D audits what exists before confirming the production scope. ### How are colourways and platform formats handled? Colourways are built as controlled variants of the approved product asset, so form, lighting and material behaviour stay consistent across the range. Film and stills are then composed for the agreed channels, including landscape, square, portrait and vertical formats where required. The exact resolutions, crops and file formats are fixed in the deliverables list before production. ### Can the suite be reused after the launch? Yes. The approved 3D asset can support later colourways, product-page updates, retailer imagery, campaign edits, sales materials, event screens and interactive experiences without rebuilding the product from the beginning. Reuse still needs a defined brief and review, but the existing model, materials and visual language create a consistent starting point for the next release. Tell us about your brief → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan the launch before you brief us Shape the campaign, deliverables and timeline on XO3D Labs, then bring us the brief. Build your launch campaign plan→ - Plan your launch asset list - Follow the campaign planning workflow Start the conversation ## Planning a product launch? Tell us what it needs to look like. The sooner we are involved in a launch timeline, the better the result. Tell us when you are launching and what the product is. Discuss your brief1 / 1100% ### Product CGI Films | Director-Led Studio | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/product-cgi-films/ XO3D Studio # Product CGI Films. Director-led films that make your product impossible to ignore. We produce product films for brands that need more than impressive visuals. We make films that change how a viewer feels about a product, from sceptical to certain, from interested to wanting. See our film work →Discuss your brief → - Services - Product CGI Films Selected clients Planning your brief Updated 4 September 2026 ## What is a director-led product CGI film? A director-led product CGI film is a product story built in 3D with one named Creative Director accountable for the idea, camera language, materials, lighting, edit, sound and final frame. It is more than an animated model. The film is planned around what the audience must understand or feel, then developed from CAD files, engineering specifications and brand references through a storyboard, animatic, look development and structured review stages. A master film can become a coherent campaign set across landscape, vertical, square and portrait formats without changing the visual direction. Brands use these films for product launches, websites, retail displays, paid media, trade shows and investor presentations, including before a physical product is ready to film. Scope is set by the story, product complexity, source-file condition, duration, number of shots and variants, output formats, sound requirements, review stages and the date each approved asset must be delivered. Questions before you brief ↓ What separates a product film from a product animation ## A film has a point of view. An animation has a camera path. ### Creative Direction. Every film we produce has a named Creative Director responsible for the visual vision, the emotional arc, the material language, the rhythm of the edit. Not a project manager. A creative director. ### A Director's Eye. We approach camera choreography as a directorial instrument. Every shot angle, every movement, every cut is a deliberate editorial choice that tells the viewer something about the product. ### The Complete Film. We produce full films, not isolated renders assembled into a timeline. Sound design, grade, edit and timing are considered from the first frame, not applied at the end. What a product CGI film from XO3D looks like ## Four formats, one creative standard. Format 01 ### Hero Launch Film. 30–90 seconds. The definitive visual statement for a new product. Shot-listed, storyboarded, and directed to communicate the product's essential quality in a single, coherent piece. Used for website hero, launch events, paid social and retail displays. Our most common brief. Format 02 ### Feature Films. 90 seconds to 3 minutes. For products where the story is complex, a mechanism to explain, a technology to demonstrate, a brand narrative to build. Structured like a short film: opening tension, developing argument, resolution. Used for investor presentations, trade shows, and long-form digital channels. Format 03 ### Campaign Suite. A hero film plus social format cut-downs, optimised for each platform. We produce the master 16:9 film and simultaneously deliver 9:16 for Reels and Stories, 1:1 for Instagram feed, and 4:5 for Facebook, all graded consistently. One brief, one build, every format. 16:9 · Website4:5 · Facebook9:16 · Reels1:1 · Instagram Format 04 ### Investor & Stakeholder Films. For products that do not yet exist physically. We build from CAD files and engineering specifications to create a film that makes investors and stakeholders understand, and believe in, a product before manufacturing begins. We have done this for EV infrastructure, medical technology and aerospace components. How we make product films ## Four stages. One delivery. A creative decision at every step. - 1STAGE 1 ### Brief & Creative Alignment We read the brief and ask the questions that will save time later. What is the viewer meant to feel in the final second? What story does the product's engineering tell? What is the one thing this film must communicate? We agree on answers before we open any software. - 2STAGE 2 ### Storyboard & Animatic We produce a storyboard, a shot-by-shot visual plan, and then an animatic: a timed moving version of the storyboard with placeholder audio. This is where creative decisions are made and approved, before a single final frame is rendered. Changes here cost nothing. Changes after render cost significantly more. - 3STAGE 3 ### Model, Material & Lighting Development The 3D model, materials and lighting rig are built and approved. Material and lighting tests are shared at this stage, because this is where the look of the film is decided. - 4STAGE 4 ### Animation, Render & Grade The film is animated, rendered at 4K, and graded to a consistent look. Sound design, whether custom composed music or specific sound effects, is integrated at this stage, not added as an afterthought. - 5FINAL STEP ### Delivery Master 4K file, all platform-optimised formats, and all source assets. Delivered simultaneously. Versioned naming convention to your specification. We do not deliver in stages, we deliver everything, complete, at once. Where they're used ## Where product CGI films are used. ### Launch. Website hero. Product launch events. Paid social (Meta, YouTube). Retailer / marketplace listings. PR and press kits. ### Sales. Trade show screens. Sales deck visual assets. Retail POS displays. Investor and stakeholder presentations. Distributor training materials. ### Brand. Brand film components. Campaign hero content. Executive presentation backdrops. Award submissions. Conference keynotes. The clients ## The clients who commission product CGI films. We work with brand directors, heads of content, marketing teams, and advertising agency producers. Our clients include consumer electronics brands, industrial technology companies, medical device manufacturers, premium consumer goods labels, and start-ups launching physical products before manufacturing is complete. We have made product films used by Sony in global marketing campaigns, by Petalite in international investor roadshows, and by Flash Motors in premium consumer launch communications. For a construction robotics example, see the AUAR MicroFactory product CGI film. ### Premium product animation created to support product storytelling, presentation and launch-stage communication. ProjectSony WF-C710 Launch FilmCreative DirectorThomas HowcroftDirectorConnor Hamilton-SmithProducerAlex MannSoftwareKeyshot · Adobe Creative CloudDelivered4 × 4K product launch animations Before you brief ## Your programme questions. ### How does a product CGI film differ from a product animation? Product animation describes the technique of moving a product or camera in 3D. A director-led product CGI film has a defined point of view and narrative purpose. The Creative Director decides what each shot communicates, how the product is revealed, how materials and lighting support the idea, and how edit and sound shape the finished experience. ### Which campaign formats can be delivered from one film? The usual campaign set can include a 16:9 master for websites, YouTube and presentation screens, a 9:16 vertical edit for Reels and Stories, a 1:1 square edit and a 4:5 portrait edit. The exact set is agreed before production, and each composition is reviewed for its channel rather than treated as an automatic crop. ### How long does a hero product CGI film take to produce? The production time is set after XO3D reviews the product, source files, story, shot count, duration, variants, review stages and delivery formats. A fixed launch date is planned backwards through brief, storyboard, animatic, look development, production and finishing. The agreed schedule should include client review time as well as the studio's production time. ### What should a product CGI film brief contain? The brief should state the product, audience, launch or campaign goal, central message, required channels, launch date and approval team. Add CAD or technical files, material and finish references, brand guidance, existing campaign direction, mandatory product features, desired duration, required formats and any legal or technical claims that need formal sign-off. ### How is the hero film adapted for social and retail? XO3D plans the master and its derivatives as one campaign system. Shots are selected or recomposed for landscape, portrait, square and vertical viewing, with timing adjusted to the placement and message. Retail loops, product-page films and social edits use the same approved model, materials, grade and sound language, while respecting each channel's duration and playback conditions. Tell us about your brief → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your product film before you brief us Map the launch visuals and the review approach, then bring us the film brief. Plan your launch asset list→ - Set up your creative review - Check your video delivery specs Start the conversation ## Have a product that deserves a film made for it? Tell us what you are working on. We will read the brief, share how we would approach it, and tell you honestly whether we are the right studio for it. Discuss your film brief Or see how we approached the Petalite brief → ### End-to-End CGI Solutions for Product Brands | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/cgi-solutions/ Service # CGI Solutions. Discover the potential of CGI to boost your marketing efforts and propel your sales to new heights. Start a conversation → - Services - CGI Solutions Selected clients CGI solutions ## End-to-end CGI for product-led brands. CGI is the most efficient route to high-end marketing visuals. Fast, realistic, scalable, and customisable across every channel , without the cost of a full production crew, photographers or expensive props. Everything is created digitally, from a single source. We build CGI solutions for brands that need impactful, immersive online experiences , from product film and exploded sequences to configurators, AR previews and ecommerce-grade renders. Why it matters ## Built to perform. ### Build one visual system. Plan stills, motion and interactive outputs around one approved product source and creative direction. ### Support buyer confidence. Use the right CGI format to explain the product clearly, then measure it against the brand's own baseline. ### Control production. Develop product imagery without relying on every physical sample, location or camera setup being available at once. ### Built for every channel. One approved asset can support film, stills, interactive, AR and configurator content with a consistent visual language. What we deliver ## Every CGI tool in one studio. From cinematic product films to AR-ready assets, produced from a single 3D source with consistent direction across every output. - 01Animation ### Product Animations Explainer videos, feature films, product demos and adverts that give each product a clear visual story. - 02360 View ### Turntable & 360° Views Smooth, seamless rotations that give customers a complete view of your product from every angle. Confidence-building at the point of decision. - 03Exploded ### Exploded Views Still and animated exploded views show internal structure, design complexity and assembly logic with clarity. - Colour: Aquifer04Configurator ### Interactive Product Configurators Let buyers compare colour, finish, size and feature options within one controlled experience. Click a swatch to see it live. - View in your space05AR ### Product AR View products in their real-world context with augmented reality. Drag, rotate and place directly in the browser, with no app required. - 06For Agencies ### CGI for Marketing Agencies White-label CGI production that follows your existing creative direction, with situational marketing, hero films and campaign-ready visuals delivered on agency timelines. - 07Ecommerce ### Ecommerce Renders Product page imagery designed around the decisions a buyer needs to make, from studio views to lifestyle compositions and feature-led detail. Who it's for ## Built for brands that scale on content. We work with consumer, technical and industrial brands needing premium CGI across every channel , from launch through to ongoing campaign activity. Common briefs come from marketing agencies needing white-label CGI production, ecommerce teams building product page assets, and brand teams driving campaign output. We slot into your existing creative direction. Selected work ## CGI delivered at scale. Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, including hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Feature-led product CGI showcasing materials, form and RGB lighting, built for launch marketing and ecommerce. View case study → Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, including animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study → How we work ## Four steps. No surprises. - 01Step 01 ### Share the brief. Send CAD files, sketches, reference imagery or a written brief outlining the product, channels and intended use. - 02Step 02 ### Define the solution. We agree the CGI outputs, technical direction, timeline and review stages before production starts. - 03Step 03 ### Create and refine. Each output is developed through structured review stages, with feedback incorporated cleanly at every milestone. - 04Step 04 ### Deliver final assets. Approved files are prepared for every channel: web, social, print, presentation and ecommerce. The advantage ## Why brands choose XO3D. ### Built from technical inputs. We work from CAD files, drawings and reference material to create content before physical samples are available. ### End-to-end capability. Film, stills, interactive, AR and configurator content, produced inside one pipeline with one creative direction. ### Made for commercial output. Every asset is sized, graded and prepared for the channel it ships to. ### Structured for smooth delivery. Clear stages, focused feedback and responsive communication keep projects moving efficiently. We’re a senior team of artists and producers focused on product storytelling , combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. Meet the team → FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What are CGI solutions?CGI solutions cover the full spectrum of computer-generated imagery for product marketing: animations, stills, interactives, AR and configurators. All are produced from a single 3D asset for visual consistency.How can CGI support a product launch?CGI can explain product form, finish and function before every physical sample is available, while creating a reusable source for stills, motion and interactive formats.Can I customise the interactive features?Yes. Hotspots, annotations, configurators and integrations with your existing marketing stack are all supported.What kind of products work best with CGI?Any product where features and form benefit from being seen and explored, including consumer electronics, jewellery, furniture, industrial hardware, medical devices and premium consumer goods.How is CGI different from product photography?CGI gives a team precise control over lighting, materials and angles, and assets can be produced before the product is manufactured. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Choose the right studio before you brief us Set your selection criteria and planning numbers, then start the conversation. Compare CGI studios with clear criteria→ - Estimate your campaign asset budget Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally , usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### Visual Content Partnership - Monthly CGI Retainer - XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/visual-content-partnership/ XO3D Studio · Service # Visual Content Partnership. A dedicated CGI studio on monthly retainer. New content every month. A compounding asset library. The most efficient way to keep a product range visible, on-brand, and current across every channel. Alex MannManaging Director, XO3D · Runs all partnership engagementsStart a partnership conversation → - Services - Visual Content Partnership Visual Content Partnership is XO3D's most compounding service. Each partnership eliminates the onboarding cost of every new project brief, because the 3D assets exist, the materials are built, the visual language is agreed, and the team already knows the brand. The cost-per-asset decreases every month. The creative quality increases every month. The relationship deepens with every brief. For a single major release, start with Launch Visuals. A partnership becomes the right next step when that approved product foundation must keep producing new films, stills, variants and channel formats across an ongoing calendar. This is not a retainer in the traditional sense. A traditional retainer buys hours. A Visual Content Partnership builds a compounding creative asset that produces continuous content from infrastructure that has already been paid for. How it works ## The partnership structure. - 1Phase 01 ### Foundation build (month one) 3D asset library built for your priority product range. Materials reconstructed from physical reference. Brand visual language locked. This is the largest investment of the partnership. - 2Phase 02 ### Monthly content cadence A defined volume of new content every month: typically a mix of films, stills, social formats and seasonal campaign creative. The mix is set per partnership, not packaged. - 3Phase 03 ### New products integrated as they launch Each new product adds to the asset library. Build cost decreases for each subsequent product because the lighting, the materials, and the brand visual language are already established. - 4Phase 04 ### Quarterly creative reviews Every quarter, the creative direction is reviewed and refreshed. New visual treatments tested. The partnership evolves with the brand. - 5Phase 05 ### Same team, every month The same Creative Director, the same 3D team, the same Frame.io workspace. Institutional knowledge of the brand compounds across briefs. When it's right ## The brands that benefit most. - ### Brands launching multiple products per year. The approved asset library can carry forward across launches, reducing repeated setup and keeping the visual system consistent as the range grows. - ### Brands with continuous social content demand. Paid social, organic content, seasonal campaigns. A partnership produces consistent on-brand imagery every month without re-briefing a new vendor each time. - ### Brands operating in multiple markets. Identical imagery, localised messaging, simultaneous deployment. No photography logistics across time zones. - ### Brands where visual consistency is a strategic asset. Luxury, premium, regulated categories where every piece of imagery must reinforce the same visual standard. - ### Brands that have outgrown one-off project commissioning. When the calendar is full of next launches before the current one finishes, project-by-project commissioning becomes inefficient. When it isn't right ## Honest qualification. A Visual Content Partnership is not the right service for every brand. It requires sustained visual content demand to make the foundation investment worthwhile. Single-launch brands, very small product ranges, or brands with infrequent campaign activity are better served by the Launch Visuals service. If your continuous content need is unclear, we will say so before recommending the partnership model. > "The economics of a Visual Content Partnership are honest only when the volume justifies the foundation build. We would rather recommend Launch Visuals and have you come back for the partnership later than oversell a retainer that does not pay back in your first six months." Alex MannManaging Director, XO3D FAQ ## Common questions about Visual Content Partnership. What's the minimum commitment?Partnership engagements are typically 12-month minimum to allow the foundation build to pay back through the compounding asset library. Shorter engagements are possible but usually do not realise the cost-per-asset benefit that makes the model compelling.What do we get every month?The monthly deliverable mix is set per partnership, not packaged. It might be one hero film plus six social formats, or a stills refresh plus three campaign variants, or seasonal campaign creative. The mix is agreed up front and reviewed quarterly.Can we add new products mid-partnership?Yes. New products are integrated into the existing partnership at lower build cost than a standalone project, because the lighting, the materials, and the brand visual language are already established for your range.Who owns the 3D assets?You do. All 3D assets, materials and lighting rigs built during the partnership belong to you. If the partnership ends, the assets remain yours and can be used by other vendors or in-house teams. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Model the value before you brief us Compare one-off and ongoing content plans, then talk to us about a partnership. Compare retainer and one-off value→ - Build your campaign plan Start the conversation ## Considering a partnership? Tell us about your product range, your content cadence, and the channels you need to feed. We will tell you honestly whether a partnership pays back for your situation. Start a partnership conversation ### Technical CGI - Engineering-Accurate Product Visualisation from CAD - XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/technical-cgi/ XO3D Studio · Service # Technical CGI. Engineering-accurate visualisation directly from CAD data. Mechanism animations, exploded views, assembly sequences and pre-manufacture imagery for products that don't exist physically yet. Connor Hamilton-SmithHead of 3D & Director, XO3D · Engineering-grade CGI specialismSee our technical work →Discuss your CAD brief → - Services - Technical CGI Selected clients XO3D's most distinctive position ## For products that don't exist yet, this isn't a faster option. It's the only option. Technical CGI is XO3D's most distinctive competitive position. The capability to work directly from CAD files (STEP, IGES, SolidWorks, Rhino, Inventor) and produce photoreal imagery while preserving dimensional accuracy, mechanism fidelity, and material behaviour means we can produce launch-quality imagery before the physical product exists. The complete timing and approval route is covered in our pre-manufacture visualisation workflow. Who this is for: brands launching pre-manufacture, raising capital before production starts, demonstrating products at trade shows before stock arrives, or training sales teams on products that won't ship for months. Imagery you cannot get any other way. What it delivers ## Engineering-grade outputs. Mechanism ### Mechanism animations How the product works, visualised. Switches, hinges, valves, motors, interfaces. Engineering-accurate motion, demonstrated in cinematic CGI for sales, training and marketing. Assembly ### Exploded views & assembly sequences The product taken apart in animation, showing internal components, build sequence and engineering complexity. For investor decks, sales decks, technical documentation and training material. Investor ### Investor & roadshow visuals Pre-manufacture imagery for investor presentations and Series A roadshows. Engineering credibility for due diligence teams. Commercial ambition for the C-suite. Both from the same build. Crowdfunding ### Crowdfunding campaign visuals Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns are won or lost on the first frame. CGI from CAD data produces campaign-quality imagery that makes a pre-manufacture product look as credible as a shipped one. Read the detailed technical animation guide, then see the approach in the AUAR MicroFactory, Petalite, Plumis Automist and Dermalux Compact MD work. Source files we work from ## What we need from your engineering team. Technical CGI projects begin with CAD or engineering source. The ideal starting point is one of the following formats. If your CAD format is not listed, ask us, we work with most engineering pipelines. FormatSoftwareNotesSTEP (.stp, .step)Universal CAD interchangePreferred format. Preserves geometry and assembly structure.IGES (.igs, .iges)Universal CAD interchangeCommon alternative to STEP. Workable in most production pipelines.SolidWorks (.sldprt, .sldasm)SolidWorksNative files preserve full assembly hierarchy and material assignments.Rhino (.3dm)RhinocerosCommon in industrial and product design. Direct import.Inventor (.ipt, .iam)Autodesk InventorNative engineering files for mechanism and assembly work.OBJ, FBX, 3MFGeneric 3D formatsWorkable as a fallback when CAD source is not available. Alongside CAD, the production team typically needs: material and finish specifications, the engineering drawing pack, any physical samples you can supply, and a brief covering the commercial situation the imagery has to serve. Sectors served ## Where technical accuracy is a creative requirement. - 01EV & Cleantech ### EV charging, energy infrastructure, clean technology Engineering-credible imagery for sectors where the technical credibility of the product is part of the commercial story. Petalite 1MW EV charging infrastructure is a featured project. - 02Medical & Health Tech ### Clinical devices, health technology, medical equipment Imagery that earns trust in a regulatory context and desire in a consumer one. Dermalux LED phototherapy is a current client. - 03Industrial & Engineering ### Industrial equipment, precision instruments, complex mechanism products Mechanism animations, exploded views and dimensionally accurate visualisation for products where the engineering is the story. - 04Automotive & Mobility ### EV, micro-mobility, automotive sub-systems Cinematic automotive language applied to engineering subject matter. Web Excellence Award-winning Flash Motors campaign sits in this group. FAQ ## Common questions about Technical CGI. How accurate is the imagery compared to the engineering?Dimensionally exact. The CGI model is built from your CAD data, preserving geometry, assembly relationships and component hierarchy. Engineers from the client side typically review the model before look development begins to confirm accuracy. Mechanism motion is validated against engineering specification, not approximated.What if our CAD is incomplete or in revision?Common situation. Technical CGI projects frequently begin while engineering is still in development. We work iteratively against revisions, updating the CGI as the CAD evolves. This is often the reason brands commission CGI, the visual asset can ship before the product is final.Can you do internal-mechanism visualisation?Yes. Internal component visualisation, exploded views and cross-section reveals are core capabilities. These are routinely impossible in photography and are one of the main reasons brands commission Technical CGI for sales and training material.Is the output suitable for technical documentation?Yes, with the caveat that XO3D's output is creative-led rather than CAD-derivative. The imagery is photoreal and brand-aligned, not isometric line-art technical illustration. If you need both, we deliver alongside your technical illustration team. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Prepare a precise brief before you brief us Define the technical brief and get engineering files ready, then hand it to the studio. Build your CGI brief→ - Prepare your CAD and 3D assets Start the conversation ## Got a product still in development? Send us the brief and the CAD pack. We will tell you whether Technical CGI is the right approach and how we would scope it. Pre-manufacture briefs are often the most interesting work we take on. Discuss your technical brief ### Brand Motion Studio for Product Brands | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/brand-motion/ Studio programme # Brand motion. Built around the product. A distinctive motion language for product brands, directed across logo reveals, campaign films, idents and repeatable content. Discuss your motion system → - Services - Brand Motion Studio Selected clients Motion identity for product brands ## A brand should still feel like itself when it starts moving. Brand Motion turns an existing visual identity into a practical motion language for launch films, product sequences, campaign cutdowns and digital touchpoints. The aim is not to add movement for its own sake. It is to make every transition, reveal and camera decision recognisably yours. XO3D combines motion design with product CGI, so the brand system and the product story are developed together. The logo reveal, material behaviour, lighting, edit rhythm and product movement share one direction instead of feeling assembled by separate suppliers. The result is a repeatable system that can guide a flagship film today and keep later product content consistent as the campaign grows. Director's approach ## Define the rules before making the moves. We begin with the brand strategy, visual identity, product truth and the moments the audience must remember. From that foundation we define pace, transitions, camera behaviour, material treatment, typography behaviour and sound cues. Those rules give the creative team freedom without losing consistency. They also create a practical reference for future films, cutdowns and channel formats. Why it works ## Why brands use brand motion studio. 01 ### Make motion recognisably yours. Build a repeatable movement, transition and timing language around the identity instead of relying on generic animation conventions. 02 ### Connect brand and product. Direct logo, type, materials, camera and product movement as one system so the campaign feels intentional from the first frame. 03 ### Scale across channels. Carry the same motion principles into hero films, social edits, launch screens, idents and always-on content. 04 ### Give future production a clear standard. Create an approved motion foundation that makes later briefs faster to direct and easier to keep consistent. What we deliver ## Built for every brief. - 01Identity ### Logo Reveals and Brand Idents Short, distinctive brand moments for film openings, end frames, event screens and digital placements. Designed around the identity rather than added after the product film is finished. - 02Product ### Product Motion Language Camera behaviour, reveals, transitions and material moments that express the brand through the product itself. - 03Campaign ### Campaign Motion Systems A coherent set of hero sequences, social cutdowns, loops and launch-screen assets produced from one directed motion foundation. Who it is for ## For teams building a brand that has to live in motion. For Brand Directors, Creative Directors, design agencies and product marketing teams launching or refreshing a physical product brand. Brand Motion is most useful when the identity must work across a flagship film and a growing set of campaign formats, without losing the character that made the brand distinctive. Case studies ## Selected brand motion studio work. 01 A brand-led product film and content suite for the P3000 coffee roaster, combining a close-up logo reveal, product storytelling and repeatable social formats. View case study →View case studies → Process ## Our brand motion studio process. - 101 ### Read the brand and the brief. We establish the identity rules, audience, product truth, campaign moment and every channel the system must serve. - 202 ### Direct the motion principles. We define pace, transitions, camera behaviour, typography movement, material treatment and sound direction. - 303 ### Build the hero expression. The principal logo, product or campaign sequence proves the system through structured creative reviews. - 404 ### Scale and document. Approved principles are applied across the required formats and captured for consistent future production. Why XO3D ## Brand direction and product CGI in one studio. ### A director remains accountable. The brand argument stays connected from the first reference through the final grade. ### The product is part of the identity. Motion is designed around the real product, its materials and the way it needs to be understood. ### The system survives the first film. Deliverables are planned as a repeatable language, not a single isolated animation. ### Production stays coherent. Logo, product, edit and channel formats are made inside one directed CGI pipeline. XO3D is an independent, founder-led product CGI studio working directly with brands and creative partners. See how we work → See the thinking behind sound design for product films and how a Visual Content Partnership carries one approved visual direction into ongoing content. FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What is Brand Motion?Brand Motion is a defined movement and timing language for a brand. It can cover logo reveals, transitions, camera behaviour, typography, product movement, campaign loops and the principles that keep those elements consistent.Is Brand Motion the same as a product animation?No. A product animation is a deliverable. Brand Motion defines how the wider brand behaves in motion, then applies those rules across product films, idents, cutdowns and other campaign assets.Can XO3D work with our design or brand agency?Yes. We can work within an agency's existing creative direction, extend an approved identity into motion and provide a specialist product CGI production partner for the campaign.What do you need to begin?A clear brief, the current brand identity or design system, product CAD or visual references, launch timing and the channels the motion system must support.Can the motion system support future products?Yes. When the system is designed around repeatable principles rather than one fixed sequence, it can guide future product films and campaign assets while still allowing each launch to have its own idea. Other product services ## There's more. Launch Visuals→Product CGI Films→Visual Content Partnership→CGI for Paid Social→CGI for Trade Shows→Food and Drink CGI→ Start the conversation ## Build a motion language people recognise. Share the brand, product and campaign moment. We will show you how the system can move as one. Tell us about your brief About the studio XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio, incorporated as XO3D Ltd in 2019 (UK Companies House 11876020). Founded by Thomas Howcroft (Founder and Creative Director) and Alex Mann (Co-Founder and Managing Director). Based at the Business and Technology Centre in Stevenage, UK, with representation at 244 Fifth Avenue, New York. We work with tech, industrial and premium consumer brands on product films, launch stills and interactive experiences. - Studio Stevenage, UK · New York representation - Company XO3D Ltd · Companies House 11876020 - Contact info@xo3d.co.uk · +44 20 3488 3437 --- ## Production services ### Director-Led Product Animation Studio | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/product-animation/ CGI capability # Product motion. Directed for launch. Cinematic product CGI built to reveal, explain and position a product across hero films, feature sequences and campaign cutdowns. Start a conversation → - Services - Product Animation Selected clients Product motion systems ## More than movement. A directed visual system. Product animation is CGI film built to reveal, explain and position a product, not simply to decorate a launch. XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio in Stevenage, UK, developing product motion directly from CAD, which means work can begin before the product is manufactured. Camera, materials, lighting, edit and sound are planned as one visual language, then carried across the hero film, feature sequences and campaign cutdowns, so a launch reads as a single piece of direction rather than a set of unrelated clips. Every sequence has a reason: establish desirability, explain function, expose engineering, or give the launch a defining visual moment. When a product is technical, new or not yet manufactured, that control over how it is understood matters more than the motion itself. Director's mindset ## Every frame has an intention. We treat the product as the protagonist and the camera as the narrator. Before production, we define the audience, the product truth and the job of every sequence. That direction governs camera choreography, material language, lighting, edit and sound. Why it works ## Why brands use product animation. 01 ### Build the campaign before manufacture. Create launch-ready motion from CAD while engineering, tooling and physical production continue. 02 ### Give the launch a defining visual idea. Direct the product around one deliberate concept instead of a collection of disconnected camera moves. 03 ### Reveal the product intelligence. Expose mechanisms, materials and engineering detail without losing the emotion of the launch. 04 ### Extend one direction across every format. Carry the same visual language through hero sequences, feature edits, social cutdowns and presentation assets. What we deliver ## Built for every brief. - 01 ### Hero Motion The defining CGI sequence for a product launch. Directed around one idea, one visual language and one clear audience response. - 02 ### Feature-Led Sequences Focused motion that reveals the design decisions, functions and product details the launch must make clear. - 03 ### Exploded & Assembly Sequences Technical CGI that exposes components, assembly logic and internal mechanisms with precision and restraint. - 04 ### Campaign Cutdowns Platform-specific edits built from the same directed source, with composition and timing considered for each format. Who it's for ## Made for launch-critical product teams. For Creative Directors, Brand Directors, Product Marketing Directors and launch teams responsible for how a complex product meets the market. We work from CAD, concept designs, technical drawings and product documentation, often before a physical sample exists. Case studies ## Selected product animation work. 01 Complex product detail translated into directed motion for the launch, feature story and technical explanation. View case study →02 A CAD-led launch visual system developed before manufacture for campaign and stakeholder communication. View case study →03× A director-led product film shaped around material detail, feature storytelling and the launch moment. View case study →View case studies → Process ## Our product animation process. - 101 ### Define the launch job. We establish the audience, product truth, release moment and role each sequence must play. - 202 ### Direct the visual system. We agree the concept, camera language, material treatment, edit rhythm and complete asset plan. - 303 ### Build from CAD. The product asset, lighting and motion are developed through structured creative and technical reviews. - 404 ### Finish every format. Approved sequences are graded, mastered and delivered for the campaign, launch event, website and stakeholder use. The advantage ## Why senior teams choose XO3D. ### A director behind every brief. Creative direction remains accountable from the first reference through the final grade. ### A CAD-accurate foundation. Engineering inputs protect proportion, materials and product truth before the camera starts to move. ### One launch visual language. Motion is planned to align with the stills, interactive and technical assets around it. ### Controlled reviews and finishing. Clear approvals protect the direction, the deadline and the quality of every final asset. A senior team of artists and producers combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. Meet the team → For planning support, see the product CGI production benchmarks, the CGI studio briefing guide and the practical product animation guide. When the film must sit inside a complete stills, social, press and interactive campaign, continue to the Launch Visuals programme. If the main job is engineering-accurate mechanism, assembly or internal-function explanation, the brief belongs with Technical CGI. The G-LAB gaming keyboard product film shows hero motion, exploded detail, macro features and colourways directed as one launch story. FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What is director-led product motion?It is product CGI planned as a launch communication system. The director defines the visual idea, camera language, material treatment, edit and sound before production, so every sequence has a clear job.How is product motion different from basic 3D product animation?3D product animation describes the production technique. Product motion describes the directed outcome: a coherent set of hero, feature, technical and campaign sequences built around the product and its launch.Can XO3D create product motion before manufacture?Yes. We build from CAD files, engineering specifications, material references and product documentation, so the campaign can develop before physical samples are ready.What can one CGI motion system deliver?Depending on the brief, it can include a hero film, feature sequences, exploded or assembly motion, launch-event screens, campaign cutdowns and platform-specific edits.What do you need to start?A clear brief, CAD or technical source files, material and finish references, brand guidance, launch timing and the channels the final work must serve. Start the conversation ## Planning a launch that cannot miss? Tell us what the product has to communicate, when it launches and what the campaign needs. Tell us about your brief About the studio XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio, incorporated as XO3D Ltd in 2019 (UK Companies House 11876020). Founded by Thomas Howcroft (Founder and Creative Director) and Alex Mann (Co-Founder and Managing Director). Based at the Business and Technology Centre in Stevenage, UK, with representation at 244 Fifth Avenue, New York. We work with tech, industrial and premium consumer brands on product films, launch stills and interactive experiences. - Studio Stevenage, UK · New York representation - Company XO3D Ltd · Companies House 11876020 - Contact info@xo3d.co.uk · +44 20 3488 3437 ### 3D Product Rendering Studio for Launch Campaigns | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/3d-product-rendering/ Director-led studio # Product CGI stills. Directed for launch. Bespoke, launch-defining stills built from CAD, art-directed for the product and carried across campaign, press, retail and digital. Start a conversation → - Services - Product CGI Stills Selected clients Product CGI stills ## A visual standard built before the product exists. XO3D creates director-led product CGI stills for tech, industrial and premium consumer brands. Every image starts with the product truth and the job the frame has to do. From a single hero composition to a complete colourway and campaign library, we build one controlled visual system from CAD. Materials, light and composition stay consistent from launch reveal to final retail asset. When that system must also supply film, social, press and interactive formats, it becomes a complete launch visual suite. Why it matters ## Built for launch pressure. ### Hold the product truth. Protect proportion, material, finish and colour against the approved technical source. ### Direct the frame. Design every composition around the launch idea and the product detail the audience must notice. ### Build before manufacture. Develop the campaign from CAD while tooling, prototypes and final production continue. ### Create one visual system. Carry consistent light, material and art direction across hero, press, retail and campaign formats. Stills system ## One product. One visual language. Hero, campaign, technical and colourway frames directed together from one accurate CGI source. - 01Hero ### Hero CGI Stills The defining product frame for a launch, directed around material, form and one clear visual idea. - 02Campaign ### Campaign Environments Art-directed worlds that place the product in context while protecting the visual language of the launch. - 03Detail ### Material & Detail Frames Close compositions that make finish, engineering and product character legible without losing restraint. - 04Technical ### Exploded & Cutaway Stills Technical frames that expose components, assembly logic and internal systems with controlled clarity. - Colour: Aquifer05System ### Colourway Systems Every approved colour, finish and material variant from one controlled CGI source. Select a swatch to view the system. Who it's for ## Made for launch-critical product teams. For Creative Directors, Brand Directors, Product Marketing Directors and launch teams responsible for the product's first impression. We work from CAD, concept designs, technical drawings and product documentation, often before a physical sample exists. Our pre-manufacture CGI workflow explains the engineering review and campaign path in detail. Selected work ## The work behind the launch. D'Addario A controlled CGI stills system built from one product source and carried across a large variant library. View case study → Petalite Hero CGI and launch visuals developed from CAD for campaign and stakeholder communication. View case study → Glen Dimplex A product CGI library built from CAD and directed consistently across the complete range. View case study → How we work ## Directed from CAD to final frame. - 01Step 01 ### Define the launch job. We establish the audience, product truth, release moment and role each final frame must play. - 02Step 02 ### Direct the visual system. We agree composition, material language, lighting direction and the complete stills plan. - 03Step 03 ### Build from CAD. The product asset and visual world are developed through structured creative and technical reviews. - 04Step 04 ### Finish every frame. Approved stills are graded, mastered and delivered for campaign, press, retail and digital use. The advantage ## Why senior teams choose XO3D. ### A director behind every brief. Creative direction remains accountable from the first reference through the final grade. ### A CAD-accurate foundation. Engineering inputs protect proportion, finish and product truth before the first composition is approved. ### A complete launch system. Hero, campaign, technical and colourway frames are planned together, not produced as disconnected outputs. ### Control at every scale. The same approved material, light and composition standards hold across every product and variant. A senior team of artists and producers combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. Meet the team → Planning the detail? Read how XO3D scopes project investment, our material rendering guide and CGI studio briefing guide. FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What is product rendering?Product rendering is the production technique used to create still CGI from a 3D product asset. XO3D directs those stills as a launch visual system, with each frame planned around product truth, audience and use.How are product CGI stills different from standard renders?A standard render may answer a single image request. A product CGI stills system aligns hero, campaign, technical and colourway frames under one art direction, so the launch reads as one body of work.Can XO3D create launch stills before manufacture?Yes. We build from CAD files, engineering specifications, material references and product documentation, so the visual campaign can develop before physical samples are ready.What can one CGI stills system deliver?Depending on the brief, it can include hero frames, campaign environments, material studies, exploded views, colourway libraries, press assets and retail formats.What do you need to start?A clear brief, CAD or technical source files, material and finish references, brand guidance, launch timing and the channels the final work must serve. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Scope your product CGI before you brief us Work out where reusable renders pay back across variants and markets, then talk to the studio. Estimate your campaign asset budget→ - Audit your ecommerce product visuals - Run a technical render check Start the conversation ## Planning a launch that cannot miss? Tell us what the product has to communicate, when it launches and what the campaign needs. Tell us about your brief ### Interactive Product Experiences for Ecommerce | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/product-interactives/ Service # Product Interactives. Impress your customers with immersive 3D product interactives that turn browsing into engagement. Start a conversation → - Services - Product Interactives Selected clients 3D interactive services ## Interactive product experiences that drive informed decisions. Interactive 3D lets buyers examine a product before they own it. They can rotate the view, inspect details and compare finishes, with controls designed around the choices they need to make. XO3D builds configurable product experiences, AR visualisers and WebGL environments for ecommerce, marketing and sales teams. Each brief defines the product options, approved assets, target devices and publishing requirements. Explore the working examples below, then tell us about the experience your audience needs. Why it matters ## Built to perform. ### Clarify product choices. Let buyers compare finishes, configurations and product details within one controlled experience. ### Support buyer confidence. Show scale, form and available options more clearly than a fixed gallery can, then measure the result against a defined control. ### Keep your range consistent. Build approved colourways, angles and finishes from a shared 3D asset, with consistent lighting and materials across the range. ### Let buyers explore. Give customers control of the view, with product details and choices they can examine at their own pace. What we deliver ## Every interactive format in one studio. From 360° spherical viewers to in-browser AR, built from a single 3D source, with consistent direction across every output. - 01360° Experience ### Product 360° Spherical Experience Push beyond simple turntables. A full 360° spherical view lets buyers explore your product from every angle, top, bottom and detail close-ups included. - Colour: Black02Configurator ### Product Colourways Show product variations in one place. Colour and finish selectors let buyers compare the available options within the same view. - 03Turntable ### Product Turntables 360-degree spin renders built for ecommerce, engaging, interactive and confidence-building at the point of decision. Drop them straight onto a product page and let the product sell itself. - 04Exploded ### Interactive Exploded Visuals Drag-to-explode mechanisms reveal internal structure, components and engineering detail. Buyers can explore how the parts of a complex product fit together. - ▶Launch 3D viewer05AR ### In-Browser AR Place products in the real world with augmented reality. Drag, rotate and preview at true scale, directly in the browser, no app download required. Who it's for ## Built for ecommerce and launch-driven brands. We work with consumer electronics, fashion, premium consumer goods and technology brands where the buyer needs more than a static image to commit. Conversion economics justify a richer, exploratory product experience. Briefs come from ecommerce teams building product page assets, brand teams driving launch activity and marketing agencies needing white-label interactive production , with hosting, embedding and integration handled end-to-end. Selected work ## Interactives delivered at scale. Configurable 3D experience showing the Petalite EV charger from every angle, with material and detail callouts integrated into the brand launch site. View case study → Interactive gaming keyboard visualisations, colour switching, exploded views and feature reveal sequences built for product communication. View case study → Interactive product visuals supporting Sony's WF-C710 launch, colour variants and feature-led views built for web and campaign use. View case study → How we work ## Four steps. No surprises. - 01Step 01 ### Share the brief. Send CAD files, sketches, reference imagery or a written brief outlining the product, output platform and intended use. - 02Step 02 ### Define the interactive. We agree the scope, viewer type, configuration options, hotspots, hosting and integration, before development begins. - 03Step 03 ### Build and refine. The experience is developed through structured review stages, with shareable previews at every milestone. - 04Step 04 ### Deliver final assets. Embeddable iframe, hosted experience or downloadable assets, ready for your CMS, ecommerce platform or sales tools. The advantage ## Why brands choose XO3D. ### Built from technical inputs. We work from CAD files, drawings and reference material to create accurate interactive assets before physical samples are available. ### Designed for performance. Real-time, frame-accurate and optimised, built to load quickly and run smoothly on every device, including mobile. ### Made for commercial output. Every interactive is built to convert, clear callouts, intuitive controls and embedding that fits your existing site. ### Structured for smooth delivery. Clear stages, focused feedback and responsive communication keep projects moving efficiently. We’re a senior team of artists and producers focused on product storytelling , combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. Meet the team → FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What are 3D product interactive images?3D product interactive images are digital representations of products that can be rotated, zoomed and explored in 360 degrees, providing an immersive and engaging experience for customers.How can 3D product interactive images benefit my business?They help buyers inspect shape, finishes, configurations and technical details before purchase. The right format depends on what the customer needs to understand. Agree the intended outcome before production, then assess loading performance, useful interactions and completed enquiries or purchases against a defined baseline.Can I customise the interactive features of my 3D product images?Yes. We add hotspots and annotations to highlight key features, integrate the experience with other marketing materials, and tailor controls to your audience.What kind of products work best with 3D product interactive images?Any product with distinct features or one that benefits from being seen from multiple angles. Strong fits include consumer electronics, jewellery, furniture, industrial hardware and premium apparel.How are 3D product interactive images different from traditional product photography or video?They give customers a more immersive and interactive experience than static photography or linear video. Customers can see the product from any angle and zoom into specific features, helping them make a more informed purchasing decision. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your interactive 3D before you brief us Choose the right file route for web delivery, then talk to the studio about the build. Choose your 3D file conversion route→ - Prepare your assets for the web Start the conversation ## Want customers to interact with your product before they buy? We reply to every brief personally , usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### 3D Product Modelling for Production Assets | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/product-modelling/ Service # Product Modelling Services. The journey for any product campaign starts here , production-ready 3D models built for consistent visuals and motion. Start a conversation → - Services - Product Modelling Selected clients Product modelling services ## Precision 3D modelling for every downstream use. At XO3D we build precision 3D product models for any industry. Founded in 2017, we deliver clean, animation-ready geometry that holds up under scrutiny , at every angle, at every output. Every model we build is the source asset for everything that follows: rendering, animation, AR, interactives and configurators. Get the model right, and every output benefits. For accuracy-led mechanism or assembly work, that asset moves into Technical CGI. When the launch must progress before a sample exists, our pre-manufacture CGI workflow connects engineering input, model approval and the final campaign outputs. Why it matters ## Built to perform. ### Reduce product returns. Letting customers see every angle and configuration of a product builds confidence before purchase, fewer surprises, fewer returns. ### Increase conversion lifts. Production-ready models power richer product pages, stills, motion and interactive content that lifts conversion above flat photography. ### Built before the product exists. We model from CAD, sketches and technical drawings, so your visual content library is ready before physical samples land. ### Scale across every channel. One precision model becomes the source asset for film, stills, AR, configurators and ecommerce, visually consistent across every channel. What we deliver ## One model. Every output. From studio silos to lifestyle scenes, colour selectors and 360 viewers , all powered by the same precision 3D asset. - 01Ecommerce ### E-commerce Product Visuals Hero studio renders built for product pages, marketplaces and brand-direct channels, clean silhouettes, accurate materials and consistent lighting across the full SKU range. - 02Lifestyle ### Product Lifestyle Visuals In-situ environments that place the product into context, kitchens, workspaces, exteriors, retail. Built from the same precision model used for studio renders. - Colour: Aquifer03Colourways ### Product Colour Selector Render every colour, finish and material variant from a single 3D asset, the most efficient way to showcase the full product range. Click a swatch to see it live. - 04360 View ### Product 360° Visuals Full rotational, confidence-building experiences that let buyers explore the product from every angle, the next step in online sales confidence. Who it's for ## Built for product-led brands that scale on content. We work with consumer, technical and industrial brands needing CAD-driven 3D models as the foundation of every visual output. We're particularly strong on engineered products where geometric accuracy is non-negotiable. We build from concept designs, sketches and technical drawings before physical samples exist , letting brands prepare their full visual content library ahead of manufacture. Selected work ## Models built for production. Production-ready 3D models supporting batched product imagery, thousands of variants from one source asset. View case study → CAD-accurate 3D modelling of the Petalite EV charger, the source asset for animation, hero stills and interactive viewers. View case study → Clean topology and component-level accuracy supporting exploded views, animation and product configurators for The G-LAB. View case study → How we work ## Four steps. No surprises. - 01Step 01 ### Share the brief. Send CAD files, sketches, reference imagery or a written brief outlining the product, intended outputs and downstream use. - 02Step 02 ### Build the model. We build precision geometry from your inputs, topology, naming and hierarchy structured for every downstream output. - 03Step 03 ### Refine and approve. Models are reviewed through structured stages, silhouette, topology, detail, with focused feedback at each milestone. - 04Step 04 ### Deliver final assets. Approved 3D models delivered in every format needed for rendering, animation, AR and interactive use. The advantage ## Why brands choose XO3D. ### Built from technical inputs. We work from CAD files, drawings and reference material to create accurate models before physical samples are available. ### Production-ready geometry. Clean, deformation-ready topology that holds up across rendering, animation and real-time use. ### Pipeline-ready. One model powers stills, animation, AR, interactive and configurator outputs, without rebuilding for each format. ### Structured delivery. Clear stages, focused feedback and responsive communication keep projects moving efficiently. We’re a senior team of artists and producers focused on product storytelling , combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. Meet the team → FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What is product modelling?Product modelling is the process of building a precise 3D representation of a product, used for visualisation, design support, marketing content and as the source asset for every downstream output including rendering, animation, AR and configurators.What are the different types of product models?3D models (our focus), 2D representations, CAD models and physical prototypes each serve different purposes. For marketing and ecommerce, polygonal 3D models built from CAD input are the most flexible, they power stills, motion, AR and interactives from one source.What are the benefits of product modelling?Models help visualise the product before manufacturing, support design decisions, enable downstream content production at scale, and let brands prepare their full visual library ahead of launch, driving conversion, reducing returns and unlocking consistent visual content across every channel.What inputs do you need from us to get started?CAD files (STEP, IGES, native formats), engineering drawings, concept sketches, reference imagery or even a written brief. The more accurate the input, the more accurate the model, but we routinely build from sketches and references when CAD isn't available.What software do you use for product modelling?Industry-standard tools including Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya, KeyShot and SolidWorks, chosen per project based on the brief, the downstream use and the file format required for delivery. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Prepare the brief before you commission modelling Define the brief and get source files ready, then hand the studio a clean starting point. Build your CGI brief→ - Prepare your 3D source assets Start the conversation ## Need a 3D model built right the first time? We reply to every brief personally , usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### Product AR Experiences for Ecommerce Brands | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/services/product-ar/ Service # Product AR Services. Immersive product augmented reality for ecommerce , let customers place, rotate and explore your product in their own space. Start a conversation → - Services - Product AR Selected clients Product AR ## Product AR built for confidence at the point of purchase. Product augmented reality lets your customers place your product into their world before they buy. It is the most effective way to reduce returns and build confidence in a purchase decision , particularly for furniture, fixtures and premium consumer products. We deliver production-ready AR experiences across iOS, Android and the open web , from optimised USDZ and GLB assets through to fully embedded in-browser AR previews and configurator-driven AR. Why it matters ## Built to perform. ### Show products in context. Let buyers assess placement, scale and available options in their own environment before they make a decision. ### Support buyer confidence. Build from accurate product data and measure interaction, conversion and returns against a defined control. ### Build buyer confidence. Seeing scale, materials and fit in their own environment removes hesitation at the moment of decision. ### No app required. Modern iOS and Android phones launch AR natively from the browser, no install, no friction, no drop-off. What we deliver ## AR experiences, end to end. From live in-browser AR previews to optimised USDZ and GLB delivery , produced from a single 3D source, with consistent direction across every output. - View in your space01Live AR ### In-Browser AR Preview Place products in real-world environments without an app, drag, rotate, scale and place directly from the product page. Tap the AR button below to launch on a supported device. - View in your spaceColour: Stealth Black02Configurator ### AR Colourway Switching Let customers swap finishes and colours live before launching into AR. Click a swatch to retint the model in real-time, then preview the chosen variant at true scale in their space. - View in your space03Ecommerce ### AR for Ecommerce Cut return rates and lift conversions when shoppers can preview your product at-scale in their own environment. AR is the single most effective tool for high-confidence purchases. - View in your space04Asset Delivery ### USDZ + GLB Asset Delivery We deliver production-ready USDZ (iOS Quick Look) and GLB (Android Scene Viewer / WebXR) files, optimised for in-page embed and one-tap AR launch on every supported device. Who it's for ## Built for ecommerce-led brands ready to lift conversion. Product AR is most valuable where physical fit and scale matter to the purchase decision , consumer electronics, furniture, lifestyle products, jewellery and fashion. Anywhere a buyer needs to see the product in their space before committing. We work with direct-to-consumer brands, marketplaces investing in product page assets, and retailers building category-level AR experiences. We slot into your existing platform and creative direction. Selected work ## AR-ready CGI delivered at scale. Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Feature-led product CGI showcasing materials, form and RGB lighting, built for launch marketing and ecommerce. View case study → Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study → How we work ## Four steps. No surprises. - 01Step 01 ### Share the brief. Send CAD files, reference imagery or a written brief outlining the product, target platforms and intended use. - 02Step 02 ### Optimise the asset for AR. We optimise polygon count, texture size and materials so the model loads fast and runs smoothly on real-world mobile devices. - 03Step 03 ### Test on device. We test on real iOS and Android hardware, Quick Look, Scene Viewer and WebXR, to confirm scale, materials and interaction feel right. - 04Step 04 ### Deliver and embed. Final USDZ and GLB files delivered with embed-ready markup. We support implementation into your existing ecommerce platform. The advantage ## Why brands choose XO3D. ### Built from technical inputs. We work from CAD files, drawings and reference material, accurate scale, accurate materials, accurate AR experience. ### Optimised for mobile AR. Polygon count, texture size and material complexity are tuned for fast load and smooth interaction on real-world devices. ### Production-ready files. USDZ for iOS Quick Look, GLB for Android Scene Viewer and WebXR, delivered in formats your platform can launch natively. ### Structured for smooth delivery. Clear stages, focused feedback and responsive communication keep projects moving efficiently. We’re a senior team of artists and producers focused on product storytelling , combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. Meet the team → FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What is product augmented reality?Product AR is a technology that lets users view and interact with a virtual representation of your product in their real environment, typically through a phone camera, with no app required on modern devices.How does product AR work?Product AR uses the device camera to track the real-world environment, then renders a virtual 3D product over the live view at true scale. Customers can move, rotate and place the product to assess fit and feel.What are the benefits of product AR?AR helps customers understand product scale, fit and context before purchase, reducing return rates, lifting conversion, building buyer confidence and providing a more engaging shopping experience.What formats do you deliver AR assets in?We deliver USDZ files for iOS Quick Look and GLB files for Android Scene Viewer and WebXR. Both formats are optimised for fast mobile load and accurate real-world scale.Can I embed AR previews on my existing website?Yes. Most modern phones launch AR natively from a webpage without an app install. We supply the AR-ready files and embed-ready markup, and support implementation into your existing ecommerce platform. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your product AR before you brief us Check the file-size targets AR delivery needs, then bring us the specification. Check web and AR file size targets→ - Prepare your assets for the web Start the conversation ## Want customers to see your product in their space? We reply to every brief personally , usually within one working day. Discuss your brief --- ## Selected case studies ### AUAR Microfactory Product CGI Film | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/auar-automated-architecture-microfactory/ AUAR / Product CGI Film # Bringing AUAR's Automated Architecture Microfactory to life. XO3D created a 3D product animation for AUAR's Microfactory, showing its on-demand automated construction system with the clarity and polish needed for a complex industrial story. Start a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - AUAR MicrofactoryClientAUARSectorConstruction Robotics / PropTechServicesAnimation, CGI, Lifestyle Stills, Motion GIFsYear2026 panel --> Hero film ## The full hero film. Read hero film transcript The film opens on a bright AUAR shipping container beside the deployed MicroFactory. Wide views reveal the full rail-mounted robot cell, timber stock and a partly assembled wall panel. The camera moves through overhead and macro angles as robotic arms, grippers and tooling lift, position and work with timber components. The sequence closes on the completed wall panel and a wide view of the full MicroFactory. There is no spoken dialogue. Music and designed mechanical sound support the animation. The brief ## Communicate an unbuilt industrial system to homebuilders, before a real one existed. AUAR supplies homebuilders with deployable MicroFactories, styled Micro-Factories in AUAR's own materials, industrial robot cells running their MasterBuilder Physical AI platform to manufacture timber wall and floor panels on site. ABB Robotics is a strategic partner and investor in the company. They needed a full CGI content suite to communicate the Micro-Factory system across their new website, hero animation, stills and looping motion assets, all produced within two months for the launch. It sits inside our broader industrial and robotics CGI work. The stakes were high. The new site is AUAR's shop window during a period of strong commercial momentum, and the CGI content now runs throughout it, including the homepage automation loop. The creative challenge sat in a single question: how do you make an industrial robot cell feel approachable and trustworthy to homebuilders, and read as a real, physical product, when it doesn't yet exist in real life? Read more on our approach to technical CGI and pre-manufacture visualisation work. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D built a product CGI film and content suite for AUAR's deployable MicroFactory and its automated timber-panel construction system. - 02Why CGIThe industrial robot cell did not yet exist as a finished physical product, so CGI made its scale, movement and construction workflow clear to homebuilders. - 03What was deliveredAUAR received a hero animation, website loops, stills and supporting motion assets for its launch and product story. Deliverables ## One production. A full launch content set. Twenty-four stills, a 36-second hero film and three animated GIFs, all built from a single source and delivered live across auar.io, including the homepage. ### 24 Stills. A mixed studio and lifestyle library covering hero angles, macro detail and in-context environments, all rendered from the same source build. ### 36-Second Hero Animation. The main product film. A tight cinematic cut that opens the site and communicates the whole MicroFactory system in under a minute. ### 3 Animated GIFs. Short looping motion assets built for the homepage automation loop and secondary page moments across auar.io. ### Homepage Loop. A hero loop optimised for web performance, light on file size, premium on first-frame impression. Creative direction ## Five decisions that made the system read as real. Each decision connects to visible evidence in the finished frames, lighting, scale grounding, detail realism, camera language, adaptive delivery. - 01Warm, natural lighting ### Approachable, not clinical. Lighting was kept warm and natural so the system reads as approachable and human, not clinical. Warm tones echo the timber the MicroFactory manufactures and the outdoor settings the product is built for. - 02Scale grounding ### Real objects, real size. Real containers, pallets and timber stacks anchor the MicroFactory at its true working size, so the "factory in a container" claim is believable at a glance. - 03Detail realism ### Grippers, fixings, and labels. Grippers, fixings and component labels were modelled in close detail so an unbuilt machine reads as genuinely manufactured. The credibility lives in the small parts. - 04Camera language ### Wide to explain, macro to reward. Wide frames explain the full system; macro frames reward its engineering detail. The product's own geometry was used as a framing device for the more creative compositions. - 05Adaptive delivery ### The set grew. Launch held. The deliverable set expanded as the site took shape, 14 stills grew to 24, and the hero film tightened from 60 seconds to a 36-second cut. Everything still landed for launch. Full still library ## The stills that shipped. The full library delivered for the launch, mixing studio, lifestyle and in-context scale references, all built from the same production. Scalability ## Deployment at scale. Step through the six deployment configurations, from a single MicroFactory cell to a full multi-cell production site. Select a stage below to explore. Stage123456 Motion + interactive ## Loops for the web, and one you can spin. Short, web-optimised motion assets that run on auar.io, plus a drag-to-rotate 360° turntable built from the same production. 0 / 42Preparing 360°Drag to rotateD01 · Interactive turntableD02D03 Selected shots ## The film, shot by shot. A curated set of sequences from the 36-second hero film, mixing landscape and vertical aspects for launch and social use. Hover any tile to play. The full film also has its own entry in our video gallery. Shot 01Shot 02Shot 03Shot 04Shot 05Shot 06Shot 07Shot 08Shot 09Shot 10Shot 11Shot 12 Short-form cutdowns ## Cut for social, paid and secondary placements. Six focused cutdowns from the same hero source, each engineered to hit a single beat cleanly for the launch's social and paid channels. Hover to play. Short 01Short 02Short 03Short 04Short 05Short 06 Process ## Grey to final. The grey stage is where the composition is finessed. Photo-realistic materials and lighting land only once the camera and staging have been locked. Drag the sliders to compare grey and final side by side, and see the transition captured in motion. GreyFinalDrag to compare, A05GreyFinalDrag to compare, B01GreyFinalDrag to compare, C02Grey to final, transition loopFrame feedback, director review capture Process reel ## Inside the AUAR production. A short reel from the Directors Cut folder covering grey card, material development, lighting and camera studies from the AUAR sprint. Behind the scenes ## Inside the studio. Storyboarding, frame reviews, lighting checks and shot approvals from the XO3D studio during the AUAR production sprint. Tools ## What we built the AUAR film in. - Cinema 4D3D modelling + animation - RedshiftGPU rendering - After EffectsAnimation compositing - PhotoshopStills post-production The production story ## Director's Commentary. AUAR needed a full CGI content suite for a website launch built around a period of real commercial momentum, press coverage, investment and awards were all landing at the same time, and the site had to reflect that weight. The scope evolved as AUAR shaped their new site. The still set grew from 14 to 24 assets, and the hero film sharpened from 60 seconds to a tighter 36-second cut. Adapting quickly to the shifting brief while holding the launch date was the production story. Close client collaboration made the credibility possible. Making an unbuilt product read as genuinely manufactured comes down to the small details, the grippers, the fixings, the labels, and only ships when the client and studio work as one team on those details. Projects like this, robotics, industrial automation and Physical AI, are the kind of work the studio actively looks for. Communicating an unbuilt robot cell so it feels approachable, trustworthy and real is what a director-led CGI studio is built for. Connor Hamilton-SmithCreative Director, XO3D→ Credits ## The team behind the work. Directed and Produced XO3D Executive Creative Director Thomas Howcroft → Executive Creative Director Alex Mann → Creative Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Modeller Joseph Cletus → Sound Engineer Gulliver Tickell → Coverage of the work: Stash featured XO3D’s AUAR MicroFactory film in July 2026. For background on AUAR’s research, UCL’s 2021 robotic house-building article now includes a link to this case study. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief More case studies ## Related industrial work. Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for Petalite's 1MW EV charging technology, built from evolving CAD, delivered investor-ready. View case study → Nanuskate Cinematic product CGI for Nanuskate's modular skate infrastructure, engineered visuals that turn a complex system into a clear premium story. View case study → ROEST Premium product film for ROEST's sample coffee roaster, precision engineering and material finish, communicated to a specialist audience. View case study →View all case studies → Start the conversation ## Have a system worth showing before it exists? Every conversation starts with a brief, not a quote request. Thomas or Alex replies personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### Nanuskate Modular Skate Ramp Animation | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/nanuskate-skate-ramp-animation/ Nanuskate # Nanuskate Modular Skate Ramp. How CGI and 3D animation launched a modular skate ramp system before production, communicating modularity, portability and premium build to early customers, investors and stakeholders. Discuss a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - Nanuskate Modular Skate Ramp Animation Project at a glance ## A pre-launch CGI suite, end-to-end. Client Nanuskate Sector Skateboarding / Modular Consumer Product Project Type Pre-Launch Product Visualisation Services Product Animation, CGI Software Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Cloud Year 2026 Deliverables - Modular expandability, add-on sections shown step-by-step - Fast setup and breakdown explainer sequence - Portability and easy transport storytelling - Connection system clarity, how parts lock and align - Premium build quality and material detail - Lifestyle scale and real-world context Hero film ## The full hero film. The Brief ## Movement, modularity, and a brand worth trusting. Nanuskate’s sports and fitness product is all about movement and modularity, including how it connects, scales and transports. That is hard to communicate with early-stage photography alone, especially before the full system and environments are ready. They needed visuals that could demonstrate skate-anywhere portability, fast setup (“assemble in minutes”) and seamless connections, while keeping the brand feeling premium, technical and credible. We translated the product’s modularity into a premium, high-clarity visual narrative using photoreal CGI, explainer animation and brand-led lighting rigs, showcasing setup speed, connection logic and real-world usability in a way photography can’t achieve pre-launch. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created launch CGI for Nanuskate's modular skate-ramp system before full production. - 02Why CGIEarly-stage photography could not show how the system connected, scaled and transported across different configurations, while CGI could demonstrate each state clearly. - 03What was deliveredNanuskate received animation and stills for early customers, investors, stakeholders and product-launch material. The Work ## From hero film to vertical social, one pipeline. A complete CGI library: cinematic hero films, square explainers, vertical social cuts and engineering-led greycards, all produced from the same 3D source for total visual consistency. - 01Hero Film ### A premium reveal that sets the brand standard. We built the headline product film around what matters most, setup speed, connection logic and real-world usability. Brand-led lighting rigs and photoreal CGI deliver the kind of visual quality typically reserved for much larger brands. - 02Transport ### Skate-anywhere portability, demonstrated. A 1:1 square sequence shows the modular cubes alongside a transport vehicle, communicating the “take it anywhere” promise that early-stage photography couldn’t capture before production. - 03Assembly ### Modularity made obvious. Exploded and step-by-step motion shows exactly how components align, lock and extend. Built in close collaboration with Nanuskate engineering, every assembly step is technically accurate so viewers “get it” instantly. - 04Detail ### Material detail at the macro level. A precision close-up on the metal foot connector, showing material quality, engineering tolerance and the premium finish that distinguishes the Nanuskate system from off-the-shelf ramp kits. - 05Lifestyle Context ### Real-world scale, photoreal lighting. A second hero cut places the ramp in a credible lifestyle environment, using the same brand-led lighting rig as the headline film, so the Nanuskate visual language stays consistent across every asset in the library. - 06Connection Logic ### How parts lock, explained in motion. A focused connection animation shows the locking mechanism in detail. Used inside investor decks and on the “how it works” explainer, it answers the question every first-time viewer asks. Marketing-Ready Assets ## Square cuts for web, social and decks. A library of 1:1 cuts produced from the same CGI source, drop-in ready for product pages, paid social and investor materials. Vertical Social ## Channel-ready cuts for paid and organic. Native 9:16 cuts engineered for Instagram, TikTok and paid social, built from the same source assets so the visual language stays consistent across every touchpoint. Process ## Greycard passes, locking the assembly order. Before final lighting, every assembly step was reviewed in greycard. These technical passes let us confirm the order of parts, motion timing and connection logic with the client, so the final film was technically accurate end-to-end. Behind the Scenes ## A pipeline built for visual consistency. Every shot was developed inside one CGI pipeline, same models, same lighting language, same materials. The result is a library of assets that can be reused across web, social and decks without rework. The deliverable ## A full launch render library, built once, used everywhere. Hero stills, technical passes and lifestyle compositions, all built from the same CGI pipeline so the Nanuskate visual language stays locked across product pages, decks and paid social. Hero stills ### Lifestyle stills, modular ramp library Engineering review ### Technical passes, AO, raw and normals What challenges were there during production? ## Artists Commentary. The ramp required a specific order in which the parts must be assembled. Showing this in a clear, consumable way required communication with the client to ensure that it was completely, technically accurate. We built a clean, step-by-step assembly sequence which shows the journey from parts to full assembly. Jack RobertsonMid-Level Artist→ Client Review > “Exceptional to work with, very creative and would thoroughly recommend. The team took the time to fully understand what we required, hit the timescales and were a pleasure to work with.” Colin MacandrewNanuskate Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Alex Mann → Producer Thomas Howcroft → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Animation Jack Robertson → Lighting & Rendering Jack Robertson → 3D Modelling Joseph Cletus → Sound Design Gulliver Tickell → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More from the studio. Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study → ROEST Premium product animation for ROEST coffee equipment, precision engineering communicated through cinematic CGI. View case study →View all case studies → Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### Petalite 1MW EV Charger Animation & CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/petalite-ev-charger-animation/ Petalite # Visualising 1,000kW EV Charger Technology. Engineering-grade visualisation for the future of EV infrastructure, built from evolving CAD, delivered investor-ready. Start a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - Petalite 1MW EV Charger AnimationClientPetaliteSectorGreen Energy / EV InfrastructureServicesAnimation, CGI, Lifestyle StillsYear2025 Hero film ## The full hero film. The brief ## Launch a multi-site infrastructure product before a single unit was built. Petalite needed to demonstrate the various key features of their 1,000kW SDC charging technology to global stakeholders while the product design was still in active development. The brief sits directly within our EV and cleantech CGI work and our pre-manufacture visualisation capability. We transformed complex engineering CAD data through our Technical CGI process into a high-fidelity narrative using Physically Based Rendering (PBR) materials and custom ray tracing lighting rigs, showcasing modular scalability that photography simply couldn’t capture. From white-box renders to cinematic animations, we built a launch visual system that could communicate complex energy management to global stakeholders before a single physical unit was even manufactured. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created investor-ready animation and CGI for Petalite's 1MW electric-vehicle charging system from evolving CAD. - 02Why CGIThe charger was still in active development and had not been manufactured, so CGI could explain its modular system and cable motion before a physical unit existed. - 03What was deliveredPetalite received white-box renders, cinematic animation and a high-fidelity visual system for global stakeholders. Deliverables ## A full investor-ready asset suite. Built from a single 3D source for web, social, trade shows, paid media and investor presentation CGI. ### 2× 4K Engineering Animation. Cinematic films built to communicate function, scale and modular logic to global stakeholders. ### HD Homepage Animation. Looping hero film optimised for web, designed to set the tone the moment the page loads. ### 2× 4K Explainer Animation. Instructional sequences breaking down driver experience, cable behaviour and UI flow with clarity. ### 6× 6K Lifestyle Stills. Context-rich renders placing the system in real-world environments at high resolution. ### 7× 4K Studio Renders. Clean product hero shots, every angle, every panel, every detail. ### Vertical Social Cuts. Platform-native crops engineered for paid social and stories, never an afterthought. Selected work ## The film, the loops, the lifestyle. Each output earned its place in the launch, from cinematic hero films through to platform-native vertical cuts. - 01Hero Reveal ### Cinematic product reveal. A controlled, deliberate camera move that introduces the 1MW charger with the gravitas the engineering deserves, premium materials, exact proportions, no compromise. - 02Engineering CGI ### Post Max product film. A full product showcase film built from raw CAD, surface finishes, panel lines and connection points rendered with engineering-grade accuracy. - 03Homepage Loop ### Web-ready homepage loops. Short, atmospheric loops engineered for hero sections, light enough to load fast, premium enough to set the brand standard from frame one. - 04Homepage Loop ### Alternate hero composition. A second loop variation giving the marketing team flexibility, same visual language, different angle, ready for A/B testing across the launch. - 05In Context ### Real-world scale and context. Charger composited with a vehicle to communicate scale, proportion and driver interaction, turning a technical product into an installed experience. - 06UI & UX ### Phone and screen integration. Detail shots covering UI experience, payment flow and screen legibility, the small moments that prove the system is built for real drivers. - 07Scalability ### Scalability animation. A purpose-built sequence showing how the modular SDC system scales across site footprints, answering the question stakeholders asked first. - 08Modularity ### Modularity animation. Component-level breakdown of the modular architecture, every unit, every connection, every reason the system was engineered the way it was. - 09Vertical / Social ### Vertical product animation. Mobile-first cuts of the hero film, full-bleed vertical compositions built natively for paid social, stories and trade-show portrait displays. Marketing-Ready Assets ## Lifestyle stills for web, decks and paid. A library of high-resolution renders produced from the same CGI source, drop-in ready for product pages, investor decks and stakeholder presentations. Studio Renders ## Square cuts, every angle, every panel. A clean studio set covering each face of the charge post and the SDC cabinet, built for catalogue, product pages and feed-native social. Vertical Social ## Channel-ready vertical renders. Native 9:16 stills engineered for Instagram, TikTok and paid social, alternate angles from the same hero source so the visual language stays consistent across every touchpoint. The process ## How we built it. Storyboard to delivery, the technical and creative stages that turned evolving CAD into investor-ready film. - 01Storyboarding & Narrative ### Turning complex infrastructure into a clear, investor-ready story. Before animation began, we mapped the full narrative, key messages, camera moments, and the order of information, so the film stayed focused and easy to follow. Storyboards and a simple animatic aligned stakeholders early, reduced revisions later, and ensured every shot earned its place by explaining function, scale and value with clarity. - 02CAD Clean-up & Naming ### From raw engineering data to a clean, animation-ready asset. We ingested Petalite’s CAD and rebuilt it for production, repairing topology, resolving overlaps, setting real-world scale, and establishing a clear naming and grouping system. That structure kept the project stable as designs evolved and ensured every component stayed consistent across stills, turntables and animation. - 03Lighting Rigs ### One lighting system, two worlds: pristine product and real-world context. We built flexible lighting rigs for both studio-style hero renders and lifestyle environments. Studio lighting delivered clean form and material separation, while lifestyle setups added believable reflections and atmosphere, without sacrificing legibility of key engineering details. - 04Cable Motion R&D ### Realistic cable behaviour that sells the system in seconds. Cable movement is where EV infrastructure visuals often fall apart, so we treated it as R&D, not an afterthought. We developed a dedicated motion approach for natural sag, bend radius, weight and contact, giving each shot a believable “installed” feel and making the product’s interaction points instantly understandable. - 05Delivery Formats ### Built for launch day and beyond, optimised for every channel. Final assets were delivered in web-ready and campaign-ready formats, including platform-specific cut-downs for social. We supplied clean exports for websites, decks and paid media, so Petalite could launch on schedule and repurpose the visuals across marketing touchpoints without rework. Cable Motion R&D ## Greycard passes, locking the cable behaviour. Before final lighting, every cable beat was reviewed in greycard. These technical passes let us confirm sag, weight, bend radius and contact with the client, so the final film read as a real, installed product. What challenges came up in production? ## Director’s Commentary. Timelines were tight throughout, requiring decisive collaboration at every stage of production. The charger continued to evolve during production. Assets were regularly updated to reflect the latest engineering iterations without losing project momentum. With minimal visual reference for cable behaviour, we relied on close client collaboration, iterative testing and meticulous attention to detail to land a believable result. Connor Hamilton-SmithDirector, XO3D→ Creative input > “XO3D were a fantastic team to work with. They met some aggressive time scales and produced high quality work. They understood our brief well and also gave creative input and additional ideas which were great. We’ll certainly work with them again.” Kate BeaumontPetalite EV Charging Technology Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief More case studies ## Related work. Nanuskate Cinematic product CGI for Nanuskate’s smart safety wearable, engineered visuals that turned a complex device into a clear, premium story. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony’s WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets, delivered launch-ready. View case study → ROEST Premium product film for ROEST’s sample coffee roaster, showcasing engineering precision and material finish to a specialist audience. View case study →View all case studies → Start the conversation ## Need to visualise a complex engineering product? Every conversation starts with a brief, not a quote request. We reply personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### Sony WF-C710 Launch Visuals | Case Study | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/sony-wireless-earphones-animation/ Sony · ImageNova # Sony WF-C710 launch visuals. Feature-led product animation, water-resistance VFX and colourway CGI, composited into ImageNova’s photography to give Sony a multi-channel launch kit from a single 3D source. Discuss a similar briefWatch hero film - Case Studies - Sony WF-C710 launch visuals Project at a glance ## A CGI launch kit for the WF-C710. Client ImageNova End Brand Sony Category Consumer Audio · Tech & Electronics Year 2025 Hero film ## The full hero film. The brief ## How ImageNova used VFX to help Sony launch the WF-C710. Sony needed to communicate the premium value of the WF-C710, from water resistance and material quality to colourway consistency, in a way that felt unmistakably “Sony” across launch channels. It is the kind of challenge our consumer-electronics CGI work is built around, without relying on complex live-action macro shoots. We translated those features into a high-clarity visual narrative using photoreal CGI, macro-driven product animation, and tightly controlled studio lighting rigs. The resulting launch visual system showcased water interaction, surface detail and finish accuracy with repeatable precision, so the same hero visuals could scale across web, social and retailer listings. ### What the client wanted Two short animated segments built to integrate into a full-length commercial shot by ImageNova for Sony's latest wireless earphones, plus feature-led imagery and rendered colourways composited into ImageNova's product photography. ### Why XO3D ImageNova had previously entrusted us with interactive content for Sony's web pages, so they already knew the standard of our work. The existing relationship gave them confidence that we could match the quality of their videography and the precision of Sony's visual identity. ### Where we added value CGI gave the production flexibility to showcase features that traditional macro videography struggles with, simulated water-droplet formation, controlled colourway swaps, and consistent lighting across every finish. One pipeline, every output, brand-aligned. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D produced feature-led CGI for ImageNova's Sony WF-C710 launch, covering colourways, water interaction, surface detail and product motion. - 02Why CGIPhotoreal CGI gave the production precise, repeatable control over macro detail, finish and water-resistance visuals without relying on complex live-action macro shoots. - 03What was deliveredImageNova received composited product animation and launch visuals that could scale across Sony web, social and retailer placements from the same 3D source. Services delivered ## A single CGI pipeline behind every output. ### Animation. Feature-led product animation showcasing the WF-C710 across its core selling points, water resistance, colourway range and finish quality. ### CGI. Photoreal rendering of multiple colour variants from a single 3D source, every finish lit and graded to a single visual standard. ### VFX. Simulated water-droplet formation and surface interactions that would be impractical or impossible to capture with traditional macro videography. ### Compositing. Rendered colourways composited cleanly into ImageNova's live-action product photography for retailer-ready hero imagery. The work ## Eight outputs. One creative direction. A complete set of feature-led product visuals, built from a single 3D source so every cut, colourway and angle holds the same brand standard. - 01Hero Animation ### WF-C710 floating hero, black. Macro-driven product animation of the WF-C710 in its hero black finish, controlled studio lighting, isolated form, premium material read. - 02Colourway Range ### Floating colourway sequence. A single animation framework rebuilt across every WF-C710 finish, built from one 3D source so the colour story stays visually consistent across web, social and retailer listings. - 03CGI Animation ### Colourway CGI animation. Feature-led CGI segments highlighting the breadth of the WF-C710 colour story, designed to drop into ImageNova's full-length commercial edit and product detail page modules. - 04Water Simulation ### Water resistance simulation. IPX4 water resistance communicated as a visual story, simulated droplet formation and beading effects shot at macro scale with full directional control. - 05VFX Still ### Surface and finish detail. Macro-scale stills capturing the relationship between the WF-C710 housing material and the simulated water effect, repeatable across colourways without a reshoot. - 06Product CGI ### Grey colourway, angle 01. Tightly framed CGI of the WF-C710 grey variant, built to integrate cleanly alongside ImageNova's lifestyle photography on the product detail page. - 07Product CGI ### Grey colourway, angle 02. Alternate cinematography of the grey finish, a second angle from the same lighting setup so retailer assets and editorial modules feel like the same shoot. - 08Product CGI ### Grey colourway, angle 03. A third coverage angle completing the grey-finish set, designed for editorial sequencing across pre-launch video, in-store screens and marketplace listings. Where it shipped ## A launch kit, not a single asset. The same source supported web, retail and paid-social campaign assets without breaking the visual direction. ### Pre-Launch Video. Hero animation cut for Sony's launch communications and ImageNova's full-length commercial edit. ### Product Detail Pages. Feature-led modules embedded directly in the WF-C710 product detail page, water resistance, colourway range, finish quality. ### In-Store & Retail. Looping screen content built for retail displays and point-of-sale activations. ### Retailer Listings. Marketplace and retailer-facing imagery composited into ImageNova's product photography for consistent listing presentation. Lifestyle composites ## Rendered colourways, composited into ImageNova photography. Photoreal CGI variants dropped into ImageNova’s live-action stills, a clean handshake between videography and 3D for retailer-ready hero imagery. Water resistance ## Macro detail, on demand. A controlled macro still of simulated water on the WF-C710 housing, the kind of feature shot that scales without a reshoot. IPX colourway range ## Water resistance, rendered across every finish. A parallel deck of IPX water-resistance stills covering each WF-C710 colourway, built from the same lighting rig as the hero film. This keeps the visual language consistent across product detail pages and retailer listings for a wearable and smart-device launch. Colourway library ### IPX colourway range, water resistance stills Why CGI for the WF-C710? ## Director’s Commentary. CGI gave us the flexibility to showcase features that would be difficult to capture with traditional videography, like the simulated formation of water droplets. It let us isolate key product details and present multiple colour variants with precision and consistency. The result is a visually compelling representation of the earphones that stays consistent across every launch surface, ImageNova’s commercial edit, retail screens and PDP modules. Connor Hamilton-SmithDirector, XO3D→ Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Thomas Howcroft → Producer Alex Mann → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Animation Jack Robertson → Lighting & Rendering Jack Robertson → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related case studies ## More launch-stage CGI. Nanuskate Director-led product CGI film for the Nanuskate launch, campaign suite delivered across every social cut-down. View case study → Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → ROEST CGI product film for ROEST's precision coffee roaster, material storytelling and feature animation for premium launch communications. View case study →View all case studies → Start the conversation ## Have a product launch worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### ROEST Coffee Roaster, 3D Animation & CGI Renders | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/roest-coffee-roaster-animation/ ROEST # Coffee Roaster 3D Animation & CGI Renders. Launch-ready product animation and stills explaining the P3000 roasting process, from bean loading through to cooling. Read the case studyWatch hero film - Case Studies - ROEST Coffee Roaster AnimationClientROESTIndustrySpeciality Coffee EquipmentServices3D Animation, 3D RenderingYear2025 Hero film ## The full hero film. Project brief ## Bringing a precision coffee roaster to life in CGI. A brand trusted by hundreds of speciality roasters, ROEST has carved a niche making precision-focused roasting systems for small- to mid-scale production roasteries. Their machines are highly automated, data-driven and widely acclaimed by professionals who value consistency, efficiency and flavour quality. ROEST asked us to develop a comprehensive suite of marketing visuals and Brand Motion built around the product, showcasing both the precision-engineered L100 and the award-winning P3000. The animation takes viewers through the P3000’s advanced roasting process, tracing the path of the beans from loading to cooling, with every stage revealing the roaster’s intelligent automation, precision sensors and airflow control. CGI was the ideal route: full control over lighting, angles and materials, dynamic interior shots that photography can’t reach, and the flexibility to make late-stage changes without a reshoot, ultimately positioning ROEST as a leader in next-generation roasting solutions. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created launch-ready product animation and stills for ROEST's P3000 coffee roaster. - 02Why CGICGI allowed interior camera views of bean loading, roasting and cooling, with exact control over materials, airflow storytelling and late-stage changes. - 03What was deliveredROEST received a product film and render suite explaining the P3000 process from loading through to cooling. The work ## From brand motion to the inside of the drum. Every shot below was produced from a single 3D source, giving ROEST consistent visual direction across hero stills, product film and social-cut variants. - 01Brand Motion ### Close-up logo reveal. A precision-led opening moment, pulling tight on the ROEST logo to anchor the brand before the product story unfolds. - 02Hopper ### Hopper reveal. Macro detail across the P3000 hopper, communicating engineering quality and the start of the roasting journey. - 03Hero Shot ### Coffee bean hero reveal. Cinematic hero composition placing the bean centre-frame, a sensory cue that ties the machine back to the craft. - 04Process ### Inside the drum. Animating the churning beans inside the roasting drum, a view traditional photography simply cannot capture. - 05Stills ### Product hero rendering. Studio-grade hero stills of the P3000, built for web, sales material and trade press alongside the animation. - 06Dispense ### Bean dispensing detail. A close pass on the dispensing mechanism, the kind of feature shot that lifts a spec list off the page. - 07Pour ### Beans pouring, angle one. Square-format pour shot built for social, short, looping and tactile. - 08Pour ### Beans pouring, angle two. A second angle on the same moment, giving the marketing team multiple cuts from a single 3D source. Macro detail ## Close-up renders that photography can’t reach. CGI lets us frame the bean and the drum at a level of detail that traditional product photography simply can’t, tying the engineering back to the craft. Behind the renders ## Grey-model animation tests. Before final lighting and shading, every shot is blocked out in clay-grey passes, locking timing, camera and motion before the look-dev cost kicks in. Test 01Test 02Test 03Test 04Test 05Test 06 Stills suite ## Marketing imagery delivered alongside film. P3000 still library ## A bank of hero stills for every channel. Studio-grade CGI renders of the P3000, composed for web, decks, sales material and trade press. L100 sample roaster ## A matching CGI suite for ROEST’s sample roaster. Alongside the P3000, we produced a dedicated still suite for the precision-engineered L100, built from the same pipeline so both products share one visual language across the brand. What problems arose, and how we solved them ## Artists Commentary. Midway through the project, ROEST decided the on-screen interface of the machines should be animated rather than shown as a static menu. With traditional videography that change would have meant a full re-shoot. Working in 3D, the adjustment was seamless, we updated the screen elements inside the animation files and re-rendered the affected shots. That flexibility protected the timeline while still delivering a polished, broadcast-quality result. Jack RobertsonMid-Level Artist, XO3D→ Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More CGI projects. Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills and explainer animation. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study → Nanuskate Product animation and CGI rendering for a next-generation skateboarding hardware brand. View case study →View all case studies → Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### G-Lab Keyz Hydrogen Keyboard Animation | XO3D | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/g-lab-gaming-keyboard-animation/ G-Lab # Keyz Hydrogen Gaming Keyboard Animation. A 30-second product launch animation for the G-Lab Keyz Hydrogen, a compact RGB 60% gaming keyboard. Photoreal CGI, custom sound design and a colour-rich brand story, built to convert. Discuss a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - G-Lab Keyz Hydrogen Keyboard Animation | XO3D Project at a glance ## A launch-ready animation suite, end-to-end. Client G-Lab Sector Gaming Peripherals / Consumer Tech Project Type Product Launch Animation Services 3D Animation, 3D Rendering Software Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Cloud Year 2024 Deliverables - 30-second hero launch animation with sound design - RGB lighting and customisable colour story - Mechanical key detail and ergonomic build close-ups - Multi-colourway showcase across the Keyz Hydrogen range - Size and form factor context, 60% compact layout - Cross-channel cuts for web, social and product pages Hero film ## The full hero film. The Brief ## RGB, mechanical, compact, landed in 30 seconds. G-Lab needed a 30-second animated showcase for the Keyz Hydrogen, their compact RGB 60% gaming keyboard, covering its distinctive features and colour options in a single, share-ready launch piece. The brief called for vivid visuals, modern graphic overlays and an energetic soundtrack, designed to highlight the keyboard’s sleek look, RGB lighting, quiet keys and ergonomic build, all seamlessly carrying the G-Lab brand identity. We delivered a director-led product animation with bespoke sound design, engineered to engage the audience, communicate the product story and drive viewers to explore or buy directly from the G-Lab website. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created a 30-second launch animation for G-Lab's Keyz Hydrogen compact RGB gaming keyboard. - 02Why CGICGI brought the RGB lighting, quiet keys, ergonomic form and colour options together in one controlled visual sequence with bespoke sound design. - 03What was deliveredG-Lab received a hero film and cross-channel cuts for web, social and product pages. The Work ## From hero film to macro detail, one pipeline. A full CGI library: a cinematic 30-second hero film, RGB lighting sequences, exploded mechanical views, macro details and a colourway montage, all produced from the same production-ready 3D product model for total visual consistency. - 01Hero Film ### A 30-second launch piece, built to convert. The headline animation pairs photoreal CGI with energetic motion graphics and a custom soundtrack, engineered to land the Keyz Hydrogen brand story in under thirty seconds and drive viewers straight to the product page. - 02RGB Lighting ### RGB lighting, brought to life in CGI. Per-key RGB lighting is the headline feature, and physical product photography struggles to communicate it. CGI lets us hit every colour, every animation pattern, every reflection precisely the way the marketing team needs. - 03Exploded View ### Mechanical design, made obvious. An exploded escape-key sequence dismantles the switch stack on-screen, making the mechanical engineering tangible to a consumer audience that values build quality but rarely sees inside a keyboard. - 04Macro Detail ### Macro close-ups that sell the build. A precision macro pass on the membrane and key construction, communicating the quiet keystroke, premium materials and tolerances that justify the price point against budget competitors. - 05Colourways ### Every colourway, one pipeline. A rapid colour-flick montage shows the full Keyz Hydrogen range, white, black, blue, grey and the orange accent variant, without staging a multi-day product shoot. One CGI source, every SKU, ready in hours. - 06Form Factor ### 60% layout, communicated at a glance. The Keyz Hydrogen is a compact 60% keyboard. A size-comparison sequence puts that form factor in context against a full-size board, answering the first question every gaming buyer asks before they hit add to cart. Marketing-Ready Assets ## 4K stills for product pages, paid and decks. A library of 4K product renders covering every colourway in the Keyz Hydrogen range, drop-in ready for the product page, Amazon listing, paid social and retail partner assets. Attention to detail ## Macro close-ups across every colourway. High-resolution macro renders showcase the per-key RGB, the mechanical switch detail and the accent colour treatments that distinguish the Keyz Hydrogen range. What challenges were there during production? ## Artists Commentary. Composing a soundtrack for a finished animation is its own discipline, the music has to sync to the visuals, support the emotional beats and never overshadow the product story. We solved this through close, iterative collaboration between the animation team and the composer, locking timings, sweetening transitions and tuning sound design to the per-key RGB and mechanical motion. The result is a 30-second piece where audio and visuals reinforce each other beat-for-beat, landing the Keyz Hydrogen brand identity in a single, cohesive launch asset. Gulliver TickellSound Designer→ Motion Detail ## Macro animation passes, RGB, type feel and brand. Beyond the headline film, a set of focused motion passes isolates the details that matter most to a gaming audience, the typing feel, the RGB lighting, the brand logo treatment and the alternate colourway story. Colourway Story ## Every SKU, side by side. A composite 4-grid frame and the final colour-flick animation, side by side, showing how the same CGI source delivered every colourway in the Keyz Hydrogen range without re-shooting a single product. Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Alex Mann → Producer Thomas Howcroft → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → Lighting & Rendering Jack Robertson → Sound Design Gulliver Tickell → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More from the studio. Nanuskate Pre-launch CGI suite for a modular skate ramp system, hero film, square cuts, vertical social and engineering-led greycards. View case study → Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study →View all case studies → Work with us ## Premium product CGI, built around your launch. Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief → ### Hand Dryer Animations | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/airdri-hand-dryer-cgi/ Airdri # Hand Dryer Animations. A CGI content suite for Airdri, white box product stills, creative lifestyle renders and explainer animations covering maintenance and airflow, all built to slot straight into the brand’s ecommerce and marketing system. Discuss a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - Hand Dryer Animations Project at a glance ## A flexible CGI library for hand dryers. Client Airdri Sector Hand Dryers / Commercial Washroom Project Type Product CGI & Explainer Suite Services 3D Animation, 3D Product Rendering Software Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Cloud Year 2024 Deliverables - White box product images for ecommerce and spec sheets - Creative lifestyle stills across multiple environments - Product explainer videos for maintenance and airflow - Transparent PNG cut-outs for flexible marketing use - Multi-angle product CGI for web and print - Website mockup visuals for the Airdri product pages Hero film ## The full hero film. The Brief ## Showcase the product, flexibly, across every environment. Airdri needed a content set that could carry this industrial product across every product page and campaign, with white box images, lifestyle stills in different environments and explainer videos showing maintenance and airflow. Photography alone couldn’t deliver the flexibility they needed. The product had to be placed in restrooms, commercial spaces and hospitality interiors, without physical shoots, and with consistent lighting across every cut. We built a CGI library covering the full set: airflow explainers, multi-angle product stills, transparent cut-outs and lifestyle renders. Every asset shares the same lighting language so the brand stays consistent everywhere it appears. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created a CGI content suite for Airdri's hand dryers, including white-box product stills, lifestyle renders and maintenance and airflow explainers. - 02Why CGICGI let the same product appear across commercial, hospitality and washroom settings without separate physical shoots, while keeping the lighting and finish consistent. - 03What was deliveredAirdri received multi-angle stills, transparent cut-outs, lifestyle scenes and explainer animation from one coordinated visual pipeline. The Work ## From airflow to in-context, one pipeline. A complete CGI suite, airflow explainers, hero loops, multi-angle product cuts and website-context mockups, produced from a single 3D source for total visual consistency. - 01Airflow Explainer ### How the dryer works, made visible. A CGI airflow sequence reveals what photography can’t, the internal path of air through the dryer. Used on product pages and across sales material to communicate engineering quality at a glance. - 02Hero Reveal ### A clean front-on hero loop. A pristine front-on product turn, the kind of headline asset Airdri can drop into any product page, deck or campaign without rework. Brand-led lighting keeps the visual language consistent across the catalogue. - 03Angled Product Cut ### A three-quarter cut for context. A subtle 1x zoom on the front-angled view, designed to communicate scale and form for use in feature blocks, hero modules and lifestyle slots across the Airdri website. - 04In Context ### Built for the Airdri product pages. A website-context mockup showing how the CGI library performs in production. Every asset was developed to slot directly into Airdri’s ecommerce and marketing system, no last-mile design rework needed. Lifestyle Renders ## Warm interiors, beige and brown variations. Photoreal lifestyle stills placing the dryer inside hospitality-style washroom interiors. Used on the Airdri product pages to communicate scale, context and finish. Environment Variations ## Cool interiors, green palette variations. A second environment palette built from the same CGI source, proving how quickly a single 3D pipeline can flex to fit different brand and retail contexts. Product Stills ## Multi-angle CGI for ecommerce. A library of clean, neutral product cuts, front, perspective bottom, left and right, built for product pages, spec sheets and marketing collateral. What challenges were there during production? ## Artists Commentary. Integrating the hand dryers into varied lifestyle environments meant matching lighting, textures and context to each setting so the CGI felt photographed, not rendered. We used high-resolution textures and advanced lighting techniques to keep the product grounded in every scene, from clean commercial washrooms to warmer hospitality interiors. Researching real-world installation setups gave us the reference needed to build authentic lifestyle renders, and a CGI library Airdri can keep reusing across product pages and campaigns. Jack RobertsonMid-Level Artist→ Behind the Scenes ## Grey to render, locking the look. Every lifestyle frame was reviewed in greycard before final lighting, letting us confirm composition, scale and product placement with the client before committing to final renders. Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Alex Mann → Producer Thomas Howcroft → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Animation Jack Robertson → Lighting & Rendering Jack Robertson → 3D Modelling Joseph Cletus → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More from the studio. Nanuskate Pre-launch CGI suite for a modular skate ramp system, hero films, square cuts, vertical social and engineering-led greycards from one pipeline. View case study → Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study →View all case studies → Work with us ## Premium product CGI, built around your launch. Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief ### Highlighting New Smart Locker Features | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/bloq-smart-locker-animations-renders/ Bloq.it # Highlighting New Smart Locker Features. How XO3D launched Bloq.it’s next-generation smart locker with 10 photoreal CGI renders and a 60-second product animation, built to land on the tech show floor and the website on the same day. Discuss a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - Highlighting New Smart Locker Features Project at a glance ## A tech-show launch suite, end-to-end. Client Bloq.it Sector Smart Locker / Industrial & Engineering Project Type Technical Product Launch Services Product Animation, CGI Software Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Cloud Year 2024 Deliverables - 10 photoreal CGI renders, multi-angle product library - 60-second hero product animation for tech show launch - Feature-led close-ups: vault, battery, screen, halo - Lifestyle environments, interior and exterior context - Trade-show ready hero content - Paid social and website hero cuts Hero film ## The full hero film. The Brief ## A next-gen smart locker, ready for the show floor in weeks. Bloq.it needed to showcase the advanced capabilities and user-friendly design of their smart locker system ahead of a major tech show, with a turnaround photography couldn’t hit and a feature set traditional studios couldn’t capture in time. The brief was clear: 10 high-detail CGI visuals at multiple angles, plus a 60-second animation showcasing functionality, sleek industrial design and the platform’s intuitive user experience. We translated the product into a precise CGI library, with photoreal materials, cinematic lighting and modular vault sequences, so the same source assets could land as trade-show CGI, the website hero and paid social inside a single launch window. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created 10 photoreal renders and a 60-second product animation for Bloq.it's next-generation smart locker. - 02Why CGIThe fixed tech-show deadline was too short for a conventional product shoot, and CGI could show the new functions and industrial design from every required angle. - 03What was deliveredBloq.it received a show-ready hero animation, product close-ups, form-factor views and website launch renders. The Work ## From hero film to feature close-ups, one CGI pipeline. A complete launch library: a 60-second hero animation, side and orbit cuts, modular vault sequences and feature-led close-ups, all produced from the same 3D source for total visual consistency. - 01Hero Animation ### A 60-second film built for the tech show floor. The headline animation brings the smart locker to life, front-on, screen active, materials reading true. Cinematic lighting and precise modelling give Bloq.it a presentation-grade asset that landed on the show stand and the homepage on the same day. - 02Side Profile ### Sleek industrial design, every angle. A side-profile cut highlights the slim chassis, panel breaks and screen integration, answering the questions visitors ask when they walk around the unit in real life. - 03Vault Replace ### Modular vault swap, explained in motion. A focused mechanical sequence shows the vault being removed and replaced, communicating the modular service architecture that makes Bloq.it field-serviceable at scale. - 04Access ### Smooth, considered, premium. A close-in animation of the vault sliding in and out, the kind of micro-interaction shot that signals build quality and engineering confidence to operators evaluating the platform. - 05Hero Orbit ### A full orbit for paid social and web. A corner-to-corner orbit packaged for paid social and product-page hero loops, same source assets, same lighting language, ready to drop into any channel without rework. Lifestyle Environments ## Interior, exterior, every condition. Photoreal CGI environments place the locker in the contexts operators actually deploy it, interior retail, exterior streetscape, even a snow day, without a single shoot day. Render Library ## 10 photoreal renders, every angle, every story. A multi-angle library covering hero, lifestyle, top-down, low-angle, towers, screen and drawer states, drop-in ready for the website, the show stand and the sales deck. Feature Close-Ups ## Battery system, in detail. A tight set of feature renders covering the battery-and-screen front face, low-angle battery closeup and battery replacement state, built to answer the questions operators ask about field serviceability. Animation Library ## Additional motion cuts for every channel. A second-pass library of motion variants, alternative screen-front cuts and vault front-slide sequences, produced from the same CGI source so the visual language stays consistent across web, social and decks. What challenges were there during production? ## Directors Commentary. The client faced the challenge of a very short deadline for their tech show presentation. We kept the timeline achievable through clear communication and focused feedback loops with the Bloq.it team, then built the CGI imagery and marketing animation around the locker's feature set and sleek design. Connor Hamilton-SmithDirector→ The deliverable ## A full product render library, built once, used everywhere. Beyond the launch animations, XO3D produced a complete static asset library for the Bloq.it Smart Locker, lifestyle composites, feature close-ups (touchscreen, battery system, halo indicator, base detail), system views (drawers open, towers, low-angle) and multi-device marketing assets. Every static is rendered from the same CGI pipeline as the animations so Bloq.it’s marketing channels stay visually locked. In-the-wild renders ### Lifestyle composites Detail renders ### Feature close-ups Form factor library ### System views Multi-device assets ### Marketing channels Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Alex Mann → Producer Thomas Howcroft → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Animation Connor Hamilton-Smith → Lighting & Rendering Connor Hamilton-Smith → Lighting & Rendering Sam Weald → 3D Modelling Joseph Cletus → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More from the studio. Nanuskate Pre-launch CGI suite for a modular skate ramp, hero film, vertical social cuts and engineering-led greycard passes from a single pipeline. View case study → Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study →View all case studies → Work with us ## Consistent product imagery for every platform. Start the conversation ## Launching a product soon? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief → ### Automist Fire Suppression System | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/plumis-automist-interior-vfx-animation/ Plumis # Automist Fire Suppression System. How CGI, VFX and 3D animation transformed marketing for Plumis’s revolutionary indoor fire suppression system, photoreal interiors, exploded technical animation and simulation-grade smoke, fire and water. Discuss a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - Automist Fire Suppression System Project at a glance ## A complete launch CGI suite, end-to-end. Client Plumis Sector Fire Safety / Building Technology Project Type Product Launch & Marketing CGI Services 3D Animation, 3D Rendering, VFX Software Cinema 4D, Houdini, Adobe Creative Cloud Year 2024 Deliverables - Photoreal interior scenes across four room types - Multiple colourway variants per room, no studio rebuilds - Exploded technical animation of the sprinkler head - VFX smoke, fire and water simulation passes - Infrared overlay animation for pipe-routing visibility - Brochure, laptop and desktop mockups for marketing rollout Hero film ## The full hero film. The Brief ## A revolutionary product, marketed in a way photography couldn’t reach. Plumis approached us to help launch Automist, a sprinkler head innovation in a space that hadn’t moved in decades. The challenge: communicate sophisticated engineering, real-world performance and home-ready aesthetics in marketing that would land with specifiers, installers and homeowners alike. They needed photoreal interiors, exploded Technical CGI and simulation-grade VFX of smoke, fire and water, across multiple room types and colourways, without studio rentals, set builds or destructive testing. We delivered an end-to-end CGI suite through a pre-manufacture visualisation workflow: four interior environments, multiple colour variants per room, an exploded sprinkler-head animation, infrared overlay sequences and Houdini-driven VFX, all assembled inside one consistent visual language for web, decks, social and print. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D created a CGI and VFX launch system for Plumis's Automist fire-suppression product, combining photoreal interiors, technical animation and simulated smoke, fire and water. - 02Why CGICGI could place the product across multiple room types and explain its internal engineering without repeated set builds, studio rentals or destructive physical tests. - 03What was deliveredPlumis received interior stills, exploded technical sequences, colourway coverage and simulation-led animation for specifier, installer and homeowner marketing. The Work ## From exploded technical to room-ready interiors. A complete CGI library: technical explainers, infrared overlays, simulation VFX and marketing mockups, every asset built from the same 3D source for total visual consistency. - 01Exploded Animation ### Inside the sprinkler head, without disassembly. A precision exploded animation reveals the inner workings of the Automist nozzle, every component, sequenced and labelled. Built for web, socials and trade-show looping so prospects and specifiers can grasp the engineering at a glance. - 02Infrared Overlay ### Pipework, made visible. An infrared overlay sequence shows how Automist connects through a property, pipes, valves and head positions revealed inside a real interior. The kind of explainer that turns specifiers from curious to convinced. - 03Smoke & Fire VFX ### Simulation-grade smoke, fire and water. Houdini-driven VFX sequences show how Automist responds to a real-world fire event, water atomisation, smoke behaviour and suppression timing. A 2D motion-graphic cut keeps the science legible for non-technical audiences. - 04Marketing Rollout ### One pipeline, every channel. Web, paid social, decks and product brochures, every touchpoint built from the same CGI source. A laptop mockup sequence pulls the simulation into a credible launch context for stakeholder and investor materials. Marketing-Ready Assets ## Photoreal interiors, every room, every colourway. Four interior environments, living room, kitchen, cabin and dining room, each delivered in four colourways. Sixteen photoreal stills in total, no studio rentals or set rebuilds. Drop-in ready for product pages, paid social and trade collateral. What challenges were there during production? ## Artists Commentary. The client initially knew the outcome they wanted but not the specifics, so the brief evolved through several rounds of creative consultation. Smoke, fire and water simulation each carried their own technical risk, and every interior had to feel like a real home rather than a CGI set. We built a clean greycard pipeline so the client could approve composition and motion before the heavy simulation passes, keeping the project on time and on budget. Jack RobertsonMid-Level Artist→ Process ## Greycard previews, locking composition before VFX. Before any simulation work, every interior was reviewed in greycard. These technical passes let us confirm framing, lighting and motion timing with the client, so the heavy smoke, fire and water sims only ran on approved shots. Behind the Scenes ## One pipeline, every deliverable. Every shot was built inside one CGI pipeline, same models, same lighting language, same materials. The result is a library Plumis can reuse across web, brochure, social and trade decks without rework. Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Alex Mann → Producer Thomas Howcroft → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Animation Jack Robertson → VFX & Simulation Jack Robertson → Lighting & Rendering Jack Robertson → 3D Modelling Joseph Cletus → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More from the studio. Nanuskate Pre-launch CGI suite for a modular skate ramp system, hero film, vertical social cuts and engineering-led explainer animation. View case study → Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study →View all case studies → Work with us ## Premium product CGI, built around your launch. Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief → ### Rollink Flex 360° Collapsible Suitcase | XO3D Case Study Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/case-studies/rollink-flex-360/ Rollink # Flex 360° Collapsible Suitcase. How CGI launched the world’s slimmest collapsible carry-on before production wrapped, a full marketing suite of animation, instructional explainers and e-commerce stills across four sizes and eight colourways. Discuss a similar projectWatch hero film - Case Studies - Rollink Flex 360° Collapsible Suitcase Project at a glance ## A full pre-launch CGI suite, end-to-end. Client Rollink Sector Travel / Premium Consumer Luggage Project Type Pre-Launch Marketing Suite Services 3D Animation, 3D Rendering, Product Interactives Software 3DS Max, TyFlow, Adobe Creative Cloud Year 2023 Deliverables - Collapsible mechanism, accurate fabric collapse via TyFlow R&D - Marketing hero film and reveal animation - Step-by-step instructional / how-to animation - E-commerce SKU stills across 4 sizes and 8 colourways - TSA lock close-up sequences per colourway - Product interactive for the Rollink site Hero film ## The full hero film. The Brief ## A complex product, still in development, launch date already set. Rollink approached XO3D with the world’s slimmest collapsible carry-on, a product so mechanically complex that traditional photography couldn’t capture it, especially while the unit was still being engineered. They needed assets that could kick-start launch marketing, win retail partners and explain the collapse mechanism to first-time customers, all before manufacturing was finished. Previous 3D vendors hadn’t hit the visual bar. We translated the Flex 360 into a complete CGI marketing suite: a cinematic hero film, a step-by-step instructional explainer, e-commerce stills across four sizes and eight colourways, plus a product interactive embedded on the Rollink site. Project answer ## Why use CGI for this project? - 01What we madeXO3D built the launch CGI system for Rollink's Flex 360 collapsible suitcase across four sizes and eight colourways. - 02Why CGIThe collapse mechanism was difficult to capture physically and manufacturing was still finishing, so CGI could explain the product and launch it before final units were ready. - 03What was deliveredRollink received a cinematic hero animation, instructional explainers and ecommerce stills for launch and retail outreach. The Work ## From hero film to instructional explainer. A complete CGI library: cinematic hero animations, close-up mechanism reveals, instructional how-to content and e-commerce stills, all produced from the same 3D source for visual consistency. - 01Marketing Film ### A headline film that sold the product before launch. Rollink came to us with a product still in development and a need to generate buzz fast. We built a cinematic marketing animation that captured the Flex 360 collapsible mechanic, premium finish and travel-ready DNA, content the in-house team could push into paid social, retail decks and the launch page on day one. - 02Collapse Mechanic ### The hardest shot, a fabric centre that actually collapses. The middle section of the Flex 360 collapses entirely. Photoreal CGI on that motion required weeks of R&D in 3DS Max and TyFlow, working with baked alembics so the fabric behaved correctly across every frame. The result is a close-up sequence that explains the product in two seconds, no narration needed. - 03Instructional ### A how-to animation that doubles as after-sales support. A clear, step-by-step explainer showing how the Flex 360 opens, packs and collapses. Rollink uses this asset on product pages and inside their customer support flow, reducing the “how does it work?” questions and lifting customer satisfaction post-purchase. - 04Reveal ### A brand reveal cut for top-of-funnel campaigns. A high-energy reveal animation designed for paid social, retail digital screens and the Rollink launch page. Lighting and lensing match the rest of the suite, so the visual language stays consistent everywhere the brand shows up. Eight colourways ## One product, eight finishes, one CGI source. Each Flex 360 colourway was lit, shaded and rendered from the same master scene, so swatch swaps don’t introduce visual drift across the SKU library. Pick a finish to preview it. Colour: Aquifer Marketing-Ready Assets ## Product moments for web, social and retail. A library of square and 16:9 cuts produced from the same CGI source, drop-in ready for product pages, paid social and retail partner materials. Macro detail ## TSA lock close-ups, every finish. A library of macro detail sequences across each colourway, designed so retail partners and Amazon listings could showcase the security hardware up close, with material accuracy on every finish. 29″ Expansion ## Expansion explained, every colourway. Per-colourway expansion sequences for the 29″ checked size, produced once at the master scene and then re-rendered per finish, so every SKU page gets a matching motion asset. Motion library ## Additional sequences, expanding, group shots, greycard passes. The deliverable ## A full product render library, built once, used everywhere. Beyond the launch films, XO3D produced a complete static asset library for the Rollink Flex 360, 9 perspective colourways, 8 transparent configurator renders, in-the-wild lifestyle shots (IG, billboard, website, product configurator preview), sizes comparison views and technical close-ups. Every asset is consistent with the hero animations so Rollink’s marketing channels stay visually locked. Colourway library ### Perspective renders, 9 colourways Configurator assets ### Suitcase transparent renders, 8 colourways Lifestyle assets ### Marketing channels, in the wild Technical assets ### Product detail + sizing What challenges were there during production? ## Artists Commentary. The Flex 360 has a fully collapsible fabric centre, a level of complexity that no off-the-shelf cloth simulation could solve cleanly. We spent weeks in R&D across multiple packages before landing on 3DS Max with TyFlow, which gave us the control and fidelity the product deserved. Baked alembic geometry let us push the most complex animation steps through final lighting without breaking the deformation, and the pipeline we built here now serves any future fabric-based product brief. Jack RobertsonMid-Level Artist→ Client Review > We just finished our first project with them, and the result exceeded expectations. OritRollink Travel Credits ## The team behind the work. Creative Director Alex Mann → Producer Thomas Howcroft → Director Connor Hamilton-Smith → 3D Animation Jack Robertson → Lighting & Rendering Jack Robertson → 3D Modelling Joseph Cletus → Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Planning your own launch? Size the budget and build the brief for your project with the XO3D Labs tools. Estimate your launch budget→ - Build your CGI brief Related work ## More from the studio. Nanuskate Pre-launch CGI animation for a modular skate ramp, hero film, vertical social cuts and engineering-grade explainer sequences. View case study → Petalite Engineering-grade CGI for EV charging infrastructure, hero stills, explainer animation and stakeholder-ready visual content. View case study → Sony Multi-channel CGI suite for Sony's WF-C710 launch, animation, lifestyle compositing and product page assets. View case study →View all case studies → Start the conversation ## Have a product worth showing? Let’s talk about what it needs to do. We reply to every brief personally, usually within one working day. Discuss your brief --- ## Use cases ### CGI Before Manufacturing: Launch Visuals Before Your Product Exists - XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/use-cases/pre-manufacture-visualisation/ XO3D Studio · Use Case # Product CGI Before Manufacturing Begins. You don't need a finished product to have launch-ready visuals. You need engineering files and a studio that knows how to work with them. Discuss your launch →See the Plumis case study → The most common product launch problem XO3D solves is this: a brand has a fixed launch date, a product in final development, and no physical product to photograph. The traditional solution, waiting for manufacturing to complete and then commissioning photography, means launching with temporary imagery, or delaying the date. CGI has no dependency on a physical product. Provided engineering files exist, CAD models, technical drawings, material specifications, XO3D can produce launch-quality imagery without waiting for photography of the finished product. The AUAR MicroFactory, Petalite EV charger and Plumis launch work were developed while the product story still depended on engineering source rather than a finished production sample. The core capability: XO3D works from STEP, IGES, SolidWorks or equivalent CAD files plus associated material and finish specifications to build a production-ready product model that is dimensionally accurate to the engineering intent. Technical CGI carries that approved source into mechanism, assembly and accuracy-led communication; a launch visual system carries it across the final campaign. Pre-production approval includes engineering team sign-off before any final rendering begins. How it works ## Pre-manufacture CGI from brief to delivery. - 1Stage 01 ### File review and NDA XO3D signs NDA before reviewing any technical files. We review your CAD data, engineering drawings, and material specifications and identify what's available, what's missing, and what assumptions may need to be made. We report back clearly on what the CGI can and cannot accurately represent at the current stage of engineering data. - 2Stage 02 ### Model build from engineering data We build the 3D model from your CAD files to engineering-accurate tolerances. Where CAD data is incomplete or at concept stage, we work with your engineering team directly to fill the gaps correctly rather than making visual approximations that would misrepresent the product. - 3Stage 03 ### Engineering team model review Before any materials, lighting or animation are added, your engineering team reviews the 3D model. This is the most important quality gate in pre-manufacture CGI, it ensures the visual foundation is accurate before visual production begins. - 4Stage 04 ### Visual production with parallel engineering updates For products in active development, XO3D maintains a version-controlled model that can be updated as design changes occur during production. We build processes around change management rather than treating design updates as exceptions. - 5Stage 05 ### Launch-ready delivery before manufacturing completes Final delivery includes all agreed outputs, hero film, stills, social formats, interactive viewer, plus documentation of what the CGI accurately represents versus what is interpretive for visual clarity. This transparency protects all parties if design changes occur between CGI delivery and manufacturing completion.Produced from CAD data before manufacturing was complete. Who uses pre-manufacture CGI ## The brands that commission this most often. Start-ups & Scale-ups ### Launching physical products pre-series production Hardware start-ups with a fixed launch date need imagery for crowdfunding pages, press coverage, investor materials, and pre-order campaigns before the manufacturing run completes. CGI from CAD data is the only viable approach. Industrial & Engineering Brands ### Pre-launch investor and trade show content Complex products with long manufacturing cycles, EV infrastructure, precision machinery, industrial automation systems, need visual content for investor roadshows and trade shows that precede physical product availability by months or years. Medical Device Manufacturers ### Pre-approval market preparation Medical devices in regulatory approval stages can be visualised from technical files, allowing market-facing communications, distributor materials, and clinical sales collateral to be prepared before device approval completes. Consumer Electronics ### Production-aligned launch campaigns Consumer electronics brands on tight production and launch timelines commission CGI in parallel with final manufacturing, so that campaign assets are ready on day one of product availability, not three months later. FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What if the product design changes after CGI production begins?Design changes during production are common on pre-manufacture projects. XO3D manages this through version control on the 3D model and a structured change-request process. Minor design updates, surface geometry changes, component size adjustments, colourway additions, can typically be incorporated efficiently. Fundamental structural changes require a revised scope conversation. We surface change impacts immediately and honestly, never retrospectively.How accurate can pre-manufacture CGI be?With complete, current CAD data and detailed material specifications, pre-manufacture CGI can be indistinguishable from photography of the finished product. The accuracy depends on the quality of the engineering data provided. XO3D documents the assumptions made in production, so if the manufactured product differs from the CGI, the differences are understood and can be managed at re-render cost.Do you sign NDAs before reviewing technical files?Yes, always. XO3D signs NDA before reviewing any engineering data, CAD files, or pre-launch product specifications as standard. We are happy to sign your specific NDA, or to use our standard confidentiality agreement if preferred. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Prepare your brief before manufacture Get CAD and specifications ready for production with the brief tools. Build your CGI brief→ Start the conversation ## Launching before manufacturing completes? Tell us about the product, what stage development is at, and when you launch. We'll tell you what's possible. Discuss your launch ### CGI for Investor Presentations and Pitch Decks - XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/use-cases/investor-presentations/ XO3D Studio · Use Case # CGI for Investor Presentations. Making investors understand, and believe in, a product before it exists physically. Discuss your investor brief → Investors and institutional stakeholders make decisions partly on technical merit and partly on their visceral response to whether a product feels credible and significant. CGI that looks like a render, flat, generic, unconvincing, undermines the credibility of the engineering brief it's meant to support. CGI that looks like a photograph of a product that already exists communicates something fundamentally different: this is real, this is ready, this is worth backing. XO3D has produced investor-grade product CGI for technology companies at pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, as well as for established industrial brands preparing major investor roadshows. The most prominent example is Automated Architecture's Robotic MicroFactory, an autonomous modular construction system XO3D visualised entirely from CAD data, which went on to support the company's investor presentations and commercial rollout. What investor CGI looks like ## How investor-grade visuals differ from standard marketing CGI. Technical Credibility ### Accuracy that satisfies engineers and analysts Investor audiences often include technical advisors and due diligence teams who will review imagery for dimensional accuracy and engineering plausibility. Investor CGI must be produced to a standard that passes this scrutiny, which means engineering team review is not optional. Scale Communication ### Making the product feel real and significant Investor CGI frequently shows products at a scale and in an environment that communicates their commercial significance, installed infrastructure rather than isolated product shots, operational contexts rather than studio backgrounds. This is a different brief to consumer marketing CGI. Mechanism Comprehension ### Explaining complex technology clearly Mechanism animations that show how a technology works are a core investor CGI deliverable. The animation must be technically correct, but it must also be comprehensible to a non-technical institutional investor without oversimplifying to the point of misrepresentation. Pre-Manufacture Production ### Ready before manufacturing begins Most investor CGI briefs involve products that don't exist physically. XO3D's pre-manufacture capability, working from CAD data and engineering specifications, is the enabling technology for this use case. Full detail on the pre-manufacture process is available in the use case page linked below. Featured work Case Study · Investor Roadshow ### Automated Architecture Robotic MicroFactory XO3D produced the complete visual suite for Automated Architecture's investor roadshow, 1 Marketing animation, 4 Functionality GIFs, 6 Lifestyle stills, and 19 Studio renders. Created from CAD and engineering data before the product was fully operational, the visuals enabled investors to experience the technology, production process, and market opportunity long before launch. The assets were used throughout investor presentations and fundraising activities to support the company's growth strategy. - Pre-Manufacture - 12-Country Roadshow - Engineering Films - Mechanism Animation FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What format are investor CGI deliverables in?Standard investor CGI deliverables from XO3D include: hero stills at 4K–8K resolution (TIFF and JPEG), mechanism animation films at 4K (ProRes and H.264), and presentation-ready versions optimised for PowerPoint and Keynote. For roadshow productions, we also deliver 16:9 loop animations optimised for presentation screen playback, and can produce 4:3 versions for older presentation formats on request.Can investor CGI later be repurposed for marketing?Yes, this is one of the key arguments for investing properly in investor CGI. The 3D asset built for an investor roadshow is the same asset that produces a product launch film, a website hero, and a social campaign suite. Brands that invest in investor-grade CGI early recover the cost across multiple subsequent uses of the same asset.How quickly can you produce investor CGI for an imminent fundraise?With complete CAD data and a clear brief, XO3D can produce a presentation-ready still suite in 2–3 weeks and mechanism animations in 4–5 weeks. If your timeline is shorter than this, tell us the date and what you have, we'll tell you honestly what's achievable and at what quality level. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Build the numbers behind the visuals Plan the assets an investor story needs with the budget tools. Estimate your campaign asset budget→ Start the conversation ## Preparing for a fundraise or investor roadshow? Tell us about the product, when the roadshow is, and what technical data you have. We'll tell you what's possible. Discuss your investor brief ### CGI for Crowdfunding: Kickstarter & Indiegogo - XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/use-cases/crowdfunding-cgi/ XO3D Studio · Use Case # CGI for Crowdfunding Campaigns. Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns need launch-quality product imagery before manufacturing begins. CGI from your CAD files is the only way to get it. Discuss your campaign →See pre-manufacture work → Successful crowdfunding campaigns are won or lost in the first few seconds of a campaign video or page image. Backers make instinctive decisions based on visual quality: does this look like a real product from a credible team, or does it look like a concept that may never ship? CGI produced from CAD files and engineering specifications produces campaign-quality imagery that makes a pre-manufacture product look as credible as a finished one, because the imagery is as precise as the engineering intent behind it. The crowdfunding case for CGI: Photoreal product imagery can help a campaign explain a product before manufacturing is complete. Backers still need accurate specifications, transparent production status and credible proof. CGI should clarify the intended product, never imply that a prototype or finished unit exists when it does not. What's included ## What a crowdfunding CGI package includes. Hero Campaign Imagery ### The image that wins the click One to three hero product renders at the quality level of a finished product photography campaign. The images that appear as the campaign thumbnail and hero, the images that determine whether a potential backer clicks through. Campaign Film ### 30–60 second product film A directed product film showing the product's design, features, and key selling points. Embedded in the campaign page and shared across social channels to drive traffic. Produced before the physical product exists. Feature Callout Images ### Showing the product's detail Individual renders showing specific product features, mechanism, materials, dimensions, key selling points, used in the campaign page body to communicate product quality to interested backers. Social Campaign Content ### Pre-launch and launch social Social format content for pre-launch audience building and launch day promotion, 9:16 product teasers, 1:1 detail shots, animated product reveals. All from the same CGI build as the campaign imagery. FAQ ## Common questions, answered. What do I need to have in place before approaching XO3D for a crowdfunding project?At minimum: CAD files or detailed technical drawings of the product, a clear understanding of the product's key features and selling points, and your campaign launch date. We can begin from early-stage CAD, we don't need production-ready files. The earlier we're involved in a crowdfunding timeline, the more we can contribute to the visual strategy of the campaign, not just the execution.Can XO3D work to crowdfunding launch deadlines?Yes, crowdfunding projects typically have fixed launch dates determined by campaign platform scheduling. XO3D builds the production schedule backwards from the launch date and tells you at brief stage what's achievable within the timeline. We will always tell you honestly if a timeline is too compressed for the quality level you need. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your campaign before you launch Size the budget and list the assets a campaign needs with the planning tools. Estimate your campaign asset budget→ - Plan your launch asset list Planning a crowdfunding campaign? ## Tell us about the product, your launch date, and what your CAD data situation is. We'll tell you what's achievable, and what it takes to win. Discuss your campaign ### Product CGI for Trade Shows & Exhibitions | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/use-cases/cgi-for-trade-shows/ XO3D Studio · Use Case # CGI for Trade Shows & Exhibitions. 4K content for exhibition screens, hero renders for stand graphics, and mechanism films for sales demonstrations, all from the same build as your launch campaign. Discuss your trade show brief → Trade show content has two requirements that CGI serves particularly well: extreme resolution for large-format displays, and the ability to show products that may not yet exist physically. Exhibition screens can be 3–4 metres wide. A 4K render from XO3D's pipeline can be printed at any format without loss. And for brands bringing a new product to its first trade show before manufacturing is complete, CGI is the only way to show it at scale. Screen Content ### 4K loops for exhibition displays Seamlessly looping 4K product animations for exhibition screens and digital signage, showing the product rotating, the mechanism operating, or the brand's visual language in motion. 20–60 second loops optimised for display screen playback. Stand Graphics ### Any resolution, any format Hero renders from XO3D's pipeline scale to any print format without quality loss, from a business card to a 6-metre backdrop. The same render used for a press kit produces a trade show banner without reshooting. Sales Demo Films ### Mechanism explainers for the stand Short mechanism animations (30–90 seconds) that show how a product works, used for interactive demo screens and sales presentations at trade show stands. Particularly valuable for complex technical products where the mechanism is the sales story. Pre-Manufacture Products ### Showing what doesn't exist yet For brands bringing a product to its first trade show before manufacturing is complete, CGI from CAD files is the only option. XO3D has produced trade show content for pre-manufacture products across EV, medical, and industrial categories. What makes trade show CGI different ## Resolution, durability, and pre-manufacture, the three trade show advantages. Trade show imagery has to work at scales photography never encounters. A 6-metre backdrop printed from a photography file typically shows grain at close inspection. A 6-metre backdrop printed from an XO3D 4K render is sharp at any viewing distance, because CGI has no resolution ceiling. The file scales up without degrading because the geometry, materials and lighting are mathematical constructs, not captured pixels. The second advantage is pre-manufacture. Petalite's 1MW EV charger was shown at trade shows before the physical product existed. The imagery was indistinguishable from photography of the finished product. For brands with long manufacturing timelines and fixed trade show commitments, this is the only viable production approach. Trade Show DeliverableTypical SpecFrom CGIFull-height display print2–6 metres tall, 300dpi required4K render scales without grainLooping screen content4K, 20–60 seconds, seamless loopNative CGI animation outputSales demo presentationHigh-res stills + mechanism animationFrom same asset as screen contentPre-manufacture productPhotoreal, engineer-accurateXO3D's core pre-manufacture capability FAQ ## Common questions, answered. How long does trade show CGI take to produce?For brands with an existing 3D asset from a previous XO3D project, new trade show content (looping screen animation + stand print graphics) can be produced in 2–3 weeks. For brands commissioning from scratch, a standard trade show package, screen loop, mechanism film, and print graphics, takes 4–6 weeks from CAD file receipt to delivery. We always build the production schedule backwards from your show date. Tell us when the show is and we'll tell you immediately whether it's achievable.What file formats do trade show screens typically require?Most modern trade show screens accept H.264 MP4 or ProRes files. XO3D delivers both as standard for looping content. For digital signage systems with specific codec requirements, we match the delivery spec to your stand's display system at brief stage. Print graphics are delivered as high-resolution TIFF at 300dpi minimum, with bleed and crop marks to the printer's specification.Can you produce content for multiple shows from the same brief?Yes, and this is one of the strongest efficiency arguments for trade show CGI. A product 3D asset built for CES in January produces trade show content for MWC in February, Hannover Messe in April, and any subsequent show, the content is re-edited and reformatted from the same render, not reproduced from scratch. Each subsequent show requires a fraction of the original production investment. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan the visuals your stand needs List the assets a trade show launch needs with the planning tools. Plan your launch asset list→ Exhibiting at a trade show? ## Tell us the show date, what you're exhibiting, and what stage the product is at. We'll tell you exactly what's achievable. Discuss your trade show brief ### Product CGI for E-Commerce Listings, Amazon, Shopify, Marketplace, XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/use-cases/cgi-for-ecommerce/ XO3D Studio · Use Case # CGI for E-Commerce Product Listings. Every SKU. Every colourway. Every platform format, from a single 3D asset, without a photoshoot for every product in your range. Get a range quote →See our packshot work → E-commerce product listings require imagery in three contexts: a clean packshot (white background, product-only, platform compliant), a lifestyle image (product in context), and increasingly a 360° interactive viewer or short video loop. For brands with large product ranges and multiple colourways, producing this through photography creates a logistical and cost problem that scales badly as the range grows. CGI solves the e-commerce imagery problem at the asset level. A 3D model built once produces all three image types, packshot, lifestyle, interactive, and all colourway variants, in all platform formats, from the same source. The production cost is front-loaded onto the initial build; every additional deliverable is production time only. This page covers what a standard e-commerce CGI package looks like and what to expect. For platform-by-platform requirements (Amazon, Shopify, marketplace specs) and the SKU-count breakdown of when CGI overtakes photography, see the CGI for e-commerce guide. One build, every colourway ## Eight colourways from one 3D asset. Every variant rendered from the same source model, no reshoot, no re-styling, no per-SKU sample shipment. Material swap, render, deliver. The package ## What a standard e-commerce CGI package delivers. DeliverableTypical SpecPlatformFrom CGIPrimary packshot2000×2000px, white bgAmazon, marketplaceNative CGI outputLifestyle composite2000×2000px, 1:1Shopify, InstagramSame model, new environmentMulti-angle views4–8 angles at 2000px+All platformsCamera repositions, same buildColourway variantsSame spec, all coloursAll platformsMaterial swap, not new build360° interactive viewerGLB / Three.js webShopify, branded web3D model optimised for webSocial format video9:16, 1:1, 4:5Meta, TikTokAnimation from same model FAQ ## Common questions, answered. How many products can you handle in a single e-commerce CGI project?There is no upper limit, e-commerce CGI scales horizontally. Large brands have commissioned full range visualisations covering 50–100+ SKUs from XO3D in a single project. Range projects of this scale are scoped as phased productions with staged delivery, priority SKUs first, full range completed to an agreed schedule. Contact us to discuss the specific scope of your range.Can CGI meet Amazon's Main Image Policy for pure white backgrounds?Yes. Amazon's Main Image Policy requires a pure white background (RGB 255,255,255), the product occupying 85%+ of the frame with no props, text, or lifestyle elements. CGI produces this precisely, a white ground plane render with correct ambient light and no post-production interpretation required. CGI packshots for Amazon often require less post-production correction than photography. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Audit your own product visuals Score your pages and plan the missing angles with the ecommerce tools. Audit your ecommerce product visuals→ Start the conversation ## Running an e-commerce brand with a large product range? Tell us your SKU count, your platforms, and your current imagery cost per product. We will show you the CGI alternative. Get a range quote ### Product CGI for Paid Social Advertising, Meta, TikTok, YouTube | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/use-cases/cgi-for-paid-social/ XO3D Studio · Use Case # CGI for Paid Social Advertising. 9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9, every format variant from one CGI build. Consistent product visuals across every paid social channel without rebuilding creative for each platform. Performance marketing teams running campaigns across Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Display need every product visual in every format, and need to iterate, test and refresh that creative regularly. CGI reduces the marginal cost of each format and iteration to production time only, once the 3D asset is built. See our work →Discuss your brief → Selected clients One build, every format ## Four social formats. One 3D asset. Same visual direction. 9:16 · Reels & Stories1:1 · Instagram Feed4:5 · Facebook16:9 · YouTube What CGI changes for paid social ## Format, testing, refresh, retargeting, solved at the asset level. Format Delivery ### Every platform spec, one build - 9:16 vertical, Reels, Stories, TikTok - 1:1 square, Instagram feed, Facebook - 4:5 portrait, Facebook feed optimised - 16:9 landscape, YouTube, programmatic - All delivered from the same 3D render Creative Testing ### A/B variants at near-zero cost Testing two background environments, two colour variants, two camera angles? Each is a render parameter change, not a new photographic setup. CGI enables creative testing at a speed and cost that photography can't match, which is particularly valuable for performance marketing teams running continuous optimisation. Seasonal Refresh ### New creative without a new shoot When Q4 campaign creative needs to look different to Q2, CGI updates the environment, grade, or composition of the same product without rebuilding anything. New campaign feel, same 3D asset. The annual photography budget for creative refresh effectively disappears. Retargeting Creative ### Product-level personalisation at scale Dynamic product ads showing the exact product a user viewed, at any angle, in any colourway, at any aspect ratio, are native to CGI production. Every SKU variant is a material swap; every format is a render crop. Retargeting creative at scale becomes a production logistics problem, not a photography budget problem. The Performance Marketing Case for CGI ## Why performance teams are switching away from photography for product creative. Photography-led paid social creative has a fixed cost structure: a brief, a shoot, a retouching round, a delivery. When the creative underperforms and needs to be replaced, the process restarts. When a new variant needs to be added, the shoot restarts. When a new platform launches with a new aspect ratio, the crop either works or it doesn't. CGI changes this production structure. The approved 3D asset becomes a reusable foundation for new formats, colourways, environments and seasonal edits. For brands with continuous demand, a Visual Content Partnership keeps that foundation active across each campaign cycle. Performance marketing teams can plan a broader testing library without restaging the product for every variation. Media results still depend on the offer, audience, placement and creative strategy, so each concept should be measured on its own evidence. Creative NeedPhotography ApproachCGI ApproachNew aspect ratio (9:16 to 1:1)Crop or re-shoot depending on compositionRe-render at new ratio, same buildNew colourway variantNew photography sessionMaterial swap, fraction of original costA/B test: background A vs BTwo separate setups and shootsTwo environment renders, same product assetSeasonal creative refreshNew shoot with seasonal stylingGrade and environment update, no rebuildDynamic product ad per SKUPhotography per SKU requiredRender per SKU, same model, material swaps FAQ ## Common questions, answered. How quickly can XO3D produce social format variants once the asset is built?Once the 3D asset exists, model, materials, and lighting approved, producing a new social format suite (9:16, 1:1, 4:5 from the same camera setup) typically takes 3–5 working days. This includes render time, any minor compositional adjustments for each format, and quality check. For clients on a Visual Content Partnership, social format delivery is built into the monthly production schedule.Can CGI match the energy and motion quality needed for TikTok and Reels?Yes. Vertical-format product CGI for social is not a static packshot cropped to 9:16, XO3D produces social formats with appropriate camera choreography, pacing, and motion for each platform's content environment. A TikTok product reveal is directed differently to a YouTube pre-roll, even when they come from the same 3D build. The creative direction for each format is considered independently at the brief stage.Can you produce user-generated content (UGC) style CGI for social?CGI can produce imagery that sits in the aesthetic territory of UGC, less polished environments, handheld-feel camera moves, contextual product placement in believable lifestyle settings. However, CGI cannot produce content involving human faces, hands, or real people interacting with products. For UGC-style content that requires a human element, CGI works best as a product layer composited into live-action lifestyle footage. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Match your video to every placement Plan formats for each paid social channel with the delivery spec tools. Check your video delivery specs→ Start the conversation ## Running paid social campaigns for a product brand? Tell us about your format requirements, your testing cadence, and your current creative production cost. We'll show you what CGI changes. Discuss your brief --- ## Industries ### Product CGI for Consumer Electronics Brands | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/consumer-electronics/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Consumer Electronics. Making the detail, material quality and design precision of consumer electronics visible, in every format, at every scale. Discuss your brief → Selected clients Overview ## Years of engineering, condensed into a 30-gram product. Consumer electronics CGI presents a specific set of challenges. The products are small, often held in a hand, worn on an ear, fitted to a desk, but they contain years of engineering decisions in their surface finish, material selection, and geometric precision. A 30-gram wireless earbud has a material language as considered as a luxury automobile. CGI has to make that visible. XO3D has produced product CGI for consumer electronics brands including Sony (WF-C710 wireless earbuds, global launch campaign), The G-Lab (Keyz Titanium gaming keyboard), and D'Addario (precision reed manufacturing). Each of these projects required a different approach to material reconstruction and lighting, but the underlying discipline was the same: understand what makes the product's design distinctive, and build a visual language around that specificity. See how this plays out across our product CGI films service. Wireless audio, smart home, personal devices, miniaturised detail rendered at every scale.The Sector Challenge ## Why consumer electronics needs a specialist approach. Miniaturised Detail ### Small products demand precision at scale Consumer electronics products are typically small. CGI must make them feel substantial and precise at every scale, from a 10-metre trade show screen to a 6cm Instagram thumbnail. This requires geometric accuracy in the model and carefully calibrated lighting that reads the surface correctly at any viewing size. Material Language ### Surface finish is a brand signal The specific material choices in consumer electronics, a matte anodised aluminium chassis, a soft-touch polymer, a gloss gradient panel, communicate brand positioning and product quality before the buyer reads a single word. CGI must reconstruct these finishes with physical accuracy, not library approximations. Competitive Category ### Premium imagery is a table stake Consumer electronics is a highly competitive visual category. Sony, Samsung, Apple and Bose set the aesthetic benchmark. Brands at every price point are judged against this standard. CGI that doesn't match this quality level undermines the product's positioning regardless of the product's actual quality. Multiple Colourways ### Variant efficiency matters Consumer electronics products often launch in multiple colourways, black, white, forest green, coral, and each needs complete visual coverage. CGI renders all variants from a single model build, making the per-colourway cost a fraction of what a photography equivalent would require. Featured Work ## Sony WF-C710, Global Launch Campaign. Case Study · Consumer Audio XO3D produced four launch animations for Sony's WF-C710 wireless earbuds, delivered across global markets as hero content for the product launch. The brief required material accuracy in a consumer electronics category defined by the world's most premium CGI standards. Creative Director: Thomas Howcroft. Director: Connor Hamilton-Smith. > "Sony earphones live or die on material perception. Our entire approach was built around one question: can we make the viewer want to touch the product through a screen?"Connor Hamilton-Smith, Director - 4 × 4K Animations - Global Launch - Cinema 4D · Keyshot Read the Sony case study → Also see: G-Lab Keyz Titanium → FAQ ## Consumer electronics CGI questions. Can you match the CGI quality of Apple or Sony's product imagery?Yes. XO3D's PBR rendering pipeline, custom material reconstruction approach, and per-project lighting rigs are designed to produce imagery at the standard set by the highest-quality consumer electronics CGI in the market. Our Sony WF-C710 work was produced to global Sony campaign standards and used across their international launch communications.How do you handle products with very fine surface details?Fine surface details, microscopic surface textures, precision-machined geometries, engraved markings, are built into the 3D model's geometry or encoded as displacement maps, depending on scale and application. XO3D works from CAD files where possible, which ensures geometric accuracy. Surface detail that isn't captured in CAD is documented from physical reference and reconstructed by hand.Can you produce all formats for a launch campaign from one brief?Yes. A standard XO3D launch brief for consumer electronics produces: hero launch film (4K, 16:9), social format cut-downs (9:16 for Reels/Stories, 1:1 for Instagram feed, 4:5 for Facebook), still library (15–30 images at up to 8K), and optional interactive 3D viewer, all from the same 3D build. This is the efficiency case for commissioning everything from a single studio. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your consumer electronics launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your consumer electronics launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your consumer electronics launch campaign→ - Estimate your campaign asset budget Start the conversation ## Working on a consumer electronics launch? Tell us about the product, your channels, and when you launch. We'll show you how we'd approach it. Discuss your brief ### Product CGI for EV & Cleantech Brands | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/ev-cleantech/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for EV & Cleantech Brands. Engineering-accurate CGI for a sector where technical credibility and commercial ambition must coexist, often before the product exists physically. Discuss your brief → Selected clients Overview ## Engineers and investors. The same film. The same trust. The EV and clean technology sector presents a CGI challenge that few industries match. The products are technically complex, EV charging infrastructure, battery storage systems, power conversion equipment, and the audiences they must communicate to are technically literate. A visualisation that misrepresents a mechanism, simplifies an engineering feature for visual convenience, or uses generic industrial aesthetics signals that the studio doesn't understand the product. In a sector where trust is everything, that matters. At the same time, cleantech brands must communicate to non-technical investors, policy makers, and consumer audiences who need to understand the product's significance without being lost in its engineering. CGI that speaks to engineers and non-engineers simultaneously is a specific skill, not a happy accident. See how our Technical CGI service handles both audiences. Engineering-accurate CGI for a sector where technical credibility and commercial ambition must coexist, often before manufacturing begins.Featured Work ## Petalite, 1MW EV Charging Infrastructure. Case Study · EV Infrastructure XO3D produced the entire visual suite for Petalite's 1MW modular EV charging system from raw CAD data, while the product was still in active development. This included 2 engineering films, 2 exploded mechanism animations, a homepage animation, 6 lifestyle stills and 7 studio renders. All delivered with 100% technical accuracy maintained through multiple active product design changes during production. Used for Petalite's international investor roadshow, website hero, paid social, and trade show communications. > "The brief was to explain modular EV infrastructure. Our intention was to make the viewer feel the weight of the engineering before they understood how it worked."Thomas Howcroft, Creative Director - Pre-Manufacture - 2 × Engineering Films - 6 × 6K Stills - Investor Roadshow Read the Petalite case study → What We Produce ## For EV and cleantech brands. Pre-Manufacture Visualisation ### Launch before manufacturing completes XO3D works from CAD files and engineering specifications to produce launch-ready visuals before the product exists physically. Petalite's global launch campaign was built entirely from pre-manufacture data. Timelines aligned with your launch date, not your manufacturing schedule. Engineering & Mechanism Films ### Making complex technology comprehensible Animation sequences that show how a system works, power flow, modular assembly, charging sequence, at the correct level of technical detail for each audience. We work with your engineering team to ensure mechanism sequences are accurate. Investor-Grade Visuals ### Making investors believe before they understand CGI for investor roadshows, pitch decks and stakeholder presentations. The visual standard that makes a complex technology feel credible and significant to non-technical audiences. Technical Documentation ### Accuracy that satisfies engineers Renders and animations for technical sales materials, distributor documentation, and compliance submissions. Produced to the dimensional accuracy required for technical review, with a note on what is accurate representation versus interpretive visual clarity. FAQ ## EV & cleantech CGI questions. Can you work with products that are still in active development?Yes, and this is a core competency for XO3D. The Petalite project involved multiple active product design changes during production, with the CGI updated to reflect each revision. We build production processes around this: version control on 3D files, clear change-request procedures, and a modular model structure that makes design updates efficient rather than destructive.Do you sign NDAs for cleantech projects?Yes. XO3D signs NDA before reviewing technical files as standard. Cleantech and EV projects often involve IP-sensitive engineering data, pre-launch product specifications, and proprietary mechanism designs. We are happy to sign your NDA before any files are shared.Can you produce CGI for both investor and consumer audiences?Yes. The Petalite project produced visuals used simultaneously for an international investor roadshow, consumer website content, and trade show communications. These required slightly different visual treatments, the investor materials emphasised engineering complexity and scale; the consumer materials emphasised ease of use and future relevance. Both came from the same 3D asset and the same production process. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your EV and cleantech launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your EV and cleantech launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your EV and cleantech launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Working on EV or cleantech product visualisation? Tell us about the product and what stage of development it's at. We'll tell you what's possible and how we'd approach it. Discuss your brief ### Home & Kitchen Appliance Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/home-appliances/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Home & Kitchen Appliances. Domestic products that earn a place at the centre of a room, and need imagery that communicates their weight, warmth, and quality before a buyer touches them. Discuss your brief → Home and kitchen appliance CGI spans a wide spectrum, from mass-market domestic goods to premium kitchen equipment that is as much a design statement as a functional product. XO3D works at the premium end: brands where the product's material quality, finish precision, and visual presence in a living environment are the primary purchase drivers. XO3D's home appliance clients include Glen Dimplex (UK's leading manufacturer of domestic stoves and heating products) and Smarter (connected kitchen appliances). Both are products where the CGI needs to communicate a specific quality, warmth and permanence for the stove; precision and design intelligence for connected kitchen tech. Neither brief is served by a generic white-background packshot. Home appliance CGI, form, function and finish rendered for hero campaigns and retailer listings from a single 3D build.The sector challenge ## What home appliance CGI needs to get right. Environmental Context ### The product in a home Home appliances are evaluated in their domestic context, a stove in a kitchen, a coffee machine on a counter, a radiator in a room. The right lifestyle context communicates the product's fit in a home environment. CGI builds any environment that serves the product without requiring a location shoot or set build. Material Weight ### Cast iron, enamel, stainless, communicated visually Premium domestic appliances use materials that communicate quality through their visual behaviour, the depth of a cast iron surface, the gleam of brushed stainless steel, the warmth of a hand-enamelled finish. CGI must reconstruct these material properties with physical accuracy, not approximate them with generic shaders. Scale Communication ### Making the product feel like the object it is A range cooker is a substantial domestic object. CGI that doesn't communicate its physical weight and scale misrepresents the product. Environmental context, the kitchen surroundings, the relative scale of countertops and cabinetry, provides the spatial reference that communicates the product's physical presence accurately. Colourway Range ### Multiple finishes, one build Home appliance brands typically offer products across multiple colour and finish options: cream, black, anthracite, racing green, burgundy. CGI produces all colourway variants from a single model build, keeping every finish visually consistent without a separate photography session per colourway. Featured work ## Domestic products approached as objects with presence. - ### Smarter, iKettle connected kettle animation Connected kitchen appliance treated as a designed object, material quality, app interface, and counter-top presence all communicated in one launch sequence. - ### Smarter, coffee machine product CGI Premium connected coffee machine rendered with the material weight, brushed metal precision, and lifestyle context that the brand's retail positioning demanded. - ### Duux, Neo humidifier product renders Domestic air-care appliance shown across colourways and lifestyle contexts, one 3D build serving retail listings, brand site, and paid social. What we produce ## For home and kitchen appliance brands. Hero Product Renders ### The definitive product image Studio renders and lifestyle composites that communicate material quality, scale, and finish precision. Built to the resolution required for retail catalogues, digital advertising, and e-commerce listings simultaneously. Colourway Range Imagery ### All finishes, one build Complete finish range visualisation from a single 3D build. Cream, black, anthracite, colour-matched enamel variants, all rendered consistently for catalogue, website, and retailer use. Lifestyle Environments ### Product in context Kitchen settings, dining environments, living spaces, CGI environments built around the product to communicate its domestic fit and aspiration without a location shoot. Launch & Campaign Content ### Films, stills, social formats Hero launch films, social campaign content, and press imagery from one build, for new product launches and range refresh campaigns. How we deliver ## A visual content partnership, not a one-off render. Most home appliance briefs span a product range, a colourway library, and an ongoing content calendar, not a single render. XO3D's visual content partnership is structured for this: one model build, ongoing material and colourway extensions, and a steady output of stills, films and social formats from the same 3D asset. FAQ ## Home appliance CGI questions. Can you produce imagery to retailer catalogue specifications?Yes. Retailer catalogue specifications, image dimensions, background requirements, crop ratios, file format and colour space, are production parameters that XO3D builds into the delivery specification at the start of the project. Imagery delivered to John Lewis, AO.com, Currys, or any specific retailer specification is a standard deliverable requirement that we accommodate without additional complexity.How do you handle enamel finish quality accurately?Enamel, particularly coloured enamel on cast iron, has a specific visual character: depth, slight translucency in the finish layer, a particular specular response. XO3D reconstructs this from physical reference samples and studies the interaction of the enamel layer with the underlying cast iron texture. The goal is imagery that makes a buyer feel they understand the quality of the finish before they see the product in a showroom. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your home appliance launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your home appliance launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your home appliance launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Working on home appliance product imagery? Tell us about the product range, the colourways, and where the imagery will be used. We'll show you how we approached Glen Dimplex and Smarter. Discuss your brief ### Industrial & Engineering Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/industrial-engineering/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Industrial & Engineering CGI. For products where the complexity of the engineering is the story, and the CGI has to honour it completely. Discuss your technical brief → Selected clients Overview ## A CGI studio that answers to the engineering team, not just the marketing team. Industrial and engineering products make specific demands of a CGI studio. The mechanism has to animate to the correct sequence. The tolerances have to be visually preserved. The material has to read as the specific alloy or coating, not a generic approximation. The dimensions have to match the engineering drawings. And the people reviewing the output include the engineers who designed it. XO3D has worked with precision engineering companies, industrial automation brands, and mechanical systems manufacturers across years of production. Our Technical CGI service, built around CAD-accurate modelling, engineering team involvement in the review process, and physically based material reconstruction from material specifications, is designed for exactly this sector. For products where the complexity of the engineering is the story, mechanism animations, exploded views, pre-manufacture visualisation.What We Produce ## For industrial and engineering brands. Mechanism Animations ### How it works, shown correctly Assembly sequences, mechanism reveals, and operational animations that show how a product functions, at the correct technical sequence, for any audience from engineers to investors. Technical Product Films ### Precision meets narrative Films that communicate a product's technical value without sacrificing visual quality. Engineered for both marketing and technical sales contexts from a single brief. Exploded Views & Documentation ### Component-level clarity Exploded assembly views, cross-sections, and component callout renders for technical documentation, patent submissions, and engineering sales materials. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your industrial and engineering launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your industrial and engineering launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your industrial and engineering launch campaign→ Our Process for Industrial Projects ## How XO3D works with technically complex products. - 1STAGE 1 ### CAD & Technical Onboarding We receive and review your CAD files, engineering drawings, and material specifications. We identify gaps in the technical data and resolve them before modelling begins. An early-stage model review is shared with your engineering team, not just your marketing team, before any final production begins. - 2STAGE 2 ### Engineering Team Review The people who built the product are the people best qualified to confirm whether the visualisation is accurate. XO3D includes an engineering review stage in every industrial project, a formal checkpoint where your technical team reviews the model before animation or final rendering begins. - 3STAGE 3 ### Material & Mechanism Development Materials are built from your material specifications, not library approximations. If the product uses a specific aluminium alloy with a specific anodising process, we research and reconstruct that finish. Mechanisms are animated to the correct operational sequence, verified against your engineering documentation. - 4STAGE 4 ### Parallel Technical + Creative Review Two review tracks run in parallel: your technical team confirms accuracy; your marketing team confirms communication effectiveness. Both inform the final output until both are satisfied. Related Work ## CAD-accurate work, delivered. Case Study · Precision Engineering ### Airdri Hand Dryer, Mechanism CGI Technical CGI built from CAD data to communicate the engineering inside a precision-manufactured hand dryer. Case Study · Medical Engineering ### Compact MD, Medical Tech Animation Mechanism animation produced for a precision medical device with engineering team review built into the production pipeline. Case Study · Construction Robotics ### AUAR MicroFactory Product CGI A director-led CGI film and launch visual suite built from CAD before the physical robot cell existed. FAQ ## Industrial CGI questions. What CAD file formats does XO3D accept?XO3D accepts STEP, IGES, SolidWorks (.SLDPRT/.SLDASM), Rhino (.3DM), AutoCAD (.DWG/.DXF), Fusion 360, Catia, and most major CAD formats. We review your specific files before quoting to confirm geometry quality and identify any areas that need technical attention before modelling begins.What if the product design changes during production?Engineering products often change during development. XO3D builds industrial projects with version control and a structured change-request process. Minor design changes (surface geometry updates, component adjustments) can usually be implemented efficiently. Fundamental mechanism changes require a revised scope conversation. We surface this honestly and quickly, never on the final invoice. Start the conversation ## Have a complex engineering product that needs a specialist studio? Tell us about the product, the technical data you have, and what the visualisation needs to do. We'll tell you whether we're the right studio for it. Discuss your technical brief ### Gaming & Esports Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/gaming-esports/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Gaming & Esports Brands. A category defined by precision detail, RGB rendering, and a community of buyers who will immediately identify imagery that doesn't respect the product. Discuss your brief → Gaming and esports peripheral CGI has a specific challenge: the audience. The buyers of high-end gaming keyboards, mice, headsets, and controllers are among the most visually literate product consumers in any category. They know exactly what a Cherry MX switch looks like. They'll notice if the stabiliser wires under a spacebar are rendered incorrectly. They can identify a generic metallic shader applied to a frame that should be brushed aluminium. Getting the detail wrong doesn't just make the imagery less impressive, it actively signals that the brand doesn't understand its own product. XO3D produced the product CGI for The G-Lab's Keyz Titanium gaming keyboard, a brief that required every key, every surface, and every RGB interaction to be rendered with the precision the product's engineering deserved. The Keyz Titanium was directed by Connor Hamilton-Smith, whose approach to material reconstruction and per-key lighting behaviour produced imagery that the gaming community responded to as authentic. Explore the product CGI stills and product CGI films services that underpin our gaming work. Keyboards, mice, headsets, peripherals, for a buyer community that will forensically identify every material and switch inaccuracy.The category challenge ## Why gaming CGI demands a specialist approach. RGB Rendering ### Light that behaves correctly RGB per-key lighting on a gaming keyboard isn't a single colour property, it's a complex interaction between LED intensity, keycap translucency, switch housing colour, and the amount of light that bleeds onto the surrounding surface. Each zone needs to be constructed individually. Stock lighting presets produce the wrong result immediately. Mechanical Detail ### Switch, stabiliser, keycap, all visible Gaming peripherals are designed to be examined closely. The switch mechanism under the keycap, the stabiliser on a spacebar, the texture moulded into a mouse button, all of these are visible in product imagery and all of them are scrutinised. Every component needs to be built in the 3D model, not approximated. Material Language ### The difference between gaming and premium Gaming peripheral brands are increasingly competing on premium material quality, aircraft-grade aluminium frames, textured rubber grips, precision-machined components. The CGI must communicate this material investment accurately. A brushed aluminium frame that reads as plastic undermines the product's premium positioning immediately. Community Standards ### An audience that knows the product Gaming peripheral buyers research extensively before purchasing, they know the spec sheets, the teardown videos, the community reviews. CGI that misrepresents product dimensions, switch types, or material finishes will be identified and called out. Accuracy is not optional in this category. Featured work ## The G-Lab, Keyz Titanium Gaming Keyboard. XO3D produced the full product CGI suite for The G-Lab's flagship Keyz Titanium mechanical gaming keyboard. The brief required every key, every surface, every RGB zone, and every mechanism to be rendered with engineering accuracy, for a community that would scrutinise every detail. Directed by Connor Hamilton-Smith. > "This product is defined by its detail. The brief was to show every key, every surface, every mechanism, without it ever feeling like a spec sheet."- Connor Hamilton-Smith, Director - Hero Renders - RGB Detail - Mechanical Accuracy - Social Formats See the case studies:G-Lab Gaming Keyboard ·Keyz Titanium What we produce ## For gaming and esports peripheral brands. Keyboards ### Full board to switch detail Full keyboard hero renders, per-key RGB zone images, macro keycap detail, switch mechanism cutaways, and colourway variants for TKL, 60%, and full-size form factors. Mice & Pointing Devices ### Form, texture, sensor Side-profile hero renders, top-down layout views, RGB accent detail, grip texture close-ups, and side button mechanism cutaways for gaming mice across all categories. Headsets & Audio ### Driver, cushion, structure Hero beauty renders, ear cushion material detail, microphone mechanism, hinge articulation, and RGB accent treatment for gaming headsets across wired and wireless formats. Mousepads & Accessories ### Surface texture and detail Extreme surface-texture macro renders for gaming mousepads, wrist rests, and accessories, the type of close-up imagery that communicates surface quality better than any spec sheet. Social & Campaign ### Content at scale Hero campaign films, rotating product animations, feature callout reels, and platform-format cut-downs from one build, for product launches and ongoing campaign content. E-Commerce ### Marketplace-ready imagery White background packshots to Amazon spec, lifestyle composites, multi-angle views, and 360° product viewers, all from the same 3D build as the campaign imagery. FAQ ## Gaming CGI questions. Can you accurately render individual switch types (Cherry MX, Gateron, etc.)?Yes. XO3D builds switch mechanisms from technical reference, housing geometry, spring mechanism, stem travel, and the specific colour coding of different switch types. For gaming keyboard briefs, we work with your product team to confirm that switch geometry is accurate to the specific variant the product uses. The gaming community will identify incorrect switch rendering, so accuracy here is treated the same way we treat CAD accuracy on engineering projects.How do you handle RGB lighting across different colour zones?RGB lighting in gaming peripheral CGI is constructed as a lighting rig element rather than a simple material emission. Each zone is an individually placed light source with the correct colour temperature, intensity, and diffusion properties. The light interaction between the LED, the switch housing, the keycap translucency, and the surface bleed is all simulated physically, not painted on in post-production. This is what separates XO3D's gaming CGI from generic product renders with RGB effects added in Photoshop.Do you work with pre-production gaming peripherals from engineering files?Yes. XO3D can produce product CGI from CAD files for gaming peripheral launches where the physical product isn't yet available. This is particularly useful for crowdfunding campaigns and pre-order launches. We sign NDA before reviewing technical files as standard. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your gaming and esports launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your gaming and esports launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your gaming and esports launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Launching a gaming peripheral? Tell us about the product, the specific detail requirements, and when you launch. We'll show you how we approached the G-Lab brief. Discuss your brief ### Food & Drink Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/food-drink/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Food & Drink Brands. Where appetite appeal is the entire brief, and the difference between a packaging render that sells and one that doesn't is a single light source decision. Discuss your brief → Food and drink CGI sits at the intersection of technical difficulty and commercial urgency. A spirits brand launching a new expression needs imagery weeks before the production run is bottled. An FMCG brand launching a packaging redesign needs to photograph the new packaging before the print run is confirmed. A craft brewery needs to show six beers on a website before the cans have been filled. These briefs share a common constraint: the visual has to make a viewer want the product. For food and drink, appetite appeal, the quality that makes a viewer reach for a glass, want to open a bottle, or add to cart, is not incidental to the brief. It is the entire brief. This requires more than accurate packaging renders. It requires understanding light on liquid, the physics of condensation, the warmth of a spirit seen through amber glass, and the exact quality of a pour. Appetite, aspiration and desire, rendered without a photo shoot, a location, or a physical prototype.The specific challenges ## Why food and drink CGI demands its own specialist approach. Liquid Rendering ### The hardest surface in product CGI Liquid, beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks, requires subsurface scattering simulation, correct refraction through glass, and accurate colour behaviour depending on liquid depth. No library approximation convincingly renders the specific amber of a 12-year Scotch or the precise carbonation of a craft lager. XO3D rebuilds liquids from physical reference for every food and drink project. Packaging Accuracy ### Labels, foils, and print finishes Food and drink packaging uses complex print finishes, embossing, spot UV, metallic foils, debossing, that must be accurately rendered to communicate the quality of the packaging design. CGI can reproduce all of these in a way that photography often cannot without extensive setup. Appetite Appeal ### Making the viewer want it This is a creative quality, not a technical one. The light source that makes condensation on a cold beer bottle visible. The angle that shows a wine's colour through the glass most attractively. The pour that captures the liquid in the right moment. These are directorial decisions, and they require a Creative Director who understands what appetite appeal means. Pre-Production Launches ### Before the bottles are filled New product launches in food and drink frequently require imagery before production runs are complete. CGI from packaging specifications and label files allows brands to photograph a new product before a single unit is bottled, canned, or bagged, with full retail imagery ready for day-one launch. Featured work ## FMCG and confectionery films built around appetite appeal. - ### Gandour, chocolate wafer launch animation Confectionery launch film built around the product's tactile and textural appeal, packaging hero, ingredient reveal, and bite-moment all directed for appetite. - ### Gandour, Yamama spread campaign animation Spread product animation rebuilt from packaging artwork and ingredient reference, appetite appeal, brand-coded colour, and shelf-ready packshots from one CGI build. What we produce ## For food and drink brands. Spirits & Premium Drinks ### Bottle, glass, pour Hero bottle renders, pour sequences, glass-with-drink lifestyle images, and campaign films for premium spirits, wine, champagne, and premium soft drink brands. Beer & Craft ### Can, bottle, on-tap Multi-SKU can and bottle renders for craft and commercial beer brands. Label accuracy, condensation rendering, and lifestyle pour imagery from one build. FMCG Packaging ### Launch-ready at scale Packaging renders for new product launches, range extensions, and redesigns, before production print runs are confirmed. All retail formats from one model build. Food Products ### Packshot and lifestyle Packshot renders to retail specification, lifestyle composites, and 360° product viewers for food brands, without the logistical complexity and short shelf life of food photography. Social & Digital ### Campaign content at scale Social format cut-downs, animated can spins, pouring sequences, and seasonal content from the same 3D asset, for ongoing content programmes. E-Commerce ### Platform-ready imagery Amazon, Shopify and retailer-specific format delivery, white background packshots, lifestyle composites, and multi-angle views, all from one build. How we deliver ## Director-led films, not asset dumps. Food and drink work is where appetite appeal is the entire brief, and that is a creative decision, not a technical one. XO3D's product CGI film service puts a named Creative Director on every project, so the pour, the light on the glass, the moment the cap lifts are directed, not assembled. FAQ ## Food & drink CGI questions. Can CGI replace food and drink photography entirely?For packaged products, bottles, cans, cartons, jars, CGI is often the superior choice on quality, consistency, and cost-per-image. For imagery that requires actual food content (a dish on a plate, food in preparation, ingredients being handled), CGI works best as a complement to photography rather than a replacement. XO3D produces the packaging imagery and hero product renders; food styling and in-use photography can be handled by a specialist food photographer working to the same visual direction.How do you handle liquid rendering realistically?Liquid in CGI is rendered using volumetric simulation and physically based material properties, refraction index, subsurface scattering, absorption colour, and surface tension behaviour. XO3D tests liquid renders against physical reference for every project: a glass of the actual product photographed alongside the CGI reference so discrepancies can be corrected. The target is indistinguishable from photography at the brand's campaign standard.What do you need to produce food and drink CGI?At minimum: the packaging artwork files (AI, PDF or physical sample), bottle or can dimensions and profile, label print finish specifications (embossing depth, foil type, spot UV areas), and reference imagery showing the desired liquid colour and serve context. Physical samples are useful but not required, many projects are completed entirely from digital files. For new launches, we can begin from packaging artwork before the physical product exists. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your food and drink launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your food and drink launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your food and drink launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Launching a new food or drink product? Tell us about the product, the packaging, and when you need imagery. We'll show you what CGI can produce, and how much faster than a photoshoot. Discuss your brief ### Beauty & Cosmetics Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/beauty-cosmetics/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Beauty & Cosmetics. Every shade. Every finish. Every campaign format, produced from a single 3D build without a photoshoot for every SKU. Discuss your brief → Beauty CGI has three requirements that make it technically demanding and commercially high-value: the product range is large (a lipstick range may have 40+ shades), the surface finishes are complex (satin, matte, metallic, gloss, often on the same product), and the imagery standard is set by the world's most premium visual brands. Imagery that doesn't meet the quality standard of premium beauty advertising undermines the product's positioning regardless of the product's actual quality. CGI solves beauty's scale problem directly. A 40-shade lipstick range requires 40 photographic setups or 40 CGI material swaps. The photographic approach takes weeks and significant budget. The CGI approach takes days for the additional shades, because the model, materials framework, and lighting are already built. Beauty and cosmetics CGI, surfaces, light and material rendered with the precision the category demands.The beauty CGI advantage ## Why beauty brands are switching to CGI at scale. Shade Variant Economics ### One build, all shades The 3D model is built once. Each shade is a material swap, colour value, sheen level, texture. A 40-shade lipstick range adds 39 renders to the initial build cost, not 39 full production sessions. Launch Timing ### Imagery before production run New shades and products can be visualised from formulation specifications and Pantone references before the production batch is complete. Launch imagery is ready the day the product ships. Global Consistency ### Same visual everywhere Identical imagery across all markets, website, retail, social, press, lit identically, coloured identically. No lighting variations between photography sessions across different markets or studios. Adjacent work ## Premium consumer-goods packaging at beauty-standard. The visual standard for beauty CGI overlaps closely with the work XO3D produces for premium consumer goods, packaging precision, material accuracy, controlled studio lighting. The closest example in our portfolio is the launch programme for Sony WF-C710: premium packaged consumer product, multi-finish range, hero film plus stills, delivered at the standard a beauty launch programme requires. How we deliver ## A 3D build that scales with the range. Beauty briefs reward studios that treat the 3D model as a reusable asset library, not a one-off render. XO3D's 3D product rendering service is built around this: master model, master lighting, then shade and finish variants developed on top. The result is a controlled campaign system that can scale across a large range without restaging every product. FAQ ## Beauty & cosmetics CGI questions. Can CGI accurately render powder textures and cosmetic formulations?Yes. Powder products, eyeshadow, blush, highlighter, setting powder, are rendered using subsurface scattering and particle-level surface displacement to replicate the light interaction of real powder formulations. Pressed powder shimmers, loose translucent powders, and matte pressed products all require different material approaches. XO3D builds these from physical reference samples and formulation specifications where available.What files do you need for a beauty CGI project?For packaging: the packaging CAD or dieline, print artwork files, finish specifications (satin, matte, gloss areas, embossing depth, foil colour). For formulation: shade reference (Pantone, RAL, or physical sample), finish type (matte, satin, metallic, gloss), and any special effect pigments (shimmer, duochrome, glitter). We can work from physical product samples where CAD files are not available. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your beauty and cosmetics launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your beauty and cosmetics launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your beauty and cosmetics launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Working on a beauty product launch? Tell us about the range, the shade count, and where the imagery will be used. We'll show you how CGI changes the production economics. Discuss your brief ### Automotive & Mobility Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/automotive-mobility/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Automotive & Mobility CGI. The cinematic language of a premium automotive reveal, applied to every vehicle and mobility product that deserves it. Discuss your brief → Selected clients Overview ## Forty years of premium car advertising set the benchmark. We meet it. Automotive CGI has the highest visual benchmark of any product category. Forty years of premium car advertising has trained viewers to respond to specific camera choreography, specific light angles, specific material behaviours. A vehicle, whether a luxury SUV or an electric scooter, will be judged against this standard whether the brand intends it or not. XO3D approaches every automotive and mobility brief with the same cinematic thinking that defines the best vehicle CGI: deliberate camera choreography, paint and material precision, environmental context that serves the vehicle's character. The Flash Motors electric scooter was directed as a luxury automotive reveal, because the scooter deserved that treatment, and because the audience responds to it. See how our Product CGI Films service applies this cinematic approach across categories. The cinematic language of a premium automotive reveal, applied to every vehicle and mobility product that deserves it.Featured Work ## Flash Motors, Electric Scooter Launch. Case Study · Micro-Mobility XO3D produced the launch CGI suite for Flash Motors' electric scooter, treated as a premium automotive reveal rather than a product demonstration. The visual approach drew on the cinematic language of luxury vehicle launches: low angles, dramatic exterior light, dynamic camera choreography. Winner of the Web Excellence Award 2024 for CGI/Animation. > "We treated this like a luxury automotive reveal, not a product demo. The scooter deserved the same cinematic language as a vehicle three times its price."Thomas Howcroft, Creative Director - Web Excellence Award 2024 - Hero Launch Film - Exterior & Interior Renders Read the Flash Motors case study → Also see: Infinity X scooter controller → What We Produce ## For automotive and mobility brands. Hero Launch Films ### Cinematic vehicle reveals 30–90 second launch films with deliberate camera choreography, dynamic exterior reveals, and the visual language of premium automotive advertising. Exterior Renders ### Paint, surface, precision Multi-angle exterior renders showing paint finish, body panel precision, and design detail, at up to 8K for press and retail use. Mechanism & Technical ### How it works, visually Battery assembly, drivetrain exploded views, mechanism animations for technical sales collateral and investor presentations. Colourway Variants ### Every finish, one build All paint and colour variants from a single model build. No new session per colour. Consistent lighting across all variants for brand coherence. FAQ ## Automotive & mobility CGI questions. Do you work on full-size vehicles as well as micro-mobility?Yes. XO3D works across the full mobility spectrum, from micro-mobility (scooters, e-bikes) to full passenger vehicles. The creative and technical approach scales with the product. Full vehicle CGI requires more complex model geometry and typically involves working with manufacturer CAD data. We have experience working from automotive-grade CAD files as well as from design specifications for concept vehicles and pre-production models.Can you match the CGI quality of premium automotive brands?Our approach is benchmarked against premium automotive CGI standards, the visual quality set by the best vehicle launch content globally. The Flash Motors project, which won the Web Excellence Award 2024, demonstrates this approach on a micro-mobility product. For brands launching in a category where the competition includes premium automotive-adjacent players, this visual standard is what the market expects. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your automotive and mobility launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your automotive and mobility launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your automotive and mobility launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Launching a vehicle or mobility product? Tell us about the product and what you need the launch to communicate. We'll show you how we'd approach it cinematically. Discuss your brief ### Luxury Goods Product CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/luxury-goods/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Luxury Goods. When the product's price point sets the visual standard, and the imagery has to be worth the number on the tag. Discuss your brief → Luxury goods CGI occupies the most demanding tier of product visualisation. The buyer has seen the finest product photography in the world, from the major fashion houses, from the premium watch manufacturers, from the established luxury brands. The imagery must not merely look good. It must communicate craft, precision, and desirability at a standard that justifies the product's price point. Anything less undermines it. XO3D has produced imagery for Burberry and Ferrari, brands where the visual standard is set by the most demanding creative directors in the luxury category. Every luxury goods project is led by Thomas Howcroft as Creative Director and Connor Hamilton-Smith as Director, because this is the tier of work where there is no margin for approximation. Explore the product CGI stills and product CGI films services that underpin our luxury work. Luxury goods CGI, material, light and craft rendered to the standard the category is measured by.Why luxury needs CGI ## The specific cases where CGI outperforms luxury photography. Pre-Collection Launches ### Imagery before production Luxury collections are often sold before production is complete, to press, to wholesale buyers, to waiting list customers. CGI from design files means campaign imagery is ready at announcement, not months after production has shipped. Material Precision ### Representing craft faithfully The hand-stitching on a leather good, the grain of a crocodile skin, the brushing pattern on a case back, CGI can show these at a fidelity that photography requires macro lenses and complex lighting to match. In CGI, the detail is geometry: it's always there, at any resolution. Campaign Flexibility ### Any context, any environment CGI places a product in any environment, a Milanese marble interior, a minimalist studio space, an abstract void, without location shoots, art direction logistics, or talent fees. The product is the constant; the environment is a render parameter. Digital Commerce ### Luxury DTC imagery at scale As luxury brands build direct digital channels, the volume of imagery required increases significantly. CGI produces every angle, every colourway, every format from the same build, enabling digital luxury commerce at a scale photography can't match economically. Featured work ## Premium product launches. From premium consumer launches to luxury fashion campaign assets, XO3D's luxury goods work is led personally by the studio's Creative and Direction leads, because at this tier, creative responsibility cannot be delegated. Every material, every light, every cut is reviewed by a named Creative Director against the brand's reference set. - Burberry - Ferrari - Premium Launches - Material Precision See related premium work:BlueStork Ergonomic Mouse ·Sony WF-C710 ·Røest Coffee Roaster FAQ ## Luxury CGI questions. Can CGI match the quality expected by luxury fashion houses?Yes, with the right studio. The visual quality of luxury CGI is determined by the approach to material reconstruction, the lighting philosophy, and the creative direction applied to the brief. XO3D's work for Burberry demonstrates what this looks like in practice. We approach luxury goods briefs with the same rigour we apply to precision engineering: every material built from physical reference, every lighting decision deliberate, every composition reviewed by a named Creative Director.How do you handle the texture of genuine leather and exotic materials?Leather, exotic skins, and precious materials require the most detailed material reconstruction work in product CGI. XO3D uses a combination of physical scanning reference (microscopic surface structure), subsurface scattering simulation (the translucency of fine leather under raking light), and specular response calibration (how different leather finishes catch light versus absorb it). Physical samples are the ideal reference; where these aren't available, we work from high-resolution photography and material specifications. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your luxury goods launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your luxury goods launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your luxury goods launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Working on luxury goods imagery? This is the work we hold to the highest standard we know. Tell us about the product and what it needs to communicate. Discuss your brief ### Medical & Health Tech CGI | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/industries/medical-health-tech/ XO3D Studio · Industry # Product CGI for Medical & Health Technology. CGI that earns trust in a clinical context and desire in a consumer one, simultaneously, from the same frame. Discuss your brief → Medical and health technology CGI has a unique dual requirement. The same imagery often needs to communicate clinical credibility to healthcare professionals, regulatory reviewers, or clinical distributors, and aspirational desirability to the consumer market, retail buyers, or direct-to-consumer channels. Most CGI studios optimise for one or the other. XO3D works with both requirements in every frame. XO3D has produced CGI for Dermalux, the UK's leading medical LED phototherapy device manufacturer. The Dermalux brief required imagery that could function across clinical sales, medical aesthetics practitioners, retail channel marketing, and premium consumer communications, a brief that could only be satisfied by a studio that understood both the clinical precision requirement and the consumer aspiration requirement equally well. Explore the product CGI stills and technical CGI services that underpin our medical work. Clinical precision meets consumer aspiration, CGI that earns trust in a regulatory context and desire in a consumer one, from the same asset.The sector challenge ## What medical and health tech CGI demands. Clinical Accuracy ### Imagery that passes clinical scrutiny Medical technology CGI must be dimensionally accurate, mechanically correct, and free from visual misrepresentation of how the device functions. Healthcare professionals and procurement teams who know these devices will identify inaccuracies immediately. CGI that looks impressive but isn't technically right undermines clinical credibility. Consumer Aspiration ### Imagery that converts in retail and DTC Medical devices sold in consumer channels, wellness technology, aesthetic devices, wearable health products, also need to compete visually with premium consumer electronics and beauty brands. The clinical credibility cannot come at the cost of the visual desire that drives consumer purchase decisions. Featured work ## Dermalux, LED Phototherapy Devices. XO3D produced product CGI for three Dermalux LED phototherapy devices across their clinical, professional and consumer ranges. The brief required photobiological accuracy in the representation of LED panel configurations alongside premium visual quality suitable for retail and consumer marketing. Imagery delivered across clinical sales, medical aesthetics distribution and consumer retail channels simultaneously. > "Medical technology needs to feel both clinically trustworthy and aspirationally desirable. The light was doing two jobs in every frame."- Thomas Howcroft, Creative Director - 3 Products - Clinical + Consumer - Multi-Channel Delivery See the case studies:Dermalux Flex MD ·Dermalux Flex Mini ·Compact MD FAQ ## Medical CGI questions. Do you work with medical device regulatory requirements?XO3D produces CGI to the dimensional accuracy and representational standards required for technical review. For regulatory submissions requiring specific render types (exploded views, component callouts, dimensional annotations), we can produce imagery to the required specification. We recommend discussing regulatory requirements at brief stage so they are built into the production process from the start.Can you produce imagery for both clinical and consumer channels from the same project?Yes, and this is often the most efficient approach. The Dermalux project produced imagery used simultaneously across clinical sales, medical aesthetics practitioners and consumer retail. Different crops, background treatments and tone of voice were applied to the same 3D asset for each channel: one build, multiple audience outputs.Do you sign NDAs for medical device projects?Yes. XO3D signs NDA before reviewing any files as standard on medical projects. Device specifications, pre-launch product designs, and clinical documentation are treated with complete confidentiality. Plan it on XO3D Labs ## Plan your medical and health tech launch before you brief us Shape the campaign for your medical and health tech launch with the XO3D Labs planning tools. Plan your medical and health tech launch campaign→ Start the conversation ## Working on medical or health technology CGI? Tell us about the device, the audiences it needs to communicate to, and what the imagery needs to achieve. We'll tell you how we'd approach the dual-audience challenge. Discuss your brief --- ## Studio & approach ### Our Creative Philosophy | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/our-philosophy/ Our Creative Philosophy # Engineered Beauty. We believe the most compelling CGI begins where engineering precision meets visual conviction. Manifesto Most CGI is invisible. Not invisible because it is subtle, invisible because it is forgettable. The product sits in the centre of the frame. The light hits from the obvious angle. The camera moves exactly where you expect it to. And then it ends, and you remember nothing about it except that it existed. We started XO3D because we believed something different was possible. We work with products that are engineered with intention, devices, systems, and objects that represent months or years of design decisions. Our job is to find the visual argument inside that engineering and make it impossible to ignore. That requires obsession. The angle of light on a precision-machined surface. The way a material reads at 4K and whether the specular highlight feels earned or artificial. The camera path that reveals a mechanism in exactly the right sequence. These are the decisions we discuss before a single frame is rendered. We are not a rendering house. We are not a post-production facility. We are a studio with a creative director on every project, someone who asks not just how does this look, but what should the viewer feel about this product that they didn’t feel before? We believe the best product CGI is invisible for a different reason: not because nothing happened, but because everything that happened feels inevitable. The right light in the right place. The right material telling the right story. The right frame earning the right response. If you have a product that deserves to be seen at its best, and the ambition to show the world what it is capable of, we should talk. How we think ## Three questions we ask before we open any software. Every project begins with the same conversation. The answers shape every camera, light and material decision that follows. - 01 ### What does the viewer need to feel in the first three seconds? Before we build anything, we agree on the emotion of the piece. What does this product need to communicate, and what is the fastest, most honest visual route to that feeling? The answer to that question shapes every camera, light and material decision that follows. - 02 ### What does this material do that no other material does? We don’t apply materials from a library. We build them from physical reference, studying how brushed aluminium, soft-touch polymer, or anodised metal actually behaves under different light conditions and reconstructing that behaviour in our render engine. The result is surfaces that read as real, not rendered. - 03 ### What does this camera angle say about the product’s character? The camera is a creative instrument. We treat every shot as a deliberate editorial choice: what does this angle reveal about the product’s purpose? What does this movement suggest about its quality? The best camera paths in our work are the ones where the viewer never thinks about the camera, they think only about the product. What we stand for ### Precision. We build from CAD-level accuracy. Our materials, reflections and textures are not approximations, they are engineered to match the physical world. ### Conviction. Every project has a Creative Director. Every frame has an intention. We never render without a reason, and we never deliver without asking if the frame earns its place. ### Restraint. The best CGI removes the unnecessary before it adds the dramatic. We obsess over what to leave out as much as what to put in. Silence, space, and stillness are as important as motion. The founders & creative leadership ### Thomas Howcroft Founder and Creative Director > ‘The moment I believe in a brief is the moment the project becomes interesting.’ LinkedIn ↗ ### Alex Mann Co-Founder and Managing Director > “Our output is only as strong as our internal culture. A quality brief defines the goal, but a quality team defines the standard.” LinkedIn ↗ ### Connor Hamilton-Smith Head of 3D > ‘If the material doesn’t behave the way the real object would, the viewer knows, even if they can’t say why. That’s the thing we’re always solving.’ LinkedIn ↗ Featured work ## Work we are proud of. 01 Bringing AUAR's Automated Architecture Microfactory to life before the physical robot cell existed, director-led product CGI film, hero stills and looping motion assets for the launch. View case study →02 When the product’s identity is its detail, showing every keystroke matters. View case study →03 Making complex EV infrastructure feel like the future rather than the hardware. View case study →04× Making the viewer want to touch a product through a screen. View case study →View case studies → Start the conversation ## If you have a product that deserves to be seen at its best, tell us about it. We are selective about the projects we take on, not because we are precious, but because we do our best work when we believe in the brief. Tell us what you are working on. Start a conversation ### About XO3D: Director-Led Product CGI Studio (UK) Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/about-us/ About XO3D # We are XO3D. A product CGI studio creating launch-ready assets since 2017. Making products feel premium, understandable, and ready to buy before they ship. Who we are XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio based in Stevenage, UK, with representation in New York. Founded in 2017 and incorporated as XO3D Ltd in 2019, the studio turns complex products into photoreal films, campaign stills and interactive experiences, built from CAD and engineering detail rather than photographed on a set. We work with tech, industrial and premium consumer brands, and with the marketing teams, founders and creative agencies behind them, across launch campaigns, product pages, paid media and investor material. Every project has a Creative Director, so the visual decisions are made deliberately and defended through to delivery. The team is UK-based and delivers globally, and because the product exists as an accurate digital asset, the imagery can be ready before the product ships. We help our partners articulate their vision across every digital and physical touchpoint. Interactive and web delivery is led by Lemuel Apa, Head of Web Development, connecting the CGI work to the product experiences it is built for. Founded in 2017 by Thomas Howcroft, Founder and Creative Director, the studio was incorporated as XO3D Ltd in 2019 when Alex Mann joined as co-founder and Managing Director. Book a 15-min call → What we care about 01 ### Clarity. We turn complex products into visuals people instantly understand. Engineering detail translated into an image you can read in two seconds. 02 ### Craft. Every detail matters: materials, lighting, motion, finish. The frame either earns its place or it does not ship. 03 ### Conviction. Every project has a Creative Director. Every frame has an intention. We never render without a reason. 04 ### Partnership. We integrate with your team: external creative team, in-house, or founder-led. The relationship is the work as much as the output is. > “When a client trusts the studio, the brief gets better. When the brief gets better, the work gets better.” Alex Mann Teams we support ## Built for brands where detail matters. → ### Marketing Teams Launch campaigns, product pages, paid media assets and ongoing content systems that scale across every channel. → ### Brands & Founders Pre-production visuals, investor decks and go-to-market content for products that need to land before they ship. → ### Creative Teams White-label or collaborative production. We slot into your pipeline as a senior CGI partner without the procurement overhead. Good fit: best suited for brands that care about premium finish, clear storytelling, and scalable content. What we do - Product films, launch content & campaign visuals - Photoreal CGI stills & scalable image sets - “How it works” explainer storytelling with technical accuracy - Look development, lighting, materials & visual systems across channels How we work ## A four-step process designed to remove friction. We are a senior team of artists and producers focused on product storytelling, combining creative direction with a technical CGI pipeline. - 101 ### Discover. We dive into your R&D and brand strategy to understand the “why” behind the technology. That is the part that has to land on screen. - 202 ### Create. We develop the visual concept, storyboards, and stylistic direction that will define the project before any render starts. - 303 ### Execute. We bring the concept to life using industry-leading simulation, animation and lighting techniques inside a director-led pipeline. - 404 ### Refine. We deliver a suite of high-end performance assets optimised for every channel in your brand’s ecosystem: film, social, web and print.Meet the team → Start the conversation ## Send us your product details and we’ll recommend the most effective approach. Film, stills, interactives, or a complete launch pack. We reply to every brief personally. Start a conversation ### Meet The Team | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/team/ The team # Meet the team. A senior-led Product CGI team delivering films, launch visuals and interactive experiences for premium brands. View case studies → ## Thomas Howcroft Founder and Creative Director LinkedIn ↗ ## Alex Mann Co-Founder and Managing Director LinkedIn ↗ ## Connor Hamilton-Smith Head of 3D LinkedIn ↗ ## Lemuel Apa Head of Web Development LinkedIn ↗ ## Jack Robertson Mid-Level Artist LinkedIn ↗ ## Sam Weald 3D Artist LinkedIn ↗ ## Joseph Cletus Senior 3D Modeller LinkedIn ↗ ## Gulliver Tickell Sound Designer LinkedIn ↗ What we deliver ## From first frame to full campaign system. - Product films, launch content & campaign visuals - Photoreal CGI stills & scalable image sets - “How it works” explainer storytelling with technical accuracy - Look development, lighting, materials & visual systems across channels Careers ## Are you the next member of our growing team? XO3D is always on the lookout for exciting talent. We build teams that build ideas, happy people produce the best work, and community environments create spaces that enable inspiration to flow. Open Career Opportunities ### How We Work | Director-Led Product CGI Process | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/process/ XO3D Studio · Process # Director-led. Five stages. A creative decision at every step. Every XO3D project follows the same five-stage process. Every stage has a named Creative Director. Every stage produces a deliverable the client signs off on before the next begins. Discuss your brief → Commodity CGI studios sell hours and treat the brief as input to a rendering pipeline. XO3D works the opposite way. A Creative Director leads every project from first brief to final frame, taking the same creative decisions that an experienced film director would take on a live-action shoot: what the work should communicate, how the product should be framed, what the camera does, how the lighting reads, what the audio adds, what the audience feels at the end. The five-stage process below exists to make sure those decisions happen at the right moments, with the right inputs, signed off by the right people. The Five Stages ## From brief to final frame. - 1STAGE 01 ### Brief & pre-production Discovery workshop with the client team. Reference review. Source-file audit. Commercial context understood. Creative direction proposed. Brief sign-off before any production begins.Output: A written creative direction document the client agrees to. - 2STAGE 02 ### Look development 3D model build. Material reconstruction from physical reference. Lighting rig design. One material test render produced and signed off. This is the moment that determines whether the final imagery looks real or rendered.Output: Approved look-dev frame, on the actual product, at full resolution. - 3STAGE 03 ### Production Hero film animation, stills setups, social format production, interactive viewer build. Two formal review rounds in Frame.io, both attended by the Creative Director. No silent revisions. Every change tracked, timestamped, signed off.Output: All deliverables in draft for review. - 4STAGE 04 ### Finishing Colour grade. Sound design where applicable. Master file production. Format-specific encoding for every output channel. Optional brand legal review window.Output: Approved final masters across every format. - 5STAGE 05 ### Delivery & archive Full deliverables package, organised by format, with naming convention, channel specifications and rights documentation. 3D source assets archived for future use. Asset library handed to client.Output: Launch-ready files plus the 3D asset library the client owns going forward. What's Different ## How XO3D works vs how commodity studios work. StageXO3DCommodity studioBriefCreative Director joins the brief workshop and writes the direction documentProject manager takes a brief and passes it down a production lineLook devCustom materials built from physical reference for this specific productLibrary materials applied from a preset paletteLightingPer-project lighting rig designed for this product, sector and brand languagePreset studio lighting templatesProductionSenior team, no offshoring, no junior pass-throughsJunior renderers, sometimes offshored, supervised remotelyReviewFrame.io, two formal rounds, Creative Director presentEmail PDFs, multiple silent revisions, slow turnaroundDeliveryFull asset library handed to the client, owned outrightFinal files only, no asset library, no future use rights Who's Involved ## The team on your brief. Every project is staffed with a Creative Director, a Senior 3D Lead and the production team specific to the brief. The Creative Director is your point of contact for creative direction. The Managing Director is your point of contact for commercial and scheduling. The team is named at brief sign-off. The same team works your project from start to finish. There is no account-handler-to-production handover. > "Every programme has a Creative Director. Not a project manager. A creative decision at every step, from brief to final frame. This is what separates a studio from a render farm."- Thomas Howcroft, Founder and Creative Director Start the conversation ## Want to see the process in action? Send us a brief, real or hypothetical, and we will walk you through how we would approach it stage by stage. Discuss your brief ### Investment | How XO3D Scopes an Engagement | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/investment/ XO3D Studio · Investment # Investment. No generic menu. An honest framework for how XO3D scopes engagements and the variables that shape them. Read this before sending a brief. XO3D scopes every project to brief. We do not package creative direction into a generic menu. The reason is structural: every engagement is different in scope, complexity and ambition. A flat menu would either over-serve simple projects or under-serve complex ones. Neither serves the client. Start a brief → Our Approach ## Defined scopes. No open-ended production. Every XO3D engagement is shaped around a defined scope of deliverables. We do not run open-ended hourly production, day-by-day production, or render-frame accounting. The model has three consequences worth knowing. ### Scope certainty. You know the full scope before the project begins. There is no variable burn rate, no surprise overrun, no reason for the studio to slow down. ### Aligned incentives. XO3D wins when the work is excellent and the client comes back. Open-ended production rewards time spent. A defined scope rewards craft. ### Scoped revisions. Every engagement includes a defined revision allowance. If the project needs more, we scope the additional work transparently rather than absorbing it silently. What Determines Scope ## Seven variables that shape the scope. - 1VARIABLE 01 ### Product complexity How many components, materials and finishes the product has. A single-finish wireless earbud is a different build to a multi-material EV charger or a precision watch. - 2VARIABLE 02 ### Source-file quality CAD-ready, drawing-only, photography-only, or no reference at all. Each requires a different starting effort. CAD-ready is the most efficient and the most accurate. - 3VARIABLE 03 ### Deliverable suite Hero film only, full launch suite, social format set, interactive viewer, press kit, retail formats. The asset is the same. The production work to produce each output is what drives the scope. - 4VARIABLE 04 ### Variant range One colourway or twelve. Same model. Each colourway adds variant production scope. - 5VARIABLE 05 ### Animation complexity Static stills, simple turntable, full hero film with sound design, mechanism animations or assembly sequences. The scope difference is significant. - 6VARIABLE 06 ### Sector standard Luxury goods CGI is measured against the finest product photography in the world. Industrial CGI is measured against engineering accuracy. The sector's reference standard sets the bar. - 7VARIABLE 07 ### Timeline Standard production windows are 4-8 weeks for a typical launch. Compressed timelines are workable, with additional studio capacity scoped in. Engagement Ranges ## The shape of a typical scope. For clients scoping their first project, three shapes are useful as orientation. The specific scope is confirmed in the brief, not here. Entry ### Single-product, single-output One product, one hero asset (film or stills set), single brand language. The minimum scope at which XO3D's standard is justified. Below this scope, a commodity studio is the right choice. Sweet spot ### Full launch suite One product, the full launch suite (film, social, stills, interactive, press), 4-8 week production. The most common XO3D engagement. Where the single-build economics deliver the strongest value. Top end ### Multi-product, multi-market campaign Product range, multi-format global campaign, full sector-specific creative direction, localisation, ongoing variant production. Or a complex pre-manufacture programme with engineering involvement. When XO3D Is Not The Right Investment ## Honest disqualification. XO3D is a premium studio. There are commercial situations where a commodity rendering studio is the right call. If any of the following apply, the right answer is probably someone else. - The brief is "we need a test image" or "a quick render to see what it looks like" rather than a defined commercial output. - The engagement is structured as a day rate or hourly rate rather than a defined scope. - The deliverable is one quick packshot with no future use, no campaign integration, no brand context. - The decision criteria are finding whoever can turn it around soonest, regardless of standard. - The brief explicitly compares CGI to a generative-AI alternative and asks which is faster to generate. > "We are honest about who XO3D is for. Brands that need creative direction, engineering accuracy, and a studio that will hold a high standard across a long campaign. Brands that need a quick render with no creative direction are better served elsewhere, and we will tell them so."Alex Mann, Managing Director FAQ ## Common questions about investment. Why don't you work as an open-ended production resource?Because open-ended production rewards time spent, not results. Every engagement is scoped against a defined set of deliverables instead. That model gives the client certainty and aligns the studio's incentive with the work, not the hours.Can I get a sense of scope before sending a full brief?For a serious enquiry, yes. Send a one-paragraph description of the product, the deliverable need, and the rough timeline, and we will respond with an indicative read within one working day. A full scope needs the complete brief.How do revision rounds work?Every engagement includes a defined number of formal revision rounds, typically two in the production stage and one in the finishing stage. Smaller change requests are accommodated within these rounds. Material scope changes are scoped as additional work with full transparency.What about ongoing work after the project?The 3D asset library belongs to you. Future deliverables produced from the existing assets are a smaller scope than the original build, since the model, materials and lighting already exist. Many clients convert into a Visual Content Partnership for continuous monthly output once the foundation engagement completes. Start the conversation ## Ready to scope your launch? Send us a brief and we will respond with an indicative read within one working day, and a full scope within five. Start a brief ### Press & Recognition | XO3D Awards & Features Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/press/ XO3D Studio · Recognition # Recognition. The credentials behind the studio, awards, press features, and industry recognition that confirm what the work demonstrates. Press enquiries → Industry Awards ## Awards for creative and technical excellence. 2024 · Web Excellence Awards ### Winner, CGI & Animation Flash Motors Electric Scooter Launch Campaign. The Flash Motors CGI suite won the Web Excellence Award for CGI & Animation, recognising the creative direction and technical execution of the launch campaign. The award specifically cited the decision to treat the scooter with the cinematic language of a premium automotive reveal. View award citation → 2023 · Innovation & Excellence Awards ### Winner, Innovation & Excellence XO3D was recognised in the Innovation & Excellence Awards 2023 for contribution to the product CGI and visual content production category. The award recognises studios advancing the standard of CGI production in the UK market. Media Features ## Press and broadcast coverage. BBC · The Apprentice Series 16 ### Featured studio, Episode 7 XO3D and its work featured in BBC One's The Apprentice Series 16, Episode 7, the show's product visualisation challenge. The episode placed XO3D's CGI output in front of an audience of millions and demonstrated the studio's commercial application to a mainstream business audience. Watch on BBC iPlayer → Keyshot World ### Featured studio & speaker XO3D has been featured by Keyshot, the leading physically based rendering software used by premium product CGI studios globally, as a showcase studio demonstrating best-in-class use of Keyshot's rendering pipeline for product CGI. Thomas Howcroft has spoken at Keyshot World, the annual gathering of the world's leading product visualisation practitioners. View Keyshot feature → Client Credentials ## The brands that trust the work. Global Consumer Brands ### Sony · Burberry · Ferrari Product CGI produced for three of the world's most visually exacting consumer brands, each with internal creative standards set at the highest level in their respective categories. Technology & Innovation ### Imperial College London · Petalite · D'Addario Research institutions, deep-tech scale-ups, and global manufacturing brands, demonstrating XO3D's credibility across both commercial and technically demanding contexts. Award-Winning Work ### Flash Motors · G-Lab · Dermalux Projects that earned industry recognition or contributed directly to the client's commercial success, from award-winning launch campaigns to imagery used across global medical sales networks. Press Enquiries ## Media contact. For press enquiries, interview requests, or editorial collaboration, contact Alex Mann directly at info@xo3d.co.uk with the subject line: Press. XO3D is available to comment on trends in product CGI, the application of AI in visual production, and the commercial case for CGI over photography for product brands. Start the conversation ## Want to work with the studio behind the recognition? Tell us about the brief. We will read it, share how we would approach it, and tell you honestly whether we are the right studio for it. Discuss your brief --- ## Founders & creative leadership ### Thomas Howcroft | Founder and Creative Director | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/team/thomas-howcroft/ Team # Thomas Howcroft Founder and Creative Director Engineering precision with cinematic craft. Producing premium product CGI for marketing-led, high-end brands. LinkedIn → Focus - Product CGI & launch visuals - Visual strategy for marketing teams Expertise - Engineering-to-visual storytelling - High-end rendering & creative direction Speciality - CG launch kits (stills + film + systems) - Explaining complex tech clearly Engineering-led realism · Campaign-ready visuals · Senior client partner ## About Thomas Thomas is the Founder of XO3D, working at the intersection of engineering accuracy and premium visual craft. Day to day, he shapes how we translate complex products into launch-ready imagery and film, guiding creative direction, ensuring technical fidelity, and helping marketing teams communicate value quickly and clearly. He cares about three things: precision, clarity, and impact. That means visuals grounded in real engineering intent, elevated with cinematic lighting and detail, and delivered in a way that supports campaigns across web, social, sales, and product launches. Whether the goal is to explain how a technology works or to elevate perceived value through premium imagery, Thomas focuses on creating content that performs commercially as well as visually. Collaborative and hands-on, he works closely with clients through each stage of production, aligning stakeholders early, keeping feedback loops tight, and ensuring every deliverable meets the top-tier quality XO3D is known for. ## What Thomas leads at XO3D - Translating technical products into clear, high-impact visual narratives - Creative direction and quality control across stills, film and launch systems - Engineering-accurate workflows from CAD/reference to final deliverables - Helping marketing teams define deliverable sets that support campaigns - Keeping projects efficient through structured reviews and fast feedback loops - Building XO3D’s standards for premium realism and consistency ## Background After graduating in 2013, Thomas began his career as a CAD engineer, building a strong technical foundation in SolidWorks before focusing on visual storytelling through KeyShot and high-end rendering. He later lectured in 3D rendering at the University of Hertfordshire, mentoring artists and refining the practical workflows that bridge engineering and marketing. Inspired by the creative ambition he encountered at Jensen Consulting, Thomas went on to establish XO3D as a specialist studio producing premium 3D product imagery and animation for marketing-led brands. Today, his work centres on combining engineering-grade accuracy with cinematic craft, creating launch visuals that elevate products, strengthen campaigns, and help ambitious teams bring new ideas to market with confidence. ## Beyond XO3D Thomas also runs TomHow, an independent SEO and AI-search visibility consultancy. There he helps B2B brands stay findable, understood, and cited as search shifts toward AI-generated answers. Both practices share the same principle: technical precision in service of clear commercial communication. Back to the team → ### Alex Mann | Co-Founder and Managing Director | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/team/alex-mann/ Team # Alex Mann Co-Founder and Managing Director Premium product CGI for high-end tech launches. We translate complex engineering into cinematic visuals with CAD-accurate realism. LinkedIn → Focus - Product CGI - Launch Visuals Expertise - Look Development - Product Storytelling Speciality - CAD-accurate workflows - Exploded visualisation Speaker at KeyShot World · Featured on BBC The Apprentice ## About Alex Alex is Co-Founder and Managing Director at XO3D, leading the studio’s creative direction and quality standards across our product CGI work. Day to day, he works closely with our artists and clients to translate complex products into launch-ready visuals, shaping the narrative, guiding look development, and ensuring every detail holds up technically as well as aesthetically. He cares deeply about three things: craft, accuracy, and clarity. That means materials and lighting that feel premium, CAD-accurate forms that stay true to engineering intent, and storytelling that makes features instantly understood, whether it’s an exploded mechanism, a hero render, or a cinematic launch sequence. Alex typically partners with high-end tech and product-led brands, from consumer electronics to industrial and manufacturing-focused products, where precision and perceived value matter. He’s hands-on and client-facing throughout production, keeping feedback loops fast, decisions clear, and the final output consistent across every channel, from website and campaign assets to investor and launch presentations. ## What Alex leads at XO3D - Creative direction + quality control for launch visuals - CAD-to-CGI accuracy and review standards - Look development (materials, lighting, finish) - Product storytelling for “how it works” clarity ## Background Alex Mann has spent most of his adult life working in 3D. He graduated with a 1st Hons in Architectural Visualisation from Bournemouth University and has been Managing Director of XO3D since its inception. Alex has been responsible for building our client base to include some of the UK’s biggest development firms and creating a platform for the XO3D name to grow and become the business it is today. The company has been focusing on Animation and Product rendering as our main output and Alex has utilised his years in the industry to push the boundaries of 3D through simulation and process developments. He is passionate about international connection and bridging the gap between people through creative design and inspiring campaigns. Back to the team → ### Connor Hamilton-Smith | Head of 3D | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/team/connor-hamilton-smith/ Team # Connor Hamilton-Smith Head of 3D Leading the delivery of premium product CGI for high-end product launches. Design-led craft with technical precision. LinkedIn → Focus - Product CGI - Launch Visuals Expertise - Lighting & Materials - Product Storytelling Speciality - Scalable asset systems - Exploded visualisation Senior-led delivery · Quality-first pipeline · Fast feedback loops ## About Connor Connor is Head of 3D at XO3D, leading the delivery of premium product CGI for high-end tech launches. Day to day, he oversees look development and quality control across projects, refining materials, lighting and realism, and ensuring every shot stays consistent with the brand and technically accurate to the product. He’s meticulous about the details that make CGI feel truly premium: clean forms, believable finishes, controlled lighting, and clarity in how features are presented. Whether the goal is a hero image, a full launch film, or a scalable set of variants for marketing, Connor focuses on building a repeatable visual standard that holds up across every channel. Connor works closely with product-led teams in tech and manufacturing, helping translate complex engineering into visuals that are simple to understand and high-impact. He’s hands-on throughout production and collaborative in reviews, keeping feedback loops fast, aligning stakeholders quickly, and guiding the team to deliver work that looks as good as the product performs. ## What Connor leads at XO3D - Look development standards (materials, lighting, finish) - Shot/sequence quality control and approvals - CAD-to-CGI accuracy checks - Asset consistency across stills, film, and interactive - Mentoring artists and refining pipeline efficiency - Client review sessions and feedback translation ## Background Connor’s early career as a CAD specialist developed a deep understanding of precision, structure, and how products are engineered. Working closely with industry-leading teams on complex 3D model production sharpened an ability to solve technical challenges while protecting creative intent. That foundation underpins Connor’s approach today: balancing accuracy with expression, and using form, materials, and lighting to support clean, engaging visual narratives. Back to the team → ### Jack Robertson | Mid-Level Artist | XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/team/jack-robertson/ Team # Jack Robertson Mid-Level Artist Producing CAD-accurate product CGI for high-end tech brands. Photoreal look development, materials, lighting, and detail work that supports clear, high-impact product storytelling. LinkedIn → Focus - Product CGI - Photoreal stills & animation Expertise - Look development - Lighting & materials Speciality - Premium realism - Asset consistency Detail-obsessed craft · Accuracy-first workflow · Fast feedback loops ## About Jack Jack is a Mid-Level 3D Artist at XO3D, creating premium product CGI for high-end product launches and campaigns. Day to day, he focuses on building and polishing photoreal assets, developing materials, refining lighting, and pushing realism so every render feels sharp, believable, and brand-consistent. Jack cares about the details that elevate perceived value: clean modelling, accurate proportions, convincing surfaces, and lighting that brings form and engineering decisions to life. Whether the output is a hero still, a set of scalable product images, or animation frames for a launch film, he approaches each shot with an accuracy-first mindset and a strong eye for finish. He’s collaborative and responsive in reviews, working closely with senior artists and directors to interpret feedback quickly and maintain consistency across a full deliverable set. The result is CGI that’s not only visually striking, but also clear, technically faithful, and ready to perform across web, campaign, and sales channels. ## What Jack contributes at XO3D - Look development support (materials, shaders, surface finishing) - Lighting and render polish for premium realism - Shot consistency across image sets and sequences - CAD/reference matching and detail accuracy checks - Efficient iteration through review rounds and feedback - Preparing clean deliverables for web, campaign and presentations ## Background Jack’s approach is grounded in detail-led product CGI, matching reference, refining surfaces, and building lighting that reads cleanly across different angles and outputs. At XO3D, he supports projects from look development through to final delivery, helping maintain consistency across stills, animation frames, and campaign-ready image sets. Outside the studio, Jack spends much of his personal time on photography and travel, continually sharpening his eye for composition, light, and visual storytelling. That practice feeds directly into his CG work: framing shots with intent, using lighting to reveal form and materials, and building images that feel purposeful, not just technically correct, but visually compelling. Back to the team → --- ## Editorial library — thinking ### Material Obsession | Connor Hamilton-Smith, XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/thinking/material-obsession/ XO3D Studio · Thinking # Material Obsession. If the material doesn't behave the way the real object would, the viewer knows, even if they can't say why. That's the thing we're always solving. Connor Hamilton-SmithHead of 3D & Director, XO3D StudioTalk to Connor about your brief → There is a particular look that commodity product CGI has. You've seen it in thousands of product listings, in most corporate product videos, in the overwhelming majority of CGI produced for e-commerce. The surface is metallic but not quite right. The specular highlight is in roughly the correct position but moves wrongly as the camera passes. The plastic reads as plastic but not as that specific grade of polycarbonate with that specific surface treatment. Everything is approximately correct and nothing is actually right. The viewer doesn't consciously identify any of this. They feel it. The product seems slightly less real than it should. The material seems slightly less trustworthy. The overall effect is a reduction in the viewer's willingness to believe the product's quality promise, which is the exact opposite of what the CGI was commissioned to produce. I've spent my career trying to understand why this happens and how to not let it happen in my work. Material reference Connor studies before building any digital surface, every property researched from physical reality.The library lie ## Why preset materials produce this problem every time. Most CGI software comes with material libraries. "Brushed aluminium." "Matte plastic." "Gloss paint." These presets describe a category of material, not a specific material. They are averages, statistical midpoints between the range of real materials they nominally represent. They are useful for rapid prototyping and terrible for final production. The brushed aluminium preset in any software's material library was created by someone studying some brushed aluminium at some point. It is a reasonable approximation of a reasonable example of that material. But your product does not use a reasonable example of brushed aluminium, it uses a specific aluminium alloy with a specific brushing process at a specific depth producing a specific anisotropic reflection pattern. That specific combination of properties is not in any library. When a CGI studio applies a library material to your product, the viewer's eye, informed by a lifetime of looking at real surfaces, registers the mismatch. Not consciously. At the level of instinct. The surface doesn't quite behave the way their mental model says it should. The product seems less real. Less trustworthy. Less worth wanting. What reconstruction actually involves ## The process behind a material that reads as real. When I start a new project, before I open any software, I study the physical object or the specifications that describe it. I look at how light behaves on the surface at different angles. Where does the reflection become tight and specular? Where does it spread into a broader, diffuse glow? Is there anisotropy in the brushing, does the reflection change character as the light source moves perpendicular to the brush marks versus parallel to them? What is the base colour of the material in the absence of reflections? What happens at grazing angles? These are not questions a library material can answer correctly. They are questions I answer by looking at the specific material and encoding my observations into physically accurate values in the render engine. The roughness value is not a guess from a preset, it is derived from observation of how sharp or diffuse the specular reflection is on this specific surface. The metallic value is not a binary toggle, it is calibrated to the specific balance of specular and diffuse reflectance this particular finish exhibits. This process takes longer than applying a library preset. It takes significantly longer. And it is the entire reason the result looks like a photograph of the real product rather than a CGI approximation of a similar product. The most difficult materials ## Where the problem is hardest to solve. Liquid ### Beer, spirits, water, oil Liquid requires volumetric simulation, the light doesn't just reflect off the surface, it enters the liquid, scatters within it, and exits at a different point. The colour of a spirit in a glass depends on liquid depth, the specific absorption properties of the liquid, and the refraction index of the glass container. Every variable interacts. There is no shortcut. Translucent plastics ### Diffusers, covers, casings Semi-transparent polymers, the frosted diffuser on a smart home device, the translucent casing of a medical device, the smoked lens on a consumer electronic, require subsurface scattering alongside correct transparency and refraction. The interaction between internal light scatter and surface reflection is where most CGI fails with these materials. Natural materials ### Wood, cane, leather, stone Organic materials resist perfect reconstruction because they are never perfectly consistent. Wood grain has pattern but not repetition. Leather has texture but not uniformity. The challenge is capturing the character of the material, the quality that makes it read as natural, without producing either a sterile digital pattern or an overcrowded surface. Coated metals ### Anodised, PVD, powder coat Metal finishing processes, anodising, physical vapour deposition, powder coating, dramatically change the optical properties of the base metal. The same aluminium substrate reads completely differently in natural anodise versus black anodise versus colour-anodised versions. Each requires separate material reconstruction; a palette swap does not produce correct results. Why it matters commercially ## Material accuracy is a brand-trust mechanism. The viewer's response to material quality in product imagery is visceral and pre-conscious. They do not decide whether the material looks right, they feel it before they can think. That feeling becomes a judgement about the product's quality, authenticity, and value. Material accuracy is not a technical nicety. It is the mechanism by which product CGI either builds or erodes brand trust. This is why I don't use library materials. Not because I can't. Because they produce work that I know will fail at the level that matters most, the viewer's instinctive assessment of whether this product is worth wanting. That failure is too important to risk for the time a library preset saves. Questions ## Common questions about material reconstruction. How long does material reconstruction take on a typical project?For a product with one or two primary materials (a simple aluminium housing and a matte polymer base, for example), material reconstruction takes 1–2 days of work. Complex products, multiple materials, exotic finishes, translucent elements, organic materials, can take 4–6 days. This time is built into XO3D project timelines as a non-negotiable stage. Material quality is the single most visible determinant of whether the final renders look photographed or rendered.Do you ever use library materials as a starting point?As a starting point only, and only for materials where the library preset happens to be a close match to the physical reference. Even then, the library values are adjusted to match the specific material rather than accepted as is. The library is a starting position, not a destination. Start the conversation ## Want to see what correct material reconstruction looks like on your product? Send us your product specs and a reference image. We'll show you what the difference looks like. Talk to Connor about your brief ### The Brief We Wish We Got | Alex Mann, XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/thinking/the-brief-we-wish-we-got/ XO3D Studio · Thinking # The Brief We Wish We Got. What separates the briefs that produce great work from the briefs that produce adequate work, and what the best ones have in common that has nothing to do with budget. Alex MannManaging Director, XO3D StudioStart a conversation →Read the brief template → We have been given briefs that were one sentence long and produced some of the best work we've made. We have been given briefs that ran to twelve pages and produced some of the most protracted, revision-heavy, expensive-to-produce work in our history. The length of a brief has very little to do with its quality. After reading hundreds of briefs, I have a fairly clear sense of what makes one good. It is rarely what clients think it is. The brief we wish we got, a single-page document with a clear creative challenge at its centre, not a shopping list.What makes a brief good ## The four things that change everything. - 01 ### A single sentence about how it should feel Not what it should look like. How it should feel. "We want this to feel like the product is already a design classic" is more useful than three paragraphs of visual references. "We want investors to feel the weight of the engineering before they understand what the product does" is better than a twelve-item deliverables list. The feeling is the target. Everything else is the path to it.When a brief contains a clear emotional target, our Creative Director can test every subsequent decision against it. Does this camera angle serve that feeling? Does this material choice deepen it? Does this edit rhythm support it? A brief without an emotional target turns every creative decision into a guessing game about what the client will approve. - 02 ### One example of work you admire and why Not a mood board of fifty images, that is visual averaging, and visual averaging produces mediocre creative direction. One example of work that you think is doing something worth doing, with one sentence explaining what it is you think it is doing. "The Sony product films where you forget you're looking at CGI and just want the product" is more useful than forty Pinterest screenshots. The specificity of one informed choice outweighs the breadth of many uninformed ones. - 03 ### An honest statement about what success looks like Not "make it look better." What specific response are you trying to produce in the specific person who will see this? "We need investors to believe this product exists and is viable before we've shipped a unit" is a success criterion we can design toward. "We want consumers to prefer this over the Samsung equivalent when shown both in a social ad" is a success criterion we can design toward. "We need imagery that reflects our premium positioning" is a success criterion we cannot design toward because it contains no information about what premium means to this brand, for this product, in this market. - 04 ### Permission to push back The best briefs we have received include an explicit or implicit signal that the client wants the best work, not the most literal interpretation of the brief. When a brief says "we've briefed you because of how you approached the Petalite project, we want that kind of thinking applied here," it gives us permission to say "we've read your brief and we think the approach you've outlined won't produce what you're trying to achieve, here's what we'd do instead." That conversation, before a frame is rendered, is worth more to the final output than any amount of revision rounds after delivery. The brief we actually get most often ## And how we handle it. The brief we receive most often is this: a list of deliverables, a deadline, a reference to the brand guidelines, and an absence of any of the four things above. No emotional target. No admired reference. No success criterion. No permission to question the approach. This is not a bad brief because the client doesn't care about the work, it is a bad brief because the client doesn't know that these four things are what turns a production job into a creative partnership. They have been trained by years of briefing suppliers who asked for file formats and dimensions rather than feelings and targets. Our response is to ask. We ask for the one sentence about feeling before we quote. We ask for the one reference they admire. We ask what success looks like for the specific viewer. We ask whether they want us to push back if we think the brief could produce better work a different way. Three of four clients respond with answers that change the brief completely. One in four is frustrated by the questions and wants a quote for what they asked for. We serve both, but the former produces the work we're most proud of. The brief we wish we got ## For what it is worth, and in the spirit of full transparency. For what it is worth, and in the spirit of full transparency, this is the brief we wish we received more often: > "We have a product that we believe in. We want to commission a film that makes other people believe in it too, not by explaining its features, but by making them feel what the product is worth before they understand why it's worth it. We've seen what you did with Petalite and Sony. We want that quality of thinking applied here. We trust your creative direction. Tell us what you'd do with our product." We receive something close to this brief about four times a year. The work that comes from it is the work this studio exists to make. Questions ## Briefing questions we hear most. Should I share a budget range in the brief?Yes, always. A brief without a budget range produces a proposal at the studio's best guess of what you might spend, which is often misaligned with what you actually have. A brief with a clear budget range produces a proposal scoped to deliver the most value within that range. The budget conversation is better before the brief than at the proposal stage.How detailed should the deliverables list be?Specific enough to be unambiguous, not so prescriptive that you rule out better approaches. '1 × 45-second hero film and a social suite in 9:16, 1:1 and 4:5' is the right level of detail. 'The film should start with a close-up of the charging port at 0:03 and then pull back to a full product reveal by 0:08' is too prescriptive, it removes the creative direction conversation that produces better outcomes. Start the conversation ## Want to write a brief like that? Read our briefing guide. Or skip it and just tell us about the product and what you want people to feel when they see the imagery. We'll take it from there. Start a conversation Or read the brief guide → ### Why the Best CGI is Invisible | Thomas Howcroft, XO3D Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/thinking/why-best-cgi-is-invisible/ XO3D Studio · Thinking # Why the Best CGI is Invisible. Not invisible because nothing happened. Invisible because everything that happened feels inevitable, the right light, the right material, the right frame, earning the right response. Thomas HowcroftFounder and Creative Director, XO3D StudioStart a conversation → There is a quality in the best product CGI that is very difficult to describe and very easy to feel. You watch the film. You see the product. You understand why it is worth wanting. And then it ends, and you don't find yourself thinking about the camera move, or the specular highlight, or the sound design. You think about the product. The craft disappears completely into the result. This is invisibility. Not the invisibility of nothing happening, the invisibility of everything happening so correctly that the viewer's attention goes exactly where it was meant to go, without a single moment of awareness that it was being directed there. I think about this quality constantly. It is the target on every project we take on, and it is the standard against which every decision we make gets tested, before a frame is rendered, before a camera is placed, before a material is built. Invisible CGI, when the craft disappears into the result, the viewer thinks about the product, not the technique.The problem with visible CGI ## What draws attention to the craft rather than the product. Most CGI fails the invisibility test not through technical incompetence but through an excess of visible decision-making. The camera move that calls attention to itself. The specular highlight placed for visual drama rather than material accuracy. The edit rhythm that prioritises a sense of polish over a sense of the product. These are all choices made in the direction of impressive rather than inevitable. Impressive CGI says: look what we can do. Invisible CGI says: look at this product. The distinction sounds subtle. The commercial difference is not. An impressive product film earns admiration for the studio. An invisible product film earns desire for the product. The client who hired us wanted the second thing, even if they couldn't articulate the difference when they briefed us. > "The camera is a creative instrument. Every shot is a deliberate editorial choice that tells the viewer something about the product. The best camera paths are the ones where the viewer never thinks about the camera, they think only about the product."- from XO3D's pre-production brief framework The three elements ## Where invisibility is earned or lost. - 01 ### Material honesty A material that has been reconstructed from physical reference, that genuinely behaves the way the real surface behaves under light, does not demand the viewer's attention. It simply reads as real. The viewer forms a physical impression of a surface they have never touched, without registering the act of forming that impression. A material that has been approximated from a library, that is close but not accurate, creates a low-level visual dissonance that the viewer feels without being able to identify. The surface feels slightly wrong. The product feels slightly untrustworthy. The film's credibility erodes silently. - 02 ### Light with intention The light in a product film has one job: to reveal what the product's designer intended the product to communicate. Not to be dramatic. Not to demonstrate render engine capability. Not to fill the frame with visual complexity. The angle of the key light on a machined surface should reveal the surface treatment, not create an abstract composition. The fill light in a shadow area should preserve material legibility, not add atmosphere. When the lighting is doing its job correctly, the viewer never thinks about the lighting. They see the product. - 03 ### Edit that earns its rhythm The edit rhythm of a product film, how long each shot is held, how cuts are timed against the audio, where the film breathes and where it accelerates, determines whether the viewer feels they are being rushed through a feature list or taken through a considered argument. The best product films have an edit that feels inevitable in retrospect: each shot was exactly the right length, the cuts happened at exactly the right moments, and the viewer arrives at the end of the film with exactly the feeling the brief intended. No shot was held too long. No cut was too abrupt. The edit disappears into the experience. The practical implication ## What this means for how we work. Before we render a single final frame on any project, we ask: if everything we are about to commit to is executed perfectly, the material, the light, the camera, the edit, will the viewer think about the product, or will they think about the CGI? If the answer is "the CGI," we go back to the creative direction and find what is demanding too much attention. This question is uncomfortable to ask in pre-production, because the answer sometimes means changing a decision that felt impressive into a decision that feels invisible. It is also the single question most responsible for the gap between work that impresses clients and work that changes how their customers feel about the product. The work we are most proud of is the work that requires the most explanation to describe, because the decisions that made it exceptional are the decisions that nobody noticed while watching it. Questions ## Common questions about invisible CGI. Can invisibility be achieved on any budget?The principles of invisible CGI (material honesty, light with intention, edit that earns its rhythm) apply regardless of project scale. A single still image suite can be invisible if the material reconstruction is correct and the lighting is considered. A large campaign film can be visibly CGI if those principles are neglected. Scope determines the complexity of what is possible, not whether the principles apply. They apply to all of it.How do you know when you've achieved it?The practical test: watch the final film without knowing anything about how it was made. If you find yourself thinking about the product, the effect is working. If you find yourself thinking about the camera, the lighting, or the production technique, something is drawing too much attention to the craft. Thomas Howcroft reviews every project with this question before final delivery. Start the conversation ## Have a product that deserves invisible CGI? Tell us about it. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right studio for it. Start a conversation --- ## Contact ### Contact XO3D | Send Us Your Product CGI Brief Source: https://xo3d.co.uk/contact-us/ Start a conversation # Start a conversation. Every great project starts with the right brief. Tell us about yours. We read every message personally. If your project is a good fit, Thomas or Alex will reply within one working day with thoughts, not a price list. Where we work ## Studio in Stevenage. New York representation. Studio (UK) Business and Technology Centre,Bessemer Drive, Stevenage,SG1 2DX New York representation XO3D, 244 Fifth Avenue,Suite A252, New York,N.Y. 10001 Phone UK: +44 20 3488 3437USA: +1 646 233 3654 Email info@xo3d.co.uk★★★★★5.0 from 76 reviews on GoogleWebsiteYour Name *Contact numberOptional, but helpful if you'd like us to call you about the project.Afghanistan (+93)Albania (+355)Algeria (+213)American Samoa (+1684)Andorra (+376)Angola (+244)Anguilla (+1264)Antarctica (+672)Antigua and Barbuda (+1268)Argentina (+54)Armenia (+374)Aruba (+297)Australia (+61)Austria (+43)Azerbaijan (+994)Bahamas (+1242)Bahrain (+973)Bangladesh (+880)Barbados (+1246)Belarus (+375)Belgium (+32)Belize (+501)Benin (+229)Bermuda (+1441)Bhutan (+975)Bolivia (+591)Bosnia and Herzegovina (+387)Botswana (+267)Brazil (+55)British Indian Ocean Territory (+246)British Virgin Islands (+1284)Brunei (+673)Bulgaria (+359)Burkina Faso (+226)Burundi (+257)Cambodia (+855)Cameroon (+237)Canada (+1)Cape Verde (+238)Caribbean Netherlands (+599)Cayman Islands (+1345)Central African Republic (+236)Chad (+235)Chile (+56)China (+86)Christmas Island (+61)Cocos (Keeling) Islands (+61)Colombia (+57)Comoros (+269)Cook Islands (+682)Costa Rica (+506)Croatia (+385)Cuba (+53)Curaçao (+599)Cyprus (+357)Czechia (+420)Democratic Republic of the Congo (+243)Denmark (+45)Djibouti (+253)Dominica (+1767)Dominican Republic (+1809)Ecuador (+593)Egypt (+20)El Salvador (+503)Equatorial Guinea (+240)Eritrea (+291)Estonia (+372)Eswatini (+268)Ethiopia (+251)Falkland Islands (+500)Faroe Islands (+298)Fiji (+679)Finland (+358)France (+33)French Guiana (+594)French Polynesia (+689)Gabon (+241)Gambia (+220)Georgia (+995)Germany (+49)Ghana (+233)Gibraltar (+350)Greece (+30)Greenland (+299)Grenada (+1473)Guadeloupe (+590)Guam (+1671)Guatemala (+502)Guernsey (+44)Guinea (+224)Guinea-Bissau (+245)Guyana (+592)Haiti (+509)Honduras (+504)Hong Kong (+852)Hungary (+36)Iceland (+354)India (+91)Indonesia (+62)Iran (+98)Iraq (+964)Ireland (+353)Isle of Man (+44)Israel (+972)Italy (+39)Ivory Coast (+225)Jamaica (+1876)Japan (+81)Jersey (+44)Jordan (+962)Kazakhstan (+7)Kenya (+254)Kiribati (+686)Kosovo (+383)Kuwait (+965)Kyrgyzstan (+996)Laos (+856)Latvia (+371)Lebanon (+961)Lesotho (+266)Liberia (+231)Libya (+218)Liechtenstein (+423)Lithuania (+370)Luxembourg (+352)Macao (+853)Madagascar (+261)Malawi (+265)Malaysia (+60)Maldives (+960)Mali (+223)Malta (+356)Marshall Islands (+692)Martinique (+596)Mauritania (+222)Mauritius (+230)Mayotte (+262)Mexico (+52)Micronesia (+691)Moldova (+373)Monaco (+377)Mongolia (+976)Montenegro (+382)Montserrat (+1664)Morocco (+212)Mozambique (+258)Myanmar (+95)Namibia (+264)Nauru (+674)Nepal (+977)Netherlands (+31)New Caledonia (+687)New Zealand (+64)Nicaragua (+505)Niger (+227)Nigeria (+234)Niue (+683)Norfolk Island (+672)North Korea (+850)North Macedonia (+389)Northern Mariana Islands (+1670)Norway (+47)Oman (+968)Pakistan (+92)Palau (+680)Palestine (+970)Panama (+507)Papua New Guinea (+675)Paraguay (+595)Peru (+51)Philippines (+63)Pitcairn Islands (+64)Poland (+48)Portugal (+351)Puerto Rico (+1787)Qatar (+974)Republic of the Congo (+242)Réunion (+262)Romania (+40)Russia (+7)Rwanda (+250)Saint Barthélemy (+590)Saint Helena (+290)Saint Kitts and Nevis (+1869)Saint Lucia (+1758)Saint Martin (+590)Saint Pierre and Miquelon (+508)Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (+1784)Samoa (+685)San Marino (+378)São Tomé and Príncipe (+239)Saudi Arabia (+966)Senegal (+221)Serbia (+381)Seychelles (+248)Sierra Leone (+232)Singapore (+65)Sint Maarten (+1721)Slovakia (+421)Slovenia (+386)Solomon Islands (+677)Somalia (+252)South Africa (+27)South Korea (+82)South Sudan (+211)Spain (+34)Sri Lanka (+94)Sudan (+249)Suriname (+597)Svalbard and Jan Mayen (+47)Sweden (+46)Switzerland (+41)Syria (+963)Taiwan (+886)Tajikistan (+992)Tanzania (+255)Thailand (+66)Timor-Leste (+670)Togo (+228)Tokelau (+690)Tonga (+676)Trinidad and Tobago (+1868)Tunisia (+216)Turkey (+90)Turkmenistan (+993)Turks and Caicos Islands (+1649)Tuvalu (+688)Uganda (+256)Ukraine (+380)United Arab Emirates (+971)United Kingdom (+44)United States (+1)Uruguay (+598)U.S. Virgin Islands (+1340)Uzbekistan (+998)Vanuatu (+678)Vatican City (+39)Venezuela (+58)Vietnam (+84)Wallis and Futuna (+681)Western Sahara (+212)Yemen (+967)Zambia (+260)Zimbabwe (+263)Best email to reach you *Company or brand *Your roleWhat do you need produced? *Select all that apply. Product CGI Films Still Imagery / Launch Visuals Interactive / AR Ecommerce Stakeholder Communication Digital Experiences Other / Not sureBudget band *Select…Under £2k£2k – £5k£5k – £15k£15k – £40k£40k – £100kOver £100kNot yet definedTimeline *Select…Within 4 weeks1–3 months3–6 months6+ monthsJust exploring For budgets below £2k, start with Render Roll. It is XO3D's fixed-scope product-rendering service for smaller briefs, with a pack builder and indicative UK pricing. Build a Render Roll pack →How did you hear about XO3D?What are you working on? *Tell us about your project XO3D needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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