In 2017, we were contacted by Microport Orthopedics, a medical implant company based out of Arlington Tennessee that specializes in hip and knee implant devices. Our goal was to produce various high quality images of their implants from an assortment of different camera angles and compositions.
To aid our efforts, MicroPort Orthopedics provided us with their latest 3D CAD files and even a physical sample of one of their prototype designs. The final manufactured implant did not even exist yet, hence why 3D rendering presented a more viable option than traditional photography.
The greatest challenge this project presented was with regard to the complexity of the materials and textures.
The most difficult surface detail to recreate was what the folks over at MicroPort Orthopedics called the biofoam.
This coarse, almost coral-like material, covered the outer surface of their hip implant shell and was therefor always a prominent feature. Getting the look just right was imperative to nailing the design.
Other surfaces, even somewhat more basic ones, also had their challenges since it was requested that we produce some of the renderings at large scale print resolutions of 9K pixels. At that size, every detail is noticeable and features like grain, speckles, etc. can't be taken for granted.
With the backgrounds fully staged, we produced a total of 36 renderings, 6 angles of the shoe x 6 colors, to showcase these designs to the world. We had such a fun time working on these creative and unique designs and hope that they will attract a whole new generation of children to the world of ballet.