Chelsea FC and The Berry launch the club’s Nike Third Kit, with a scroll-stopping viral VFX film.

Chelsea FC has released their 23/24 Nike Third Kit, with a viral VFX film created by agency and creative production partners, The Berry.

It made total sense for a London takeover… given Chelsea FC are ‘The Pride of London’ (and the best team in the city…!)

A simple, yet very effective stand-out creative was developed by both The Berry and CFC creative teams. The aim; to go viral on socials and create hype and astonishment with a ‘was that real?!’ video. And yes… to tell you the truth. It is VFX. But you have to admit… The Berry nearly had you. 😉

To achieve a photo-realistic texture for the kit, The Berry team photographed the physical version of the Third Kit. The photographs were captured in a replicated lighting set up; matching the lighting and colour tones from the Tower Bridge footage.

The images were stitched together in Adobe Photoshop; the close-up of the collar, overall fabric texture, badges and sponsor logo etc.

Once this process was complete, the final stitched image was used as a UV-mapped texture asset, which was applied to the t-shirt 3D model. The positive of this technique is that it ensures absolute photo-realism and accuracy - as essentially what you’re seeing in the VFX video, is real.

The t-shirt cloth simulation was created in Houdini, utilising the software's native physics engine. After tracking the shot, 3D geometry was placed into the scene, in place of the bridge. This thoughtful approach allowed the t-shirt fabric to interact organically and naturally with Tower Bridge. To achieve a realistic and captivating outcome, the physics within the scene were then fine-tuned, adjusting parameters such as wind speed, direction, and turbulence.