Industry Spotlight: Plenty

Motion Design 27/04/2019 3 min read

In all of our previous Industry Spotlights, we’ve covered some of the biggest motion design and visual effects studios in the US. But, there are plenty of great studios all around the world.

Speaking of plenty, today we are going to highlight Plenty. No, not plenty of studios, but Plenty the studio. Confused?

Plenty is the name of a really great motion design studio out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They produce lots of high-quality spots using polished 3D and bold colors for clients like Fox, MTV, and Coca-Cola.

They have a wide range of spots on their site, but their real signature comes from their whimsical 3D character animation and bright, bold color palettes.

Let’s take a look at an example.

In this set of spots for the launch of TCL’s LED television, the team at Plenty went about building an entire family of 5. Each character is super stylized and fun, including the father who threads the spots together.

Each spot tells a story of how the father opts out of spending money on home repairs or family vacations in order to buy a new TV.

Not only did Plenty have the job of animating the spots, but they also had to tell a compelling and funny story. These spots serve as short cartoon stories that are just as entertaining as they are educated about the product.

The team went through a series of family designs that included flat illustrations and 3D models before settling on the family for the spot. It’s almost like a casting call to find the perfect family. And the results are perfect.

Although Plenty does a lot of character work in their projects, the main thing that really pops out in their style is whimsy and fun. This made Plenty the perfect vendor to help Fox launch their Fox Comedy channel.

Using the concept of emojis, Plenty built a series of fast-paced, 3D animations using the Fox Comedy logo that are tons of fun to watch. They have enough simplicity to not confuse the viewer when revealing important information like show names and times, but they also pack in enough visual interest to gain the viewer’s attention and to not get old too quickly.

When developing an identity for a network, the greatest challenge is leveraging interest with clarity and Plenty did a great job here.

Of course, Plenty also has great talent for 2D animation and design. They took a very creative and unique approach when Viacom wanted a series of animated loops for their New York offices.

Plenty went back to the character creation that they are so good at, but instead went to a flat 2D design, layered with gritty textures and actual photographs of NYC landmarks, for a very cool “mixed media” look.

The loops captured the essence of New York with a playful style. The team started with a set of characters and loads of parts and pieces for each one. In an almost “paper doll” treatment, you can see here how a character came together.

Once all the characters and scenes were built, the animations were executed perfectly.

For the FX Turkey promo that Plenty created, they were tasked with bringing together all of their disciplines. The 00:40 promo includes live-action (shot over a green screen) hand illustration, and 2D and 3D animation, all composited to interact with the live talent.

The result is a comic book come to life. It’s dark and twisted, with a handmade feel, all while being polished and professional through and through.

Be sure to watch the behind the scenes footage after the promo in the video below. It shows great insight into the process of how the promo was made.

Plenty is the perfect name for this Argentinian studio that has plenty of talent, and plenty of great work. They are a great example of one of the studios outside the US that demands attention and produces high-quality spots every time.

For more information on Plenty and to see more work, visit plenty.tv