Saturday 2nd February saw the start of the Six Nations Rugby Tournament and with it the first airing of this new ad for Guinness, sponsors of the Irish squad.

The hugely famous Irish brand is renowned for its spectacular commercials and this latest one does not disappoint.

A misty Irish field sits empty and bleak. Suddenly the earth starts to crack and splinter as twisted stalks and branches rapidly emerge from its broken surface. An eight strong group of massive heaving trees appear before us, challenging us as a set of rugby forwards would face their opposition before the scrum. A powerful message is delivered: a home grown Irish team backed by the very best known home grown Irish tipple.

As would be expected, the post production process was a complex one. First, the tree characters were designed by director Rory Kelleher, then a model created by the 3D team. Different Glassworks 3D artists took responsibility for each area, the body, head, arms and legs all dealt with separately. In the meantime live action back plates and 'earth ripping' plates were shot in Ireland. Back at Glassworks, Vincent Thomas textured the 3D model, having sampled multiple tree and plant textures to ensure authenticity. Aside from the first, hand animated section, all character animation was created using motion capture data from actual rugby players. In addition, Glassworks made CG mist and multiple particle systems to emulate the swirling Guinness in its glass.