Effekt-Etage
The Avant-Garde of Interactive Flash Video
Interview with Bjoern Kowalski - Dipl. Ing. Digital Media


FSW: Hi Bjoern, Effekt-Etage did some amazing work for e.g. MINI, BMW, Adidas or Audi. For what part of the projects is Effekt-Etage normally responsible for?

Bjoern: Well, we are normally involved from the first idea all the way to the final product. We create 3D artwork for interactive storyboards, do consultations for the concept and help in case of unclear issues. We also plan and supervise shootings, organizing the right equipment and doing the post production. In projects without a set we are working on the 3D visuals. We also do video encoding and Flash development.

FSW: What project are you currently working on and what are the challenges?

Bjoern: Currently we are working on several projects including BMW and Adidas. Both will be online in the middle of April. Unfortunately I can't tell you more. :-)

FSW: What was the most exciting and/or challenging project you've worked on so far?

Bjoern: Well, each project is special and challenging in one or the other way. I guess one of the most exciting projects was the MINI Convertible Special. It was the first time that a company did a 5-day shoot for an interactive application on the other side of the world. The shoot and post production were quite tricky as well. Everything turned out well and the application was a benchmark for interactive video websites for quite some time, winning several awards all over the world.

FSW: What software do you normally use?

Bjoern: For the 3D part we use Cinema 4D most of the time. For modeling tasks we also use Bodypaint and Mudbox. And we've just acquired Vue, a software which is great for creating clouds and environments. Basically we always use the software which is best for the job. For compositing we use Combustion, which is great for all the interactive applications we work on. You can choose any resolution and it has nice flow graph systems.