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CGI.Backgrounds November 2024 Artist of the Month: Brad Bacon

Visual storytelling is at the heart of everything we do here at CGI.Backgrounds. Powerful visual stories connect consumers to brands and quickly convey the essence of a product.
Visual stories also engage us emotionally, evoking feelings, histories, and desires that written text often cannot.
That’s why we were so excited to showcase the work of our November Artist of the Month: Brad Bacon.
Brad is a freelance real-time artist and Unreal Engine consultant. On his LinkedIn , he recently shared an incredibly powerful, cinematic “full blown animation project” featuring the Porsche 911 GT3.
We love that Bacon’s video is richly detailed and realistic. He shared that using Lumen in Unreal Engine for rendering, his scene was so complex that it took 5 to 10 seconds per frame to render!
But what we love even more is that, even in just a few seconds of video, he manages to capture a powerful visual story about this iconic Porsche.
Dynamic camera work, creative angles, and beautifully-lit, hyperreal backgrounds bring the Porsche to life.
Small details—like starting with a camera shake as the Porsche speeds by the virtual camera, or showing the wheels of the GT3 briefly sliding off the track as it drifts around a corner—add narrative power to the scene.
Bacon’s project began as a simple modular rigging test. Utilizing cutting-edge tools like Unreal Engine 5.4 Lumen for real-time global illumination and efficient frame rendering, Blender for detailed rigging and preparation, and DaVinci Resolve 19 for post-processing, Bacon created a seamless blend of technical expertise and artistic vision.
We love the results of Bacon’s efforts. But we’re especially proud that CGI.Backgrounds' RAY HDRi Maps were integral to telling Bacon’s visual story.
Bacon lit his entire animation using our RAY HDR technology, which he called “incredible.”
The embedded lighting data in our 32-bit RAY.HDRi maps provides realistic colors, shadows, and reflections to Bacon’s scene.
The sunlight perfectly reflects off the Porsche’s spoiler as it rounds a corner, while the realistic shadows cast on the track by trees and sidewalls complement the scene's overall realism and help Bacon tell his visual story.
You can see more of Bacon's work on his Artstation page.
Congrats to Bacon on a remarkable project! It’s amazing how little creative experiments can grow into something so much bigger.
Feeling inspired to share your own visual stories? Get started with a free CGI.Backgrounds plan or join our newsletter for more inspiring Artist of the Month stories.

Author

  • Thomas Smith

    Director of Communications

    Thomas Smith is a professional journalist, photographer, and CEO of Gado Images, an AI-driven content agency. Smith uses his degree in Cognitive Science from Johns Hopkins University and 10+ years of photography industry experience to provide insight on industry trends.