SLO Water Resource and Recovery: The Process of Converting Solids into Compost
Problem
The city of San Luis Obispo is undertaking a significant upgrade to its 130-year-old water treatment plant. The new project, SLO Water Plus, enhances the Water Resource Recovery Facility's (WRRF) ability to recover resources traditionally classified as waste. This upgrade will improve the plant's efficiency and help reduce our dependence on reservoir and groundwater supplies for the long term.
Unfortunately, the community is largely unaware of this project and the associated technological advancements. Furthermore, the plant relies on community interest in the water treatment process to attract individuals who may want to work there.
I proposed that I could create an animation to address these challenges.
Mood Board
View the full mood board here.
Design Process
To create the storyboards, I modeled key buildings and features using Cinema 4D. I experimented with different colors, lighting, and textures to ensure the visuals were bright, graphic, and more appealing than typical graphics found in water resource facilities.
My goal was to make the design attractive to young people while appealing to all age groups. I aimed for a bright and contrasting style that would allow viewers to easily understand what they were looking at and the processes involved.
I sent the client a storyboard complete with text. They reviewed all the designs and requested changes to various parts of the system.
Animation
After I applied revisions I began animating the 3D elements in Cinema 4D.
I rendered all the 3D animations using Cinema 4D and imported them into After Effects. In addition, I added 2D text animations to explain each step of the process, as the client preferred this format over a voiceover.
I refined the 2D text animations to ensure they appeared cleanly and legibly, effectively conveying the information. To streamline the creation of the 2D elements, I developed a system where I could enter all the content into a spreadsheet and then import it into After Effects, which automatically built the text compositions.
I obtained the client's approval for music that would complement the animation and adjusted the timing to align with this music.
After delivering the first round of animations, all parties involved provided feedback to ensure the content was accurate and met their needs. They suggested a few revisions. Once I applied these changes, I delivered a final three-minute explainer video.
Results
The SLO WRRF made significant use of the animation to train new employees through job interview simulations.
Additionally, they utilized the animation in a segment for the local news, helping the community understand the changes taking place at the facility and how these changes would enhance their lives.
