Mine Smart Ferry (Energy Absolute)

Energy Absolute PCL is one of Thailand's largest energy companies and they are commuted to developing transportation solutions for Bangkok using their investment in battery technology. One of the projects they have heavily invested in is the Mine Smart Ferry that would run as public transport along Bangkok's Chao Phraya river. The tasks for this projects included a whole range of design modeling, CG work, VR, and animation as well as project management and collaborating with other departments within the company to co-ordinate a launch event.

For the modeling tasks I worked closely with my friend and talented yacht designer Vlad Cernega, more of his work can be found here. Vlad was very helpful in getting the project completed on time since we only had 2 weeks to go everything because the launch event date was set prior to the start of the project. A full interior was also created for the VR experience that allowed the shareholders to walk into the ferry and get a real sense of space.

CG work that was done for the launch event included an animation that was projected onto a spray of water. This was a new experience for me and required me to work closely with the event organizers in getting the correct file type, size, and color space. In addition to the standard animation, CG images, and 360° video, there was also a requirement to create a full VR scene that was setup on multiple computers connected to HTC Vives. Using the power of Unreal Engine I created an entire realistic scee complete with water, pier, and animated people that really immersed and helped sell the project to both investors and government officials.

Energy Absolute plans to build between 30-50 ferries over the coming years that would run along a set route that is currently operated by polluting diesel engines. Due to the increased awareness around PM 2.5 pollution in Thailand, both the general public and the government are supportive of this project.