After meeting with a client who wanted to produce a Minnesota Missions DVD, we found a great way to demonstrate the need for missions right here in Minnesota through video.

The production process started with an intro using Google Earth. This can be done with the pro version of Google Earth using the movie maker function but the cost to do so was prohibitive for the client.  So we got creative trying a few different methods. We finally opted to use Cinema 4D (a 3D animations program) and got the look we were going for.

Now that we were rolling on the wide shot of a spinning world with text overlay, we wanted to visually push into Minnesota and with our Cinema 4D skills, we made this a beautiful metamorphosis.

Now that we were happy with our results, we exported the video to After Effects and started adding effects such as text and photo animations to make the video come alive.  Being pleased with the results, we could now export this to Apple Pro Res (HQ) codec for use in Final Cut Pro.  We go with this codec for the very finest looking video and allows us to render the video easily.

Our final stage with this project was to move into Final Cut to add closing text and some photos with limited animation.  We chose to add the ending content this way for an easy way to adjust timing and other needs.