GoPro Hero
Product Animation & Renders
HERO and LIT HERO are built around a simple idea: pack the GoPro experience into something incredibly small, light, and easy to take anywhere. The visual work leaned into that scale while giving the cameras a personality of their own — playful, energetic, and a little unruly.
The animation also used familiar objects like coins, a goldfish, bananas, and chopsticks as playful size references — giving the camera a sense of scale without relying on numbers alone. Those comparisons became part of the personality of the piece, with the HERO moving through them like a rambunctious toddler: bouncing, tumbling, colliding, and generally having a little too much fun. The result made its tiny size feel immediate while reinforcing the carefree, durable spirit behind the product.
Skills: 3D, Animation, Concepting, Layout, Lighting, Materials, Rendering, Compositing.
Software: 3DS Max, V-Ray, Phoenix, Tyflow
Software: 3DS Max, V-Ray, Phoenix, Tyflow
Key Art Renders
The key art was designed around emphasizing just how small the HERO feels. Long lenses in the 135–200mm range compress the perspective and reduce visual distortion, while the camera is intentionally framed smaller with generous negative space around it. Two direct lights create a slightly offset double shadow across a subtly textured gray floor, adding graphic depth and a playful visual rhythm without distracting from the product. The result is simple, clean, and intentionally scaled to show off the HERO's smaller size.
Fish Key Art
An additional key art direction evolved from the goldfish sequence in the commercial, where the camera splashes into the bowl through a liquid simulation and startles the composited fish. The playful scale comparison became the foundation for the still image, carrying the energy and personality of the animation into a surreal, slightly tech-forward piece of key art.
LIT HERO
LIT HERO builds on the tiny, go-anywhere personality of HERO with a built-in front-facing light designed for “whatever, whenever” capture — from daytime action to nights out. GoPro positions it as an ultra-compact lifestyle camera with a three-level LED light that gives footage its own slightly retro character.
The key art leaned into that personality with a harsh, direct-flash look — high contrast, hard shadows, and a slightly imperfect snapshot quality that feels more like a spontaneous party photo than polished studio photography. At the same time, material accuracy was pushed to keep the camera feeling photographically real with small details holding up even under the unforgiving direct-light treatment.
Size Comparison Studies
The concepting phase focused on finding familiar objects that could communicate the HERO’s small scale instantly and without explanation. Coins, bananas, peanuts, Post-it notes, Sharpies, and other everyday items were explored as visual comparisons, testing which combinations felt the most recognizable, playful, and effective in communicating size.
