Saint-Gobain is a French multinational company founded in 1665, originally to produce mirrors for the Palace of Versailles. It has played a central role in the development of the glass and materials industry in Europe. Today, although it has diversified its activities, the company maintains a strong connection to its heritage in glass manufacturing.
For the occasion of Saint-Gobain’s 350th anniversary, a virtual exhibition on the Internet was created by Wezit. The 3D reconstruction of glassmaking was done by blending real characters filmed in the studio with a 3D environment.
This exhibition also includes numerous didactic modules explaining the techniques used in glassmaking. These devices are integrated into a dense environment, designed to be accessible to a novice audience. Work was done on both storytelling and design to make this information accessible to all.
Each module contains an animation of about 3 minutes.
The reconstruction scenes were created on a 3D set, combining real footage of actors filmed against a green screen.
Filming on a green screen required precise lighting conditions and the positioning of props for the future scene.
Some objects are real and were used during filming, while others are virtual and contribute to the 3D scene’s environment.
Seven specific scenes were filmed to show all the steps in the production of glass for the Palace of Versailles.
The technical animations were intentionally simplified to display only essential information.
One animation demonstrates the transformation of housing through morphing between different 3D representations of buildings.
