CGI Commercial

Coca-Cola Refresh

A cinematic beverage commercial built in CGI to capture the energy, liquid motion, and brand character of Coca-Cola through hyper-real fluid simulation and lighting.

Overview

Building a commercial that feels poured, not rendered.

This project explores Coca-Cola as a fully digital hero asset. The goal was to recreate the physical behavior of liquid, condensation, and glass while keeping the brand's color and pacing instantly recognizable.

The commercial combines fluid simulation, look development, lighting, and editorial camera work. Each pass was designed to support a single idea: refreshment in motion.

CGI made it possible to control splash timing, camera paths, and lighting setups that would be expensive or unpredictable on a practical shoot.

Brand

Coca-Cola

Directing liquid as a performance.

The first stage focused on fluid behavior: pour, splash, foam, and droplets. Simulations were art-directed so the liquid reads as carbonated and heavy, not like generic water.

Timing was treated like animation. Each burst and settle was shaped to hit the edit and keep the logo readable through the motion.

02 — Materials

Glass, syrup, and condensation.

Look development separated the bottle, liquid volume, bubbles, and ice. Subtle differences in absorption and roughness keep the drink from looking like colored glass.

Condensation and micro-bubbles were added to sell temperature and freshness, especially in close-up hero frames.

03 — Lighting & Rendering

Lighting the red so it stays iconic.

Lighting was built to protect the brand red while revealing caustics, highlights, and the shape of the bottle. Specular hits were controlled so the liquid stays appetizing, not noisy.

The render approach mixed product-commercial lighting with faster, more graphic beats for digital playback.

04 — Animation

Editing motion into a refresh moment.

Camera and simulation were paced together: a slow pour, a sharp splash, then a settle on the product. The sequence is meant to feel like a commercial beat, not a tech demo.

The result is a flexible CGI spot that can be recut for longer case-study playback or shorter social formats.

Final Result

A commercial built entirely in CGI.

Simulation, materials, lighting, and editorial camera come together as one brand film. The aim was photoreal liquid with enough graphic punch to still read as Coca-Cola in a few seconds.