Red Bull Omiya Ardija Kit Reveal
Another fine addition to red bull’s ever-expanding roster
Inside the Red Bull Omiya Project: Bringing the Shirt Reveal to Life
Software & Plugins
Cinema 4D
Redshift Renderer
Adobe After Effects
Introduction
When Red Bull calls and says they’re taking over a football club, you know things are about to get interesting. This time, it was in Tokyo - Omiya Ardija, a J-League Division 2 team, and the brief was pure Red Bull: create hype, energy, and a touch of chaos around the takeover.
The Grizzle team was brought on to help bring that to life with a series of animated pieces: a takeover teaser, a new RB-branded shirt launch, and in-stadium graphics. I was part of the crew responsible for making the shirt reveal sequence, specifically animating the logos and sponsors as they landed and wrapped onto the kit.
This is a look behind the scenes at how we brought that energy from the pitch to the pixels.
The Brief: Energy in Motion
The shirt launch had to scream Red Bull - bold, kinetic, global - while still paying tribute to Omiya’s traditional orange. The sequence took the audience on a ride: a glowing ribbon twisting across the globe, diving into Tokyo, wrapping around the shirt, and zooming deep into the fibres to show the fabric being woven.
My role kicked in right as the ribbon met the kit - animating the sponsors, logos, and details to appear and settle naturally onto the fabric as the camera swept around.
Pre-Production: Setting the Stage
Before we started animating, we mapped out how the ribbon’s movement would interact with the shirt. It had to flow organically, leading the viewer’s eye while creating smooth transitions into each logo and brand element.
I handled the early section of this sequence - the ribbon flying into shot, spinning dynamically around the shirt, and leading us towards that microscopic zoom into the weave, which is where Tom Carpenter jumped in and worked his magic. Timing, fluidity and camera choreography were everything.
VFX Production: From Ribbon to Reality
Animating the Ribbon
Using Cinema 4D, I created the initial ribbon pass – a bright Omiya-orange band symbolising the club’s heritage. It spun, wrapped, and frayed in sync with the camera, setting up the perfect hand-off to the microscopic zoom that another artist handled.
The challenge was making the ribbon feel alive – not just a spline, but a force of energy carving through space. I used C4D’s deformers and manual keyframing to give it a sense of flow and air resistance.
Applying the Logos and Labels
Once the ribbon revealed the shirt, my focus shifted to the logos: Red Bull, sponsors, numbers – everything that makes the kit instantly recognisable.
Each logo had to land with energy but also feel grounded on the fabric. I used Cinema 4D’s Bend Deformer extensively to fake natural settling and curvature, giving the impression that the decals were wrapping around the cloth rather than just sliding on top of it.
The Red Bull logo was visible from the very start, drifting in with the ribbon as if caught in its wake. It floated for a moment, then gently settled onto the shirt – a simple but effective touch that gave the sequence a sense of breath and realism.
The Texture Animation
We also used Adobe After Effects to build and animate some of the textures baked into the kit itself – like the number on the back. The texture began blank, then revealed “283” mid-rotation, timed precisely to the camera move. Once rendered out, it was baked directly into the shirt material for seamless integration.
Challenges & Solutions
Making Logos Move Naturally
Without cloth simulations on the logos themselves, achieving believable motion relied entirely on manual keyframing. The Bend Deformer became my best friend – allowing subtle arcs and easing that sold the illusion of the fabric’s surface tension.Balancing Speed and Readability
Red Bull projects live on energy, but clarity still matters. Every animation had to feel fast without losing legibility, so the pacing of the ribbon and logo reveals was fine-tuned frame by frame.Texture Workflow
Baking animated textures meant combining motion design and UV mapping workflows. We used AE for the animated number graphics, then piped them back into Redshift as dynamic texture sequences – a surprisingly efficient hybrid method.
Software Insights
Cinema 4D
Core environment for all ribbon and logo animations.
Bend Deformer and manual keyframes used for realistic wrapping and drift.
Integration with Redshift for rapid test renders and lighting tweaks.
Redshift Renderer
Produced a clean, glossy look that captured the shirt’s material detail.
Allowed fast iteration when experimenting with lighting and reflections.
Adobe After Effects
Used for animated textures and compositing touches.
Perfect for timing elements like the shirt number reveal.
What I Learned
This project was a lesson in creative problem-solving under pressure – making limited tools feel limitless. Some key takeaways:
Manual control can beat simulation when you need precision and speed.
Every frame counts – especially in brand-driven work where energy and legibility must coexist.
Communication is key – when multiple artists handle different stages of a continuous shot, clear hand-offs are vital.
Impact & Reception
The Red Bull Omiya project became an instant hit - a spectacle of motion, culture, and branding projected live to a roaring crowd in Tokyo. Seeing the shirt animation play on a massive screen while the crowd erupted was one of those pinch-me moments.
It was a perfect fusion of Red Bull’s high-octane visual style and Japanese design precision - and a reminder of how much storytelling can live inside a few seconds of animation.
FAQs
1. What software was used for the shirt reveal?
Cinema 4D (with Redshift Renderer) and Adobe After Effects.
2. How were the logos animated onto the shirt?
All manually in Cinema 4D using Bend Deformers and keyframes – no cloth or displacement maps, just careful animation to make each logo feel like it wrapped onto the fabric.
3. How were textures like the shirt number handled?
We created the animated number graphic in After Effects, rendered it out as an image sequence, and baked it directly into the shirt texture.
4. What was the hardest part of the sequence?
Making the ribbon and logos feel physically connected – energetic, yet believable – without relying on heavy simulations.
5. How long did the sequence take to complete?
Around a few weeks from start to finish, including iteration and testing with the team.
Conclusion
The Red Bull Omiya shirt reveal was pure motion adrenaline – fast, fiery, and full of detail. For me, it was a chance to mix technical precision with expressive, high-energy animation – and see it all come alive on one of the biggest screens imaginable.
Credits
Client: Red Bull
Grizzle Credits:
Lead Animators: Freddie Littlewood & Tom Carpenter
3D Animaton: Asta Fawn
3D Animaton: Tom Paddon
2D Motion Graphics: Hannah Faye Johnson