Pre-Production

Concept & Scripting

The XL Long Stroke Rod Pumping Unit animation was built around one core idea: deliver a no-fluff, technically accurate story that showcases why Liberty Lift’s top-tier lift system delivers real-world results. No hypotheticals. No marketing spin. Just a straight path through the XL’s major differentiators—longer stroke length, slower rod velocity, reduced wear, and the smart control of the Unit Sentry system.

We structured the narrative with intention: surface operation to subsurface performance to intelligent controls. Each layer added weight to the message—this unit doesn’t just look good on paper, it delivers measurable production improvements across a range of well types.

Liberty Lift handed over the real assets from day one: a STEP file of the XL, internal schematics, reference photography, and a 3D deviation graph. These gave us the foundation to build something grounded in mechanical reality, not concept art. The voiceover pacing was built with room to breathe—each visual had space to land and reinforce the message. From the first sunrise shot to the last 3D logo lockup, the script focused on one thing: how the XL improves output and lowers failure risk, full stop.

Rapid Prototyping (RP)

This phase turned technical files into a functioning story. We brought the XL STEP model into Cinema 4D and cleaned it up—lighter geometry, same mechanical integrity. Rigging started early, using spline constraints to nail the movement of chains, belts, and gears. This gave us the baseline for the stroke cycle and linked everything from surface to subsurface in a way that made the entire animation feel mechanically true.

We built out a placeholder desert scene—simple sandy pad, just enough texture to ground it in reality. Early lighting tests pushed for drama: warm sunset tones and soft fills created a high-contrast look that made the XL pop without hiding details. That lighting setup became part of the visual identity going forward.

One of the heaviest lifts in RP was the underground cutaway. We created a hybrid model using layered geometry and photographic textures to simulate geologic strata—horizontal planes, folded layers, and deviation paths. This became the stage for a side-by-side comparison of conventional pumps vs. the XL, letting us clearly show how the longer stroke reduces wear in deviated wells.

We also built out the Unit Sentry system from scratch, based on photos and schematics. The interface was prototyped in After Effects with placeholder data, animated readouts, and indicators—designed to later be composited into camera-tracked insets.

Exploded views of the internal drive were also tested in this phase. Using the fracture system in C4D, we pulled apart components in motion, timed to overlays and arrows that guided the viewer’s attention. These animation logic tests confirmed we could tell a clear, engaging story without needing to overbuild visuals in full res too early.

Early Visual Styles Explored

Look development explored a range of terrain types early on. We tested both mountainous and flat desert backdrops, landing on a flat environment that let the XL stand out clearly. It created visual simplicity without sacrificing authenticity. Bushes were scattered using Cinema 4D’s cloner system—light proxies at first, then swapped for instanced geometry for the final look. Grass was handled with detailed textures instead of individual blades to keep render efficiency up.

We started refining materials immediately. The XL’s yellow paint needed to feel brand-new but grounded. We tested roughness levels, surface reflections, and wear patterns. Chrome, rubber, and brushed metal materials were applied across belts, bearings, and structural parts. Lighting evolved with the materials—high contrast and ambient occlusion helped large surfaces feel dimensional and real.

We pushed for semi-photorealism. Enough realism to feel trustworthy and engineered. Enough stylization to keep focus where it mattered. The warm sunset light grounded everything in a consistent timeframe and subtly supported the message of all-day reliability in the field.

Prototyping Animation Concepts

We solved major motion challenges in this phase. Stroke animation had to feel natural and synchronized—belt, counterweight, chain, and rod moving as one clean cycle. Underground sequences, like zoomed wear points and tubing contact zones, were timed with exaggerated clarity to get the point across fast.

The exploded view was nested and offset for smooth timing—components revealed in sequence with enough space to understand what’s what. Even the more complex motion paths—like variable speed shifts—were staged to stay readable at a glance.

For the Unit Sentry interface placeholder motion graphics were used to test data animations—load, RPM, rod position—all synced with the voiceover. We explored inset placements and transitions between full mechanical views and close-ups, making sure it all felt like one continuous system.

Every sequence had one goal: show how each system adds to performance, safety, and operational longevity. This prototyping gave us a rock-solid animation logic going into full production, cutting rework and keeping the visual narrative tight from day one.

Production (Full Production / FP)

Look Development

Once the core geometry and camera logic were validated in Rapid Prototyping, full production zeroed in on visual fidelity, technical precision, and a cohesive environment that could carry the XL narrative with authority. The terrain was finalized as a flattened desert layout—intentionally minimal to keep the XL unit front and center in every scene. Proxy ground assets were replaced with high-resolution textures that blended dirt, rock grain, and field-realistic ground plane—rugged, but clean enough to keep the story moving.

The XL’s branded yellow got upgraded to a custom shader that hit the right balance—saturated enough to pop against the neutral backdrop, but grounded with slight wear and softened speculars that kept it believable. Metal details, hardware, and VSD components were individually textured using brushed steel and composite rubber shaders, all built within Cinema 4D’s Physical Render pipeline. Renders were optimized with transparent backgrounds, giving post-production more latitude to layer in sky composites and lens flares without messing with clean object edges.

Vegetation was handled procedurally with C4D’s cloner system. Instanced bush geometry was distributed across a randomized grid. A lightweight proxy system kept the viewport nimble for animators. Lighting matured from the RP sunset tests into a full directional rig with soft falloff and carefully placed fill lights. The goal: emphasize the XL in golden hour conditions—dramatic, but controlled. This setup deepened visual contrast while locking focus on the unit itself.

Design & Animation

Animation followed the script like a blueprint—each scene building on the last, starting at the surface and working deeper into the system logic. The sunrise opener used a slow dolly to establish the XL in the landscape, immediately followed by a smooth, controlled orbit to highlight operational movement. Camera curves were tuned for mechanical steadiness, underscoring the XL’s stability.

Close-up sequences showed the polished rod and chain system in motion. Stroke length, reduced rod velocity, and mechanical rhythm were front and center—visuals were slowed just enough to make the efficiency legible without losing the energy of motion. Easing curves at the stroke’s apex and nadir mirrored the voiceover’s explanation of wear reduction and pump fill efficiency.

The strata sequence was one of the most technical environments in the pipeline. While many projects settle for a basic underground cutaway, this one called for layered accuracy. We built a geologic stack from real-world references—composite images mapped to extruded geometry—covering sediment, shale, limestone, and sand. Depth intervals weren’t spaced evenly; they were shaped to reflect actual well stratification, making it easy to visually support where rod fatigue or tubing wear typically becomes a problem.

The side-by-side pump comparison used two vertical rod paths—clearly labeled CONVENTIONAL and XL. Stroke amplitudes and path deviation were animated cleanly, with exaggerated lateral drift on the conventional track to emphasize the XL’s more controlled, lower-contact motion. Animated wear indicators along the bore path made the case clear without needing additional narration.

One of the most complex moments was the exploded view. Using the Fracture object in Cinema 4D, we staged the XL unit to disassemble mid-air—chain drives, gear stacks, and internal structures all separating with controlled offset delays. Each component had its own motion track, so the unit didn’t just pop open—it unfolded with mechanical logic. This sequence made the Variable Speed Drive’s mechanics both clear and impressive. Rigging integrity was a major lift here: anchor points, hierarchy setups, and constraint systems had to be rock solid to avoid breaking the visual fidelity during separation.

Following the exploded view, a stroke-cycle sequence showed how the VSD system adapts speed at stroke corners. We layered in a corner-mounted Sentry UI tracker, synced with the main animation to drive home the system’s intelligence. Close-ups of support features—bearings, tensioners, rollback locks—were animated with labeled overlays, each dropping in right on cue with the voiceover.

Style Choices and Reasoning

The visual style was built around Liberty Lift’s industrial brand values—clear, confident, no-nonsense. The look leaned into semi-photorealism: enough texture and depth to feel engineered, softened just enough to guide the eye and keep the story digestible. Colors were intentional—saturated highlights, clean contrasts, and ambient effects that supported clarity over realism.

Camera language was mechanical—no handheld, no snap cuts. Everything moved with the XL’s rhythm: slow, deliberate, repeatable. Scene transitions were timed to narration, with visual resets between sections to give each topic its own space and pacing.

Technical Details

The full animation pipeline was handled in Cinema 4D using the Physical Renderer, as this project wrapped before we shifted to Redshift. Materials were authored using PBR logic—reflection, bump, and roughness maps giving each surface physical accuracy. Bushes and terrain were instanced to keep render times lean. Exploded views were animated using nested null groups and MoGraph effectors, with timing offset for precise component reveals.

Rigging for the stroke and chain systems was constraint-based. Underground rod paths were driven by spline extrusion through the strata model, built to support motion across a 3D geological framework.

Lighting used a directional sun source as the primary key, two soft area lights for fill, and an HDRI dome for environmental reflection. Every shot rendered with alpha channels, letting skies and flares be handled in post. Depth of field was applied after render to stay flexible. Ambient occlusion passes reinforced edge contrast and gave parts more shape in high-brightness scenes.

UI readouts were animated in After Effects using 3D camera data exported from C4D. These sequences were composited back into the main footage as inset windows, synced shot-by-shot to match timing and narration flow.

Post-Production & Delivery

Final Compositing & Color Grading

Post-production for the XL animation was all about turning clean 3D renders into a visually cohesive, brand-aligned narrative—without losing the technical accuracy baked in during full production. We built the compositing pipeline in After Effects, using multi-pass outputs from Cinema 4D and alpha-channel renders across the board. That allowed us to build the sky environment entirely in post—giving full control over light, atmosphere, and time-of-day transitions without eating up render time.

The desert sky was a photographic plate with light wrap and horizon glow layered in to build believable depth. This gave us cinematic weight while preserving the lighting logic of the 3D scene. We tracked a warm lens flare to the horizon line—subtle, feathered, and compositional. It anchored the XL visually, gave it a silhouette edge, and dialed up the realism without turning into lens flare overload.

Color grading brought it all together. We used curves and selective color to unify tone shot to shot, warm up the XL’s yellow, and sharpen contrast in the underground cutaways. Shadows were lifted slightly in the strata scenes to keep key features readable. Daylight interface shots were graded more neutrally to keep the visuals crisp and focused.

To guide the viewer’s eye, we added light vignetting in the wide frames and rolled soft highlights across the XL’s body—always in service of clarity, never just for style.

VFX Enhancements

While the base animation stayed physically grounded, we layered in post-level VFX to push the realism and readability. Lens flares and bloom added to the sunset tone. UI shots got a hint of chromatic aberration and screen reflections on the Unit Sentry panel—just enough to feel real, never distracting.

For the exploded view, motion blur was composited in to make parts feel properly weighted and reactive. We also added light glints on fast-moving components—small moves that helped guide focus and make the sequence feel more dynamic.

In key scenes like the strata cutaway or control box zooms, we composited soft depth-of-field to mimic lens behavior. That kept focus on labels and in-scene UI while allowing backgrounds to fall gently out of focus.

Infographics, UI Overlays, and Data Visualization

The Sentry UI played a big role in telling the story, and we rebuilt it entirely in After Effects. Using client references and photos, we recreated the interface with shape layers, value counters, and animated indicators—SPM, RPM, oil pressure, rod load—all synced to voiceover beats. Status lights toggled with narration, reinforcing the intelligence behind the system.

Inset UI panels were positioned using 3D camera data exported from C4D, so they tracked perfectly with the camera and kept proper parallax. This was especially key in the control box scenes, where angles shifted and button highlights needed to hit specific beats.

Callouts were built using null-linked elements, pinned to joints, bearings, and safety features. We kept everything on-brand—Liberty Lift typography, color palette, and clean, readable overlays.

In the strata scene, a white line traced the rod path—contrasting conventional and XL tracks. Animated text and arrows walked the viewer through reduced fatigue zones and deviation points. These were animated with soft wipes and easing curves to keep things smooth and in step with the script.

Final Edits & Brand Consistency

Final edits were all about pace and polish. We tweaked shot durations to let key visuals land—especially in stroke cycle and exploded view sequences. 

The closing logo animation was built in After Effects with Element 3D, allowing full camera control and lighting integration. We tuned reflections and polish to match the look of the 3D animation, making for a seamless handoff from product to brand.

A last pass caught the details—added glow to indicator lights, dialed micro-contrast in wides, and adjusted bush texture brightness for better foreground/background separation. Every frame was tuned to deliver both technical clarity and visual punch.

All type, color, and UI elements followed Liberty Lift’s brand specs to the letter. Fonts, button styles, color usage, and overlays were pulled straight from internal references. UI used a flat, modern design with restrained gradients and drop shadows—keeping it clean and consistent without leaning too stylized. Data visualizations were cross-checked for accuracy and tone alignment.

Delivery

The final master was delivered in 1080p H.264 format, optimized for digital playback. Deliverables included SRT subtitles for accessibility and still renders for use in print, slides, or event screens.

Still frames were pulled from major moments—the sunset opener, geological cross-section, and exploded view—ready for use as thumbnails or static visuals. Final assets were checked for safe framing, clean compression, and brand fidelity across all formats.

The result: a visually strong, technically smart asset that fits straight into Liberty Lift’s marketing toolkit—a tool that sells with clarity and builds confidence.

Transcript:

Liberty Lift’s XL Long stroke pumping unit is a valuable solution for production enhancement in a broad spectrum of well applications, both conventional and unconventional.

This solution provides a cost-effective transition from high-volume lift methods, especially ESPs, to conventional rod pumping sooner in the well’s life cycle. A greater compression rate was also achieved with the XL in unconventional wells with high GLRs. 

The XL, due to its longer stroke length and decreased road velocity, produces higher volumes and greater pump fillage per stroke with considerably fewer pump cycles.

Causing a dramatic reduction in dynamic loading of the sucker rod string, enabling higher production in traditional deviated and deep rod lift well applications. 

Tubing is less susceptible to develop and aggravate wear points in slightly or highly deviated well bores.

So costly workovers for rod and tubing repairs and replacements are less frequent.

Liberty Lift has engineered features that make the XL operationally superior and cost-effective to other long-stroke units. 

Our advanced Unit Sentry, with its integral wireless load cell and digital communication, provides operation safety monitoring. 

Real-time overspeed, vibration, and load problem detection can immediately trigger emergency shutdown, if necessary.     

The XL, in conjunction with a Variable Speed Drive, optimizes production capabilities with multiple speed changes during one complete stroke.  

A position signal assists the VSD in accurately customizing speed changes to account for reservoir conditions and production objectives. 

Our standard design and lubrication features improve bearing life, reduce long-term maintenance costs, and enhance personnel safety.

The benefits are clear:

• Increased production sooner 

• Reduced rod and tubing failure

• Real-time performance monitoring 

• Customizable operating cycles

XL… Another Liberty Lift innovation from people with the experience to provide the best artificial lift solutions for your well.