REGENT Seaglider Object Avoidance: One Trip from Harbor to Flight

A container ship sits in the seaglider's path, and the film is about how the vessel knows it. Motion Giraffx followed one REGENT trip from dock to open water to flight for transportation operators, maritime authorities and regional commuters who need to know how a vehicle like this behaves around other traffic.

The film opens on a coastal city and harbor, then closes in on a seaglider at a pier. Two licensed captains operate the craft, which moves out on its hull at up to 20 mph and observes right-of-way rules. In open water it accelerates to 50 mph and rises onto hydrofoils to ride 5-foot waves. It then flies about 30 feet above the surface in ground effect at up to 180 mph. Cockpit sensors alert the pilot to container ships and obstacles, and the craft steers around them before the REGENT logo appears.

Our craft call was to tie every mode to a number on screen. Each speed and height appears at the moment the vehicle reaches it, so a harbor authority can check the film's claims against the scene rather than a spec sheet.

For operational stories, with speeds and rules attached to scenes, we reach for 3D animation. A vehicle that changes mode as it travels needs a film that travels with it.