Pre-Production

Concept & Scripting

The narrative strategy locked in early: position Liberty Lift’s XL Rod Lift system as a proven, high-performance artificial lift solution—especially in well conditions where ESP and gas lift systems struggle to deliver consistent results. The goal from day one was to showcase real-world scale and operational success while presenting the XL system as a forward-thinking choice for Permian Basin operators.

The script development process pulled directly from client conversations and email threads, evolving across several drafts. A key shift in tone—driven by ongoing collaboration—was to steer away from directly critiquing ESPs and instead acknowledge that these systems “come with challenges” under certain production conditions. The final script underscored Liberty Lift’s commitment to pairing the right lift technology with the right well, reinforcing a message of technical alignment and long-term value. Voiceover development was paced to sync perfectly with visuals, ensuring every spoken line was matched by purposeful imagery.

Rapid Prototyping

Initial rapid prototyping was built out in Cinema 4D using CAD-derived models previously supplied by Liberty Lift. These high-res models were essential to maintaining technical integrity—every flange, brace, piston rod, and crossbeam was preserved. Cinema 4D also served as the sandbox for early camera path tests. Key sequences—terrain reveals, pump unit dolly shots, and internal cutaways—were blocked out to test pacing and flow. As the project scope expanded and the need for a large-scale, immersive environment became clear, production transitioned into Unreal Engine 5.

That move to UE5 unlocked major advantages. The Lumen lighting engine enabled real-time adjustments to match golden hour and midday setups without render bottlenecks. Nanite tech allowed hyper-detailed assets—critical for machine parts and terrain—to run smoothly even with full environments in play. Post-process volumes were tuned to simulate cinematic effects like lens vignettes, contrast, depth of field, and haze, making early previews look near-final. The engine’s flexibility made it easy to iterate based on client input, including tweaks to layout, animations, and camera transitions.

Early Visual Styles Explored

From the start, the visual approach ran on two tracks: realism for environmental scenes and clarity for data overlays. For the map sequence, we did a deep dive into the Permian Basin’s geospatial layout using public data from USGS, the Texas Railroad Commission, and the Energy Information Administration. We worked with TIFF elevation files, KML/KMZ basin outlines, and GIS well data, converting them into vector formats for stylization in After Effects.

The map design took on a mission-control feel—dark backgrounds, glowing clusters, layered geological basins, and zoom-ins on priority counties. Liberty Lift’s well sites were marked with branded, pulse-animated nodes. Building this required dozens of animation layers: base elevations, geofences, gradient parallax backgrounds, and keyed callouts for counties like Lea and Winkler—all timed precisely with the voiceover. The technical depth of this sequence was essential, as key metrics (e.g., 733 BPD at 9,000 feet) were presented right on screen as proof points.

Prototyping Animation Concepts

The 3D layout underwent multiple revisions to balance visual impact with technical credibility. The pad site setup was configured to reflect a real-world multi-well installation—wellheads, XL units, and tank batteries were arranged for functional logic. Pump jacks animated on offset cycles, avoiding unnatural synchronicity, with hand-tuned curves to maintain realism—an element the client specifically called out.

A standout technical challenge was the cutaway terrain view showing subsurface under a working rod lift. This was executed using Boolean volumes, layered with material masks to simulate underground strata. This design allowed for perfect timing with the narration and delivered a fluid, cinematic transition from surface operations to downhole action.

The Turnkey Solution animation went in a different direction stylistically—built in After Effects to favor a clean, UI-driven look. Instead of realism, this sequence leaned into sleek vector lines and animated gradients. Each service stage—Analysis, Design, Recommendations, Equipment, Quote, Install, Optimization, Ongoing Service—was represented in a radial interface, anchored by a center badge reading “Turnkey Lift Solution.” Pulse animations and movement synced with voiceover emphasis to guide the viewer’s focus. It was a clean, modern visual that reflected Liberty Lift’s engineering rigor and user-first approach.

Client Feedback Shaping Direction

Client input throughout rapid prototyping was consistent and actionable. Key updates included transforming a plain dirt lot into a full pad site, integrating tank batteries, adding defined perimeters and access roads, and ensuring XL unit animations were staggered for realism. Terrain textures and vegetation were varied to boost believability, while environmental scale was increased to reinforce operational capability.

For the map sequence, feedback zeroed in on clarity—particularly how to distinguish Liberty Lift wells from others. This led to updates in color keys and pacing adjustments to improve visual tracking.

Script revisions were also guided by client direction. The tone was softened around ESPs and gas lift systems, steering away from direct critique and instead emphasizing that those methods present “challenges” within the 500–900 BPD range—where XL Rod Lift offers a better fit.

This collaborative process laid a strong foundation for the next phase. With rapid prototyping signed off and all core assets live in UE5, the project rolled forward into Full Production.

Production (Full Production / FP)

Look Development

With RP sign-off complete, the project moved into full production—focused on elevating realism and refining every visual detail inside Unreal Engine 5. This stage was all about delivering a polished, high-fidelity environment, starting with a complete rebuild of the pad site, XL Rod Lift units, and West Texas terrain. Using UE5’s real-time rendering tools, we implemented physically accurate materials, volumetric lighting, and procedural vegetation designed to mirror the landscape of an active oil field.

Lighting was a major focus. Where RP prioritized clarity, Full Production lighting went for cinematic mood. A directional rig was paired with skylight inputs and ambient fog layers to blend foregrounds and backgrounds. The lighting color profile leaned warm, balanced with cooler shadows—capturing the feel of sunlit equipment cutting through dusty, wide-open terrain.

Every object in the 3D scene was reworked for realism. Custom PBR materials were created for subtle, tactile detail—dust-covered braces, chipped paint, soft rubber glints, and scuffed metal textures all contributed to an authentic, used-in-the-field feel. UE5’s Nanite kept all of this detail intact without killing performance, maintaining bevels, bolts, and surface ribbing at full resolution.

Design & Animation

The pad design grew significantly in this phase. We laid out multiple XL Rod Lift units across a shared multi-well pad, complete with access roads, tank batteries, and containment fencing. Manual placement introduced visual variety, while procedural scattering added environmental wear—shrubs, tire tracks, terrain shifts—to lock in natural realism. 

From the outset, we knew the pumps couldn’t move in sync. Using UE5’s Sequencer toolset, each rod lift was assigned its own animation curve and speed offset. This created a natural, unsynchronized rhythm that reflected real-world motor variation and mechanical pacing.

We took the RP camera work and pushed it further. Every move was fine-tuned through UE5’s cinematic rig—dolly shots, crane movements, lens pulls, and depth tracking were adjusted for flow, framing, and pace. Aerial pans, underground flyovers, and slow perimeter sweeps brought scale and cinematic energy to the industrial setting.

For the underground cutaway, we built a Boolean-driven terrain slice that animated cleanly with the camera. Layered shader masks handled rock strata and subsurface flow visuals, syncing with narration. This shot combined live terrain deformation, real-time camera blending, and animated materials, making full use of UE5’s flexibility.

Style Choices and Reasoning

The visual language was anchored in photorealism from the start. We made every shot count—each decision tied back to clarity, credibility, and keeping the viewer focused on product relevance. Lighting direction, surface aging, and depth-of-field were all dialed in to hold attention where it mattered most.

Camera work leaned cinematic by design. Instead of static cuts, we leaned into movement—hovering between units, gliding underground, and sweeping across the site to deliver a sense of scale and continuous presence. It kept the experience dynamic and intuitive.

Technical Details

On the backend, every asset was cleaned, textured, and brought into UE5 as a modular element. With asset instancing, foliage culling, and Nanite rendering, we kept frame rates high even with a dense object count. Master materials handled most surface variations, letting us tweak shading and texture properties across large groups quickly.

Camera animations were controlled entirely through UE5’s Sequencer. Each shot had its own timeline, with dedicated parameters for depth-of-field, focus targets, lens length, and motion splines. Keyframes were eased manually to smooth transitions. Renders were handled through Movie Render Queue using high-res EXR sequences, complete with motion blur, AA, and utility passes like object ID and Z-depth for downstream compositing.

For materials, we used UE5’s shader graph to build complex material networks. Everything from piston rods to cable housings was given layered grime, wear, and specular properties. Lighting tests and A/B comparisons helped validate performance across exposure levels and sun angles.

Collaboration & Revisions

Client input during production continued to shape the work. Feedback focused on operational realism—adding or removing pumps, adjusting pad boundaries, relocating tanks, and fine-tuning fence placement. Animation timing was also a target, with updates made to match product scale expectations and clarify visual relationships between equipment and environment.

These iterative changes helped align visual execution with real-world engineering accuracy, while keeping pace with the storytelling structure laid out in RP.

Challenges and Solutions

Performance was the biggest hurdle—UE5’s full-detail environment was heavy. We leaned on Nanite for static geometry, set foliage to cull by distance, and baked procedural placements into final layouts to speed up rendering and maintain consistency across shots.

Another challenge came from syncing camera timing with new VO tracks. Several scenes had to be reworked to fit the revised narration. We solved this by adjusting animation timing in Sequencer, stretching or compressing shots while preserving lens work and depth cues—keeping the pace in step with the voiceover without needing to reanimate entire sequences.

Post-Production & Delivery

Final Compositing & Color Grading

Post kicked off with high-res EXR sequences straight out of Unreal Engine’s Movie Render Queue. Each render included auxiliary passes—Z-depth, object IDs, cryptomattes—allowing us to isolate and manipulate individual elements with precision inside After Effects. Grading was handled shot by shot. Curves and levels were tuned for highlight roll-off and midtone punch. Vignettes and exposure gradients were added strategically to guide the eye, especially in wide aerial shots or multi-unit compositions. A variable grain overlay matched different lighting conditions, while chromatic aberration and lens distortion added subtle edge realism where needed.

Titles and UI graphics lived in their own layer group above the final grade. These were treated with soft glows, motion blur, and shadowing to seat them visually within the 3D environment without distracting from the main footage.

The Lumen lighting system in UE5 delivered near-final results in-camera, but we took polish further in post. Lens flares were composited onto shots with high sun angles or bright specular hits, using tracked nulls for accurate movement sync.

Depth-of-field effects were boosted for macro close-ups and terrain reveals—using the Z-depth pass to control blur dynamically with high-fidelity lens simulation plugins. Light glows and bloom were reserved for key callouts, adding pop without oversaturating the visuals.

Infographics, UI Overlays, Data Visualization

The Permian Basin map sequence was one of the most data-heavy and technically demanding pieces in the project. We needed to create something that looked sleek and digital—but was anchored in hard data. Every element was built to prove Liberty Lift’s footprint in the region with clarity and confidence.

We pulled real-world datasets from a range of sources:

• USGS TIFF elevation files for terrain mapping

• KML and KMZ basin outlines to define Delaware, Midland, and Central platforms

• Oil and gas well data (active and capped), sorted by county

We cleaned and converted the raw KML and CSV datasets using GIS tools, turning them into After Effects-friendly vector layers. Basins became stylized masks. Elevation tiles were rendered as shaded gradients for map context.

Every map component was modular—each element with adjustable timing, color, and opacity. The entire build lived in a 3D camera space inside After Effects, with layered parallax and lighting cues to simulate depth in flyovers and zooms.

The design approach leaned into Liberty Lift’s brand look—deep blues, cool grays, gold highlights. The whole interface felt like a mission control display. A subtle grid animated beneath everything, synced with camera motion to suggest live analytics.

Thousands of well points were animated in a dot matrix, using opacity pulses and scale flickers to add motion. Liberty Lift wells were overlaid in gold, brighter and slightly larger to stand out.

County borders and labels floated semi-transparently, and when zooming into focus areas like Lea and Winkler, things got more active: production stats animated in, bars popped, and data points pulsed to draw the viewer’s eye.

Every data animation was manually timed to match the narration. When the VO called out “733 barrels per day,” the matching data point pulsed on cue, ensuring the viewer stayed focused on key claims.

Motion transitions were curve-eased and smoothed—no snappy edits or jarring pans. Everything moved with the control and weight of a premium engineering dashboard.

The map became a centerpiece—both a storytelling tool and a proof point. It validated Liberty Lift’s real-world performance claims with precision, grounding technical storytelling in a clean, confident, data-first visual style.

Final Edits & Optimization

After Effects composites were conformed in Premiere Pro. VO, music, and SFX were locked in, with mixes tuned for clarity—balancing ambient pad site noise with narration and soft underscore. Pacing tweaks were made to ensure flow, especially in the longer version, where lingering titles or slow pans could drag VO timing.

Every frame was checked against Liberty Lift’s brand standards. The UI color palette matched previous campaigns. Fonts, title treatments, and logo usage were all aligned to existing collateral. Even micro-timing of callout animations was revised to reflect Liberty Lift’s messaging style and technical tone.

Delivery

Two versions—one-minute and thirty-second cuts—were delivered in 1080p H.264. All outputs were optimized for digital clarity, preserving fine details in map graphics and text legibility.

Transcript:

High Volume rod lift can be an effective and dependable solution for operators in certain situations where ESPs and Gas Lift struggle to perform efficiently

Mechanical Long stroke Units can save operators from the common recurring costs, downtime, and failures these other methods develop as production rates decline.

Liberty Lift’s rod lift solutions team helps match operators with the right form of lift for every individual well—streamlining the Artificial Lift conversion process while also ensuring optimal performance.

Encompassing the rod lift system design, equipment, installation, and ongoing service, these all-in-one offerings consolidate the conversion process and eliminate uncertainty while still ensuring optimal performance.

Our XL Long Stroke Units are field-proven time and again in the Permian. 

For example in Lea County with a pump depth of 9,000 feet achieved production rates of 733 barrels per day. 

And in Winkler county, an operator achieved production rates of 890 barrels per day from a similar 9,000-foot pump depth.

Switch to a turnkey artificial lift method that’s reliable and cost-effective for the long term—with minimal maintenance, downtime, and risk.