The Inukshuk Project

The Inukshuk Project stemmed from an article about the creation of the logo for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The creator of the logo, Ms. Elena Rivera MacGregor, chose the Inukshuk that was built for the Northwest Territories Expo 86 pavilion as her inspiration. The Inukshuk, donated to the city of Vancouver after the event, now stands on a beach at English Bay, near Stanley Park. Enthusiastic about capturing the essence of the public image of the Games, a team from Creaform travelled to Vancouver to scan the statue. The Olympic spirit was already at work!

Using the 3D model of the Inukshuk, the Creaform team wished to create a 3D animation that would show the origins and the genesis of the Games logo. The point of view alternates between that of an Inuit hiker and that of a “spirit” setting the sky of English Bay aglow. The spirit as a glowing light comes from Native American legends. In the video, its role goes from legendary figure to the personification of the spirit of community and sharing that forms the basis of the philosophy of the Olympic Games. Animating the 3D model would ensure the pièce de résistance is perfectly reproduced; further, this technique is still rarely used in animation.

Technical Details :

  • Work done using 2 VIUscan
  • Less than 12 hours to complete the scan!
  • 3 million triangles, reduced to 10 295 quads for rendering
  • Over 5 hours for post-treatment on the STL file to reconstruct texture and topology
  • Approximately 12 hours to produce the animated video


The video is also available on YouTube.

The size of the Inukshuk, at 6 metres tall, quickly became the technical challenge requiring the most elaborate solution! Even with the help of an aerial platform, scanning the top of the “shoulders” and the head had the Application Specialists contorting to get it right, not to mention having to deal with humid, biting cold weather on the beach of English Bay, last December 12th.

Revealed in 2005, the logo is called Ilanaaq the Inunnguaq. The word Ilanaaq means “friend” in Inuktitut.

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