From small time to the real time

Tony Prosser took his staff to Spain for the 10th birthday of RealtimeUK

Tony Prosser set up his own business from his Lytham bedroom in 1996 with just three Apple Mac computers.

RealtimeUK now boasts a who's who list of clients, a string of industry awards and is a leading player in the world of computer generated imagery and animation.

The company's portfolio includes Sony, Jaguar, Microsoft, Audi and Disney Interactive Studios.

Despite the success, the company is still loyal to Lancashire.

The creative team is based in a picturesque old farm in the village of Westby.

Tony says he has never been tempted to move elsewhere. "It's great to be producing world class animation from a barn conversion in the countryside knowing that everyone else is stuck in the city."

The mastermind of RealtimeUK has always been a huge fan of animation and visual effects in film. "The original Star Wars trilogy was my biggest inspiration although there was actually only one computer based visual effect in the first three movies!"

High spec

He was introduced to computer graphics during his degree in Technical Illustration at Blackpool and the Fylde College and liked it so much he focused all his work towards CGI.

When he graduated he took the plunge and set up his own company thanks to a £4000 loan from his mother. "I could just about scrape the cash together to buy three Apple Macs which were very high spec at the time."

He got Steve Kerswell and Jon Clayton onboard who were on the same course.

Split/Second for Disney Interactive Studios is Tony's favourite project

From the start they were very focused on the market they were aiming for. "We set our sights extremely high and we were very ambitious; we wanted to do high quality work for top name clients."

RealtimeUK's first client on the books was none other than McLaren. "We won the contract from McLaren's design agency after producing three weeks pitch work. We did it free of charge just to show them how good we were!"

The project was producing a series of 3D visualisations for McLaren Formula One car when it changed its livery from the red and white Marlborough design to the black and silver west design they still use today.

'Bread and butter'

Even with a big name client, business was quite slow at first. "When 'bread and butter' work was offered to us in the early years we turned it down; it would only distract us from what we really wanted to be doing," said Tony, "even though the cash was very tempting at the time."

However, their perseverance paid off after two years. "Then it grew and grew beyond my wildest expectations."

The company does everything from television commercials to digital animations but what is the best job they have done so far? "Our marketing trailer Split/Second for Disney Interactive Studios is probably my personal favourite."

The studios are in the village of Westby near Preston

The hardest project was the first Buzz intro movie for Sony. "Up until this point we'd never done a comedy based character animation and we had very little time and lots to learn. Luckily we nailed it and went on to produce 12 more!"

Tony says teamwork is the key to the company's success. "We have highly skilled and creative staff and we have evolved into a great team."

In appreciation of his team he organises the staff dos when he can. "It can be a high pressure so we do like to celebrate when we can." Normally it involves paintballing or go-karting but to mark the tenth year birthday of RealtimeUK he took everyone away to Southern Spain for a long weekend beach holiday.

Like the original trio, many members of his creative team today have graduated from the Technical Illustration course at Blackpool and The Fylde College. "It was a great foundation for our skills and taught us how to achieve very high levels of image quality."

He won't reveal how expensive the kit they use today is. "Don't ask! On going costs of the high end workstations and the amount of them we keep buying is just scary.

AWARDS The company won a bronze in the 2009 Roses Advertising Awards and were highly commended in the Fresh Digital Awards for their animation of Sony's PSP Go! range of accessories Stormbirds won silver in the 'Best Use of Animation in Gaming' at the 2009 Roses Design Awards

"Unfortunately kit seems to go out of quickly and the artists are very keen to get their hands on the latest spec systems."

There is one disadvantage of working in CGI.

Knowing how it all works somewhat ruins going to the cinema, "I'm always analysing how the visual effects are done rather than sitting back and enjoying the film."