CGI ads are the videos where a giant version of a product appears on a building, a bottle pours itself, or a shoe unfolds in mid-air. Nothing was filmed. It was all built on a computer. They stop the scroll because they show something the viewer has never seen before — and they cost a fraction of what a film shoot with the same impact would cost.
What CGI advertising is
CGI means computer generated imagery. Your product is rebuilt as a 3D model, then lit, animated and placed into a scene that never existed. A perfume bottle the size of a tower block on a city street. A drink can that assembles itself from splashing liquid. A sofa that drops into a room and unfolds.
You have almost certainly seen these without knowing what they were called. Over the last two years the big brands have poured money into them, and the format now has its own name in the industry: FOOH, or fake out of home — advertising that looks like a billboard or a street installation but only ever existed as a file.
The reason they work is simple. Social feeds are full of real footage of real things. A video that shows something impossible interrupts the pattern, and interruption is the entire job of the first two seconds.
Why this is worth your attention now
Barely anyone offers it
Most agencies that make UGC video do not do CGI, and most 3D studios do not run paid campaigns. Very few people do both. That gap is the opportunity — for you and for us.
People share it
Nobody sends a friend a normal product advert. They do send the one where a handbag the size of a bus is parked outside a museum. Organic reach on top of paid reach is reach you did not pay for.
Your product, perfect, every time
No lighting problems, no scuffed sample, no reshoot because the label faced the wrong way. Once the 3D model exists, every future ad starts from a perfect version of your product.
It builds once and reuses forever
The model is the expensive part. After that, new colours, new angles, new scenes and new seasonal versions are quick, because the hard work is already done.
Being straight with you about the limits
- It costs more than UGC up front. Building a 3D model of your product is real work and it is the bulk of the cost. It pays back over many ads, but the first one is not cheap. If you need results this week on a small budget, AI UGC ads are the better starting point and we will tell you so.
- It is attention, not always conversion. CGI is exceptional at making people stop and look. It is not automatically better at making them buy. The strongest campaigns we build use CGI to get noticed and UGC-style video to explain and sell.
- Not every product suits it. Products with a strong physical shape — bottles, packaging, footwear, devices, furniture, cars — look superb. A service, or something that only exists on a screen, usually does not.
- We do not fake real places dishonestly. We will put your product on a recognisable street. We will not build something that could be mistaken for a genuine news event or a real endorsement from a brand or venue that has not agreed to it.
What you get
A 3D model of your product
Built from your photographs, packaging artwork and dimensions. Accurate label, accurate proportions, accurate materials — glass reads as glass and matte plastic reads as matte plastic.
Concept and storyboard
Two or three ideas with a simple frame-by-frame plan, so you know exactly what you are approving before we build it.
The finished ad
Rendered, sound designed, and delivered in vertical, square and landscape so it works on Reels, TikTok, Feed and YouTube.
Cut-downs and stills
Shorter versions for testing, and high-resolution frames you can use on your website, your packaging pages and your listings.
Campaign setup and management
An ad only earns its cost when it runs properly. We build, launch and manage the campaign on Meta, TikTok or Google.
Reuse for later campaigns
The model stays available. Your next launch, colourway or seasonal push starts from something that already exists.
How we work
- We talk. What the product is, what makes it different, and what you want the viewer to feel. Free, no obligation.
- Concepts. Two or three directions with rough visuals, so you can see the idea before committing.
- Storyboard approval. You approve the shot plan. This is the moment to change things — after rendering begins, changes get expensive.
- Modelling. Your product is built and checked against your real photographs until it matches.
- Animation and lighting. The scene is built, the movement blocked out, the lighting matched to the environment.
- Render and sound. Final frames and sound design, then your two rounds of revisions.
- Launch and manage. The campaign goes live in your own ad account, and we run it.
Products this works best for
Beauty, fragrance and skincare
Bottles and jars are ideal subjects. Glass, liquid and metallic finishes are exactly what CGI renders beautifully, and the category is built on looking desirable.
Drinks and packaged food
Pours, splashes, condensation and ingredients in mid-air — physically difficult to film, straightforward to build.
Fashion, footwear and accessories
The category where scale tricks land hardest. A trainer the height of a building is the kind of thing people screenshot.
Devices, furniture and homeware
Anything where you need to show how a thing is made, what is inside it, or how it fits a room. CGI can cut a product in half; a camera cannot.
CGI or AI UGC — which should you start with?
| AI UGC ads | CGI ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Explaining and persuading | Stopping the scroll and being remembered |
| Time to first ad | Days | Longer — the model has to be built |
| Cost shape | Lower per video, pay each time | Higher first time, cheap after |
| Best for | Testing messages, steady creative supply | Launches, hero campaigns, brand moments |
| Start here if | You need results soon on a tighter budget | You have a product with a strong shape and a launch to build around |
Most brands should start with AI UGC and add CGI once they know which message works. We will tell you honestly which one your situation calls for, even when that means the smaller job.
What it costs
We do not publish a price list. A single hero video for one product and an ongoing campaign across a full range are different jobs, and one number could not honestly cover both.
- Tell us your budget and the result you want. We will say plainly whether it is achievable.
- You get a written proposal with scope, deliverables, timeline and price before anything begins.
- Our fee is separate from your ad budget. Money spent with Meta, TikTok or Google goes to the platform from your own account, at cost.
- 50% to start, 50% on completion, invoiced both times. Full details in our Payment and Refund Policy.
- Two rounds of revisions are included on every deliverable.
Questions people ask before starting
What do you need from us to start?
Clear photographs of the product from several angles, the packaging artwork or label file if you have it, and the real dimensions. The better those are, the more accurate the model.
Do you need to receive the physical product?
Usually no — good photographs and measurements are enough. For unusual materials or finishes it helps, and we will say so if it does.
How long does it take?
Longer than filming, shorter than most people expect. The modelling stage is the slow part; the timeline is set out in your proposal before you commit to anything.
Who owns the 3D model?
You do, once you have paid in full — the model as well as the finished video. It transfers on final payment under our Terms of Service, so a future agency can pick it up.
Can we reuse it later?
Yes, and that is the main financial argument for CGI. New scenes, colours and seasonal versions all start from the model you already paid for.
Will it look fake?
It is supposed to look impossible, not look real. The giant-product style works precisely because the viewer knows it cannot be real. Where you need photorealism instead — a product on a table, in a room — we build for that.
Is it allowed on Meta and TikTok?
Yes. It is ordinary advertising creative. What is not allowed is misleading people about what your product does, and we would not write that regardless of the format.
Can you do both CGI and the rest of our marketing?
Yes, and that is usually how it works best. We also handle content creation, posting and scheduling and reels editing, so the ad is not an island.
Send us your product and we will tell you what we would build
A few photographs are enough. We will come back with a concept, an honest view on whether CGI is worth it for your product, and what it would take — including telling you if a simpler route would serve you better.