VFX in 2021: What Works, Who Works & What’s Changing Forever
Tutorial – Creating a Stylized CG Scene
n this tutorial, I walk through the process of creating a stylized CG scene from scratch. I cover:
- The order of steps I took to create the image
- The most important phases in each step
- The techniques and software I use
- Tips for how to balance realism and stylization
- Research I uncovered on techniques used by top animation companies
- bitmap-based or raster images, creates an image as a mosaic of pixels filled in one at a time. Changes affect pixels directly with the resolution defined by the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions
- vector-based software creates an image as a series of mathematical instructions, algorithms from one graphed point to another. A vector image uses coordinates and geometric formulas to plot points that define areas, volumes and shapes. Vector images can be scaled with no loss of quality
- 3D graphic tools add the calculation of depth being defined in the tree-dimensional space instead of on a flat plane
- define objects, set colours and textures and position lights
- render the scene calculates such things as lights, shadows, the placement of textures and colours on models, the movement of animated objects converting it to a 2D image or scene.
3D Production Pipeline
- modelling is usually the first step and knowing how an object is used in a scene gives its criteria for modelling
- texturing and shading to apply colours and textures to make the object renderable
- rigging attaching a skeleton to an object to manipulate, animate
- animation and how physics applies to objects, how people and animals move
- lighting greatly affects the believability affecting every part of the CG creation
- rendering takes the scene created in the computer software, makes all the computations to create a raster (bitmapped) image, called rasterisation rendering into a file sequence of movie file.
MAYA NODES
Each node has a group of attributes, combined together they define an object and how it animates.
Creation or Shape Nodes include the information that defines how the object is created, they are low on the hierarchy and are always the child of the Transform Nodes. This means that Maya listens to the creation node attributes first, then moving down the chain to the other attributes including position, rotation and scale. When History is turned OFF the primitive is created without a Shape Node.
Transform Nodes (DAG) are the values for translation (position), rotation and scale and they hold hierarchy information about any other children or parent nodes to which they are attached. The tabs of the Attribute Editor show the nodes that are attached to the object.
Parent and Child Relationships the Parent Node passes information down the hierarchy chain to its children. Children inherit transforms of all the parents above. Child nodes have their own nodes that affect them and any of their children down the line. The Outliner and Hypergraph show and give access to the hierarchy.
Group Node or Null Node for storing data. Any transformation or movement applied to the parent or Group Node will be inherited by the child Node, all child Nodes.
Parenting nodes together places the first selected node (child) under the second node (parent).
SELECTION MASKS which objects can and can’t be selected, enabling work on certain parts of a complex model without accidentally selecting other objects.
SELECTION MODE select different levels of an object’s hierarchy such as an entire group, one of the objects or points on the surface – Hierarchy Mode, Object Mode, Component Mode.
SHADERS are assigned to objects to give them their visual appearance.
RENDER NODES define the characteristics of shaders.
SHADER NETWORKS are complex shaders that rely on a network of render nodes to achieve special rendering or texturing effects. The Shading Group is a collection of materials, textures, and lights that efficiently describe all the necessary attributes required to shade or render an image. All of the nodes connected upstream of the shading group contribute to the final look of surfaces in the scene.
FILE REFERENCING
Like many concepts in Maya I needed some practical experience to start understanding how the File Referencing workflow works. I was so excited the first time I saw my Maya ASCII formate file loaded in TextEdit.
File Referencing makes it possible to access objects, shading materials and animation in a parent scene without importing the files directly into the parent scene including having multiple users to share various assets. This eliminated the need to duplicate accessories, backgrounds and characters in a project, using up unnecessary disk space and unnecessary work.
The parent scene references files lower in the hierarchy known as referenced child scenes which remain separate from the currently open parent scene. When the parent scene is saved all the connections to the child scene are saved with any referenced scene data not being saved with it eg when a character is animated only the animation data is saved with the parent scene.
Temporary reference files can be created to create a scene with the parent scene only saving the names and attribute connections. When updating a reference, it is important to keep the names and attributes of the reference identical for Maya to be able to make the connections with nodes and attributes to connect the related data.
Using Maya ASCII format saves the scene in plain text and can replace the current low resolution using a Text Editor. Locate the reference lines at the top of the file content.
file -rdi 1 -rpr “filename” -rfn “filenameRN” “./scene/filename._hires.ma”;
file -r -rpr “filename” -dr 1 -rfn “filenameRN” “./scene/filename_hires.ma”;
The path might be different, needs to point to your file. Replace the reference lines.
file -rdi 1 -rpr “filename” -rfn “filenameRN” “./scenes/filename_lores.ma”;
file -r -rpr “filename” -dr 1 -rfn “filenameRN” “./scene/filename_lores.ma”;
“Assemble multiple objects, such as modeled polygons, shading materials, and animated characters, without importing the files or objects into a scene. The contents of referenced files appear in the scene, but the data for the objects is read or referenced from pre-existing files that remain separate and unopened.
File referencing lets you use Maya objects and scenes in collaborative production situations where multiple users need to work concurrently and share various scene assets in complex scenes.
A scene file that references other files is known as a parent scene to indicate its position within the file referencing hierarchy. A parent scene reads or references other files called child scenes. Even though the referenced child scenes appear in the parent scene, the child scene data remain separate from the parent scene at all times.
A reference node is created for each child scene when it is referenced into a parent scene. The Outliner displays reference nodes with an 
icon and referenced objects with an 
icon. The reference node maintains the link between parent scene and child scene, so that when the parent scene is saved and reopened, the references are retained in the parent scene. When a referenced object is modified in the parent scene, the reference node stores these edits.”
3D PROCESS
JODY MADDEN — CEO, FOUNDRY
Over the past 20 years, Jody Madden has worked her way to the top of the visual effects career ladder. She began her career at Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm in San Francisco, then moved to Los Angeles to work for Digital Domain. Today, Jody is CEO of Foundry, the London-based company behind essential VFX software Nuke, Modo, Katana & Mari.
In this podcast, Jody discusses how interesting new approaches to working may come out of the COVID situation, as well as how her experience at Digital Domain and long-distance management of Foundry have prepared her for managing people through times of uncertainty. She also tells Chris about Foundry’s history as a Digital Domain off-shoot and how it’s preparing for a shift in the way media is produced and consumed.
Tribes of Europa VFX Breakdown from Netflix
This is an interview with Rick Sander, Co Visual Effects Supervisor on Tribes of Europa, to breakdown the incredible VFX work that went into the making of the show.
ALBERTO MIELGO — DIRECTOR, LD+R’S “THE WITNESS”
Among the many pleasures of Love, Death & Robots, “The Witness” was a particular standout: Its mind-bending story and vivid art style combined to create a unique and challenging short film. In this inspirational podcast, director Alberto Mielgo breaks down the making of the project.
You’ll find out Alberto’s influences, from Tintin to Disney to Blade Runner and the films of Éric Rohmer. He also talks about blending simple 2D and advanced cloth techniques to achieve “The Witness’” distinctive look, the inspiration behind its story — and his ambition to make animated movies that are regarded in the same light as live-action features.
Creating a Chinese CyberNeon Game Environment In UE4
My name is Junliang Zhang. I come from Shanghai, China. I am a 3D Environment Artist currently working at 3BLACKDOT in Los Angeles, USA. My passion for the game industry comes from my childhood. I still remembered how much I was setting in front of computer playing the most of classical PC games back to 90’s, such as, Starcraft, Commend & Conquer series, and Age of Empires II. When I usually playing these games I always wondered how they were made arts and gameplay or how I could make something cool mods. Therefore, My true interest is game art.
It’s no secret: nowadays, almost all films and TV series utilise VFX (visual effects) in some shape or form.
From the roaring explosions and gunfights synonymous with action-packed blockbusters to the creation of whole new environments, creatures and characters that typify TV epics like The Mandalorian, spectacular VFX have firmly cemented themselves in every filmmaker’s arsenal as an essential storytelling tool.
8 Steps to Create a Wilderness Plane Crash in UE4
3D Artist Leonid Prokofiev wanted a challenge that would introduce to UE4 while pushing his environment creation skills, so he designed an asset-heavy plane crash site in a South Dakota forest. His workflow demonstrates both important fundamentals of environment design as well as helpful UE4 tips.
How To Create a Photorealistic African Bird in 3D
This was my second piece done at school and I wanted to do something completely different from my previous one, which was sci-fi and hard-surface. The logical step was to create something organic and based in real life. I wanted it to be interesting and different. My mentor, the amazing Reilly Lohr suggested, among other ideas, doing a bust of this stork. I had never seen this bird before and just loved his overall look, how unique it was and the challenges it would present.
How to Model and Light a Detailed 3D Scene
Ofir Tal Buchris is studying 3D animation for her second year at IAC (Israeli Animation College) in Tel Aviv. She has also studied painting and drawing at Frame By Frame with Ben Ozeri and recently participated in a workshop led by Adam Goldstein (lead texture artist at Framestore).
How to Create a Pixar Style 3D Scene
Saif Alkhusaib is a freelance 3D Artist based in Muscat, Oman. From the time Saif started learning 3D, Pixar movies inspired him with their unique style and stories. Naturally, for his final project of his foundation term at Think Tank Training Centre, he decided on a concept with a stylised look similar to those Pixar movies that first inspired him.
How to Create a Forest Cabin Scene in UE4
We all know it can be difficult to break into creative industries. Competition for jobs is global, junior talent is strong and every month more and more artists graduate and are competing for jobs. It’s not all doom and gloom though. There really are plenty of great jobs out there. The hard truth is that too many of you are making simple mistakes that can be avoided.
Becoming a Technical Director at Pixar
Hey everyone, today we are talking about what exactly a Technical Director is, what are the skills involved and of course what it means to work for Pixar and how it might be different to most of us. I am joined by Paul Kanyuk a Lead Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studio who was working there for the last 14 years and involved in one of my favorite movies of all time … Ratatouille. His impressive resume also includes Cars, Wall-E, UP, Brave and Finding Dory.
Exclusive Interview: How redchillies.vfx and SRK brought ZERO to Life
We at CGSociety had the chance to interview redchillies.vfx’s Chief Creative Officer/VFX Supervisor, Mr. Haresh Hingorani, and Chief Operating Officer/VFX Producer, Mr. Keitan Yadav. Here they tell us all about their most recent film, “ZERO” starring the one and only Shah Rukh Khan, and the incredible special effects and teamwork required to make it real.
Wētā’s having a great year with the 95th Oscar Nominations 2023
This is Halloween: How Frame48 designed a Muse video built for horror fans
Behind-the-scenes of “Bad Travelling,” part 1: Collaborating with David Fincher
Spakenburg Shipyard: A Real-Time Environment Showcase
Creating a Striking Character in 3D with Zbrush and Arnold
Simple Game and Level Design Tips to Enhance Your Game
Beginner’s Guide to Creating a Game-Ready 3D Creature from Scratch
The Making of ‘Mighty Gagarin’ by Bartek Muczyn
COMBINING NATURE WITH CG TO PRODUCE A PREHISTORIC PLANET
VFX IS THE GLUE THAT SEALS THE ‘BOND’ IN ‘NO TIME TO DIE’
THE POWER OF INVISIBLE VFX ON FULL DISPLAY IN THE POWER OF THE DOG
VFX’s Julius Lechner about creating truly immersive environments The Batman
Building Gotham for “The Batman”
Vision getting ahead in WandaVision
Embark on a Journey into the Exciting World of VFX
VFX in 2021 | What works, who works and what’s changing forever
VFX Breakdown by MPC Episodic: The Third Day – The Foundry
VFX Breakdown by Jellyfish Pictures: How to Train your Dragon: Homecoming
The Making of ‘Aube Wedding Venue’ by Elizaveta Ivanova
The Making of ‘Bellagio Living Room’ by Paco Barruguer
Everything Everywhere All At Once VFX Team All at Once
Behind the scenes of “Moonfall’s” Aspen chase
Breaking down his hyperrealistic 3D carnivorous plant, Léandre Hounnake describes his techniques and tips for making 3D art in 3ds Max that blurs the line between CG and reality. WandaVision is a playful, mysterious, and action-packed series from Marvel on Disney+. “It picks up shortly after Avengers: Endgame. Tara DeMarco was the VFX supervisor tasked with producing for the small screen all of the visual effects and ‘synthezoid’ complexity seen in the major tentpole feature films. DeMarco is an award-winning VFX supervisor known for her cutting-edge work as a flame artist. Her 18-year career in visual effects is grounded in high-end commercial work, having composited on Emmy, Cannes Lion, and DA&D award-winning work. She had a 14-year run at The Mill, as well as freelancing with several other studios such as Method, Brickyard and Psyop.
Alita: Battle Angel” — VFX Breakdown
How were the cyborgs in Alita: Battle Angel created? Watch this brand new VFX breakdown reel to get insight into DNEG’s creature (cyborg) animation which included the ‘Factory Gang’ in the crazy bar fight scene, as well as the cyborg, ‘Amok’ in the Ido flashback scene. In addition to creature work, there was quite a bit of environment work completed for the pick-up rollerball game, as well as the addition of all rollerball skates within that same sequence.
THE MAKING OF “PINK DRESS” BY MARIANNA YAKIMOVA
Inspired by the Old Masters, Marianna Yakimova wanted to celebrate her new V-Ray skills with a 3D illustration that showcases beautiful fabric and lighting. Using the brief of a perfume commercial for a floral fragrance, the illustration is delicate and romantic; everything from the graceful hairstyle to the texture of the elegant dress was designed to represent flowers, from bud to bloom. Aiming for maximum realism, great attention to detail needed to be paid to the hair and dress — in particular the translucent, chiffon-like fabric. The color palette and light balance of the image also had to work together to create a classic and fresh mood, and the clever composition adds an element of privacy, even secrecy.
It’s no secret: nowadays, almost all films and TV series utilise VFX (visual effects) in some shape or form. From the roaring explosions and gunfights synonymous with action-packed blockbusters to the creation of whole new environments, creatures and characters that typify TV epics like The Mandalorian, spectacular VFX have firmly cemented themselves in every filmmaker’s arsenal as an essential storytelling tool.
Marvelous Designer 9
Friday Marvelous Designer 9 was released increasing it’s real estate among professional pipelines demanding any dedicated character artist pick up a great new toolset! Have a look at the updated features and post your works in the Gallery today.
Production Sessions at SIGGRAPH 2019 to Present Exclusive ‘Making Of’ Look at VFX
CHICAGO—The SIGGRAPH 2019 Production Sessions program reveals lineup of behind-the-scenes looks at the “making of” the year’s biggest productions in film, streaming, cable, games, and VR. Offering exclusive access to the best minds in visual effects (VFX), Production Sessions will be held throughout the conference week, 28 July–1 August, at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. With 11 total sessions, attendees can expect to hear from creators who worked on award-winning studio blockbusters, buzzworthy streaming and cable series, and out-of-this-world games and VR productions, including a look at how TIME, Felix & Paul Studios, and NASA filmed VR experience “Space Explorers” in microgravity on the International Space Station.
“Preacher” — VFX Breakdown
Jesse Custer hasn’t lived the world’s most blameless life. He’s robbed banks. He’s killed folk. He’s transported reptiles illegally across the border. But he’s turned over a new leaf—now a Texas preacher with a vampire, a ride-or-die thief, and the literal power of Genesis on his side, he’s demanding answers from God Himself. Now if only he could find Him.
“I Am Mother” — VFX Breakdown
Per Fin Design + Effects’ website: “Fin brings its VFX and visual storytelling expertise to highly-anticipated upcoming Netflix film, I Am Mother. Directed by Grant Sputore, the post-apocalyptic film stars Hilary Swank, Rose Byrne, and break-out star Clara Rugaard. In I Am Mother, a teenage girl (Rugaard) is raised underground by a robot ‘Mother’ (voiced by Byrne), designed to repopulate the earth following an extinction event. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger (Swank) arrives with alarming news.”
RealtimeUK’s Making of “Zombie Army 4” Cinematic
When gaming studio Rebellion tapped RealtimeUK for their Zombie Army 4: Dead War E3 2019 cinematic, they needed a trailer that was super action-packed, super threatening, and super… gory. Because when it comes to defeating Cloud Hitler, it’s never enough to just subdue the zombie masses—they need to be run through an explosive meat grinder!
E3 2019 – The Video Games, Part II
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most popular strategy games ever with stunning 4K Ultra HD graphics, remastered audio and a whole new campaign – The Last Khans. Return to Reign in 2019.
“Amundsen” — VFX Breakdown
Chronicling the life story of Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach both the Northern and Southern Poles, Amundsen features the work of Nordic VFX studios Gimpville (Norway), Filmgate (Sweden), FABLEfx (Sweden) and Varg Studios (Norway), who worked together to bring danger and intrigue to the snowy tundras.
“Captain Marvel” — Trixter VFX Breakdown
German VFX studio Trixter released the breakdown of their work on Marvel’s 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel, showing their work on such tremendous scenes as the approach to Mar-Vell’s laboratory, Captain Marvel’s escape from Skrull torture, and her subsequent tumble into a Blockbuster Video. But while the bombastic effects definitely impress, it’s their work on crafting the small & fuzzy Goose the Cat that takes the cake. Though Marvel had a series of real-life cats for many of the scenes—including cat actors “Reggie,” “Archie,” “Gonzo,” and “Rizzo”—when it came time to shoot scenes in space, it was up to Trixter to help make the kitty fly. Check out their breakdown below!
How to Take an Image and Turn it Into 3D
Picking the concept originally, I needed something with a story and human skin, but also being someone who likes creatures, it was appealing to me to squeeze one into the assignment. I also like to look for things with a lot of colors and cinematic lighting, so I ended up looking at work from the light master himself, James Gurney. The Concept, Makign a Dino, Human Skin, Compositing.
BLOATED MOTORS: INK GIVES THE 70S’ UNLOVED AUTOS A HELIUM INJECTION
What began as an in-house experiment has ballooned into a viral phenomenon. We talk to the minds behind this playful reimagining of the cars that style forgot.
Fifty Shades of Black: are your 2D CADs holding you back?
When I studied fashion design, we didn’t learn any computer-based design. Everything was 2D. My illustration teacher was the lead illustrator for Gianni Versace, so these weren’t just sketches, they were beautiful, highly stylised works of art. That experience landed me my first job at Nicola Finetti, but as I moved around in the design business, I learnt about CAD software on the job.
VFX
VFX in 2021: What Works, Who Works & What’s Changing sponsored by Foundry.
GDC Talk – “Art Directing VFX for Stylized Games”
Want to develop VFX for stylized games? Check out this talk by four artists as they break down their approaches to creating and integrating wild and weird VFX, from cartoony to 70s scifi-inspired, and beyond!. In this 2017 GDC talk, Bill Kladis, Bryanna Lindsey, Jeremy Mitchell and Shen-Ming Spurgeon discuss methods you can use to establish the artistic pillars of your game’s VFX using specific examples from various games with unique art styles, including Double Fine’s 70s scifi-inspired Headlander, Motiga’s MOBA Gigantic, Volition’s Agents of Mayhem, and a small (then-unreleased) game by Epic: Fortnite.
Tips from the world of VFX
Dmitry Vinnik has worked on “Game of Thrones,” “Tron: Legacy” and “Stranger Things.” He tells us how crucial V-Ray for Maya has been throughout his career.
MPC Episodic brings seamless effects work to Sky / HBO’s mini-series The Third Day
MPC’s team led by VFX Supervisor Oliver Winwood and VFX Producers Patrick Dean and Matthew Marshall completed 157 shots for episodes 2-6, working closely with Directors Marc Munden and Philippa Lowthorpe, Production VFX Supervisor Ivor Middleton and VFX Producer Rob Delicata. The team’s work included a range of effects including creatures, CG crowds, FX simulations, environment extensions and seamless digital shot stitching.
Quantum nature of Devs
Senior Compositor Brittany Piacente has worked on more than 50 movies and TV shows, including Black Panther, Blade Runner 2049, Vikings, and not one, but THREE Star Wars films! Her IMDB is as impressive as it gets, and she’s held senior positions at Deluxe, Mr X, and Method Studios. A natural leader and mentor, we’re thrilled to have someone of her caliber teaching our Nuke Compositing course. Find out how Brittany became a VFX Artist and Compositor, and get her top 3 tips for creating an amazing compositing demo reel.
How Universal Scene Description is set to change the face of VFX
The adoption of Universal Scene Description (USD) is set to have a seismic impact on the VFX industry – and even beyond. Developed by the R&D team at Pixar, USD is open source software that enables the robust, scalable interchange and augmentation of arbitrary 3D scenes made up of different assets. Or, as Jordan Thistlewood, Group Product Manager for Katana, Mari and Flix at Foundry, puts it: “There have been open standards for images, cameras, geometry, and other information in 2D and 3D workflows, but never a container format that really covers the multiple uses of a whole series of different assets.
VFX behind the Stranger Things monsters
Rodeo FX, lead vendor on the record-breaking third season of the Netflix hit series Stranger Things, has just released behind-the-scenes videos that break down the visual effects that brought all the season’s creatures and monsters to life.
Machine learning in VFX software: the challenges to crack
Machine learning (ML) is one of the most exciting areas of technology under research today. The promise of automating many laborious, time-consuming tasks currently performed by humans has caught the attention of a whole spectrum of industries. For the VFX industry, getting efficient ML tools into the hands of artists could be transformational – both in terms of workflow for creatives and the bottom line for studios.
This cool video reimagines Game of Thrones’ title sequence in the style of Westworld
HBO’s final season of Game of Thrones is in the midst of its run, and a Belgian designer took the opportunity to reimagine the show’s title sequence in the style of another of the network’s big shows, Westworld
“The Wandering Earth” – VFX Breakdown
In the Chinese blockbuster The Wandering Earth, the expanding sun is in its dying throes and threatens to send not just the Earth but the entire solar system to a fiery destruction. Thankfully, a team of scientists bands together to hatch a plan that may save the world: attaching a series of thrusters to the planet’s crust, Earth will rocket out of its orbit and set out on a 2500-year journey to a new star system. But with Earth now a frozen wasteland and civilization now living in underground shelters, it falls on the shoulders of a group of young people to make sure humanity survives.
CONTROLLED DEMOLITION: TIPS FROM BOTTLESHIP VFX
With The Wandering Earth rocking the Chinese box office, we ask Bottleship VFX’s Hristo Velev how he unleashes destruction while keeping his business on track. Need to destroy something? Bottleship VFX is the place to go. In the past year, this mayhem-obsessed Bulgaria-based studio has blown up buildings for Hunter Killer; orchestrated splashed-down planes for Air Strike; unleashed mountain-sized tornados on Mars for Forsaken; created swarms of flying mobile phones for 2.0; and last, but certainly not least, helped a pair of characters escape an imploding tower for Chinese box-office phenomenon The Wandering Earth.
“Alita” – Interview with VFX Supervisor Eric Saindon
When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, he took the world with him. There was no road map – no one had ever done it before – and it took a team of intelligent, dedicated individuals to make it happen. Like Armstrong, Oscar-winning film director and producer James Cameron has taken us to terrains unexplored, from the depths of the Mariana Trench and its seemingly alien life, to the boundless vistas of imaginary planets. And, also like Armstrong, he was only able to get us there because of the commitment and talent of enthusiastic folks who shared his vision.
It’s no exaggeration to say the biggest audiences of the future will be from Asia, whether they’re located in south, east or southeast Asian countries. With over a combined population of 1 billion kids under 17 today, these are the consumers that filmmakers and content creators need to reach – now and in the future. They will be the eyeballs and they will hold the purchasing power. The growing importance of the China box office and Netflix’s goals for growth in India mean investments in Asian media and entertainment markets are just beginning.
Like a fine moisturizing cream, visual effects have seeped into every pore of movies to the point where the audience often may not even know they’re being used. The cutting-edge technology devised to create this magic has a direct and often transformative effect on our cinematic experience.
Meet the company transforming real-time content creation
Virtual Production (VP), as a term, is in vogue: it’s being bandied around with growing frequency in the media and entertainment industries. And for good reason. VP has long held promise as the way to unify the disparate elements of the production pipeline, creating a more collaborative, cohesive and efficient process.
Yet many remain unsure as to what VP actually means in practice, and this – in part – may explain why adoption has been slow.
Short Film “Spring” – VFX Breakdown
Per Blender’s write-up: “Spring is the story of a shepherd girl and her dog, who face ancient spirits in order to continue the cycle of life. This poetic and visually stunning short film was written and directed by Andy Goralczyk, inspired by his childhood in the mountains of Germany. The Spring team used the development version of Blender 2.80 for the entire production, even before the software was in official Beta. As for all of Blender’s Open Movies, the entire production process and all its source files are being shared on our production platform Blender Cloud.”
Because Shark Week: VFX Breakdown from “The Shallows”
ILP committed to working on two principal sequences as well as creating the shark and an underwater seabed environment. We knew that we would need far more control over our Shallows shark than we had over previous sharks we had created. In a process that involved modeling, sculpting, rigging and look development, our team created a Great White that could be used in a variety of situations. We also developed advanced setups to deform the shark as well as setup complex simulations for water interaction, underwater dust clouds, bubble and blood trails.
UK-based VFX company On-set Facilities has developed an impressive, and apparently unique, system that creates visually stunning live VFX from green-screen shoots. The system uses a VR games engine, which combines the foreground image, the CG background, the matte and the camera tracking data and feeds it to Nuke where the final composition is output.
VFX software usability: why the industry needs to change
Is the VFX industry stuck in the 90s? Despite all of the stunning wizardry and modern visual flourishes produced by VFX studios, there still remains a big disconnect between today’s production software and the artists in the trenches that have to use these tools day in and day out. It might be easy to say well, if those artists are creating amazing work, what does it matter that the tools are sub-par? But it does matter.
It’s that time of year where Foundry gazes into our crystal ball and tries to predict some key trends that could shape VFX (and other areas of tech) over the next 12 months.
Enter Asahi VFX Breakdown
A collaboration between The Monkeys Melbourne, In The Thicket and Alt, the newly released Asahi campaign is a visual feast that takes viewers on a journey through landscapes built around surreal Japanese iconography. From script to shoot – a huge operation that took place at Sydney’s Fox Studios – Director Marco Prestini and his Executive Producer, Genevieve Triquet from production company In The Thicket, brought on the VFX team at Alt to help realise the creative vison.
Creating the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things’ Season 2 Finale
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | VFX Breakdowns
Image Engine, El Ranchito, and ILM present their VFX work on “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
Behind the scenes on The Shape of Water
FOLKS VFX OFFERS 12 FACTS ABOUT “12 MONKEYS”
On the heels of the release of Season Three, Sebastien Bergeron, Founder and VFX Supervisor at Folks VFX, offers 12 facts about Syfy series,12 Monkeys. We were brought on board last season, for Season Two of 12 Monkeys. They wanted a change in the visual effects department, and I had a previous relationship with one of the associate producers, Keri Young. The kind of pro-active collaboration they were looking for was perfect for Folks and the fact that the series revolves around time travel –what science fiction is all about in my mind –meant that the show was a great fit any way we looked at it.
Rising Sun Pictures Taps Asgardian Visual Effects Strength on Thor: Ragnarok
The close-knit team at Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) work on some of the most talked-about and iconic VFX sequences in Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. That Quicksilver ‘Kitchen Scene’ in X-Men: Days of Future Past – that was RSP! ‘Val’s Flashback’ in Marvel’s current juggernaut Thor: Ragnarok – again RSP! More on that below.
“We have the capability of creating these memorable sequences as we are fast, flexible, and creative, which makes us an obvious choice for studios who require this kind of VFX,” says Anthony Smith, Head of 2D (Compositing, Paint, Roto, and Digital Matte Painting Departments). “When we do this specific style of work, it often results in the studio asking us to produce many more VFX shots for them. We are proud of the quality we produce at RSP and we set the bar high, so to have tools like Mocha save us time, is extremely important to us.” The Australian-based company is currently working on many projects at the same time, including Peter Rabbit, Tomb Raider, Animal World, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
How They Did It: Marvel Studios’ ACES Workflow for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
How did Marvel Studios ensure that the amazing, eye-popping visuals created by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn, cinematographer Henry Braham, and VFX supervisor Christopher Townsend all ended up on screen as the filmmakers intended? Marvel Studios used ACES to manage the film’s color pipeline from dailies through to VFX, DI and archiving.
Weta Digital claim victory on “War for the Planet of the Apes”. Weta Digital has been at the cutting edge of visual effects design for nearly a quarter-century, during which time they produced some of the film industry’s most iconic visuals: the epic battles in TheLord of the Rings movies, for example, or the physics-defying fight scenes in various X-Men movies. And as for character modeling, well, they’ve done it all: from Gollum to Smaug, mutants to vampires, and King Kong to Neytiri. For their achievements, they have been awarded six Visual Effects Academy Awards and six BAFTAs, among numerous other accolades.
The Last Jedi VFX Breakdown Reveals The Work Of ILM’s VFX Masters If you’re actually surprised by anything you see in this behind-the-scenes breakdown, you’re clearly not up to speed on how a modern Star Wars movie is made. Even with JJ Abrams pushing to use as many real sets and costumes for The Force Awakens, there was still a tremendous amount of green-screen compositing and CG used in both that film and Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi.
My name is Sterling Osment, I am a self taught VFX artist – with a innate passion for creating visual effects in CG, it all started a long time ago when I was involved with a small startup studio in Brisbane Australia, we were using SGI’s, Lightwave and Softimage. I was exposed to the high end pipeline very early and immediately was interested in the media creation of this style. I attended a Alias Maya 1.0 and Max function / presentation – I was blown away.
Would you give us a little “top 5” list of tools?
- Houdini
- Maya
- Zbrush
- A big brain with octopus arms ( for multitasking )
- A heap of patience mixed with connections and friends that share the same kind of CG interests.
THE CROWD FX OF GAME OF THRONES, WITH MACKEVISION
Like many Game of Thrones enthusiasts, we experienced withdrawal of our weekly dragon fix as Season 7 came to a close. Being equal part VFX-enthusiasts, however, we were excitedly anticipating the release of the CG breakdowns to see how some the series’ best effects yet came to fruition. One in particular caught our eye, a breakdown from Mackevision showcasing their convincing simulations of armies and ship fleets, and we were thrilled to sit down with Lead CG Supervisor Christian Zilliken and Head of Business & Legal Affairs, Heiko Burkardsmaier to hear more about it. Check out what they had to say aboutt techniques used working on this season.
DYNAMIC EFFECTS IN 4K, WITH JOSH CLOS
Josh Clos works in 3D dynamic and procedural effects for television and commercials in New York City with a focus on effects involving particles, liquids, destruction and explosions. His breadth of work spans projects including Blacklist, Blacklist: Redemption, Notorious, The Tick, and the sigils teaser for Game of Thrones. His FX portfolio is stunning to say the least, and we’re thrilled that he has taken the time to contribute some of his techniques to the CGSociety community.
With North American and European studios dominating awards ceremonies and column inches, you’d be forgiven for assuming that’s where our industry begins and ends. But it’s a global affair, and amazing things are being created all around the world.
CGF are one such company, flying the flag for the Russian VFX industry and creating impressive work on a budget. Foundry Trends went East to find out more.
Interview with Saddington Baynes
Award-winning creative production studio, Saddington Baynes, shares how they work together to stay ahead of the curve and craft new & innovative ideas. We have a particularly well-rounded skill set at Saddington Baynes. Our in-house expertise consists of everything from retouching still photography, to integrating CGI into live actions shoots. Our directors bring technical and creative solutions to whatever the client brief requires, allowing the team to achieve diverse delivery requirements for large scale projects. One thing you can say about Saddington Baynes is that we’re passionate. Coming from diverse creative backgrounds, our team rarely fit into pre-defined boxes. We look for questioning minds as well as beautiful portfolios. From exquisitely detailed photographic stills to conceptual particle animations, we celebrate creative risk-taking. Above all, our artists need to be courageous and take pride in their work.
Art of VFX News
Vivid Festival Transforms Sydney with Light and Motion
Beyond The Wall: The Story of Six VFX Studios Behind the Epic “Game of Thrones”
17 favorite movies before and after visual effects
‘Beauty And The Beast’ Without CGI Is Ridiculous And People Can’t Stop Laughing
Emma Watson is an amazing actress. After all, just look at her performance in her latest blockbuster Beauty and the Beast. But you’ll be even more impressed when you see what she had to work with. The movie is a mix of live action and animation, with Beast being played by Dan Stevens in an interesting suit…
What’s the secret to longevity for a VFX studio? Just ask SPIN VFX
“From one scene file, they can light 10, 20, 100 shots. We’ve seen a tremendous increase in our productivity.” How Katana helps SPIN VFX deliver hundreds of shots and work on 10 shows simultaneously.
The 10 best visual effects breakdowns of 2016
It goes without saying that the CG on display is excellent, but bear in mind that this isn’t a run-down of the biggest or best visual effects projects of the year: it’s a run-down of the best visual effects breakdowns. Editing, presentation, and the quality of the making-of material on display all count for a lot here.
How FuseFX brought serious super power to the invulnerable, “Luke Cage”. Software used : Autodesk 3ds Max
What happens when a lifelong Marvel fanboy and Sr. VFX Supe at FuseFX gets tagged to work on Marvel’s latest superhero series, Luke Cage? He punches out enough super power to make bones break, buildings blow sky high – then viewer demand (at least speculatively), makes Netflix servers implode.
On the heels of the recent Luke Cage debut – and that now infamous two-hour Netflix outage – Greg Anderson gets on the phone from New York to effectively demonstrate how thoughtful planning, passion, and the right balance of VFX, puts true, super power, behind any project.
LOUIS MORIN ON THE REALITIES OF ‘ARRIVAL’ interview on CG Society
For freelancing Canadian Production VFX Supe Louis Morin, “Arrival” feels a bit like coming full circle. Cerebral, thought-provoking, not to mention visually striking, it nods to the classic that inspired his career choice: Kubrick’s, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Telling the story of a military-recruited linguist tasked to translate alien communications, Arrival had Morin leading a small legion of local VFX studios under Denis Villeneuve’s direction and was shot entirely in his home province of Quebec. Hailed as one of the best films of the year, Morin discusses the realities of making “Arrival” – the creative approaches and committed teams, the gut feelings and happy accidents, and of course, those understated, almost elegant photo-real effects. Software Used: Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Flame, Shotgun, Arnold Renderer
Louis Morin on the realities of “Arrival” interview with Autodesk
AN INTERVIEW WITH MPC FX LEAD, FABIAN NOWAK
Fabian Nowak is an FX Lead/Senior FX TD at MPC whose work can be seen on films such as Passengers, Jungle Book and Guardians of the Galaxy to name a few. He was recently nominated to the VES Awards 2017 for “Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature” for The Jungle Book and has some valuable insight to share. Check out what he had to say about his experience working as a lead at the esteemed studio, as well as a few tricks of the trade for those in our audience who are carving a similar path.
Richard Hoover, Visual Effects Supervisor for Framestore Montreal, has been close to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, in varying degrees, since accidentally finding himself behind the scenes of the 1982 original. So it seems somehow natural that he would come to oversee some of the most demanding sequences for the 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve. Here, Richard shares details of his background, his history with the franchise, and how Framestore pulled off some of the most visually compelling VFX shots filmgoers have yet to see.
Blade Runner 2049: Art of VFX Interview
Art of VFX interviews VFX producer, Karen Murphy, on her role on Blade Runner 2049. “Blade Runner is the holy grail of SCI FI and you have to have a lot of guts to even sign up for the task”. Karen Murphy began her career in the visual effects almost 25 years ago. She has produced the effects of many films such as TITANIC, WILD WILD WEST, HUGO and FURIOUS 7.
This is What Home Movies Look Like When Your Parent is a VFX Artist
The 5 Miserable VFX Jobs That Make Movies Possible
CREATING THE ICONIC STAR WARS LOOK: Exclusive Interview with Christian Alzmann, ILM’s Senior Art Director
ARTIST INSIGHT: JOEL ERKKINEN Getting to know the whimsical 3D Artist and Star Wars Fan
More about the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 VFX James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a huge hit over this past summer and was jam packed with non-stop fun and creative visuals. Learn about what went into the film with behind the scenes looks, interviews with the visual effects team, and more.
Exclusive Interview with Marvel Studios’ VFX Supervisor, Jake Morrison
Exclusive Interview with Laika’s VFX Supervisor Steven Emerson
Cycling Canada: Andres Kirejew, VFX Supervisor, Alter Ego
- Real-time playback of image sequences and movies
- Support for industry standard file formats including Cineon, DPX, OpenEXR, and QuickTime
- Command line utilities for batch processing
- Cross platform support for Linux, Apple OS X, and Microsoft Windows
25 Great CGI movie moments of all time – link
Animal Logic: The Lego Movie – link
Mike Green Lightwave to Zbrush and Back Again
Want a job in VFX? Take notes from these 5 pros
VFX veterans look back on their early careers and share their most important lessons. Visual effects (VFX) encompasses many different interests and skill sets. That variety is exactly what makes working in this industry so attractive, but it also raises a lot of questions when you’re starting out and looking for your first real gig: How should I approach potential employers? What exactly do they look for? How will I differentiate myself? What qualities will make me successful? To get some answers, we spoke to five CG pros about their earliest days in the business and asked them to share the most important lessons they learned with us.
Click on Autodesk Digital Magazine for the link
Autodesk Digital Magazine
AEAF Animation and Effects Awards Festival
VFX Artists Touch Heaven and Earth for ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Teams at Rising Sun Pictures and Fin Design + Effects created exciting sequences, VFX and animation for Marvel’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, spanning heaven and earth, distant planets and dream worlds.
CELEBRATING CREATIVITY: Issue Two
CG SOCIETY
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VFX SUPERVISOR, WITH GLENN MELENHORST
- Mies van der Rohe Farnsworth House by Alessandro Prodan
- HAMMERING OUT VISUAL EFFECTS FOR MARVEL STUDIOS’ THOR: RAGNAROK
- DNEG | BEHIND THE VFX: JAEGERS VS KAIJU
- ARTIST INSIGHT: STEVEN DUPUY
- CREATING VFX FOR GAMES, WITH HOUDINI ARTIST ANDREAS GLAD
- FEATURED STORIES
- Cinematic Director employs Character Creator, iClone & Blender in Epic Ancient Greece Film
- Cool Tutorial on 3ds Max’s Retopology Modifier
- DI4D introduces PURE4D, the world’s most precise pipeline for digital double facial animation
- VFX Breakdown by Industrial Light & Magic for The Mandalorian – Season 2
- Cinematic Director employs Character Creator, iClone & Blender in Epic Ancient Greece Film
- Passion Pictures Scales Animation with AWS
- Autodesk Accelerates Workflows Across Creative Tools
COMMERCIAL: Woolworths
Create 3d Characters web site link and facebook
CREATIVE CRASH
DUNCAN BRINSMEAD
Creating a sizzling showreel sting
Andre McGrail is a freelance artist working in London. He studied multimedia in his native New Zealand, having been inspired to learn 3D as a kid by Saturday morning TV shows like Reboot and Starship Troopers. After failing his course for continually trying to bite off more than he could chew, he completed his education on the job, working as a 3D artist in advertising for five years before moving to Karactaz, an animation studio where his projects included working on TV series for Marvel Animation. Eventually, the call of adventure took him north (way north!) and he found himself in the UK.
VFX Blog link
PULLDONW IT
Pulldownit is a brand new dynamics solver which allows for the creation of fractures as well as massive rigid bodies simulations. By using its technology digital artists are able to simulate fast and easily the collapse of buildings, cracking surfaces or fracturing any kind of brittle material.
Douglas Trumbull
John Whitney
MAXON CINEMA 4D FIRES-UP CANTINA CREATIVE VFX WORKFLOW -THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTOPHER NICHOLS (DIRECTOR OF CHAOS GROUP LABS)
CREATING VFX SHOTS for WESTWORLD
MAKING MAD MAX Interview with Tom Wood, iloura’s VFX Supervisor, CG Society
MATHEMATIC specialising in high end CG and VFX for advertising, TV, Print, digital, serious, short and now long format films. Specialised Flame Artists, Shoot Supervision, Nuke, Luster and After Fx compositors, Smoke, DaVinci and FCP.
Interview with Lillian Paterson: VFX attachment on Pacific Rim: Uprising.
3D / VR / AR / XR – Khronos Sydney Chapter
‘Data-Driven Real-Time Crowd Simulation’ Rowan Hughes
Visualisation of data in 3D, design and aesthetics based how that impacts through good design. How can we impact on processes through better visualisation, VR, design building from personal experience outwards to the design process. How data structures are being deal with including narrative structures and visual impact. In 2018, we are going to start our meetup with invited speakers, talking about WebGL, Cinematic VR, Collaborative AR/VR and beyond.
In order to create plausible virtual humans it is important to model their movement and interactions with their environment in an accurate and realistic manner. A lot of time and effort is spent by artists and engineers modelling user interactions with virtual agents with which the user acts directly. Virtual crowds, however, form an important component of virtual worlds. It is generally not feasible to author scripted behaviours and interactions for individual members large virtual crowds, and it typical to rely on systems that allow for autonomous navigation and behaviour. In this talk, we look at some solutions developed over the course of Rowan’s research.
Masters looking at real time rendering, skin. This talk is looking at Crowd Simulation in VR, improved behaviours inluding pedestrian steering.
Rowan’s research included creating models from Captured Data, the use of Particle Systems, Holonomic Collisions Avoidance for Virtual Crowds, the use of Mocap (the process of recording the movement of objects or people) on the shoulders for shoulder orientation.
Holonomic Locomotion: Holonomic robots are omnidirectional robots that can move in any direction from any orientation, creating an incredibly mobile robot. So, it’s easy to move the robot in a congested area. A four wheel drive (4WD) omnidirectional robot can be built using either mecanum wheels or omniwheels. Both wheel types are similar in that they have rollers mounted around the wheel’s circumference allowing for sideways movement of the robot. The difference between the two types is the angle at which the rollers are mounted at. This article looks at omnidirectional robots constructed with both types of wheels and includes software code for providing this control. The robots are constructed using the VEX Robotics building system.
Previous models turned like cars, holonomic models, side and back stepping. How close do you need to be, how to turn and when to turn for an animation database. If have a bunch of obstacles, know when they are going to hit based on the orientation and know how to orient the character. Looking for less collisions and better behaviour.
Geometric models are efficient, solving in 2D space with circles and boxes with maths equations. Went with a synthetic vision, each agent in the simulation renders the scene from their point of view. The scene is rendered for every character, if there are 2000 characters then rendered for all of the characters and this data, the visual perception data is used to solve the collision problems.
Prioritise non-collision at all cost. Two parameters to consider are the time to collision (TTC) and rate of change of bearing angle. Fragment shader gives the time to collision – ttc, if I’m going this way and your going that way, how soon are we going to collide.
Rate of change of bearing angle is not changing we are going to crash into each other. Increasing will pass in front of you, decreasing will pass behind you. Time to interaction.
Two ways to avoid, decelerate and turn. Looked at left and right avoidance angle, turning angles, velocity, current density for all the characters. As density increases, slow down and take bigger turning angles.
Parallel reduction, CUDA will sample every pixel and decide which is the worst one, that is the one to react to. Dealing with the most dangerous pixel in real time.
Do some calculations on the CPU and works out the goal velocity.
Humans are rendered as cones, which works well because can see over the shoulders with boxes and spheres cannot see over and do not work so well.
Track algorithm RVO Tracking Algorithm, ORCA. Reciprocal Velocity Obstacles, Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance
Studies for virtual crowns. Work on Crowd phobia, older people and how crowds affect their spatial memory, how people navigate such as how big and how dense does it need to be before you go all the way around.
A Creative Flight plan……and how 99% of the time we’re off course
Paul is going to finish up the Sydney ACM SIGGRAPH events for 2017 with a talk about projects, research, and planning. You’re probably very familiar with his work on Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Allegiant, Insurgent, Iron Man Three, Prometheus, and so many others. He’s an engaging and entertaining speaker, you should come listen to him talk and look at his pictures.
Incredible Visual Effects of Prometheus
The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Animal Logic designs over 250 shots on Allegiant
Hologram Table Effect
Attempting to make something photo real and at the same time come up some ideas for the problems which could be a director saying ‘I do not really know what I want to do’. Had discussions around what to do, a new exploration and exploring shapes.
Holographic table – blend between organic and high teck. How much to give the audience and how much to tease them. Holding a cloud of light. Test on a black screen then have their own problems when put into a set.
Working on the UI elements – when there is a frame work sent to the art department to design the graphic and then animate all the elements as motion sequences. They were not all flat cards, giving them volumetric space.
When all the elements are put on top of each other they accumulate in light and gets flat very quickly. The use of back face culling for graphics such as culling out the landscape behind giving a sense of volume, cheating the depth of field and relighting the characters. Giving it a sense of shape and volume, designed as a volume, not for one camera and can then move cameras around, rendering any angle and giving reflections. Grading down the objects beside the holograms to give them a sense of shape.
Constantly roughing out the graphics and going back and forward between graphics and the editor.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2: PAUL BUTTERWORTH – VFX SUPERVISOR – ANIMAL LOGIC
The fractal nature of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 By Mike Seymour
Matt Ebb – Guardians of the Galaxy 2
The Palace Interior
Using crazy fractals, thinking about how can we light it to make it different and a bit interesting. Fractals give fine detail and are uncontrollable, need to be able to manipulate them to find the structure you want. Selected pieces, carved that section out and use it. Instead of using the houdini cloud and typologies it, they took the point cloud information using lidar scans and were able to build up the set quickly.
cineSync to link up quicktime and can draw on pictures
Light studies, change the time of day and put a light sky around it and remapped it. Relighting and regrading.
Simple geo structures with complex fractals, instanced it with spheres usually giving a rough surface then worked out how to take the normals off the fractals and bent the surface, manipulating the surface to appear smooth.
Cosmic Catch Effect
Real hands replaced by DG hands with fluid effect simulation with pulses running up the hands and seeing through the hands.
Alien Garden
With Matte Paintings you can get a lot of detail in very quickly and is harder to change. Decided to build the garden with assets that can be generated and used the fractal generator that was being used. Made the garden realistic, to look like plants and when signed off shifted the colours about 10% to gave it a bit of an alien look.
Original set with actors on it then a background plate as a layout, tree assets and sky plates with the ground plates being replaced and rototed off. Needed to shoot some more plates, the lighting did not match so well with what had already been comped, then needed to relight some of the actors, 3D light, 3D pull down exposures on some things. Removal of elements because the sound had already been done. The matching up and pulling together of shots from different times.
Colour cast has to be fine tuned and colour graded.
FAMILY MOMENTS – Diorama Creation
From concept art to taking the live action, track it, take out the vectors and put through Houdini and scatter particles with the live action colours.
How are they transitioning between all the story parts, where is it coming from and how is it shaped.
Took the basic ideas and started shaping the characters and built up the detail.
Rendered everything at 4K, the camera was so sharp when CG was rendered out at the resolution of the film it was looking softer against the actors. Scaled down the CG to match the same kind of sharpness of the camera.
If you were to add up all the hours that were applied to the show it would take you about 37 years, not including rendering.
SOME OTHER INTERESTING POINTS
In camera is always better, production design, liaising with crew and matching and choose elements with the camera, know how the camera would resolve it and it is invaluable.
The more set the better, for the actors who are not staring blindly into a scene. This works well in a film that is well written and well planned for production design, now the turn around is getting quicker and there is going to be a lot of change. A director that is good with scripts and writing, does not do vfx and can run on the fly with it and shape the film in the last 2 or 3 months with running cuts and marketing testing. The stress is on the post production companies.
Tend to design a team that is gorilla based, multiple talents and plan for expanding at the end when you can thrown a lot of fire power at it. Design in such a way, need an asset set up where you can reshape and get a result quickly which is probably not matte painting. People tend not to shoot movies very well, lack of structure, proper script, inventing the story and use move multi camera set ups.
Not too many options, people get confused, gave three ideas with options they really liked and take out the one they like least. Not ‘no’, offer options, cannot do this, we can do this. Not tell all the problems, say this is the problem. Job is to offer solutions. Towards the end of the film, everyone want to get to the end, just like everyone else. Do you like a, b or c.
Movies that explore new territory, not cover areas that the audience already knows, as an audience were ahead of the story and knew what was going to happen. Lacked mystery and twists with an inability to connect with the key characters, not believing the journey they are going to go on. The story rushed and disjointed. Have been there so why are we making this.
Ant-Man | VFX Breakdown | DNEG
‘Outlaw King’ Method Studios Breakdown Reel
Projection-mapping on moving surfaces
Incredible Visual Effects of Prometheus
Opel Ampera-e – Maybugs – VFX breakdown
Game of Thrones: The Frozen Lake (HBO)
‘Game of Thrones’ Visual Effects – Inside ‘Battle of the Bastards’
The Best CGI Movies In 2016
The Mill BLACKBIRD
HBO’s “The Newsroom” – Intro Sequence
The Visual Effects Of Iron Man[Full Documentary]
Sense of Presence: The Future of Virtual Reality
Autodesk Maya Special Features by Duncan Brinsmead – Part 1
Autodesk Maya Special Features by Duncan Brinsmead – Part 2
These ARE the Droids You Are Looking For… wireframe
Spoil Boy (test render)
Alias|Wavefront – The Making of Maya Fluid Effects
Exclusive Interview with Dennis Muren, ILM Special Effects master talks about his creative journey and multi-award winning work on movies like Star Wars, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park
Why CG Sucks (Except It Doesn’t)
Kung Fury VFX Breakdown – “Great balls of fire”
Kung Fury VFX Breakdown – “Miniature Madness”
DAWN OF THE..STUFF. FULL LENGTH TRAILER
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Bringing Smaug to life
Top 10 Landmark CGI Movie Effects
3ds Max 2015 extension 1 – Working with Alembic
https://www.youtube.com/user/pjacksonwingnutfilms/playlists
The History and Science of the Slit Scan Effect used in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
The WETA Effect, or, Why Special Effects Peaked in the 90’s. – StoryBrain
Pixels: Taj Mahal sequence – VFX breakdowns
Steven Dupuy FX Show Reel 2015
VFX Before and After Star Wars The Force Awakens PART 1
VFX Before and After Star Wars The Force Awakens PART 2
VFX Before and After Star Wars The Force Awakens PART 3
VFX Before and After Star Wars The Force Awakens PART 4
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Comic-Con 2015 Reel
JURASSIC WORLD BREAKDOWN REEL
3d art and animation 