So why doesn't RodeoFX have a blog where you can post this in more detail. :-) -ben
On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 12:12 AM, Alan Fregtman <[email protected]>wrote: > Uh-oh! lol > > artofvfx.com has posted an article on our work for *Now You See Me*. You > can see some nice before & after pics: > http://www.artofvfx.com/?p=4669 > > ** Before: > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_03B.jpg > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_04B.jpg > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_05B.jpg > > ** After: > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_03A.jpg > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_04A.jpg > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_05A.jpg > (falling ICE money simulations, ICE standing crowds, additional Arnold > volumetric lights) > > > > ** Before: > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_11B.jpg > ** After: > http://www.artofvfx.com/NOW/NOW_RODEOFX_VFX_11A.jpg > (lots of funky motiongraphic cubes driven by ICE particles. not sure if > the crowd is cg or 2D, I didn't work on that particular shot.) > > > > On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 10:40 PM, Sylvain Lebeau <[email protected]> wrote: > >> you better….. >> >> i know where you live…… >> >> ;-) >> >> *Sylvain Lebeau // SHED** >> *V-P/Visual effects supervisor >> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 >> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM <http://www.shedmtl.com/> < >> http://WWW.SHEDMTL.COM <http://www.shedmtl.com/>> >> >> On Tuesday, 16 July, 2013 at 9:51 AM, Alan Fregtman wrote: >> >> Believe me, I know. If it was entirely up to me I'd put up lots of cool >> behind the scenes visuals. >> >> With commercials, it's a piece of cake to take a screenshot and attach to >> an email; if it's aired it's usually fair game and rarely anyone ever >> cares, but when it comes to big name distributors of film, you have to >> clear everything with lawyers and there's many more bureaucratic layers. >> >> When it comes out on bluray I'll ask my boss if I can show some >> behind-the-scenes. I can't promise they'll allow it, but I can ask. :p >> >> >> >> On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 4:30 AM, Angus Davidson < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi Alan >> >> Awesome work. Just want to let you know that breakdowns like this are >> not only important for other professionals who have this massive shared >> curiosity but it also incredibly important when it comes to our students. >> When we made the decision to move away from Maya to Softimage for our >> teaching we caught quite a bit of flak for the decision. However posts like >> these are really great because we can show just how Softimage is being >> used. We have also just set up our first Arnold render farm and we are very >> excited to see the results we get from two really great pieces of software. >> >> Kind regards >> >> Angus >> >> From: Alan Fregtman <[email protected]> >> Reply-To: "[email protected]" < >> [email protected]> >> Date: Monday 15 July 2013 9:07 PM >> To: XSI Mailing List <[email protected]> >> Subject: OT: Pacific Rim >> >> Hey guys, >> >> A lot of people say Softimage doesn't get used much in movies, so I >> personally love to hear stories when it does happen. Therefore, I wanted to >> share some details with you. :) >> >> I'm the lead rigger at *Rodeo FX*http://rodeofx.com and we did all of >> the interiors of the control pods (the cockpits, that is), including the >> visors, foot actuators & mechanical stilts, some digidoubles, etc. >> (except the holograms/UI graphics that were done by the folks at Hybride.) >> We also had the chance of doing our first organic creature, the brain in >> the lab (which involved a lot of "gross" ICE deformations), as well as many >> beautiful matte paintings and a couple of helicopters. >> >> Overall, we did over a hundred shots. CG was done in Softimage and as >> far as I know it was all rendered in our favourite renderer, Arnold! We'd >> still be rendering today if Mentalray had been used. :p We threw countless >> ~8k textures with displacement and stupid amounts of topology, and good ol' >> Arnie performed like a champ. >> >> The stilts (the leg controls in the cockpit) had anything from 1500 to >> 2500 separate meshes and on average about 150 segments (solid groups of >> parts that moved as one.) Once we identified the "segments" by the end we >> had a rig of Arnold stand-ins with each segment saved as one ass file, and >> low-res geo representing that segment constrained to some part of the rig. >> It then became relatively "light" to have the standins rigged instead of >> the full raw geo, and it made it quite easy to replace parts or textures >> later in the pipeline during or after animation. (Also caching was a piece >> of cake in this scenario, as we only needed to plot the segment nulls >> instead of thousands of meshes or pointcaching anything.) >> >> On the brain there was procedural pulsing animation driven by ICE >> deformers. Globules would "breathe", a heart-like organ would pump its >> ventricles intermittently and an intestine-like organ flowed with bulges >> travelling along its tract. It was gross and (in my opinion) kind of >> awesome. lol Speaking of ICE, there was a kind of lettuce behind the brain >> that was also moving a bit. The modeling was done with strips that were >> procedurally curled and then if I remember correctly the whole thing was >> driven via Syflex as the brain gently floated. This lettuce thing was >> handled by another guy on this mailing list, my coworker and friend >> Jonathan Laborde. Maybe if he's reading this he can give more details of >> how he used ICE in a few other shots. >> >> It was crazy fun project to work on. Fingers crossed that Pacific Rim 2 >> becomes a reality. :) Anyway, did you guys go see it? What'd you think? >> >> Oh and speaking of other movies, we did a ton of work in "Now You See >> Me" as well, including hundreds of stadium dudes with our propietary ICE >> static crowd system, falling/flying money, cg bubbles, an art-directed >> liquid, lockpicking, flying cards, many vehicles, the projected >> motiongraphics near the end and a few invisible fx. (I feel like I probably >> missed something, but anyway, we did a lot.) We were the main vfx vendor on >> that film, delivering just over 20 minutes worth of vfx "magic" (pun >> intended.) Again, Soft & Arnold and lots of effects in ICE all throughout. >> >> Cheers, >> >> -- Alan >> >> This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is >> confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please >> notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or >> disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. >> Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf >> of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this >> message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the >> personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the >> views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All >> agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African >> Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > -- Best regards, Ben Houston Voice: 613-762-4113 Skype: ben.exocortex Twitter: @exocortexcom http://Exocortex.com - Passionate CG Software Professionals.
