The soon to be released tv show package is intensely energetic and packed with surreal 3D close-up environments. Check out the video and additional project details on a recent VFXTalk news article and the Monkeyhead website news page.

If you are interested in how Josh and his talented team of designers and animators created the ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§Pushing Boundaries’s show opener then here is your chance to find out. Visit our sister site VFXTalk and post your question or questions here.

Your questions will be collated and presented to Josh to gain his insight and thoughts.

The VFXTalk thread will be open for your questions until the end of Friday 6th of August and we will post the full interview article on CGNews and VFXTalk as soon as we can after hearing back from Josh!

About Monkeyhead
Monkeyhead was launched in Santa Monica, California, in 2006 by well known Los Angeles motion design artist and creative director Josh Sahley. Monkeyhead continues to evolve its style in delivering groundbreaking commercial spots, broadcast show packages, branded entertainment, movie/TV titles and visual effects sequences.
www.monkeyhead.tv

Philip work has appeared in over 30 childrens’s books, and he has co-authored three digital art tutorial books, including d’sartiste Digital Painting.

In the entertainment industry, he has worked with many clients, including : Mattel, Fisher Price, Disney, Universal Studios, Warner Bros, DC Comics, Nickelodeon, Ballistic Media, Toyota, Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, Harper Collins, 3D Total, Zoo Publishing, American Traditional, RJ Reynolds, and Knowledge Adventure.

He also teaches an annual online Concept Art class to students around the globe. Philip is a founding member of ‘The CGSociety’ and regularly contributes to the illustration and digital art communities, by judging illustration competitions, including : The Society of Illustrators, Painter, Expose’and CG Challenges hosted by The CGSociety.

Philip Straub & Ballistic Publishing take the fantasy graphic novel to the next level, with their latest release, “Utherworlds”. “Utherworlds” combines a fantasy novel with written and spoken languages, maps and stunning paintings in a large format, that showcases Philip Straub’s artwork like never before!

CGTantra recently interviewed Philip about his amazing career, take a look at the exclusive interview and view some of Phillip’s incredible work here.

VFXtalk moderator, Saeed Faridzadeh, was able to organize a video interview with some the VFX crew on the pilot episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles; a VFXtalk exclusive. VFX Supervisor Jim Lima was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his involvement with the new Series. Also in the video, Lead Compositor, Lane Jolly, gives away some the secrets that help the team achicve the realistic look of the iconic killing machine, in his talk about compositing, passes, and issues they had to work around. 3d artists Steve Graves, and Lee Carlton where are generous to sit down with us and talk about their involvement with the show.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles
From the creators of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines comes The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Set after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day the Connors find themselves being stalked by Skynet’s agents from the future. Realizing their nightmare isn’t over, they decide to stop running and focus on preventing the birth of Skynet. VFXTalk is pleased to bring you this exclusive interview with the Team at ZOIC Studios who helped to make the awesome graphics you find in the series a reality!

Official Website: http://www.fox.com/TERMINATOR/
Theatrical Trailer: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/terminator-the-sarah-conner-chronicles/2186696978

Zoic Studios – Visual Evolution in VFX
Zoic is a company of accomplished artists and producers who understand story, process, and relationships. Our team has a proven record of success. They are masters in their fields of 3D, Compositing, and Production Management. Their reputations, in turn, attract additional talent and encourage a strong work ethic.

Official Website: http://www.zoicstudios.com/

Jim Lima It was an initial meeting here with the executive producers David Netter, Josh Freedman the writer, and James Middleton, executive producer, who also came up with the idea of doing Terminator as a TV series.

There are certain iconic elements in our society that you can say that this is part of the modern mythology of our times and Terminator fits into that, it part of our language, it part of our slang, and it also part of, the kind of foundation of where science fiction films and books and television kind of extrapolate from, and so yes the first reaction was, you can’st blow this, you can not blow this.

The Nuke Blast

Steve Graves The Nuke Blast was a big sequence, and I can’st remember the guys name who did the initial blast, I think he used blast code in Maya to blow the building up, that was all done with that. As far as 2D, a lot of it was 2D stuff, alot of debris flying by, and you know what not, a lot of it was 2D.

Lane Jolly Amongst, especially the building explosion, when CG came in it was mainly at the point right when the action starts, you see the bomb go off in the background you see a shockwave come through the building, that when the actual building was projected onto a CG geometry, which then it was ripped apart, so as the CG guy made the ‘building exploding’ I animated a mask to reveal the CG. So I just used that as a cover to translate between the two.

The building was broken down really, like into two passes, the main pass that really helped was the depth pass which allowed me to put in smoke and dust and grade elements, indepth where I see fit, that would help to get the shot to look right, glass blowing up, elements

The skin ripping off shot was pretty fun, because we had to go from a guy to a terminator in like ten frames, and it nukable so it going to hit him really hard, so we got a nice fire at camera element that comes round behind him and we got a bunch of little fire elements to come out of his insides and like air pockets that pop open and burn up and we had Bob Shappen to do lots of different passes of a stand in skeleton which had the skin texture, like crackly texture all over it, skin pieces ripping off like fire elements coming off in CG we just integrated all those together with animated mattes and morphs to get it to look like its burning him from all around.

Yeah there was a lot of real fire elements integrated with CG fire and spots, mostly real fire elements were all over him, coming off all over him which I placed, little explosions coming off, which I scaled down to make them look like tiny little fires blowing off and those were all re-timed to give it some more whippiness and flames and massive gust with the explosion coming out of him.

The Terminator

The fundamental thing about the endoskeleton is that bipedal tank. It has to look like it made up from the same kind of skeletal structure as a human being it has to fit within the same kind of flesh wetsuit that you and I fit into, that all of us fit into, and that is the human skeletal structure with muscle mass and skin.

So when I looked at it in terms of upgrading the design I looked at several things, one is the first read I wanted is that when fans saw the show they would look at it and go ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§that a Terminator’s, and as the Terminator comes closer to frame you realize, wait a minute that a little bit different , so we were looking at the design from an engineering story, an engineering point of view and upgrading it so that it made sense to the design of the Terminator, folded that into when you look at it, it a Terminator and it didn’st change that much it just got upgraded.

Steve Graves What we’sll do is, Jim Leeman when he was on set in New Mexico, took out our little you know the little chrome ball deal, got us all of our HDRs for us, so once we had that, the Terminator is already textured so we’sre ready to start lighting so that when we’sll apply our HDR and what I’sll usually do is I will light with my main key, get the main key lit, and our fill pass we’sll use our HDRs for our fill pass, so we can give our comp artist a lot of control over it.

I’sll use an HDR for the reflection pass and I also use it for my fill pass so I can get some nice colours into the film. It mapped onto a sphere and we’sll put luminosity onto the sphere and crank up, if we’sre light we’sll use HDR exposure, we’sll crank up, we’sll mess with the whites and the blacks and get what we need out of it. It a hit or miss thing with the Terminator. Sometimes you can take ten minutes you can light him and he looks great and sometimes it might take four or five hours.

Lee Carton Realise, your beauty pass, your ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§all in one’s render out, is the least important of your passes. You know realizing that you need to do like a speculative pass, a reflection pass, a lighting pass, a matte pass, like you know, a red, green, blue, full iluminous pass; the compositor has that power. Because at the end of the day the full end power lies with the compositor, and how well they are put together. As a 3D artist your compositor ends up being your partner in the show, because you want to give him or her enough tools to do the job, because don’st ever expect that your beauty pass is going to end it, because no one does that.

Lane Jolly To create the shot where the Terminator is looking at the camera, like full, full face we had our normal passes, RGB which is flat colour, the diff pass which is our raw key light, the fill pass inclusion plus the raw colour, the reflection pass, then there is the speculative pass. What I did was put all the passes together, so RGB, diff, fill, reflection, spec. Diff gets put flat on, everything else is screened, graded. Once that all made you go back to the fill, and you can crush it, or turn it black and white. That gets piped into the reflection spec, that way the speculative value is dim, and they go through a dirty patch, it looks like it not really doing it but it looks like it when you comp it together.

It the same with the reflection, it gets knocked out like dirty areas, so it will be shining on the metal and those grungy parts won’st be as reflective, so it will break up the monotony and the perfectness of the CG rendering.

The Red Eye

Steve Graves In the pilot we used, in the pilot it was like 6 or 7 passes, now for the series we’sve got it down to 3 passes. So basically what it is, our render on a black terminator and eye interior, red eye interior ok it like a cylinder that goes in the back of the eye

The next pass will be the matte, which looks like a little schematic, and you know you see a little ring on the front of the terminators eye, that will be matte black and white pass and we render for that, and then we’sve got an interactive eye pass, so we’sd get the little interactive red around the eye sockets, so we’sve got it down pretty fast.

The Time Bubble

Jim Lima The Chrono sphere how it arrives is, you watch the arrival on the highway, it has a very specific arrival, you know where it starts off as a singularity, where it this one atom, this one point where it burning mass out and expanding in a very violent way till it reaches a point where it this kind of critical mass and it has a little kind of semi nuke reaction to it. There this one frame on the highway where we are kind of looking down at the traffic and you actually see a shockwave go through.

Lee Carton Thecolour of the bubble was very simple, it was more or less a sphere that we completed in a moto package, you know very simple, but we did extra work on it in Lightwave, our 3D animation package that we tend to prefer to render out of, we had a displacement map, you know with a fracton displacement where it kind of runs down the bubble itself to give it a bit of movement, stuff like that, and you know, multiple transparency maps, fracton noises and stuff that had, you know, animated fracton noises growing in size, moving back and forwards in a Z to give it somewhat of a more organic feel to the bubble as it growing.

The lighting, just because 3D and the amount of time that we had and the tools that we had to use it was much better to allow the compositors, um it was a lot quicker process for them to go ahead and add lighting to it, since it didn’st really need to be so much of a 3D feel to it, it can be achieved just by size and like you know, that creating depth to the lighting so that was handled by the 2D compositors.

Lane Jolly The Chrono sphere scene was an ordeal because you look at lightening and you see it, it like (click fingers) that, lightening is, and you wanted that feeling of thick lightening beams floating around the room. So we ended up having to go through and actually paint lightening, like in 2D animate lightening over time.

We went through like four or five different types of lighting, all 2D gags using Saphire plug ins to produce that lightening and lightening bolts and the integration came out nicely. The last thing was the metal room, with a lot of metal reflective things which produced nice little soft reflections of all the bolts everywhere. So I made it a little more violent looking.

Terminator Banging on Door

Lane Jolly The scene where we had the Terminator beating the door down was kind of a hassle because we had him hitting the green screen, but he was actually hitting the green screen so he making dimples and stuff and the shadows were being produced from the punches. So we had to take him out entirely and then replace him with the CG door which was hard because he was super focused and the door had to look like it was bending metal and reflecting him at the same time.

The hardest part of that gag was getting the reflections to play right because he was right in front of the door, so he needs to look like he (gestures), otherwise it going to be a dead give away if there was nothing reflecting. So they’sve got to move somewhat with them.

So what we ended up doing was making a mock up reflection of his hitting to be like a face on one side and made arms just hitting, just based on what he was doing and we used that as reflection just a simple gag but it worked. And we piped that into the 3D reflection map which ended up being the reflection for the door.

Invisible Shots

Lane Jolly The invisible shots in most of the glass exploding and cracks in the glass, were really simple shots but they are needed for story points, and they need to look good that why they’sre called invisible shots, but those were the ones that I was most worried about because there were a lot of them .

And the whole idea that there was one shot where the Terminator walks into the bank and breaks one of the glass, breaks the glass panel door, and it falls over, and we had shot an element where we had just a piece of glass breaking and we didn’st really get any sense of glass falling on him, he walks right through it. So we had to go in and take a bunch of different glass elements, and let them, re-time them and animate them correctly so they would look like they were bouncing off him, falling off his shoulders and stuff.

We had a lot of little stuff like that like taking squib hits, blowing them off people varying size and stuff and speed. Just to make them look right. A lot of shots were eratic, the camera was all over the place, which helped cos you were able to motion bowl a lot of things. But you also wanted to get a sense of the violence that was in it.

Programs Used:

Lane Jolly – Compositing Supervisor
Maya was used for the making of the fire for this whole sequence and a little bit of Lightwave was used as well for the fire. Combustion was used to composite it and After Effects was used to do all the re-timing for the fire.

Steve Graves – Visual Effects Artist
To do all of the uv mapping I used Mojo and then for texturing I used Projection Paint And then the final textures were applied in Lightwave.

So when we did use Maya we would take our model into Maya before we do the transfer and take it over. All the animations were done in Maya, queball it over to Lightwave.
The Neverending Process

You know you always think about what you can do differently on set, and that the thing about the film making process, is that, you know, you have a finite amount of time to plan, you have a finite amount of time to shoot, and then after you shoot you have a tremendous amount of time to study your work ?????? money back quarter yourself and everyone will tell you who is involved in this process that you always look at it and think you should have done this differently.

And so the reality is that I look at it as these were the decisions we made, and we went forward on these decisions with the limitations and the time we had, and they seemed like the right decisions to make so now in the spirit of that let do, not the best we can but the kick ass best we can with what we have. And it going to kill it.

And so from my point of view the process never really ends, what happens is that you abandon the project , and so what I mean by that is that I never really finished the pilot I had to abandon it because it had to air on tv.

And that all time we have today, I would like to thank everyone over at Zoic Studios for giving us their time to talk about Terminator ?Äì The Sarah Connor Chronicles. And be sure to catch it on Monday nights on Fox. From VFXTalk.com this is Saeed Faridzadeh.

Cafe Fx
CafeFX is an award-winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects production and supervision, CG character creation, and 3D animation. Founded in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner, CafeFX is located in a 36,000-square-foot studio on an eight-acre campus in the heart of Santa Barbara County. The company credits include Spider-Man?‚àö√´¬¨¬¢ 3, Ghost Rider, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Departed, Eragon, Sin city, King Kong, Memoirs Of A Geisha and The Aviator.
www.cafefx.com

Spiderman 3
Spiderman 3 is the third installation in the highly successful Spiderman series, and is a visual effects extravaganza! As Peter gets to grips with his new-found personal life with Mary Jane he meets a powerfull shape-shifting villan known as the ‘Sandman.’ At the same time a strange black substance bonds with his Spidersuit, giving it new powers and at the same time causing inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations and revenge.

Official Website: http://spiderman3.sonypictures.com/
Theatrical Trailer: http://www.ifilm.com/presents/spiderman3/

The Crane Scene
The scene opens as a steel beam, suspended from an out-of-control construction crane, spins toward a glass-encased skyscraper. From her photo shoot inside, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) reacts to the impending disaster and the audience sees her dawning horror in the reflection of the windows. She dives for cover as the beam slices through the space, shattering windows and shearing off support columns. The off-balance crane then swings in a wild arc and takes out the floor below, causing the floor that Gwen is on to collapse and tilt at a perilous angle. CafeFX integrated hundreds of animated CG elements with live action cinematography, models and miniatures, digital doubles and photographic backgrounds of New York in the hybrid production of this signature sequence, which is also seen from multiple angles and triple takes.

Backgrounds and feature effects
Among those were backgrounds for the climactic final battle between Spider-Man and Sandman and the addition of a matte painting of the city square for the key to the city sequence. CafeFX also used Massive software to populate the large crowd that has gathered for the ceremony. Other shots crafted by CafeFX included the rivets that burst from a subway water tank; burning butter and beaten eggs in a skillet; a foggy field; eye shield extensions for the villain Venom; and tears in Sandman eyes to enhance emotion.

In this interview we speak with Scott Gordon, visual effects supervisor at CafeFX, VFX producer Richard Ivan Mann, CG supervisor Akira Orikasa, lead FX TD Rif Dagher and Edwardo Mendez, Compositing Supervisor. The company production pipeline is configured with Autodesk Maya, cebas Thinking Particles, Sitrisati Fume FX, eyeon Digital Fusion, Autodesk Combustion, Massive, Autodesk Mental Ray, cebas finalRender Stage-2, 2d3 Boujou, Adobe After Effects and Apple Shake

The team at CafeFX must have been very excited to work on Spiderman 3, what was the mood/vibe like at the facility before you started?

Scott: We were very excited. We have a lot of genuine Spider-Man fans amongst our crew. The first two Spider-Man films were so well received within the visual effects community that an opportunity to contribute to the third, for many of us, was a dream come true. We always want to do exceptional work, even when the project is limited by time and/or budget, and here we would have an opportunity to truly show what we are capable of.

How many shots were required for completion of your work on the film, and how long did the entire project take?

Scott: There were 81 shots, with about half in the Crane Disaster sequence. We began R&D and asset construction in late July 2006, and completed work at the end of March 2007.

How large is your visual effects team and how is it divided? Do the vfx artists do the compositing work as well?

Scott: The number fluctuates, but CafeFX typically employs about a hundred artists and has the capacity for twice that amount. We usually have several projects going in-house simultaneously, which gives us tremendous flexibility with staffing. For Spider-Man 3 the team consisted of about 40 people total, although the average amount on the project at any given time was closer to 25. For Spider-Man 3 all of the compositing was done by the compositors under Ed Mendez supervision, but here at CafeFX it is not unheard of 3D artists to composite their own shots. We have several ‘generalists’ and we really value artists who can bring more than one skill to the table.

What was the ‘pre production to final stage’ planning process you used to come up with the vfx shots for the film? What sort of freedom are you given in creating the looks for the sequences you are in charge of?

Scott: For Spider-Man 3 we were given an animatic which had most of the shots previsualized in some form. That was a solid template to start with, and while some shots were added and others were omitted, for the most part the look and feel of it never changed. Regarding creative freedom, my experience on this show, as on most shows, is usually to have complete freedom, but at the end of the day we have to meet the goals of our clients, in this case visual effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk and director Sam Raimi. We always began by simulating ‘reality,’ and then took license where needed to make things more interesting or exciting, always keeping in mind the storytelling purpose of the shot. Our clients guided us along the way with their requests, like ‘make the debris fly right at camera’ or ‘minimize the smoke,’ and so on. It was always collaborative, and I think that we delivered shots that exceeded their expectations; when we didn’st, they told us why and we addressed it.

The Crane Sequence

Scott Gordon, visual effects supervisor for CafeFX, said ‘The crane disaster sequence challenged us on all levels. In order for the action to work, it had to play out against the ultimate choreography, integration and interaction of countless practical and CG elements.’

The Crane Sequence was awesome! Was it the biggest challenge in term of visual effects in the film? How did you get it done, was there a different treatment or new technique that you used?

Scott: The Crane Disaster was by far our most difficult sequence, and the hardest shots within that were the ones that utilized a 1/6-scale miniature of the crane tip ripping through the side of a glassless building with full-scale shots of the building exterior or interior set with actors reacting to having the floor fall out from under them. To that we added our CG elements: the surrounding buildings, breaking glass, building debris, falling furniture, office supplies, papers, dust and smoke. The miniature was particularly difficult to deal with because it needed to be shot at (high) scale speed and the motion-control rigs couldn’st reliably achieve those speeds.

The exterior shots had already been photographed at high speed with a slow-moving camera since frames could easily be dropped. In addition to the timing discrepancies there were physical differences between the (real) building exterior, the full-scale interior set and the 1/6-scale miniature that made combining them difficult. Our solution to these issues was to re-time and re-project everything onto a fresh scene which contained the desired camera move. Then it became a straightforward process to clean up the discrepancies and add all of our CG elements.

How many people worked on the shot of Gwen Stacy running from the crane, and what was most challenging aspect of this shot?

Scott: One artist built and texured the crane. Another animated and lit it for the scene. A third created the building environment, and fourth tracked the camera that they all used. A compositor and a roto/paint artist rounded out the crew for that specific shot. But there was also a big team supporting those artists: the supervisors (VFX, CG, Comp), a producer, coordinator, PA, VFX editor, render-wranglers, IT dept., etc.

In the crane sequence, were you asked to retime many plates and determine the timing of shots in post for more dramatic purposes, or was the director comfortable hitting those marks in camera?

Scott: For the most part those marks were hit in camera. In the miniature shots and in some of the shots at the end of our sequence where Gwen is falling, the cameras were overcranked to allow for some creative wiggle-room. A lot of time was spent on pre-viz though, which helped.

What tools and workflows were used to composite the actors into the scene, after the crane took the floor out and the entire office was hanging out of the building? were you forced to use a mixture of traditional techniques such as miniatures and sideways sets or was it all 3d and compositing?

ED: There were a series of shots for this part of the sequence, and they all used similar techniques. The interior sets with the actors were obviously full scale, but we also shot a 1/6 scale of the building being destroyed. We would take these plates, matchmove and in one case, project them onto each other. We would then add our CG buildings, glass, debris, desks, papers, and explosions, all on top of the plates. All of the actors were live action with the exception of a digital Gwen supplied by Sony on the shot where the crane cuts into the building vertically. The miniatures and actors being live-action meant we had a lot of bluescreen removal and rotoscoping to do. All this was done in Fusion. There we also a bunch of wire removals as well, which were painted out in Combustion

Gordon observed, ‘We are seeing a greater trend toward the use of visual effects to heighten a dramatic moment and to provide a greater range of editorial choices.’

We were fascinated by the explosions and debris and the ripped metal pieces when the crane tears through the building – Either the outdoor one, the indoor one and the shot where we see the ripped pieces from a low angle. Which is miniature work, cg, and live action? How was this done?

Scott: The actors were shot on a stage that was rigged to have the floor drop, and in the shots where you see them up close everything that was not shot on that stage is CG. The building exteriors are a combination of live-action (Spyder-Cam in New York) building exteriors and CG. The miniature had no glass since the building is so reflective and it would have been impossible to make those reflections realistic, so it appears in only a few shots where we see the crane tip physically ripping through columns or floors. Even in those shots, most of the destruction you see is CG.

For the Crane raking up the side of the building destruction shot : Did you create a procedural rig which “broke” the building structurally and window panes based on a voronoi pattern, based on the crane motion ? (much like the recent siggraph paper by Pixar, how they did the “road” break-up in the small town)…. or did you just cover “in-comp” the crane and building connection with layers of particle glass, debris, and dust ?

RIF: For the crane destruction sequence, the method was pretty simple, but required some mesh preparation. Pre-breaking cement beams and glass panels and then re-attaching them as one object per breaking mesh was the delicate part. Once we had some clever methods to randomize the tessellations and the volume pre-breaking, it was then easy to use variances of the same mesh for building walls, ground cement, debris and glass panels. Based on some shape collision detection rules, we then broke those pieces and spread the impact based on pressure transfer of the material through the “destruction path” for creating the desired dynamic.

When your team is faced with the challenge of creating their effects what are the typical work patterns you follow? Is the final result always as you originally envisioned it, or does the process often change and adapt as new ideas or challenges arise?

Scott: There are typical work patterns, but one of the great things about this business is that no two shots are alike. There always something new or something unexpected. Our basic methodology is fairly straightforward: We build assets and perform R&D early on. When plates are ready, our matchmovers create camera-tracks and also matchmove anything that will be needed for physical interaction, shadows or reflections.

Meanwhile, the paint and roto artists perform any necessary rig removals, cleanup or roto. Next we’sre animating characters and/or effects, lighting and rendering them (usually in layers to give more control to the compositors) and compositing. The cycle of animating-lighting-rendering-compositing gets repeated until we run out of time or ideas. But as mentioned earlier, every shot is different, so within the details of that main process we do whatever we need to in order to create the best results in the most efficient way possible. We are ALWAYS open to great ideas, and they can come from anywhere.

Did you have any shots you had to redo, fx wise cause the models\shaders were revised? How much were you relied on other departments than fx?

AKIRA: Fortunately, we didn’t have many redos because of models/shaders revision, although coming up with a satisfying look for breaking glass was a continuous trial and error. When the three elements of transparency, reflection and refraction were balanced properly, our glass started look like glass. We relied heavily on the modeling / texturing department for the CG crane. Texture maps and shading were continuously updated while we were lighting and rendering.

Sandman

How did you create the tears for sandman and what did it take to composite them into the scene? did you use 3d compositing or was it all 2d?

ED: These series of shots used a combination of 3D and 2D effects. Our goal was to make Sandman’s eyes appear to be tearing up by adding specular highlights. To achieve this, our team started with a 3D matchmove of Sandman’s head. From that track, we added a couple of spheres in 3D space to represent the eyes.

To replicate the look of real specular highlights, we added multiple hdr spheres with bright specular reflections. Then, with the help of an in-house script, we were able to get the speculars in the correct position on the eyes. This script basically created a locator on the surface and created another locator representing the reflection direction.

Using the second locator, you can see in 3D space where exactly the reflections are coming from. Once reflections were in place we kicked out a render pass of black spheres with reflections. That element was then taken into Fusion and some additional 2D tracking was added to lock it. Color correction was used to set the look to sit in the scene, and to match surrounding shots. Lastly the roto was applied to set the element correctly in the eye and to remove parts we didn’t need or want to see.

There were additional shots where we had to remove tears from Sandman’s face. These were done in 2D with multiple techniques: color correction of the tears, tracking in patches over other tears, and some traditional frame by frame painting. We also had a shot where we needed to replace Sandman’s head with the head from another shot. Both heads were in similar positions, but the body’s actions were different. We needed to track, grid warp and paint fix the head in place. All of these effects were added to get the correct timing and pace of tears welling up in Sandman’s eyes to sell his emotional transformation within the scene.

Perfect Eggs

I would also like to hear more about how you got the burning butter and eggs in the skillet – sometimes the effects you don’st see are the hardest and most difficult to pull off and this is one that i could have never guessed!

ED/TOM WILLIAMSON: Yeah, these shots were cool. In the original scans from Sony, there were eggs in the skillet, but they were not burning. To get the desired look we had Tom, our in house chef , DP, and fellow compositing supervisor burn some eggs for us. We found a matching skillet, and had some breakfast. We shot the burning eggs at approximately the same angles of the shots in the film. We then roto’d out the hands and the non-burning eggs in the pan. We replaced them with our burning eggs and color corrected to taste. To complete the meal, we added some CG smoke rendered out in fume.

How do you decide which technique to use on specific shots? Do you feel you could accomplish an easier, cleaner solution to any specific shot/fx yet didn’t change the technique due to time constraints?

Scott: Experience is the best guide, but it usually comes down to quality vs. cost. If we can shoot something, we usually do. It often easier to manipulate reality than to create something from nothing. Within the digital realm there are many techniques too, and deciding amongst them is again based on experience. At the lowest level, we try to let the artists use the tools and techniques they feel most comfortable with, but with bigger issues we have to take a more global approach. It a collaborative effort though, and the best solution usually rises to the surface.

Tools and Workflow

Did you use your own pipeline or the Sony imageworks pipeline? Can you elaborate a bit on your pipeline?

AKIRA: We used our own pipeline. It was a great experience to work with Imageworks for this show. They were very helpful and provided us models, images, references, anything that would help us to get the job done. There were times we provided them with textures or rendered elements. In that case, we did our best to follow Imageworks’s naming convention or file format so our assets could be adopted into their pipeline smoothly.

I’ve read that for Ghost Rider you accomplished better results by driving most of the shader work in houdini and wrote a plugin for houdini which exported that information to fluid fx in maya. Did you have any solutions like this in Spiderman 3?

RIF: That was Sony approach for their effects on Ghost Rider. CafeFX used a combination of tools including Maya, Thinking Particles and Fume FX. For my shots, I used Thinking Particles driven with Fume Fx operators, positioning particles on meshes and controlling the fuel\smoke\temperature amounts and variations with some clever switch groups to propagate the desired mixture to make the smoke rise at the proper moment. I did reuse the same methods for the work on Spider-Man 3 but we added some important new components in the pipeline, such as “on the fly” meshes influencing the fluid solution, which was a really important part of the dynamics of the smoke and debris in our Spider-Man 3 work.

How much time do you have for pre-production on a feature like this and how large is your RND team?

AKIRA: At CafeFX, a few key artists are usually assigned to figure out the techniques and methodologies that are going to be used for the show during our pre-production / R&D period. Pre-production / R&D usually happens between the day we have the job awarded until the day we get plates. For Spider-Man 3, we had about 6 weeks to R&D our techniques for fluid sim, rigid-body dynamics, and cloth sim for the papers.

Could you elaborate on your in-house tools and how they help to make your life easier?

AKIRA: A lot of our tools are designed to do specific things that make some task easier or to make the results better. The tools we use most often though, are the ones that allow us to translate data between software packages. For example, all of our broken glass, small debris and dust were animated using 3dsMax, even though our primary animation package is Maya. Our translation tools would not only convert the data but also check and prepare assets specifically for simulation.

CafeSync is a tool that we developed to interactively share movie files between any remote location in the world and CafeFX. We usually have phone conference calls with clients or remote artists with CafeSync. You can toggle through the movie in real time, draw marks on still images and so on. This tool allows us to communicate with clients and artists as if they are gathered around the same table.

You mention that Fusion is your main compositing application. Which parts or scenes did you use Fusion in and how was it used ?

ED: Fusion was our main compositing package on Spider-Man 3. We used Fusion to pull blue screens with the Primatte plugin, tracked plates, import 3D cameras, added backgrounds, and paint fixed plates and elements. We used it to integrate our CG and live action plates together. Fusion has an extensive set of color correction and layering tools that allow us to integrate all of the CG elements seamlessly.

To give you a better idea of how we pushed Fusion, CafeFX Compositor Robin Graham explains how he used Fusion on one of our larger shots (where the crane arm vertically slices up the building).

“Fusion was used as the main compositing program as well as a tool to augment animated textures for the CG cityscape. The ground of the city was actually an animated 8k texture. Unwanted items were cloned out and the traffic was keyframed inside Fusion to show moving taxis and driving buses. The main building also had an augmented, animating 8k texture that was warped in Fusion because the original baked out texture was sliding slowly over the surface of the model. Fusion’s grid-warp tool was used to warp each window over time to prevent slipping and position the windows precisely over certain polygons in the model.”

You also have access to Combustion, AE, and Shake. Did you use all or only some in this film?

ED: CafeFX has several tools at hand for the artists. In production you will find certain packages will give you an effect or look others can’t or would take too long. In general, we used Combustion for paint, AE was used for its vast plugins and grain match. Shake we used for its tracking and smooth move plate stabilization. Fusion was our main compositing package where we put the shots all together.

How do all of those packages fit into your pipeline? For instance, is Combustion used more as a paint package and Shake or Fusion used as the main compositor?

ED: Yeah you got it, Combustion is our main paint package, but some artists paint in Fusion. Shake and AE we mostly just used for their plug-ins, and Fusion is our main compositing package.

Which parts or scenes did you use After Effects in and how was it used ??

ED: We had a hard time matching film grain in Fusion. So, we used AE’s grain match to supply us with a grain sequence that we could use in Fusion. AE was used in the shots where Gwen was falling, as well as the wide shots where the crane arm takes out the second floor. AE was used for its retimer for motion blur, grain match feature, to create 2D explosions and shatter effects, as well as Trapcode Particular Plugin to create some smoke to add to our other practical and CG elements.

Is shake a large part of your pipeline? How are you planning to move on now that it has been discontinued by apple?

ED: Shake really isn’t in our pipeline as a compositing package. Shake is mostly used as a tool for stabilizing some of our plates. We do get a lot of Shake artists here though, and they tend to pick up Fusion quickly. We also use a set of Shake-like tools written for Fusion by Duiker Research. These tools help the transition a lot. As for Shake’s future, we are just sitting back and waiting for Apple’s next-gen application.

Did you have any shots you knew the result will look better in fluid fx yet due to time constrains you used particles instead?

RIF: Not really. CFD computations are embedded in the foundations of our effects pipeline and workflow so it was really easy and fast to use them in any shot that needed it. Of course, everything can be better with more time.

Did you use any 2d particles? If so for which shots and how were they used?

ED: We added 2D particles to fill in some holes on a couple shots where the second floor was taken out. We added some smoke and dust to the cracking floor. These were layered on top of the practical and CG smoke and destruction. They were created in AE Trapcode Particular Plugin.

How often do your clients visit your studio to see the shots in progress and are there any tools or procedures you use to make remote collaboration a smoother process?

Scott: During Spider-Man 3 there were no client visits to our studio, although we did visit Imageworks a couple of times. For remote collaboration we usually use CafeSync, a remote collaboration tool we developed in-house. Sony was accustomed to CineSync and so we used that.

How do you work with the graders on the picture in order to get the final comp to fit in seamlessly with the film?

ED: Sony was very specific about color. The studio either sent us color correction numbers to go with every plate or they sent us color corrected plates. In most cases we would match our CG elements to the plates and that would be sufficient. We did work with some custom LUTs and a color system developed by Duiker Research. These LUTs really helped us view the skies, and highlights in our monitor space. Typically values over 1 get clipped, which make it hard to see details in bright images. These LUTs allowed us to easily see these details to assure that we were delivering the best possible product.

What render engine did you use for final rendering of the shots that you worked on in the film? Was it mentalray, renderman or something else? Also, What the size of your renderfarm and what software do you use to manage your renders

AKIRA: We used a combination of different renderers for this show.

FinalRender Stage-1 for 3dsMax was used to render out Glass, dust, smoke, and debris. FinalRender Stage-2 for Maya was used to render out Papers, office debris and miscellaneous objects. MentalRay was used for the Crane and building, and some falling glass and debris.

We have over 1000 Intel-based nodes for our renderfarm. We use Deadline from Frantic Films to manage our renders.

General Questions

To Edwardo Mendez, as a compositor what’s more satisfying to do, the big flashy effects or making butter and eggs in a skillet so seamless that no one is the wiser?

ED: To be honest, I’m going to be greedy and say I like them both. The effects that you can integrate without the audience noticing are always a great thing. It is especially cool when critics write about how well your shot was filmed, and you know that it was completely artificial. On the other hand, having that killer huge effect shot and being able to make it work, have the director approve it, and audience love it is great. I love going to see a film and watching the reaction of people to your work, especially when it’s a good reaction. And typically it is those “big flashy effects” that get the biggest reactions.

How do you work with the guys on-set? Do you have on-set high-speed compositing artists or is all your post work done in house?

Scott: On-set we’sre providing the expertise to ensure that the plates being shot will do the job they’sre intended for, effects-wise. If any high-speed compositing is needed, it usually done with playback off disk, the camera video tap and a switcher. We do perform a lot of pre-viz though, before going on set, and that almost always helps to make sure things go smoothly.

When starting work on a really difficult shot, do you approach it as just another shot, or do you prefer to really understand the context and emotional state of it first?

Scott: Every shot has a purpose, and we always serve that purpose far better when we understand the context and emotional state of it.

Does it ever happen your live footage for a specific shot just doesn’t match the effect you’re trying to make? In this case, can you ask to shoot again?

Scott: That does happen, but it pretty rare. We go on set specifically to prevent those types of problems from occurring, but sometimes it unavoidable due to creative changes as the film goes through the editorial process. Re-shooting is extremely expensive though, and we have such huge capabilities. So we can often make whatever footage we have work either by re-timing, re-projecting or set extension.

Have you made any wish lists for shots the director asked to fix but you just couldn’t fit it in the schedule? If so, how many of these were done and how many weren’t?

Scott: There are always ‘CBB’ (Could-Be-Better), both from the client and internal. Our highest priorities were the client CBB, and for Spider-Man we addressed every one of them.

How often you were in contact with the director? At which stages you showed him shots for review?

Scott: Rarely! We were a subcontractor to Imageworks, and generally presented our work to Scott Stokdyk, who presented it to Sam Raimi.

Any tips or tricks for new and upcoming visual effects artists?

Scott: Hang in there. Be patient and methodical in your approach. Learn from the people around you, especially those with years of experience. Don’st be afraid to offer up your ideas, but always present whatever you were asked to do first.

RIF: Give it your best. Dedicate yourself to understanding what you are trying to achieve and understand the “insides” of the tools you are choosing. Too many talented artists get “choked” by the possibilities of the software, while the limitation should become the human brain only. Create your own personal standards, facing the deadlines given. After delivering, especially if completion was successful, go on and improve on your own time and come up with more accentuated and elaborated setups. Always attack the shots you have with the most pipeline-driven mentality. Try to build a setup that will not only allow your effects goal to be reached but will also make the next 100 shots achieve the same homogenic quality. At first it will take more time to determine rules to drive your particles versus animated keys and events. But in the long run, it will allow you to grow your workflow and capability to reach higher grounds.

What cool, mega feature films are in the pipeline next for CafeFX now?

MARY: The Kite Runner, The Mist, and John Adams are currently in production at CafeFX. And there are several other projects that we’sll be announcing in the next few months. Stay tuned!

A Big Thanks to everyone at CafeFx for the Awesome Interview!
VFXTalk.com

Josh has worked for a number of companies in his eight years in visual effects, including Banned From The Ranch, Tippett Studio, Square USA and Digital Domain has been involved in some of the hottest visual effects films from Final Fantasy and Matrix Revolutions to Elektra and Chronicles of Narnia. He was also nominated for a Emmy for his work on Steven Spielberg Sci-Fi mini-series, Taken. Josh is now working on The Kingdom, which stars Jamie Foxx and is due to release in April.

Joshua Saeta
Lead Compositing TD
Rhythm & Hues
Marina Del Rey, CA.

Josh VFX career started at a small house in Santa Monica called Banned From The Ranch Entertainment where he had the lucrative position of being an Office Production Assistant. Beyond learning the fine art of coffee making BFTR gave him the foundation he needed to break into FX. It was a small After Effects house where most of the work consisted of greenscreens, crowd duplication, and wire removals done in Commotion.

His first project was Soldier. From BFTR he went on the Digital Domain where he worked as a 3D tracker and set surveyor. He had the opportunity to set up tracking geometry on set, shoot stereoscopic photographs, bring it all back to DD and build tracking models; ultimately providing the animators with a solid track. Missing compositing, he went back to 2D where he went through a stream of different companies. He worked at Pixel Magic on Charlie Angels, went on to Square in Honolulu for Final Fantasy, bounced back to LA to work on a mini-series called Taken for DreamWorks where he received an Emmy nomination for outstanding VFX. After that he headed to Rainmaker in Vancouver, BC for Good Boy and then back down to Berkeley for Matrix Revolutions at Tippett Studio.

He finally settled down at Rhythm and Hues, and for the last three years has worked on such projects as Night at the Museum, Superman Returns, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Garfield, and Elektra. For more about Josh you can check out his IMDB listing here!

About Rhythm & Hues
At Rhythm & Hues we believe that the highest quality work is created in an environment where people enjoy working and where people are treated fairly, honestly and with respect. Recognizing the collaborative nature of our medium, our designers actively seek input and advice from others, but ultimately a single individual is responsible for the final design decisions.

http://www.rhythm.com

Night at the Museum
Night at the Museum was an incredibly fun project to work on. The sequences we did consisted mostly of the t-rex shots, Massive crowd duplications, and greenscreens with Owen and Ben. We also did a number of exterior matte painting shots where animals were to be strolling down the street in a snowy New York City, all shot on greenscreen. Technology wise we used much the same tools from Superman for Night. Being able to import camera motion virtually eliminated the need to track in 2D, and being able to pin elements to cards and add parallax all within one node made the compositing much easier yet more accurate using zdepth information.

Superman Returns
Superman Returns really stood out as a awesome project for Josh, particularly since some of the technology used was absolutely incredible. It really sheds some light on how advanced compositing has become and where the industry is going. For example, they were able to import geometry into a comp, work with vertices on a model to attach a card or element to, import 3D cameras, texture and projection map, etc all within the composite!

Tools and Technology
As far as software goes, Rhythm and Hues uses proprietary software all the way around so his main compositing tool is ICY. He has also used Digital Domains proprietary tracking software TRACK3 and in his personal life uses Shake, After FX and Fusion.

General Questions

Could you please start off by introducing yourselves and giving us a little background information pertaining to your current job/role, and your background in the industry?

Josh: Hi Everyone, My name is Josh Saeta and I am a Lead Compositing TD at Rhythm and Hues. Thanks for having me! The role I play actually depends on the stage a show is in, and also depends on what work is being done on that show. I am currently on The Golden Compass and up until now most of the work I’sve done has either been with assisting the 2D side of look development, doing my own shots for the trailer and Cannes film reel, or interviewing artists. My background in VFX starts a number of years ago on Mouse Hunt where I worked as the VFX storyboard PA. That experience fueled my interest in FX and led me to a small company called Banned From The Ranch Ent where I was a VFX PA and that led me into roto, paint, comp. etc.

What would you say is coolest thing about your job and what do you feel are the most important attributes in a Lead Compositor?

Josh: I like the complexity of the job. I feel that compositing is so balanced with artistic efforts as well as technical challenges that you really never get bored. Of course, the same could be said about most other departments. I would say the most important attribute in being a lead is knowing how to work with many different skill types and personalities all on the same playing field working towards the same goal.

How much would you weight education compared to skills and effort, if you should hire artists? Obviously there should be skills and effort involved, but would you hire someone without education?

Josh: Talent is talent regardless of where it comes from. You don’st need a degree to do fx, but you better be very well self taught. There are a ton of incredible artists out there that never finished school?‚àö√묨‚àÇ and there are a ton that did and are less than stellar. Totally depends. I for one don’st pick one over the other. More like.. how does your reel look, and how is your attitude and willingness to learn.

As a lead, how often do you get a chance to composite your own shots, as opposed to overseeing the work of others on the team?

Josh: I try and take at least 1 or 2 shots from each sequence I am leading. It very important for me to know exactly what is going on the shots and sequences so when problems start to arise I can trouble shoot quickly.

What were the biggest obstacles to overcome in obtaining your goals as a visual effects artist? Was it having to deal with tight deadlines, harsh critiques, lack of job security in the industry? Which of these were the most difficult for you and how did you overcome them?

Josh: Deadlines are always a large obstacle. There is really never enough time to get a show or shot exactly how you would want it. RnH doesn’st really have harsh critiques, everyone is pretty nice about things, even at 1 am. Job security will always be an issue but it the nature of movies in general. If you want something consistent and steady I probably wouldn’st recommend any division of film.

What do you see as the most important thing when creating the amazing VFX that R&H do?

Josh: Communication if by far the key to great FX. When you want to create incredible work nothing is more critical than having constant communication. Whether it from Animation, Technical animation, Paint, roto, or lighting to comp, everyone has to be on the same page all the time. This is very hard to do.. but it really is the most important when it comes to making it all look good. If I was to pick one attribute that goes into making fx, regardless of department I would say it the very generic having a good eye. Regardless of it being modeling, animation, texturing, light, comp, roto?Ķ whatever. You really have to understand and be able to picture in your head exactly what you or the supervisor want and know the technical route to achieving it.

Current Projects: Night at the Museum

Approximately how many shots did you complete for Night at the Museum, and which sequences were you responsible for?

Josh: The team I was on did almost all of the Trex shots, as well as a number of greenscreen shots with Ben and Owen and in addition some matte painting shots of the mammoth and other animals running through the snow. I think total for the show we did around 300 shots all together on Night.

How many artists were involved in an average shot and what was the average time spent on a composite?

Josh: The average shot can change hands with many artists. From plate preparation to final comp you can have 10 people or more working on it.. often at the same time. As far as a time frame per shot it totally depends. I’sve had shots that look A/B that wound up taking 5 months, and I have had heavy shots with lots of CG, 3D compositing, enormous matte paintings, that flew through. There really is no average. I once had a shot with more version numbers than frame numbers, to date I still can’st understand why.

R&H is pretty good at creating and compositing digital animals but how was it to composite miniature 3d characters with real characters, is there any particular challenge you have faced in Night at Museum?

Josh: Luckily for us, all of the 3D characters were Massive. So we didn’st have any full scale life like elements that we had to create. Not to take anything away from what the Massive people did, but it did make completing the shots much easier. As far as a particular challenge it really wasn’st any different than any other show. Just trying to make it all sit seamlessly together.

What was by the far the biggest challenge in term of visual effects in the film, and how did you overcome them? Was there a different treatment? A new technique? Which sequence was the hardest to work on, and why?

Josh: On Night there weren’st really any overwhelming problems or challenges to tackle. Well, at least nothing out of the normal issues that arise time after time. On the comp side I would say that the way most of the greenscreens were lit in comparison with how the set was lit created the biggest issue on the 2D side of things. There was a lot of relighting in the comp to make things sit in the scene better than they would have. Another somewhat constant problem in making it work were reflections on the ground from the Trex. Getting the reflections to sit right and displace correctly onto reflective floor on occasion created a bit of a challenge.

Were there any unexpected hurdles that you encountered, and did you find any interesting 2D solutions to get around them?

Josh: Around the middle of the show the client decided that the floor of the museum was to scratched and dirty from the shoot. There was certainly no time to make a CG floor to replace in every shot, so was picked frames from each shot, painted them, then brought them into the 3D environment in our comp package and placed the still over the BG. This is where bringing in camera motion made it all very easy. Import the camera, place the still on a card, and done. Well?Ķ basically that how it worked.

How much creative input do you usually get on a project like this? Does the director usually have a very clear idea of what they want, or are you able to make suggestions for the shots?

Josh: This is a great question. And actually very hard to answer. Depends on the show. On Night there wasn’st much creative work to be tackled in 2D. Obviously in the Look Development stage a ton of creativity goes on with modeling and texturing and the sort. But comp wise we don’st have much input at that stage on that type of project. The VFX sup will certainly offer up suggestions but in the end the director and studio has the final say in what they want. In more FX heavy films you tend to get more freedom in creativity.

Pipeline & Workflow Related

How was the workflow between roto-artists, compositors, 3d artists and lighters managed by the lead? How was the pipeline for compositors assigned to manage these shots?

Josh: At RnH we work on an asset system. Far too involved to get into here, but basically elements are published out to other artists and in turn the artist receiving them subscribes to them. This moves in all directions through the pipeline, but on the comp side we will subscribe to lighting elements from light, camera motion from Animation or Tracking, as well as geometry either from Anim or Modeling. So as the lead I would make sure everyone is using the latest file sets, or motion paths, or geometry, or what not. I also stress major communication with the compers to lighters and matte painting and the sort. I really can’st stress the communication thing.

how does the interaction between other departments with you occur? As in, if you need the animation layer, or even the lighting or fur etc.

Josh: Basically I would call the lighter or Tracker or whomever and request something be published out to me. Once I am subscribed, whenever there is a new version of that element I get an e-mail or a phone call and in turn know to re subscribe to the latest version of an element.

When you encounter problems with a particular shot, and create a recipe for it, how do you file it? So it may be used by everyone in the pipeline? Also, is this information shared between studios who work a very large projects?

Josh: When a solution is made for an issue, or if someone comes up with a time saving idea or whatnot, it will typically be put into the template script each artist starts with. It can also be imported from an import menu, and if it really cool we’sll hold a tech op, where whatever has been created will be displayed for the entire department in our screening room. Aside from specific circumstance, there is no way we would share anything technical with any other studio. They’sre on their own. And I am sure they feel the same exact way.

Do you use a primarily openEXR pipeline or DPX? How does this change form job to job?

Josh: RnH uses it own floating point file format called an RLL. Rll are deep so we can have an enormous amount of channels built into that one single file in. We do use open EXR as well though but from what I recall it usually for z depth information. But by far our most used file type is an RLL.

Do you ever use 2D Relighting tools for those times when you need small tweaks that 3D don’t have time for? If so, how do you find them?

Josh: We don’st have lights on our comp package yet, but we do have endless access to layers and matte spit out by lighting. So depends on what needs to be done either the compositor will make a small change using what is available for the lighter will do it in their comp.

Tools, Tools and Tools!

What software do you think is the best for film compositing, especially when working at high resolutions and bit depths?

Josh: That a good question. Best software is shake and shake is dead. Nonetheless I would choose shake over anything else. I personally look forward to what Apple is developing for comp software. Till then, I will use shake. Nuke is becoming very popular as well though, and I do foresee it taking over the roll of Shake even more as time goes on.

What high end compositing tools did you use in the creation of your work for Night at the museum?

Josh: We use our own proprietary software. Software changes so often, and from memory I can’st think of how many packages I have gone through. After FX, Commotion, Illusion, Shake, Fusion, Chalice, etc. With a studio the size of ours it best to have an ever evolving proprietary package that changes with the times with the developers on hand. It also very helpful for when we get a show with a specific look we can have nodes built right into the software for that specific show. You can’st really do that in an off the shelf package unless you have programmers dedicated to it.

Were after effects or digital fusion used anywhere in the pipeline on any of the films? If so, can you let us know how they were used?

Josh: We only use AE for lens flares, that about it. We have a few licenses, but that it.

Do you feel that having a grasp on programming or scripting has improved the way you work?

Josh: To some extent yes, but I am most certainly not a programmer whatsoever. I find having a great relationship with the programmers surpasses anything I can try and do.

Do you often create tools for other artists to use while in production?

Josh: Yes. If something is working well we will distribute a type of macro for the artists to use. But I personally try and show my artists how to build the effect out of the tool box on there own. Why rely on a lightwrap or edgeblend when you can show people how to make it themselves.

Do you get enough flexibility with the programmers when you need something adjusted in your software or your plugins?

Josh: For sure. Since our software is ever changing we have plenty of opportunity to work with the programmers when we need changes or updates, or bugs fixed, or whatever. You don’st always get whatcha want?‚àö√묨‚àÇ but you can at least go and throw it out there.

Can you explain bit more about the awesome technology which enables you to export camera motion? Does it work with your commercial tools as well or is it limited to your in house software?

Josh: Since all of the software in the studio is proprietary it mainly all works with itself. I am sure if you needed camera motion out of Maya or Houdini you could write a script that could convert it but there really is no reason to since any camera motion we export into the comp package is already streamlined. I believe you can do something very similar with Maya and Shake though. It great for 3D compositing.

Closing

What keeps you motivated and inspired as a digital artist? What can students and junior artists do in your opinion to better train their eyes to ‘see’ ?

Josh: Learn to see. Really see. Learn to understand colors, shadow density, motion, light. Everything. The world around you is easily the greatest educator. The way the sun strikes an object, or how a table lamp illuminates the fur of an animal, or how water caustics work?Ķ whatever it is.. take note. Someday you will have to recreate it. Constant learning is what really keeps me motivated. There is so much to know, on so many levels that it never gets boring. That is most certainly my favorite part.

What skills would you say are the most important for a compositor who is looking to make his work stand out as realistic and seamless? What’s the single most important basic skill?

Josh: Good question. And no simple answer. There really is no basic skill that makes it all look real. From tracking, roto, paint, animation, technical anim, lighting, to comp.. it really takes a huge team to make it all look real and believable. If textures are off.. and they don’st light well, then the comp can suck no matter what. And at the same time if everything is spot on with animation, and wind blowing through hair matches the wind on the plate, and the lights are perfect.. if the comp is off then it all taken away. It really is a massive team effort. But in the end, in my obviously biased opinion, if the lighting is right, and the comp is right, you can sell it well. If the image looks like it truly sits in the scene a lot can be forgiven.

Do you have any reference material or books that you would say are very important to have?

Josh: Compwise, The Art and Science of Digital Compositing by Ron Brinkmann. Read it and memorize it. Available on amazon.

I heard that ILM frequently uses their 3D lighters to do compositing work, correct me if I’m wrong, whats your thoughts on that?

Josh: I’sm not sure of that. I really have no idea. It wouldn’st surprise me at all though. Lighting and Comp are getting closer and closer these days. I love it personally. But there is a lot to know, so if they do, it probably their most senior people.

What it like to be a lead compositor? Can you give us any advice on how to become a great compositor like you?

Josh: Very kind comment. Time, patience, and lots of learning and understanding. Taking criticism well (not always easy!) , constant asking of questions, and experience. It takes a lot of time to grasp everything that going on?Ķ not just with comp, but with everything around it.

What in store next at R&H? Is there anything really cool in the pipeline and can you share some information on this with us?

Josh: We currently have The Golden Compass, Alvin and The Chipmunks, as well as the Hulk. So certainly some fun and cool movies coming down the pipe.

Do you see compositing continuing to grow as a crucial part of the digital content creation pipeline or do you think animation will replace compositing in the future?

Josh: No matter what is animated it will always have to comped into some type of image. Everyone wants to animate, but it really doesn’st work that way in the end. It like.. ok, now that things are animated, who going to put them into the scene?

Do you think that it is really beneficial to have a good background knowledge in lighting for 3D if you are pursuing a career as a 2D compositor.

Josh: Depends on the kind of compositing your doing. If your limited to greenscreens, crowd duplication, roto, wire removals, then I would say not so much. If you’sre integrating cg characters into live action places then certainly yes.

what would be your best advice for someone who is interviewing with a professional company for the first time? (how can you give yourself a better chance of landing that job?)

Josh: Depends on who is interviewing you. Depends on education or self taught abilities. But for me personally, and I only speak personally since I among many that interview artists at so many companies and in many mediums.. but to me it based on there reel, enthusiasm and the skills were looking for on a particular job. Be enthusiastic and excited, but not over the top. And if someone asks you something and you don’st know, say you don’st know and ask what it is. Don’st try and bs those interviewing you. As well, let it take it time. Work at smaller companies and learn in that environment. You will gain more right off that bat than jumping into a large company if you have no or little experience.

How IS life in the big city???

Josh: Very funny. I know who wrote this. Lemme tell ya?Ķ life is great in the big city, much warmer than where you are buddy

Finally, Red Bull, coffee, or something else?

Josh: Haha. I am neurotic by default so I certainly don’st need Red Bull. I work out every day at lunch to let the stress out and clear my mind?‚àö√묨‚àÇ well?‚àö√묨‚àÇ that or a valium

We would like to also add that Josh has been promoted to the Sequence Supervisor on Rhythm & Hues latest production, The Golden Compas! This film is going to be awesome, to view the trailer head over to the official Golden Compas website here!

Thanks for the great interview Josh!
The VFXTalk Team