Extensive creature and environment work.You can see the breakdown here: https://vimeo.com/1010238488The post Watch Folks VFX breakdown for s4 of The Umbrella Academy appeared first on befores & afters.

Environments, destruction, twinning and more.Today on the befores & afters podcast were chatting to VFX supervisor John Heller about the Apple TV+ series, Dark Matter. This is a project for which there were more than 1500 visual effects shots created, led by studios including MPC, FOLKS, FuseFX, Digital Domain, Ghost VFX and Papaya VFX. In our chat, John talks about building the many different alternate versions of reality the worlds seen in the show. This includes that crazy moment when downtown Chicago seems to implode. We also talk about twinning Joel Edgertons character Jason, and building photoreal digi-doubles. This episode is sponsored by Autodesk University 2024, the design & make conference. AU 2024 is the cant-miss virtual learning event of the year. Not only will you have the chance to learn about current trends in media & entertainment, but you can broaden your horizons in all things 3D visualization across architecture, construction, product design, and manufacturing. So dont miss this cant-miss virtual event, and sign up for your free Digital Pass at autodesk.com/beforesandafters.Check out the podcast below, plus a selection of behind the scenes stills. Also see MPCs breakdown for the show.Click to view slideshow.The post Creating alternate versions of reality for Dark Matter appeared first on befores & afters.

Watch the demo here.Designed to showcase what can be done in Unity 6, Time Ghost is the latest in a series of tech demos from the game engine company.Some info from Unity:Leveraging DOTS ECS, weve crafted a vibrant environment with up to 12 million instances of vegetation, including trees and grasses. Using Houdini, we scattered these assets and exported them to Unity as point clouds, converting them into DOTS ECS entities. This approach allows us to handle vast amounts of vegetation, at maximum nearly 8.5 million active pieces but fewer than half a million entities passed to the graphics system. Through Impostor and LOD systems, we achieve high-performance rendering and real-time scene exploration.A custom machine learning (ML) model was developed to achieve high-quality deformations in real-time using Unity Sentis. Training the ML model with 2,000 frames of vertex animation reduced the data from 2.5GB to a 47MB model. This allows for stunning deformations in just 0.8 ms per frame, maintaining the visual fidelity of offline computations.The improved VFX collision system is now more stable, robust, and energy-conserving. It was used to enhance the behavior of debris falling onto the characters. The new collision events allowed for extra interactivity chunks of debris break apart upon contact, adding to the chaos and organic look.We have upgraded the Hair System, which enables high-density, real-time simulated hair. Since its initial use in Enemies, the system has become both more powerful and more performant in the context of Time Ghost. New features include seamless rendering LOD, automatic LOD generation, volumetric wind, and more all of which work together to drive high-fidelity simulation and rendering in larger settings.More info at Unitys site: https://unity.com/demos/time-ghostThe post Time Ghost is latest Unity Originals real-time cinematic demo appeared first on befores & afters.

In the dynamic world of virtual production, Dimension is continually striving to set new standards in efficiency and creativity.When launching DNEG 360 earlier this year with world-leading visual entertainment services company DNEG, a key decision was choosing the tools to power the new partnership. The team aimed to streamline its projects, departments, and locations, focusing on what truly matters: delivering world-class creative content for their clients.By choosing Projectal as their workflow platform, they were able to transform their operations and establishing a unified source of truth for all their resourcing data and financial reporting.Ramping Up with ProjectalWith the launch of DNEG 360, the team faced the complex task of integrating the teams and processes from both DNEG and Dimension to build a world-class, cohesive virtual production studio. Projectal played a pivotal role in this transition. With its robust set of features, Projectal allowed Dimension to quickly merge relevant business data from multiple sources, ensuring that everyone was aligned with the correct information and working towards common goals. The platforms intuitive interface, real-time visibility and powerful capabilities made it easy for the team to hit the ground running.With a team of 200 working across many time zones and two major physical studios, the right tools empower the team to align requirements for production, artists, applied tech, on set teams and beyond. Using Projectal, Dimension has oversight of talent allocation and can clearly manage projects and work to exceed client expectations.Projectal Becomes the Source of TruthOne of the key challenges in any creative business is maintaining a single source of truth for all data, allowing staff to understand the current state of play and make effective decisions day-to-day. Projectal excels in this area by centralizing information relevant to the management team. At Dimension, this centralization ensures that key stakeholders have access to the most up-to-date information, reducing the risk of miscommunication and errors. By dynamically pushing and pulling data to and from the various tools used by the team, Projectal streamlines workflows and enhances collaboration across departments.Another important aspect of running creative studios is understanding current and future staffing needs. Traditionally, studios have relied on resourcing spreadsheets, which are inefficient and prone to errors. Today, Projectals AI-powered staff planning features enable Dimension to efficiently plan and schedule their production team onto client projects. This includes integrating staff bookings, tasks, activities, and holidays for complete visibility, as well as catering to the many bespoke needs of an end to end film studio, from development and pre-production, through the challenges of managing physical production to ultimately scheduling final pixel delivery. Live reports and analytics provide management with a comprehensive understanding of staffing requirements.We are incredibly pleased with how Projectal has matched our vision for creating a modern, streamlined workflow at Dimension, said Zaira Brilhante, Head of Production at Dimension. This allows our team to focus more on the creative aspects of our projects. As we grow the Dimension business, we are continually expanding our use of Projectals many features. The team behind Projectal have been brilliant in their support and have a refreshing open door policy to new ideas.Often the key point of failure in business operations will center around communication. Projectal as a live source of truth feeding all the way through our pipeline from business development to resource management, department planning, human resources and financial reporting is a huge win in efficiency, said Jo Manawa, Head of Operations.Integrating Data from Two CompaniesThe integration of relevant data from both Dimension and DNEG was no small feat. Projectal acts as the central hub that brings together different systems and processes, creating a cohesive and efficient workflow. The platforms flexibility allows Dimension to customize data fields and permissions, ensuring that sensitive information is protected while still being accessible to those who need it. This seamless integration allows the team to quickly access all the information and reports they need, enabling them to stay focused on their creative work instead of getting bogged down by administrative tasks.Paul Schumann, CEO at JanusKS, developers of Projectal, said, Our collaboration with Dimension highlights how Projectal benefits creative studios. Projectals flexibility has met all of Dimensions requirements, creating a world-class workflow for their virtual production business. It matches our vision for Projectal to modernize and streamline the workflows of VFX studios, animation companies, game developers and other creative businesses worldwide.Driving Success & InnovationThe adoption of Projectal for Dimension has been a milestone in the teams work towards creating a world class virtual production studio with efficient resource management. By providing a unified source of truth, integrating data from two companies, and leveraging AI to handle mundane tasks, Projectal has enabled Dimension to ramp up quickly and efficiently. As Dimension and DNEG 360 continue to push the boundaries of virtual production, Projectal remains an indispensable tool in their arsenal.About Dimension and DNEG 360Dimension offers real-time production for visionary storytellers. Working on blockbuster films, live events and immersive moonshots, the team is a creative partner for end-to-end virtual productions and advanced virtual humans. Dimension has the largest and most experienced real-time team outside of games in the world, with studios in the UK and USA, and the ability to operate globally.Dimension operates DNEG 360, a division of world-leading visual entertainment services company DNEG. Together, they provide filmmakers and content creators with a range of services including Visualisation, Virtual Production, Content Creation, and Development. The team offers clients a production partnership and a seamless transition through development, pre-production and virtual production into visual effects and post for feature film and episodic projects, advertising, music videos, live events and more.Recent shows include Masters of the Air (January 2024), Avatar: The Last Airbender (January 2024), No Way Up (January 2024) Those About to Die (July 2024), Time Bandits (July 2024), Yo Gabba GabbaLand! and the forthcoming Here (November 2024).www.dimensionstudio.cowww.dneg.com/dneg-360About ProjectalProjectal is the leading project management and workflow platform for creative studios. Leveraging AI and machine learning, Projectal streamlines departments, locations, staff, and projects, eliminating the need for spreadsheets, off-the-shelf tools, and manual steps.Projectal enhances how studios bid, budget, plan, schedule, track, and report on projects, ensuring the entire team works from the same real-time data. This alignment helps deliver projects on time and within budget.Projectal is used by top creative businesses worldwide, including advertising agencies, animation companies, event and entertainment firms, game developers, sound studios, VFX studios, and virtual production teams. Projectal integrates seamlessly with tools like Shotgrid, ftrack, Kitsu, HR tools, and finance tools. Comprehensive developer APIs and documentation are available to connect and extend Projectal, fitting perfectly into any studios workflow.www.projectal.comBrought to you by Projectal:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post Dimension, DNEG 360 and Projectal: A Partnership Driving Efficiency and Creativity appeared first on befores & afters.

How Scanline VFX crafted a range of 1980s-inspired effects shots, many of them of the invisible variety, for the Eddie Murphy film.Mark Molloys Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, now streaming on Netflix, sees Eddie Murphy as the titular character return to Beverly Hills and take on a new set of adversaries.Given the films origins in the original 1980s and 1990s franchise, many aspects of the filmmaking preserved that buddy cop era look and feel, including even the visual effects. Long shots, zooms and a particular approach to stunt scenes all informed the VFX effort.Here, Scanline VFX visual effects supervisor Bryan Grill tells befores & afters about preserving this old school style, as well as taking advantage of new tools to produce many invisible effects shots.b&a: When I was watching the film, I really enjoyed the nostalgia factor. I mean, its a film made for 2024, but it regularly feels like it pays homage to the style of the original Beverly Hills Cop movies, of course.Bryan Grill: Well, the director, Mark Molloy, grew up knowing those movies. He lived in a rural town in Australia, but he got his stuff from VHS, like all of us. Plus, Jerry Bruckheimer was the producer of most of the Beverly Hills Cop films. Mark pitched to him and sold himself on this movie and it worked. I think it shows in the final product of how thoughtful he was of the story and the characters. I was pleasantly surprised with how it hit all the nostalgic notes.b&a: One thing I really liked was there were a lot of slow zooms or pullbacks like you might have had in 80s films, which you had to replicate in several visual effects shots. And some of the lensing felt very familiar. How did that impact you directly, perhaps aside from just making sure you were tracking the shots really accurately?Bryan Grill: Those types of movies back in the 80s and early 90sthe buddy cop moviesthey really used those super long anamorphic lenses, which gave you a sense of being right there in the middle of the action. Thats exactly how the director and the DP, Edu Grau, wanted to do this movie: if you were to shoot this in 2024, but imagine youre in 1984.They actually found some older anamorphic lenses, these C-series lenses. A few of the zooms could quite possibly have been used on any of those movies from the 80s and 90s. They were taking it that far to recreate that feel.Along with that, theres the way you actually shot movies back then. There were really no visual effects, and what you did was establish your wide, and then you got in tight with your actors. If there were stunts, the stunt was designed so that you could see the action but you couldnt tell if it was the actor or not. There were also very quick cuts. That was how Mark wanted to approach everything. Granted, he now had an arsenal of new toolsets for visual effects, but there was a very strong intent to try to get everything in camera.b&a: I remember seeing some behind the scenes of how the helicopter sequences were filmed, and that was kind of cool to see a partial chopper with the actors in it being driven down the street. Tell me a bit more about how the helicopter city shots were orchestrated.Bryan Grill: In the script, Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) used to fly helicopters, had a crash and now has a problem flying helicopters because of his confidence. When the script said the helicopter is at ground level scraping the streets, I thought, Wow, that presents a whole bunch of challenges when it comes to flying a helicopter on a city street that low. Also, Id never really seen that. I did a full deep dive into as many movies as I could from the 70s through now of helicopters that actually flew that low to the ground. If they did, it was in a field, for example. Michael Bay did do a movie called Ambulance where the helicopter went along the LA River. Sometimes you might see a helicopter go under a bridge, but I couldnt find any reference to a helicopter on a city street that low.The only thing I did see was the Air Force or the Navy having done some nighttime training where they actually came into LA and landed on a city street. Somebody had footage from their apartment watching these helicopters land, but they werent travelling.What we ended up doing was our special effects team built as close to a one-to-one buck of the real helicopter, but then were able to put it on a driving rig. One of the Dark Knight films did something a little similar with the Bat vehicle. They had taken the Bat, put it on a crane and flew through the city, but then they also had it on a gimbal driving down the street.It was a beautiful set-up because you can actually get the actors in there and youre at street level, which is part of the story. It also just really helped put the comedy inside that sequence because we didnt have to shoot it in a way that was forceful. It allowed the actors to act for long periods of time, and it wasnt a big visual effect.b&a: What things did you need to augment this setup with, say, rotor blades?Bryan Grill: What was great was we got reflection, but the type of glass that was used was different from the real helicopter, and we were getting a rainbow discoloration, so we had to take that out. We had to add the rotors, the pulsing and a little bit of that reflection. There were some areas of the buck that were a little wobbly which we had to stabilize. But for the most part, all that stuff in the buck, we just kind of embellished a little bit. And then we added some things in the background to give it a sense that it was blowing up particles and dust. We also added some cars that were closer than what we were able to get.b&a: Where did Scanline need it to go further with building a CG chopper?Bryan Grill: Well, Fred North, who is pretty much the King of helicopter flying, did a number of flying stunts in downtown LA. But what we learned was he would come in and do his practice runs and on the very first practice run, any garbage or anything that was in the street would get blown away the first run. When we finally got to shoot, none of that really cool interactive material was there anymore because it had been blown away by multiple practice runs. So thats what Scanline came in to add all that.Also, there were times where we had a camera in the chopper, so we would have to remove the camera and the cameraman. And then, of course, we had to turn Fred into Bobby and Eddies stunt guy into Eddie. Most of those were medium to wide, so it wasnt too difficult because we got all those close-ups out of the buck moving down the street. And then, when they were flying up high, we had another buck that was on a separate gimbal that we did bluescreen work on. That took a little bit more work because we recreated the windshield, we added in the rotos and then put in all the backgrounds to match the wide shots.I think thats really where Scanline shined. Ive been doing this for a long time in visual effects, and I couldnt tell you how proud I was that those visual effects shots blended so well into the movie that you couldnt tell that they were bluescreen.b&a: Thats something I was going to mention, too, Bryan, is that this feels like an invisible effects film. Sure, you had to come in and do some helicopter work, but a lot of that and a lot of other work is VFX that I dont think people wouldve had any idea involved visual effects work at all. One of them is when Axel gets pepper sprayed, for instance.Bryan Grill: Yeah, that actually is one of my favorite sequences because we had to spray Eddie with tear gas and, well, you dont spray Eddie. We had a version where it was just a stream of water, and we showed him and he started laughing and said, You aint shooting that at me. His make-up artist had a little Evian spray bottle. She had used it just to add some moisture to his face for sweat and what have you. I said, Oh, maybe if we dress that... Im like, Eddie, would this be good? Hes like, Yeah, thats fine. So we dressed it as the bottle and then they put a little bit of viscous Vaseline on his face just to make it feel wet.The approach worked great because the actress who was the meter maid had something to use. It wasnt like there was nothing coming out. Stuff did come out. Eddie was able to respond to that. He was able to do his thing.Then when it came to editing, we were able to use that in editing because something was coming out of the bottle. When we went into the post, the director wanted it to be a little bit more of a stream and have it affect him more. So we went in and did that. I really loved that we were able to add more drip and make his face more wet. It was really hard to do, but it works so well, even to the point where Jerry Bruckheimer said, Well, thats too much. So we actually had to bring it down a little bit.I was just so impressed with the work. This was actually one artist on his own using KeenTools in Nuke to do the head tracking. This artist was able to use those tools and then take elements from our library and do it in 2D.b&a: Another kind of invisible effect was stunt augmentation, like the meter maid vehicle going down the stairs.Bryan Grill: For that scene, we were lucky enough to shoot on Rodeo Drive and Two Rodeo Drive, which is that little mall with steps. However, they were very adamant that we could not do anything with those stairs. Even though that meter maid kart had rubber tires, they were like, No.So, we decided to build a buck of those stairs and just have our stunt guys ride down it. We painted them the color of the stairs so we got the proper light bounce. We were going to have to roto it anyway. Budget-wise, we couldnt build the whole set of stairs, so we just had a section.We went and shot a couple of versions, and they were able to use it in the editorial when we did our first cuts. Then we took that as a base and added more stairs and our CG meter maid kart. But theres no denying the benefit of the reference. Its always a place you can at least go back to and go, Look, if you want us to make it faster and bounce higher, thats completely different, but this is what it looks like for real.b&a: I think thats also applicable to the truck that crashes into the mansion at the end, because it starts as a real stunt, right?Bryan Grill: Yes, they set it up so the column broke and the chandelier smashed, but we needed to add a little bit more tension to those columns since they were breaking a little too easy. Also, when they broke, there was nothing coming off, like dust. So we just embellished on something that was worked out by a bunch of departments to create that visceral moment that you get in-camera and knowing that we could add those little things to help it become a little bit more believable.b&a: Was there any kind of shot or effect or sequence that surprised you, maybe one that was harder than you thought it would be, or one that was more effective than you thought it would be?Bryan Grill: I have to say it was the golf course where the helicopter crashes. We shot at a real golf course, and in the original footage, there was the pro shop and the country club right behind the hole where we were shooting. When we got into editing, the director was like, God, I hate that building. I want to feel like were further away because why would they steal the golf cart when they just could have run through the front of the building? So, the director wanted to create this space.That golf course was supposed to be based off of a golf course in Beverly Hills, just off of Santa Monica Boulevard, which is a private course and you cant film on it. We had to film at a golf course at Porter Ranch, many miles away in the Valley.To do the shot, we literally had to roto out our characters and create a golf course, and then put in a crowd, then put a city in the background, and then also Beverly Hills on the other side, which also meant there was a pond for a water hole right there. We had to replace the water because now all the reflections in that were wrong because we were adding a new background.I thought it came out really great, considering where it started. Also, the reasons why we did it made sense from the story standpoint. Thats why I feel like that was a good decision because its all about the story at the end. You dont want the audience to go, Ah, its right there! Why do they have to go do all this stuff just to steal the golf cart when they could have just walked over there? Its all about what we can do in VFX to help tell the story.When we showed that sequence to the crew, we did a private briefing early on and everybody was like, How did you do that? They were like, I was there! That was not the golf course! So when you hear that from your crew members, I think its kind of cool and it served its purpose.The post Going old-school with the VFX on Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F appeared first on befores & afters.

Versions 3.10 and 3.11 both bring significant updates to the KIRI Engine App.Constantly evolving, as stated in KIRI Engines social media bio, is quite an understatement for what the app has accomplished in the second week of September.Released in the same week, versions 3.10 and 3.11 both bring significant updates to the KIRI Engine App, focusing on quality-of-life changes as well as additional maneuverability to existing industry-leading features.So, what are these updates and how can they aid 3D creators workflows? Lets take a look.Version 3.10As mentioned earlier, the major quality-of-life updates are brought forth in version 3.10. While the changes may drastically reduce an experienced 3D scanning enthusiasts workload, these changes completely revolutionize the entry barrier for any 3D creator looking to delve into 3D scanning.Third-Party LoginKIRI Engine now allows users to create accounts directly with their Google account or Apple ID. (Note: existing users who have used email addresses linked to their Google account/Apple ID will not be able to re-register)Camera SwitchingUsers can now switch camera lenses when capturing 3D scans. This quality-of-life change can help scenarios such as being too far from the object or when in need of extreme details.Rating SystemThe new version allows users to provide direct feedback on their generated models, which helps KIRI to understand better what works and what doesnt. (Much appreciated :D)Increased Time Limit for Featureless Object Scan and 3DGSThe time limit for both of these scanning methods has been increased from 2 minutes to 3 minutes. This allows for more details to be captured, and more importantly, users are highly recommended to take advantage of this change to capture from more angles to ensure comprehensive coverage.8K TextureIn a rapidly progressing 3D industry, the demand for more detailed textures has respectively increased. The pre-existing 4K texture export, while sufficient, is shy of the highest quality. Therefore, with tweaks and optimizations in the algorithms, KIRI introduces 8K texture exports for those who demand more. (Available on KIRI Engine Pro)Texture SmoothingEver encountered the issue with the surface of the model having very sharp textures in one area but extremely blurry textures in another? This is often due to the input photo set having somewhat blurry images, or that certain features in the pictures are out of focus yet still serviceable. With this type of input, the algorithm will proceed to construct the model just fine, but possibly with blurry sections.Texture smoothing is an advanced algorithm that aims to standardize the texture consistency in the output files. Drastically reducing the chances of generating high-contrasting surface details, this method, when turned on upon initial upload, will output uniform texture in the final results. (Available on KIRI Engine Pro)Post-Cropping Texture RetopologyWhen you edit a 3D scan file by changing the surface and point structure of the model, the textures will consequently be scattered all over the place. The new update allows for textures to be rebaked onto the edited mesh and will export the model with UV-accurate textures. (Available on KIRI Engine Pro)Version 3.11 (iOS Update)Youre likely wondering why we would push two separate updates instead of cramming them into one major update. This is because KIRI Engine version 3.11 is groundbreaking, but only for LiDAR-equipped iOS devices.The Object Capture feature is now more capable and versatile than ever, as it features two different advanced capturing methods: Object Mode and Area Mode. Oh, and theyre both free to use.Object ModeWith advantages such as local processing and real-world scaling. Object Captures Object Mode has been a tried and true method for users to create accurate models of objects quickly and efficiently. This particular method has been available on KIRI Engine since the release of iOS 17.Object Mode allows users to obtain full meshes and is perfect for obtaining individual models. Capturing in this method requires coverage from all angles, specifically 360 degrees around the object.Area ModeWith version KIRI Engine 3.11 and updating to iOS 18, users can now capture entire areas into a 3D mesh. The LiDAR Object Capture is no longer limited to orbiting around a specific object. With the same inherent processing of photogrammetry in combination with LiDAR sensors, Area Mode allows the reconstruction of spatial structures into mesh-based geometries.The previous closest scanning method to Area Mode was Scene Scan, which only uses LiDAR data and no photogrammetry, requiring less input and resulting in a faster generation. However, the results are night and day compared to Object Capture Area Mode.Object Capture UploadObject Capture is essentially an API integrated directly from Apple, which means its limitations are largely predetermined. KIRI Engine possesses many advanced capabilities that remained completely separate from the LiDAR captures until version 3.11.In the new update, captures of both Object Mode and Area Mode can be uploaded to the KIRI Engine Cloud server for advanced processing. This allows for two things: cloud storage and Advanced Export.In the past, all LiDAR captures were processed and stored locally on the iOS device itself, and deleting the app also meant that the LiDAR-captured models would be erased. KIRI Engine 3.11 allows these models to be uploaded onto the shared server, enabling cloud storage and making the files accessible from all platforms. Once up on the cloud, these models will unlock advanced export features such as Quad-Mesh Retopology and PBR Texture generation. (Available on KIRI Engine Pro)TL;DRThis was the first time KIRI Engine has pushed for two updates in a single week, both serving their unique advantages to KIRIs users. These joint updates not only allow the app to be more beginner-friendly, but also elevate the ceiling for experienced users who demand more.If you own a LiDAR-equipped iOS device, go ahead and download KIRI Engine to test the new updated Object Capture scanning methods. If not, the quality-of-life changes will regardless make your experience starting on the app more effortless than ever.Check out these videos if you prefer to watch videos instead of reading. :pVersion 3.10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieoKm_49iLoVersion 3.11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyhDffq1_SATo find out more, visit us at https://www.kiriengine.app/Join other KIRI Engine users on our DiscordFollow KIRI Engine on InstagramFollow KIRI Engine on Twitter/XTry KIRI Engine now for free:Download KIRI Engine on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kiriengine.appDownload KIRI Engine on App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kiri-engine-3d-scanner-lidar/id1577127142KIRI Engine WEB Version: https://www.kiriengine.app/web-version/Brought to you by KIRI Innovations:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post KIRI Engine Pushes Two Major Updates in One Week appeared first on befores & afters.

B-roll and VFX aplenty.With Agatha All Along about to be released Marvel had released the full Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of WandaVision on YouTube. It is also streaming on Disney+.In it, theres plenty of on-set b-roll to check out, and visual effects breakdowns and interviews. You can see all of befores & afters previous in-depth coverage of WandaVision here.The post Marvel releases full Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of WandaVision on YouTube appeared first on befores & afters.

All about the new content marketplace.Fab is Epic Games a new content marketplace that is a successor to Unreal Engine Marketplace, Sketchfab, ArtStation Marketplace, and Quixel.com. It will launch in mid-October. The revenue share is 88/12. But right now, the Fab Publishing Portal is being opened in two phases.From Epic:We invite Unreal Engine Marketplace creators to migrate their products to Fab using the Fab Publishing Portal. In early October, well invite new publishers to sign up and begin uploading their content and well release a migration tool for the Sketchfab community to easily move their licensable content to Fab. ArtStation Marketplace will continue operating as it does today with the goal of enabling creators to move their products to Fab in 2025.Check out this blog post for more info.The post Epic Games Fab Publishing Portal is now open appeared first on befores & afters.

The AI filmmaking studio Flawless has released a beta of its AI-driven editing tool.We previously covered Flawless and its AI tool used to redub F-bombs and go from an R rating to PG-13 for the film, Fall.Now Flawless has released the beta of DeepEditor, AI-driven editing tool.Some notes on what DeepEditor does, from Flawless:DeepEditor allows filmmakers to update dialogue and refine performances to tell the best version of their story. Editors can now select the perfect performance from the original shoot without capturing countless takes from every angle. This marks a major leap in refinement and control, dramatically transforming whats achievable in post-production and enabling tight film budgets to stretch further than ever before.Most importantly, DeepEditor is industry-leading ethical AI. Supported by Flawless Artistic Rights Treasury (A.R.T.), which gives performers the ability to review and consent to every DeepEdit, DeepEditor upholds the ethical standard backed by SAG-AFTRA.Find out more about how to apply for the beta at https://www.flawlessai.com/deepeditor.The post Flawless has released its DeepEditor Beta appeared first on befores & afters.

Two featurettes from the studio include making of footage and breakdowns.The post Some fun behind the scenes from DreamWorks Animations The Wild Robot appeared first on befores & afters.

DOP Eric Adkins re-visits the groundbreaking film with befores & afters.Today on the befores & afters podcast, were celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Kerry Conrans film was years in the makingstarting out with a short demo he made on his home computer showcasing robot designs and walk cycles, before enlisting cinematographer Eric Adkins to help him produce a 6 minute demo with live-action bluescreen photography. It looked like a stylish black and white 1930s period piece that eventually became a full feature, starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Importantly, it took advantage of being shot mostly on the digital backlot essentially bluescreen sets with only a few props. To discuss the prep for that shoot, and how it all went down, we talk to DOP Eric Adkins (www.cineLuminous.com). He also shares with us a wealth of images and videos, which you can find below along with the podcast.Click to view slideshow.The post Sky Captain turns 20: looking back at filmmaking on the digital backlot appeared first on befores & afters.

Boris FX has announced that Silhouette 2024.5 is now available as a standalone application and plugin for Adobe After Effects/Premiere Pro, Autodesk Flame, Blackmagic Resolve/Fusion, and Foundry Nuke.Heres some of the new features:Mask ML Node: One-click matte generation powered by machine-learning object segmentationMotion Blur Node: Quickly add realistic motion blur driven by Optical Flow ML modelsRoto > Markup Tool: Streamline your roto QA with trackable strokes and connected annotationsUI Enhancements: Node highlighting, progress bars, responsive UI & slidersModule Upgrades: EXR v3.1 and OpenColorIO v2.2Tracking & Effects Updates: New versions of Mocha Pro and Particle IllusionPricing starts at $495/year or $100/month.More information at BorisFX.The post Boris FX releases Silhouette 2024.5 appeared first on befores & afters.

How Digital Domain used Foundrys Mari on realistic digital doubles and a complex transformation sequence for Marvel Televisions live-action show.One things for sure: Digital Domain is no stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Digital Domains artists worked on the climactic Statue of Liberty finale in X-Men, recreated parts of New York for Spider-Man: No Way Home, brought the supervillain Thanos to the screen for Avengers: Infinity War and much more.But even with that resum, texturing the CG elements of Marvel Televisions series, Echo, was a unique challenge because of the storys strong cultural and mythological roots. The show revolves around Maya Lopezthe first deaf, indigenous superhero to be portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, begins Digital Domain Texture Show Supervisor, Nick Cosmi. At Digital Domain, we knew we had to get the visuals right to properly portray a community thats rarely seen on screen.To learn more, we caught up with Cosmi on how Digital Domain used Mari to texture episode ones opening sequence, which brought an iconic story from Choctaw lore to life.The birth of ChafaDeveloped in close collaboration with Choctaw representatives, Echos opening sequence depicts the story of the first Choctaw ancestor, Chafa. The sequence sees Chafa and other Choctaw ancestors emerge from a pool of water in an underground cave. She then helps the ancestors escape from an earthquake that destroys the cave, before they all arrive in America and shed their clay skin to reveal human forms.Digital Domains involvement began very early in the process, helping with pre-production to define the look for the sequence, which was shot practically on a set built around a pool using actors with practical makeup. In order to visualize the full scale of the destruction and character effects involved, however, the team needed to replace the practical set and actors with a 3D environment and digital doubles.The first step towards doing this was working with Clear Angle Studios to create lidar scans, which were used as base references for rebuilding in 3D. Mari was then selected to match the texture reference from the lidar-scanned actors to the 3D digital doubles. Our studio has trusted Mari for years with our digital humans. Its our primary texture painting software, said Cosmi. Character work requires precision to match textures to real-life subjects. Mari provides us with tools that make this process easy.Creating textures with photo projectionTo create the textures, Digital Domains team used photo projection to ensure that the images from the scan were matched perfectly. This was crucial for shots like Chafa emerging from the pool, where both the plate and CG character needed to blend together seamlessly.The team began by wrapping their generic human mesh to Clear Angles scan geometry. They then made use of other assets provided by Clear Angleincluding camera layouts and accompanying high-res photos of the actors. In the modeling process, we checked key landmarks on the face and body, to ensure that the image plane in the cameras aligned with not only the scanned mesh but our wrapped mesh, explains Cosmi. We also used Nuke to collect all usable high-resolution photos, applied an STmap to undistort them, then did any further color correction needed.Once the undistorted and color-corrected images were ready, they were then imported into Mari, together with the camera layouts. Using Mari, artists could lock image ratios, then re-project high-quality textures onto the character models. For Echo, this high quality was important: Mari could transfer maps from the scanned geometry directly to the studio mesh, but Digital Domains artists found that the provided albedo map from the scans wasnt the ideal resolution for production. Using photo projection provided an easy resolution to this problem.Most of the industry tries to move toward procedural textures and materials, but photo projection is still the most essential workflow for us at Digital Domain when re-creating 1:1 textured assets, especially for characters, explains Cosmi. I jump back and forth between Nuke and Mari, identifying which images are absolutely necessary to cover the whole asset. And, as long as I check my colors and values along the way, and stay organized by keeping the naming of the photos and cameras similar, its possible to create a diffuse pass covering the whole body within a day.The benefits of using MariAs well as enabling artists to create 1:1 textures quickly, Mari also provided several other benefits to the Digital Domain team, like making it easier to fix problem areas when cleaning up scans. Character scans always have flaws in the nooks and crannies of a human body in areas such as the eyelids, nostrils, and under the chin, says Cosmi. We spend more time fixing the inside of a humans lips than we do on most other parts of the body!Maris Paint Through tool helped to correct these problem areas. For Echo, the team used it to fill voids on the digital double with similar-looking details from the photos. They also used the Towbrush to further blend work to create a flawless texture, helping to refine the transitions from prosthetic to actor skin.Another Mari feature that was essential to Cosmis work was Source Grade. This helped the artists to texture characters in situations where photos didnt always provide the exact color needed from top to bottom, and in different lighting scenarios. With Source Grade, Im able to slightly dial, color nudge and grade images to what I need right in the paint buffer while Im projecting, Cosmi explains. Ive saved countless work hours by not having to color correct images to perfection in an external software, just by having this on-the-fly option to make those subtle adjustments while I paint. It even allows me to take any image and instantly turn it into a black and white version for Luminance painting into Masks.Maris Node Graph, which the Digital Domain team has now completely transitioned to, also helped artists by unlocking painting options that werent possible with a layer stack, like sharing a common setup or template across all assets. Its like creating a perfect recipe, you can keep using it over and over again, Cosmi adds. Weve also built a number of materials that rely on photographic elements and are more in line with physically based rendering values. This has helped us as a department paint with expected results that we know we can turn over to lookdev with more confidence than ever before.Giving power to the artistsBy the time Echos opening sequence was complete, Digital Domains texture artists had created four character assets: a male and a female digital double, each with a super-accurate human and clay version of its mesh. While plenty of Mari tools helped, Cosmi says the success of the project wasnt due to any specific one. Instead, it was about Maris overall ability to provide artists with a user-friendly way to apply traditional art techniques to their work.This was especially useful when the team faced one of their biggest challenges on Echos opening sequence, which involved creating custom versions of a tattoo around Chafas wrist and hand. There were several shots where Chafa had her wrist in a rotated pose with her palms facing the ceiling. Because of this, the texture the team originally created became quite distorted. Thanks to Mari, the team was able to recreate the tattoo in a cleaner texture to ensure the details were preserved during matchmoved shots.Our first pass of textures matched to the original actors makeup as closely as possible, says Cosmi. In later versions, we then added several Isolation Masks to match the layout of the concept art. This was a very artistic process rather than a technical process. It came down to hand painting and accuracy, and theres a number of ways to approach this from simple paint brushes, to using alphas and Paint Through, to dialing in the placement of masks with the Slerp tool and Grid Warp.Whatever approach you choose, he concludes, the important thing is that creativity isnt hampered. Our artists are encouraged to observe photos, match details, and include the uniqueness and composition that life provides us. And as a traditional painter and illustrator, I love to hand paint as much as possible when working on assets. Procedural approaches often seem too random and reliant on luck. Thankfully, Mari still offers the tried and true painting approach and toolset that allows artists like myself to bring textures to life, while keeping the workflow efficient.Brought to you by Foundry:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post Texturing the Choctaw creation story for Marvel TVs Echo appeared first on befores & afters.

The VFX studio has posted a short making of for the scene.The post See how Wt FX built the Salt Lake City baseball park environment from The Last of Us appeared first on befores & afters.

News from Cascadeur maker Nekki.Nekki has officially launched its latest version of Cascadeur 2024.2, an AI-powered animation software aimed at enhancing the animation workflow.Key updates include:Auto-Physics Character Interaction (alpha): Early access to physics-based character interactions.Separation Motion Physics Tool: Refined control over character physics.Pendulum-Like Swing Animations Support: For more realistic swinging movements.Blendshapes: Improved facial animation capabilities.Unbaking for Non-Humanoid Characters: Allows editing of pre-existing animations for non-humanoid characters.Performance Enhancements: Optimizations for long animation projects.Improvements to AutoPosing, the Property Editor, and Linked Scenes to streamline animation processes further.Special Offer: $100 Off Cascadeur Pro. Use the code SEPTEMBER at checkout to get $100 off the first year of Cascadeur Pro or $25 off the first year of Cascadeur Indie. This offer is valid until September 23.More information here.The post AI powered animation software Cascadeur 2024.2 now out appeared first on befores & afters.

The 3D sculpting tool, on the tablet.ZBrush for iPad brings the desktop features of ZBrush to a mobile platform, allowing users to sculpt and paint digitally on the go using Apples touch interface. The app includes over 200 sculpting brushes and many tools from the desktop version, such as ZRemesher, Sculptris Pro, DynaMesh, Array Mesh, Dynamics, Live Boolean, and PolyPaint. It supports high polygon counts, up to 92 million on devices like the M4 iPad with 1TB storage.The app also offers a customizable interface, supports Apple Pencil gestures, and allows for seamless file sharing between the iPad and desktop using ZTool and ZProject files via GoZ. ZBrush for iPad is available as part of ZBrush or Maxon One subscriptions, with a stand-alone option and a free plan that includes limited tools and brushes. It requires iPadOS 17 or later and runs on iPads with an A12 Bionic chip or newer.More info here.The post Maxon has released ZBrush for iPad appeared first on befores & afters.

Ray Tracing FTW has A LOT of fun VFX in-jokes, too.Chaos has released Ray Tracing FTW, a short film that showcases their Project Arena virtual production toolset.One of the driving forces behind the film was Christopher Nichols, director of special projects at the Chaos Innovation Lab and VFX supervisor/producer of Ray Tracing FTW. We previously spoke to Chris about Project Arena. Be sure to check out his acting chops, and several other special VFX guests, in the film below.Heres some brief notes about the film from a Chaos press release:Watching Ray Tracing FTW, youd be hard-pressed to pinpoint Project Arenas role on the short. Instead, it worked as intended, bringing over 2 trillion polygons to the screen for three days straight, without any of the expensive crashes that people have come to expect when using game engines in virtual production. Having a consistent, always-on system helped the team forget the tech and even pull off 30 set-up shots during a standard 10-hour shoot day.Feeding the screen was a massive V-Ray environment of an Old West town, designed by Erick Schiele and built by The Scope with the help of KitBash3D and TurboSquid assets. The production continued to use this environment on everything from all-CG establishing shots and tunnel sequences to the background for a physical train car set, which was able to portray nuanced details by using full ray tracing.Having detailed CG models blend seamlessly with physical sets meant Director of Photography Richard Crudo (Justified, American Pie) could get nearly every shot in-camera, barring a Bottleship VFX-driven train crash or two. It also meant that when sudden needs came up like finding a 3D Hacienda for the final shot the crew could just buy one online and get it on-screen in under 15 minutes.Watch the film below, and the making of video as well.The post Chaos makes short film about their virtual production tool, ProjectArena appeared first on befores & afters.

Final video and making of now released show process to create the promo.The new music video for Linkin Parks The Emptiness Machine showcases the band in particle form. Many techniques were used to help make the video, including scanning the band members, markerless mocap with Wonder Studio, and particle sims. The vendors look to be cntrl.studio, Bleed VFX and Wonder Studio.Check out the final video and the making of below.The post Go behind the scenes of The Emptiness Machine from Linkin Park appeared first on befores & afters.

Car chases, explosions and even adding water onto actors.Today on the befores & afters podcast, were chatting to visual effects supervisor Mark Russell about the Doug Liman film, The Instigators. The heist movie is currently streaming on AppleTV+. This is one of those films full of seamless and invisible visual effects work by studios including Twin Pines, Assembly, Phosphene, Zero VFX, The Mill, Kiddan LA, with previs by The Brigade. We talk about shooting car scenes, including having the actors on bluescreen, crafting digital cars and acquiring array plates. Theres a fun anecdote from Mark about one scene that involved an accidental crash in the photography, which was kept in one of the car scenes. We also talk about the several explosions in the film, and then what might surprise some people was shot on stage versus shooting exteriors. One of the coolest VFX stories Mark shares is about the evacuation scene for a building that involved water sprinklerswellthere were no water sprinklers set off for the shots, so that was all done by the VFX team, including rotoscoping a ton of actors to make them wet. This episode is sponsored by Autodesk University 2024, the Design & Make conference of the year, bringing together innovators in animation, VFX, games, and more to discuss the future of media & entertainment. The digital experience is free, but do you want to know why you should attend AU in person? Yes, you may cross paths with familiar droids from iconic Disney movies in the Expo. You may even unlock the secrets to building a billion-view franchise from SPIRIT Animation Studios. But the real reasonis to rub elbows with other Media & Entertainment leaders sitting beside you. San Diego from October 15 to 17. Register now at autodesk.com/beforesandafters.Listen in, below, and check out a slideshow of images that showcase the planning that went into one of the car chases, including previs by The Brigade.Click to view slideshow.The post Behind the invisible effects of The Instigators appeared first on befores & afters.

Go behind the scenes with Rodeo FX visual effects supervisor Martin Pelletier on some of his studios work for season 2 of House of the Dragon, including creatures and environments.SilverwingThe plate was shot on a soundstage with a rather big footprint for the ground. Ulf was able to walk and capture the size of what would become a massive cave. The highly detailed set also gave us a starting point for textures, lighting mood and it already had a good sense of scale.In this shot, we can appreciate Silverwings head fairly close up with a complex skin texture and shader, the eye looking at Ulf, softly reacting to the backlighting. One challenge was to make sure we could always sense and witness her enormous size in every shot. Here, we can read a touch of her silhouette in the depth, screen left, using some very subtle light bounces and soft atmospheric layers.The TwinsThe Twins environment is based on a real location in the UK. Drone plate photography was captured to give us an overview of the look and scale. The bridge exists but we had to alter the middle part of it for the on the ground coverage needed. We also built the 2 towers on both ends of the bridge.The real bridge sits at the top of a dam so we add to turn the lake into a wide river with mild directional current.The whole environment was built with a full CG approach to account for multiple lighting scenarios. Trees and vegetation is based on real location but modified to look more dense and lush with any modernity features. CG river is simulated with a mild directional current and some nice break ups to help the scale and realism. We used the drone footage as ref to replicate a similar natural overcast lighting with a subtle amount of mist in depth.Red KeepThis render shows all the intricate details modelled to create this highly complex city environment that is Kings Landing. The Red Keep in FG had to be updated from season 1 to be featured in multiple hero shots and much more close up to camera. The midground courtyard was built to match all the backlot sets where the street level shots have been captured. We needed to make sure the geography was really precise in order to help the audience to orient themselves and preserve continuity. Every piece of this environment was sculpted based on real life reference to maintain scale and realism.This shot was a pleasure to light and comp. The overall mood of the show is fairly soft and overcast for the most part. We have tried many light directions before landing on this one to make sure we shape the Red Keep as the hero piece and main focus while the BG had to stay within a softer diffused sunlight to match the surrounding shots. The intention was to keep the lighting to be as natural as possible without overpowering the sun or adding too many atmospheric layers. We found a good balance to sell the scale while having a good amount of haze over the city.The WallHeres a classic VFX plate shot against a blue screen using a laser pointer to guide the eye lines for both actors. You can appreciate the very natural and soft lighting on set successfully replicating an overcast and snowy day. The blue screen here is quite useful to create a cold bounce on the FG structure and actors. Once slightly desaturated, this blue spill is effectively recreating a similar bounce created in a natural environment.The goal of this shot was to create an immersive shot perched on an overlook platform at the top of a 300+ foot high icewall featured previously in Game of Thrones. The shots leading to this one are showing a fairly windy and snowy cold day. Our environment, which is the hostile north side of the wall, had to look huge and wild with a massive open plane, tree clusters and a distant mountain range swallowed in the blizzard. The depth and haze had to be dialed in just right to sell the height and distance from the camera. We added some blowing snow and wind over the trees to really feel the cold and harsh environment. To help sell the coldness, we created a cg cold breath system driven by dialogue and affected by a custom wind to match the plate.The post House of the Dragon s2: befores and afters with Rodeo FX appeared first on befores & afters.

Director Vania Heymann has shared some fun behind the scenes clips and pics.The A$AP Rocky Tailor Swif music video, directed by Vania Heymann & Gal Muggia, is a hyper-real journey. And it features a whole bunch of fun practical and digital effects.Watch the clip below, and then follow along with some even more fun behind the scenes from Heymann at his Instagram page. Make sure you scroll through the different images and clips. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Vania Heymann (@vaniaheymann)Credits:Directed by Vania Heymann & Gal MuggiaProduced by IconoclastExecutive Producer: Natan SchottenfelsCinematography by Denys LushchykVFX by Vania HeymannColor and Titles by Tal BaltuchAdditional VFX by Tal BaltuchProduction Designer: Misha LevchenkoWardrobe: Galina SokolovskaMakeup and hair: Mart ElleA$AP Rocky styling by Matthew HensonDirector Rep: Lark CreativeProduction Service by Shelter filmsCEO: Albert ZurashviliExecutive Producers: Gena Shevchenko, Marina KarmolitLine Producer: Daria ZakharovaProduction Assistant: Sasha PuzProduction Manager: Max Matveev1AD: Masha Khalpak2AD: Maksim FoschaProps: Yulia Dubitskaya, Ksenia Panova, Eva UkhinaStyling Assistant: Alexander Alexeichenko, Oksan LyahFX MUA: Julia MelnikSFX Style: Sergey ZubenkoSFX: Vadim LysakCasting Director: Karin Melnychenko, Yulia ShattskovaCasting Assistant: Sergey Pulinets, Anastasia Rozishkurt, Khrystyna SolomkoExtras Coordinator: Sandra ChernobrovinaGaffer: Rostislav VasilievSparks: Reukov Nikolai, Chekan Oleksii, Shust Denis, Lisovskiy Mihail1AC: Ruslan VitkovskiyFocus Puller: Ilya VartivanovPlayback: Sasha SofinAdmins: Aleksandr Pogrebnyak, Yan Staleskiy, Rybiantsev Kyrylo, Ivan ShemelinLocation Manager: Sergey BilakLocation Manager: Kateryna ZadorozStunt Coordinator: Konstantin ChuzhitskiCar Stunt Coordinator: Kirill KalandyretsAnimal Trainers: Marina Nemchenko, Artem Podlin, Maria VaschenkoChaperone: Viktoriia TalailoArtist team AWGE:Kamil Abbas, A$AP Lou, Hidji, Markus Hwang, Gabe Marquez , Lindsey OhArtist Security: Matt Bills, Ryan WheelerThe post Theres some very fun practical effects gags and VFX in the A$AP Rocky Tailor Swif music video appeared first on befores & afters.

Alexey Kuchinski, head of compositing from Trixter, breaks down the compositing process at the studio for a shot from s1 of Loki. Its a fascinating insight into what the studio receives from client (plates/notes) and what iterations are done, and what is finally delivered. We really never get to see great insight like this. The post A rare look behind the scenes of how a Marvel VFX shot goes through comp to final appeared first on befores & afters.

Behind the techniques used to craft the dragon riding scenes in season two of House of the Dragon. An excerpt from befores & afters in print.The many dramatic dragon riding scenes in season two of HBOs House of the Dragon brought audiences incredibly close and upfront with the riders atop their beasts. That required developing a clear methodology for bringing those riding scenes to life.Several VFX and virtual production-related techniques were therefore overseen by visual effects supervisor Dai Einarsson and visual effects producer Tom Hortonall the way from previs, to shooting actors on a motion base, using a robotic motion control camera, incorporating interactive lighting from LED lighting panels, completing live composites, and even some old-school wind machines and wires during the shoot.Planning the dragon ridesThe overall idea was to use previs and take it to a fairly high animation level, Einarsson tells befores & afters, in relation to the preparation required to orchestrate the dragon riding scenes. We actually had finaling animation artists on the previs, because the point of the previs was to get final cameras and final animation in the saddle area in order to be able to techvis that and transpose the camera and the saddle movement onto a motion control Bolt X camera and a multi-axis gimbal buck.The majority of the dragon riding scenes were previsualized by Pixomondo, which was also responsible for several virtual production services on set, as well as being one of the vendors completing final VFX and animation of the CG dragon sequences. Pixomondo also managed the virtual production on a handful of dragon riding scenes that The Third Floor completed previsualization on.The process started with creative previs. We were not worrying at all about the technical side of it, notes Einarsson. We had quite a specific constraint methodology about what kind of camera work we wanted to use on the dragons. The creative brief was that we wanted to ground the camera work in realism, that is, avoiding magical cameras. We had two basic shooting styles. One of them we called the dragon mounted camera, as if there was a camera operator sitting somewhere on the dragon, say, either on the neck or behind the saddle. We also kept this a little bit loose on the saddle, like it was a handheld shot.The other shooting style was dragon to dragon, as if our camera would be mounted on another dragon, continues Einarsson. We imagined, if this was all real, then the camera work would feel like aerial photography that we are just used to seeing, which grounds our fantasy in a little bit of reality.Pixomondos approach to the previs was to give each dragon a unique visual identity in animation, such as distinct wing cadences and heightened performance. We then applied the detailed animation data to the on-set buck rig, discusses Pixomondo virtual production supervisor James Thompson, enabling actors to closely mimic the dragons flight movements, synchronized with a motion-controlled camera for more immersive shots.Einarsson looked to bring the previs animation about 80% of the way to final. Obviously youre missing facial and overlap of the wings and the head. But we didnt worry too much about that. We just wanted to get it so that the weight was definitely there with the gross movement of the body. Once youve got it in there, you can always do a little bit of tweaking. You can loosen the camera up a bit and add the final process. For instance, when we took it all the way to final comp, then wed be sometimes widening the camera a little bit and adding more camera shake and stuff that we didnt want to bake into the motion control.Pixomondo then re-worked the previs into techvis, which involved creating a 3D virtual scene that replicated the on-set hardware. The idea here was to select the 3D camera and constrain it to our motion control camera, outlines Einarsson. You can select the saddle or the saddle constraint of the flying dragon and constrain it in 3D space to the buck. That basically reverse-engineers the movement. It takes out the global movement and puts it into a single space.Once approved, the techvis data was transferred to the motion control hardware and buck rig for testing. During this phase, relates Thompson, shots were tested with stunts and camera crews, and the rushes were sent to the production team for approval. We worked closely with the director of photography and gaffers during pre-lighting to fine-tune the lighting on the LED walls, using a custom Unreal Engine setup for instant feedback.Shooting the scenesThe riding buck on which an actor sat for filming was positioned on a four axis motion base. This was orchestrated by special effects supervisor Mike Dawson, with Ian Menzies from Mark Roberts Motion Control handling the control of the motion base. The buck was fitted with an art department-designed saddle.Weve got an amazing props department, set department and a whole saddle team that built all of these saddles, details Einarsson. For anything that we are going to shoot a principal cast member on, well have the full saddle built. Each one of those saddles is just an amazing design. We built all of the saddles that we needed for the buck work.Buck shoots for dragon scenes have of course been a part of the Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon universe for several years. But one of the new approaches included for this season was the addition of the Bolt X robotic motion control camera (supplied by Mark Roberts Motion Control). What it gave us was the ability to be able to previs the shot design and animate the shot exactly how we wanted it to look, states Einarsson. If we didnt have motion control cameras, then everything would just have been an estimation. You could eyeball it, but you need to have control over the buck, control over the camera and control over the world lighting. Those three elements allow you to deconstruct a dragon thats flying around in 3D space and shoot it precisely the way you want it framed.If we had a Technocrane or something like that, then youre always just eyeballing it, reinforces Einarsson. You can start slipping into designing the shot on the day or tweaking it or wanting to try a different version of it. The schedule can go out the window. Plus, it can mean you completely break the methodology of the dragon mounted camera or the dragon to dragon camera. It becomes like a crane around a flying thing. You lose the grounding of camera work that weve become attuned to expect from actual flying scenes like a World War II dogfight, where youve got cameras, cockpit cameras or youve got a plane next to it. Thats the film language that weve come to expect from flying scenes.A further consideration during the buck shoot was adding in atmospheric effects, such as wind, on the actors. We were trying to replicate them flying at 160 miles an hour, so there had to be quite of lot of wind from wind machines to blow around their capes, notes Einarsson. We actually had to use monofilaments because the capes would wrap under or get caught in the saddles. So we had these wires that held them out, and then wind machines and handheld windblowers to try and get them to swirl in the right way.Read the full story in issue #21 of the print magazine.The post Motion bases, mo-co cameras and monofilament wires appeared first on befores & afters.

Roof-top chases, spectacular car stunts, explosions and fights.The post Watch Cinesites VFX breakdown for The Union appeared first on befores & afters.

Shogun and Ripley took out the awards.The Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie award went to Shgun. Awarded to:Michael Cliett, Overall Visual Effects SupervisorMelody Mead, Production Associate Visual Effects ProducerJed Glassford, Onset Visual Effects SupervisorCameron Waldbauer, Special Effects CoordinatorPhilip Engstrm, Visual Effects Supervisor: ILPChelsea Mirus, Visual Effects Production Manager: ILPEd Bruce, Visual Effects Supervisor: SSVFXNicholas Murphy, Visual Effects Producer: SSVFXKyle Rottman, Visual Effects Supervisor: RefugeSee befores & afters coverage of Shgun here.The Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Single Episode award went to Ripley for III Sommerso. Awarded to:John Bowers, Visual Effects SupervisorJason Tsang, Visual Effects SupervisorJoseph Servodio, Visual Effects ProducerMaricel Pagulayan, Visual Effects ProducerChristopher White, Visual Effects SupervisorLibby Hazell, Visual Effects ProducerFrancois Sugny, Visual Effects Sequence SupervisorGaia Bussolati, Visual Effects SupervisorPepe Valencia, Visualization SupervisorSee befores & afters coverage here.The post Congratulations to the VFX Emmy award winners appeared first on befores & afters.

Mark Ruffs Avatar Factory is offering industry-proven 3D scanning assets to a keen buyer.One of the greats in photogrammetry is retiring.An opportunity arises for someone else.Mark Ruff from the Avatar Factory is offering a sale lock, stock and barrel!Mark and family have worked on many productions including Mortal Kombat, Elvis, Shantaram, FOE, Gods Favorite Idiot, The Spooky Files and several he cant mention. Plus theres various TVCs and fashion work, including for Vogue. Mark has received two ACS award for Technical Innovation and Advancement of Cinematography, including for the unique use of dielectric lighting.The list of equipment on offer is:Mobile scanning truck (air conditioned, insulated with stairs and comes with a super silent 33Kva generator),164 x 24 Mpx and 8 x 48 Mpx cameras,NAS 8 bay 32Tb raid 10,LTO USB3 for archive,36 x flashes,3 x work stations with Sonnet USB 3 cards and RTX 2080S GPUs,3 x UPSs for computers,3 x 3KW UPSs for cameras and hubs,Polarised lighting with OLAT with 6 x flash heads,Sync via 6x MultiMax Wizard radios and Hahnel triggering,TrackScan scanner for props (hand held blue light for extreme volumes),All cables and hubs.This system would suit investors who want to accommodate a photogrammetry system at a minimal cost compared to a new system.If you do not wish to use the truck, then the components can be configured for road cases and freight (15 x 1650 Pelican cases plus more road cases as part of the deal).The offer includes training.The offer is AUD$250,000 with all the IP included.Contact Mark at mark@avatarfactory.com.au.Brought to you by Avatar Factory:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post A whole bunch of professional photogrammetry equipment is up for sale appeared first on befores & afters.

Creator Mattson Tomlin, Rosario Dawson, Masashi Kud and the animators from Production I.G.The post Behind the scenes of Terminator Zero appeared first on befores & afters.

Los Angeles-based Lightcraft Technology recently released their Tracking Refinement with SynthEyes workflow and tutorial, working from a Sony FX3 take captured with Lightcrafts Jetset Cine virtual production app all the way into a sub-pixel tracked composite.The speed and ease of this workflow was immediately used by the YouTube production team Andyax in the Norwegian pilot production of Moonland, a childrens science fiction series set in space.Episodic OriginsLightcraft knew from their previous Emmy-award winning work on episodic productions like Once Upon a Time that getting high quality sub-pixel tracking quickly was the primary bottleneck in episodic VFX. This traditionally forced camera movement in greenscreen shots to be either locked-off or very conservative (avoiding visible ground contact), limiting the visual energy of the project.Jetset Cine already provided real time, on-set camera tracking, cine lens calibration, rapid 3D set scans, and live shot visualization.By building an automated data bridge between Jetset Cine and the SynthEyes post production tracking application, Andyax could use Jetsets fast on-set data capture systems to seed the post production tracking process in an entirely new way. This dramatically reduced tracking time for sub-pixel quality and thereby lowered production costs.Unleashing the CameraThe results were so fast and easy to work with that the Andyax YouTube production team used Jetset Cine to completely change the cinematography of Moonland, a childrens TV show set in space.The production originally planned to use locked-off cameras for the VFX shots outside and inside the spaceship, for all the reasons mentioned previously.By using Jetset Cine and the tracking refinement pipeline, they were able to change their cinematic approach to embrace fast, handheld camera moves with visible ground contact, which opened up the visual energy needed for a childrens show.How It WorksAs seen in the above video, the process consists of 3 phases:The import script constructs a shot with the Jetset on-set tracking data, rotomattes, and set scan already imported and aligned.2D trackers are detected and then projected onto the 3D mesh, creating survey data that locks SynthEyes solver to the original on-set tracking scale, orientation, and position.After the initial solve, we clean up bad trackers with a click, and refine the solve a couple of times. In less than 2 minutes, were already at a sub-pixel level of tracking accuracy!Whats NextIn addition to using Jetset Cine, the Andyax team used Blender for 3D modeling and rendering, and Resolve/Fusion for compositing the large sequence of shots. This use of a nodal compositing workflow inside Resolve enabled rapid re-use of compositing node groups between multiple shots.Lightcraft is expanding the sub-pixel workflow integration to include Unreal, Fusion, and other common DCC applications to make this kind of high-speed, high quality VFX shot processing workable by small teams no matter which tools they use.We want our users to think in terms of making shows, instead of shots, says Eliot Mack, founder & CEO of Lightcraft. All of our tools are made so that a small team can make something fantastic.Find out more at lightcraft.proBrought to you by Lightcraft Technology:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post Lightcraft Jetset Opens Creative Doors for Andyax with Sub-Pixel Tracking Refinement appeared first on befores & afters.

Plus, behind the scenes of their dragon riding VFX.Today on the befores & afters podcast, were chatting to Wt FX visual effects supervisor Wayne Stables about his studios work on season 2 of House of the Dragon. For this season, Wt FX completed some stunning creature work with dragons, and with fully digital environment builds. They also worked on a 5400 frame oner in episode seven that sees the dragon Vermithor go crazy inside Dragonmont Cave. This episode is sponsored by Autodesk University 2024, the Design & Make conference of the year, bringing together innovators in animation, VFX, games, and more to discuss the future of media & entertainment. The digital experience is free, but do you want to know why you should attend AU in person? Yes, you may cross paths with familiar droids from iconic Disney movies in the Expo. You may even unlock the secrets to building a billion-view franchise from SPIRIT Animation Studios. But the real reasonis to rub elbows with other Media & Entertainment leaders sitting beside you. San Diego from October 15 to 17. Register now at autodesk.com/beforesandafters.Listen in, below, and check out a slideshow of images from Wt FX.Click to view slideshow.The post How Wt FX made that 5400 frame Vermithor dragon oner in House of the Dragon appeared first on befores & afters.

See the reel from Wt FX.The post Watch this FX sims breakdown from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 appeared first on befores & afters.