Visual Effects & Compositing: Vfx

Showing posts with label Vfx. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Vfx got a new style

Freddie Wong is an aspiring American film-maker and electronic sports player.

Freddie competed in the World Series of Video Games in Dallas in July 2007. He won first prize in the Guitar Hero 2 competition, playing the song "Less Talk More Rock" by Freezepop

He maintains his own critically acclaimed youtube video channel, with now over 500,000 subscribers, and has successfully attracted mainstream attention with Andy Whitfield appearing in a Time Crisis tribute video.

In these shots, the fx are cool and the action is well designed. Gotta love his style and sense of humor too. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Vfx Breakdown of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" is a movie where big screen heroes leap through moving trains, freefall from the stratosphere, and unleash an ongoing stream of destruction and debris.
How can this happen? here we look.......

The VFX Studios on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Digital Domain:

Practical accelerator suits, constructed by Stan Winston Studio, were made available on set for reference and scanning. Digital Domain relied on 3D scanning company XYZ RGB, who used a combination of projected light and stereo reconstruction in a portable setup to create suit geometry.

CIS Hollywood & CIS Vancouver:

The Baroness, Storm Shadow and Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) attack the Pit in search of nanomite warheads. CIS created their subterranean approach using volumetric fluid dynamic simulations as they surprise a group of camels and a herder. “We called that the Tremors or Bugs Bunny gag as the characters hit the base with their mo-pods,” said Hoita. A small set was built for shots of the mo-pods piercing the Pit walls, which CIS augmented with a virtual environment. A massive fight ensues, with further digital environments, pulse weapons and a camouflague suit all part of the effects work.

Prime Focus VFX:

Prime Focus used its proprietary volumetric particle renderer, Krakatoa, to help create the nanomites and the plane’s disintegration. “Rather than rely on texture maps to make it look like something was eating away at the plane,” added Harvey, “we converted all our surfaces into full 3D geometry with volume so you would see metal being eaten away with internal structures and thickness.”

Monday, October 12, 2009

TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT

Gasket Studios partnered with Best Buy in-house advertising and editorial company Butcher Edit to help create a co-branded Best Buy and Samsung spot that lands buyers in the middle of HD television football action. For this immersive experience Gasket designed and executed visual effects and huge crowd populations in Chicago Bears Soldier Field where the Best Buy game unfolds.

“The ultimate goal was real game feel and authenticity, with the precision and detail you expect from HD,” says Gasket Studios Creative Director Greg Shultz. “Without a motion control camera and only a five hour shooting window with the talent, we knew that using a single, live action plate replication was not going to work for the stadium crowd. We had to develop a multiple effect strategy that could stand up to the most discerning eye.”

This meant extensive preproduction discussions with all parties involved do develop the best approach for the spot. Teaming with Director David Ramser and DP N. Thomas Sigel, our plan was to use a mixture of live action crowd plates on location, individual green screen fans shots and digital 3D animated crowds. With strategy in hand, the Gasket team then went to Soldier Field to supervise the visual effects. Over 65 plates were shot, with Gasket tracking the material multiple ways to ensure a seamless process in post.

Above, you can see the the visual effects breakdown for each shot. We have the starting plate that is just the live action footage of Devon Hester from the Chicago Bears in an empty stadium, followed by a hand rotoscoped alpha of Hester, then the Gasket crowd animations, which are then tracked into the scene. Finally the alpha is applied, final matching, color correction to the crowd, blur and other atmospheric effects are added in the final composite.

We shot crowd and sideline footage both at the live action shoot with our HD camera as well as a shoot back at Gasket Studios. These plates were used in the foreground where 3D characters might have looked less than real. The crowd animations were added behind the live action to fill out the background empty seats.

We were lucky enough to work with N. Thomas Sigel, the Director of Photography, who has vast experience with visual effects on some of our favorite movies, including the recent Superman and X-men blockbusters. So while some people were flocking to see the star of the spot Devon Hester, we were more interested in the fellow looking through the camera lens. However Devon did give us an autographed t-shirt. Go Bears!

Original shot is on the left above. Final shot is on the right above with a brand new jumbotron and a stadium filled with people all the way up through the box seats.

Asylum & T.A.G. Collaborate For Halo 3: ODST

With seamless integration of VFX and live-action footage, Asylum helped to launch Halo 3: ODST, the latest in the Halo series of video games, for the Xbox 360 via T.A.G. SF. Concieved by T.A.G., the dramatic live-action short shot by MJZ’s Rupert Sanders with VFX courtesy of Asylum portrays the story of Tarkov, an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper)

From inspiration as a young man Tarkov evolves through his training and harrowing battle experience with the band of elite soldiers against hostile enemies to become a seasoned and deadly warrior.

Expertly weaving sophisticated environment and character enhancements and atmospherics with feature film quality particle explosions, plasma weapons fire, CG drop-pods and futuristic Banshee War Planes, Asylum’s contributions to the piece were both explosive and intimate.

In concert with brilliant photography, these matchless effects gave rise to a piece that evokes an immediate sense of danger and adventure, coupled with the grave realities of duty and honor that define the Halo series.

About Asylum

Asylum is a premier visual effects and design company, handling high-profile features, commercials, music videos, and emerging media content for web and mobile platforms. Asylum created the visual effects for such films as the upcoming Terminator Salvation, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Pirates Of The Caribbean ll & lll, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (Academy Award and BAFTA nominated), Moulin Rouge, Minority Report, Phantom Of The Opera, Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, Tony Scott’s déjà vu, Man on Fire & Domino and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down.

Asylum has done spot work for brands such as Hershey’s, Nike, Sony Playstation, Coke, BMW, Gatorade and Visa. In addition, Asylum Design has created award winning title and graphic design work for such films as Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bedtime Stories, X-Men I & II, The Island, Bad Boys II and XXX.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Behind The Scenes Of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Big Lazy Robot: Exploit Yourself

Exploit Yourself is a special commercial inspired by Nike and created by the Barcelona based VFX studio, Big Lazy Robot. Directed by Carl Rinsch, Exploit Yourself speaks volumes about pushing your own limits ‘We see no competition or race but the one race within, one should try one’s best and never give up’.

Within the short film Big Lazy Robot wanted to showcase the ‘nerve and spark and freshness’ of Barcelona; coupled with the strength and power of a modern day sport. It had to be striking, new and spirited – and yet dramatically credible.

Big Lazy Robot created a state-of-the-art robot character set in a 3D city environment, undertaking some serious yet graceful moves, from the sports of Parkour and Freerunning.

Big Lazy Robot wanted to convey a feeling of freedom and force by showing their bionic character very much at home, taking life threatening jumps amongst the city skyscrapers of Barcelona. The action speed and gymnastics are just second nature to the robot, and Big Lazy Robot were able to blend state-of-the-art technology movement with the fresh elegance of the sport.

Big Lazy Robot is a visual effects studio based in the city of Barcelona. Their goal is simple: to give their best in every challenging project because they believe in every piece of work as if it was their own idea. The Big Lazy Robot team is made up of people who share the vision of a 3D world and believe that they have much to show!

Visual Effects & Compositing