So last I left you I had said I decided to not apply for jobs in LA in order to stay in Vancouver long enough to shoot a short for someone. After speaking to my producer friend, Phil, he told me to just apply for jobs in LA and if I get a job in LA then we can work something out with the producer of the short (Gabriel). Most likely I'd fly back on the days we do auditions and shoot. This sounds like a great idea to me. Especially since I will be running out of money quite soon if I don't find a way to get more income.
So without a job, I give myself two more months in Vancouver. I really want a job in LA. I might not find a job in a while though. Right now it's slow season when it comes to work. Companies will begin ramping up probably around April.
Also, Rhythm & Hues (one of the oldest and largest VFX houses) is going under. Not good. This week they already laid off around 200 people in LA and more will come by the end of the week. People in Vancouver are also going to be let go quite soon. So there's now a lot more people I'd be competing with for a job and also way less jobs to choose from. It's going to be a tough season.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
It's been a while
So I noticed that it has been a long time since I last updated this blog. Not sure if anyone is still interested in reading it but I figured I'd update this thing anyway. Although I won't be able to say how often I would be posting but seeing as how I am still in Canada, my adventure in Canadaland continues.
Last I left you, I was in school about to finish up my reel. Well, I finished school about a year ago. If you would like to check out the reel that I completed while at school you can go to my website and click on the VFX Reel tab. On my website there are other reels I have put together since then. I want to update the site so that it looks more appealing, but for now it will have to do.
Straight out of school I started working at Image Engine, the VFX studio that did most of the work on District 9. I worked there for 11 months. My title was Matchmove Artist. Matchmove basically means recreating the camera that was on set in the digital world so that CG elements appear to have been shot on set. I also had to track objects on the live action plate that needed to be replaced/augmented in 3D. If you would like to read a better description of what match move is you can read up on it here. While working at Image Engine I worked on four feature films.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Elysium (2013)
R.I.P.D. (2013)
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
It was really fun and super cool to be able to work on features. The first shot I ever worked on had Matt Damon in it - that is pretty sweet.
After working at Image Engine for almost a year, I now find myself unemployed. My contracted ended a week ago (Feb 1st). I have been using this past week to put together a new reel (on my website under FX Reel), and have been working on a short that I shot in October. The 2 minute short is more of a proof of concept for a much longer 20 minute short I want to shoot (possibly during the summer). I hope to have the short finished in the next couple months. A lot of VFX work is still needed and that takes a long time to get right.
The last couple of times I have applied for jobs I applied to both jobs in both LA and Vancouver. Where ever I got a job would determine where I moved. Image Engine extended my contract on all those occasions so I stayed in Vancouver. However, this time while looking for work I don't think I will apply to any studios in Los Angeles - and it bums me out. The reason is that I may have a small directing gig lined up within the next few months. I will be working on an independent feature produced by Triton Films. The feature is going to be broken up into 8 or so chapters, and I will direct one of these chapters. I have met with the producer/president of the company and it seems like a cool opportunity. Plus I would be able to play with someone else's money. The producer used to work with Neil Blomkamp back in the day, and has sold his last three films to Lionsgate. The gig is unpaid, but I own a part of the film, so if he sells it then I make money on the back end. I spoke with the producer and everything seems good to go. I just am waiting on a contract. So if that comes in then that will be my next project.
This means that I, sadly, can't leave Canada right now. I have to find another job in Vancouver while I work on this film. I feel like the film is an opportunity I can't turn down. It will be a valuable learning experience for me. Maybe it will lead to something bigger and better. I've been meaning to move back to LA for a while now, so we'll see what happens after this gig.
Well, I feel I have gone on long enough. Until next time.
Last I left you, I was in school about to finish up my reel. Well, I finished school about a year ago. If you would like to check out the reel that I completed while at school you can go to my website and click on the VFX Reel tab. On my website there are other reels I have put together since then. I want to update the site so that it looks more appealing, but for now it will have to do.
Straight out of school I started working at Image Engine, the VFX studio that did most of the work on District 9. I worked there for 11 months. My title was Matchmove Artist. Matchmove basically means recreating the camera that was on set in the digital world so that CG elements appear to have been shot on set. I also had to track objects on the live action plate that needed to be replaced/augmented in 3D. If you would like to read a better description of what match move is you can read up on it here. While working at Image Engine I worked on four feature films.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Elysium (2013)
R.I.P.D. (2013)
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
It was really fun and super cool to be able to work on features. The first shot I ever worked on had Matt Damon in it - that is pretty sweet.
After working at Image Engine for almost a year, I now find myself unemployed. My contracted ended a week ago (Feb 1st). I have been using this past week to put together a new reel (on my website under FX Reel), and have been working on a short that I shot in October. The 2 minute short is more of a proof of concept for a much longer 20 minute short I want to shoot (possibly during the summer). I hope to have the short finished in the next couple months. A lot of VFX work is still needed and that takes a long time to get right.
The last couple of times I have applied for jobs I applied to both jobs in both LA and Vancouver. Where ever I got a job would determine where I moved. Image Engine extended my contract on all those occasions so I stayed in Vancouver. However, this time while looking for work I don't think I will apply to any studios in Los Angeles - and it bums me out. The reason is that I may have a small directing gig lined up within the next few months. I will be working on an independent feature produced by Triton Films. The feature is going to be broken up into 8 or so chapters, and I will direct one of these chapters. I have met with the producer/president of the company and it seems like a cool opportunity. Plus I would be able to play with someone else's money. The producer used to work with Neil Blomkamp back in the day, and has sold his last three films to Lionsgate. The gig is unpaid, but I own a part of the film, so if he sells it then I make money on the back end. I spoke with the producer and everything seems good to go. I just am waiting on a contract. So if that comes in then that will be my next project.
This means that I, sadly, can't leave Canada right now. I have to find another job in Vancouver while I work on this film. I feel like the film is an opportunity I can't turn down. It will be a valuable learning experience for me. Maybe it will lead to something bigger and better. I've been meaning to move back to LA for a while now, so we'll see what happens after this gig.
Well, I feel I have gone on long enough. Until next time.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Spoilers
So I have been working on my final Demo Reel for the last two Terms, so about 4-5 months. One of the ways to show progress is to put together an animatic. An animatic is a way to visually see if what you are doing works in terms of timing and shots. Usually done by editing the storyboards together into one video. So if you are interested in finding out what my demo reel is about below is my first animatic.
So it is a little confusing what some of the camera moves are but that is the basic premise of my reel. The next thing to do is to evaluate the animatic and find out what's working and what isn't. The next phase in my reel was to create a slap comp. A slap comp is very roughly putting your digital work on top of the footage. This allows you to figure out how much time you have for any animation and figure out pacing. The next video is my end of Term 3 presentation which has the slap comp in it (plus my spider assignment ... I was too lazy to take it out). Also, in the upper right corner of the video there is my 3D animatic which I used as a basis for my slap comp.
So the demo reel actually changed quite a bit after the slap comp. I wasn't able to reshoot my final plates at the same location so the location is different in my final. Also, there are a few shots that have been changed and all camera's have been locked so that there are no moving shots. The actor in my reel changed too. I asked another classmate who is older and looks more intimidating. Turned out really awesome.
The robot has also been changed. I added more geo to the robot to break up the silhouette a little and completely retextured it so that it looks more gritty and war torn. Instead of white, the robot is now gray and silver. The inside of the cockpit was also changed. Also, originally the idea for the cockpit was to have it covered by glass. But my mentor told me to change it to metal so I wouldn't have to deal with reflections because it would be harder. But recently I changed it back to glass because it looks so much better and the reflections really didn't cause too much grief. The robot now looks like this:
I would post my most recent presentation stuff which has my almost completed reel in it, but I think that it would be a better surprise to see it later when it's finished - which it almost is. I spoke to my mentor and because of how far along I am with my reel he told me he wants it done by mid Term 5. That is in two weeks. But I really only have one week to finish it because he wants to see it next week so he can approve it/give me comments on it before the mid Term 5 Presentation. If I do finish, it means I will have finished my reel 3 months ahead of schedule. This will give me more time to polish it to perfection or if its good enough work on other projects that I could put on my reel. I'm pretty excited at how far along I am but also it has become quite stressful. Well I hope you enjoyed it.
So it is a little confusing what some of the camera moves are but that is the basic premise of my reel. The next thing to do is to evaluate the animatic and find out what's working and what isn't. The next phase in my reel was to create a slap comp. A slap comp is very roughly putting your digital work on top of the footage. This allows you to figure out how much time you have for any animation and figure out pacing. The next video is my end of Term 3 presentation which has the slap comp in it (plus my spider assignment ... I was too lazy to take it out). Also, in the upper right corner of the video there is my 3D animatic which I used as a basis for my slap comp.
So the demo reel actually changed quite a bit after the slap comp. I wasn't able to reshoot my final plates at the same location so the location is different in my final. Also, there are a few shots that have been changed and all camera's have been locked so that there are no moving shots. The actor in my reel changed too. I asked another classmate who is older and looks more intimidating. Turned out really awesome.
The robot has also been changed. I added more geo to the robot to break up the silhouette a little and completely retextured it so that it looks more gritty and war torn. Instead of white, the robot is now gray and silver. The inside of the cockpit was also changed. Also, originally the idea for the cockpit was to have it covered by glass. But my mentor told me to change it to metal so I wouldn't have to deal with reflections because it would be harder. But recently I changed it back to glass because it looks so much better and the reflections really didn't cause too much grief. The robot now looks like this:
I would post my most recent presentation stuff which has my almost completed reel in it, but I think that it would be a better surprise to see it later when it's finished - which it almost is. I spoke to my mentor and because of how far along I am with my reel he told me he wants it done by mid Term 5. That is in two weeks. But I really only have one week to finish it because he wants to see it next week so he can approve it/give me comments on it before the mid Term 5 Presentation. If I do finish, it means I will have finished my reel 3 months ahead of schedule. This will give me more time to polish it to perfection or if its good enough work on other projects that I could put on my reel. I'm pretty excited at how far along I am but also it has become quite stressful. Well I hope you enjoyed it.
Spider
So this assignment was my VFX project in Term 3. I am now in Term 5 so I'm posting this really late. We were given a rigged, non-textured mechanical spider. We had to texture the spider, shoot a moving shot, put the spider in the shot and animate it. We were told to do a simple shot that dollies from side to side. I decided to do something a little more complicated than that.
Here it is.
So as you saw in my breakdowns there were little black and white checkerboard pieces of paper taped to the walls, desk and computer monitor. These are tracking markers that allowed me to track the footage a lot better than if I didn't put them up. This allows me to be able to recreate a 3D environment that the spider could interact with and receive shadows and reflections.
Also, if you saw I added the pencil on the table that he cuts in two. I thought it came out pretty good. I used a rigid body simulation on the spider that animated the pencil for me. It took quite a while for me to figure out the correct settings to get the pencil to fall realistically and bounce correctly. It would have probably saved me time and trouble if I actually animated the pencil drop by myself, but it I really wanted to figure out how to use simulations. I think it was a good learning exercise.
Hope you guys like it.
Here it is.
So as you saw in my breakdowns there were little black and white checkerboard pieces of paper taped to the walls, desk and computer monitor. These are tracking markers that allowed me to track the footage a lot better than if I didn't put them up. This allows me to be able to recreate a 3D environment that the spider could interact with and receive shadows and reflections.
Also, if you saw I added the pencil on the table that he cuts in two. I thought it came out pretty good. I used a rigid body simulation on the spider that animated the pencil for me. It took quite a while for me to figure out the correct settings to get the pencil to fall realistically and bounce correctly. It would have probably saved me time and trouble if I actually animated the pencil drop by myself, but it I really wanted to figure out how to use simulations. I think it was a good learning exercise.
Hope you guys like it.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
It has been a while
So it has been a long time since I last posted anything. I didn't do my usual recap of the last term, so now is as any good as any (although I am already midway through Term 4). We used Term 3 for developing our Demo Reels - drawing up storyboards, creating animatics (simple 2D or 3D animations used to preview our work) and building our assets. Now that all that pre-production stuff is out of the way this Term is used for production and post-production. I am doing really well with my Demo Reel, however, there is still tons to do.
But before we keep going on about my Demo Reel, here are the last three animation assignments I had.
The first assignment was to animate a baseball pitch and swing.
I made the batter miss because I was going to add a couple more shots where the pitcher laughed at him and then got hit in the face by the bat. Sadly, I ran out of time to work on this because I was focusing on my demo reel stuff. I didn't have a chance to fix the animation on what I already had, let alone add to it.
This next one is the first lip sync I have ever done. The video might be a bit out of sync thought because of the way it was exported. If it is, just trust that I did a pretty good job on it. Again the animation isn't 100% since I didn't have time to go back and refine it.
If you didn't get what movie I picked, I picked a line from Superman (1978)
This last one was a group assignment. Me and one of my friends had to do a small bit of dialogue between two people. We chose a scene from Step Brothers. He animated the John C Reilly character and I animated the Will Ferrell character (my guy has a top hat). Again the dialogue may be a bit out of sync due to exporting issues. At this point we were both swamped with demo reel work that neither of us went back to polish off the animation.
I hope you enjoyed my animation. I will try to update you guys on the other cool stuff I've been doing for my demo reel soon. Let's hope I don't get too busy to update. Peace
But before we keep going on about my Demo Reel, here are the last three animation assignments I had.
The first assignment was to animate a baseball pitch and swing.
I made the batter miss because I was going to add a couple more shots where the pitcher laughed at him and then got hit in the face by the bat. Sadly, I ran out of time to work on this because I was focusing on my demo reel stuff. I didn't have a chance to fix the animation on what I already had, let alone add to it.
This next one is the first lip sync I have ever done. The video might be a bit out of sync thought because of the way it was exported. If it is, just trust that I did a pretty good job on it. Again the animation isn't 100% since I didn't have time to go back and refine it.
If you didn't get what movie I picked, I picked a line from Superman (1978)
This last one was a group assignment. Me and one of my friends had to do a small bit of dialogue between two people. We chose a scene from Step Brothers. He animated the John C Reilly character and I animated the Will Ferrell character (my guy has a top hat). Again the dialogue may be a bit out of sync due to exporting issues. At this point we were both swamped with demo reel work that neither of us went back to polish off the animation.
I hope you enjoyed my animation. I will try to update you guys on the other cool stuff I've been doing for my demo reel soon. Let's hope I don't get too busy to update. Peace
Monday, July 18, 2011
VFX
So this is the last post of work that I did last term (Term 2). This post is all about visual effects. Within the VFX stream, there are several essential areas of study. They are compositing, match moving, camera projection and green screen. I will only be showing you examples of the first three since I don't have any green screen work to show you (although I assume you already know what that is).
Compositing simply means combining all elements of a shot (footage, CG elements, simulations, etc.) into one image. Once everything is done a compositer would take the footage shot on the day and add in all CG elements and make sure they blend together. I never really had any compositing assignments because most of the things I did were in class and they are not super impressive. However, I have used these skills in my other assignments (below).
Match moving is the process of calculating the movement of a real camera used on set and using that data to recreate a digital camera that would move in the same way in digital space. This would allow you to recreate the scene in 3D and integrate your CG element with the correct scale, position, and rotation. This new 3D camera would move around the CG element as if it were shot with the original camera. Below are two small tests I did for my match moving classes. You might see a flash right when the video starts because at the front of the video there will be a frame showing the 3D object I tracked into the scene. You can ignore the flash.
This first one has some geo built in to mimic the ground plane (so I can add shadow from my CG objects) and other parts of the step. If this were a final shot, then these pieces of geometry would be removed (they are set up for shadows, casting reflection or receiving reflection).
In this next one I removed the geo that I created for shadows. You'll notice that my CG item becomes obstructed at one point. Geometry was put in to allow for this obstruction then taken out.
In both the last two cases I used my compositing skills to try to integrate the live action footage with the CG elements and trying to make them fit together. You be the judge of my success.
Finally we have camera projection. Camera projection is when you take one still image and project it onto geometry in 3D space so that you can do a camera move that will give the illusion of depth. The move is limited since at one point the illusion of this projection would break. This technique is used mostly for set extension purposes. Below is the image I started out with, and then after the video of it being camera projected.
Well I hope you enjoyed this VFX post. More are to come since this is what I am streaming into. Peace.
Compositing simply means combining all elements of a shot (footage, CG elements, simulations, etc.) into one image. Once everything is done a compositer would take the footage shot on the day and add in all CG elements and make sure they blend together. I never really had any compositing assignments because most of the things I did were in class and they are not super impressive. However, I have used these skills in my other assignments (below).
Match moving is the process of calculating the movement of a real camera used on set and using that data to recreate a digital camera that would move in the same way in digital space. This would allow you to recreate the scene in 3D and integrate your CG element with the correct scale, position, and rotation. This new 3D camera would move around the CG element as if it were shot with the original camera. Below are two small tests I did for my match moving classes. You might see a flash right when the video starts because at the front of the video there will be a frame showing the 3D object I tracked into the scene. You can ignore the flash.
This first one has some geo built in to mimic the ground plane (so I can add shadow from my CG objects) and other parts of the step. If this were a final shot, then these pieces of geometry would be removed (they are set up for shadows, casting reflection or receiving reflection).
In this next one I removed the geo that I created for shadows. You'll notice that my CG item becomes obstructed at one point. Geometry was put in to allow for this obstruction then taken out.
In both the last two cases I used my compositing skills to try to integrate the live action footage with the CG elements and trying to make them fit together. You be the judge of my success.
Finally we have camera projection. Camera projection is when you take one still image and project it onto geometry in 3D space so that you can do a camera move that will give the illusion of depth. The move is limited since at one point the illusion of this projection would break. This technique is used mostly for set extension purposes. Below is the image I started out with, and then after the video of it being camera projected.
Well I hope you enjoyed this VFX post. More are to come since this is what I am streaming into. Peace.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Environment
So the final project in Term 2 was to make 3 environments as a group. The environments were a graveyard, a house (exterior) and the inside of Beatrice's room. These were the concept art that we had s a basis for our project. (click to see full size image)
The graveyard and the house were both created by my friend Tyler who is a super talented artist. Whenever I have a question regarding design or art in general I go to him (he has a fine arts background). The third was made by another member in his group (also a pretty sweet image).
Below is my group's final video presentation of these three environments. You will notice that our trees and bushes are very stylized as we tried to keep with the designs given to us. Whether they work or not is up to you.
So what did I do in this project? Our group of 8 was divided into 3 sub groups - one for each environment. I worked on the graveyard scene. My job was to model the hero gravestone (the main cross gravestone - called "hero" because it is the main focus of the shot). I also built the proxy geometry for all the gravestones (there are only 5 shapes that were randomized in the scene and altered slightly). I completely finished (finalized model, shaded, textured) one of those 5 while the other 4 were finished by someone else. I also did the layout of the graveyard (put the other props in the scene), made the bushes, built the fence and gate, did the brick pathway, put in the grass, and lit the scene (I did a lot on this scene). I also did the camera moves in the first two scenes (the graveyard and the house). In the other two environments I didn't do that much. I did the bushes in the House Exterior portion and helped a bit in troubleshooting the other two scenes.
So here is a link to close up stills of some of the stuff I modeled (Click here)
Hope you guys like it. Peace.
The graveyard and the house were both created by my friend Tyler who is a super talented artist. Whenever I have a question regarding design or art in general I go to him (he has a fine arts background). The third was made by another member in his group (also a pretty sweet image).
Below is my group's final video presentation of these three environments. You will notice that our trees and bushes are very stylized as we tried to keep with the designs given to us. Whether they work or not is up to you.
So what did I do in this project? Our group of 8 was divided into 3 sub groups - one for each environment. I worked on the graveyard scene. My job was to model the hero gravestone (the main cross gravestone - called "hero" because it is the main focus of the shot). I also built the proxy geometry for all the gravestones (there are only 5 shapes that were randomized in the scene and altered slightly). I completely finished (finalized model, shaded, textured) one of those 5 while the other 4 were finished by someone else. I also did the layout of the graveyard (put the other props in the scene), made the bushes, built the fence and gate, did the brick pathway, put in the grass, and lit the scene (I did a lot on this scene). I also did the camera moves in the first two scenes (the graveyard and the house). In the other two environments I didn't do that much. I did the bushes in the House Exterior portion and helped a bit in troubleshooting the other two scenes.
So here is a link to close up stills of some of the stuff I modeled (Click here)
Hope you guys like it. Peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)