January 2005 Archives

I've been working close to two years at Tippett, and many people have asked me what's it like. They have always wondered what a visual effects studio looks like, and how it presents itself! Each studio has its share of quirks and idiosyncrasies, and Tippett is no different.

Tippett Studio is stretched out over a four block radius, with five buildings. We have around 170 employees (my guess-timate). We're located in Berkeley, California, very close to the I-80 freeway. A studio like Pixar which resides less than five minutes away, is contained on one huge gated block with a large entrance sign which says Pixar Animation Studios. Tippett is a little bit more discreet, with just a small plaque containing the words: Tippett Studio: hours 9am - 7pm.

Tippett is much less of a pure animation facility, and does not have the resources that being publicly traded can bring. It makes up for that by creating films that have been inspiration for numerous artists in all fields. Walking around the studio one can see what the past twenty years have been like. Models and posters of previous years of film-making adorn the walls and halls. A life-size creation of ED-209, used in the film Robocop, commands respect as it looms over the stage. Maquettes of characters from The Haunting, Starship Troopers, Robocop, My Favorite Martian, and Jurassic Park dot the landscape. Physical props and animatronics from Robocop and Starship Troopers are displayed proudly in Tippett's lobby. The detail presented in these production items is outstanding. After all, they were used in the original films!

As you walk around the studio, you can see that no matter which field the artists have chosen to pursue, they are a stepping stone away from learning more about the other parts of the craft from nearby artists. TDs, compositors, animators, rotoscopers and matchmovers all share a common space. It makes for a very dynamic and rich environment where artists can further improve their field by learning more about the process of what happens when they're done with their part of the pipeline!

Having a stage where one can see element shoots in progress, seeing how a motion control rig operates, or how a miniature is created from start to finish is a wonderful opportunity. The artists and technicians that have been here for the longest time are well versed in their craft, and have improved with time into other areas of the film-making arena.

From his beginnings as a model and miniature creator, one of our senior artists is now a TD, and still continues to create elaborate and beautiful miniatures for shows that require that specific talent. Another artist started as a machinist creating the intricate parts for the Starship Troopers animatronic bugs' legs, which animators could animate, very similar to the work he had done with Jurassic Park's animatronic inputs for the dinosaurs. And yet another started as a computer interface engineer on Jurassic Park, designing and testing the devices which the animators could use to animate. He has since moved on to supervising some amazing films, from The Haunting to our latest film, Constantine.

Tippett is an amazing facility, comprised of many people that are dedicated to the creation of special and visual effects. I am humbled by the many years of talent which layer this studio.

I hope you all had a great weekend! It's Monday morning here in the Bay area and it's not raining, so that's a good sign. I went to Phoenix over the weekend, and in addition to getting some spectacular photographs of the landscape, I saw the IMAX 3D film, Aliens of the Deep.

It's an excellent film, about 50 minutes long, which shows deep sea life at its extreme, and how that could possibly aid our search for life on other worlds.

From the brochure:

James Cameron, Academy Award winning director, deep ocean adventurer, and space exploration visionary, combines his talents and his passions in the upcoming spectacular 3D film Aliens of the Deep. Cameron takes audiences to one of the Earth's most extreme environments-the depths of the ocean-to encounter the alien-like creatures that live there. He's joined in the journey by a team of young oceanographers and NASA mission scientists who share his interests and excitement as they help us consider the correlations between life under water and the life we may one day find in outer space.

Aliens of the Deep presents the dramatic and visually stunning highlights of a series of expeditions to deep ocean oases-hydrothermal vents where super heated chemical and mineral charged water give life to some of the strangest animals on earth. Six foot tall worms with blood-red plumes, blind white crabs, and an astonishing biomass of white shrimp, all compete to find just the right location in the flow of the super heated water. They are as close to alien life as anything seen on Earth, a clue to what might exist elsewhere in the universe. This adventure brings the audience as close as possible to imagining what it will be like to travel far into space and meet aliens face to face.

Some of the visual effects were done by Blur, and consisted mainly of what these alien creatures would look like. The film described how it could be possible that life under the oceans of a neighbor planet's moon (Jupiter's Europa) could exist. Currently there exists a plan to launch a remotely operated satellite to Europa to study what is underneath its icy oceans.

The sterwoscopic footage shown in the film is nothing short of spectacular. Awesome underwater eruptions of superheated water, alien animals that have never seen the sun. From depths of 850 to 3500 meters, there are an astonishing array of living creatures that thrive just on the heat and water of the ocean.

My brother and I were the only twenty-something guys in the crowd, while the rest of the audience was comprised of families and the elderly. If there is an IMAX theatre near you, I would definitely recommend this film. An amazing look into a world that none of us have seen.

Paint. This tip goes hand in hand with last weeks tip, Roto. When do you paint frames as opposed to roto? How can you decide which method will work best given the task at hand? Follow the link, and I'll help you break it down.

One thing to always remember, is that painting multiple frames to remove something is time-consuming and wasteful. There are always easier ways to get rid of a camera, or a grip, or wires. By using roto you can effectively get rid of the aforementioned items, and use your paint skills to clean up harder areas of the frame.

Paint is also not only used for clean-up, but also for creation. You can use paint strokes as lightning strikes, for electrical surges, for laser blasts. Almost anything that is dynamic in action can be created by paint. During my time on Stargate SG-1, I painted such items as staff blasts, zat hits, and electrical surges. If you take a look at my 2001 demo reel you will see some of the painted electrical arcs that I've done using paint.

A method I've seen by some beginning artists (I've done this when I started!) is to paint tracking markers out by hand. Every frame. Or paint out wires. Many wires. Things to look out for when analyzing a frame and deciding when to paint come with practice and time. Let's say I want to remove a wire rig that's holding up an actor. And for the sake of argument, it's a simple rig on a simple background. An actor suspended on bluescreen. The easiest way to remove this wire is to copy a bit of the surrounding bluescreen over the wire. You're not painting through it, you're covering it up with other bits of the frame. You'll have to track this little bit and cover the wire as it moves, but it's vastly easier than painting a clean frame and trying to match it up via grain later. However sometimes it becomes necessary to do that. Pretty soon the only areas you will need to paint and touch up are where the wires meet the body.

We conclude our coverage of The Big Reveal with some great effects in our next category, Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture. I am hoping next year that there will be more interest! The VES members will be voting from January 31st to February 12th, with the winners being announced Feb 16th.

I thought I'd share today's current hit list of the areas of the world that are visiting this site. It's really amazing that it's global!

This latest comic from Penny Arcade is sure to cause a chuckle. I love their comic style and wry wit. It does give cause to wonder exactly what the producers were thinking. I guess they are trying to capitalize on the success of the comic-movie blockbusters. I guess they haven't figured out that story rules.

A good friend is working on this film, and I have high hopes for the visual effects! Time will tell. Click here for an external link to the quicktime trailer.

Last night in my guild chat window, I referred to the Fantastic Four trailer as grotesque - which I believe puts me in the running for biggest Goddamn nerd ever. It's a post whose rigors I plan to take very seriously. One of the responsibilities I've inherited is the creation of smart-alecky comic strips, which impugn the motives of potentially noble people.

Every film conversion of a beloved property - even the one most people consider a largely successful enterprise - engages in confounding deviations from canon. It doesn't really do to act startled by it anymore. Let us charitably stow away the notion that Jessica Alba could, in any coherent universe, represent the person of Sue Storm in any way. Even when one withdraws the easy targets, this trailer looks like it was made on a dare during second lunch.

A Fantastic Four movie seems like sort of a sure thing, which is why I don't understand the stingy production values. But then it's like, oh, right. It's a sure thing. And we can be reliably expected to sit in front of any moving picture. Indeed, we will pay! So, I guess that's one mystery solved.

Read more over at Penny Arcade!

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Happy Wednesday! We continue our coverage of The Big Reveal with our next Category, Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program.

Sweet. I got a chance to finally see this film and while I didn't think it was as great as Pitch Black, it had its moments.

The visual effects were fairly good, with the sunrise effects of Crematoria excellent. Even some of the set design was impressive. Almost Geiger-esque. I was a bit disappointed in the convoluted nature of the film, with various characters being of different backgrounds; necromongers, elementals, and whatever Riddick is, which sort of turned me off. Save the planet, save the human race, yadda, yadda. I guess it makes the film deeper but come on, a Vin Diesel film? Do we expect it to have any deep meaning? This is from the same writer that did Waterworld, so I'll let you decide.

From the movie and some from the set! Check them out here.

Our next category, which took place from 10:50am to 11:35am on Saturday, was Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie, or Special. I have not seen these shows on TV at all, but needless to say, having been in the broadcast visual effects business, I can see what kind of pressure these artists are under!

Our second session of the day involves the category Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial. A bit shorter than our motion picture category, this as well had three nominees. British Telecom: Network, Citroën: Alive with Technology, and Johnny Walker: Tree.

A quick post... I was reading up on vfxblog the interview with Jeff Okun, who I saw Saturday at The Big Reveal. An interesting little blurb.

Was it difficult to choose the nominees?

Fortunately, that's not up to us. That's the job of the Society members. As an Awards Committee, it's our job to notify as many people as possible that this awards show exists and that they need to enter. We're still jiggling with the formula a little bit about how to get the word out, what to charge for an entry, etc. Then what we do - it's like for one category we got 27 entries - so we assemble together a blue ribbon panel of judges that are made up of Visual Effects Society members who have expertise in the field. We make sure that there are no slates and logos or individual's names or anything on the entries. Then we assemble all the reels in a big group, and the judges watch the entries and the befores and afters and the way the entries are made, and any other material, one after the other. Then they choose their top three that they think are in and then it goes off to the VES.

Believe me, I'd like to be able to influence the nominations. I'd make sure all my friends got in...

That's pretty cool! It's all about the work, which is great. No special treatment for being a close buddy of one of the committee members. Can't wait till they get a load of Constantine. :) Read the rest of the interview here.

Yesterday I had an enjoyable time down in Los Angeles at the Skirball Cultural Center, where the Visual Effects Society introduced artists who described their craft. Over the next several days, I'll go over what I saw and their descriptions and timeframe to complete their shots. What puzzles me is that in some of the categories the visual effects producers and supervisors were nominated, instead of the artists. I was hoping for more artist discussion than supervisors hamming it up for the audience and promoting themselves. They didn't really do the work. There's another award for them to strive for. It's the Oscar.

Rotoscoping. The technical art of tracing a frame many times. Many, many times. All of us have done it at some time or another. And if you haven't, what are you waiting for? It's a skill that should be learned, however tedious it may be. Here are some tips to help you ease the pain.

While rotoscoping moving people, I tend to use several different nodes for each part of the body. Hands, arms, legs, torso, head. Depending on your compositing package, this will make deleting or redoing any section of the person easier. Don't set keyframes on every frame, or even every 5 or 10. If you're rotoscoping a human, you'll want to match the cadence of their walk or run, so keyframe the roto on the highs or lows of their gait.

You will want to use a tool that allows you to have soft edges, so that motionblurred frames of the person will accurately be rotoed. If you're going to be rotoscoping objects, like cars, boxes, things that are usually inanimate, you can use one complete roto to cover the entire object. However, if there are extreme perspective changes, it might be better to use different roto for different parts of the object. Sometimes for objects like these, you can roto the first frame, and track the object throughout the shot duration.

I took a chance and watched this film tonight. Ick.

Besides the excellent choices of weaponry, like the P90 and G36, and some amazing special pyrotechnic effects, this is missable. This is one of the few films that was shot in Vancouver, BC, that didn't try to change cities. They mention in the movie that it's actually Vancouver! The Vancouver Public Library, Canada Place, and Stanley Park are all featured locales. I was fairly disappointed in the visual effects work, they stood out blatantly. It was an action film, after all.

Some news about the upcoming Charlotte's Web film. While we are still in pre-production for this show, some interesting news has come about with the casting of the voices.

Julia Roberts will voice Charlotte, the spider. Steve Buscemi will voice Templeton, the rat. Oprah Winfrey will voice Gussy the goose and Cedric The Entertainer as Golly the goose. John Cleese will voice Samuel the Sheep. Reba McEntire and Kathy Bates will voice the two cows, Betsy and Bitsy, while Thomas Hayden Church and André Benjamin from Andre 3000 will voice the crows, Brooks and Elwyn.

You are probably guessing that most of these creatures will be at some point, created in 3D. Your guess is right. Tippett is a creature studio, so we're obviously doing several.