Chaos Group

This interview is provided by the courtesy of CGHeute.
Read the original interview in German.

Prime Focus VFX

 

You studied media design in Hannover, Germany and now you work at a studio in L.A. Can you tell us how you got hired overseas?

In 2001 I graduated from the high school and went to a college to study media design. One day a class mate brought Cinema 4D and Maya to class installed in his notebook. From that moment on I didn't participated in the lessons much :). After the university in fall 2004 I looked for CG companies in Hannover and found SoulPix, a small and unconventional studio that uses 3D Studio Max (these days they switched to Cinema 4D).

 

I asked for and internship couldn't provide ANY knownledge of 3DS Max though... So I bombed the owner Frank Sennholz with funny emails and stuff like that for half a year straight until u beinggot invited in person if I would promise to stop any e-mail traffic :D. Since I knew Photoshop etc. from campus I could at least help a bit with comp and learned Max on the go. After two weeks I participated in my first real production, a music video. So I made it to get an internship at a CG studio without ANY 3DS Max knownledge and stayed for long after my internship ended as freelancer. One of the artists brought the “Advanced Visual Effects” DVD by Allan McKay to work one day. And then I knew what I wanted to specialize in. Thanks to my website and being around in internet forums other companies started to call me if I would be available as freelancer and from then on I was. :)

Over the years since 2004 I worked at several german CG companies and won the one or the other Animago Award (every good CG citizen should have one) and I was always active and present in forums. So one day international companies called and I had a job interview at Frantic Films which is Prime Focus VFX today.

 

Prime Focus VFX was responsible for the Holotable and various 3D Screens (Immersives) at the command center in “Avatar”. How did you get this job?

Here in L.A. you have artists of all classes :) Due to the densed presence of VFX studios like Prime Focus VFX, the amount of really good artists is probably higher then elsewhere though. But I met damn fine artists in Germany too. The true secret is in the higher budget and time frame for movies. In Germany only a fraction of that money is spent on VFX and therefore the deadlines are usually tight to do outstanding stuff. Quality costs money period and a good C artist is hard to find for under 300-500 EUR/day.

Our pool of freelance artists usually depends on what else is going on in the movie industry in L.A.
During the first phase of “Avatar” we were in desperate need for more artists but every 3D Studio Max artist was on “2012” at that tome time either at Uncharted Territory, Pixomondo or Scanline VFX. Most of them came to us once they wrapped on “2012”.

 

Frantic Films/Prime Focus VFX has an experience with stereoscopic movies like “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” etc. We pitched for only some of the 3D screens in the command center at the beginning but during the production we got more and more shots from other vendors who had a hard time making their deadline plus James Cameron really liked what he saw from us.

 

What exactly was your responsibility (Particles/Compositing/Rendering/Modelling)?

Everything You listed plus heavy tracking :). The hologram of the jungle, the mine pit and the “Hometree” are particles that were generated and rendered with our software Krakatoa. All the countless icons were designed by us after rough layouts form Cameron's design team. The trajectories are animated splines and all tables at the Holotable are cards designed and animated in After Effects. They don't really mean anything :). James Cameron said himself “If anybody want's to read the tables and icons we are making the wrong movie here”. So we had the layout directions but they let us some room for interpretation, e.g. the names on the tables are all co-workers here at Prime Focus VFX :D.

 

Everything that is interacting with real persons had to be match moved and modeled. The holotable hardware was a prop on set but was digitally replaced by us to a large extend. Every laser unit on it and the projection hardware is full CG. Every screen (called “Immersive”) consists of many layers with depth information to look 3D so every layer had to be designed and animated separately. All those elements were then rendered with V-Ray and comped in Digital Fusion.

 

Beside the number of 3D screens we had to build and matte paint every environment seen through the windows in the command center.

In the shots where Giovanni, the businessman, plays with the Unobtanuim rock it was replaced in CG for more zero gravity estetics. There was a prop Unobtanium on a string on set but didn't deliver satisfying motion results.

 

How was the design guidance on “Avatar”. Was everything planned out or could you implement your own ideas . Was there a significant difference in the production of “Avatar” compared to other full CG productions like Robert Zemeckis' movies “The Night Before Christmas” or “Polar Express”?

We got detailed design layouts from James Cameron's design team but as mentioned earlier we had a room for own ideas since the layouts were stills and not in motion. We had freedom regarding the animation on the holotable and the immersive screen details. All 2D elements where generated in Illustrator and After Effects based on style frames and then imported into the 3D application based on their position the room and their naming convention. That saved us a tone of time since we were able to automate this process to a large extend.

 

Regarding the comparison with other full CG productions I can't tell too much. Other than that the camera and On-Set-Previz technology had to be invented for this film! There is no useful comparison, the movie is unique. The biggest difference is probably that it's a James Cameron movie and he didn't do a feature film since Titanic. Further more the world wasn't sure if the movie would be a nice gimmick or the blockbuster it was about to be. The world was proven wrong. Now every thing is shot or converted to 3D and we are working on the next sterescopic project: The “Clash of the Titans – 3D” conversion, a remake of the classic.

 

 

How many people were on your Team at Prime Focus VFX? How long did it take to finish the tasks?

I dare to say we were about 100 people here at Prime Focus VFX. At the beginning there was the Tracking-Team that work day and night shifts in rotating until we could start our job. After tracking there was the 3D crew (mostly freelancers) and the compositors. We had to put desk on the corridors to fit everybody in, it got pretty cozy :). I have a staff position and therefore my own desk is decorated with action figures and a portrait of David Hasselhoff. Because, according to Americans, all Germans love the Hoff...sure... They want the Hoff, they get the Hoff!

 

The entire production was done in about 6 months, which is a damn short time for caliber of work but our Producers and Supervisors planned everything well. A big “Thanks!” to CG Supervisor Mitch Gates who knows how to motivate his people :). A great man!

 

How was the work with the other VFX companies working on “Avatar”? Did you eventually meet James Cameron?

We work damn hard :), more than in Germany. I have the impression the private life comes after the job here in the US although we have it pretty good here at Prime Focus VFX :). I rarely leave Hollywood since I don't have a car. I live 15 minutes on foot from the office in the heart of Hollywood. Here there's everything you need, L.A. is so huge that every district is like a town in itself. During the weekends I brew my own beer with co-workers which is mighty fun. If you work hard everywhere is the same just here you have sunshine all year long :D.

 

I think most of the companies are located in Culver City, Venice, Santa Monica or here in Hollywood. So for artists is would make much sense to move to any of those districts or have a 30-120 minutes drive to work every day. The traffic is pretty bad in L.A. usually.
I don't know how to “make” it as an artist or get known in the industry :D. Like everywhere else you get a reputation from a good job. Being able to play well in a team is essential too. We literally had damn good artists here at Prime Focus but no one was able to work with them so we had to let them go.

 

Artistic and social skills are important! A reputation can be earned from helping others in internet forums or by releasing a training DVD. I do both :). If you help others in forums you show that you know your tools and skills and that you are out there.

Both helps, especially for Freelancers! What always helps as well are private projects if you don't have a job yet. Be it a short film or just a couple of VFX shots that you put together nicely. If the quality is right people will talk about your work and re-link the Video/Still.

 

I released a bunch of articles too:
The Freelancer's Manifesto - A Collection of advice
Project Setup/Management and Quality Assurance for Small Business

How high is the niveau of artists or better - how good are the VFX people in L.A.? Can Prime Focus VFX get back to a large pool of exeptional artists?

Here in L.A. you have artists of all classes :) Due to the densed presence of VFX studios like Prime Focus VFX, the amount of really good artists is probably higher then elsewhere though. But I met damn fine artists in Germany too. The true secret is in the higher budget and time frame for movies. In Germany only a fraction of that money is spent on VFX and therefore the deadlines are usually tight to do outstanding stuff. Quality costs money period and a good C artist is hard to find for under 300-500 EUR/day.

Our pool of freelance artists usually depends on what else is going on in the movie industry in L.A.
During the first phase of “Avatar” we were in desperate need for more artists but every 3D Studio Max artist was on “2012” at that time either at Uncharted Territory, Pixomondo or Scanline VFX. Most of them came to us once they wrapped on “2012”.

 

You have released 2 Training DVDs about Particles in 3D Studio Max with TurboSquid. Tell us a bit about them.
Did you notice any increase in your popularity across the industry since the DVDs are out? (Does it happen that you talk to people in the industry and they say “Yeah I know them, helped me a lot!”)

That's right! I have learned a lot from Tutorial DVDs from Allan McKay and Chris Thomas. I always wanted to be as cool as them having my own line of tutorials out there :D. You should post a review on your site :). As mentioned earlier, I like to help others out on the internet forums and get a lot of emails and PMs over Facebook, LinkedIn and CGTalk. The folks at TurboSquid are friends of mine since I'm in New Orleans regularilly which is their HQ as well. When I was demoing Particle Flow Toolbox 2+3 at their booth hourly at last year's Siggraph we talked and teamed up. For both Particle Flow Plugins there is rarely any tutorials or learning material in general other then than at the developer website www.Orbaz.com. Those 2 extensions are my focus on the DVDs therefore together with RayFire and Krakatoa. It was about damn time since there was no learning material for a highlycomplex tool like the Particle Flow Toolbox 3. With this extension you can rebuild and extend every Particle Flow operator in 3D Studio Max. Sounds complex but isn't actually! Someone just needs to show the people. I always wanted a DVD on that topic...if don't do everything yourself. :D

The release of the Particle Flow Toolbox 2 DVD was just well timed since it was just released and besides the beta testers there weren't a lot of pleople out there knowing it already.

 

You engage in producing/Quality Assurance for the PhysX based dynamics- and digital destruction Plugin „RayFire“ for 3D Studio Max as well. Do you stay in touch with developers at nVidia/PhysX and the companies using it in production? And do you listen to their input and feedback to improve your product?

Mir Vadim, the developer is in constant contact with nVidia and the PhysX-Developer team. Some options and functions inside the PhysX Max Plugin were implemented only after we asked for them for RayFire. Mir Vadim just gave an interview at the PhysX Info Website where you can read a bit more about him and the Tool.
RayFire strated as a free Max Script for bullet impacts inspired by Daniel Ferreira's “Impact Tool” for BLUR, he is a RayFire customer these days :) We are happy that is was taken so well by the VFX community. Companies like BLUR, Blizzard, Rockstar, Ubisoft, Codemasters, Crytek, Sega, Boeing and even the US Military are our customers. No the worst testimonials to have. We at Prime Focus VFX have too of course :). Especially BLUR uses RayFire massivly for digital destruction and rigid bodies, because BLUR's deadlines are super tight and RayFire is so quick and easy to use. RayFire is easy and easy means fast. The price tag is far below it's competitors. The guys over at Aparato.tv just got a 30 million US dollar budget for a movie by putting a short film together called “Panic Attack”. RayFire was the key product for all destruction effects. Read more about Panic Attack here at Variety.com.

The reason why RayFire is so popular is besides it is easy to use the close distance to the the user base.
Every input is taken serious and not rarely companies get their own custom build with special features for special tasks. The RayFire thread at CGTalk.com is the most frequented after the FumeFX thread, people share setups and critique.

 

 

Copyright: 2009 Twentieth Century Fox. All Rights Reserved
Image Courtesy of Prime Focus

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Read the interview with Aymeric Aute on the same project.