Feature: Pause, Between the Frames

Interview by: Michael Burns
Fired By Design, www.firedbydesign.com

What software and techniques did you use to create the hair, skin, particles and other weird things?

Steve McArdle - CG Director:

  • We used Lightwave for modeling the organic skin forms and to set up custom diffuse maps. The models were made in concert with the texturing to define the organic forms.

  • 3ds Max was used for animation and rendered with mental ray.

  • Fusion handled compositing the rendered passes and to Pre-vis each shot.

  • Particle work was split between Fusion and Lightwave.

    • Modeling, Organic forms

    What about animation and rendering?

    David Greene, VFX Director:

  • The subtle animation for things such as bulges used soft selections with animated geometry under the skin to drive “push” and “noise” modifiers. The rest was done with simple bone setups to bend the skin forms. While the animation was subtle, we wanted to show movement from within the shapes themselves.

  • For rendering we used an HDR image to light the scenes with final gather, which gives a consistent ambient light that carries through each scene. For each shot a soft key light and a strong backlight where used to bring out detail in the skin shapes. Once the lighting was set up multiple passes were rendered with mental ray to split up things like SSS, reflections and small hairs. This control was essential to bring the skin to life as it reflects the environment and adds light scattering where we need it.

    • Animation, Skin deformation
    Render passes

    How was the text created and integrated into the sequence?

    David Greene, VFX Director:

  • The text was arranged inside each scene letter by letter and hand animated to react based on the body forms and camera movement. For the surfacing of the text we settled for a blend of transparency and reflection to make the text stand out, yet inherit the scene's color and lighting. The thin font and glass like appearance was intended to look elegant while creating a sense of medical precision.

  • The text was then rendered as a separate pass and composited with Fusion. Here we decided how much it needed to stand out, or sit within the skin itself, which gave us the option to color-correct each title to match the shot.


    What Part of the modeling/animation/rendering process posed the greatest technical challenge? How did you proceed?

    Steve McArdle - CG Director:

  • The most difficult part of the modeling process was finding a way to create the illusion of detail that was represented in the original photography. I would say keeping the models simple enough for texturing and rendering while achieving the right sense of volume in the shapes was a strong starting point.

    David Greene, VFX Director:

  • It was a challenge to get the right number and combination of render passes to give us full control for post work, so the models and textures would sit believably in the 3d environment. This took some time. Making sure all of the render passes looked consistent through each shot was important to the overall look.