A special treat for all you M.O.T.s out there in VFX land. Galacticast has posted a hilarious little web flick called Robojew vs Giant Nazi Woman Of The SS. The title pretty much sez it all.
LINK to the Galacticast webpage
Ever wondered what would happen if one of Battlestar Galactica’s Cylon Centurions raised some serious philosophical questions about the point of his own existence? This short animation staring cute and cuddly versions of everyones favorite re-imagined chrome toasters, answers the tough questions about life as a human hating robotic slave. Besides having more than enough funny lines for fans of the show, Adair’s film also offers a unique take on character design and a snappy animation style that’s a pleasure to watch.
LINK to the We Were Centurions Website
I wasn’t really planning on doing this again so soon, but Nyarlathotep’s comments on my last Hacktionary post were so stop on I felt a full posting on the front page was in order. Enjoy, I couldn’t of said it better myself.
CBA- Could Be Anything . Refers to unknown object in frame usually things such as C stands, Lit up Barndoors, or errant crew members.
Example:
Supe- Whats that flashing in the right corner of frame. Artiste- CBA Supe- It looks like Melvin! Artiste- CBA , Yeah it’s Melvin
YSNP- Yeah Sure No Problem.
Example:
Client- I want it to go the same speed and travel the same distance but in half the time. Supe- YSNP
NFWOE - No F**king Way on Earth. Both of the above are universal answers to any VFX change request question and are usually completely interchangeable.
Example:
Client- I want it to go the same speed and travel the same distance but in half the time. Supe- NFWOE. That is physically impossible. Client- But Why?
Rasterbation- Any CG activity that is impractical or of no value. Sometimes relating to work done in CG that must translate to the Real world where Real World Physics and actual Physically Limitations of the equipment and environment have not been taken into account. Includes things such as adding non-existent axis to moves to avoid gimbal lock or providing data for lenses that the end-user does not have. or improper Rotational Axes nesting orders.
Example:
Pre-vis Artist- Oh, there’s a floor on the stage? My move starts 10 feet below the Car. Supe- Dude you’ve been Rasterbating. Now we’re screwed.”
Every studio that I’ve worked at over the years has had their own way of describing the little things in Visual Effects that have no known equivalent in the english language. A few of these catchy un-words and tricky turns of a phrase make it into the overall VFX lexicon. Things us pixel jockeys and set rats use on a semi-regular basis so that no one can understand a word we are saying. Presenting the first five of a soon to be long list of useful slang for VFX.
B.G.S (or BGS Technology) - Blur it, Glow it, Ship it. A technique used to mask inferior elements in a shot by bluring and glowing beyond recognition.
Example:
Artist - “I don’t know, this shot really isn’t coming together. What should I do?” Supe - “This shot is due in the morning! Let’s just BGS this beast.”
Pixel F**cker - A client or supervisor who picks out overly minute details in a VFX shot, usually resulting in blown deadlines and major frustration.
Example:
Artist 1 - “Man, you’ve been on that job forever, what’s going on?” Artist 2 - “The Art Director is a real Pixel F**cker. He made me change the font size seven times.”
Nerny (or Nernage) - Small non-descript (N.D.) details placed on a 3D model to add complexity and sense of scale.
Example:
Supe - “I think the deck of the battleship looks a bit bare” Artist - “No problem I’ll just add a few boxes and some other nernies.”
C.B.B. - Could Be Better. A VFX shot that is for all intents and purposes final but something you might want to come back to if you have the time.
Example:
Producer - “I know you have a couple of small changes on that shot but we’re running out of time.” Supe - “O.K. Just CBB that one and we’ll move on.”
Wonky - That certain “clunk” in a VFX shot that makes it look fake. Often used when it is not exactly clear what precisely wrong with a shot.
Example:
Supe - “There’s something wonky with this shot.” Artist - “What is it?” Supe - “I don’t know, maybe the tracking is off or something.”
That’s it for now. Please feel free to add your own gems in form of comments.
There is a cool article in today’s LA Times about the YouTube sensation “UFO Haiti”. The clip is a pretty well done shakey-cam account of a UFO sighting on a tropical island. Although obviously a hoax, speculation abounds about the source of this phony close encounter. The 3d message boards have been abuzz about the possibility of E-On software’s Vue 6 as the source of this. The Times makes this connection too, and actually gets to the source of the animation.
This is a cut-out a frame from the Vue 6 demo reel
And a frame from UFO Haiti off the YouTubes
You be the judge.
As a VFX artist and VFX Supervisor, a big part of the job is taking and receiving notes and comments. Looking over FX shots and keeping animators on track can be dangerous waters. Given some the personalities involved in dealing with people who have made the conscious choice to spend their working lives hunched in front of the eerie glow of a computer monitor, stepping into a review session can sometimes feel like slipping into a sleeping bag filled with angry wolverines. I’ve been part of more reviews than Ebert and Roeper combined at this point and I’d like to share with you a few nuggets of wisdom I’ve picked up along the way.
Talk with a confident voice
There is nothing that will make a crew mutiny quicker than a captain who can’t make up his mind. You need to sound like you know what you are doing without appearing pig-headed. Everyone has an opinion when it comes to VFX and there are always multiple ways to skin a cat but someone has to be the final word. If you can’t articulate what you want, your crew won’t believe that you can sell the shots to the client. If that happens you might as well pack up and go home.
Give an artist credit
Few things are more annoying than the Supe that steals a compliment from an artist. When the client says “Hey that looks great!”, you should say “Yeah, Bill does excellent work.” The catch is, most of these situations occur when the Supe is alone with the client. In this situation the artists would never know if the Supe took credit for all the long hours he (or she) slaved for the sale of art. My suggestion, take the high road. Karma is like Santa Claus, it’s always watching you.
Concentrate on the “what” not the “how”
If you have a good team, you shouldn’t need to hold their mouse for them while they work. Use clear and concise language to tell the artists what the shot needs to be in order to get to final. “This shot just looks like ass” or “Why don’t you give it some special sauce” are not comments people can work off of. Comments like “How ’bout we add a kicker to define this shape” or “The texture in these windows needs more variation in the detail” are things that give someone enough direction to know what to do, without making them feel like they are being babied.
Keep your cool
Nobody likes a screamer. It may frighten people in the short term into listening to you but eventually it just turns into white noise and you get tuned out. There are times when fires must be lit under a team’s collective asses. In these cases, try something with a few less decibels, like guilt or disappointment.
Ask questions and keep an open mind
Nobody ever got in trouble in the VFX business for asking too many questions or being too prepared. If you are a Supe and you are good, you will eventually spend less and less time in front of “the box” yourself. New softwares will come along that you just don’t have time to learn in depth. Use the young whippersnappers on your team to report back to you all the new features and gizmos that inundate our little corner of the universe on a daily basis. From the artist-side, opening a Supes mind to new tech or workflow and showing off your CG skills in front of your co-workers can be a real morale boost.
These are the jokes people
Always maintain a good sense of humor in reviews. If you don’t have fun doing what you do, you probably shouldn’t be in the visual effects business. As a Supe, a tense review session can easily be made more bearable with a few VFX humor standbys. An ironically out of context Star Wars quote or a horrible Christopher Walken impersonation can really break the ice. And please, don’t make fun of your team. It goes without saying that self parody is a better way to go than mocking your apprentices.
ZOIC Studios (my company) is having a Summer Reel Fest event on August 29th. Come for the free beverages stay for hors d’oeuvres.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7aJvR0hX1k&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprolost%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2007%2F08%2Fvfx%2Deasier%2Dthan%2Dyou%2Dthink%2Dharder%2Dthan%2Ehtml[/youtube]
The kids who brought you Ryan vs Dorkman 2 have just posted a nice little How-To on one of the lightsaber shots from their internet fan flick. I love the fact that they shot real elements for this, it really makes a HUGE difference. It’s great to see people who aren’t afraid to get out from behind the monitor once while. This clip proves the old VFX adage…
If you want it to look real, shot it for real.
Imagine the experimental film version of of the kids game telephone and you’ve got the the project PSST! Organized by Bran Dougherty-Johnson, PSST! is collection of 9 films each broken into 3 sections completed by different teams that pick up where the last one left off. The result is a super spicy gumbo of animation, stop-mo, motion graphics, compositing and everything else but the kitchen sink. Nice.
LINK to PSST! 2 website
LINK to PSST! 1 website
My buddy Azathothx turned me onto this great article about the technical struggles involved in creating the VFX for the first Star Wars flick. It’s got some great pictures (see above) and some real nuts and bolts descriptions of the techniques used and their history. It also has some juicy quotes like this one from Richard Edlund.
“A problematic visual-effects shot has its own special clunk. Whether it fails in design, execution, or the final composite doesn’t matter. The audience doesn’t necessarily know exactly what’s gone wrong, just that something has, and it can drop them right out of the movie.”
Jar-Jar anyone?
LINK to the full text of the article
