Month: February 2023

RESEARCH: VFX CAREERS

FX ARTIST

3D Special Effects also known as FX used in films and television, is the making of 3D elements through CGI to add more realistic elements to the scene. Special effects are usually based on how to create smoke fields, pyrotechnics, destruction, particle effects, and many other elements. The most used software for these effects is Houdini, Maya, Blender, etc.

FX Artist or FX TD is an artist who has a deep understanding of dynamics, 3D effects, as well as compositing. The FX artist ensures that the FX is thoroughly created while considering the physical and natural physics while creating CGI. Having good knowledge of particles, dynamics, fluids, etc., is a must for an FX Artist. In this role, the artist also has to create an effects library by doing various types of research and dev. for the production.

SHOWREEL FOR HOUDINI FX

I started in the industry as an FX Artist a year ago while working with Technicolor India Pvt. Ltd. While in Technicolor, I worked on series such as The Witcher, where I created effects such as Pyro as well as Lightning. Along with this, there were other projects where I created Fluid simulation, ripples, and smoke effects. The field of FX is vast and I would want to learn more and more about it so that my skills would be boosted.

I want to pursue this field in the future and polish my skills to the level that we see in modern-day cinema. ‘The Transformer: The Revenge of The Fallen’ (2009) was a movie which had surprised me with the VFX field and made me want to get into the field of Special Effects Artist. While at it practicing this role will give me an immense boost to my skills of FX and would reflect immensely on my career as well as my goal of becoming an FX TD.

SHOWREEL FOR MAYA FX

Fitzgerald, R. (2022) What does an FX artist do?: Job role, salary & FX tips: CG Spectrum, What Does An FX Artist Do? | Job Role, Salary & FX Tips | CG Spectrum. CG Spectrum. Available at: https://www.cgspectrum.com/blog/what-does-an-fx-artist-do.

MODELLING ARTIST

Modeling plays a special part in the field of VFX. Modeling is a part of Pre–production as well as Production. It is the backbone of the VFX field as all the concepts are interlinked along with it. Modeling is thoroughly used for creating terrains, 3D objects such as cars, concept arts, swords, tablets, etc., and architectural designs. Modeling art is a very wide field that is only limited to your imagination. This is why Modeling is the base of all the 3D concepts in the field.

Modeling artists produce 3D art as per the references or briefs given by the concept artists. Usually, 3D modelers require an eye for detail, where they need to take natural concepts into mind. This skill is the most important as they have to create each model with precision as well as proper proportions. When a modeling artist chooses to only create a specific type of modeling concept for example Characters, they are referred to as a character modeling artist.

I would also want to pursue this field as it is an extremely versatile field. The 3D models are not only restricted to films and television but also used in games and design as well as Virtual reality. Due to its enormous variety of capabilities, where an artist can build almost every design that a person can see or think of, makes me want to learn in detail about the field and pursue the career of modeling artist.

Production Manager

The production manager is a role in the VFX Industry where the role is to carry on tasks as per the decisions made by a Visual Effects Producer. Looking after the budget as well as creating a proper and detailed schedule for various scenes/shots for the project is the work of the production manager.

Simultaneously, they participate in hiring artists, and casts, and drafting contracts. They are in touch with the VFX artists and technical directors to look up their work’s progress and ensure the given tasks are completed before the deadlines. The production manager makes sure to link the work of artists to the VFX Producer while taking note of the changes to be made and assigning new tasks to them (if needed).

At first, the role of Production manager was unknown to me. But after working for Technicolor India Pvt. Ltd. As an FX artist, I learned how the VFX field works and how crucial the role of the Production Manager is. I was impressed by how the production managers ensure that the manufacturing process runs reliably and efficiently. Taking into consideration how this role has to think about the management of work, and dealing with production targets that are to be achieved, makes me want to explore more about the field.

VFX Production manager Spin VFX. Available at: https://www.spinvfx.com/vfx-production-manager/

https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/visual-effects-vfx/production-management/production-manager-visual-effects-vfx/#:~:text=Production%20managers%20act%20on%20the,hiring%20artists%20and%20drafting%20contracts.

ADVANCE & EXPERIMENTAL Compositing

NUKE: Week 6: GREEN SCREEN

Post author By Saurabh Waikar
Post date 14th February 2023
No Comments on NUKE: Week 6: GREEN SCREEN

Green Screen is a Nuke workflow tool that creates a virtual background that can be used in any field of production. IT is great for photo-realistic visuals or as a simpler alternative to painting effects and other techniques. It is a powerful Nuke template used in computer graphics fields, such as film and TV. Green Screen is a popular choice for you to create stunning background scenes quickly and easily

Changing or extracting the green screen can be done in various ways. The technique differs according to the plate or the result that is needed. Sometimes, instead of extracting the color, what an artist needs to do is suppress or de-saturate a specific color according to the reference.

Suppressing a color refers to reducing the amount of green that is used in a specific plate. It increases the range of areas that are color suppressed. If the color you want to suppress is still evident, increase this value. Along with this, we also have to de-saturate the color, where we completely remove the color or. For example, we completely remove the respective color value. For example:-

Here we can see, different techniques gives us various output. when we suppress the green value, we just remove the value of green but the value of other colors stay intact. Where as if we de-saturate the color, we totally remove the value of the colors, making it ‘De-colored’.

here we can see another reference for the color suppression and color de-saturating. For 1st instance we just play with the value of the color green, where the other color values are untouched, where as for de-saturating, we completely de-color which gives results into a gray scale.

The other technique for extracting a specific color, is by using the “keyer” node. With the help of this node we can extract the primary colors, i.e. green, blue and red. But this node is not only restricted to the colors, we can also play with the luminance and the saturation of the plate.

In the below example, we can see how i have extracted the white (luminance), as i wanted to see how the node works. I extracted the sky, eve though its not perfect, we can clearly see how powerful this node is, in which we can play even with the slightest part or color as per needed. In here we have to select the keyer that we have to do the changes. After this we have to manipulate the bars or handles where we can get the result that we need, i.e. extracting the color.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screenshot_20230214_174934.png — de-saturated plate

After extracting the luminance, I color graded the alpha and changed the color to get a clear view of the setting ad changes that i have done in the keyer.

Here is an another technique, where we can get an alpha from the color which we need. For example, over here I extracted the color red, and subtracted it with the rest of the plate, which resulted into giving me the blacks and whites of the plate. These blacks and white represented the alpha, white being 1 and black being 0. And with the help of the we get our alpha on which we can color grade the plate as per the alpha.

So we’ll do a shift command or control sample of a large area of the green screen in order to identify the hue of green we want to spill suppress. And I’m going to use a combination of Saturation and Green Suppression Curves with the help of the Keylight node. So I pick the color, so I can move their control points to be right centered on my target color. Because as I make adjustments it’s going to move the darkened thing off the spot. So, we’ll start by taking the Saturation down. That gets rid of some of my green spill. Then we’ll merge the difference and color correct the plate. And through this step we can color correct the plate and reduce a bit of spill.

ADVANCE & EXPERIMENTAL Compositing

NUKE: COLOR GRADE

Creating the mood and coherent sensibility by using the color palette is known as color grading. Colour grading is adjusting the image in specific ways to create a stylistic effect. For example ‘crushing’ the blacks of an image to make it feel contemporary, or taking the matched shots from a camera and tracking and lightening main characters face so that they stand out.

Grading of the plate is a process where the film scans are color graded to the look
wanted by the movie directors for their projects. Usually, these color grades are finished
by using a LUT which is used in order to enhance the mood of the videos. For example,
for getting a look of danger or horror a Dark LUT is used, where as that used for a happy
occasion is usually brighter. After the process of color grading the output is used for
plate preparation i.e., main look of the shot which is going to be carried forward in
Compositing.

The Main task of this was to color grade the dragon in such a way that it will match the background and merge it together. ‘As if it was one’ was the motive for this project. In this area, usually the best technique that we can use is, gaining the information of the color (blacks and the whites). Through analyzing this, we can match the color the object by grading it according to the background.

In the grade node we have to match the blacks and white. For doing this we have to do the following:

Pick the darkest color of the Dragon so that we can change it accordingly.
After picking the dark point, we have to lift it up according to that of the back ground. For doing this we have to pick the dark color of the background. (It has to be done the the lift setting)
Similarly, we have to pick color for white point and gain, but over here we have to get the brightest part of both. As this is going too set the overall mood/theme of the Dragon.

(Please refer to the node below)

I have done similar technique for other project (Refer to the images below). This techniques work the best for getting faster result and correcting the colors to get the best result.

ADVANCE & EXPERIMENTAL MAYA

Project MAYA : FEEL GOOD

The project for this term was to create a Satisfying video with the help of maya and its animation tool. For this i created a Mechanical Animating cube with the help of Maya Mash Tool set. With Maya Mash, artists can use to build and modify a variety of 3D shapes, including particles, 3D objects. Maya Mash is a versatile tool for creating stunning animation because it includes an extensive variety of animation options, including dynamic simulations, keyframe-based animation, and procedural animation. Artists are able to experiment with various designs thanks to its user-friendly interface and real-time feedback. For motion graphics artists and 3D animators looking to produce dynamic and compelling animations quickly, Maya Mash is a popular option.

To begin with, I created a basic shape which would be copied onto a grid that would be needed for the animation. I got this output by manipulating vertices of a box polygon, and later on with the help of maya mash tool I copied and created a repro mesh in Mash, that included this cube.

Mash Distribute Tool was used by me to copy this cube and create a grid.

Later with the help of the “Offset tool”, I flipped the repro mesh, which would be later manipulated and animated. For this instance, I rotated all this geometry at @180 degrees. After rotating, I used the fall-off. The work of this fall-off setting is that it inverts the setting that has been used is the area that we have assigned. For example, you can have a look below, and notice that, I assigned a sphere as a fall-off object, and it rotates and flips the cubes according to the graph that I have assigned to it.

After creating this animation by editing and keying the fall-off, I had to copy this grid and create it in a shape of a Cube. For getting this output, I created a new Mash network with the help of this repro mesh 1. But, I wanted to copy this newly mashed network to be the shape of a cube. Hence, I inserted the cube shape as the reference for copying. Which helped me in getting the animation copied on all sides of the cube.

After this step, as the box was too sharpy and reflected the lights in an unusual manner, I replaced the box with this newly created geo., which I obtained by booleaning a sphere and a box, and merging them together.

Along with the main machine, I created this ‘Base Machine’ with the help of a cylinder. It was a basic and simple build. For this I selected random rings of faces on to the cylinder and extruded it to for my desired shape. While tweaking various vertices and edges I got this simple but effective machine that would act like a base. For the handle, I took a disk and later selected alternate faces and extruded it accordingly. I got this shape by playing with the offset and inset in the extrude tool, and in the end I smoothen out this machine.

For Rendering, I gave the Base machine an Arnold texture. And for getting the irregular bumps, I gave this machine the bump map and added scratches to the texture. As for the main Cube, I gave Arnold texture and the preset of silver onto it.

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