RF Animation LLC » VFX Work

2009 Demo Reel

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:30:27 +0000

Visual Effects Demo Reel, 2009- CLICK TO PLAY

My 2009 Demo Reel… including some great new work from “The Guardian” and other projects. For animation work please contact me directly.

Got a fast connection? View or Download a much higher quality copy of my Demo Reel

Want more specifics? View a detailed but slightly out of date Demo Reel Shot Breakdown as a PDF.

Legal: Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution 3.0″ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What Can I Do For You?

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:09:28 +0000

Samples of Available Services- Click to Play!

What can I do for you?

Visual effects work can be confusing, and sometimes directors don’t appreciate what can really be done. I’ve worked on everything from removing pimples on teenage actors faces, to skydiving ninjas filmed entirely on green screen, and even rampaging computer generated dragons.

The overall goal is always the same- to help to tell a story, and to improve the production value of your film as it’s perceived by your audience. Sometimes small changes, like removing distracting background elements or skin blemishes, can go a long way to making your film look top-notch. You may have a story element that would be unsafe, impractical, or even impossible to shoot (rampaging dragon torching a medieval village, anyone?) Or you may just benefit from getting the weather conditions you want, or by getting that night shot during a less-expensive daytime shoot.

I’ve decided to create a longer showreel exhibiting some of the options, set into broad categories. A lot of these shots aren’t the kind of thing that would necessarily make it onto my main demo reel. They’re here to help you understand what I offer, and maybe stir some ideas about what I can do for your film. The reel is long, and it’ll get longer as I think of and add more examples!

In the end, though, your imagination is the limit.

For more information or to inquire about your project’s specific needs, please contact me directly.

Want a slicker, quicker presentation of my work? View online or download a much higher quality copy of my Demo Reel.

Legal: Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution 3.0″ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

CG Donkey Head Replacement

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:23:09 +0000

If Mr. Ed were a donkey, and computer generated, and sold used cars…

Recently, together with my partners at BluFire Studios, I had the opportunity to work on a series of commercials for display before films in movie theaters as well as eventual TV broadcast. The idea was to create a true “jackass” of a used car salesman- in this case quite literally, since he’s a humanized donkey.

Really poor customer service... Click to play

Donkey at work- Click to play

The project was a very fun challenge. Our project manager, Ammon Jones, did a fantastic job of planning the shoot and managing the schedule and assets. I handled the matchmoving or tracking (as needed for the shot), rotoscoping, and compositing. I also took care of 3D translation and export, since the donkey was created by Mikhail Merkurieff in Maya and shaded, lit, and rendered by Matt Hoffman in Cinema4D.

For tracking, I used SynthEyes whenever there was sufficient movement to allow for a solid object matchmove. I tracked based on points around the collar, since that’s where we were worried about the mesh matching properly. In most shots, however, there was too little information to reliably use or even need a 3D matchmove, so instead I chose to work more quickly by stabilizing the shot in Monet. Mikhail could then animate to stable footage and I would then reapply the tracking information to the final render while setting up the composite. It worked perfectly, and saved us a ton of time.

I’ve only included two shots as samples of three commercials with 11 total shots.

“The Guardian” VFX Supervision

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:05:25 +0000

This was a fantastically fun project- the opening six and a half minutes of an upcoming John Lyde feature film, completed as a technical proof-of-concept. I had the opportunity to serve as the lead artist and VFX supervisor for BluFire Studios on the project, which was a great challenge, especially since it incorporated over a hundred shots- and the entire project was finished in 160 working hours. That meant getting multiple shots done every available day, all while still maintaining the style and quality we were seeking to demonstrate!

The point of the demo was to showcase speed, style, and quality. Besides completing VFX work in 160 total creative work hours, the entire short was shot in a single day (with a few wire shots done the next morning) on a small greenscreen stage. There are absolutely no sets, locations, or stock footage in the entire short: everything is faked.

The skydiving sequence was by far the most time consuming, since everey shot is a unique setup. I created the environment in Maya using camera projections from still photos onto basic geometry, then added fluid clouds. The footage was matchmoved in SynthEyes, which served as the basis for larger camera moves inside of Maya.

Preparing to jump- Environment from photographs taken at an air museum- Click to play

Skydiving- Fully CG environment- Click to play

Skydiving- Maya fluid clouds- Click to play

Skydiving- Fully CG Environment- Click to play

Gliding past CG mountains- Click to play

The fight scene and dialogue portion of the film moved much more quickly. Once a few shots were done, I was able to use them as a template for the subsequent shots. I just needed to do a unique key for each shot, usually in Primatte, position the matte paintings properly, and adjust blurs, levels, etc. as needed. These shots were done at a rate of about twelve a day, on average.

In the final stage of the project I applied a stylized color correction to each of the shots. The skydiving shots were designed to be very warm and saturated, while the challenge in the nighttime sequence was to keep some skin tones in the footage.

Matte Painting Graveyard- Click to play

Stitched ground from stills- Click to play

More ground interaction- Click to play

Slow motion- Click to play

Fight scene sample- Click to play

Final blow- Click to play

Overall, I’m very pleased with the finished result. I think when people see the short they’ll enjoy the look and quality level- even if they don’t know that it was done so quickly and with such a small team! It was a fun opportunity, and I look forward to working on the complete film.

The shots here are displayed with permission and thanks to the kindness of director John Lyde. ‘The Guardian’ is property of Guardian Films LLC.

Additional Work Samples

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:46:53 +0000

Head Replacement for a series of film and television commercials

You’ll find here samples of work that don’t fit neatly into the Film or Television categories. Due to rights issues, I’ve only included work that I did directly for clients or for myself. You will see this section grow very soon.

Some of these are independent short films, like the Sundance Film Festival selection “Der Ostwind” or director John Cheney’s film “Iron Curtain”. A few are commercials or corporate videos. You’ll also see a few shots I did for fun, to test out an idea I had on my mind, or to develop my skills in a new software package.

Shot Samples and Notes

(Click on the thumbnail images to play video samples in a pop-up window.)

CG Face Replacement

Mocap matchmoving in PFTrack.
3D face replacement geometry in Maya.
Composited in Nuke and AfterEffects.
Footage courtest of FXPhD.
Check out the breakdown!

Dynamic Simulation

Wall Collapse (splitscreen and breakdown!)
Modelling in Maya, dynamics in RealFlow.
Composited in AfterEffects.
Check out the breakdown!

Torso Replacement

Skeletal Torso (Splitscreen)
Work in progress.
Matchmoving, CG torso, particles, composite.
Tracking in PFTrack, rotos in Mocha.
Spinal skeleton courtesy of Mercenary Arts.
Footage from FXPhD.

Environment Cleanup

“Shanghai, 1939″ (Splitscreen)
Removed all foreground people.
Retained parallax.
Added tank and smoke.
Rotoscoped and added in man with cart.
Footage from FXPhD.

Miniature Composite

Oil Rig
Matchmove and composite, project completed in Nuke, Fusion, and AfterEffects.
Tracking in PFTrack and Mocha.
Larger version available here.
Miniature footage and renders from FXPhD.

CG Location Establisher

Iron Curtain
Models, shaders, textures, renders, composite.
‘Iron Curtain’ is a short film by director John Cheney.

Der Ostwind

Der Ostwind Concept
Final film selected for screening at Sundance Film Festival.
Models, textures, animation, effects, renders, composites.

Helicopter Crash

Helicopter Crash
Composite and all 3D.
Environment and cockpit created using Maya camera projections.
Running men footage from FXPhD, stock helicopter purchased online.
Check out the shot breakdown here.
Larger version here.

Burning Ship

Australian Pearl Harbor
Composite, digital matte painting, audio.
Check out the shot breakdown here.
Larger version here.
Location plate from Second Wind Films.

Television Work Overview

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:34:07 +0000

Matchmoving and crowd enhancement for "Lifeless"

Recently, I had the opportunity to work on several episodes of ABC’s series “Pushing Daisies”. The project was intense, with tight deadlines and some ambitious effects. It was a real opportunity and a learning experience.
I’ve also had work shown on the History Channel series “UFO Files”, the Discovery Channel series “Future Weapons”, and a privately funded independent series, “Lifeless”. I also recently helped the Navy complete a promotional piece for television detailing some of their efforts to use naval technology to help research shipwrecks. The documentary ended up winning a 2009 Gold Screen “Award of Excellence” for government media.

Below you’ll find my current television filmography, with links to IMDB for the various projects, plus samples of some of the work that I am allowed to publicly share.

Current Filmography

“Pushing Daisies”

ABC (2007)

Episodes: Pie-lette, Dummy, The Fun in Funeral

“UFO Files”

History Channel (2004)

Episodes: Pilot Sightings, Red Alert, The Dragon Sea, UFOs of the ’70s

“Lifeless”

Independent (2007)

Episodes: 1, 2, and 3

“Future Weapons”

Discovery Channel (2007)

Episodes: Season 3.1 Opening Round, Season 3.3 Close Protection

“Partnership Runs Deep”

US Navy (2008)

Limited broadcasts

Single Episode

Shot Samples and Notes

(Click on the thumbnail images to play video samples)

Fort McHenry

“Footage from Partnership Runs Deep”
Matchmove, digital matte painting, renders, composite, audio.
Footage from Second Wind Films.
Detailed Breakdown of this shot.

Partnership Runs Deep

“Partnership Runs Deep”
Digital matte painting, composite.
Work for Second Wind Films and the US Navy.

Partnership Runs Deep

“Partnership Runs Deep”
Digital matte painting, composite.
Work for Second Wind Films and the US Navy.

Partnership Runs Deep

“Partnership Runs Deep”
Digital matte painting, composite.
Work for Second Wind Films and the US Navy.

Lifeless

“Lifeless”
Matchmoving, keying, composite.
Work for Rising Pictures.

Lifeless

“Lifeless”
Matchmoving, keying, composite.
Work for Rising Pictures.

LWRC International

“Future Weapons”
This shot is similar to my shots as used on the show.
Renders and composite.
Work for LWRC International

“Dragon Hunter” VFX Supervision

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:04:59 +0000

Recently I had the opportunity to work as the VFX supervisor for a small, independent fantasy film called “Dragon Hunter”. The project was ambitious, but operating within a very tight deadline. It was a fantastic opportunity to test our pipeline on a large project, which even included numerous shots with a a full CG character (what good dragon film doesn’t?) In the end, we completed a significant number of shots with a team of only three artists. Below I’ve included some samples of the work that we were able to provide to the client. I’ve also created a breakdown of one of the shots in the film.

Dragon charge- See below for video links

Roar

Dragon Hunter – Roar
VFX Supervision, 3D exports, render, composite.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Dragon Charge

Dragon Hunter – Dragon charge
VFX Supervision, 3D exports, render, composite.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Castle digital matte

Dragon Hunter
- Castle digital matte
Work in progress- shot not yet finalled
Created and composited all elements
Digital matte created in Photoshop, elements composited in AfterEffects.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Human Torch

Dragon Hunter – Human torch
Work in progress- shot not yet finalled
Tracking, compositing, and time remapping of flames.
Cast light on actor and environment created in AfterEffects.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Clouded Eyes

Dragon Hunter
- Clouded eyes
Work in progress- shot not yet finalled
Planar tracking of eyes and pupils in Mocha.
Effect and compositing in AfterEffects.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Valley Day-for-Night

Dragon Hunter – Valley day-for-night
Work in progress- shot not yet finalled
Color correction and compositing in AfterEffects.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Dragon Stomp

Dragon Hunter – Stomp
VFX Supervision, 3D exports, render, composite.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Flaming Breath

Dragon Hunter – Fire breath
VFX Supervision, 3D exports, render, composite.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Victory

Dragon Hunter – Victory
VFX Supervision, 3D exports,matchmoving.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Sunset

Dragon Hunter – Sunset
VFX Supervision, 3D exports, render, composite.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Air Attack

Dragon Hunter – Air attack
VFX Supervision, 3D exports, render, composite.
Work for Dragonhunter LLC by RF Animation LLC. Displayed here by permission of director Steve Shimek and Dragonhunter LLC.

Film Work Overview

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:44:16 +0000

I’ve currently worked on seventeen films. My feature film work includes “Forever Strong”, “The Game Plan” (a Disney film starring the Rock), “Dragon Fire” (starring Danny Glover), and “Lovewrecked” (an ABC Family Original Movie starring Amanda Bynes).

Other films include “Red Riding Hood” from “Grease” and “Blue Lagoon” director Randall Kleiser (a technical demo film that was some of the first film work with the Viper digital camera), “Passage to Zarahemla” from author Chris Heimerdinger, and the LDS Church film “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration”. I also worked on a Michael Landon Jr. film, “The Redemption of Sarah Cain”.

More recently I had the great opportunity to be VFX supervisor for a small, independent fantasy film called “Dragon Hunter”. It was a fantastic challenge, given the limited time and resources, and a great chance to stretch and grow.

Unfortunately, due to copyright concerns, I am unable to publicly post my work from the majority of these films. Also, it ought to be noted that a few of the earlier films listed here were through my previous employer, Sandman Studios.

Current Filmography

Dragon Fire (2010)

A Root Beer Christmas (2010)

Orcs! (2009)

You’re So Cupid! (2010)

Christmas Angel (2010)

Father in Israel (2009)

Dragon Hunter (2009)

Minor Details (2009)

Errand of Angels (2008)

Forever Strong (2008)

The Game Plan (2007)