CoMMERCIAL 3D ANIMATION FOR UNIVERSAL STUDIOS OrlandO & la 2021 :
RESPONSIBILITIES: CGI/VFX Supervision and direction, final lighting, rendering & compositing.
Worked as CG/VFX Supervisor for these amazing unique animation commercials done for Universal Studios Orlando and LA, in collaboration with Pixeldust Studios & Paintbox Labs. For this show we integrated CGI test dummy heads referred to as TIMs and composited on top of footage of actors dressed as crash test dummies, displaying digitally created expressions on the CGI as the TIMs enjoyed the new theme park rides. We fabricated this super detailed 3d test dummy helmet with many intricate facial expressions in Autodesk Maya. These helmets were then 3D printed and equipped with tracking markers and then worn by actors on-site. Then our rigger replaced these 3D-printed practical helmets with CGI heads animated with expressions capturing the actor’s emotions and dialogue.
Honored for this commercial to be featured during the Superbowl 2022 and Olympics 2022!
Most initial and essential step was to seamlessly 3d track the practical helmet heads using the power of Foundry Nuke. In addition to CGI integration, lipsync animation of the TIM helmets was keyed as they voiced their reactions through the rides. Camera data was mirrored inside Nuke for all plates and thus achieved an accurate match of 3D rendered helmets. For a special ride shot splashing through water, in addition to tracking the heads, animated bubble drops and water sprays tracked on the surface of the TIM helmets were integrated.
CGI integration into the footage with accurate lighting was key to pull this off and was made possible by efficient use of 360 HDRs captured on-site. Special rigs had to be built to capture 360 videos of the environment as the ride was in motion. We would later use the 360 photographic data as image-based lighting for rendering the helmets with Redshift inside Maya. This pipeline was crucial to the photo-real compositing of helmets and helped seamlessly match the lights and reflections onto the 3D helmet. Finally all 3D Redshift rendered helmets were composited back into Nuke on top of the original plates.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS VFX BREAKDOWNS :
CoMMERCIAL 3D ANIMATION FOR UNIVERSAL HORROR NIGHTS 2000 :
RESPONSIBILTIES: CGI/VFX Supervision and direction, final lighting, rendering & compositing.
Worked as CG/VFX Supervisor for Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights promotional video in collaboration with Pixeldust Studios & Paintbox Labs. The live action shots involved digitally creating an infinite hallway of terror behind ‘Jack the Clown’, and animating 3D tarantulas walking all over an unfortunate female prisoner’s body. The spider shots involved meticulously tracking the woman’s head and face in order to create the illusion of spiders crawling on her face and eventually, into her mouth. Nuke was obvious choice for hi-end tracking and final compositing of these shots, and Autodesk Maya + with Maxon Redshift to render the spiders’ hair. For lighting, hi-res 360 HDR’s of the practical environment shot on location was means for image-based light sources. This pipeline facilitated a more accurate integration of the spiders into the footage during compositing.
For the digital hallway extension shots, an extended matte painting was created based on the foreground footage of the hallway, and Nuke’s camera projection techniques on planar 3D geometry to accurately extend the corners of the walls. Camera tracking proved to be incredibly useful for these shots. Nuke’s efficient keylight systems also came to the rescue when it came to dealing with a complex green screen-keying of the foreground – namely, the clown’s hair and body.
CoMMERCIAL 3D ANIMATION FOR UNIVERSAL HORROR NIGHTS 2022 :
RESPONSIBILITIES: CGI/VFX Supervision and direction, final lighting, rendering & compositing.
This second Horror Nights project presented several challenges including a completely digital face replacement for live actors and complex environment enhancements. For a sequence featuring a horrifying grim reaper, a pair of menacing glowing eyes was added, complete with reflections around the eye, as well as an ominous fogginess around their centers.
In a particular scene where an actor is portraying the terror of having his soul sucked out of his body, A zombie-like skin decay effect was developed. Actors face was seamlessly merged with a 3D model of a zombie head over time to greatly augment the fear factor of this shot.
In addition, several realistic effects including cracking mirrors, blood dripping down the walls, and a ghastly overflowing sink full of bubbling blood was deployed!