Effects Contest

There's a new contest over at VFXTalk.com, they give you the scenario and the prekeyed footage, and you gotta build the shot. Really sweet, and I found out about it in time, so I got a little less than 2 months to put it together, and it will be a good test of every single one of my skills. Plus it's an effect shot based on the new Star Trek.

The scene will be simple, but here's what I think I will need to accomplish:
1. Tack real-world camera, model that camera into After Effects and 3DS Max.
2. In 3DS Max, build terrain and model a futuristic snow scooter and small fighter craft.
3. Using the real-world camera model, animate all models into a single sequence.
3. In 3DS Max, build blizzard volumetrics and particles.
4. Render out all four animation assets: Terrain, both Models, and volumetrics
5. In After Effects, composite all four animation assets plus provided footage, add in background elements like mountains/clouds/etc and additional volumetrics.
6. Add in fighter craft elements like lasers/missiles.
7. Add in explosion elements and lighting.
8. Add in motion blur, camera shake.
9. Render out final sequence.
10. In Premiere, add in sounds/music.
11. Final Render and Review!

In the real world, almost each step would be a separate person/group within a studio. So there's a lot of work involved. The hardest step will be the futuristic snow vehicle and small fighter, since I've never considered myself to be good at modelling and the contest rules call for all original models. But if I can get the models and the terrain done, it should be all downhill from there!

The camera will be the most important part because it will set the base realism. Basically what I do is build a small set with trackers which I will film with a real camera simulating the movements that I want in the scene. Then I motion track the footage and apply the data to a camera, and viola, a virtual camera with real-world movement. I've done it before where I took footage shot on a tripod and used a separate camera to build a small but steady camera shake to give the impression it was hand-held.

Finally some real world practice, this is going to be fun!

Old and New

I was randomly thinking the other day about my computer build and what I wanted to do with it, when I realized that the oldest component in my computer is my case. I bought this case 9 years ago, and I've had more than a dozen different computer builds in it. I have case badges dated back to the original AMD Athlon! If I remember, the oldest build I had in this computer was a Celeron 300a with 256mb RAM.

I'm the kind of guy to stay a few steps behind the elite computer, on purpose. I like get the most for my money, and there are certain dollar limits that I will spend on each component.

I've had the current config since August 2008, built around the original quad-core Q6600. The new processors (I7 and I5) while impressive, were either too far outside my price range (i7 920 a great cpu for the price, but other components required are expensive) or didn't offer enough performance boost (i5 750 doesn't have HyperThreading) over my current cpu.

Then I came across a surprising discovery. The new Lynnfield Xeon processors, which have Hyperthreading, were only $40 more than the i5 750, and with cheap(er) Socket 1156 components turned out to be a great build! So I just picked up a Xeon 3440, new Gigabyte P55 motherboard, and 8gb of DDR3 ram, for just under $600. Awesome.

For a while I had a little desire to upgrade my case, but then I figured that I actually liked that "history", and being able to look back on my life and see where I was. The case certainly brings back memories, good and bad times in Atlanta, it survived a fire and survived in my car when it was totalled by a runaway DOT semi.

So, I think I'll keep the old look, after all it's the inside that counts :)

Keeping busy

I ordered a studio light kit this week and it just arrived. Three stands with 4500k lights and 2 umbrellas. I did a preliminary setup and took some pictures and the results were predictably amazing, a whole lot of light really helps filling in scenes, and now I can accurately test out some green screen shots with better lighting, less shadow, and better skin illumination.

I also submitted an entry to Greyscale Gorilla's "5 Second Project" that they have every now and then. The theme for this contest was "FAIL", so I whipped up this little animation and it turned out pretty well for my first submission into the professional realm of motion graphics.

Drink and Fly You FAIL from Dave Spooner on Vimeo.

If it weren't for a lack of physical space...

It's unfortunate and frustrating to be limited by things outside of one's control. In my situation, I am limited by the amount of space I have to work with. I've been trying to move out of my tiny 1 bedroom condo and into a bigger place. When I've needed to do green screen work on my own, I have to unwrap my material and drape it over walls/book shelves/TVs/etc. in my living room, and move furniture around just to get the shot. And I can't leave it like that, so I have to tear down as soon as I'm done. It's even more frustrating because I have several ideas and Proof of Concepts that I have in my head that require extensive green screen.

I pray, and hope, and wish to finally move out of here into a bigger place. I have huge plans to build a studio/screening room, but until then, I gotta make do with what little space I have.

The next Proof of Concept that I wanted to do, was to put together a Sin City/The Spirit style action sequence depicting the hero of our last two films; Abraham Lincoln. Jumping across buildings, running on rooftops, all flash and eye-candy to catch his nemesis Stephen Douglas. I chuckle every time I think about the sillouette of Abraham Lincoln on a night background standing superhero-vigilant style on a rooftop; the protector of Bank Cards everywhere!

Before I film this though, I am currently capturing status shots of building rooftops to be used as elements. Downtown Wheaton has proven quite useful for this, as well as Chicago skyline backdrops I shot a couple years ago. I'm going for iconic, comic book, superhero action. Something people wouldn't expect, and something we might be able to use to finish up our Missing Bank Card trilogy, and hopefully win first place at the contest this year!

New year, new image

My new year's resolution this year was to solidify my image in the independant filmmaking and special effects scene. I decided to redesign and rename my logo, and put up a website dedicated to the business and building contacts.

I present: Angler.digital

While MindBend studios will still be used for more generalized filmmaking purposes like videography, Angler.digital will be behind all the visual effects and motion graphics.

Let's ring in the new year!

Creative Association

To me, there's more to just the name of a studio, or media group, or creative collective. There's association. Either good or bad, it's there. What's the first thing you think of when you hear the studio name "Bad Robot"? For me, it's Star Trek 2009, which is a fantastic movie and instantly associates Bad Robot with something great. "Giant Killer Robots" with Fantastic Four; "Industrial Light and Magic" with Star Wars and Indiana Jones; and now "Weta Digital" with Lord of the Rings (and now Avatar).

MindBend Studios has been my cover name for all my creative endeavors since the beginning, since around late 1999. I still like that name and I still plan on using it. However, I have felt the need for a different identity when it comes to motion graphics and visual effects in film, something that raises an eyebrow and causes a question from the viewer. It doesn't need to be epic, or cause the viewer to say "OMG!! That's awesome!", actually I would prefer it not to. It just needs to be able to stir a double-take, to show something to the viewer that is unexpected. That's enough to take interest, to associate everything that follows to that first unexpected moment.

This year is going to be a year full of changes both professional and personal, and I think I'm going to enter this new year under the guise of "Angler Digital", although I'm not 100% on this. I'm already working on a graphic that involves the Angler's lure swinging across the screen to reveal the "Angler Digital" logo. This is definately something that will make people say "W... what?".

Kicking off the new year...

2010 hasn't even started yet and I'm already going through a whirlwind of various projects.

The producer of our last film, Quantum Immortality, is also a popular Chicago radio DJ, and he's called upon me to create some graphics and promo material for a live "top 25" countdown show this New Years Eve. Unfortunately he called me while I was on vacation in Minnesota, so we just got together for the first time today to discuss this project. So, now I'm rushing to get it all done, though I shouldn't have any problems getting it done, rendering it will be the most time consuming and I already have the design laid out.

In other news, before I left for vacation I had a one-on-one with a director that I met in my film group. He's looking for someone to do special effects for several projects he has lined up starting next year, and he was really impressed with my work so far, so there's a very good chance I'll be working with him early next year.

And other things are really starting to shape my Film career, and making me really thrilled to be a resident of the Chicagoland area. The largest studio outside of Hollywood is being built really close to me and should be ready sometime in 2010. A friend of mine from my film group knows the guy responsible for bringing this studio here, and he's worked for Digital Kitchen and on some big movies like Terminator Salvation. I am super excited about this!