During the summer of 2019, I had the opportunity to intern at Falcon's Treehouse Creative Group in Orlando, Florida, specifically in their Digital Media Division. Falcon's Treehouse is renowned for their work in the Theme Park industry. As a 3D Generalist Intern, my role involved expanding my knowledge of the entire pipeline. I had the privilege of collaborating with every artist on the team, learning from their expertise and enhancing my skills. I actively participated in animation dailies and critiques alongside the leads and supervisors. Not only did I contribute to producing turntables for characters and working on a shot for their attraction reel, but I also had the chance to assist with various contracted projects.
Feel free to explore Falcon's Treehouse website here!
THOR SMASH
SHOT AND BREAKDOWN
Tools :
Maya | Nuke | Houdini | Redshift
My contribution:
I was responsible for the set layout, adjusting textures to fit within the same world, camera animation, lighting, rendering, and compositing. The shot was rendered with Redshift in both Maya and Houdini.
The models, character animation, character textures, and Houdini FX were done by the artists at Falcon's.
About the Project:
Under the mentorship of my CG supervisor and artistic leads, I was granted creative freedom to produce a complete shot for the company's Avengers: Battle of Ultron Attraction Reel. Being a Marvel enthusiast, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with some of my favorite characters, including Thor, Iron Man, Ultron, Hulk, and Captain America!
My work is featured here on their project reel and their company's character reel.
Challenges:
This project presented numerous challenges that pushed me beyond my expectations. As a 3D Generalist, I found myself involved in every aspect of the pipeline, which proved to be more demanding than anticipated. Working with ShotGrid helped to maintain organization while transferring my shot between different stages of the pipeline, but it took some time to adapt. I encountered various troubleshooting and problem-solving tasks, such as handling animation exports and imports, resolving texture map issues, matching lighting in both Maya and Houdini, and compositing special effects. Mastering the use of vfx terminology and effectively communicating my requirements to artists earlier in the pipeline played a pivotal role in successfully completing my shot.
During my internship, my CG Supervisor imparted valuable knowledge on leveraging the 3D capabilities of Nuke. I acquired skills in using cards to project effects like dust and lightning within my shot, employing rotopaint to manipulate elements in 3D space, executing matte painting techniques, and utilizing warping to manipulate sky movement instead of rendering it in Maya.
Another significant challenge I encountered was learning lighting and rendering in Redshift. Prior to my internship, I had only used Redshift on one occasion, but over the course of three months, I developed a fondness for it. I gained proficiency in utilizing render layers and also rendering with Redshift in Houdini.
Compositing this project in Nuke was likely the most extensive endeavor I had ever undertaken. Given the complexity of the shot, my Nuke script became quite extensive, incorporating numerous layers. I also had the opportunity to utilize Cryptomatte for compositing individual components of the scene, particularly when achieving a balanced result was paramount.
Final Thoughts:
Everything I learned in this shot really helped me understand the process of how a shot travels down the pipeline and what kind of organization it takes to make it happen smoothly. I was also glad to be exposed to different techniques and methods of doing things like lighting and compositing.
CHARACTER TURNTABLES
Tools :
Maya | Nuke | Houdini | Redshift
About the Project:
During the later stages of my internship, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to choose a specific area of the pipeline to specialize in and dedicate my focus for the remaining duration. Developing a profound fondness for Lighting and Compositing, I decided to work in that department. At the time, the company was in the process of rendering turntables for all the characters created since its inception. I was entrusted with the responsibility of lighting, rendering, and compositing multiple turntables.
One of the initial shots assigned to me featured a mythical fairy named Slaugh from their project, Battle for Eire. In addition to handling the lighting and compositing aspects, I was also given the task of posing the character. They provided me with references from the actual project, enabling me to replicate the desired pose. This experience allowed me to utilize the character rig to establish the desired mood and atmosphere.