VizWorld.com

ABC’s new series Pan Am focuses on the glory days of American commercial aviation, so it’s no surprise that greenscreen and visual effects come into heavy play to reconstruct some of the bigger scenes of the era.  But thanks to the technology from Stargate, you may be surprised to see just how much of it actually is (as shown in the image above).

Stargate based its virtual set on historical photographs to more or less exactly match the Pam Am terminal of the day. “We built the entire set digitally in conjunction with the production designer,” explains Nicholson. “Then we optimize it. It may have 20 million polygons, so you need to cut it down so that it can be pushed through a real-time system at 24 frames per second.”

via Pan Am: retro green screen world | fxguide.

Graphics stargate studios, television, vfx

I, like many others, have fallen in love with AMC’s new show “The Walking Dead” based on the graphic novel of the same name.  The fantastic story combined with great special effects is a great entertaining piece of television.  Over at FXGuide they have an interview with some of the guys at Stargate Studios, the folks with the job of making the zombies come to life in the post-apocalyptic Atlanta.

Stargate relied mostly on Maya and After Effects for its digital work, as well as Lightwave, 3ds Max and Photoshop. Production was co-ordinated amongst its US, Canadian and Indian offices using the studio’s visual operating system to tie everything together. This enabled artists to meet tight turnarounds and offer effects as a way of speeding up production. “We like to use visual effects to save a production money,” says Nicholson. “For instance, the shot of Rick on the horse was just quickly shot on greenscreen. It was in a parking lot right next to another shoot which was convenient and could be done in a matter of an hour, which let the company move on, as opposed to having to shut down a freeway.”

via fxguide – vfx knowledge – Stargate Studios: Walking (the) Dead.

Graphics stargate studios, television, vfx

Stargate Studios offers a technology called ‘Virtual Backlot’ that incorporates motion tracking, green/blue screens, and compositing techniques that allow you to easily merge principal photography into your video shoots seamlessly.  From their description:

Stargate Studios’ Virtual Backlot™ is a proprietary technology that gives filmmakers unparalleled access to any location through a variety of techniques. These can range from totally immersive sequences shot entirely on green screen to simple set extensions that marry into principal photography.

The common thread between all the variations of the Virtual Backlot™ is that it has been designed as a seamless and unobtrusive addition to the first unit. The goal is to enhance the story as well as solve production issues. Each production has unique challenges and needs and the Stargate Virtual Backlot™ aims to meet those challenges and needs in a creative and cost effective manner.

They’ve posted a video showing how it works, including shots from several shows you’ve probably seen (I recognized Ugly Betty, Monk, and Grey’s Anatomy) that I never would have suspected were edited to such degree.  See the video after the break.

Updated 2/23/2010: The Vimeo video included originally is now password protected.  Replaced with an HD Youtube Equivalent. Read more…

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“Defying Gravity” follows the lives of a small group of astronauts onboard an international spaceship in the year 2052, and obviously contains hundreds of special effects shots due to the environment.  Several of those shots were done by Stargate Studios, and fxguide sits down with visual effects supervisor Sam Nicholson about some of the more impressive effects.

All the ships – the landers – were computer generated. So a lot of these shots included visual effects photography rather than having everything computer generated. Then matte paintings were done in Photoshop, 3D ships were done in Maya with everything blended together in After Effects. We like to try and put as many different techniques into a shot as we can so that it doesn’t look too sterile. If you computer-generate clouds they can be too predictable. But if you use a liquid nitrogen tank you have no idea what that thing is going to do!

via fxguide – visual effects news – Grey’s Anatomy in Space: Defying Gravity.

Graphics maya, stargate studios, television, vfx