Post Magazine

October 2011

Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/44580

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 5 of 51

Bits & Pieces Creative Differences shows how dinosaurs roamed Earth L OS ANGELES — Discovery Channel recently premiered a four-part series that gives viewers realistic insight into a world that was once inhabited by dinosaurs. Dinosaur Revolution was pro- duced by LA-based Creative Differences (www.creat- vdiff.com) and Erik Nelson (Cave of Forgotten Dreams, reoccurring story lines and characters, the other two episodes stand on their own. Creative Differences mod- eled 83 unique dinosaurs for the series, and through texture variations, that number ultimately rose to 138 distinct creatures. The studio used Pixologic's ZBrush for modeling and Autodesk Maya for animation. Further detail to the creatures was added in Hagon adds editing talent L More than 80 different models were created for the show using ZBrush. Grizzly Man), and incorporates the latest in scientific research to show the lives of dinosaurs through engag- ing story lines and characters. The series transports viewers to various places and points in time to highlight behaviors, the inner work- ings of T-Rex's nuclear family, and the underwater birthing of a huge marine reptile. At press time, the studio was putting the finishing touches on the series, which uses live action, CG char- acters, and the occasional miniature set. According to lead VFX supervisor Douglas Martin, live-action backgrounds were acquired using a Sony F23, recording 4:4:4 to solid state media. He says many tests were conducted before ultimately going with the F23. The more budget-conscious cameras, he notes, tended to present rolling shutter issues. "The more we talked about the look, the more we realized we wanted it to have an epic film look." Footage was shot in northern California and on the Canary Islands. Of the series' four hour-long episodes, two have Adobe Photoshop. After Effects and Red Giant's Col- orista was used for compositing and color grading. The miniature sets were shot using a Red One camera, and an Iconix camera was used for an under- ground tunnel sequence. A number of outside VFX vendors contributed to the series in order to meet the broadcast deadline, including Mokko in Montreal, which collaborated on two shows, and Hawaii Animation Studios, which han- dled vignettes. Creative Differences' in-house divi- sion, Sauce FX, also provided VFX services. Heavy compositing was performed using Nuke, and some of the outside vendors used Side Effects Houdini for animation. Audio for the series was posted at Warner Bros. and Tree Falls Post. Artists such as Ricardo Delgado, David Krentz, Iain McCaig, Mishi McCaig, Stephen Platt and Pete Von Sholly all contributed to the series. By Marc Loftus Watertron Digital Media formed in the UK L ONDON — Watertron Digital Media (www.watertron.com) has opened in London offering post services to film, Web and social media clients. The studio was founded by Nicolas Cookies and Matt Williams (pictured), who bring com- bined backgrounds as business owners in media, film, public relations, marketing, Web development, photography and publishing. Watertron recently completed building two Mac suites and one PC room. A 3D suite is also in the works. The studio is using Final Cut Pro for editorial along with Apple's Color for grading. The PC suite is outfitted with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects for visual effects. 4 Post • October 2011 www.postmagazine.com green tip "Changing your light bulbs is old news, but people are still having a hard time finding nice ones with good quality light. Check out our UnscrewAmerica bulb review for help: http://unscrewamerica.org/bulbreviews.html" — Lesley Chilcott Producer/Earth Advocate ONDON — Hagon (www.hagon.tv), a boutique editing house set up by ex-Final Cut NY director Alex Hagon back in March, has signed editor Jono Griffith (pictured) to its roster. His cred- its include work on commercials for Adi- das, Trident and Pepsi. Hagon spent two years as an editor at Final Cut, London, and in 2006 moved to the US to take on the role of director at Final Cut's New York office. Four years later he returned to the UK to start up on his own facility. His credits include work on Gatorade's Wade, MasterCard's Favorite Things and Electrolux's Table. Hagon continues to work in the US through Union Editorial's New York and Los Angeles offices. The team also includes producer Zoe Hockings, who joined the studio from Final Cut, London, where she spent six years as a producer and director. Before that, she was a producer at special effects post boutique Smoke and Mirrors.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Post Magazine - October 2011