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May 2011

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Halon Entertainment used its mocap set-up on the upcoming . Motion capture is breaking boundaries. No longer confined to large stages where the performance data it generates is painstakingly translated to final VFX shots, motion capture has become part of the previsualization process. It can take place outdoors and in ad hoc volumes, or shooting spaces; it offers quick and cost-effective solutions for many projects; and its realtime collaborative approach to live-action/CG pro- ductions broadens its appeal beyond VFX professionals. HALON ENTERTAINMENT At Santa Monica’s Halon Entertainment (www.halon.com), perfor- mance capture has become part of the previs process for feature films, commercials and videogames. “Traditionally, previs was done in a keyframe manner; now we’ve in- corporated performance capture and a virtual camera into the process,” says tech lead/previsualization supervisor Justin Denton.“We block out shots like we would onstage — big master shots shot with a virtual camera from many different angles. It’s more akin to an actual live-action shoot instead of a shot-by-shot feature animation process.” The change in Halon’s previs workflow happened about two years ago.“Our real reason to get into motion capture was for the virtual camera, not performance capture,” Denton admits.“A virtual camera in a volume gives you more realistic camera moves, and you can ex- periment quickly: In the hour it takes a keyframe artist to accomplish one take you could have done 50 takes with a virtual camera. Speed is very important for us.We can go through a lot of content very quickly and try out a lot of ideas.” He recalls exploring motion capture systems Halon could use to create a virtual camera.“In 2009 we bought NaturalPoint’s OptiTrack mocap system so we could put markers on a monitor and walk around in our volume and use it as a virtual camera. Other compa- nies were doing this kind of thing quite expensively,” he reports. “About six months later at SIGGRAPH we traded notes with Natu- ralPoint about what we needed as artists, and they built a plug-in for us to beta test. OptiTrack’s immensely cheaper Insight VCS system was rolled out about a year later.” Halon takes mocap and virtual camera data from OptiTrack’s ARENA software into Autodesk MotionBuilder to create a previs geared around real-world, actor-based action scenes.“If we need super- hero powers or driving or flying we go back to keyframe,” says Denton. Sometimes performance capture and keyframe are mixed in the previs. “When the base is motion capture we try to match the timing for a more realistic performance even in keyframe animation.” Halon delivers QuickTimes with minimal edits, sound and music to a project’s director. VFX studios may request MotionBuilder or Autodesk Maya files. Halon used its previs process on the upcoming feature John Carter of Mars, “which really helped everyone understand the scale differ- ence between characters,” he notes.The process was also instrumen- tal in Battleship, where it proved a good fit for director Peter Berg. “He tends to like a more cinema verite camera, so it worked really well for the project,” says Denton. The company routinely employs the previs process for car com- mercials with the virtual camera mimicking a process car or a vehicle following the hero car in running footage. “It’s easy to do long shots and lay down many takes quickly, often with the client there for real- time feedback.The director or DP can even take control of the cam- era himself,” Denton notes. Previs was also key to the Deliver Hope cinema spot directed by Noam Murro for the Halo Reach videogame.“It was a great experi- ence with the virtual camera and actor capture head to toe,”Denton says.“It delivered all the feeling Noam wanted to give to the spot.” THE THIRD FLOOR Los Angeles-based The Third Floor (www.thethirdfloorinc.com) is a previs studio founded by six digital artists who helped George Lucas design sequences for Star Wars: Episode III.Today, the company boasts over 80 artists who use computer animation and a healthy dose of cinematic knowledge to help directors visualize their scenes in advance of the rigors of production and post. “In the past, previs was perceived as a technical tool used only by VFX supervisors, but a lot of directors have come to embrace previs as a core creative process, ingesting information from all the creatives, including costume designers, cinematographers and production de- signers, and amalgamating all their choices into a cohesive design doc- ument,” says Chris Edwards, one of the founders of The Third Floor and the non-profit Previsualization Society. “Previs has become an accepted process, not only for tent-pole feature films, but for all sectors of the industry, including independent films, commercials and game cinematics.With previs, you may spend a bit more upfront, but the resulting blueprint saves you an exponential amount of money, by optimizing production across the board, ensur- ing that more of what you shoot will actually end up on screen.” The Third Floor has added motion capture capabilities to its day-to- day previs process saving “most of the hand-keyed animation for the actions that are more difficult to perform,” he explains.“We start with the hardest sequences, breaking them down, creating storyboards and animatics, setting them to music, building all of the 3D props, environ- ments and characters, and using all of our skills to arrange these ele- ments until each shot is as effective as possible.” www.postmagazine.com May 2011 • Post 17 John Carter of Mars

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