Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14320
Broadcast ■ ■ ■ ■ time frame and compositing the clips, some consisting of hundreds of layers, in Flame. “T e compatibility between the Autodesk creative fi nishing applications has helped us tremendously. We can easily pass entire Action setups between Flame and Smoke, allowing art- ists to better collaborate,” says M. Nicolettis. MOI’s World Cup work wasn’t just limited to the small screen. Using Maya, the artists cre- ated 3D graphics for promotional billboards and in-show stage projections for a live-theater production based on the Andrew Lloyd Web- ber musical “T e Boys in the Photograph.” T e show takes place during Ireland’s Civil War, and tells the story of the fates and for- tunes of a Belfast soccer team. It opened May 23 and runs through mid-August at the Jo- hannesburg Civic T eatre. Closing Ceremonies When asked about the most exciting aspect of working on FIFA World Cup projects, MOI’s M. Nicolettis responds, “[FIFA World Cup] has completely revitalized production in South Africa, and has brought a renewed energy and enthusiasm to virtually all market sectors. For us, a highlight was getting to go to Zurich to pitch FIFA and Host Broadcast Ser- vices (HBS) for the production of the anima- tions, teasers, break bumpers, and replay wipes that were broadcast internationally during the event. It was amazing not only to present to the heads of FIFA and HBS, but it’s also been one of the pinnacles of our careers.” T e closing-ceremony graphics were based on treatments that MOI developed for VWV, the event production company hired by the South African Organizing Committee and FIFA. Screens were placed behind performers and athletes, and 16 minutes of custom graph- ics and design elements were created to run as projections during and between acts. T e graphics were delivered both as 3200 x 3200 QuickTime animation fi les to be projected during the live event, and in HD directly to broadcasters to use as cutaways in their own edits of the closing ceremony. E. Nicolettis notes, “We have an incredible team of talent, and with the reliability of our pipeline, the artists can focus on making art, rather than getting their systems up to speed to support 2k fi les.” As this article was going to press, MOI was putting the fi nishing touches on closing-cere- Windows-32 /Windows-64 / OSX-32 /OS X-64 mony graphics and also creating identifi er clips for HBS for each of the 1800 shots of players in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. HBS is supply- ing MOI with 10-second clips of each player, which needed to be rotoscoped and composited onto a consistent FIFA-themed background, all within a span of 10 days. T e team anticipates that every Flame, Smoke, and Flint operator at MOI will composite 100 to 200 sequences per day in order to meet the 10-day turnaround window. T ese clips then will be broadcast to introduce lineups for upcoming matches both in the stadium and on television. E. Nicolettis summed up MOI’s World Cup experience: “FIFA World Cup has created a huge boon for the production, graphics, and visual eff ects industry in South Africa. T ere is a lot of airtime to fi ll, and screen space across the country requires hours of visual content. Artists at MOI have been working non-stop to contribute visual eff ects and design content. We operate like a well-oiled machine and have to keep the schedule and pipeline tight to stay on top of the current load. We’re very excited that World Cup football is bringing so much focus to South Africa and allowing us to have our work viewed on the world stage.” ■ 32-bitonly $399 High Performance CameraTracking Use SynthEyes for animated critter insertion, fixing shaky shots, virtual set extensions, making 3Dmovies, architectural previews, accident reconstruction,virtual product placement, face and body capture, andmore. Includes Stereoscopic features used in AVATAR July 2010 61