Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1489831
o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 c g w 1 9 beginning of the short, where the light wraps across Torrin's face, to the end, where he's murdered his entire crew and his face is half-lit." TOOLS OF THE TRADE Specialized lighting tools made it possible to apply Fincher's dis- tinctive live-action aesthetic to an animated workflow. "Unlike live action, animation does not oen leave much room for on-set hap- py accidents or instinctive decisions — everything is thought about, planned, and calculated," explains Cambier. The team utilized V-Ray to bridge the gap between live action and CG animation. A physically-based renderer developed by Cha- os, V-Ray has received both an Academy Award and an Engineering Emmy for its role in the widespread adoption of ray-traced rendering in film and television. "Chaos have been our partners in crime for a very long time," notes Cambier. "Even David Fincher's relationship with V-Ray goes way back: his video for "Only" by Nine Inch Nails [created with Digital Domain in 2005] was the first time V-Ray's photorealistic ray tracing was used in a commercial project." The team leveraged V-Ray's Light Selects and Physical Camera Exposure controls to bring intuitive live-action lighting and camera movement to the episode's animation workflow. Blur Studio also developed Light Rig, a proprietary tool for Nuke that mimics the way a cinematographer controls lighting on a live-action set. The tool interactively controls the exposure of each individual light without requiring re-rendering, which makes it pos- sible for the environment, characters, and fluid sims to be lit in real time. "It allows you to turn off lights for all of your render elements," Karnik explains. "So you can quickly see what it would look like if you turned off the key, for example." This allowed Fincher and the team to easily experiment and find the precise look they were seeking without the challenge of extensive render times. CRAFTING AN IMMERSIVE SEASCAPE A crucial environmental element of the episode is its treacherous seascape setting. The animation of the waves needed to feel immer- sive to deliver the full emotional impact of the story. The team utilized V-Ray's infinite VRayPlane tool to define the horizon lines throughout each sequence and maintain a constant sense of realism. "Everything in 'Bad Travelling' happens on a boat at sea," explains Cambier. "This represents a relatively contained space, so we knew that our representation of parallax and scale was key to making the final render look realistic." Aer defining the horizon lines, the team tackled the task of cre- ating the constant swaying motion of the ocean's waves. They had the option of swaying the entire ship and its contents — including the characters' clothing and hair — or simply moving everything around the ship to create the illusion of swaying. "The choice was quickly made to sway all that is around the boat, as it would have been a nightmare to animate everything happening on the deck," recalls Cambier. "Using the VRayPlane was essential for this, too. It allowed us to do some simple coding to include and snap that infinite ocean in all our renders, from animation to lighting, all the way to the final comp." Kendra Ruczak is the Managing Editor of CGW. Blur Studio's Light Rig proprietary tool for Nuke mimics the way a cinematographer controls lighting on a live-action set.