Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1505114
j u ly • a u g u s t • s e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 3 c g w 1 1 that we've written with Disney Research to stylize the flames, and then it goes back into Houdini." Pixar has been integrating machine learning into their VFX pipeline in recent years, including a denoising tool that has been utilized since the production of Toy Story 4 (2019). "We have a path traced render- er, which is Renderman, and we run it until it converges pretty well, but it's still pretty noisy," Bakshi explains. "Then we use a proprietary denoiser that's machine learning based. It's been trained on a bunch of Pixar content, and it can denoise really well." USD (Universal Scene Description), an open collaboration frame- work originally developed by Pixar, was integrated into the back- ground of the project's VFX workflow. "Our proprietary soware, Presto, uses USD in the backbone," Bakshi explains. With VFX required for every shot, the team made sure there was ample time in the production cycle to complete the full workload. "Normally that happens pretty rapidly aer animation is done, but we gave ourselves a longer window," Bakshi recalls. Director Peter Sohn was very involved with the VFX process and established an open line of communication with the team. "We had a lot of time with Pete—showing him the effects, having all the ef- fects artists in the room, talking about what was working and what wasn't, and learning what his taste was." Overall, Bakshi was thrilled to have the opportunity to work on El- emental. "I enjoyed building and working with a team of passionate, like-minded people. And then working with Pete, who is so imagina- tive, so generous, and has a real vision. It was kind of like the highlight of my career to work on something this challenging with a bunch of people that are so passionate, and so interested in doing something unique." Kendra Ruczak is the Managing Editor of CGW. The film utilized Pixar's proprietary denoising tool, which is powered by machine learning. USD was integrated into the background of the film's VFX workflow.