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WORKFLOW 32 ■ CGW M a r ch / A p r i l 2 014 with the perfect details that I needed to project onto my 3D model. The CG crown moldings, pillars, sconces, skylights, and railings got their texture from the high-res digital stills shot on location. The casino was branded throughout with logos provided by the CSI art department. Just like a real Las Vegas hotel, every playing card, ashtray, gaming table, and sign along the way needed to display the identity created by the writers. Seeing The Premier logo everywhere really tied things together. Toward the end of the camera's run through the casino, we briefly paused over a roulette table, where we get our first clue that we are not at real-world scale. Blood that landed on the exterior of the miniature, during the murder, has finally seeped through the model. It drops from the ceiling onto the gaming table surface in front of the camera, causing an obviously out- of-scale splash. It is only then that we tilt up to see a single, giant, dead person's eye looking into the casino model as though it were a dollhouse. Artist Jason Maynard used Next Limit's RealFlow to simu- late the fluids needed for the blood splashing off the table. This proved to be very difficult because we actually wanted it to look out of scale. RealFlow creates very realistic fluid simula- tions, and we were going for a somewhat nonrealistic look. Maynard played with scale, viscosity, and different densities until we finally hit on what we needed. Bringing it Home Both the full-CG interior and the now augmented miniature exterior were joined together using Eyeon's Fusion 6. Later, I layered the various render passes and added volu- metric rays pouring through all the exits with lens flares to make the darkened interior feel deserted and ghostly. There were several "Easter eggs" hidden throughout the shot in homage to the 300th episode. In fact, Director Alec Smight placed the number 300 (or references to 300) through- out the entire episode. The winning number marker on the roulette table was actually a CG version of the commemorative coin that the producers gave to all the cast and crew as a gift to mark the occasion. All told, the shot ended up being 959 frames. That's about 10 seconds longer than we had planned, but the producers at CSI decided the shot needed to be exactly as long as it needed to be. Editorial tightened things up to make room for the additional screen time, and the result was an unforgettable opening shot to kick off a very special episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. ■ CGW Eddie Robison (www.inhancevfx.com) has been nominated for a VES Award and Emmy, and has worked on feature films, music videos, games, commercials, and over 30 TV shows. These are some of the exciting topics that will be covered in the May/June issue of Computer Graphics World magazine Machinima: In this burgeoning world, content creators use real-time game engines to create cinematic productions. CG on TV: Enter the storybook-themed television shows where VFX play a magical role. Creature Feature: CGI helps bring dragons to animated life. VFX On Screen: A look at the latest techniques in visual effects. Also, don't miss CGW's coverage on education and training, as well as reviews and product highlights. COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD NEXT ISSUE CONTACT YOUR SALES REP FOR MORE DETAILS. Mari Kohn, Director of Sales 818.291.1153 or mkohn@copcomm.com Lisa Black, Corporate Marketing & Advertising Sales Executive 818-660-5828 or lblack@copcomm.com