Post Magazine

December 2015

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www.postmagazine.com 35 POST DECEMBER 2015 and it always backfires." OPPORTUNITIES: "TV had been awe- some lately with all the new content on Amazon, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, MTV. It's super high-quality work," says Collorafice. "We've shifted gears away from features to TV and Web content now." "Every show requires VFX at some level, even if it's not a superhero fantasy world," adds Smith. THREATS: "People who set up budgets and time frames don't understand what it takes to do the work we do," says Smith. "A very ambitious project may not allow enough time in post or doesn't get VFX involved at the start, only when they go to post and we're expected to fix things." "A new trend in editorial for split screens means we have to seamlessly lock two takes together, which were probably shot handheld," says Collora- fice. "That kind of shot can be harder than any other shot in the show, and there's no budget for it because it wasn't intended to be a VFX shot." Smith agrees, "Budgets don't take into account the unforeseen: split screens, continuity for cosmetic fixes. Sometimes a VFX house will need to take on 20-30 extra shots within the original budget." OUTLOOK FOR 2016: "There will be contin- ued growth in the field because of all the different venues for content," says Smith. "ShutterPunch made a big equip- ment upgrade this year, investing in a bigger server, and we'll be getting new Mac computers to help with the latest increases in 4K resolution projects," Collorafice says. "All entertainment ven- ues want to move to that next level of resolution, and we're adjusting to that," says Smith. RAY DI CARLO Executive Producer/ Co-Owner Bent Image Lab Portland, OR www.bentimagelab.com Bent Image Lab is a multi-technique animation studio whose clients include Nike, AT&T, Cartoon Network, Novartis, Rice Krispies, General Mills, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. STRENGTHS: "Emerging technologies are creating a bigger marketplace for what we do. There are new places for entertainment to exist. We're capitalizing on new Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality market segments that didn't exist two years ago. It's exciting, as nobody really knows how to tell a story in AR or VR yet: When the audience member can look in any direction where do you draw their attention to the storytelling you want them to see? AR is still in its infan- cy, but it will be an entirely new way to experience content for billions of people." WEAKNESSES: "Schedules and time- lines for projects are still under pressure, sometimes to the point of absurdity, but people still deliver. In VFX, there can be challenges with outsourcing and margins being so low. VFX is becoming a business were you could miscalculate something seemingly small, and that one mistake could put you out of business." OPPORTUNITIES: "Ways to deliver media have exploded; there are more ways to reach people. Computer vision makes VR and AR possible; it gives you the ability to understand the environment around you and interact with it. Breakthroughs in compression algorithms are making it easier to deliver animation and VFX content so you can create VR landscapes at 18K resolution in the near future. "Game engines are getting very close to being capable of high-quality ren- dering. In the next five years, with game engines and compression algorithms, you may not have to wait for rendering." THREATS: "With globalization, if the general health of the world economies declines, that would be problematic. But things seem pretty good right now. There's always the threat of unrealis- tic expectations or timelines: I can see people going out of business because of missed deadlines." OUTLOOK FOR 2016: "I think it will be a really good year for everyone. There's plenty of work: Emerging technologies and new entertainment platforms want content. If all of the R&D we're doing in AR comes to fruition, in 18 months that part of our company may become bigger than the rest. What we're up to is pretty spectacular. We've had agencies ask us back two and three times to show AR to others after our initial demo. We've taken a very big bet on this technology, but we think it will pay off." OUTLOOK VFX/ ANIMATION O For more VFX insight, visit postmagazine.com, where you can hear from FuseFX president David Altenau (left) and Stiller Studios creative director Patrik Forsberg (right). Oatmeal Crisp Cereal got the Bent treatment.

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