Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/977547
26 cgw | e d i t i o n 1 , 2 0 1 8 replacements, and even some full-CG shots. Amazingly, the group had just seven days to complete the project from start to finish. The spot has a Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings feel to it, with a gray aesthetic. The terrain was natural, though some sim- ple matte paintings added extra mountains to the background. The spot was filmed during New Zealand's summer, requiring the addition of more dramatic clouds, as well, for the overcast look. The biggest digitally enhanced scene is the one at the start, which gives a bird's-eye view of the battlefield. On the ground are CG crowds of soldiers; above CG dragons circle the field. The artists augmented the shot plate of that scene with approximately 2,000 fighting and running soldiers, which were based on 25 or so motion-capture clips and simulated in Side Effects' Hou- dini. "A few days before delivery, the client wanted to have a dragon holding a solider and then throwing him into the fight," says Christian Nielsen, VFX supervisor at The Mill. Smoke and fire were added from stock elements and Houdini elements. The group also removed modern roads and added a dramatic matte-painted mountainscape. Likewise, the scene at the end of the spot with the shock wave is heavily augmented, consisting of many layers rendered in Hou- dini and combined in Foundry's Nuke. "The blast only had to affect the opposing army and leave the king's army unaffected," Niel- sen points out. Filling out the scene are CG catapults and flags, which were simulated in Autodesk's nCloth. The shots comprise 20 different effects elements rendered out from Houdini to create the burst and shock wave – every- thing from lightning, smoke, particles, and volumetric shock wave – which were then composited together in 2D. Elsewhere in the commercial, the artists at The Mill had to paint out fences, roads, trees, signs, and other modern objects appearing in the background. The cabin, however, was a set piece. Faced with the fast turnaround, Nielsen sent stills from the shoot back to the model- er, so he could have the soldiers built, ready, and look-dev'd by the time he returned from the shoot. Those included 12 unique soldiers: six for the dilly dilly (king's army) and six for the opposing army. A team of eight CG digital artists created most of the work in Autodesk's Maya. Textures were generated in Allegorithmic's Substance Painter. For the crowds, especially the one at the start of the spot, they employed Houdini and Golaem's soware (crowd simulations were shared with the LA office and also used to fill in voids le by the extras). Seven artists composited the spot using Nuke; one Auto- desk Flame was used for finishing. Lastly, the imagery was rendered out using Autodesk's Arnold and Side Effects' Mantra. Although the effects work is fairly stan- dard in the spot, what challenged the artists the most was the project's extremely short turnaround. That and a few full-CG shots that were unplanned. "Also, there is a guy with arrows in his body; the idea for that came up four days before delivery, and we had to track his upper body in those nine shots and place the arrows," Nielsen notes. As a matter of fact, the artists tracked the majority of shots in the spot so they would be prepared for whatever came their way. (Track- ing was done with Science.D.Vision's 3DEqualiz- er and The Pixel Farm's PFTrack.) "It was more about the scope of the work and how important it is to plan ahead as best you can with timelines like this one. And Super Bowl jobs oen have unexpected things; you need to be prepared for anything," Nielsen adds. Dilly dilly! – Karen Moltenbrey