visual effects breakdowns

I worked for 10 years as a 3D Generalist at various boutique visual effects houses in Toronto Canada, up until 2007.  During this time I was able to work on a wide variety of feature film and television projects.

This is a demo of my VFX work, before I shifted gears to full CG lighting and compositing.

All of the work shown here is from my time at Rocket Science VFX.  As part of a great team, I had the good fortune of working on some award winning / nominated projects, such as Terry, The Path to 9/11, and Everest.

Rocket Science VFX

I worked as the 3D Department Head & Lead 3D Artist at Rocket Science VFX from May 2004 until January 2007, on the following feature film and television projects:

Everest

Lead 3D Artist on Everest - Rocket Science VFX

  • Worked closely with the VFX Supervisor to plan and create previs for the Icefall sequence.
    • Helped design the set pieces and provided reference schematics for set construction.
    • Planned blue-screens for the set - quantity, size and position.
    • Helped plan the set around the techno-crane that was to be used for some of the shots.
    • Animated and delivered the entire previs sequence.
  • Supervised 3d modeling of the ice chunk set pieces.
  • Tracked the final cameras in 3D.
  • Worked closely with Matte Painters to create camera projections of the ice chunks onto set pieces.
  • Animated ice-chunks and created particle effects.
  • Rendered and delivered to compositors.

Lead 3D Artist on The Path to 9/11 - Rocket Science VFX

  • Modeled World Trade Center buildings.
  • Provided camera tracking.
  • Supervised shading and texturing for the buildings.
  • Lighting and rendering multiple shots for the compositors.
  • Modeled and lit a 3D column for an explosion shot in an underground parking garage.
    • Booleaned chunks and created destruction animation.
    • Created particle effects.
    • Rendered and delivered elements to the compositor for integration into the explosion.
  • Camera projected matte paintings and stock footage of New York skylines and rendered with match-moved cameras to provide to the compositor for shots looking out from windows.
  • Used camera projection techniques and created a blended camera move to marry a green screen exterior shot of the Windows on the World Restaurant to stock footage of the World Trade Center buildings.

Terry

Lead 3D Artist on Terry - Rocket Science VFX

  • Supervised modeling, animation and lighting for 3D prosthetic leg.
  • Tracked final cameras in 3D.
  • Lit and rendered some of the shots.
  • Created clean plates for the compositors to roto out the actor's real leg.
    • Utilized multiple camera projections on the ground to create a virtual clean plate in 3D.
    • Created a gobo for the keylight by rendering an image of the virtual clean plate from the keylight's position.  This allowed me to match the tree shadows.

Slither

  • Feature Film

CG Supervisor / Lead 3D Artist on Slither - Rocket Science VFX

  • Created fully 3D rendered planet earth for intro shots.
  • Created previs animation for opening sequence which progressed directly into the final animation of the shots.
  • Supervised the modeling, shading and texturing of the 3D Meteor, using textures derived from oyster shells.
  • Animated the meteor breakup, and supervised the particle and atmospheric effects.
  • Match-moved, animated, textured and lit a mesh to blend an actor into an alien blob as they are slowly melded into one.  Provided elements to compositor for final melding.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

  • Feature Film

Lead 3D Artist on Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Rocket Science VFX

  • Using location survey data for the proposed location in British Columbia, and blueprints of the building plans, I created a 3D model of the soccer field location (which was supposed to be near the ocean in Baja Mexico.)
  • Prototyped what the ocean shoreline would look like (removing the background mountains from the virtual set).
  • Worked closely with the Visual Effects Supervisor to animate a previs sequence of the proposed location, which was later used on set as reference for the final shoot.
  • Match-moved the final cameras and aligned with the original previs geometry/survey data.
  • Used the original previs geometry to camera project a matte painting (provided by a digital matte artist) of the Baja shoreline, rendered, and delivered shots to the compositor.

Here are some additional projects that I worked on during my time at Rocket Science VFX:

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

  • Feature Film

The Woods

  • Feature Film

Universal Studios Japan

  • Commercials

Four Minutes

  • TV Movie

Trump Unauthorized

  • TV Movie

Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story

  • TV Movie

An American Girl Holiday

  • TV Movie

Blueprint for Disaster

  • TV Series Documentary

Intelligent Creatures

I worked as Lead 3D Artist at Intelligent Creatures from November 2003 until May 2004.  During that time I worked on the following feature film projects:

Stay

  • Feature Film

Slow Burn

  • Feature Film

Calibre Digital Pictures

From February 2001 until November 2003, I worked as a 3D Artist/Generalist at Calibre Digital Pictures.  We worked on a wide variety of projects, including TV Series, MOW's, Commercials, and Feature Films.

Foolproof

  • Feature Film

The Man Who Saved Christmas

Max

  • Feature Film

Invincible

  • TV Movie

Ace Lightning

  • Children's TV Series

Earth: Final Conflict

  • TV Series

Relic Hunter

  • TV Series

BeastMaster

  • TV Series

Stargate Studios / Sundog Films

My first CG job.  I worked at Stargate Studios/Sundog Films from April 1997 until February 2001 on a wide variety of feature film, television and commercial projects.

Arrival II

  • Feature Film

Harvard Man

  • Feature Film

They Nest

  • TV Movie

Robocop: Prime Directives

  • TV Mini-Series