Making Of Immersive Cocoon "2011"
A behind the scenes glimpse into the making of Immersive Cocoon "2011", starring Keir Dullea.
The making of video depicts Mr. Dullea traversing from live action through a digital set displayed in progression from wireframe to raw render to final composite. Lifting the veil on the 3D computer graphics by director Oliver Zeller & the 2D post work completed with co-vfx supervisor Quan Tran, and compositors Miguel Bautista and Anthony Vu. Additional breakdown, on-set footage and production materials appended.
CG featured in Autodesk 2011 Design Visualization Reel & Chaos Group's Film & VFX Reel.
Making-of Interview: http://boxxtech.com/Downloads/customers/ImmersiveCocoon_CaseStudy.pdf
Following months of previsualization in 2009, frames were rendered and the protagonist painted in by Manuel Plank-Jorge to form this storyboard presentation. It proved instrumental in securing Mr. Dullea and was also used for legal & guild inquiries.
Filmed at Bravo Studios NYC, this setup represents the alcove room, replaced in post production by the digital set. The floor is backlit with a dozen kino-flo megabanks.
Filmed with the RED Camera, footage was output via REDCine-X. The 4K resolution proved especially useful, allowing shots to be pushed in further or overscanned in post, and in the final shot pullback - augmented with a digital zoom.
To capture the Cocoon's reflection, a 5D Mark II with a fisheye lens filmed simultaneously with the primary RED camera and was later retimed to match the RED footage.
Unable to attain the desired initial shot with a steadicam, the hand-held camera was simulated in 3D with Mr. Dullea billboarded into the scene. Psuedo geometry produced a more three dimensional billboard shown to the right.
The digital set and cocoon models were further refined from previsualization throughout 2010 & totaled 5.5 million polygons.
Modeling was handled in Modo, then brought into 3DS Max for animation, surfacing, rendering.
The original Immersive Cocoon, modeled in Maya using NURBS, was translated to polygons and remodeled in Modo. Wrinkles were sculpted into the seating cushions using Mudbox.
Shots were rendered with linear workflow to multi-channel EXR's, some in excess of 100 channels, using V-Ray.
The clean environment and artificial uplight posed a challenge in creating a realistic setting. Extra attention was given to producing subtle color variations, gradations and nuanced shaders as in this custom painted wood shader.
Passes featuring subtle wear, scuffs & scratches were also painted in using custom brushes, particularly for the alcove, and the plexi floor. This floor pass was combined with primary & reflection passes over the room's sub-structure in post.
Primary composites were implemented in Nuke, where Keir Dullea was integrated and 3D renders enhanced.
Additional compositing was done in After Effects, including final output to Premiere for editing.
