2. Supervising a VFX Shoot Pertemuan 04 Matakuliah : UO666 / DKV Visual FX Tahun : 2009

3. Bina Nusantara BE PREPARED Before you even reach the set, know your shots inside out, including know which elements you’ll need to shoot and how they’ll be photographed. You’ll need to have every unit of photography covered, and depending on the complexity of the shoot, you may need assistants for each unit. While one is taking notes, another could be setting up tracking markers, and a third helping queue camera moves on the motion control rig. Make sure each assistant has access to all the equipment they’ll need. Supervising Shoot

4. Bina Nusantara MEASURE EVERYTHING You can never collect too much data. Not only will you need to know everything about the camera settings, you’ll also need to know the camera’s relationship to the set, positions of the primary lights, the set’s layout and the positions of the actors. Don’t rely on the Camera Assistant for their camera reports. If they miss vital lens information on a take, you’ll be the one struggling in postproduction. Any data you capture will be used in a variety of situations, from reconstructing precise models of the set in 3D, to matching on-set lighting or camera positions, or tracking live-action footage. While tape measures are fi ne for miniature shoots, it’s worth investing in the more expensive laser range-fi nder for live-action shoots. Also carried by the Camera Assistant, these are good for measuring distance up to about 150m, and are accurate to 1cm or less. When you next need to measure the height of a cathedral ceiling with a tape measure, you’ll wonder why you never made the investment earlier. (You can buy laser measuring devices from www.microglobe.co.uk. Supervising Shoot

5. Bina Nusantara TAKE REFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHS Shoot everything you can with a good quality digital stills camera – something capable of taking shots in excess of 4MP, and that can shoot in RAW format (we recommend digital SLRs that offer exposure bracketing and interchangeable lenses). You’ll need general reference stills showing each lighting and camera set-up, as well as the layout of the set. If there’s any possibility you’ll need to reconstruct elements of the set in 3D, shoot as many texture references as you can. However great the temptation is to fi re off the camera fl ash in low-light conditions, don’t use one on set without warning everyone fi rst. And, as obvious as it may sound, never fi re a fl ash while fi lming! (This has reportedly been done.) Supervising Shoot

6. Bina Nusantara SHOOT HDR PANORAMAS High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, created from multiple exposures of the same shot, provide a means to light a 3D scene to match a real-world reference (for more details, see the tutorial on page 58). Set up your digital camera on a panorama head and take a series of stills by rotating the camera around its optical centre. Bracket each exposure fi ve to seven times, either manually by incrementally varying the aperture one stop from the previous image, or by using your camera’s auto exposure bracketing function. Overlap the sets of images to create a 360-degree panorama. The rotation between overlapping tiles will depend on the lens and resolution. When the bracketed images are combined using a tool such as HDR Shop, the HDR log image has a greater dynamic range than the individual exposures, affording more defi nition to rendered highlights. Supervising Shoot

7. Bina Nusantara MAKE USE OF LIGHT PROBES Grey, chrome and white lighting reference balls are used to set up 3D global illumination in the VFX studio. They’re mostly used mounted on sticks to avoid unnecessary issues with fi ngerprints, and should be photographed for each lighting and camera set-up. Leave the fi lm camera in its set-up for the shot; have the Camera Assistant shoot a VFX slate marked up with the shot number, lens and focal length; place the lighting reference ball where the main action occurs, then run a few frames of fi lm. If the action moves across a large area, shoot the reference balls in positions that span its breadth. If the camera set-up is far from the action, and the reference balls are small, you can request a 4K version of the scan. If you’re striving for perfection, take care when using balls that aren’t optically perfect. Secondary refl ections caused by ripples on the surface are quite diffi cult to fi x. Supervising Shoot

8. Bina Nusantara MAKE USE OF LIGHT PROBES Grey, chrome and white lighting reference balls are used to set up 3D global illumination in the VFX studio. They’re mostly used mounted on sticks to avoid unnecessary issues with fi ngerprints, and should be photographed for each lighting and camera set-up. Leave the fi lm camera in its set-up for the shot; have the Camera Assistant shoot a VFX slate marked up with the shot number, lens and focal length; place the lighting reference ball where the main action occurs, then run a few frames of fi lm. If the action moves across a large area, shoot the reference balls in positions that span its breadth. If the camera set-up is far from the action, and the reference balls are small, you can request a 4K version of the scan. If you’re striving for perfection, take care when using balls that aren’t optically perfect. Secondary refl ections caused by ripples on the surface are quite diffi cult to fi x. Supervising Shoot

9. Bina Nusantara THE GREY BALL Images of the grey ball are used to fi gure out the direction of the keylight when setting up a 3D scene for global illumination. The 18 per cent grey tone appears neutral to the human eye, and is equivalent to the average Caucasian skin tone. There’s no need to buy a special-purpose visual effects grey ball – any medium-size spherical, wooden or Styrofoam ball, available from a crafts shop, will serve the purpose. First, coat the ball with a white base-paint, then paint with an 18 per cent grey, matching the swatch to a grey reference card (this can be purchased from www.amazon.com). Type Of Light Probes

10. Bina Nusantara THE CHROME BALL As an alternative to shooting a HDR panorama of the set, the chrome ball (or ‘mirror ball’), provides the necessary data needed for setting up 3D refl ection environments. To get full, complete coverage of the set, you’ll need to shoot the ball twice, from opposite sides, so that each hemisphere is represented. Specialpurpose chrome balls come in a range of sizes, so choose the sizes you’ll need according to your camera set-ups and location. If there’s only time to shoot one angle, photograph it matching the fi lm camera’s aperture for equal depth of fi eld, and from as far away as possible with a fairly small ball (6-8cm). Calibrate your chrome ball for colour by placing a white card visible in both the frame and the refl ection within the chrome bal Type Of Light Probes

11. Bina Nusantara THE WHITE BALL Many VFX supervisors just shoot grey and chrome balls. Shooting a white lighting reference ball provides additional information about multicoloured lights. Type Of Light Probes