Izzy
Epson Crystal CG Animation
Epson Crystal Animation
VFX Supervisor: Izzy Traub
Creative Director: Charles Joslain
Director: Hiroki Kamada
Agency Producer: Kei Saido
Little do people know, Epson’s main and oldest source of business is the manufacturing of crystals which are used in iPhones and other electronics.
VFX LA was commissioned by US based production company, Prodigium Pictures and Japanese based production company, Flag Pictures, to create a fantastical 3D animation of the Crystal which was to be used in a larger, live action presentation.
After Epson signed off on the storyboards that were created by Prodigium Pictures, VFX LA went to work for the next 2 weeks, to model, texture and animate everything from scratch, as well as a secondary particle animation that was used in the presentation.
We utilized SideFX’s Houdini to simulate the particles, model and texture the crystal and environment, as well as render. The final touches were then done in After Effects.
Thanks for checking this out!
Cheers,
Izzy
VFX and CG animation for high quality, budget friendly productions.
Epson EcoTank CG Animation
Epson CG Printer Promo
VFX Supervisor: Izzy Traub
Creative Director: Charles Joslain
Director: Hiroki Kamada
Agency Producer: Kei Saido
With the new release of Epson’s brand new EcoTank ink system, Epson was in need of a slick, CG presentation that demonstrated their product.
VFX LA was commissioned by US based production company, Prodigium Pictures and Japanese based production company, Flag Pictures.
After Epson signed off on the storyboards, VFX LA went to work for the next 2 and a half months, to create two versions of the video, each with a different version of the printer.
Thanks for checking this out!
Cheers,
Izzy
VFX and CG animation for high quality, budget friendly productions.
Toyota VFX Breakdown
Toyota Weather Enhancement
VFX Supervisor: Izzy Traub
Heavy rain was crucial to demonstrate the new safety features that Toyota had to offer. However, it wasn’t possible to do practically on set due to having a small water tower.
VFX LA had to add not just falling rain, but rain to the windows and rafters. We also cleaned up the shot, removing logos, signs, address change, and adding another parking meter.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films and commercials
Fake Railing & Window VFX Breakdown
Girl breaks through fake railing
Aimee, Part 2
VFX Supervisor: Izzy Traub
Fake railing and fake windows bring this fight scene to life.
This was for Lee Whittaker’s short film Aimee ( https://www.aimeemovie.com/ ).
I’d love your feedback! Leave me a comment here:
LinkedIn Discussion Group.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films
Floating Ghost Effect
Floating Ghost Haunts Sleeping Beauty
Aimee, Part 1
VFX Supervisor: Izzy Traub
Lee Whittaker’s short film Aimee ( https://www.aimeemovie.com/ ) required a combination of subtle and larger-scale visual effects work. We solved some interesting on-set production challenges with VFX, which would have been very expensive to tackle live.
The project was also a good example of how on-set and post teams can work together, starting from the very beginning of production, to achieve amazing results without breaking the bank.
The process began with on-set VFX supervision work. Knowing, in advance, what we were going to do, and helping the on-set production team tweak things to ensure that we had what we needed, was immeasurably helpful.
The most difficult shot in the film, by far, was this one.
The flying ghost girl, Aimee, had been shot underwater in slow motion against a green screen. The pool wasn’t entirely clean, so there were tiny pieces of debris everywhere that had to be removed. Cleaning up the green screen around the girl’s hair was also challenging (as cleaning around hair usually is). The biggest task here, though, was addressing the bubbles coming out of Aimee’s nose and mouth, especially when she screams. On set, those bubbles crossed in front of her face on numerous occasions. This meant that we weren’t just cleaning things up. Pieces of her face and even her teeth had to be repainted in every frame where a bubble was interfering.
Soon I’ll post another very cool VFX shot we did on Aimee.
I’d love your feedback! Leave me a comment here:
LinkedIn Discussion Group.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films
Weapons Room Set Extension
This gun arsenal was added to the set in post, enhancing production value.
For the low budget Film Sleepless (that I also directed), we didn’t have the budget for this weapons room and set design that I wanted. (For reference, here’s the vfx projector-phone shot from the same film).
For the above scene, the character was supposed to walk up to our elaborate gun rack and take one off the wall. The problem? We couldn’t afford to rent high-end prop guns for the day. And a friend who had ‘promised’ to bring his own guns, didn’t show up with them!
The only solution was VFX. Luckily, the type of guns we were able to drop into the scene were better than the ones we were going to borrow and amped up the production value considerably.
Our weapons room looks real, thanks to the gun wall and we would never have been able to attain this with the budget we were working with.
I estimate we saved $2700.00 by doing these CG props in post, rather than in camera.
I’d love your feedback! Leave me a comment here:
LinkedIn Discussion Group.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films
Reduce Vehicle Rental Costs
See how the producer saved over $20,000.00 on this airplane shot
Certain kinds of vehicles can be very expensive to rent. Consider the cost of renting airplanes, tanks, helicopters, or exotic sports cars. A single Lamborghini can cost anywhere from $1500.00 to $2500.00 per day to rent, with a large deposit and extra insurance.
Renting specialized vehicles can be costly! But swapping those expensive vehicles out with identical VFX models can slash production costs and allow you to spend your money on other project components.
Take the above shot for example. For the film, FML, the producers and director wanted to have a custom banner being pulled through the sky by an airplane. They needed the sky to be perfectly blue and couldn’t afford to wait for the weather.
Had they decided to do this shot practically, the cost could easily have surpassed $20k.
Here are the categories of estimated savings;
*Wages for camera & support crew
*Pilot
*Airplane rental
*Fuel
*Airport fees
*Craft service (food for crew)
*Insurance
*Banner production
*Camera and gear rentals
*Transportation (crew and gear)
*Payroll Admin
*1099 Reporting Admin
By choosing to do this shot in VFX, production time was saved. And the weather did not need to cooperate! Doing it in CG gave the director 100% control over all the factors in the scene.
Adding specialty vehicles to your project is a great way to boost production value. And VFX makes it possible, even if your production budget is limited.
I’d love your feedback! Leave me a comment here:
LinkedIn Discussion Group.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films
‘Virtual Extras’ Added to Scene
Over 50 ‘virtual’ extras were added to scene with VFX (crowd simulation)
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We estimate that by adding the extras virtually, rather than hiring live actors, the producer saved over $5,000.00 on this scene. This is after taking into the cost of the VFX).
Here are our categories of estimated savings;
*Wages
*Craft service (food)
*Insurance
*Casting
*Costuming (for some)
*Payroll Admin
*1099 Reporting Admin
In addition, potential damage to this set was avoided (add 50 more people and things tend to get broken or go missing).
The source footage contained only a handful of real people, yet the script called for a large-scale pool party. Besides that, the producers of this film were looking for innovative ways to cut costs, without sacrificing production value. We used inexpensive VFX to solve the problem.
The 3D tracking, character creation, and compositing were straightforward, but placing and animating the characters was a challenge. The 3D and live characters needed to walk convincingly around each other. They had to avoid the live actors. Obviously the 3D characters couldn’t walk on top of, or through live actors, and nothing could look like it was obviously staged to avoid those issues.
Busy days and a sleepless night or two of careful planning, watchful eyes, and elbow grease got us a finished result we (and the producers) were very happy with.
[social_sharing style=”horizontal” fb_like_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/vfx/add-virtual-extras-to-scene/” fb_color=”light” fb_lang=”en_GB” fb_text=”like” fb_button_text=”Share” tw_text=”Cool crowd-simulation effect” tw_lang=”en” tw_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/vfx/add-virtual-extras-to-scene/” tw_name=”izzytraub” tw_button_text=”Share” g_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/vfx/add-virtual-extras-to-scene/” g_lang=”en-GB” g_button_text=”Share” su_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/vfx/add-virtual-extras-to-scene/” linkedin_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/vfx/add-virtual-extras-to-scene/” linkedin_lang=”en_US” p_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/vfx/add-virtual-extras-to-scene/” p_image_url=”https://vfxlosangeles.com/wp-content/uploads/VFX-breakdown-crowd-simulation-1.jpg” p_description=”Cool%20crowd-simulation%20effect” alignment=”center”]
I’d love your feedback! Leave me a comment here:
LinkedIn Discussion Group.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films
Projector-Phones: VFX Breakdown
Anyone want one of these new projector-phones?
The movie ‘Sleepless’ was chock-a-block full of visual effects like this and we had a blast creating that high-tech world.
In this shot we wrapped pieces of cardboard with green tape. After tracking and rotoscoping, we were able to replace that with 3D modeled phones. We then completed the shot by compositing in holographic screens.
We feel so grateful for being able to be part of this creative industry where we get to image a reality, then make it happen. Living the dream!
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What do you think? Leave me a comment here: ‘VFX on a Budget’.
Thanks for checking this out!
Izzy,
VFX for low-budget feature films