Compositing | SLIDE UP/\

In the commercial, the task of R&H was to build a CG crocodile and composite it in a live action environment. The goal was to do seamless integration of the CG crocodile in the live action scenes and the challenge was to make the crocodile look friendly and cute along with maintaining its photo real look. Some members of the R&H team were present throughout the 3 days of shooting.

A lot of information was collected in terms of set measurements, camera data, and photo modeling reference images for camera tracking match moving work.

Chrome and matte balls were used as a visual reference for highlights and diffuse lighting. These balls were shot on all locations after every take and were placed exactly where the crocodile would be seen in the frame. This helped in getting a better understanding of the lighting conditions in the environment which further helped in doing a more realistic integration of the CG crocodile in the shots. An actual stuffed model of the crocodile was also made and the stuffy reference footage was used for every scene that was shot. The reference was used to get an idea for the CG crocodile's contact and cast shadows.

Modeling & Texturing
Every little detail and features of the crocodile's anatomy were studied and a number of references were looked at and the model was then created. Some of the details on the crocodile's body were modeled whereas some details like the scales on its back were painted using displacement maps.

Each part of its body had to be painted as a separate set of maps. Since the crocodile model was very detailed, all the texturing information could not be accommodate into one UV space. A total of 300 different maps were painted for the crocodile's different body parts.

A very important point for the look development artists, apart from making the model look good, was to ensure that there were appropriate controls available for the scene lighters to perform common modifications or tweaks. These types of controls include: specular intensity, bump heights, diffuse intensity and color variations across the model, etc.

Camera Tracking and Match moving

Camera tracking is the process of matching the movement of the CG camera to the movement of the camera used in the live-action footage. As a result, it's a crucial part of all visual effects shots. Despite its importance, it is completely invisible in the final shot. If CG elements (the crocodile in this case) interact with objects which are a part of the footage, then match moving is needed for that object or character. The CG model of that object or character needs to replicate the movement of the actual object or character. This is important as it can be used to cast shadows, receive reflection, and is also a very good base for animators to plan out their animation.

Since a basic rig was already in place which was done at the previous stages, the riggers worked on it just a little more to make it more flexible by adding in more controls.

Three basic stages and levels of approvals in animation were as following:

Blocking - The animators get basic poses and positioning for the character according to the shots and set a few key frames to get a rough idea of the flow of animation. The blocking stage went through a number of iterations and after a series of review meetings with the director, the blocking stage was approved.

Rough Animation - Next the animators began working on the rough animation concentrating more on the performance of the CG crocodile. Similarly, the rough stage also went through a number of review meetings with the animators and the director. The rough animation stage was very crucial as a lot had to be achieved in a limited time frame and it was at this stage where the extent of the cute and friendly characteristics in the crocodile had to be finalized.

Final Animation - After the rough animation stage the final stage was dedicated more towards enhancing the quality of animation and polishing it further.

At R&H lighting was broadly divided under two categories.

Sequence Lighting - The initial lighting setup was done by locking off the light positions using the HDRI world as reference. The locked off light positions in the sequence light stage were common for all the individual scenes belonging to that sequence.

Scene Lighting - Moving forward individual scenes were worked upon by tweaking the light positions, keeping in mind the manner in which the lights behaved in relation to the CG crocodile's position and animation.

 

The final look and detailing part of color correction, adding shadows, reflections, motion blur, etc were done in the compositing stage. The compositing process was highly interactive and had an active creative participation of the lighters assigned to the respective sequences. The purpose of doing this was to ensure that the slightest and smallest of the details had been considered and worked upon. Taking into consideration the complexity and the time duration required to get certain issues resolved, decisions were taken on fixing things in the compositing stage or pushing them back to lighting.