For this work the camera used was the custom-built Gemini 3D Camera, a remarkable piece of machinery. The camera uses standard 35mm film in VistaVision format, enabling easy film scanning at 4K and 8K resolution. I never thought I would see, let alone work with VistaVision scans in my career… The use of this format is a very inexpensive and productive solution. You get very detailed scans from 24mm x 36mm images without the hassle and costs of 70mm prints.

The camera itself is very small and light weight. It is rather loud when the dual reels are rolling; that being said, I’m more used to quiet HD shoots. A series of pre-packaged twin lenses are ready to be fitted, it takes a couple of minutes. It was brought in by its creator, Sean MacLeod Phillips who was on set as Director of Photography.

Most of the shooting was handled with parallel lenses, with some specific shots in convergence. My experience with stereoscopic work was always with convergent cameras, it will be interesting to compare the results. The scans are already prepped at Modus, a good test of pipeline workflow for large 4K and 8K images; doubling the data for stereoscopy is like two cherries on top.

We had a good feeling we could get through the market; we have a strong know-how for client relations, project management and, well, making VFX. The things my associates and I have learned about business administration, management and finances are overwhelming. Quickly identifying your weak spots and taking care of them, one problem at a time with clear, concise and easy solutions is key in entrepreneurship.

I’m not saying we’re on top of the world and our digital effects studio is this well-oiled machine, rendering away while I’m sipping a drink by the beach. We’re pumping a lot of hours; stress is high and our space still in renovations. But at least we have satisfied customers (even repeat business!) and we’re delivering our product.

Mr. Nobody trailer

Here is also the direct link :
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=57982946

Enjoy!

A fine bunch of VFX professionals in Montreal just joined the ranks of the Visual Effects Society :

• Eric Clement, CG Supervisor at Modus FX;
• Luc Julien, Owner and Freelance Digital Compositor at Synthesimage;
• Ara Khanikian, Compositor at Rodeo FX;
• Richard Martin, VFX Supervisor at Hybride;
• Annie Normandin, Producer at Frame Studio;
• Benoit Pelchat, Art Director at Ubisoft Digital Arts;
• Martin Pelletier, Look and Artistic Director and at Modus FX;
• Philippe Roberge, Compositor at Vision Globale.

Congrats and welcome to all!

The next VES membership application deadline is October 1st.

Our first project in 2009 : DinoLab II. Produced by Quietmotion from Montreal, Modus was the sole vendor on this creature-driven show. The Dino Lab series presents the latest scientific findings on dinosaurs and their habits, with an interesting twist : teams of scientists and palaeontologists conducting tests on “living and breathing” (i.e. : CGI) prehistoric creatures. The shooting was done at La Tohu in Montreal, set as a big science lab.

With over 20 minutes of CG creatures in 192 shots, it features an argentinosaurus, a group of stegosauruses, a hypacrosaurus family, a microraptor and of course a dreaded T-Rex. About 3 months were needed to deliver our shots.

The show is distributed around the world. The first showing is May 17th on the Science Channel.

Mr Nobody, from director Jaco Van Dormael was our first VFX work for a feature film in 2008 with 121 shots. The movie was a hopeful candidate for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival lineup; unfortunately it did not make the final list. Two of Jaco’s other films, and Toto the HeroThe Eighth Day, were both winners at Cannes in 1991 and 1996. (as well as a César award, BAFTA nomination and many others; you can check out the Jaco’s long list of nominations and awards)

Of course our main goal when signing up for this project was not necessarily to see it at the end of a red carpet; but in the VFX industry you are always eager to add great-looking material to your portfolio, a crucial part of a young company’s profile. And this film is truly stunning and compelling, with beautiful imagery, clever transitions and of course great effects from Rodeo FX, Fly Studio and Modus FX. Working on the whole production was a pleasure.

But waiting for picture releases takes patience. We started working on Mr Nobody in June last year. The release is tentatively scheduled for end of May in France and Belgium, so I would guess the producers were keen on having a push from Cannes as well. We will have to wait and see what happens with its release. Considering its style and substance, it is a strong contender for the other movie festivals; Toronto, Venice… Usually movies scheduled for festival screenings aim for premieres, so stay tuned for details.

In the meantime, here are some stills from the production, pictures from Chantal Thomine Desmazures, production photographer. More available at www.mrnobody-lefilm.com/

FMX is an annual community-based conference where talents of the VFX industry converge in Stuttgart, Germany for a few days of talks, panels and networking. The event has grown substantially since its debut in 1994, attracting professionals from all over the world. The fmx/09 line-up is no exception, with top names appearing such as:

• Chris Defaria, Executive Vice President Digital Production, Animation and Visual Effects at Warner Bros.;
• Eric Roth, Director of the Visual Effects Society (VES);
• Chris Williams, director of Disney’s Bolt;
• Danielle Feinberg, Director of Photography for Lighting Wall-E;
• Michael Faust, CG artist from the Oscar-nominated animated documentary Waltz with Bashir;
• Steve Preeg and Jonathan Litt from Digital Domain on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;
• Jeff Okun, Visual Effects Supervisor on The Day the Earth Stood Still, Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai.

Modus FX - Autodesk Softimage Masterclass
We are proud to be part of the Autodesk Masterclass line-up at fmx/09, with a presentation on Softimage. Our own Mostafa Badran, 3D department Lead Technical Director will present some of our work on the French series Les Corbeaux, with a demonstration of Softimage best rigging principles on our fully operational crow used extensively in the series. See one of our 349 shots below, with live and CG crows sharing a car rooftop. You can check out more shots on our demo reel.

The session will explore a way of rigging a multi-purpose CG bird character and creating a specific toolset for the animation challenges that present themselves during the production for a multi-use digital crow to be used for close-ups, medium shots and long shots, as an individual, in small groups or crowds.

See you in Stuttgart, from May 05 to May 09 !

Right now our first VFX demo reel is available from our website, featuring work from Screamers : The Hunting and Les corbeaux. We’ll have more stuff in May with the film release of Mr Nobody!

Check it out here : www.modusfx.com/productions.html

Click on “Reel”

Another big project from 2008 just appeared; the sequel to the 1995 sci-fi thriller “Screamers”, Screamers : The Hunting just hit the shelves last week. A total of 122 VFX shots were handled by Modus, who again was the sole vendor for this show.

Our work involved a wide variety of effects;

•     Creature and prop design, modeling and rigging
•     Digital environments and matte paintings
•     CG character animation and integration
•     SFX, particle and simulations
•     Motion design and animation
•     Wire removal, roto, comp effects and CG integration