The clips you sent of K-19 seem to replicate miniature shots. Why is that?

In K-19 there was not intended to be much in the way of CG as the sub shots were designed to be shot as a miniature. For various reasons they could not be completed this way and the use of 3D environments, bubbles and so on made the completion of more complex moves possible. It would possibly have been easier to do the sub shots as all CG but this was the committed route at the time. There was a lot of invisible work done in tracking the shots, replicating the moves with a LightWave version of the sub hull, etc. for adding passes like the dappling effect on the top side of the K19. Also all the moves had been previsualised in LightWave. When versions were locked down and approved by the director these were replicated with motion control to look as close as possible to the previz.

Matte passes were created of the sub against white on the stage. This allowed the sub to be extracted from the rigs and stage in the background at the 2D comp stage. There was motion control data available but the shots were mostly tracked with tracking software and quite a bit of tweaking in LightWave.

However the filmed sub had to fit into a 3D environment so there was quite a bit of R&D and experimentation on how to get the particles to perform and do lighting passes, rays all that sort of thing.

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Tell me about the BT Innovation Centre job?

This was a project I did for Millfilm in the summer. The brief was for a three-minute fly though space and the finished animation is being projected in the reception of BT's new Innovation centre in London.

The clients were interested in seeing planets, nebulae, stars and so on in the journey through space.

As it was a very long sequence, to allow for changes, make the project more manageable and keep render times down the imagery was rendered in layers and composited together. Something like 40 — 60 scenes and elements were set up and used.

The Red Planet scene was the opening shot. This has a few of the elements in one scene. There were around ten scenes used for this part of the sequence. I created the planets and textured them. The animation was mocked up as an animatic before rendering. Volumetric and flaring lights were also used to simulate a sun and star fields.

Essentially a large part of this project was creating the effects. This was a mixture of planets and solid effects or models such as the stars. Also volumetric lights and flares and particle effects were used to give an interesting view of space.

The Nebula scene is an example of volumetric lights and textures used to create nebula-type forms that you could fly through. Particle effects and HyperVoxels were also used to create asteroid belts etc in other parts of the sequence. The lights and textures have been designed to add interest and give depth to the effect rather than using mapped images.

What's the difference for you, in being a freelancer as opposed to working for a studio?

The good thing about working for a studio is that when a project starts you are in from the beginning and can you see it develop and change through to the end, hopefully with some good input into the process. There would usually be some R&D time at the outset or at least not as hectic to try things out and get to grips with what you are working on. When coming to the end of the project you wonder what is coming up next rather than worrying about where or what your next job will be and paying the bills. There might be some downtime between projects to learn and try out some new techniques. The job stability is good.

The downsides of working full-time for a studio would be the projects can be quite long with a lot of invisible work and effort. You would normally be working on whatever the studio brought in and what you have been asked to do so it possible to get stuck doing the same thing (pigeon-holed) e.g. modelling. Full-time staff may not have the same networking environment and contacts as freelancers for future work.

I think it is more demanding coming in as a freelancer and getting up to speed with what you have been taken on to do, but his would obviously depend on the project and studio. I would say that most freelancers have to be more adaptable. You are expected to produce results and work under tight deadlines and already have the skills required. So you will be pushed to know your skills well. You come in contact with different artists and companies and learn from the people around you.

Keeping in work and the money coming in would be the hardest part of working freelance. When established and with good contacts it is possible to have long spells of employment and even choose your projects, but there will always be gaps. You may have to relocate (which could also be seen as an opportunity to travel and see new places). You will probably be taken on to do a specific job on a project and when this is complete you may not be required for anything else so you will be looking for another project/company to move onto.