FEATURE INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY
– EPISODE ONE: CREATION (BBC)
Post house Jellyfish VFX Modelling, animation and procedural ani- mation and simulation in a fully CG environment VFX creative director Phil Dobree Software Autodesk 3DS Max for lighting, rendering, effects and procedural animation/ simulation; Softimage XSI for rigging, animation and procedural animation/simulation; Adobe Photoshop for textures and matte painting and concept work; Thinkbox Krakatoa for creation of complex surfaces and volumes; Adobe After Effects for compositing; FumeFX for fluid simu- lation; Frischluft Lenscare for lens effects; RayFire Tool for simulations Awards VES 2012 Award for Outstanding VFX in a Broadcast Mini-series, Movie or Special
What was your brief? Phil Dobree Jellyfish worked principally on the first episode, which follows the story of conception. The brief was pretty open-ended. It was clear that the programmes, which transmitted on BBC1, should be different to anything done before and should be immer- sive and narrative, rather than explanatory and dry. I suggested we should make the sequences narrative and lead from an anima- tion storytelling perspective.
‘Inside The Human Body had to look believable, but it was more important
to look lovely’ Phil Dobree
Break down a key VFX shot PD For the close-up of the sperm entering the corona radiata, we blocked out the ani- mation in Softimage using simple geometry, then took it into 3DS Max, where we added extra detail to the sperm, as well as proce- dural animation effects to make the move- ment feel more fluid. We then enhanced the surface with a com- bination of manual and procedural model- ling. We extracted a part of the surface that intersected with the sperm, cut the geometry up and ran a cloth simulation. We made the surface into a volume, which was then filled with millions of particles. The particles near the intersection were attached to the simu- lated surface. Then in Particle Flow we set up a system
where some of the particles would break away and would then be moved into a FumeFX simulation, which created the effect of the sperm churning up the particles. We also ran other simulations of particles being ejected and floating around. We would nor- mally render a depth pass and add the lens effects in compositing, but due to the com- plexity of the particle surface, it had to be rendered with 3D depth of field and motion blur. During compositing in After Effects, the 32-bit images from Krakatoa were altered
Broadcast TECH
greatly to create the look we wanted and we then added the larger out-of-focus particles. We used 3DS Max to model the egg surface using some procedural modelling techniques. We then blocked out the animation in Soft- image, took that back into 3DS Max and used RayFire to break up the egg and simulate the pieces floating away. That was then brought back to Softimage to place. We then took the sperm back to 3DS Max for rendering. The egg and the simulated floating pieces were filled with millions of particles. We then ran some simulations on the particles so the parts would look as though they were being broken up and dissolving even further.
Number of software packages used to create Inside The Human Body’s award- winning VFX
8
How did you achieve the look you wanted? PD In the past, scientific accuracy has been paramount. This time we wanted to create new and more interesting images with a more cine matic feel. Frischluft Lenscare allowed us to simulate camera lenses, so we could create the illusion of a real film shot with a camera with a shallow depth of field. We also added dust particles, which enhanced the illusion. We used small amounts of incidence shading, but it was used subtly to enhance the image and give surfaces a slightly silky look. Inside The Human Body had to look believable, but it was more important to look lovely.
Inside The Human Body: animated sperm
30 | Broadcast TECH | March/April 2012
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
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