CGI-Brows, Behind Brows

A while ago a friend of mine asked me if I could create some eyebrows on an actor for a short. I rolled my eyes and said "your looking at £50k minimum mate". Two weeks later we running tests in a living room with some cut up stickers and a camcorder. Its not the most hi-tech and challenging project I have ever undertaken but certianly one of the most fun and enjoyable. The Rocketsausage boys come up with some great ideas and this was no exeption. I'm not going to attempt to give a sysnopsis, just watch and enjoy.

[vimeo width="590" height="332"]http://www.vimeo.com/5552957[/vimeo]

Ok so its not the most sophisticated effect in the world and yes we could of gone down a route involving object tracking, camera projections, lots of morphing and hair and fur simulations.But that would of been entirely against the whole nature of the short. Normally I am a sucker for making things as complicated as possible because I really enjoy learning new techniques and simply doing stuff I've never done before, not that I have ever removed eyebrows off a priest.... We quickly realized that keeping it simple was definitely the way to go here. Not just for time or budgets sake, but because that was what was required to fit in with the character of the short. The main goals were to remove the current eyebrows from the actors. Cut out stills of their real eyebrows and track them back into position with the respective "emotional" animation included.

[caption id="attachment_172" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="Tests, Trackers, Eyebrows"][/caption]

A couple of tracking dot tests on some DV footage confirmed

The best VFX Breakdowns, Cinemotion and Science

This is the first of what I believe will be post's purely based on what I have come across recently that has caught my eye, made me chuckle, or made me think "I should write a blog post about that".

Breakdowns

To start with AEtuts+ have posted a brilliant list of some of the best VFX breakdowns out there. I could watch them all night long. Especially the "Salty" a spot by Axyz, they reveal their secret to getting such great hdri solutions. Using "far-field" reference photos from the set as well as the usual HDR acquisition blended together to create great high detail lighting solutions for that super shiny ceramic look. I will certainly be experimenting with this, hell I might even post my experiments on here.