BR: Now that all artists on the pipeline can access all the tools, are you seeing TDs using modules other than Lux?

CP: This also gets back to the creative process. Instead of trying to solve every problem with lighting and compositing tricks, the TDs have simple painting and touch up tools in Zeno. They can paint a highlight with a brush.

Even the previs innovations of the Star Wars prequels will soon be a thing of the past.

BR: What will be the impact of putting LucasArts and ILM on one pipeline?

CP: Now that we’re all under one roof, ILM can take advantage of their game engine, and LucasArts artists have access to things we take for granted. Look at something like crowd simulations. They have been big in effects for the last few years, but have been used in games for a long time. We can take advantage of their AI engines, their game engines and integrate them into the visual pipeline.

The big win for ILM, though, is in previsualization. A visual effects supervisor can sit with the director and have a synthetic scene move around in realtime. The director can block in a scene and do a camera move with a virtual camera. It feeds the whole post process.

BR: But that isn’t new, is it?

CP: It hasn’t been intuitive. Previs in the past has been a scaled down post- production operation. The director comes in, we make a change and show it to him. What we’re saying is, “Let’s make this like photography; do it in realtime.” This is something we’ve been developing in conjunction with LucasArts — to hand the previs to the director. It’s almost like a game.

BR: Who has used it?

CP: It hasn’t been used on a film that’s been released, but it’s in use. It’s also still under development. Ask me again in a couple months.

BR: So does this mean vfx artists will no longer do previs?

CP: The game engine part is designed to work in realtime. The director can plan how to shoot a live action or block a CG scene. Contained in the application are libraries of lenses and so forth. But, we can also record the camera moves, create basic animations and block in camera angles. And instead of handing rendered animatics to the CG pipeline, we have actual files — camera files, scene layout files, actual assets that can feed into the pipeline. It gives the crew input into what the director is thinking.

BR: Was this something George Lucas used for Star Wars?

CP: No. It was driven by Star Wars. It was something George has felt strongly about. But, the tools weren’t ready for him.

BR: Can you see anyone other than directors and vfx supervisors using it?

CP: DPs might use it as well to place lights and see how a scene could be lit or shot. It isn’t solely for directors.