Scott Anderson’s Digital Sandbox was key in keeping quality control consistent on Superman Returns, which was the first major film to use the new Genesis digital camera. 

“Millions of lines of software define what a VFX pipeline is,” Libreri continues. “A set of standards is desperately needed.” He points out that any shared information from other departments would assist the vfx supervisor, even if it’s just small steps at first. “Communicating the edits and the flow of how the editor and directors are thinking would be so helpful.”

Thomas Tannenberger, vfx supervisor and owner of Gradient Effects, notes that the VFX community would like to be in on the ADG’s and ASC’s conversation. For one thing, it has many tools it would like other filmmaking departments to embrace.

For example, Gradient Effects is promoting the use of a Lidar scanner to capture exact measurements on location, whether a one-mile section of highway or a front porch, which is then used to accurately create the previs. “You can see to the last tree branch what issues, if any, need to be resolved,” Tannenberger says. He notes that some people shy away from the Lidar because it’s difficult to make sense of the billions of data points, but Gradient’s proprietary software organizes and facilitates the data flow, handing over to Maya the just the information needed, all within a few hours.

Such technology is useful for production design as well. On Southland Tales, according to Tannenberger, the art department designed an airship to be placed into downtown L.A., which required exact measurements of all the buildings. “It would have been a nightmare with traditional means,” Tannenberger says, noting that “a CG model is a lot like a model in the real world. You can’t just go in and size it up.” You have to add elements and re-texture it, “which is time-consuming and gives all of CG a bad reputation.”

Tannenberger believes that this kind of technology could be integrated into a nonlinear workflow of the sort the ADG and ASC are promoting. In the case of a Lidar-scanned highway scene in Premonition, for example, “all the departments involved were tapping into this data,” he says. That included the art department, the stunt people, camera people, set dressers, grips and the director. “Lidar is a very valuable tool,” he says. “We want to get this across to every production we work on.”

Clark points out that ensuring consistency in color throughout the pipeline, starting with the previs, would benefit the VFX department. Everyone, whether the vfx supervisor or the editor, would be looking at exactly the same image, no matter what kind of display was used. There is software available that stores color information as metadata that accompanies the file, Clark adds. “If we could get a handle on that, starting with the previs, that would be a huge asset in the process.” Accurate references, with an established color space, contrast, dynamic scale and other properties, would allow VFX supervisors to fit their 3D objects into the same color space as would be seen in the final film.

Scott Anderson, vfx supervisor and president of Digital Sandbox, which specializes in VFX and image management, says he shares the goals of creating standards for color and image management, as well as creating a workflow that allows communication throughout the process. “At Digital Sandbox, we want to protect the image from beginning to end,” he explains. “Our approach is to maximize the power that’s in the negative.”

But he cautions that, although the current lack of standards is an issue in terms of preserving quality and communicating goals, creating standards shouldn’t lead to a least-common-denominator result. He points out that there’s a huge difference between what Ansel Adams did with a negative and print and the standards-compliant output of a one-hour photo store. Both cinematographers and vfx supervisors, he says, “push the envelope of the medium, which means going above and beyond the average.”

Anderson also wonders, while acknowledging that having a central place for color and other decisions will benefit everyone, whether the hub always should be located in the art department. In some cases, decision-making might better be centered in the editorial or camera department, depending on the discretion of the individual production.

Ron Frankel and his work on World Trade Center.

Real-Life Applications
The processes being discussed by the ADG and ASC are already evolving on their own, at least to some degree. McDowell points out that the discussions the two guilds’ technical committees are having are all in real terms, not theoretical, and that all the things they’re looking at are already in use.

Libreri points out that supervisors on most VFX-heavy films already use some sort of central database to keep everyone closely coordinated. “If you’re not, millions of dollars get wasted. It’s a disaster.” This is particularly true if there are companies sharing assets, with each vendor having a slightly different pipeline. “It’s quite a complex process,” he says.

Similarly, it has become fairly commonplace to do 3D planning. Frankel notes that this has evolved organically, but he points out that each production, with its unique team, uses different tools in different ways. Making everyone aware of what worked successfully on a particular production would help the industry as a whole. “Bringing the weight of the guilds to bear will help bring it to a wider audience and make it more standardized,” Frankel says.

Clark comments that collaboration among production designers, cinematographers and vfx supervisors is already happening, and that all have to keep abreast of innovations affecting the digital workflow. “We want to develop industry-wide methods of consolidating planning and creative thinking, so everyone is on the proverbial same page.”

Karen Raugust is a Minneapolis-based freelance business writer specializing in animation, publishing, licensing and art. She is the author of The Licensing Business Handbook (EPM Communications).