Image courtesy of Deron Yamada. © 2004 DYA367.

Clients always seem to raise their eyebrows when they enter the offices of Master Key Prods., a small start-up vfx house located on the Santa Clarita Studios lot.

The surprise comes from the fact that Master Key, a company consisting of only six rooms, a team of roughly 10-12 animators and compositors, two office assistants and one full time IT engineer supplies NBC's Knight Rider (airing Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on NBC) with roughly 200-300 effects shots an episode, while never sacrificing time, quality or cost.

"It's a lot of information and given the nature of TV, we don't get the kind of elongated time for post-vfx that one gets on features," suggests Elan Dassani, Master Key's co-founder and president. "Right now we're working within a two-week turn around period from the day materials are delivered to us to the final delivery of our effects back to post-production.

"We learned pretty early on that any break in the communication between the on-set production, post-production and Black Ginger [an effects house located in South Africa that provides Master Key with driving compositions, cylon light additions and monitor replacements] could have drastic effects on not only our workflow but also the show's budget, delivery dates and air dates.

"The goal was always to create a team where a limited number of people working within a well constructed workflow: a machine where animators and compositors could create a synergy based on that day's needs, could churn out a significant number of shots per week,"adds Rajeev Dassani, co-founder of Master Key and vfx supervisor. "I think we've proved that this is a viable system and I'm very proud of what we've accomplished here."

Which brings us to the real question: How does the company handle the vast demands of a schedule this tight?

The answer is simple: redefine and restructure the existing vfx workflow model to fit these specialized needs.

The Pipeline
The man charged with creating and maintaining the company's multifaceted workflow is Stephan Fleet. Fleet, former director of digital media for Ghost Whisperer, started with Master Key as head of their 2D compositing department and was also responsible for creating KITT's visually arresting and dynamic windshield Heads Up Display (also called the HUD or Touch Screen).

The first step was in designing a user friendly system to track the large number of shots that required attention. It was imperative that this system be easily accessible, time sensitive and able to unite notes from the on-set vfx supervisor and post-production editors directly into the vfx pipeline.

"We needed something that, at any moment could accurately reflect the exact status of a shot's location, what elements were needed or missing, the level of completion and what artists were working with it," explains Fleet.

To achieve this, Fleet, whose personal resolve is to reduce the use of paper and hardcopies in the workflow, custom designed several databases using Filemaker Pro, Flash and Flash video.

In addition to the customized use of Filemaker, the Dassanis, Fleet and IT Engineer Rick Rune created a system where completed HD shots are immediately available to review online in 720p HD utilizing a Flash file via a custom built website.

3D to 2D
Besides having to create a workflow that would incorporate elements from the many levels of production, the system was also tailored to the departmental needs that would help bridge departmental differences (3D uses 3ds Max, 2D uses After Effects) in workflow between the 3D animators and the 2D compositors.

Nathan Evans, head of Master Key's 3D department, has been responsible for creating theatrical quality, photo realistic transformations for KITT every week since the shows premiere.