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The Rapidly Growing World of Indie Previs

Tara DiLullo reports on the burgeoning previs industry by interviewing six leading indie companies.

Previs has morphed from an experimental tool to an integral element in the pre-production planning process for most films. War of the Worlds  & © 2005 Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of ILM.

Previs has morphed from an experimental tool to an integral element in the pre-production planning process for most films. War of the Worlds & © 2005 Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of ILM.

In the years since previs has morphed from an experimental tool in conceptualizing sequences for a handful of elite films, to now being an integral element in the pre-production planning process for most films, be it independent or blockbuster, so too has the business of providing previs services evolved. With filmmakers and studios leaning more than ever on previs to help efficiently plan their shooting, prepare for CGI elements and help contain bloated budgets, the opportunity has risen for independent previs companies to excel and adapt their skills for new applications. A number of these companies have become dominant in their field, making huge strides in forging strong business models, while carving specific niches for themselves in the industry. While big-name vfx houses used to be the source for previs work as part and parcel of a vfx bid, more of these smaller, specialty previs houses are now getting a large portion of that work and are redefining what previs means today and paving the way for the future. VFXWorld recently talked to six specialty previs companies: Attitude Studio, Halon Ent., Launch, Nvizage, Pixel Liberation Front and Proof Inc. We asked them about the focus of their companies, the challenges of competing with the bigger vfx houses and amongst themselves, and how they manage to shine in this competitive new paradigm.

Attitude Studio

Located outside of the U.S., Attitude Studio has offices in Paris and Luxembourg and works in creating computer-generated virtual characters and motion-capture animation previs for live action and animated features, and videogames. A sampling of their upcoming projects include: Renaissance, a full 3D-animated black-and-white feature that will be released in French theaters on March 15, 50 Cent: Bullet Proof, a full CG cinematic for the videogame edited by Vivendi Universal Games and Skyland, a full CG animated TV series (26 x 26 format) that will be on the air in spring 2006.

Attitude Studios upcoming project, Skyland, a full CG animated TV series will air this spring. In five years, Attitude has become an international 3D animation studio © Method Films, Nine Story Ent., France2, LuxAnimation.

Attitude Studios upcoming project, Skyland, a full CG animated TV series will air this spring. In five years, Attitude has become an international 3D animation studio © Method Films, Nine Story Ent., France2, LuxAnimation.

According to Attitudes Sandrine Nguyen, the company has thrived due to their ability to grow with the needs of the industry. Attitude Studio is a one-stop shop. Five years after its creation, Attitude Studio has positioned itself as an international 3D animation studio. The strength of Attitude Studio is in its constant implication in technical research and development that allows serving any type of artistic style approach. The constant work on optimising the tools and improving them, allows us to keep a technical edge, as well as optimize our already extremely extensive production tools to the benefit of production. We offer the utmost quality in animation and the latest technology, and some exclusive tools. Because the company has been incredibly efficient in optimizing, creating, inventing, auditing and writing proprietary tools as they grow, it can today support a various amount of projects, from video games to feature films. The company is able to audit every job and learn from the results, as well as reuse all the new tools from production to production, implementing them when necessary.

When discussing how Attitude specifically utilizes previs for their clients, Olivier Renouard, head of technology, explains, Drafting is a common approach for any complex task, we have block animation before final animation, test renders and color studies before final render, and the board before the final film. Now with the board being the first visual document about how a shoot should look like, there are limitations to what you can define at that point with static 2D drawings, and you often need some intermediary steps before you can get started. The idea of test runs, rehearsals and considering several alternatives before the actual shot isnt new, but now there are new tools that make the process much easier. What makes the current 3D modeling/animation tools particularly adapted to this task is the speed at which you can do revisions and modifications. Moving a whole building a few meters aside, even if its still just cubes and planes, or changing a camera path can make big differences on a shot effectiveness, and can be done in minutes at the previs stage. The key at this point being a fast turnaround and best reactivity to a directors demands, it orients the choice towards tools permitting near realtime operation. For this reason, we built our previs solution around Alias MotionBuilder software.

From my experience, several 3D packages already have integrated hardware rendering technologies, this being the case for MotionBuilder, that are really up to the task of providing the required image quality for previs. It might be not up to the standard of the latest game engines, but you need much more flexibility than a typical game engine can provide. You have to keep in mind that a lot of the neatest features in game engines rely on pre processing and calculation (like lightmaps and more) of a content that is fully known in advance (as a game level). Its not as static in the previs process. This said, while I think a typical previs tool can have rendering capabilities a bit behind what a videogame engine can do, they need to keep evolving because directors play videogames too, and the level of what they expect to see rises accordingly! What we would like to see (and what we are currently working on) would be more ways to propagate and reuse the result of the previs at later stages of the production pipeline.

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Halon received a huge boost when it was hired by its first outside client: Ghost Rider. The job allowed Halon to get started with hardware and software and without having to borrow money. © Sony Pictures.

Halon Ent.

Although incorporated in 2003 by Daniel Gregoire (previs supervisor of JAK Films on Star Wars: Episode II and III) to handle small freelance previs and vfx projects, Halon took off in the summer of 2004 when he got traded from Revenge of the Sith to Steven Spielbergs War of the Worlds. It became too problematic to keep track of time and hours at JAK Films, so I suggested that it would be easier if my company took over, Gregoire says. The extensive previs on War of the Worlds, as previously reported, was integral to the planning of the sci-fi remake, given the protracted production schedule and logistical challenges.

However, near the end of War of the Worlds, Halon received its first outside client: Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage and based on the Marvel comic. For that project, Halon dispatched four staffers to Melbourne, Australia. They worked on it for three months, allowing Halon to get started on the ground with hardware and software and without having to borrow money.

Halon is completely funded by Gregoire and the projects themselves. He wishes to avoid investors and debt, and has been able to maintain technical relationships with vendors that worked on Star Wars, particularly AMD, which helped with infrastructure and computers. Halon relies mostly on Maya, After Effects and Photoshop among its small staff. Within the last year, Halon has been extremely busy, working on three sequels X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3 and Evan Almighty along with Disneys Eight Below.

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Our biggest challenge is offering as flexible a package as possible to directors that are unpredictable, Gregoire explains. To be perfectly honest, weve had to take a step back since Star Wars for two reasons. Because we dont have the resources of the Ranch or the budget to go after things. And Star Wars doesnt buy us a whole lot of respect outside of San Francisco. And so a lot of companies that wouldve gladly given us stuff or worked with us exclusively, are not available. Hollywood is a different animal. Relationships are different; demands are different. As we build up clientele, its almost like beginning from scratch again because its all about who you know. Getting as strong a start as we did was either dumb luck or simply being at the right place at the right time. Competition in the previs industry is mounting fast. There are several companies that have started in the last year to six months and are in direct competition with us by people I dont know and by people I know intimately.

[Previs] is the big buzz phrase now. People think they need previs... So I think youre seeing a lot of companies spring up, and a culling back of those who knows which ones or when? Or maybe even smaller teams of specifically talented people. But I think one of the biggest problems right now is that film productions and studios think they need previs, but they dont know what to do with it. There are two areas of direction: Previs has been a stronghold of the visual effects industry for a while whats happening now is that previs is transcending that and becoming more of the realm of the director and the producer and bridging the gaps between visual effects and production, so that the production people actually feel as though they are a part of this process. I think its taking more hold now. You still see a lot of visual effects-oriented previs that is run through the visual effects department, but were trying to sell ourselves more as a tool for the director and the production by providing the technical assistance and the technical data for the top level of the food chain.

Joseph Weil of Launch offers a fully 3D, fully animated way of planning out a TV commercial. The company doesnt just previs effects, but the entire commercial.

Joseph Weil of Launch offers a fully 3D, fully animated way of planning out a TV commercial. The company doesnt just previs effects, but the entire commercial.

Launch

Located in New York City, and the sister company to the successfulCharlex, a NY commercial agency, Launch was specifically created to take the rough look out of the animatic process when pitching TV ad campaigns to focus groups. Joseph Weil, Launchs exec creative director, explains their unique purpose. Companies are forcing agencies to stick with the previs of a spot, so we are trying to offer a much more robust creative experience for the agency in the testing stage. We help the agency show the idea in the sensitive stage, in a fully fleshed out way that has all the energy and its not just storyboards. So we have a really particular niche that we are trying to expand, particularly in TV commercials, and not in prevising effects, but prevising the entire commercial. We have these normal animatics that we do, but we pioneered this new way of doing it a fully 3D, fully animated way of planning out the spot.

Its not just the basic scenes, but it goes much further into it, with camera angles, camera movements, lighting ideas and even casting, he continues. Weve invested a lot of energy, time and money into improving and expanding it. We are building a motion capture studio now so we do all of these commercial previs with MoCap for a really quick turnaround. We use Maya and MotionBuilder for certain things but they are connected by proprietary software weve written to make it all work together. We have a library of characters and sets and we can make things very quickly and turnout these animations very fast with a lot of creative flexibility for the client during that process.

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Launch made a large investment in R&D that is now seeing fiscal success. It offers a motion capture studio and a library of characters and sets for a quick turnaround time. Courtesy of Launch (previs) and Charlex Inc. (full-up).

With R&D for their system in development for sometime, Weil says its been a process of large investment that is now seeing fiscal success for Launch. Some clients have really been able to do very elaborate jobs and weve made some successful relationships that have helped finance a lot of development. So now we are able to roll out these new tools that make it cheaper for us to do the normal spots. We are now in the phase where we can do these very full service jobs, very quickly and for the standard rate of an animatic. There is a lot of investment, but we do many other types of work that takes care of each other.

Launchs niche is one that is so beneficial to the industry, Weil is sure competition will grow swiftly. We always knew we would provide this kind of service, just not this way. Like weve found out that motion capture is an incredibly efficient solution to getting a basic idea across. Weve learned a lot as weve been going. We always want to stay ahead and Im certain others will start going in this direction. We are in the process of blazing a trail right now. I got into this thinking that is was all going 3D, and a lot are, but there are still going to be old school test spots and we want to do both. I think there will be a lot of growth and more of the traditional way of doing it.

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Nvizage

Pronounced envisage, Nvizage is a new London-based previs company formed by Nic Hatch and Martin Chamney, who have worked as previs supervisor and lead previs artist, respectively, on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, AVP, Troy and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Both Martin Chamney and I have been fortunate enough to have been working in the vfx industry over here in the U.K. for the past 12 or so years, which obviously lends itself fairly well to meeting and getting to know many of the people involved in the U.K. vfx and film industry. Having said that, obviously a majority of the films that we tend to be involved in are U.S. funded, which makes things much harder. The film industry is also ever evolving, and to stay on top of such a world we rely on our overseas contacts.

In acquiring clients, Hatch says Nvizages unique approach keeps them ahead of the pack. Our approach differs to most other companies in our fundamental ethos of previs. Some view previs as strictly 3D and involved only in vfx. Others tend to think previs is really a tool for the art department. We view previs as a digital tool, enabling efficient and highly accurate visualization, whatever the department, and whatever the task. The shear diversity of the tools we have at our disposal, along with the talent to operate them, allows exploration of endless possibilities. In the past, the approach has been to use previs within the vfx dept, and then it started to integrate within the art department On Watchmen, we became our own department, where previs as a tool was made available to all. [Director] Paul Greengrass called it his Digital Nexus. An area where we have also concentrated on, and therefore where our strengths lie, is in storytelling and script visualization, which in turn leads to editing and timing. Were effectively able to create highly complex scenes fully telling the story, and thus creating a timeline from which the entire production benefits. We also keep a very close eye on scheduling and approaching deadlines. With an extensive understanding of how an entire production works and integrates throughout its departments, were able to achieve the goals that are set. What is paramount for us is being able to deliver our product on time, and to never lose focus on the sole purpose of the previs that we produce.

Despite their smaller size, Hatch says investment and budget issues arent very different from the larger companies. As an independent and a company that purely creates previs, we may be under slightly tighter financial constraints from the production as our costs are transparent. Many post-production facilities will bundle previs in order to guarantee some of the post-production work on a feature. The trouble is, the production is then stuck with having to use that particular post house rather than having the freedom to choose whom to use at a later date. So financial and budgeting issues are much the same as most, larger companies involved in visual effects, just on a proportionally smaller scale. Our teams are usually smaller, but we use similar equipment and software as the big outfits.

Hatch continues: One of our top priorities is to make previs as interactive as possible. Each previs task differs from the last, but one thing they all have in common is the need for efficiency. With this in mind, and as a general rule, we use state-of-the-art equipment, which normally means using the fastest workstations and most powerful graphics cards that are available at the time. Some of our machines are custom builds and some off the shelf. One of the projects we are working on right now needed an investment of around 20 of the latest 3D workstations. We decided to go with Boxx Technologies using the latest and greatest NVIDIA FX 4500 cards. The initial investment is obviously hugely more than a fairly standard machine, but in our minds, the return is worth the outlay. Through the use of ultra high-end hardware graphics capabilities, we try very hard to negate the need for software render farms, and so tend not to suffer from the normal problems that a post-production facility will. As for software, we use mainly off the shelf systems, but also carry out some of our own in-house development, normally concentrating on efficiency and pipeline issues.

As for their current projects, Hatch offers, After completing Tim Burtons Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we moved on to Watchmen and also worked on Anthony Minghellas Breaking and Entering. Unfortunately, and much to everyones disappointment, Watchmen went into turnaround back in 2005. Nvizage is currently working on Roland Emmerichs 10,000 B.C., with a team of around 20 people, including a full HD edit suite. Its a hugely exciting and complex project involving all sorts of high-octane sequences.

PLF also does durvis, which is previs done on-set. During the Matrix shoot, the directors wanted to see how something would cut together with another previs shot and PLF was able to produce an image immediately.

PLF also does durvis, which is previs done on-set. During the Matrix shoot, the directors wanted to see how something would cut together with another previs shot and PLF was able to produce an image immediately.

Pixel Liberation Front

In the new world of previs boutiques, Pixel Liberation Front (PLF) of Venice, California, is truly one of the pioneers. Starting in 1995, they have been involved with some of the biggest films of the last decade (Fight Club, Minority Report, Panic Room, The Matrix sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, I, Robot) Colin Green, the founder of PLF, has seen the business take shape and shift incredibly already, with smaller companies now working in tandem with the big vfx companies. In general, the competition isnt with the bigger visual effects companies anymore; in fact, often times we are hired by the bigger companies, Green shares. Previs is a specialty on its own and, often times, traditional vfx companies are happy to have that handled by a specialty vendor.

In that time, PLF has stayed focused on previs as their bread and butter based on Greens own history. Our previs strategy really came along because that was the basis of my experience. I knew how to do it best and its what I had done the most. Beyond that, it was also a good strategy to become involved on high profile projects without being a mega company and investing in a huge staff, with all the risks and downfalls that a lot of other companies suffered six years ago. What we get asked to do is significantly different now to what it was when we started, just because the idea is more pervasive and has evolved in the minds of the people who hire us. Our strategy has always been to be as director-oriented as possible and try to make it so the previs process is where the ideas and the technical infrastructure of the film congeal in the mind of the director and the crew. We view that previs is a process rather than a product. If you refer to it as a product, you wont get the organic filmmaking.

Aside from standard previs, PLF has expanded their expertise into the entire filmmaking process. There are two kinds of vis we do postvis and another thing we call durvis, which is more of a joke term, but that is during the shoot. What we can do is during the previs, construct a virtual stage so its sitting there ready to use and some clients want access to it while shooting, so our guys stay near the stage to whip up new versions or try new things. For example, on some of the Matrix shoots, Larry and Andy [Wachowski] would have an idea while they were shooting and would want to see how something would look cut together with another previs shot, so wed have to do a quick reinterpretation of our previs to match what they shot and run it over to them. Postvis is born out of a few factors, like on I, Robot, where they had hours of Will Smith on green screen and they were having trouble cutting it together. All the background action had to be in there for them to understand how the sequence was working, so we put simple CG versions of the background action and matched it to what the actors were doing in the greenscreen plates to make elements for the editor to cut. It was then repackaged and handed over to the post vendors.

From a technical perspective, PLF is also investing in their tools, but conservatively. Its pretty much off-the-shelf normal stuff that we use. The core technology is mostly SOFTIMAGE|XSI and we have done some jobs in Maya. But the tools that we need to do our previs work better are not things that software and hardware companies are making specifically for us, so we are making things ourselves. Usually that comes in the form of spending time with our software vendors and hiring our own people who develop custom tools.

Having endured so well in the business (upcoming films include Superman Returns and Logans Run with director Bryan Singer), Green is looking ahead at where previs is going. There are two avenues that we see as growth potential and one of the most exciting ones is to get involved in the development process. The idea would be in addition to a script, a producer or financier would get a little visual treatment package a CD or DVD of a little previs with visual concept design so they could watch it. In the development, a lot of people want to see whats going to be different and this allows that. The second is the green screen movie. We think that a lot of techniques in the previs process are a sound basis for making the moviemaking process very easy for the digital environment. The whole previs process is helpful in putting that together.

As for other companies competing for PLFs business, Green doesnt sound worried offering that the competition is more on an individual level than a company level. The companies are all small and guided by their leaders, so the relationships are based more on the people. But more competition is from newer kids coming in doing incredible work. Ive seen examples of kids with far less experience than we have doing quite nice work and a friend of a friend introduces them and they are able to get started.

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Proofs Ron Frankel approaches previs with the view that its smarter and costs less to hire independent firms. Photo credit: John Scheele (left) and Fantastic Four & © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved. Courtesy of Proof.

Proof Inc.

Ron Frankel, a former member of PLF that started his own company Proof Inc. (Panic Room, Minority Report, The Cat in the Hat, The Terminal, Fantastic Four) three-and-a-half years ago, explains his company is actively helping to redefine the roles of the small previs company and larger vfx houses in the production process. Unlike some of the large vfx facilities that do previs in addition to final vfx, on the one hand we dont have bigger budgets for R&D for specific tailor-made tools, but on the other hand I dont think that puts us at a terrible disadvantage. The kind of previs we are doing is much more about creating relationships with production. When it comes to needing a very specific toolset developed in order to create the visual effects, I think thats always better handled by the company that is going to be doing the visual effects in the end. Our role is in helping craft the vision of the director and the vision of the production. The way Proof approaches previs is that its smarter and costs less money to hire independent previs because we dont have a compelling interest in the numbers of visual effects shots in a film. A lot of time, especially with films with limited budgets, part of our job is figuring out ways of reducing the number of vfx shots and to take advantage of practical locations or build sets. Since we are clearly working on the production side of it and not working for a vendor, we have more freedom and leeway to experiment with less ambitious shots. And by spending a little money upfront on independent previs, youve taken a lot of the guesswork on the final visual effects production.

Frankel adds that size actually works to keep them focused. We are a small company and we try to keep our overhead as low as possible, weve taken the strategy, as clichéd as it is, to be as smart as we can be with the technology. We dont pour a lot of money into leading edge tools. We prefer things that have been production tested and know are going to be stable. The measure that we use isnt how quickly we can get something done, its when the director walks into the door are we confident when we go to open a scene it wont crash. The other factor for us is that we are very mobile. Even when we are on production we move from office to office or set up on set. We use workstations that can be broken down very quickly, so those factors taken together combine to show we are working higher-end consumer grade technology. What we bring to the process isnt so much technological, but our experience using it. We have experience previs animators who understand filmmaking that can sit down at a not terribly spectacular computer and create some really spectacular product.

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And size is certainly not a detriment to Proof getting work with recent projects such as Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, Fast and the Furious 3 and Underworld Evolution. Its really networking. As competitive and as big as the filmmaking industry is, its all about relationships. We always try to deliver the best product that we can, and if we can make the process of making a film a little bit easier, we find the sales effort isnt that difficult because people will call you back the next time. The most disappointing moments for me are always when I get on the phone with a former client and they say X visual effects company will do the work for free. I cant underbid free! I try to make my argument that nothing is really free and make the case for us, but sometimes the pressure from the studio is too much.

Looking ahead, Frankel says postvis is a growth area Proof will be investing a lot of effort into. Id say in the past year-and-a-half, the biggest growth area for us has been postvis. We havent done postvis on a huge number of projects, but weve done a handful of jobs that have asked for this type of work and it will happen more and more. Its a fairly efficient use of resources. The vendors are focused on the final elements and youve got your previs working very quickly in a low-res environment so when they are in post-production, they can still make creative decisions and still be designing the visual effects and its all happening within the production, rather outside the visual effects facility. I would like to see the business move into the direction of the filmmaker being in charge of the creative decision maker, rather than handing off a huge chunk to a final vendor. By doing postvis temp work, it keeps it directly at the fingertips of the vfx supervisor and the director. We can flesh out sequences together.

Tara DiLullo is an East Coast-based writer whose articles have appeared in publications such as SCI-FI Magazine, Dreamwatch and ScreenTalk, as well as the websites atnzone.com and ritzfilmbill.com.

Bill Desowitz contributed to this article.

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