<DAZ_Biggie> OK, everyone.... Only a couple of minutes to go!
<DAZ_mattw> Hello, everyone!
<DAZ_mattw> Welcome to our next Artzone Featured Chat.
<DAZ_mattw> Tonight, it's our privilege to have Todd Perry with us.
<DAZ_Biggie> We have a little bit smaller group tonight, which is kind of cool, because each of you will have a better chance of having all of your questions answered, so don't be shy!!!
<DAZ_mattw> Todd is a visual effects supervisor, as well as the co-owner of Max Ink Cafe and Max Ink Productions, and he's here to talk about his industry work and share some insight
<DAZ_mattw> For those who haven't joined us before, to ask a question, you send it to the moderators by clicking 'QuestionBot' on the right hand side and sending your question as a private msg
<DAZ_mattw> Without further ado...
<duckyamuck> Hey All -- thanks for coming
<duckyamuck> I appreciate it
<duckyamuck> I don't have anything prepared -- so you guys are driving
<DAZ_mattw> *E*
* DAZ_mattw tries to think up some jokes involving the word 'Preecccious'
<duckyamuck> My background is that I grew up in Washington State
<duckyamuck> Followed art all through my childhood
<duckyamuck> Took lots of art classes -- watched tons of films
<duckyamuck> Got A Bachelor of Fine Arts
<duckyamuck> With a couple internships in Seattle for Optical FX and character animation
<duckyamuck> No formal CG training -- but CG is just another tool
<duckyamuck> If you learn the basics of composition and color and animation -- the CG fills in the holes
<duckyamuck> Moved down to Cali in 95 and have been working ever since
<duckyamuck> Someone stop me or I'm going to just keep rambling
<Psyber Wolf> what would you say was your 1st real break into the movie industry?
<duckyamuck> First reel break into the film industry -- was when I moved to Cali
<duckyamuck> 'cause Seattle isn't really the hub of film
<DAZ_mattw> [Mod note: to ask a question, click 'QuestionBot' on the right hand side to send your question as a private msg; it will be queued for the moderators]
<duckyamuck> So when I moved I picked up a job at a place called Studio Productions working on logos like the Paramount logo
<duckyamuck> 20th Century Fox - etc
<duckyamuck> at the same time I was working at a game house as an art director
<duckyamuck> but -- my real experience was working freelance after all that on visual effects for a small company called Eye Candy
<DAZ_Biggie> What game house?
<duckyamuck> Vortex Media arts was the game house
<DAZ_Biggie> old school... :)
<duckyamuck> Worked on Simpsons Virtual Springfield
<duckyamuck> and a couple other games
<mcvdaz> Do you have a favorite CG tools ( or toolset) ? If so why?
<duckyamuck> I try to keep myself diverse -- but my 3D choice is 3DSTudioMAX
<duckyamuck> While I conform to Maya when its required by the studio
<duckyamuck> Photoshop is an obvious one
<duckyamuck> Compositing Tool would be Shake and Digital Fusion -- but I hop into After Effects for Designy stuff
<DAZ_Biggie> 3DS MAX?
<duckyamuck> Yeah -- 3DSMax
<3up3dn> Do you rig your own characters or just do the animation work after they have been rigged?
<duckyamuck> I only rig my own characters when necessary -- I prefer to have someone else do it primarily because I don't enjoy it
<duckyamuck> So On projects, I'll hire someone specifically to rig and model
<warreng_online> First, thank you for this opportunity. I want to know, how do you visualize in your head or on paper before you light a scene? What is your process beginning from a concept, to a sure thought to a 'tangible/visible concept for other to see what you are thinking?
<duckyamuck> Different for different types of projects ---
<duckyamuck> Live Action always dictates the lighting and color schemes
<duckyamuck> So the Art Director and DP already have determined that for you
<duckyamuck> For CG concepts -- I was put stuff on paper first for client sign-off
<duckyamuck> Simply because you don't want to put in a whole lot of 3D time in the client doesn't know what he's getting
<duckyamuck> Lighting comes from a basic three point light system to begin with
<duckyamuck> Key, Fill, Rim
<duckyamuck> But everything in frame has to balance as one full composition
<duckyamuck> Referencing well lit movies and reading American Cinematographer offers lots of insight into lighting
<duckyamuck> Because -- after all -- you are doing in the computer when people have been doing practically for hundreds of years
<duckyamuck> You aren't inventing anything new
<DAZ_Biggie> What exactly was your role on LOTR?
<duckyamuck> Learn from those that preceded you
<duckyamuck> I was a technical director -- primarily for the Gollum team for Two Towers
<duckyamuck> But I moved into Massive simulations later on
<duckyamuck> and lighting Massive shots as well
<duckyamuck> Technical Director handles lighting mostly -- but I was also doing cloth simulation and hair simulation
<DAZ_Biggie> what was it like working with Peter Jackson, et. al?
<duckyamuck> I never worked with Peter Jackson directly -- after all, he had a few things to do ---
<duckyamuck> so I worked with him by proxy from Jim Rygeil and Joe Letteri
<duckyamuck> Mainly Joe
<duckyamuck> He was great to work with -- knows what he wants and how to get there
<duckyamuck> He's been doing this since The Abyss, so there are a lot of notches on his belt.
<mcvdaz> Are there any upcoming project you are working on that you are free to tell us about?
<duckyamuck> I just finished working on Fast and the Furious 3 -- and now I am on The Nativity Story for a Christmas release
<DAZ_Biggie> What did you do for those pictures?
<DAZ_mattw> [To send your question to the moderators, click on 'QuestionBot' on the right hand side to send your question as a private msg]
<duckyamuck> Technical direction on both ---
<duckyamuck> but different tasks
<duckyamuck> FF3 was a lot of tracking 3D stuff onto cars -- or putting in full 3D cars
<duckyamuck> Nativity is a lot of making the scenes pretty
<duckyamuck> Lots of sky replacements -
<duckyamuck> which sound boring
<duckyamuck> But it requires us to generate a lot of tracked cameras -- the director likes her camera hand held
<duckyamuck> And when you start seeing the results -- and knowing that people won't question the shot, it gives you a sense of pride
<duckyamuck> Actually -- seeing your stuff finaled and in the theaters always gives you that
<Noltar> What do you think about films involving more and more CG and animation in place of live action, particularly those that aren't animating fantastic elements, but rather aspects that could be filmed, but aren't? An extreme example would be the recent A Scanner Darkly.
<duckyamuck> Good question
<duckyamuck> Filmmakers, IMHO, need to analyse if its germaine to the story or you are just using it as a gimmick
<duckyamuck> for A Scanner Darkly, Linklater had already used the technique for Waking Life
<duckyamuck> And he chose it to elicit a specific response from the audience
<duckyamuck> And that's his perogative as a filmmaker
<duckyamuck> Once you start using CG for CG sake it starts to fall apart
<duckyamuck> A successful use of CG lately was in Dead Man's Chest for Davy Jones Crew --
<duckyamuck> Who were all CG
<duckyamuck> Did they need to be all CG?
<duckyamuck> Probably not
<duckyamuck> But ILM did one HELL of a job
<duckyamuck> Because no one knows
<duckyamuck> Now -- from a producer standpoint
<duckyamuck> do you hire an actor for the duration of the shoot? Or do you hire 20 animators for 8 months?
<duckyamuck> Usually its both -- but the story must call for it
<duckyamuck> I don't see Gollum being done any other way
<duckyamuck> And Gollum would not have been successful if it were ONLY Serkis doing mocap -- or ONLY animators
<duckyamuck> It was the synergy that made it a success
<Valandar> Was Massive as much like a video game to work with as the "Making of" videos show? And whatever happened to the freeware version that was planned, or do you know?
<duckyamuck> Massive is far from like playing a video game
<duckyamuck> Its kludgy and cumbersome
<duckyamuck> and it crashes all the time
<duckyamuck> BUT -- when you get it to do what you want -- its a joy
<duckyamuck> I don't know about the freeware version --
<duckyamuck> there is a light version that you can get fora fraction of the cost -- but that fraction is still not the price of a Happy Meal
<Valandar> Is a degree or a good demo reel more important to getting a job in the Industry, or are they roughly equal?
<DAZ_SSS> Thanks for all of the great questions everyone.....please keep them coming to the questionbot
<duckyamuck> A good demo reel is more important for getting a job -- because you are showing what you can DO, not what you have learned
<duckyamuck> And what you have learned is usually the same as the 40 other people in your class
<duckyamuck> Education is important -- don't get me wrong
<duckyamuck> But you will get hired faster with a great demo reel than a piece of paper saying you passed an animation course
<duckyamuck> For education, I would focus more on the basics -- drawing, painting, photography, composition, color, etc
<duckyamuck> Because you always use those
<duckyamuck> For animation -- you want a course in ANIMATION -- not a course in Maya
<duckyamuck> So, you are looking for courses that teach you timing, and weight, and anticipation, and expressing
<duckyamuck> an acting class isn't a bad idea either --- because -- after all, an animator is acting through his character
<duckyamuck> In a nutshell -- make sure you have a good reel -- a degree doesn't hurt
<duckyamuck> But a degree with a bad reel won't get you a job
<JZArtist3D> What kind of Portfolio work did you have(2D or 3D), to get into the game/movie industry?
<duckyamuck> I had both 2D and 3D work when I first started hunting for work in LA
<duckyamuck> Now my reel is strictly 3D
<duckyamuck> My 2D talents have taken a sidestep to be support -- concept art, storyboards, etc
<duckyamuck> If you are a 2D animator -- people in the industry will recognize that you know what you are doing and be willing to move you into 3D if that what they need
<duckyamuck> And to be frank -- there ain't a lot of 2D work out there anymore
<duckyamuck> Because the :geniuses: at Disney and so forth have decided that people like 3D
<duckyamuck> Couldn't POSSIBLY be that they like good stories
<DAZ_Biggie> What do your two companies do?
<duckyamuck> Max Ink Cafe is a visual effects company
<duckyamuck> We also do full CG stuff as well
<duckyamuck> Max Ink Productions is the live action side -- where we develop our own films
<duckyamuck> write, aquire, produce, direct, edit, etc
<duckyamuck> Max Ink Cafe would provide any visual effect to Max Ink Prouctions
<DAZ_Biggie> You're working on an independent feature documentary... What is it called and what's it about?
<duckyamuck> The film is a documentary called BORDER
<duckyamuck> It focuses on Border Security in the United States
<duckyamuck> or rather -- the lack thereof
<duckyamuck> I know the name is a little abstract -- but really -- Border is about the border.
<Valandar> Would you rather work on a Major Studio production, or an Indie production, and if there's a clear 'winner', why?
<duckyamuck> There is no clear winner between the two because both offer heartache and joy
<duckyamuck> Indies allow for a more intimate relationship with the director and ffilmmakers
<duckyamuck> But -- there is usually not much money and you end up working a billion hours a week
<duckyamuck> and you do it -- not because you have to -- but because you love the project
<duckyamuck> Its why you took th ejob in the first place
<duckyamuck> Major studio stuff is great because you know it'll be seen and enjoyed by the world -- or critiqued
<duckyamuck> You have a large team of equally or more talented more that you can learn from
<DAZ_mattw> [One last chance to slip in a question: click on QuestionBot ont he right hand side to send it as a msg to our moderators]
<duckyamuck> BUT -- you have to deal with politics like you can't believe
<DAZ_Biggie> When I was at House of Moves, you edited a couple of our demo reels. Do you enjoy editing or VFX Supervision, or animation the most?
<duckyamuck> Its a toss up
<duckyamuck> And for different reasons
<duckyamuck> VFX Supervision is great because you are onset, helping tell the story of the director -- and contributing to that story even
<duckyamuck> Animation, you are telling the story through the acting of the characters
<duckyamuck> and editing is telling a story through the juxtaposition of images in time
<duckyamuck> SO -- all in all -- anything I can contribute to telling a story I enjoy
<duckyamuck> Screenwriting is another aspect
<websterbd> Are there good opportunities in doing 3d animation for TV?
<duckyamuck> There are lots of opportunity in TV
<duckyamuck> and its growing
<duckyamuck> Lost
<duckyamuck> Serenity
<duckyamuck> Buffy
<duckyamuck> Battlestar Galactica
<duckyamuck> Stargate (Is that still on)
<duckyamuck> ?
<duckyamuck> There is an Aquaman pilot finishing up now -- so if that gets picked up they are going to need a lot of help
<duckyamuck> SciFi channel probably keeps hundreds of artists busy all year
<duckyamuck> I was a soop on the Triangle last year
<duckyamuck> Which is up for an Emmy this Saturday --- for a category called Best Visual Effect for a Mini-series or MOW
<duckyamuck> Which a niche category like that -- you know that TV has a bunch of work to do
<duckyamuck> MOW = Movie of the Week -- BTW
<duckyamuck> For the uninitiated
<Risika75> I hope you had a very happy birthday :) Which project was your favorite so far and which are you most proud of?
<duckyamuck> My favorite project and the one I'm most proud of -- from a visual effect standpoint -- is Two Towers
<duckyamuck> Beause my heart was into it
<duckyamuck> I loved the books -- I loved the character -- and I was part of bringing that to life
<duckyamuck> For a career standpoint -- it'd be the Border movie --
<duckyamuck> because it talks about something important -- and something that can make a different
<duckyamuck> difference -- sorry
<duckyamuck> And from screenings that have happened -- the response is beyond anytthing I coudl haoped for or imagined
<duckyamuck> hoped
<duckyamuck> www.bordermovie.com
<DAZ_Biggie> Adam Holmes from Frantic Films was our guest several weeks ago, and is working on the new 3D TMNT movies... are you involved in those at all?
<DAZ_Biggie> ...and have you seen the trailer and what do you think?
<duckyamuck> I am not involved with that project -- but I do have a good relationship with Frantic Films owners -- we started our business at the same time -- so we can relate
<duckyamuck> Why they haven't called me?....
<duckyamuck> Get Adam on the phone...
<duckyamuck> I haven't seen the trailer
<DAZ_Biggie> lol
<duckyamuck> But I think its tremendous
<duckyamuck> Much better than Cats
<DAZ_mattw> haha
<DAZ_SSS> For your movie Border how did you pick the issue of immigration, and how has the film been received?
<duckyamuck> The film was a brainchild of the director who decided to go down to see what was really happening along the border -- because there are conflicting reports in the media
<duckyamuck> He said he was doing it come hell or high water and asked if we wanted to help
<duckyamuck> We could not have predicted how huge it became in Southern California and across the country come March
<duckyamuck> It was shot last October
<duckyamuck> We finished cutting the bulk of it around May
<duckyamuck> Its been received really well from people from all walks of life
<duckyamuck> all political views
<duckyamuck> and its being considered by distributors
<duckyamuck> at this moment
<duckyamuck> The point of it is to educate the nation before the coming elections in November -- so that people can vote with some knowledge behind it
<Noltar> Are there any projects you would love the opportunity to work on if they came your way? Not necessarily anything currently in progress but if someone were looking to make a film about it, you would jump at the chance to be a part of?
<duckyamuck> I lost the time to read comics and stuff a long time ago -- so I'm not up on the new stuff
<duckyamuck> I wouldn't mind being a part of Beowulf
<duckyamuck> which is Zemekis new CG film at Imageworks
<duckyamuck> I am working on a screenplay about the 1906 San Francisco Earthqueak -- which I would love to direct
<duckyamuck> I just need to find someone with 200 million to give me
<duckyamuck> queak?
<duckyamuck> Earthquake -- .....
<duckyamuck> Avatar is been done at Weta -- and I certainly wouldn't mind going back to New Zealand
<duckyamuck> Good people -- those kiwi
<duckyamuck> Next Indiana Jones movie -- that'd be good
<duckyamuck> If Lucas doesn't screw it up
<DAZ_Biggie> I forget... sorry
<DAZ_mattw> Well, it's that time of day when our Featured Chat comes to an end.
<DAZ_mattw> We'd like to thank Todd for coming, and thank everyone else for coming out for a cool chat.
<duckyamuck> Thanks for coming everyone -- I'm on ArtZone -- obviously -- and I dig giving insight to budding talent
<DAZ_mattw> Keep an eye on the featured chat page both for a log of tonight's chat and for future events: http://artzone.daz3d.com/index.php?mode=featured_chat
<duckyamuck> So feel free to ask
<DAZ_mattw> moderation is off. thanks all!
<DAZ_Biggie> Next week's chat is with ToxicAngel!
<Flak> thanks Tood - great chat :)
<Kuanbyr> Thank you Todd for a Great talk!
<DAZ_Biggie> Janne Pitkanen...
<Flak> err Todd ;)
<ImmortalImaging> Thank You very much Todd!
<LeChatDesigns> Thank you very much!
<Ffej> Thanks Todd
<Gflady> Thanks Todd
<Psyber Wolf> Thanks Todd :)
<Cazcie> Thanks Todd
<Noltar> Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions Todd :)
<DAZ_Biggie> Thanks Todd, much appreciated!
<Dream_Catcher_Designs> thanks for the informative chat!
<requiemau> Thanks Todd
<ImmortalImaging> Toxic?? YAY!!! :p
<westonmi> Thanks Todd! :D
<DAZ_SSS> thanks Todd...that was very intersting
<Dave-so> cool beans ... sorry ..had to say it
<Popote62> Thank you
<Risika75> Thanks Todd :)
<3up3dn> Thanks Todd.. Very informative
<mcvdaz> Thanks Todd !
<APDI> thanks ..great chat!
<Valandar> Thank you!
<Dream_Catcher_Designs> Woohoo on the Toxic cha upcoming :)
<CitizenM> Thanks for the time and insight, Todd! It's appreciated.
<sazzyazzca> Thank you.:)
<Sarsa> Thanks Todd!
<guswalt> Thank you Todd, interesting chat...
<ringbearer> Thank you Todd!
<APDI> whoo hoo is right!!!
<DAZ_Biggie> *E*
* DAZ_Biggie enjoys cool libation...
<rosemx> ty todd, was informative
<JZArtist3D> Cool Chat Todd! Can't wait for the next one. C-ya
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