True Love

True Love

Geomedia Shares “True Love” with Kyle Park Music Video Color Grade

Director Paul De La Cerda has been a production partner of ours for the past couple years. Recently we were given the opportunity to share the love and color grade his latest music video for country music super star, Kyle Park.

Production took place in and around Austin, Tx. The music video consisted of a dynamic love story that plays on the possibilities between a guy and a girl who never get to be together. Their “True Love” connection is intercut with Kyle Park’s band performance held at San Marcos’ Cheatham Street Warehouse.

Images were captured on RED Epic and in 4K HD and transcoded to 1080 ProRes for offline editing editorial in Final Cut 7. We conformed the edit in Davinci Resolve back to the original digital negatives in order to retain the rich image quality native to Red Epic’s 4K Raw .r3d files.

Colorist Zach Nasits describes how this Raw conform enables intense control over the 4K imagery and truly enhances creativity with ability to give a project an artistic “look” and “feel.” With RED Epic’s latitude and dynamic range, the 4K Raw color grading process paved way to “help scenes out” that may begin with a properly exposed image, but then transitions into to extreme lighting conditions, where the scene may be overexposed by 4 or more f-stops.

“As a cinematographer, I understand that a cameraman is often tasked with challenging lighting scenarios due to budget constraints, a lack of resources, and/or unforeseen on set situations that happen all the time. Though a cinematographer may do their best job to light and expose, they often have to compromise to get the job done. Color grading 4K Raw Files can often allow a colorist the opportunity to conceal the compromise… but the better the image capture, the better the end color grade results.”

Paul did a great job directing/producing the music video, and we had a great experience working with him to bring the final look to the project.

“Geomedia along with Zach Nasits, colorist for this video, were very helpful and understanding when it came to the goals I wanted to accomplish for this music video. A very fun, relaxing, and yet professional environment that made me feel at home. With a tight deadline, Zach was able to deliver the final product with ease”. – Paul De La Cerda.

Kyle Park’s “True Love” will debut on CMT this month and we have another one of Pauls’ Kyle Park music videos in the color grading cue.

Recycle Right

Jefferson Bank “The Right Fit”

Truckin’

Truckin’

This year’s TV campaign for Valero Energy Corporation encompassed a range of dynamic, live-action shots which required extensive and complex production capture. Armed with our RED Epic camera, we were up for the challenge.

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The assignment landed on our desk just prior to last winter’s coldest month. Unfortunately, by the time we could begin filming, the local Texas grounds were quite dead and the trees were looking very cold and wintery.

The outside look didn’t present so much of a challenge while filming interior scenes at the Valero Corner Store, but concepts also included action shots out on the roadways. We location scouted areas that could pass as warm and green once we worked them over in post. In many instances, we relied on RED Epic’s RAW capture and 5K resolution for opportunities to paint, shade, and grade to give the exteriors a warm and lively feel.

Finished, color-graded tag sequence from the spot, captured with the Helivideo aerial cinematography platform.

We selected specialized tools that would enable us to capture our traveling scenes with motorcycles and Mission Petroleum’s fuel tanker. We rented a camera car from Chapman Leonard, outfitted with a 16′ Lenny Arm and G3 Shock stabilized gear-head with a digital Preston FIZ (Focus, Iris, Zoom) for most of our traveling shots. In some instances, where the roads were not substantial enough for the camera car and the picture car, we engaged a remote controlled gyro-shock stabilized helicopter with camera mount. It was awesome!

The camera copter is flown via remote control by an operator following in a chase vehicle. In addition to carrying the FS100 HD camera, the copter sends video of the “pilot’s” view wirelessly back to the operator.

Constructed of lightweight carbon-fiber, the copter sports a fully articulating camera head capable of panning, tilting and even longitudinal roll… All remotely controlled!

In cooperation with the San Antonio Police Department and Kendall County Sherrifs department we opted to leave the roads open to traffic and perform more “intermittent traffic control” where our officers could pace and safety the camera car and picture car with out stopping traffic on I-10.

Our roster of professional film crew in conjuction with the right tool selection enabled us to safely pull off this portion of the shoot while capturing some amazing footage at high speed.

The 16 foot “Lenny Arm” and stabilized gear-head, mounted on the Chapman Leonard truck.

Mounting the RED Epic and calibrating the digital “Preston FIZ” remote controller.

Scenes filmed at the gas station included more conventional style production complete with actors, set dressing, full make-up and wardrobe departments. We employed a huge crew to ensure that we could capture all 15 scenes in 1 day. Scenes included interiors and exteriors wih the Epic camera mounted on our Chapman Pewee III dolly or occiasionally hood mounted to a vehicle.

In order to achieve clarity and a high contrast ratio, most scenes were captured with Arri Alura T2.6 lenses (18mm-80mm and 45mm-240mm). For tighter spaces, we used our T1.3 Zeiss Super Speed MKIIs. Veteran camera aficionado, Calmar Roberts excelled as our 1st assistant cameraman, which was a great treat for Zach who, earlier in his career, trained under Cal for several years.

In addition to principal photography, there were several time-lapse sequences and visual effects scenes that were coordinated and executed in-house between our production and our animation departments.

Progression of long-exposure DSLR shots from a time-lapse sequence of the station. Sky replacement, composited signage and blending of station elements from offset moments in time were required to achieve a smooth time-remapped sequence, compressing hours into seconds as daylight turns to night.

Frame from the final composited, color-graded time-lapse sequence.

Final edits, conformed to the Log C raw footage, were tone-mapped and transformed to the target color space and graded using Apple Color. Visual FX plates were transferred as ProRes 4444 sequences.

Hats off to our staff, agency partners, our wonderful crews and the terrific folks at Valero… It was a blast!!

Client: Valero Energy Corporation
Agency: 180
Director: Murray Breit
Production Manager: Fernando Cano
Director of Photography/Colorist: Zach Nasits
Senior Editor: Jeff Chesnut
Visual FX: Martin Jaeger, Jeremy Kenisky, Rudy Martinez, Joseph Schaertl
Animation Director: Troy Davis
3D modeling/Animation: Jeremy Kenisky
Technical Direction: Jeremy Kenisky
Audio Post Production: Keith Harter Recording
Production Coordinator: Alycia Phair

Yeehaw!

Fully rendered final frame of fighter pilot

Yeehaw!

Our recently completed multi-spot campaign for Valero Energy Corporation features some high-octane 3D animation and visual FX. In addition to shooting all the live-action and providing editorial, the post production required building a photo-realistic 3D modeled, textured, rigged and animated F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet like the ones used by the Blue Angels of the US Navy.

One of the first major challenges was rigging the aircraft to move realistically in the air. Yaw, pitch and roll become complex maneuvers when trying to manipulate a 3D model aircraft through a space that is relatively 10 – 100 – 1000 times larger.

Once the aircraft were modeled and rigged, the first step was to audition good live action cloud footage to use as backgrounds for our aerial shots. We had to find footage that matched the tone of our spot and that matched the direction and choreography we needed for each shot. We often had to try and color grade many different sources to make everything feel similar. After shots were chosen and processed we were able to start animating our 3D jets.

Visual FX progression of 3D animated F-18’s flying in formation over the cloud deck.

Final rendered and color-graded CGI shot as F-18’s break away from “camera” chase plane!

Based on the lighting in the cloud shots we had chosen, we constructed high dynamic range images and reflection maps to help light the planes realistically. We had to pull lighting information from cloud formations to try and understand things like sun direction and color temperature, as well as shadow information. Once the light rigs were constructed, we could drop our 3D planes into the scenes and they would naturally feel like they were part of the environment.

Anatomy of a visual FX shot showing progression from live-action plate, sky replacement and rotoscoped ground crew, to wireframe composition of F-18 and openGL shaded view.

Lighting was rendered in Autodesk Softimage XSI using Mental Ray and a combination of physical sun and sky data as well as our own HDRI, Final Gathering, and global illumination light setups. Using a proper linear workflow, we were able to get the compositors the most latitude with which to perform final color grade, cloud compositing and visual FX in post.

Finished rendered scene with environment lighting as F-18 undergoes preflight, control surface and systems checks.

On the shots of the plane taking off, we decided we didn’t want to use any stock selections. Trying to recreate the entire airport in 3D would not be as realistic as shooting accurate live-action plates.

Instead, we chose a local airport and researched photos of it with google earth. Knowing the orientation of the runway, the sun direction, and relevant distances, we were able to map out a plan of where and how to shoot a take off and runway taxi shot. We wanted to be sure to move the camera accurately as a plane would as it moves from 30 – 300 MPH. Once we had calculated the take off speeds and distances, we booked the airport and shot the plates on our RED Epic camera.

3D computer generated F-18 Hornet taking off from live-action runway plate shot. Note the atmospheric heat distortion visual FX from the afterburners.

In post, matching the live-action airport plates up to our rigged F-18 was now trivial. Because we had measured and done our homework, we simply plugged in the distances and numbers we had already chosen days before and the shot lined up nearly perfectly. With only a few details to iron out, we were able to exactly match the angle, FOV, and camera move perfectly and our plane dropped right into the scene. As part of the F-18 rig, we completely setup the landing gear to function accurately. This was done so that when the plane actually lifted off the ground, we’d get visual confirmation when the wheels and suspension dropped down and started to retract up under the plane.

For the cockpit shots, backgrounds and environments were completely synthetic. Our F-18 model featured a fully detailed interior so we were able to use it to place our pilot inside a true F-18 cockpit. This also made it easy to be sure the wings, flaps and tail surfaces were all placed accurately according to how they’d look from inside a real F-18 cockpit.

Wireframe view in Softimage XSI of fighter pilot in the cockpit, showing inverse-kinematics rigging, subdivided poly model and hardware shading.

Our pilot was modeled and textured inside Softimage XSI and once we combined him with a proper helmet, he was rigged to be able to move inside the cockpit. His entire upper body was rigged for full articulation but since we agreed we’d never see the underside of his body, we didn’t put any rigging in for it. We also rigged his entire helmet and face mask to accurately reflect his movement in the cockpit so the hoses and buckles would move realistically as he moved his head around. For this we used a variety of simple spline rigs and implicit shape deformers inside the enveloped model. It ended up being a fairly simple yet physically accurate solution.

Fully rendered final frame from the cockpit view of pilot. Cockpit glass reflections, atmosphere depth-cueing, image-based lighting, ambient occlusion and carefully textured materials really amp the realism.

Backgrounds for the cockpit shots were generated from a variety of aerial photography and maps. Horizons and skies were created with photos and color gradients in Photoshop. Visual FX such as passing through clouds and other atmospheric effects were created in After Effects and served to help layer the shot for additional realism.

HDRI and Mental Ray’s physical sun and sky shaders were again used to help light the pilot inside the canopy. We processed a variety of reflection and canopy distortion passes as well to correctly bend the light and reflections passing through. Sub surface scattering and architectural shaders rounded out the skin and helmet materials respectively.

This challenging project is a perfect example of the tight integration required between production and post, in order to pull off shots of this complexity. We are proud to have been entrusted to handle all aspects of production, design, visual FX and finishing for this terrific campaign.

Client: Valero Energy Corporation
Agency: 180
Director: Murray Breit
Production Manager: Fernando Cano
Director of Photography/Colorist: Zach Nasits
Senior Editor: Jeff Chesnut
Visual FX: Martin Jaeger, Jeremy Kenisky, Rudy Martinez, Joseph Schaertl
Animation Director: Troy Davis
3D modeling/Animation: Jeremy Kenisky
Technical Direction: Jeremy Kenisky
Production Coordinator: Alycia Phair

The BIG Picture

The BIG Picture

Some say “it’s not the size of your tool that matters” and we would have to agree with that. However, the size of your picture does matter and the picture quality captured with RED Epic has everything to do with the way we work and how we create beautiful imagery with added versatility in post-production.

RED Epic camera

The camera itself isn’t much larger than a Kleenex box and weighs in at a mere 5 pounds before you put a lens on it. But inside this little box and instilled deep within the R&D is great potential for RAW image capture that expands its versatility with incredible latitude comparable to that of film (were seeing about 15-17 stops in some situations).

5K RAW image data “digital negative” as viewd in REDlog film, LOG color space.

The image after color grade and output to Rec-709 color space for finishing this spot for Taco Cabana.

After running our RED camera through extensive tests, we have begun implementing it into our everyday live action projects for clients like Valero Energy Corporation, Taco Cabana, and HEB. The proof was in the pudding! Not only have the aesthetic results proven to be great, but various cinematographers have also commented on its versatile performance and the way the camera was built from an ‘on-set’ functionality standpoint. The camera has the ability to shoot 5K motion as well as 120 fps in 4k and even 300 fps in 2K!

Epic being fitted on the Chapman G-3 Gyro stabilized head and “Lenny” crane arm.

Epic camera and crane operators heading out for a challenging shot.

Epic camera swinging into action on a recent shoot for Valero Energy Corporation.

RAW sensor data in LOG space prior to color grade and visual FX.

Shot after color grade with graphics tracked and composited. Tracking software loves the 5K resolution!

Rich oversized imagery allows panning and scanning in post-production, which gives you a second framing opportunity. High image resolution benefits visual effects work like keying, tracking and compositing. Color grading RAW images allows extreme fidelity and flexibility. Additionally, we are able to pull 5K 32-bit tiff images from the RAW footage for use in printed collateral, direct mail, and even billboards! (This technique was implemented in a recent VOGUE spread featuring Lady Gaga.)

5K .TIFF image extracted from color graded Epic footage for use in a print campaign for Taco Cabana.

We vouch that if you aren’t shooting RED Epic, then you’ll have to thaw out some old film cans in the freezer to reach this look and experience. While we sometimes miss film and are occasionally nostalgic for the smell of our Harrison changing bag, we sure don’t miss the all too common races at the end of the day, trying to get ‘today’s film’ on a plane to meet processing deadlines… Our clients definitely don’t miss the processing costs!

The future is here at Geomedia. Come try on some Epic love for your next project and get the BIG picture!

Trash Talking

Midnight Eyes

Track 2 on Rose of Jericho’s 3^rd album, ‘Out of the Maze’, is the song “Midnight Eyes”. It’s a song with significant meaning to the band’s lyricist and lead vocalist Andrea Russie. When the band chose Geomedia to transform this powerful love song into a music video we jumped at the chance.

After a few pre-pro meetings with the band, it was clear to everyone that Andrea would be the focal point of the visuals. Her compelling stage presence is matched only by her amazing vocals. We decided early on to feature Andrea’s performance in as many different settings as possible. We faced the challenge of only having a single location to shoot, San Antonio’s Scottish Rite Temple.

After scouting the location director Murray Breit and Director of Photography Zach Nasits identified 6 unique locations inside the Temple that would provide the diversity desired. Hair and Makeup Artist Donna Horner and Wardrobe Stylist Krista Ynostrosa designed a different hair, make up and wardrobe “look” specifically matched to each setup. Add in a smoke machine, some oversized light bulbs, a baby grand piano, some kind of crazy cardboard covered bicycle wheel and at the end you have a music video with a nice variety looks.

Getting our gear into the Scottish Rite was no easy task. The loading dock door is 8 feet off the ground. Why? Maybe check the ‘The Lost Symbol’ for the answer because we don’t know. Thanks to the crew, we loaded in without incident. Then it was on to the following locations.

The Parlor

The Window

Stage (Band Performance 1 Alone)

Among the Bulbs

Stage (Band Performance 2 Crowd)

Creative lighting techniques were handled smartly by our Gaffer, Ron Meneses. The smooth tracking shots of the Chapman Pee Wee III+ Dolly were expertly provided by Greg Lomas. Assistant Director, Jacob Esquivel kept the whole ‘circus’ moving and on schedule throughout the night. It’s also important to mention the tireless efforts of Matt Rasmussen, Rudy Martinez, Jeff Chesnut and Jeremy Kenisky and their work in a variety of roles. We had equipment help from Holtz Entertainment and the cool wardrobe selection was supplied by The Vintage House. A delicious dinner break was provided by Asia Kitchen.
From setup to setup Andrea never lost her energy or enthusiasm. Her emotional performance is authentic and can be experienced in every scene. Andrea’s determination to give her best performance each and every take had a positive residual effect on the rest of the crew.

A few days later we shot a few scenes with Andrea driving around the city at night to add to the overall mood of “Midnight Eyes”.

As with every shoot, we faced some problems and unforeseen challenges. But everyone pulled together and came up with some quick solutions. When we wrapped we felt confident that we had captured some great images. We all had a blast.
Next was editorial and color grading, here’s the end result…

In case you’re new to the band, Rose of Jericho has released 3 CDs to date. Their music can also be found throughout the critically acclaimed video game Rockband for the Playstation and Xbox consoles. In fact, Rose of Jericho is Rockband Network’s featured ‘Artist of the Month‘ for September. Their music is available at iTunes, Amazon and their website.

My SIGGRAPH and Student Volunteer Program Story – Part 3

My SIGGRAPH and Student Volunteer Program Story – Part 3

This is Part 3 in a series of blog posts about my experiences working with the ACM SIGGRAPH organization and conference. If you haven’t already, read Part 1 & Part 2 first. You can also read my SIGGRAPH 2011 wrap up here.

So with SIGGRAPH 2010 Asia approaching, I had been asked by the SV Chair to join his committee in Seoul, South Korea. He had been a former SV named Tan Wei Keong ( I mentioned him earlier, remember?) I had met in 2007 in San Diego, and we had kept in touch. See? Small world. Trying not to sound too thrilled, I had quickly agreed.

By now, I had been the only person who had served on both a SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH Asia SV Committee, and from that experience I can tell you they are _nothing_ alike. It would logically follow that I should tell you the difference between them, but for now I’ll just say I enjoy both the similarities and the differences.

SIGGRAPH 2010 in Korea was fun. It was also cold. I live in Texas. We don’t have snow. We don’t have ice. We don’t have green ice. We don’t have purple ice. Apparently there is this thing called black ice. It’s responsible for ignorant texans’ broken tail bones the world over. I can’t remember how many times I walked out of the hotel on my way to the conference center and totally busted my butt! You know the baby who burns his hand on the stove and never touches it again? Yeah that wasn’t me.

So the conference in Korea went well. It was well attended and the sessions were great. The SV program that year was a blast, and we had a TON of fun. What some people didn’t know though – was that our trip was just beginning. Three other volunteers and myself had concocted a master plan to take over E/SE Asia. It was Josh Corken, a buddy I had met in Singapore when he was an SV there. Also joining us was Benny Garcia, a former Team Leader I had worked with in Los Angeles in 2008. Last was Eugene Harng, the one I had backpacked with from Eastern to Western Japan the year before. We had also met in Singapore where he served as one of our Team Leaders. Once the conference ended we would travel to Beijing, backpack down to Shanghai, then to Hong Kong and Macau. It was an awesome experience, and although we ran into some travel delays we all managed to make it out alive once again. Benny just barely.

We spent Christmas Eve atop The House of Roosevelt, and New Years in a Times Square-esque part of Hong Kong. We were invited to a famous local artists Hong Kong home where he cooked us a wonderful traditional 7 course meal. We smoked cuban cigars on forbidden areas of the Great Wall where our Beijing friends who we also met through SIGGRAPH took us. We were continuing to forge memories and friendships first started in SIGGRAPH Asia in Singapore, or San Diego, or LA, or wherever else they started. I’m sure they’ll last far into the future as well, as we typically see each other 2 – 3 – 4 times a year. That is, as long as Josh gives me back that shirt he borrowed.

Because of the visa requirement, a lot of Americans don’t get the chance to go to China. It’s a bit of a hassle, being that it’s expensive, you have to plan ahead to get it, and it only lasts for 30 days. Not quite sure how I managed all of those but it worked out. Beijing is a crazy place. The sky is yellow and I’m not sure if it was smog or fog to be fair, but it was definitely yellow. We drove down the highways and buildings would just continue popping up in the background non stop, seemingly out of nowhere. Because of the limited sight distance it was a strange phenomenon. Also, don’t ever try to drive in Beijing. The Chinese drive on the same side of the road as us, so you might think it would be OK to drive there. It’s not. There are lanes, but they are more for looks than anything else. Nobody really listens to them, and people just drive wherever they want. Traffic lights don’t really matter either, it’s all about WHO WANTS IT MORE. I kind of like that. The worst part was the bikes. Holy wow. I’m not sure how they can drive so close together and so crazy at the same time and not die. It’s actually amazing really. Be careful stepping out onto a street though, cars and bikes swinging around corners like crazy people is common.

After visiting many of the sites in Beijing we took a trip to an area of the Great Wall with our friends from Beijing. I got to drive the winding road up to the wall and it was really fun. I drove the hell out of that Honda Accord and never looked back. Except when I saw this camel walking down the road by himself. That was just weird.

Several days later we moved on to Shanghai, where we ended up staying for Christmas. Shanghai is a great city and these days there are a lot of affluent Americans flocking here to raise their children. We visited People’s Square Park and the World Expo, both of which were fantastic.

There was a mix up on our hostel accommodations, and the 4 of us guys ended up sharing a small room with 2 Chinese girls studying English in the city for the weekend. Their English was horrible. I say that as if I speak a lick of Mandarin. We tried to help them learn new words, and they picked it up quick.

Once we got to Hong Kong we knew we wanted to scout out the city for future SIGGRAPH Asia festivities. Eugene had lived here for a short time and often visits every year during the winter months. He knew the city well and stayed with family while we were there. I fell in love with Hong Kong immediately. The city is vibrant and beautiful, and totally full of life. The people there have this sense of hope and inspiration in their faces, like they know tomorrow is going to be better than today. Hong Kong is also very diverse, there are people from all over the world there. It’s much more diverse than you might expect. It wasn’t until recently that I learned about the cages. When we go back to attend for SIGGRAPH Asia 2011, we’re working on putting together a documentary about them and the ridiculous wealth gap that exists in Hong Kong. More on that later, but we’re doing it with the Border Jumpers, a project you can read more about here.

While in Hong Kong we met a local artist working on some projects for the Chinese government. He is a very famous ink painter / illustrator who was commissioned to make several works of art for the Chinese Government to hand out to visiting dignitaries. After seeing the huge “live painting” at the Shanghai World Expo earlier that year, he wanted to create a similar animation using his panda drawings. He rolled out one he had did that was around 30 meters long. Crazy cool.

Finally, after some travel delays in Macau and leaving Hong Kong, it was time to head home. Korea and China were beautiful places, but it was back to work as SIGGRAPH 2011 planning was fast approaching.

48-Hour Film Kids