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Frantic Films is a groundbreaking live-action and visual effects company
with a focus on quality and value.
Founded in 1997, Frantic has always been on the cutting edge, providing
state-of-the-art visual effects, 3D animation, post and live-action
production for a growing roster of clients. Frantic has recently completed
both pre-visualization and final effects work on Fox’s spring blockbuster X2.
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X2 revolves around the epic battle between Humans and Mutant kind.
X2 is the sequel to Fox’s highly successful take on the
original Marvel Comic classic, X-Men. The action is kicked off with a brutal
attack by an unknown assailant, who many suspect to be a Mutant with
unthinkable powers.
Frantic Films has provided us with a window into X2’s stunning visuals, as
well as the key role that Fusion played in completing all the shots
with the utmost quality, while providing the necessary power and flexibility
to meet the intense deadlines.
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For X2, Frantic provided key pre-visualization design and replicated
LIDAR-technology (Light Detection and Ranging), creating a photo-realistic
holographic map for one of the VFX sequences. Frantic’s work on X2 extended
beyond pre-viz though, culminating in twenty-three post-effects shots.
Commenting on Fusion’s pre-visualization application, and the benefits of
the 2D environment to pre-viz, Darren Wall, 2D Supervisor and pre-viz art
director for Frantic says, "DF allowed me to be a control freak. I got the 3D guys to turn out really
simple geometric shapes, avoiding expensive volumetric renders and saving me
the hassle of kicking elements back to 3D because the density was wrong, or
the fall off too great - I could control all that in the comp."
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As for Frantic’s effects shots, they used the look of the above mentioned
LIDAR technology as inspiration for the creation of a hologram map pictured
inside of the X-Jet, the goal was to recreate the look and feel of the
LIDAR-technology in CG, generating a strikingly three-dimensional,
photo-realistic LIDAR image – in this case, of Stryker’s Base, to illustrate
a critical plot line in a story involving the character of Wolverine.
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In the real world, a LIDAR box works by scanning the environment using laser
technology. Wherever the laser hits a surface, the LIDAR hardware creates a
dot in 3D space at the location where the hit-point is detected. This
effectively results in the virtual re-creation of the environment in small
points, which, if created with a high-resolution sampling rate, achieves the
effect of smooth and instantly recognizable surfaces.
Beyond the creation of a LIDAR like image, the Frantic crew had to solve
various problems to get the CG elements to seamlessly integrate into the
live action plates.
Darren Wall further discusses one such problem using the last shot of the
Hologram Map sequence as an example.
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"The camera move had a tilt and pan both during a dolly in, with a rack
focus. It was the rack focus that was really messing us up, because the blur
was severe enough to obliterate any trackable landmarks. Our matchmover
tried to 3D track it, our 3D lead tried to track it, and they got us into
the ballpark, but it still wasn't perfect. With the DF tracker, we could
get superior tracks of different points around the frame, in foreground,
midground and deep background to stabilize the shot, even with the focus
pull. Then we could stabilize our slippery 3D elements, combine them with
the stabilized plate and then re-introduce the original move."
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Fusion was also used throughout the Hologram map sequence for the seamless
addition of mountainscape background plates to the windows of the X-Jet.
Frantic also completed shots involving the re-creation of the eye-scanning
system used by Patrick Stewart’s character, Professor Xavier, to enter
Cerebro. Frantic 2D Compositor, Jason Booth explains the intricacies of this
particular shot.
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"We received this shot late into the production, and were able to turnaround
several takes under tight deadlines, nailing the look VFX Supervisor Mike
Fink and Director Bryan Singer were looking for. Using only a rudimentary
shape built in 3D, Fusion helped define the final shape, color and particle
density seen in the final shot. Utilizing the Luma Key and Chroma Key, both
native tools in Fusion, we isolated the lights, darks and colors of Patrick
Stewart's face as the beam passed over his eye. The deform tool enabled us to
contour the beam to Patrick Stewarts face, saving time by not having to
model his head in 3D. The end result is a detailed interaction between the
eye scanning beam and Patrick Stewart's Face."
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Frantic Films is busy with a number of upcoming projects, so stay tuned
to eyeonline.com and www.franticfilms.com for more information.
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(All Images Courtesy 20th Century Fox and Frantic Films.) All rights reserved. eyeon's Fusion, Digital Fusion and Digital Fusion DFX+ are registered trademarks of eyeon Software Inc. All other trademarks, company names and products are the property of their respective holders.
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