The prop claws are custom build by a special effects expert called Jimmy Claws who takes his job very seriously. For this sequence for example, Hugh Jackman would wear tracking markers – alternate colours for each ‘claw’ – ” just so we can see what they are doing”. Both Flame stations and the company’s Burn render farm have extensive spark / plugin licenses, allowing for complex shots, normally not financially viable to be rendered and composited.įor the famous claws, the real strap on claws could not be used during fight sequences as they are far too dangerous.
Hydraulx uses a multi-render pass approach to all their 3D. For the Convoy sequence car crushing completely 3D cars were deployed, crushed and discarded.
#Xstand makeover 64 Bit
This new 64 bit farm allows artists to be assigned groups of shots and then work more flexibly on multiple shots at once. Hydraulx use exclusively discreet system boxes for their compositing, with the world’s largest Burn render farm. While Lola is a spin off from Hydraulx, separate from Lola – Hydraulx had a large number of their own shots, including multiple man, Some of Storm’s effects sequences, and also the Convoy attack. Hydraulx and Lola actually moved entire offices into their new custom facility, in the middle of X-Men production. The brothers have directed countless TVCs and music videos, and each brother are highly skilled VFX artists in their own right, Greg on flame and Colin primarily in 3D but also flame, “he knows his way around a good batch setup” – says brother Greg – talking about Colin’s extensive skill base. Hydraulx and Lola founders Greg and Colin Strause are highly successful film makers in their own right. X-Men Character Likenesses TM and copyright symbol 2006 Marvel Characters Inc. Not only did Lola contribute the opening sequence but the company was also used on “hundreds of other little” shots according to Bruno. The sequence was initially scheduled to be a makeup effects, when tests were not satisfactory, alternative actors were briefly considered but thanks to a previous relationship with Visual Effects Supervisor John Bruno, Lola was given the chance to helm the sequence. There were no special tracking markers, greenscreens, measurements or considerations given to the effects team. The actors had no special makeup, not even hair colouring. While Greg Strause was on set for much of the filming of this sequence, by his own admission, there was little to do. – Dental Corrections Before shot After shot Lola’s own web site lists the companies services as including: But as you can hear in this week’s podcast – the team paid special attention to the original lighting and respected the exact on side lighting Before shot After shot It was discovered that noses continue to grow, as to ears, so noses were thinned and ears were removed resized 10% and retracked back on. Lola consulted with leading hollywood plastic surgeons and a vast library of material. The anti-aging of each actor is built on extensive research, both visual reference, and medical advice. But every trick in the book is used, from advanced colour correct to 3D tracking inside action.
#Xstand makeover skin
The team cleverly uses a huge combination of discreet tools such as extended bicubic patches meticulously tracked in a technique the team calls “digital skin grafts”. But while the programs are off the shelf, the techniques have been developed over several years.
#Xstand makeover software
These anti-aging shots are not achieved by the use of custom software or sparks, rather the team at Lola relied on standard inferno and flame software. With X-Men 3, the work is no longer designed to be invisible, and the team took the process further than they – or anyone else has done before.
Before shot After shotĪfter years of vanity visual effects work that included films such as Terminator 3, MI 3, and many others, yet in most cases this work was both invisible and not publicly discussed. In this week’s podcast we speak to Greg Strause, of Lola and Hydraulx and John Bruno visual effects supervisor of X-Men.Īs a bonus, we have some additional high resolution side by side 16-bit tiff comparison files for download. We are also joined in our companion written story by Eric Saindon who headed up the Weta X-Men 3 team.
In this week’s podcast we talk to Greg Strause, of Lola and Hydraulx and John Bruno visual effects supervisor of X-Men, about the amazing 25 year digital facelifts in X-Men: The Last Stand.