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We continue our report on FMX 2024 with new conferences. On the agenda for the third day: the future of rigging, a journey back to the 90s, and behind-the-scenes of a Netflix project!
Rigging/Animation: is Houdini the future?
We attended two crowded Houdini workshops focused on the APEX system dedicated to rigging. Apparently, everyone who has adopted it has fallen in love with it, and according to initial reports, it would be difficult for them to switch back to Maya.
Tumblehead Animation, a studio based in Viborg, Denmark, and represented here by Magnus Igland Mollernous, presented their latest project, “Turbulence,” in collaboration with Christopher Rutledge. A first for the studio, the entire short film is created using Houdini. Magnus decided to approach APEX without using the existing modules in Houdini (IK FK), but by scripting all the nodes and connections. It’s a fairly complex task if you’re new to Houdini, but the result is there, clean, and functional. “Even though Houdini can pose a huge challenge, once you’re in it, rigs are instinctive, and scripting in Houdini is simpler than with Maya,” says Magnus. It’s worth noting that when he began learning, Magnus used Houdini’s KineFX system. His system is currently a hybrid between the two tools, but he’s trying to make everything work with APEX.
“Turbulence” will be presented at the upcoming Annecy Festival. Hopefully, we’ll have more demonstrations on Houdini.
Another presentation: Bogdan Lazar showed us how he built a quadruped rig, using APEX and the modules and nodes provided by Houdini. It seems that rigging is now within reach for everyone, as tasks and manipulations appear straightforward. You just need to create the skeleton, import the desired modules, fill in the node information (for example, specify joints in FK or IK), and you’re done. Is APEX going to reconcile artists with rigging? It seems to be heading in that direction. But it’s clear that it seems easy to create a simple “puppet” rig in just a few hours.
APEX seems to show that complex rigs are achievable, more accessible, and “user-friendly” to create thanks to the pre-built components. These components are also faster to manipulate in the viewport, and animators aren’t slowed down.
Will we witness a change in pipeline in the coming years? Will studios leave Maya aside to make Houdini their main production tool? It’s still too early to say. We are still in the early stages of APEX, although the initial results are very convincing, if not impressive. However, we still need to see more presentations like this on more complex assets to get a clearer idea of the capabilities of this approach.
Another point is finding talents with knowledge of the tool. Again, patience will be required. For example, at Superprod, whom we interviewed at FMX (coming soon on 3DVF), new hires were trained in Houdini (for CFX, crowd) for a few weeks, and the transition was successful. Finally, are schools, traditionally teaching students with Maya, ready to integrate more Houdini into their curriculum?
We will follow all of this closely.
An Academy Award at FMX
Oscar winner Michael Fink was present with Ian Failes and Hugo Guerra to revisit some films from his very long and rich career, which earned him an Academy Award in 2008 for “The Golden Compass.” His filmography is impressive. He also talked about “Batman Returns” (1992), which earned him an Oscar nomination in 1993.
A film that emerged amidst the massive technological shift of that time: while during preproduction, 20% of the shots were supposed to be digitally manipulated, during production, this rate rose to 90%. This was before “Jurassic Park” and the subsequent technological improvements.
A real feat for the entire team.
Regarding “Mars Attacks” (1996), he revealed that initially, director Tim Burton wanted to use stop motion. On “The Golden Compass,” the end of production was apparently a huge challenge. 24 hours before the film’s delivery, the team found 2 shots in the rushes that had been completely forgotten, lost, and no one could explain it. Since these two shots were important, the team made a titanic effort to get them out on time.
This discussion about Michael Fink’s work was fascinating. The session lasted an hour, but we would have happily stayed all afternoon listening to him.
Yu Yu Hakusho
The last appointment of the day, not to be missed for manga fans: a review of the adaptation of “Yū Yū Hakusho” for Netflix. The series is one of the first Japanese productions to rely on such an international visual effects production. Four vendors for previsualization (subcontractors), 9 visual effects vendors, a main studio in Japan with artists in no less than 6 countries (Japan, South Korea, India, Canada, USA, and Australia).
Many challenges arose along the way, as Ryo Sakaguchi from Scanline VFX explained. Indeed, the work methods between Hollywood and Japan are not always the same, and it was necessary to find the right balance. Considering, for example, that the entire series was shot in Japan during much of the pandemic, sometimes making exchanges complicated.
We watched a making-of of one of the series’ first sequences, managed by Scanline VFX, showing the work from virtual production to finalization. There was also a quick presentation about the character Gouki, with the filming of a fight sequence.
Christophe Rodo from Megalis VFX talked about a battle sequence with Kurama, the use of Solaris for the environment and lighting, and the importance of using USD in production. Unfortunately, the time allotted for this conference had come to an end: once again, we would have liked to know more!
3DVF will be present at SIGGRAPH Asia in Tokyo next December. We plan to meet the Megalis team and visit their studios. So, we’ll have more information to share about the Japanese production side.
