A guest blog post by Craig Crane, Visual Effects (VX) Expert
The Glitz.... the Glamour...the Fame. Everyone thinks that this is in abundance as soon as they hear you work in film. Ha! Well if it does, I have yet to see much of it.
It's 4am and I'm sat in the car enjoying a Sausage and Egg McMuffin and Latte from the only place open within miles. The scanner is charged and ready to go, and the Sat Nav is about to guide me to a top secret location on a film to be kept under wraps.
The location itself was wrapped the day before, so when I get there, there should be no indication that a film unit had taken over the place. I like to think of myself as VFX C.S.I. I go in after wrap, and can often be there till the wee small hours scanning away. Often alone, with nothing but the whir of the scanner and Pro Pool tournement on the ipad to keep me going inbetween scans.
(Image left: Craig during a scan with his Leica scanner.) The scan itself requires on-the-fly planning. I scan in a very particular way, so as to not encumber myself both on the night as well as with the processing. A little bit of forethough can make a huge difference when it comes to the post work. But as much as I love being on set, either as part of the unit or as the lone scanner, the part I really get a thrill from is the post work. Seeing all that diligence come to fruition in the meshing is still quite a buzz. When you first start to see that green shaded cloud take shape, you know you're onto another great mesh. When the green points then turn into a awesome Blue & Yellow mesh in Geomagic, its almost time to reward yourself. But what with??
Well, its 4am, the next day... you're back in the van. Another great scan wrapped (literally!). A satisfying session but now onto the next probelm - Maybe we should try the pancakes and a juice this time. Or maybe just hold off and wait for the crew breakfast onset. Oh, the glitz and the glamour!
See Craig's most recent video which shows the workflow of a movie scan from Lidar, to Geomagic, to motion simulation of figures.
Try out Geomagic Wrap for free and enjoy a free video tutorial by Craig.