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Superman Returns Previsualization
Rebert East and David Abbott, Previs Artists of Rising Sun Pictures and Chris Batty and Kyle Robinson of Pixel Liberation Front talk about creating Previsualization for Superman Returns.
July, 5th, 2006, by Raffael Dickreuter
 Chris Batty, Previsualization Supervisor
Tell us about your involvement in the project and what your responsibilities were on Superman Returns
I was one of the previz Leads or Supervisors along with Kyle Robinson and Rpin Suwannath. We were responsible for taking the storyboards for any given sequence and leading the teams of animators to create the previsualized sequence. We would have regular reviews with Bryan Singer and he would go through the sequences with us and after those reviews we were then responsible for communicating to the animators and carrying out the notes they he had given us.
How accurately are life action shots filmed after they were created first digitally with previz?
I haven't seen the finished film, but from the shots I have seen the final shots tended to stick very closely to the previz.
Was previz only used for mostly shots that included visual effects?
Actually, no. We tended to animate as many shots in a sequence that we had time to do (which was most of the time all of them.) In this way the sequence could be better judged before hand with better pacing and timing. We also added music and sound effects for the sequences so that they could also have some emotional content as well.
To what extent makes a previz artist also creative decisions that determine the look of shots in the movie?
Bryan actually allowed us to come up with solutions for the shots of the sequence. While he always had a clear mind of what he wanted out of a sequence, he was always open to suggestions and wanted to see anything that we had come up with. Of course everything had his and Tom Sigel's (The Cinematographer) final approval.
What were the most challenging tasks you had to master?
I think the most challenging task was to be able to see the movie through someone else's creative eye. As a previz artist you are responsible for fleshing out and communicating someone's creative vision. You always have to remember it's not your movie... You have to be able to connect to the director's vision and creative tastes. The other challenge we had was to push the look of the previz to a higher level without slowing down the process significantly. The previz was not only used to create and plan the difficult visual effects shots it was also used as a presentation tool to show how the sequence was going to flow and also to show to the studio. So we took it upon ourselves and we were challenged to have a more polished look and feel to the previz.
How did previz evolve in the past couple of years if you compare the level of previz for Superman to productions several years ago?
Previsualization has evolved in two ways I believe. You can look at it and it has aesthetically advanced. As computers and software have advanced we have been able to put more into our previz so that they look less "sketchy" and closer to a finished shot. This also feeds into the next advancement. Since the shots can look closer to finished then our animations must be accessible to vfx vendors for the final animations so that at very least they can be used as a reference guide or even sometimes the start of the final animations. We tend to now hand our shots over to the visual effects vendors and it more important for them to have access to these 3D files.
What features of XSI did you find useful?
On Superman Returns I found our team relying alot on the realtime shaders. We had a few shaders that we had written that really helped us communicate the shots better... such as a water shader and some lighting shaders. The shaders make the shots look better but also the shots can be reliant on communicating these elements.... if the shot is all about a water element it is better to have something that looks like and somewhat behaves like water so that you can tell if the shot is working or not. I also found myself personally using the FxTree alot more on this project. The FxTree and passes allows you to quickly composite things together in a matter of minutes which can improve the shots immensely. I was able to animate, capture, composite and render out a shot without ever having to leave XSI. The FxTree is very fast to render as well.
Which areas should be improved?
I found the tools in XSI all very helpful. The only criticism I can give are interface critics. It's little things like slow file navigation (as in opening frame sequences or textures) that can be rather annoying.... especially when you have a busy director standing over your shoulder. I also found the the Fcurve Editor would sometimes loose its preferences without rhyme or reason. Something that shouldn't happen and can be quite frustrating.
 Kyle Robinson, Previsualization Supervisor
Tell us about your involvement in the project and what your responsibilities were on Superman Returns
I was brought onto Superman Returns as a Previz Supervisor. As a supervisor I was responsible for over seeing the progress of individual action sequences of the film from storyboards to shooting. This entailed meeting with the Director, VFX Supervisor, Production Designer, Editors etc to create assemblies for viewing by individual departments on our crew and the studio Warner Brothers.
How accurately are life action shots filmed after they were created first digitally with previz?
There are a number of factors involved in the repleacation of the previz shots that can range from the stunt persons talent, is it a full CG shot to the magic of location. With these variables it can range from 100% duplicate of the previz or 0% because of
unforeseen events. Usually the end result is faithful to the previz.
Was previz only used for mostly shots that included visual effects?
Ultimately no. During the process we discovered that visual effects shots alone would not convey the complete personality of the sequence. So we decided to add in none visual effects shots to complete the story.
To what extent makes a previz artist also creative decisions that determine the look of shots in the movie?
That is determined by the personality of the director. Some directors are more hands off than others and ask that only certain story points be strictly adhered to while
other moments they are more flexible and allow you to "explore the space" of the shot.
What were the most challenging tasks you had to master?
The tug of war between making a shot that has amazing trick camera work and one that maintains with the flow of the film and tells the story.
How did previz evolve in the past couple of years if you compare the level of previz for Superman to productions several years ago?
The main advance is in the look and feel. The difference is night and day. The OGL view mode has allowed the previz to look less like a technical instructional video and more as a watchable piece.
The emotional response we evoked from some studio executives was a real suprise. There are other examples such as a little back and forth with the writers once they saw what they wrote played out, they would go back and refine their original idea. Also when the editor was part of the process he was able to request specific shots to complete a sequence. So it was not only used as a visual effects planning tool but also to flush out and fill in some story points of the film.
What features of XSI did you find useful?
The Animation Mixer. This tool has made animating characters a more streamlined process. Being able to reuse clips saves time. Also the FxTree was a very quick and easy way to add a little bling to some shots.
Back Row:
?(Editor), LeoBaker, Rob Nunn, Steve Evans, Dave Abbott (In front of Steve), Phil Barrenger, Duncan Ransom, Damien Borg, ?(PLF), ?(PLF),Rob East, Colin Green
Middle Row:
Rpin Suwannath, Nick Petit, Craig Saunders, Rob McDougall, Kyle Robinson, Chris Batty, Joyce Cox
Front Row:
Maricel Pagulayan, Bryan Singer, Mark Stetson, Chris Rowe
 David Abbott, Previz Artist
Tell us about your involvement in the project and what your responsibilities were on Superman Returns
I was one of the first four guys from Rising Sun Pictures through the door at Fox Studios in Sydney to start the previz process for the movie. It was my job to build the virtual sets and props to visualise Superman's world. It was then my job to Animate Superman and the other characters to interpret storyboards, the script and the Directors ideas
to design the special effects shots for the movie.
Can you tell us about a particular shot you worked on and the process how it all came together?
My most rewarding shot was what was called at the time "Superman Recharge".
It consists of a beautiful shot of Superman in between layers of clouds recharging in the sunlight, and another shot with a sweeping camera move which ends in Superman launching back to earth. It began with a couple of rough sketches which I was left to broadly interpret. I built up a series of sky textured grids and imported the Superman model and designed the shot. I would present periodic versions for Visual Effect Supervisor Mark Stetson who would do over the shoulder reviews, or drop them into the cut for Bryan Singer to look at. I was also involved in building the virtual Kent Farm along with XSI artist Steve Evans as well as doing extensive work with the "Metropolis Disaster" and the final sequence.
To what extent does a previz artist also make creative decisions that determine the look of shots in the movie?
It is the Directors movie and nothing gets through that he doesn't like.
That being said we were quite often given storyboards and and sketches and left to interpret. So artists were making decisions everyday as to what was going to help make the shots work, it was empowering. It has been pretty amazing to see the shots we designed with Bryan matched exactly in the final shots.
What were the most challenging tasks you had to master?
Harnessing OpenGL rendering was the main challenge which consisted of being able to get fast renders out using the viewport and making them look good, I found it hard to not use mental ray and had withdrawal symptoms for a while and had to render some shots multi pass to keep me sane.
Sometimes you would have an entire city in your scene as well as dozens of fully rigged characters which meant we were juggling some pretty massive scenes.
We would always have to consider real world camera moves which could also be tricky, scale was always an issue.
How did previz evolve in the past couple of years if you compare the level of previz for Superman to productions several years ago?
I was told during Superman that this was the first show to use previz to such an extent.
It was used to tell the story for the first time as opposed to purely nut out the practical workings of a shot.
What features of XSI did you find useful?
The most fun one was the Fly navigation tool. Having put together Kent Farm in it's entirety it was pretty cool to have the Director, Art Director and VFX Supervisor looking over my shoulder as I flew around Kent Farm. I also really enjoyed generating rough UV's baking out my textures on the fly. The animation and modeling tools were rock solid and the way XSI uses models is just easy.
Which areas should be improved?
It drove me nuts the way the Animation Editor kept turning into an Expression Editor. I also often wished that there would be a nice fall-off on spotlights in OpenGL. The other thing which made life difficult was how preferences didn't stick in the Animation Editor. That being said I wouldn't have liked to have been using any other software package, XSI rocks, it was the all round package for the job. There was even some cool stuff done with the particles. :-)
 Robert East, Previz Artist
Tell us about your involvement in the project and what your responsibilities were on Superman Returns
On Superman Returns I worked as a Previz Artist producing shots, assets and technical breakdowns for shots. The shots produced would then be put together in an edit for review by the Director Bryan Singer .The technical breakdowns produced are technical drawings that give information on the approved previz shot enabling the production team to actually set up the shot to be filmed.
Can you tell us about a particular shot you worked on and the process how it all came together?
Lex Luthor activating Jor El stands out for me, it did go through a fair number of takes!
The first task would to be read the script and get a brief from Kyle Robinson or Chris Batty and review the story board. The next task would be to look at the assets provided by the art department. The art department had built a 3D model to profile the look and feel of the “Fortress of Solitude”. It was then a case of then translating the action and timing represented by the story board. Sometimes shots would look good on paper, but once you had fleshed out the action, you might find a particular camera angle would not work as there might not be enough space on set to create that shot or you would find a better camera angle to express the action. Mark Stetson the VFX Supervisor might also have a particular idea for a shot within the sequence. All of these ideas would be created as shot versions, then captured out and assessed in the edit, for approval and viewing by the Director. Previz is there to provide a melting pot of ideas and options for ultimately the Director to realize his vision of the film. Once the sequence had been approved its then a case of producing technical breakdowns of the entire sequence. This information is then used on set , for instance to know the distance between the camera and the subject matter, or the real world position of the camera as it dolly’s into a shot.
The previz for the sequence would also be used as information for the post production houses working on the vfx for the sequence or to provide data for motion control rigs if needed.
What were the most challenging tasks you had to master?
Certainly since the biggest change for me was the realization of real world camera movements and the use of lensing to focus on the telling of the story. There are certainly some big differences between what a camera can do in the real world and a camera in a three dimensional world. Those subtle differences can really effect the telling of the story.
What's your advice to other 3D artists who would like to become a Previz Artist?
Just bear in mind previz is about telling a story using a camera. So no need to concentrate on fancy textures and perfect facial animation unless it helps tell the story!
What features of XSI did you find useful?
The FxTree. As we were just screen capturing, it gave me the ability to layer up shots quickly without having to switch over to a full blown compositor.
Which areas should be improved?
Any improvement in viewport screen capturing would be welcomed. A nice new node based particle system would go down well also.
Credits
PIXEL LIBERATION FRONT
Sean Cushing - Visual Effects Executive Producer
Tanissa Potrovitza - Digital Effects Producer
Laura Zentil - Visual Effects Producer
Chris Batty - Previsualization Supervisor
Kyle Robinson -Previsualization Supervisor
Glenn Burton -previz Artist
Andreas Hikel - previz Artist
Colin Green - previz Artist
Scott McGinley- previz Artist
RISING SUN PICTURES
Rpin Suwannath - previz Supervisor
David Abbott - previz Artist
Steve Evans - previz Artist
Leo Baker - previz Artist
Nick Petit - previz Artist
Rob East - previz Artist
Phil Barrenger - previz Artist
Duncan Ransom - previz Artist
Damien Borg - previz Artist
Rob Nunn - previz Artist
Rob McDougall - Co-ordination and editing
Craig Saunders - Co-ordination
Chris Rowe - Editing
Links
Rising Sun Pictures
Pixel Liberation Front
Superman Returns
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