Cinesite is gearing up for more stereo feature post production following the completion of 300 shots for its first, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. However Cinesite MD Antony Hunt feels that there is “less of a frenzy” than a year ago in Hollywood for sanctioning 3D productions. The facility developed 6000sqft of new floor space to accommodate Pirates 4, adding seats for 80 artists. ILM and MPC also worked on sequences. “Fundamentally the software, team and pipelines are not hugely different whether it’s a converted or natively shot show,” says Michele Sciolette, Cinesite head of vfx technology. “The first process was tracking, extracting data from the live action footage to reconstruct the camera path in 3D software.” 3D Equaliser was used for tracking with Nuke as the main compositing package. “One of the key issues is that the two views L and R come with some imperfections, such as colour differences, which need to be addressed,” adds Sciolette. Key sequences for the Disney/Bruckheimer projectincluded a carriage chase sequence through Greenwich requiring 200 shots and replacement of a 250-ft blue screen with 3D full CG street builds, set and background extensions, as well as populating the sequence with CG people. For Pirates Cinesite also created a CG frog, textured in four different colours and Captain Barbossa’s peg leg throughout the film. With the completion of work on the final Harry Potter installment also under its belt, Hunt is confident that the UK’s VFX houses will sustain high profile business. “Without a doubt Harry Potter was a huge contributor to the growth of the VFX sector over the last 10 years involving everyone in the community,” says Hunt. Cinesite worked on all eight of the HP films. “Each film in that franchise got better and better in terms of the quality of VFX. Having that contribution over a decade enabled companies to expand and reinvest in infrastructure so that outside Hollywood you won’t find a better production base.” Hunt acknowledges the valuable role UK tax breaks for film and post have played in attracting work to the country. “With Warner Bros’ commitment to UK production [the studio purchased Leavesdon Studios and plans to shoot several features there] and generous tax incentives, the UK is a great place to make movies.” Cinesite is currently post converting another major Hollywood feature and outsourcing some of the process to India. It just completed work on X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class (Twentieth Century Fox) including performing a retro take on the high-tech Cerebro device which featured in previous X-Men films.Cinesite is gearing up for more stereo feature post production following the completion of 300 shots for its first, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. However Cinesite MD Antony Hunt feels that there is “less of a frenzy” than a year ago in Hollywood for sanctioning 3D productions. The facility developed 6000sqft of new floor space to accommodate Pirates 4, adding seats for 80 artists. ILM and MPC also worked on sequences. “Fundamentally the software, team and pipelines are not hugely different whether it’s a converted or natively shot show,” says Michele Sciolette, Cinesite head of vfx technology. “The first process was tracking, extracting data from the live action footage to reconstruct the camera path in 3D software.” 3D Equaliser was used for tracking with Nuke as the main compositing package. “One of the key issues is that the two views L and R come with some imperfections, such as colour differences, which need to be addressed,” adds Sciolette. Key sequences for the Disney/Bruckheimer projectincluded a carriage chase sequence through Greenwich requiring 200 shots and replacement of a 250-ft blue screen with 3D full CG street builds, set and background extensions, as well as populating the sequence with CG people. For Pirates Cinesite also created a CG frog, textured in four different colours and Captain Barbossa’s peg leg throughout the film. With the completion of work on the final Harry Potter installment also under its belt, Hunt is confident that the UK’s VFX houses will sustain high profile business. “Without a doubt Harry Potter was a huge contributor to the growth of the VFX sector over the last 10 years involving everyone in the community,” says Hunt. Cinesite worked on all eight of the HP films. “Each film in that franchise got better and better in terms of the quality of VFX. Having that contribution over a decade enabled companies to expand and reinvest in infrastructure so that outside Hollywood you won’t find a better production base.” Hunt acknowledges the valuable role UK tax breaks for film and post have played in attracting work to the country. “With Warner Bros’ commitment to UK production [the studio purchased Leavesdon Studios and plans to shoot several features there] and generous tax incentives, the UK is a great place to make movies.” Cinesite is currently post converting another major Hollywood feature and outsourcing some of the process to India. It just completed work on X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class (Twentieth Century Fox) including performing a retro take on the high-tech Cerebro device which featured in previous X-Men films.
