VFXTalk Interviews Rainmaker on Da Vinci Code!

[CGnews]

http://www.rainmaker.comWe are very excited to be able to offer you guys and girls the opportunity to ask questions to Nick Drew, VFX Producer of Rainmaker UK. Nick and his crew have recently finished the work for the Saint Sulpice church sequence in the years most anticipated movie so far, "The Da Vinci Code."

Nick and his team worked specifically on the longest VFX sequence in the film. Although the story of "The Da Vinci Code" does not conjure up images of a VFX spectacular, it was necessary for the film to employ 5 separate VFX houses.

http://www.rainmaker.comThe VFX are very subtle and are seamless within the film, but nevertheless they were still thick and fast. Rainmakers Saint-Sulpice sequence required an entire CGI modelling of the church and its extremely unique architecture.

So this is what you have been waiting for. Here is your opportunity to ask and learn from the masters of the movies. You have until Tuesday afternoon to post your questions as our interview with Nick is on Wednesday. Time is of the essence, so best you get posting!

For more information see http://www.rainmaker.com

The Team
VFXTalk.com

[Tahllulah]

I am just off to see the film now...Can't wait. I'm sure I will have a load of questions when I get back.
x x
Lullah

[VFXTalkDotCom]

i would start with the basics, since i am a tools guy:

what 3d software did they use for modeling and for rendering?
what was their compositing pipeline like?
what did they use for 3d camera tracking and matchmoving?
how did the match up the film grain stock look of their renders with that of of the rest of the movie?

i would also like to find out how long it took to render the 3d scenes and how long it took to render the compositing work for the same scene?

[naveen]

great movie...awesome and seamless visual effects,congratulations to people involved in making this movie.

1.how long did it took to complete the entire postproduction work on the movie.

2.how did u accomplish the shot of blood deforming into sword shape in the sink while tom hanks is shaving.it was so simple genuine shot yet very much appealing. wot softwares are used.

Thanks

[Tahllulah]

Wow, what a fantastic job you guys did. I saw the movie last night and particularly looked out for the Saint-Sulpice scene, it appears so real.

What research were you able to do on the architecture of the building?

What, if any problems did you run in to?

What was the hardest part?

Thank you

Lullah
xx

[sarries07]

This was a great film and great job on the scene. I have been racking my brain though,

how did you manage to do the scene with silus smashing the floor? The angle was awesome and it looks near impossible to do!

[fbrandst]

Hi,
I am very interested in the compositing workflow:

- what image format did you use. OpenEXR with all channels included in one file, or a proprietary format?

- did you use 3d compositing techniques like pan and tile for the background plates?

- how did you bring your 3d camera to your compositing package, or did you only use matchmoving data?

- have you also used camera projection in your compositing app to create simple 3d environments?

thats it for now.
cheers Frank

[alive]

I have'nt seen the movie, but did see the Saint-Sulpice breakdown at the rainmaker website. Some questions came to my mind.

For that size of a set, how did you take lighting references?

How was the physical camera lensing matched to the cg camera??

Were there any photographic elements in the set extension or was it all computer generated?

[skinnie buddah]

I have to admit I was a little worried about how this film would work and it got slamed and Cannes, but hey I watched it and I thought it was awesome. I actually didn't realise this scene was modelled until I read it on this website, so hey you had me fooled.

How close do you think you actually got to the real Saint-sulpice?

Would you change anything if you could?

As it was night time and there wasn't any natural light, did you have any problems creating photo realistic imagery?

How intricate did you have to make it?

Bring on Angels and Demons

Peace out
Skinnie

[Edenjada]

I saw this article before I went to see the film yesterday, so I purposely looked out for it.

My question is What's real and what's not?

and

How many shots were there in the sequence?

Thanks
EJ

[CGnews]

hey just wanted to say thanks to everyone for posting their questions! we are going to close theinterview down now and send the questions over to the guys at Rainmaker to get us some answers (And hopefully some cool screenshots!)

stay tuned for the next live interview coming your way soon only at VFXtalk.com!!!

the team
vfxtalk

[CGnews]

hey a big thanks to everyone who asked questions! you can check the final piece and the answers out here:

http://www.vfxtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6077

thanks again!

the team
vfxtalk.com