Effects Artist

• What is an Effects Artist?
• What is a typical Studio Hierarchy?
• History of Houdini
• How is Houdini different from other packages?  Why is it the industry FX standard?
• Houdini basic interface and general usage
• Understanding Context in Houdini
• Creating Nodes and parenting
• Creating a simple digital asset (HDA)
• Basic animation
• Basic rendering
• Basic shading
• Basic compositing

• SOP solver VS CHOPs for attribute persistency
• Non-linear blending
• Using geo attributes to drive shader attributes
• Hacking the existing Houdini shaders
• Houdini Digital Assets, (HDAs).
• SOPs (surface operators) proficiency

Overview

In the past, particle effects were a mainstay of an FX artist’s repertoire of skills.  Although traditional particle effects are used less there are many times you will still need to use particles, especially in the world of gaming.  Particles are still a very important tool for the efficient creation of environmental effects such as sparks, ash, rain, or snow. In this project, we will learn basic particle creation and rendering.  In addition, we will learn how to integrate this into a BG plate, which is something that FX artists have to do all the time in real productions.

Schedule

• Examine reference material, examine plate
• Create particle system for rain effect
• Create shader and stage lights
• Set up renderer and render
• Comp onto plate

Project

By the end of this project, you will have:

• Created and rendered a production-ready particle system
• Output AOVs for comp
• Turned the tool into a Houdini Digital Asset
• Done a basic A over B Composite

Overview

Destruction of man-made structures and objects is one of the cornerstone tasks for FX artists involved in feature film and gaming work.  This project will demonstrate the artist’s understanding of different building materials, weights and properties, and ability to mimic structural integrity and degradation.  

So why are we spending only three weeks on this?  Because a junior artist will likely not be tasked with creating complex RBD effects from scratch as these are frequently very involved and built by a team of senior artists.  However, it is important to have an understanding of these effects and how they work, as quite frequently junior artists will have to take an existing set-up and use it to “RUN” shots.  

We will focus on man-made structures, as this is the most common type required in feature-film and game work.  The destruction will be initiated by a catalyst and inspired by reference footage. This mimics shot-deployment in a feature film pipeline in which things happen for a purpose.  

The instructor will present a reference movie, and the students will recreate the effect.

Schedule

Duration:  Three weeks lab time with intermittent supplementary lectures and weekly screenings.

• Week 1
  • Overview of RBDs in Houdini
  • Visual drafting, reference gathering and research (study of objects breaking)
  • Structure modelling and pre-fracturing
  • Scene setup, planning and drafting            
• Week 2
  • Rigid body simulation, supervised lab time with some individual lectures
• Week 3
  • Secondary particle simulations, lab time with some individual lectures
  • Lighting and rendering

Project

By the end of this project, you will have:

• A final render of the realistic destruction of a man-made object (gray shaded), caused by an identifiable catalyst.
• Mastery of appropriate rigid and soft body simulation techniques
• A gray-shaded render with Inclusion of:
  • Interior set-dressing
  • Secondary particles depicting tertiary detail
  • Appropriate and realistic fracture patterns depending both on material type and impact location
  • Proper motion blur and fracture detail
  • Reference footage as insert

Overview

Although this section is titled Natural Elements (Fluid Effects), this does not imply that these kinds of effects are “fluids” as the general public would regard them.  Fluid effects can certainly be liquids such as oceans, containers of water, and even “goo.” However, in the CG world, fluids actually refer to “computational fluid dynamics, (CFD)” meaning any phenomena that uses CFD computations to solve the movement and interaction of liquids and gases.  This includes smoke, fire and liquids. These equations describe how the velocity, pressure, temperature, and density of a moving fluid are related, whereas a traditional particle system is just tweaked until it “looks right,” with no strong basis in real-world physics.

In recent years, fluid effects have become a bigger and more practical part of an FX artist’s job.  Until recently, fluid effects had been prohibitively expensive, (slow and inaccurate). With today’s algorithms and fast processors, fluid effects (as opposed to traditional particle effects), are increasingly the go-to starting point for any “natural phenomena” effect.

Fluids are the most advanced project due to the fact that the artist has the least amount of sculptability and control, coupled with long simulation and render times.  The element types depend on shot needs but could encompass water or other fluids, fire, dust, smoke, environmental effects such as fog, and mild rigid body dynamics work.

As with other projects, students will be presented with a reference which they will then mimic with guidance from the instructor.

Schedule

Duration:  Six weeks Lab time with intermittent supplementary lectures.

• Week 1
  • Study of reference footage, lectures on fluid effects
  • Exploring Houdini shelf tools to gain familiarity with tools
  • Lighting and rendering of above effects
• Week 2
  • Modelling of supporting geometry
  • Begin simulations
• Weeks 3-6
  • Continued tweaking and simulating with final renders and composite

Project

• A hero fluid element in a production-caliber shot and multiple secondary fluid elements
• Multiple pass renders for shadow projection, RGB lighting and other passes
• AOVs for depth or shader properties
• Light spill passes
• Realistic motion blur applied to fluids elements
• A breakdown showing the integration of elements and layers demonstrating multi-pass compositing techniques

Overview

Now that you have mastered the skills of an FX artist, it’s time to find a job!  Here you create your demo reel, resume, cover letter, website and Linkedin account.  Studio etiquette and interview skills and salary negotiation are also covered.

Outcomes

• You will be industry-ready!
• You will select your best work to best represent your skills and build a demo-reel.
• You will learn how to edit your reel and post it so it is viewable by the widest range of potential employers.
• You will know how to contact the widest range of potential employers and present your skills in the best light