I’ve been making good use of procedural tools and workflows for the work shown here – something I think will only grow in future.
Realtime Software
Author: ajconcep
Realtime Unity
Unity Scene containing a number of assets shown elsewhere on this page. This is a legacy render, before the switch to HDRP (which greatly increased the quality of translucent leaves).
Realtime showroom
Interactive showroom concept for a clothing label. A lot of emphasis was put on accurate fabric representation in VR.
Realtime Unreal
Unreal scene, combining the same assets
Realtime hemlock
Coming from Europe, one of the best ways to learn North American trees has been to model them. This is a Western Hemlock created in ‘Plantfactory’. The base is made from 3 photoscans merged together.
Tree billboard
This experiment splits up a tree into 8 atlased billboards. The field of view is limited to around 90deg, but the results are promising, and (apart from the overdraw) quite efficient.
Realtime ferns
As a technical challenge, I coded a matrix transform in a substance FX node. This allows position and normals maps to be manipulated within substance, for some interesting effects. In this example, whatever angle the fern is rotated, the leaves nearest the ground are retextured to brown and decayed.
Realtime rocks
Some more polished photogrammetry assets, from Lighthouse Park and the Capilano River.
Realtime runway
This ‘virtual runway’ was a project to really push my skills with Substance Designer. Everything, including the animated raindrops, was textured using the tool.
Realtime rocks upres
The photogrammetry rocks were shot on a relatively old camera (before I replaced it with a Sony A7R), and were quite soft. This is a substance designer script to up-res and sharpen the edges, to create the appearance of higher quality assets.
Realtime delight
Photogrammetry de-lighting experiment. Uses a partially emissive shader to create realistic baked indirect lighting from the photogrammetry solve itself. I haven’t yet found a use for it, but the results were promising.
Realtime RDT
Like a lot of artists, I was very impressed with ‘Real Displacement Textures’ when they were first released. This is an experiment on how I could replicate something similar results on my own kit.
Photogrammetry
Two of my earliest photogrammetry experiments, both around mosquito creek in North Vancouver. I was comparing ‘Photoscan’ (now ‘Metashape’) and ‘RealityCapture’ at the time, so I don’t know which one these were solved in.
JL Titles
MPC Vancouver was the primary vendor for the 3rd act of ‘Justice League’ – set in the fictional town of ‘Skrunda1’ (a mix of Chernobyl and Pripyat). The Environments team was tasked with dressing a full CG city, 12km square
JL Realtime
To allow such a large area to be fully dressed in only a few months, I proposed using a new toolset, based around Unreal Engine 4. At peak, 5 artists were working simultaneously in Unreal, with the final layouts exported back to the MPC pipeline for rendering.
JL Daytime
This daytime shot is one of the few where our work is really visible. A lot of the rest of the team’s efforts is hidden behind FX, motionblur, and a heavy red grade.
JL Red Sky
The full scene had over 400,000 instances, and in some aerial shots almost all of them were visible – so we had to use every optimization technique we could think of to keep the scenes interactive.
JL Assets
I oversaw a team of 13 artists, who created more than 240 unique assets. I textured around 40 of them myself in ‘Substance’.
JL Software
This was the first show at MPC to make use of a game engine for VFX production.
JL 5-way blend
I also created a 5-layer blend shader for Unreal, which allowed artists to edit the terrain texture interactively. The vertex map was exported as a primvar, and the shader was duplicated in Katana, giving a precise match between Unreal and Renderman.
JL Matte Painting
There is actually a fairly detailed matte painting in the background here, but (as is often the case) the DI grade makes it virtually impossible to see anything.
JL Power Lines
One of the great things about using a game engine is getting a lot of additional functionality for free. At the very end of the project, it was noted that none of the utility poles had cables, so I wrote a tool in blueprint to procedurally create a plausible network of simulated softbody wires.
JL Plants
The final shots of the movie required the city to be covered in ‘beautiful alien plants’. I created four plant types in ‘Plantfactory’, which were animated by Andrew Bain.
JL – Siggraph
Myself and John Vanderbeck gave a talk at Siggraph 2018 titled ‘Accelerating Film Environment Creation Using Game Development Tools’. The work described here formed a large part of the presentation.
Neverland Titles
Two part TV Movie for AnthemFX – meant to be a prequel to the ‘Peter Pan’ story.
MPC Titles
I worked for MPC Vancouver for more than 8 years, 7 of them as head of the 3DDMP / Environments department.
As far as I can tell, I hired 154 people into the department during my time there, around 40 for their first ever role in VFX.
The studio closed it’s doors for good in December 2019
MPC – Ad Astra 1
Ad Astra – 2019
A large part of MPC’s work on the show was creating planetary views from space. Terragen is an ideal tool for this, and we made heavy use of it throughout the show.
This shot is a Terragen base by me, with further matte painting by Tadaomi Kawasaki.
MPC Ad Astra 2
This shot, like a lot of shots on the project, was touched by a great many people. I believe it was finished in MPC London, based on a Terragen setup created by myself and the environment lead, Scott Russell.
MPC Dark Tower
The Dark Tower – 2018
I created a library of textures for the titular ‘Dark Tower’ which were used in a ‘texturebombing’ shader by Tim Crowson. The background sky is a matte painting by Matt Ellis, based on photos I took in the South Pacific.
The landscape was a ‘2am’ shot, created in less than 24hrs alongside Michael Gardiner and Eduardo Lopez. It never made the final cut…
Sanctuary Titles
My first project in Vancouver, for AnthemFX, the company that brought me to Canada. They’re sadly long gone, but they threw amazing parties…
Leap Year Titles
This was my first film at Cinesite, and the one that taught me not to chase projects. I was initially very disappointed to be given this instead of ‘Prince of Persia’, but ended up having a great time, and the opportunity to have large creative impact – even if it’s not necessarily a film I’d actually watch…
Triffids titles
Triffids software
Freelance contract for ‘PaintingPractice’. Work was a combination of concept designs to be sent to Rocket Science VFX in Toronto, and DMPs that were completed locally.
Arch-viz Titles
Concepts Title
Neverstop – topshop
Freelance contract for ‘Neverstop’.
Interior visualisation for a rebranding of ‘TopShop’
Virgin galactic
Freelance contract for ‘Start Creative’.
Visualisation of Virgin Galactic’s proposed spaceport
Luella tourbus
Visualisation of Luella Bartley’s GO! tour bus, created in SketchUP. The old ‘Routemaster’ buses were being sold off by TfL, and the idea was to host a mobile fashion boutique inside one.
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Bawadi
Freelance contract for ‘FlamingCGI’
Visualisation of the Theatre District in ‘Bawadi Square’, a proposed district of Dubailand.
KAEC 2
Freelance contract for ‘FlamingCGI’
Aerial Timelapse of ‘King Abdullah Economic City’
KAEC 1
Aerial views of ‘King Abdullah Economic City’, Saudi Arabia – the industrial valley, King Abdullah port, and the educational zone. Base render by others.
Arch-viz software
Concept temple 1
Illustration commission for ‘ImagineFX’ magazine. My initial sketch used a regular model T Ford (though still with the Gorilla in the back seat) – but this was thought to ‘Not be Sci-Fi enough’.
Concepts temple 2
Vehicle design in SketchUp. The tool is not an organic modeler, nor an animation tool – but it is surprising how far it can be pushed. The characters are rigged and posed entirely within SketchUp itself.
Noah’s Ark
Noah’s Ark concept – pitch for Rushes
Concept Scylla 1
‘Scylla Attacks the Odyssey’. Entry to the CGSociety challenge ‘Steampunk Myths and Legends’.
Concepts Scylla 2
Painting progression of ‘Steampunk Myths and Legends’
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Concepts Scylla 3
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Sketchup models constructed for ‘Steampunk Myths and Legends’. Was published in ‘Creer avec SketchUp’, a french-language book that showcased the different uses of SketchUp in various industries.
Concepts – software
My concept work tends to start in SketchUp for basic massing and perspective, and is finished in a combination of Painter and Photoshop.
Recently I’ve been experimenting with alternatives – Affinity Photo instead of Photopshop, and Krita instead of Painter. Both seem pretty promising.
Concept trailer
Trailer park interior for ‘PaintingPractice’. Based on an idea by Dan May.
Concept swamp
Swamp house concept, based on a base render from ‘Vue’.
Concept town square
Town square checkpoint. Done for an art test that subsequently turned out to be a scam (sigh), but it produced a painting I’m quite happy with.
Concept skimmer
‘Skimmer’
Leap year castle
The largest castle set extension
Leap year castle approach
Approach to ‘Ballycarbery Castle’. Plates were shot at the (much smaller) castle ruins at Rock of Dunamase, and significantly extended with matte paintings.
Leap year landscape
The view from the top of the castle tower. As with the rest of the film, there have been some VERY major liberties taken with the geography of Ireland…
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Leap Year Boston Night
Night shot of Boston Harbour, all digital. Was meant to have a ‘magical’ look, but wasn’t really in keeping with the surrounding shots, and ultimately never made the final cut.
Leap Year Marina
Boston Marina – another shot that could have been filmed on location, but was actually a greenscreen in Ireland.
Leap Year Software
Cinesite was a Nuke-based facility, and I’d been using Fusion for several years. I had to switch over very quickly!
Leap Year Park
Boston Park
Despite the entire opening sequence being a relatively uneventful Boston commute, neither the crew nor Amy Adams (the lead) ever went there. All the backgrounds are digital, and most required the addition of slushy snow.
Leap Year Apartment
Boston Apartment Skyline. The script called for the apartment (despite being on a higher floor) to feel crowded by the surrounding buildings.
MPC Software
At last count, there were 29 different tools in use within the department, but these are the ones I was instrumental in bringing into the company, or integrating into the pipeline.
MPC – Sully
Sully – 2016
I came in at the end of this show to create only a few paintings – the biggest an aerial shot of New Mexico. The base is a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) rendered in Terragen, with significant paintwork over the top.
MPC – TFH
The Finest Hours – 2015
I was again lead artist on this show, as well a HoD of the whole of the Vancouver environments department. I created several coastline matte paintings for this show, as well as some skydomes. This is one that I worked on at a rate of about 1hr/week for the duration of the show – a fully digital grass bank, blowing in the wind.
American Sniper 2
This was the one matte painting I did for ‘American Sniper’ at the very end of the show, along with Laurie Kindiak. The base render was the same city model created for the aerial shots, and the MRAP and wall were rendered by the lighting department.
MPC American Sniper 1
American Sniper – 2015
I didn’t lead this show, but (along with Scott Eade, the head of layout), I supervised the construction of Sadr City, Baghdad as a fully digital environment. The 9km² that was required for this sequence was laid out using Modo replicators, and rendered using Modo’s native renderer.
MPC – Monster Trucks
Monster Trucks – 2015
I didn’t have a lot of involvement with this show until the very end. As is often the case for a HoD, I got involved with some of the ‘stragglers’ – the problematic shots that hang around at the end of the show, or the shots that have large, last minute notes.
MPC – ROE
300: Rise of an Empire – 2014
I was lead artist on this fast-turnaround sequence, the sacking of Athens. I created two panoramas of the city – one during the day, and one at night.
MPC – FF6
Two quick matte paintings for ‘Fast and Furious 6’ (2014) – a tunnel set extension, and replacement of the road and lights at Wembley Stadium.
MPC Jersey Boys 2
Another of the few shots I completed myself for ‘Jersey Boys’ – a Matte painting / set extension of Coney Island amusement park. Wheel and roller coaster were rendered in Modo, with models and textures by Corey Sewell and Aline Nordmark.
MPC Jersey Boys 1
Jersey Boys – 2013
This was my first show as CG supervisor, working with Greg Butler as VFX supe. I oversaw the creation of around 120 shots, which wasn’t a large number – but were split across around 20 sequences, with only a handful of shots in each. This is one of the few shots I worked on personally – the bowling alley sign which gives the band it’s name.
MPC Seventh Son
Seventh Son – 2013
The first project I lead from the beginning. The bulk of the shot work I did on the show was a single 800 frame shot – a 50 year timelapse of the Alberta Badlands. I created the timelapse clouds in Terragen, texture variants for the landscape, and also rendered HDRI spheres for the lighting department to use.
MPC Elysium
Elysium – 2012
While Image Engine and WhiskeyTree did the bulk of the work on this show, MPC was awarded the shuttle crash sequence. This is the most substantial matte painting, based on a Vue render. Around this time I was made HoD of 3DDMP and Environments as MPC Vancouver.
JGK farmhouse
Jack the Giant Slayer – 2012
I created the FG forest in ‘Vue’, as well as projected matte paintings of Jack’s farmhouse.
MPC Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows – 2011
I was made lead artist for the first time mid-way through this show, when the existing lead left. I set up the WPP (world position pass) projection templates for the cliffs, as well as the Liverpool docks skyline. I also created the cliff-top as a matte painting, and used a script to re-create a Vue forest ecosystem as a card setup in Nuke.
Neverland stone bridge
A lot of the work on this show was turning exterior shots (from Ireland) into the fantastical landscapes of ‘Neverland’. Many of the forest shots were supposed to contain deep canyons with natural stone bridges, but were simply shot with cones or small pieces of bluescreen on the ground.
Neverland ha long bay
Rocky islands DMP, done in collaboration with Rose Wang. Concept obviously inspired by Ha Long Bay.
Neverland Software
This is probably the fastest-paced show I ever worked on. Most matte paintings were done in less than a week, and many in only a couple of days.
Neverland forest gorge 2
One of many forest interior matte paintings, based on Vue renders
Neverland spirit colony
Matte painting of the Tree Spirit colony on fire. Flames and smoke were added by the FX artists.
Neverland white wood water
Another matte painting of the ‘White Wood’. In all the concept art, the tops of the trees were never seen (even in the distance), which wasn’t practical in this shot. Tree renders done in ‘Vue’.
Neverland forest edge
Edge of the ‘White Wood’. Was meant to be an ‘epic landscape’, but the plate was rather limiting.
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Neverland forest city 3
Concept art for the initial view of Fludd’s city – every building is meant to be formed or grown out of giant trees.
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Neverland forest city 2
Establishing shot for Dr. Fludd’s city
Neverland Forest city
Concept art for Fludd’s forest city. Model and base render by Gavin Jung and Remo Weiland.
Neverland white wood 1
First shot of the ‘White Wood’ environment. The simple sets and the odd design for the forest made these shots very tricky to create.
Neverland ship 1
Sky replacement and horizon extension. I didn’t create the ship, but did composite it for this test shot.
Neverland forest
Concept and DMP for the forest in the opening sequence
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Sanctuary skyline 1
London skyline for the final sequence of Episode 1, seen from the rooftops of Victoria embankment. Time was meant to be around 1900 – and unusually for an aggressive TV schedule, I had the time for some historical research. Blackfriars bridge is on the left, and straight ahead is what is now the ‘OXO’ tower.
Sanctuary skyline 2
Another angle of the London rooftops, with St. Pauls Cathedral in the far background.
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Sanctuary skyline 3
London Skyline reverse angle. I didn’t realise how defocused the final shot was going to be, and put in a ton of detail that was never seen. Base building geometry by Remo Weiland.
Sanctuary lotus headquarters
Lotus Defense Corps Headquarters from Ep. 2 ‘Uprising’.
Architecture of the main buildings is loosely based on the old ‘Apple’ campus.
Sanctuary graveyard
Graveyard DMP for Will’s vision in Episode 6.
Sanctuary Icebreaker
Establishing matte paintings of the eponymous ‘Icebreaker’ in Episode 7, stranded in the Bering Sea. Base renders of the ship were provided, and the surrounding icebergs were scattered in Vue.
Sanctuary Software
When I started, Anthem had one very old license of Vue, but were kind enough to upgrade it for me, and I made VERY heavy use of it during my time there.
Icebreaker dawn
Icebreaker at dawn (the ‘hopeful’ shot at the end of the episode). I don’t think this made the final cut.
Arctic panorama
Cyclorama for all the icebreaker interior shots
Sanctuary hotel
Concept for the Buenos Aires hotel in Episode 10 ‘Acolyte’
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Triffids big ben
Concept for destruction of the Elizabeth Tower (‘Big Ben’)
Triffids battle
Concept for the Triffid battle in parliament square