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.
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.
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’.
Approach to ‘Ballycarbery Castle’. Plates were shot at the (much smaller) castle ruins at Rock of Dunamase, and significantly extended with matte paintings.
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.
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.
Two quick matte paintings for ‘Fast and Furious 6’ (2014) – a tunnel set extension, and replacement of the road and lights at Wembley Stadium.
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.
Sky replacement and horizon extension. I didn’t create the ship, but did composite it for this test shot.
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.
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.
Cyclorama for all the icebreaker interior shots
Concept for the movie’s poster
Cliff edge set extension for the ‘Rock Fall’ sequence
Initial blocking was done in ‘SketchUp’, and painted in Corel ‘Painter’.
Initial design for the Skyline matte painting. I preferred this design, but it was thought that it discriminated against host cities that didn’t have a waterfront view.
Initial designs featured sparklers and fireworks, but this was thought to encourage hooliganism at the actual games. The final shots used streamers and floating glitter to try to produce a similar effect.