Interview with Richard Rosenman
Can you give us the overview of how a commercial is made – from clients mind to the broadcast? What steps, expenses are generally involved?
Generally, the first steps involved in a commercial production, after we have been awarded the job, is to review the agency storyboard and re-work it so that it works for animation. While many agency creative’s have animation experience, some do not and quite often a storyboard can been improved to include shots that would not have been possible with live action filming. Sometimes the boards we receive from the agency are very rough and allow us to have a lot of creative freedom with it, while other times they are quite detailed and it’s only a question of tightening them up. Finally, sometimes we come up with good gags that can make the spot a bit more comedic and when we pitch these ideas to the agency, they often allow us to move ahead with it. The most enjoyable agencies to work with are those that understand that a production is a team effort and that ideas come from all sources. They see this as working together and this often results in the best outcome.
During this time we are also concurrently working on pre-production stages such as gathering reference material, drafting concept character design, working on R&D tests, etc.
Once our boards have been approved by the client and agency, the modeling begins. This can take anywhere from 1 week to a month depending on the complexity of the subject. If it’s a character, you must also factor in rigging and skinning which takes up additional time. Without question, characters are by far the most complicated models to create – regardless of whether or not they are stylized or realistic.
When the modeling has been completed, texturing begins. It’s important to complete it at this stage because afterwards the file will be distributed numerous times into various scenes. Therefore, you either texture the subject once before scene distribution or you re-do it numerous times for every scene that there is.
At this point, assuming that the model and texturing has been approved by the client and agency, we can begin animation. Once again, the amount of time allotted to this stage is completely dependent on the subject. A character will require the most amount of time while mechanical animation requires the least amount. It is not uncommon to allot 4-5 weeks for the animation of a character for 20 to 30 seconds of animation. Our animators are primarily character animators so they have a strong sense of comedic acting which is important. Like many of the previously-discussed stages of production, weekly work-in-progress reports are shown to the agency for approval.
When the animation has been completed, we can commence lighting and rendering. This is generally something I often take upon myself to complete and it’s also the stage where everything tends to come together. You have to keep in mind that until now, the client and agency have been seeing wireframe and / or grayscale previews so when they see the jump to full color, they are always pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, this is one of the last stages of 3D so you often have to remind them that it will come in due time.
All my lighting and rendering is produced with global illumination combined with traditional lighting techniques and image-based lighting. These change from production to production (for instance, you will use a very different setup for vehicle rendering than character) but the point of it is to use whatever tools are available to make the image look as best as it can. Understanding color theory, proper use of palettes, color grading and much more is crucial to creating a beautifully-rendered image.
The final stage of commercial production is the online session, a one to two day session where the final composited spot is loaded into a Flame or Inferno and final touches are added, with client and agency present. Once this receives approval, it is dumped to tape and ready to be aired.
What software program(s) do you use for your CG and why?
I have built Hatch’s pipeline around 3dsmax although I never ask any of the artists to use that particular tool. I hired the artists based on their creative skills, never their technical experience.
I’ve always enjoyed 3dsmax because it has been the one 3D app to provide an extensive list of third party plugins from users around the world. In addition, most of the new render engines were out for 3dsmax first and since I was heavily involved in lighting and rendering, this provided new tools that were only available for 3dsmax at that time.
Although we have built our pipeline on 3dsmax, I am personally disappointed with Autodesk and their poor marketing policies.
In addition to 3dsmax, we also use ZBrush for concept modeling, Silo for prop modeling and of course, the Adobe Creative Suite for all texture creation and compositing work.
At the end of the day, software is always secondary to the artist’s creative skills. I have hired animators with absolutely no 3dsmax experience simply because they are good and it takes them very little time to pick up 3dsmax, or any other 3D app. After all, 3D apps provide the same basic tools – it’s simply a matter of finding out where they put the buttons.
What’s the most useful thing you have learnt in 3d?
The importance of every aspect of 3D being the best it can be. In other words, if the modeling, texturing, animation, lighting, rendering or compositing is weak – the whole production has suffered. Everyone at Hatch is specialized in one aspect of 3D and this means they each have to perform at their very best in order to produce outstanding work. Everyone is therefore dependent on everyone else to produce the best possible work.
What do you like the most: Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Rendering, Directing or programming and please give 5 tips to the future wannabe animators?
Without question, directing is what I enjoy the most and what I believe I’m best at. Secondary to that would be art direction which includes lighting, rendering and compositing.
Tips for wannabe animators:
- Take a course – it’s very difficult to learn the fundamentals of animation on your own and it’s critical for you to understand them in order to produce good work.
- Study reference material – see how Pixar, Dreamworks, Sony, etc, do it. This is the quality you should be striving for.
- Don’t just animate something that could be filmed in live action – produce animation that is fun, exciting, stylized and full of life. If it’s mimicking live action, then you might as well just film it.
- Forget about the technical tools and focus on the creative art of animation – again, knowing software is irrelevant. It’s how you use the tools that matters.
- Learn from your peers. You will never be the best – no one ever is. Egos don’t do well in this industry. Instead of having a know-it-all attitude, learn from those that you admire and inspire you. This is what I do and it has always helped me.
