customer profile

Frantic Films
The folks at Frantic Films possess more than top-quality creative and artistic skills. They're also experienced troubleshooters. Visual-effects creation is about troubleshooting," says Chris Bond, president of the Winnipeg, Canada-based live-action and visual-effects company. "You have a client who wants something and a deadline that's looming. You must know how to avoid problems, and solve them quickly when they do crop up, to keep the client happy and meet the deadline." Since it formed in 1997, Frantic Films has relied on Discreet's 3ds max software, the most widely used 3D modeling, rendering, and animation program, as its main troubleshooting tool. "We love 3ds max," Bond enthuses. "It's our favorite tool for avoiding and solving problems in film-based visual effects." Over the years, Frantic Films has depended on the speed and flexibility of 3ds max software to create compelling 3D effects for numerous blockbuster movies, among them Swordfish and The Core. Recently, the company turned to 3ds max to complete previsuFrantic Films unite 3ds max alization and 3D effects and character studio to create work for 20th Century the latest X-MEN saga Fox's X2: X-MEN UNITED, the second adventure in the epic X-MEN saga. For this project, the artists used 3ds max software to previsualize several action sequences, and to create 3D effects for some key scenes. According to Bond, three of the more complex action sequences requiring detailed previsualization were the dogfight sequence, which featured the X-Jet evading F16s through columns of tornadoes; Pyro's fiery encounter with police at the Drake House; and Magneto's escape from the Plastic Prison. Previsualization was necessary because, as is the case with most movie scripts, this script didn't provide every single detail required to shoot the sequences. "For instance, in the script the dogfight sequence was listed simply as 'Dogfight ensues.' What does that mean? How long does it last? What action is required? Do they need stuntmen or digital doubles? How should the sequence play out?" "These questions were answered during previz," Bond continues. With our 3ds max previsualizations, we collaborated with the filmmakers to actually plan the sequences from start to finish." Through such careful planning, the artists facilitated the filmmaking process tremendously. For instance, by watching the sequences created as simple 3D geometry in 3ds max software and played out before their eyes, director Bryan Singer and visual effects supervisor Mike Fink were able to dodge potential set-design problems. In addition, they knew what to shoot in camera, how to accomplish those shots, and what had to be created digitally. Because the artists populated the sequences with character studio software stand-ins, the filmmakers could even time the actors' movements. And thanks to the speed and ease of use of 3ds max software, the artists created the previsualizations quickly, and promptly accommodated changes from the filmmakers for subsequent approval. "3ds max is a great previz tool because it's very interactive," Bond comments. "95% of our previz work is done in 3ds max." As noted earlier, Frantic also used 3ds max software technology to create 3D effects in the film. The most prominent was for the holographic map sequence, during which some X-MEN are hatching a plan to rescue Professor X from the enemy. At a key point in the sequence, an actor walks through a holographic map of the area, suspended in midair.

According to Bond, the visual-effects supervisor wanted the map to resemble a Lidar scan"a sort of point cloud of light," he recalls. To create the effect, the artists used the 3ds max Particle Flow Extension, an event-driven particle system that enabled them to create the particles, add events to them, and route the results so that the particles bounced off the actor as he stepped into the map. Using Particle View, an intuitive schematic view within Particle Flow, they could visualize each component contributing to the overall effect. They also wrote custom MAXScripts to animate the particles so that they formed into other objects, including Stryker's Base and a panoramic view of the dam. "All these tools made it easy to build the complex particle system required for this sequence," Bond states.

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2003, The 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, images courtesy of Frantic Films

3ds max software gave the Frantic artists what they needed to troubleshoot effectively for X2, as it has done for numerous past projects. As such, the company plans to continue using the software on future projects. "In this industry, you use whatever it takes to get your shots done," Bond concludes. "3ds max has what it takes."

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