NateCaauwe
Roto Ninja
Ahoy there from Nebraska, everyone! Yes, I am still alive and kickin', just been busy rotoing the world, including a certain spectacle-wearing teenage wizard 
Yesterday saw the final finished release of Ryan Wieber (of Ryan vs Dorkman fame) vs Brandon Flyte...TWO. This lightsaber battle royal was shot about two years ago and released in TFN's Lightsaber Choreography Contest 6, sans visual effects, where it took first place.
Finally down the road, after I had worked with Brandon on a few films, Ryan contacted me with regards to the visual effects on RvB2. Seeing as the first RvB was also released without effects, and was later completed by a team of volunteers, he figured it'd be a good idea to organize things more properly this time.
In October 2009, we organized a process by which people submitted their roto work on a test shot from the film, and I selected from the 50+ applicants 20 ass-kicking roto artists, and in the ensuing weeks, plowed through the majority of the lightsaber effects in the film. It was my responsibility to keep things on track and ensure a sense of consistency in the lightsabers. I also developed and applied the glows, which I based on what Michael Scott did on RvD2. Things were then handed off to Ryan and Brandon, where they worried about the cooler effects of environmental cuts and, to my giddiness, some groovy reflections on the floors in the overhead shots
You can see the 5 1/2 minute epic below; be sure to scope it out in glorious HD
As you can see, the views are getting up there pretty quickly (not even 48 hours yet), and I encourage everyone to spread it around, show it to your family, friends, kids, pets, and any inanimate objects that give the illusion of paying attention. It wasn't the most intricate roto that I'm usually doing, but it was quite the experience supervising a team of 20 artists. 'Twas something I got used to, and was able to bring back a portion of the team to work on Duel of the Dorks, and will continue working with them for years to come
Enjoy! And I'll try to lurk a bit more 'round these parts; I've kinda missed it...
Yesterday saw the final finished release of Ryan Wieber (of Ryan vs Dorkman fame) vs Brandon Flyte...TWO. This lightsaber battle royal was shot about two years ago and released in TFN's Lightsaber Choreography Contest 6, sans visual effects, where it took first place.
Finally down the road, after I had worked with Brandon on a few films, Ryan contacted me with regards to the visual effects on RvB2. Seeing as the first RvB was also released without effects, and was later completed by a team of volunteers, he figured it'd be a good idea to organize things more properly this time.
In October 2009, we organized a process by which people submitted their roto work on a test shot from the film, and I selected from the 50+ applicants 20 ass-kicking roto artists, and in the ensuing weeks, plowed through the majority of the lightsaber effects in the film. It was my responsibility to keep things on track and ensure a sense of consistency in the lightsabers. I also developed and applied the glows, which I based on what Michael Scott did on RvD2. Things were then handed off to Ryan and Brandon, where they worried about the cooler effects of environmental cuts and, to my giddiness, some groovy reflections on the floors in the overhead shots
You can see the 5 1/2 minute epic below; be sure to scope it out in glorious HD
As you can see, the views are getting up there pretty quickly (not even 48 hours yet), and I encourage everyone to spread it around, show it to your family, friends, kids, pets, and any inanimate objects that give the illusion of paying attention. It wasn't the most intricate roto that I'm usually doing, but it was quite the experience supervising a team of 20 artists. 'Twas something I got used to, and was able to bring back a portion of the team to work on Duel of the Dorks, and will continue working with them for years to come
Enjoy! And I'll try to lurk a bit more 'round these parts; I've kinda missed it...