Vancouver-based Northwest Imaging & FX is getting kudos for its work, and although it will say the most important reason for that is its staff, the shop does remain loyal to the tools of a few manufacturers.

NWFX is currently doing 3D F/X work for the sci-fi series Stargate SG-1, The Outer Limits and Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. It was nominated for best visual effects at the recent Leo Awards for an episode of The Outer Limits, and took home the big prize for the Andromeda episode ‘The Mathematics of Tears.’ The 100 F/X shots it created for that program included a foggy look for the opening teaser, an asteroid field, battle sequences and explosions. The shop used software from Alias| Wavefront and Softimage to build its 3D creations and composited them in the Discreet Inferno and Combustion systems.

‘We rebuilt the main Andromeda ship in [A|W’s] Maya,’ explains facility VFX supervisor Paul Cox. ‘We’re gradually doing autonomous new shots in Softimage|XSI. We try to spread it around so that we don’t get limited.’

NWFX has been a ‘Softimage shop’ for years, and included with its manufacturer support was an upgrade to the new Softimage|XSI software. Part of its loyalty to the product has been the MentalRay rendering. NWFX senior 3D animator Bruce MacDougall says his interest is also piqued by the recent announcement of MentalRay for Maya. A|W has included other attractive features in Maya’s rendering system.

‘When they sell you the interactive package, they say you also get 10,000 rendering licences,’ MacDougall says. ‘That’s probably an admission that they’re maybe not the world’s best, but if you have the time, you can make it work.’

Cox says that when NWFX has been actively searching to add to its staff, the Vancouver talent pool has provided them with quality people. But can it be a problem if the incoming talent is schooled in systems other than the ones the shop prefers?

‘If you want them to be able to work right away, definitely,’ says MacDougall. ‘But within a couple of weeks they should be fairly familiar with the basics of the software, and they can do [straightforward] things. From there they just move on and advance as they learn more.’

Smaller, faster, cheaper

Generally, NWFX says its 3D department, which consists of four workstations, is headed in the direction of ‘smaller, faster, cheaper’ boxes running on the Windows NT platform.

‘We’re investigating the possibility of getting some Linux boxes for Renderfarm, to render our 3D stuff,’ adds MacDougall. ‘People seem to think it’s more stable. A lot of the software people have renderers that run on Linux. The administration is a little more robust, similar to the IRIX and UNIX we’ve been using in the past.’

As for the perception that some post houses are stuck with big, expensive SGI machines they purchased in past years, MacDougall comments: ‘Back then you had very few alternatives. And when you’re talking about realtime feedback for F/X, Flame and Inferno are great machines. Clients love to come in and see F/X happening before their eyes. They can change and tweak all they want right in the session. You want to have the hardware that can do things realtime for them. Basically that means get yourself a good Onyx.’

NWFX’s compositing systems include Inferno, Combustion for Windows NT and Quantel Henry. The Combustion was the most recent acquisition.

‘It’s proving very useful as an adjunct to the two Infernos, to take up some of the less sophisticated shots – things like screen burn-ins and muzzle flashes,’ Cox explains. ‘It’s very well suited to that, and it’s bought us a lot of extra time in the main suites. It’s also an excellent way to train people into the Discreet platform.’

NWFX’s older Henry still sees a fair bit of use, but Cox says the shop is favoring Discreet products for their open-platform nature and ability to connect with the 3D department. The Inferno, being high-definition enabled, stands to be NWFX’s primary system for some time. The shop has used it so far on film-resolution projects.

The studio has also been feeling reassured about its substantial investment in the ITK Millennium Machine telecine.

‘The steadiness is remarkable,’ Cox notes. ‘We’ve had people come from other facilities to do back-to-back tests and they’ve walked out with big smiles on their faces.’

Cox says the Millennium Machine is best suited to projects that require more of a visual edge, such as high-end commercials or material that needs the sort of bleach-bypass look that has been traditionally done in the lab. Cox doesn’t see the box as spelling the end of looks created in film processing, however.

‘I don’t think you’ll ever completely duplicate the chemical reaction that goes on in a true bleach-bypass,’ he says. ‘But what the [Millennium Machine] does offer is flexibility and experimentation without committing to one look.’

NWFX is also equipped with the URSA Diamond telecine from U.K. manufacturer Cintel, which Cox describes as ‘a beautiful machine. It’s tried and true. Everyone knows where they are with it.’

Like the Inferno, the Millennium Machine can work with HD material, and represents another step towards readiness for the proliferation of HD origination that Cox calls ‘inevitable’. And it doesn’t stop there.

‘We’ve been doing 24P tests, and we have a D5, with the Sony HDCAM on order,’ Cox says. ‘We’re well aware of the HD ramifications and we like to embrace any tests that are going on for Andromeda or any production.’ *

-www.nwfx.com