How the VFX trade will thrive after Covid
The pandemic has forced creative companies of all kinds to completely rethink their working model: a baptism of fire that has put a new hybrid future to the test. When it came to creating entertainment content, studios equipped with a state-of-the-art kit with jaw-dropping processing power suddenly had to decamp and work remotely – without interrupting the pace.
"Just because we're in the middle of a global pandemic doesn't mean studios get a pass," said Robert Hoffmann, senior global industry manager for media and entertainment at Lenovo. "Locked up at home, we still crave new and fresh content. We can't let infrastructure be an obstacle between artists and what they want to create. Whatever the situation, they have to be able to do it so quickly to create and iterate as often and as possible. "
With a bird's eye view of the media and entertainment industry, Hoffmann saw last year how the pendulum deviated completely from traditional work – and he cannot see it swing back again. "We're going to see a hybrid approach to production," he says. "Artists have worked remotely and lived up to expectations in terms of both quality and timing, and I think a lot of studios have been pleasantly surprised at what is possible."
Framestore worked on a series of six almost all CG films to showcase Jaguar's F-TYPE sports car
Excellent under tight restrictions
This is undoubtedly true of Framestore: with a track record of creating award-winning VFXs for blockbuster movies, flagship TV shows, and world-class ads, the global studio has quickly adapted to the need for remote working. "The past year has taught us that working from home has been more achievable than we expected," said Lottie Cooper, Framestore's director of advertising, television and immersive.
"Our productivity hasn't dropped too much, other than the time it took to get the crew online." We were very happy with the number of projects that we delivered remotely on time, ”she continues. “When we got back on set, many of our processes were optimized because we needed fewer employees. That really helped the decision making and approval processes. "
"Motion design and animation were one of the more pandemic-proof areas of the media," suggests Adam Jenns, founder and director of the creative production studio Mainframe, which has been producing innovative commercials and branded content for global brands for 20 years. "There were ups and downs, but we were lucky with the grand scheme of things."
Much of the mainframe's 3-D work requires serious GPU skills: "That means multiple graphics cards in big black boxes," Jenns says. Remote desktop solutions have proven invaluable in bringing your artists into the studio from afar and maintaining the caliber of studio output with minimal disruption to the process. "It's interesting to go to an empty studio and see artists frolicking on monitors on unmanned desks," he adds.
With these needs in mind, Lenovo is working with Mechdyne to offer TGX remote solutions that make it easier and safer for artists to remotely work on creative work with high fidelity. "You can remotely switch to a high-performance computer cluster with enormous CPU and GPU functions, whereby the latency is so low that it cannot be perceived," explains Hoffmann.
Animation and VFX for AMV BBDO's cross-border #BombStories campaign for Libresse and Bodyform were carried out by Framestore
FIND THE PERFECT BALANCE
Moving Picture Company is another global VFX and production studio that tops the list across the spectrum of film, television, and advertising spending.
"We have always believed in being together to do creative work. Meeting and exchanging thoughts and ideas is what drives us all forward," says Jonathan Davies, Managing Director of the MPC studios in London and Amsterdam. "We are now completely removed and still working at a very high level. But the big challenge is to create something that lies in the middle. "
“The companies that perfect this will be the success stories of the future,” Davies continues. “We have found that collaboration has improved compared to larger projects and initiatives, but smaller executions are more difficult in a remote world. You miss the quick conversations when people are together. "
Jenns believes three days in the studio is an ideal sweet spot for most mainframe artists, given that two days work remotely. "It's not a perfect system, but it does mean that most of the IT problems are confined to the studio," he continues. "Since we are still working from a central server, we know that backups take place every hour and that all important data is stored in one place at the end of a job."
MPC brought feature-film standard VFX to John Lewis' Christmas commercial The Boy and the Piano and re-enacted Elton John at various stages of his life
TOP FLIGHT CREATIVITY ON THE MOVE
As the performance of mobile workstations increases, Framestore's Lottie Cooper believes that the number of VFX work that can be performed on-site may increase. “On set, we make sure we're capturing the best data and images to create the most seamless, high quality images,” she explains. "Whether on location or on the set, we already offer support with the quick visualization of the VFX to support the director and the customers in their decision-making."
As Hoffmann points out, one of the most expensive parts of a big budget shoot is when 100+ people sit around waiting for the director to make a decision, whether the talent will provide a line, or have a scene play on top. “A remote office-like experience enables greater efficiency when it's most expensive to produce – on the set,” he says.
High-end mobile workstations like the ThinkPad T15g from Lenovo now have processing and graphics capabilities that can compete with those on the desktop. This allows artists to block VFX-heavy scenes on set, making the entire post-production process more efficient and efficient.
“We can work anywhere, depending on the needs of the project,” agrees MPC's Jonathan Davies, but adds that over the past year the mindset has changed about the importance of being there in the first place. "With better technology and communication, I would like to see fewer people flying around the world when this work can be done remotely to a high standard," he adds.
Land of the Giants is a 2019 documentary about Japan's leading baseball team with mainframe 3D and motion design
BETTER ACCESS TO WORLD CLASS TALENT
According to Hoffmann, the general shift from physical to virtual collaboration will benefit both artists and studios when it comes to recruiting and retaining the best people for the job. "Artists are a hot commodity," he says. "Studios compete for the exact same talent, and it's a huge cost to recruit, whether you relocate it from a nearby town or, in some cases, halfway around the world."
"Social distancing has forced studios to research and implement technology that enables a remote working environment, and in doing so, they have solved one of their biggest problems," he continues. "It may not be possible to move the artist to the studio, but you can move the studio to the artist."
Increasingly distant workflows also reduce the need for large office space in expensive areas of London, New York or LA. “Good things can happen out of bad things,” continues Hoffmann. "Just because it's been done this way all along doesn't necessarily mean it's the most efficient, cheapest, or best way to keep employees healthy."
"Are we going to pretend everything is perfect? No. Production wasn't perfect before social distancing, and people will always try to be more efficient and creative," he concludes. "But it's less about technology than that rather, it is about the mindfulness that we all need to make this leap in faith. "