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VFX Pro Feature
So Say We All: The Visual Effects of "Battlestar Galactica"
By Noah Kadner
Oct 11, 2005, 22:08
I’ve always been a huge sci-fi fan, growing up in the
’70s
with the likes of “Star Wars” at the movies and
“Battlestar Galactica” on TV. I was initially
skeptical of
the Sci Fi Channel’s re-imagining of
“Galactica,”
which launched as a series earlier this year. I found myself quickly
won over by the show’s deep character development and
realistic
depiction of a group of wartime refugees on the run from the now
complex and clever Cylons. A major part of the show’s appeal
is
the Emmy-nominated visual effects work created by Culver City-based
Zoic
Studios and Atmosphere in Vancouver, Canada. I recently had
the
opportunity to sit down with Zoic’s digital effects
supervisor
Chris Zapara and visual effects producer Steve Kullback to discuss
their efforts.
“Battlestar Galactica” is modeled and animated
primarily in
NewTek’s LightWave 3D with a sprinkling of Maya. Compositing
is
accomplished with Discreet Combustion and Adobe After Effects. Zoic
employs a modest but effective crew. According to Chris, the team
comprises “at the peak of a typical episode: five Lightwave
Artists, two compositors along with supervisors, producers and support
crew. As many as eleven people work on a given day per
episode.”
Many of the animators are huge fans of the original
“Galactica” and bring a lot of that love to their
work on
the new series.
One of “Galactica’s” most distinctive
features is the
camera work. Shots are constantly zooming and reframing like classic
documentary combat footage. This style adds visual energy and great
verisimilitude and is used consistently in the live action and animated
footage. The show’s aesthetic stands in contrast to the
stately,
majestic shots typically seen in science fiction shows and films.
Artist Mark Shimer demonstrated that the seemingly erratic camera
movement is created by strategically placing start and end keyframes
for a shot in LightWave, then adding “wild”
keyframes to
shake things up. Chris joked, “the effects
‘cameraman’ in our show would be fired on any other
show,
because it’s losing frame and there’s always a lot
of zoom!
But it adds realism.”
The Galactica herself is a huge model consisting of over 3.4 million
polygons. The ship can be loaded in various levels of detail to suit
each camera angle without overloading the animator’s
workstation.
Zoic is able to provide its creative producers with a lot of
flexibility by rendering each shot in several layers, including a key
light pass, depth pass and radiosity pass. Steve commented,
“our
models are really good, our LightWave artists are really good.
We’ve gone the extra step in splitting out the rendering
layers
so we can fine-tune.” By outputting them in separate passes,
shots can be greatly finessed during compositing to allow for creative
changes in lighting and depth of field without requiring a costly and
time-consuming re-render in 3D.
An assortment of civilian spacecraft referred to affectionately as the
rag-tag fleet usually surrounds the Galactica as its charge. Fans of
the original series have noted many ships from that show remain in the
new fleet. “Galactica’s” first season CG
supervisor
Lee Stringer helped lead the initial effort by studying the original
model ships and meticulously recreating them in LightWave. Chris noted,
“Lee really liked those older models. He even went the extra
mile
by researching the original plastic models that were kit-bashed to
create the Colonial Movers ship, [a fan favorite.]” Having
the
old ships flying with the new Galactica provides a great visual bridge
to the classic show and contributes to the update’s nostalgia
factor.
A recent episode saw the arrival of The Pegasus, another Battlestar
whose power seemingly eclipses the mighty Galactica. Zoic was able to
model this complex ship on a greatly protracted schedule. Chris
outlined the process, “our turnaround on the Pegasus was a
matter
of 5-6 weeks vs. the original Galactica model which took 5 or 6 months.
Jose Perez was the chief modeler for the Pegasus.” Fan
reaction
was very positive to the new ship and its clear ties to the look and
feel of the same ship on the original series.
Zoic receives live action plates from the production on D5 tapes in HD
1080/24p. CG elements are composited into these plates after they are
motion tracked using Boujou and often a degree of manual eyeballing.
Chris and Steve are quick to praise the efforts of visual effects
supervisor Gary Hutzel and his producer Mike Gibson, who run the
effects efforts on the “Galactica” set in
Vancouver,
“Gary does a good job making sure we’re supplied
with
tracking markers and camera data. He also comes from a background of
lighting and shooting traditional effects and miniatures. Gary really
keeps us on task. Even with good data, tracking live action is probably
one of the harder aspects of the show.”
Zoic is able to successfully composite elements such as the robotic
Cylon Centurions as well as virtual extensions to the show’s
sets
using Boujou’s tracking solutions. The menacing, reflective
Centurions are frequently glimpsed running, often through varied
environments like rain, smoke and fire. Meanwhile, the
Galactica’s main hangar bay is a large set made massive by
digital extensions. These extensions are seamlessly blended via a
mixture of 3D set pieces, background ships and equipment along with CG
and 2D people shot on greenscreen.
A new technique Zoic is experimenting with is something called enhanced
animatics. A typical effects shot begins with a description on a script
page along with a storyboard and possibly a rudimentary animatic. Adam
'Mojo' Lebowitz, a longtime Lightwave wizard and Zoic artist, pioneered
the concept of creating greatly enhanced visuals that depict entire
effects sequences as described in the script rather than on a
shot-by-shot basis. The upgraded animation is combined with sound
effects, music and dialogue and edited on an Avid to present to the
producers. This method sounds like a win-win situation. Producers get a
near-final looking previsualization of a given effects sequence and the
artists at Zoic have an opportunity to contribute creatively to the
design and flow of entire sequences. Chris and Steve also credited
Executive Producer Ron Moore for creating an environment open to this
level of collaboration.
Zoic’s completed shots are output back onto D5 tape in full
1080/24p. Steve described the power required to deliver this level of
resolution on a weekly series schedule, “we have
approximately
300 render nodes. Most are dual-CPU Intel boxes in a 1U form-factor
with a minimum per-processor speed of 2GHz. They all have 4GB of RAM
and are connected via Ethernet with Extreme Networks switches. For
storage we use Isilon Systems and have approximately 40TB available for
production work. We’ve also just brought a system online that
uses artist and producer boxes with a screensaver coded in-house to
advertise availability. This adds 120 CPUs.”
Zoic employs a full-time staff of engineers and IT wranglers to
organize and schedule renders. The system is often employed on other
effects work done by the company, which has recently included the
feature films Serenity, The Day After Tomorrow, Spider-Man 2 and
Zathura. Zoic’s other TV series work has included Angel,
Firefly,
Invasion and CBS’s CSI series.
The success of “Battlestar Galactica’s”
visual
effects comes out of the great affection Zoic has for the series and a
clearly evident pride in its signature look. Chris added,
“the
artists who work at Zoic are truly fans of the show. We enjoy sitting
down on Friday night to watch it every week just like everyone
else.” The Galactica is in great hands and should continue to
fly
proudly for many seasons as she leads her rag-tag fleet in search of a
home called Earth.
Noah Kadner lives in Los
Angeles and
runs High Road Productions. He also administers discussion forums for
2-pop.com, a VFXpro.com sister site. For information on
Noah’s 24p
indie feature Formosa, please visit www.formosamovie.com
Special thanks to the artists of Zoic and Michele Lu at Hype.
A Viper encounters a heavy cloud of flak generated in 3d
with spot 2d elements.
In this composite, a Cylon Centurion menaces a pilot on
the Galactica.
A Colonial Viper narrowly dodges an exploding asteroid.
The
complexity of this sequence led to Zoic’s initial experiment
with
enhanced animatics.
The Battlestar Pegasus leads the fleet.
In this composite shot of the Galactica’s hangar, everything
from just past the tail of the shuttle back is virtual.
Another look at the Pegasus reveals a family resemblance
to the classic series.
For a high-res look at these images please visit this gallery.
Links mentioned in this
article:
Zoic Studios
http://www.zoicstudios.com/
Galactica Series on the SciFi Channel
http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/
NewTek LightWave 3D
http://www.newtek.com/lightwave
Boujou
http://www.boujou.com/
Discreet Combustion
http://www.discreet.com
Isilon Systems
http://www.isilon.com/
© Copyright 2003 by United Entertainment Media,
Inc.
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