SyFlex in "Renaissance"

What

Animation film

Who

client: Onyx Films
A Pathé Distribution release
Executive Producer: Aton Soumache and Alexis Vonarb
Director : Christian Volckman
Original visual concept : Marc Miance
Studio: Attitude Studio Paris
Modelling and Characters Supervisor: Jérôme DESVIGNES (Jex)
Facial Expression Supervisor: David LATULIPE (Tcheko)
Character Texturing Supervisor: Jimmy LAPLAIGE
Sets and Props modelling Team Manager: Pierre SALAZAR
Sets and Props texturing Team Manager: Lionel RICHERAND
Motion Capture Supervisor: Rémi BRUN
Motion Capture Shooting Supervisor: Frédéric VANDENBERGHE
Motion Capture Processing Supervisor: Frank VAYSSETTES
Framing supervisor: Henri ZAITOUN
Layout supervisor: Franck CLEMENT LAROSIERE
Set-up supervisor: Olivier RENOUARD
Animation Director: Pierre AVON
Keyframe Animation team manager: Nicolas GALVANI (Nikky)
Art Director: Pascal VALDES
Lighting team manager: Philippe BILLION
Lighting & rendering technical manager: Julien LAMBERT
Shading & rendering technical director: Stéphane MARTY
Matte Painter: Benjamin BARDOU, Pierre MARTEEL
Visual Effects Supervisor: Pierre VILLETTE
Compositing Supervisor: Guillaume TERRIEN
R&D supervisor: Philippe DELORME
IT Supervisor: Laurent GUILLEMINOT, Jean-Paul LOPES
SyFlex Supervisor: Benjamin LE STER
SyFlex Setup team: Sylvain DEGROTTE, Romain PRIVAT DE FORTUNIE
SyFlex Animation team: Charles ANDRIEUX, Abdou KARIMI, Sylvain DEGROTTE (michal) , Romain PRIVAT DE FORTUNIE (choubi), Jérémy DELCHIAPPO, Emmanuel VERGNE, Laurent HERVEIC

Where

Paris based Attitude Studio used SyFlex in about 800 shots in the black and white animation film, Renaissance. Using SyFlex, they animated a wide range of clothes, ropes, hair, and other props. The film is rendered in a black and white comic book style, which makes for an interesting look... We never saw SyFlex in that light before : )

More

SyFlex Supervisor Benjamin LE STER answered a few questions we had about the work done with SyFlex in the film:

Syflex: In how many shots did you use SyFlex?

Benjamin: We used SyFlex in 180 out of the 263 sequences in the film. There are 42 characters and about 800 cloth shots! We modeled about 20 different garments and props; long hooded coats, suits, mortuary bag, shirts, hair, bags, ropes and all types of pants. We used SyFlex in a range of animations: contact with the floor (in the case of karate movements, rolling on the floor!), interactions between different characters (for example, taking off a coat and putting it on somebody else), plus some atmospheric effects like wind, and special effects like the hair animation of the hologram girl in the teaser, for which the director wanted an under-water effect.

Syflex: What made you choose to work with SyFlex?

Benjamin: We worked with SyFlex because it is very flexible to use and very stable. It also integrates seamlessly with our 3D animation pipeline. We can use it for all sorts of effects, not only cloth. We especially liked the cache and blending functionalities!

Syflex: It seems that you relied a lot on motion capture for the film... How did you integrate simulation with mocap?

Benjamin: We first modeled the cloth using panels and tested the simulation by applying the cloth on some basic animation generated from motion capture. Those tests, were used for the director to validate the design and the dynamics of the cloth items. Based on the testing process, we defined presets and evaluated the total simulation time needed for the 42 characters and 800 shots. Once each animation was validated, we automated each sequence. Then all the simulation was done in a "sequence shot" (without any cuts). This allowed us to get a perfect continuity of the cloth animations between the cuts.

As you can see in our "making of" videos (available in the movie's official site: http://www.renaissance-lefilm.com/accueil.htm), we motion captured the actor wearing a real coat, allowing him to play his part naturally, wearing a real garment. This made it possible for us to tune the interactions between the actor and the cloth, for example, when he puts his hand in the pocket, or put on his hood...

Syflex: What was the most complicated shot/effect?

Benjamin: All the shots with interactions (like with other characters, clothes, zippers) required a very specific attention. There were many complex shots, but I think that Karas' coat was the most complex setup, because of its strong presence in the movie, and because of the many animation requierments: with or without the hood, putting on the hood, putting his hands in the pockets... We had to create specific setups for the hood, for the coat itself that has to be animated in different ways depending on the shots, and the desired effects, and for the secondary setup of the pockets, which had to interact with the coat itself.

Syflex: This was not the first time you have used SyFlex... What other projects did you use it in? Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

Benjamin: I used SyFlex for different kind of situations, like the loincloths of the robots in the teaser for Robota, realized at Attitude Studios. We are also using it for other test projects, but I can't give you more details about this for the moment.
  

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