…and one VFX supervisor is actually 3D printing it.
Today, Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Andrew Whitehurst posted a very fun project on his Twitter account – a dice inspired by http://pocketartdirector.com that would be a quick way to give some of the hilariously common feedback in VFX dailies.
So, I quickly asked him all about it, including how he built it in Houdini and is getting it 3D printed.
Update: Whitehurst has received the 3D print from Shapeways, where you can buy a copy or download an STL model file to print at home. He says he may do a paint job on the final product, so keep staying tuned!
The inspiration
Andrew Whitehurst: There is a brilliant “Pocket Art Director” D20 designed by Fuzzco, and I thought it was funny and pricked a bit of the pomposity of the Art Director ego. And VFX Supes are not so dissimilar (takes one to know one), so I thought I could design one for us.
What’s on each face
-APPROVED
-split the difference
-revert to v001
-make it more organic
-needs more weight
-make it faster
-make it slower
-soften the edges
-match the black levels
-add a rim light
-make it more magical
-make it bigger
-add camera shake
-add saturation
-reduce the weathering
-blah blah blah
-is that finished?
-match the grain
-check the defocus
-check the motion blur
How it was designed
I designed the whole thing in Houdini, as making the model procedurally is faster than trying to do it by hand (shudders), and exported the geometry as a 77670 polygon OBJ file which I uploaded to Shapeways for printing.
Houdini’s Boolean tools are really good so the mesh was clean and hole free, which is a requirement for printing. I like the reflexive nature of an object gently poking fun at VFX supes being made by a VFX supe in a piece of VFX software. It’s the Circle of Liiiiife! I’ve had quite a bit of interest from other supes who want one so I hope the print comes out well. [Editor’s note: Andrew has said ‘if my print comes out OK, I’ll post the STL file so anyone can order a print.’]
We will keep you informed on how Andrew’s 3D print goes!
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