Road to Realtime 1001: Previs

Abstract

The real-time revolution has arrived in previs, CG animation, VFX and more, empowering directors and artists to produce storytelling projects that are closer to their creative visions. But achieving best results in real-time creation requires an in-depth understanding of the rapidly evolving technologies that power it.

This is the first of a series of live sessions with Unity and CAVE Academy where we’ll take a deep dive into every part of the animated storytelling process, from previs to final pixels. The sessions then explore how to take your stories into new media such as XR.

Whether you’re a student who wants to be at the forefront of the fast-changing entertainment industry or a professional looking to upskill, these sessions will help you to deepen your knowledge and skillset throughout the entire real-time animation workflow.

Previsualization (previs) is an invaluable stage of the cinematic pipeline that’s used to help plan what a story will look like in its final form. In previs, animators roughly blockout the environment, frame shots, and work out the sense of scale, timing and character movement in relation to camera placement and lighting direction. This session covers all the skills you’ll need to plan your stories in previs. You’ll learn about bringing in assets, blocking out geometry, basic animation, camera work, lighting, and recording final frames for review.

Topics covered will include: Probuilder, DCC Integration, Timeline, Cinemachine, Realtime Lighting, XR Location Scouting and Recorder

Benjamin Radcliffe

Ben is a Media and Entertainment Technology Evangelist for Unity Technologies with 20 years experience in CG Feature Animation, Television Animation, and VFX working across the globe in North America, Asia, and Europe for a variety of high-end studios. Previous studios include Dreamworks Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Disney Feature Animation, MPC, and Industrial Light and Magic.

Prior to joining Unity, Ben spent the past 3 years working at ILM London as a Lighting Supervisor on Transformers 5, Avengers: Infinity War, and most recently Avengers: End Game. In his role at Unity, Ben is working with technical decision makers and influencers within key VFX and Animation Studios throughout the UK and the rest of Europe to advance the art and science of visual effects and animation through the use of real-time technology.

Our Sponsor

Many thanks to VES London for supporting the CAVE Masterclasses. For more information on the VES and the fantastic work they do, make sure to check out their websites:

• https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/