This year was a big one! I was hired on at Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios to work on the new film Wreck-It-Ralph. It was an amazing adventure. One I will never forget.
I was hired onto the show as a Stereoscopic Artist. My main responsibilities within the department were to layout stereoscopic camera rigs in Maya, as well as compositing in Nuke. I also created custom floating windows for each individual shot.
I can’t talk too much about the detailed stereoscopic process at Disney. But I can say that we did use angled floating windows, even twisted floating windows at times. The floating window is essential in the stereoscopic process, because we used the maximum depth space available to us. This means that everything looks like it is behind the presidium, even though its in front of the screen. This is essential for a comfortable stereoscopic viewing experience.
Another way I was able to make the shot more comfortable (as well as to help the story), was to split the scene up into sections. Using multiple stereoscopic camera rigs to adjust the foreground, mid ground and background I adjusted the sections to my depth needs. Some shots had up to 5 stereoscopic rigs within them.
While at Disney I also had the chance to help develop a new tool for the stereoscopic department. It’s used in Nuke to help in the stereoscopic process after the shot has been rendered. Used heavily on Wreck-It-Ralph on a daily basis, it was invaluable to our team.
Hopefully I will return to Disney again. It was the best time I’ve had on a show. The lectures and workshops reinvigorated my imagination. On my own time, I’m now writing and going through visual development on a story I’ve been tossing around.
We worked long hours and weekends for a few months, so the current time off is nice. I’m ready to hit the node tree hard and make some amazing visual effects though.
Here are some photos of me at Disney:
It all starts somewhere:
No! This is not a photo of my rock band and I. It’s my orientation group photo from my first day at Disney (I am third from the left).
But, the show must come to an end:
The hard working stereo team.