VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGI

[St_Eddie]

VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGI

This is an interesting video of VFX artists giving their thoughts on various CGI shots from different movies and TV shows.  It includes their thoughts on the best CGI character that I've ever seen in a movie; Davy Jones in the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

[A Hat Like That]

really enjoyed this. thank you.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

"Artists". That's a laugh. Everyone knows it's all just done by computers.

[St_Eddie]

VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGI 2

VFX Artists React to Resurrected Actors Bad & Great CGI

[idunnosomename]

Holy shit the raptor disappearing for a frame.

All that makes me appreciate Jurassic Park EVEN MORE somehow

[Replies From View]

The deep fakes version of Carrie Fisher is quite a worrying revelation.

[biggytitbo]

Is the one on the left a bit simple?


CGI will never get any better than the first Jurassic Park film, sad but true. Technically superior maybe, but not better.

[Replies From View]

Is the one on the left a bit simple?

Always have to drag politics into everything!!

[idunnosomename]

CGI will never get any better than the first Jurassic Park film, sad but true. Technically superior maybe, but not better.

If you say the first Jurassic Park film was perfect then by definition, it can't get any better.

I think what this showed me is that it can get more flexible. They could for instance now do the T-Rex attack in broad daylight and make it just as convincing with the same amount of work.

(also, regarding the raptor disappearing for a frame, he says "lucky the T-Rex didn't disappear", but is the T-Rex not a model in that shot? it's only the head and shoulders after all, then we cut to the heroes before the full body appears)

[Bazooka]

Did anyone even bother to follow the story? They didn't use CGI, they used the DNA from the amber to bring the dinosaurs back.

[phantom_power]

Those videos are fascinating, if for nothing other than showing how hard it is to work out why some CG looks wrong, and how much work goes into getting it right

[Replies From View]

Those videos are fascinating, if for nothing other than showing how hard it is to work out why some CG looks wrong, and how much work goes into getting it right

Yes, I agree.

[Lord Mandrake]

Yes these are good and makes you wonder if it's just a matter of understanding and executing every single detail perfectly or if we humans just have a preternatural sense that will always see through simulation especially of the human face.

[buzby]

(also, regarding the raptor disappearing for a frame, he says "lucky the T-Rex didn't disappear", but is the T-Rex not a model in that shot? it's only the head and shoulders after all, then we cut to the heroes before the full body appears)

The animatronic T-Rex props (the full body and the head and shoulders versions) were only used in the 'Main Road' tour vehicle attack scene. The 'T-Rex Finale' fight scene with the Velociraptors was all CGI, as you can see in ILM's showreel from the film.

The Raptor diappearing in the T-Rex's mouth for a frame was probably not a rendering error as such, but a digital compositing error. The video above shows that both the T-Rex and Raptor were rendered separately and then the two passes were composited together with the film of the on-set action for the final shot. It might be that in 1993 they did not have the processing capability to render both the models in the same pass at film scanner output resolution.

[phantom_power]

I think it shows that you can get the physics 99% right but that one percent will be noticeable, however subliminally.

Movement is key as well. The human face changes so much with every expression or movement and CGI struggles to replicate all of it. That Moff Tarkin model looks fucking amazing and realistic but when it starts moving you sense that it is wrong, without necessarily knowing why

[Bad Ambassador]

That Moff Tarkin model looks fucking amazing and realistic but when it starts moving you sense that it is wrong, without necessarily knowing why

Also the actor doing the voice has no idea how Cushing spoke, which undermined it a bit. Might as well have been Scouse.

[phantom_power]

He looked a bit like he had been spliced with Alita Battle Angel as well for some reason in the final film version

[Replies From View]

This is pretty bloody impressive up until the point where the sunglasses are put on and the eyes seem to glitch a bit:  Deepfake version of Sylvester Stallone in Terminator 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvCmQFScMA

[a duncandisorderly]

This is pretty bloody impressive up until the point where the sunglasses are put on and the eyes seem to glitch a bit:  Deepfake version of Sylvester Stallone in Terminator 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvCmQFScMA

it gets a bit arnie before that... all the stuff outside the bar.... but it's pretty damn good. I wish I had the resources to do stuff like this... my old mac pro isn't up to it.

did you spot johnny depp?

https://youtu.be/AQvCmQFScMA?t=33

[Shit Good Nose]

The best one I've seen...ever I think (at least to date) has been Michael Douglas' younging down in Ant Man.  Absolutely superb.  Compare that to Carrie Fisher in Rogue One...(although I guess in Douglas' case they had the actual Douglas to use as a "skeleton" for the CGI, whereas Fisher wasn't on set for Rogue One I think?)

As for amateur deep fake stuff, here's a pretty good one which has the bonus of Bill Hader doing an absolutely bang on Arnie (grin and bear the fist-chewingly embarrassing sight of two men finding themselves hilarious and stick around for the Collateral Damage anecdote near the end) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhUhypV27w

[Avril Lavigne]

Just a heads-up for anyone else who has been enjoying these as much as I have since Eddie started the thread, there's a new one out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geJg1CZv_-Y

[a duncandisorderly]

these guys are funny & have fun. really annoying me. in a good way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-K_9mT-Cc

[St_Eddie]

Just a heads-up for anyone else who has been enjoying these as much as I have since Eddie started the thread, there's a new one out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geJg1CZv_-Y

That mustache removal on Superman is just plain old wrong and the CGI baby is ungodly.

these guys are funny & have fun. really annoying me. in a good way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-K_9mT-Cc

I enjoyed their Indiana Jones video, if nothing else, for the whipping challenge.  Fella owned that whip like a boss!

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

CGI will never get any better than the first Jurassic Park film, sad but true. Technically superior maybe, but not better.

The T-Rex scene in the rain, yes. The raptor scenes when they are fully CGI, no. (Though they are still pretty good and absolutely amazing for the early 90s.)

[phantom_power]

Is that how some americans say Matrix?

[Replies From View]

Is that how some americans say Matrix?

Hello sir and how mattrix mattrix this morning and how mat your mattrix this friend

[phantom_power]

Also, that dicing effect from Resident Evil; the bit of his head seems to float because it hits his shoulder doesn't it?

Also also, what was that film at the end with the bloke chopping that fella up and kicking him into dog food?

[Replies From View]

Also also, what was that film at the end with the bloke chopping that fella up and kicking him into dog food?

Beethoven.

[Chriddof]

I think that last film was something they (as in Corridor Digital, who run that channel) did.

[greenman]

The best one I've seen...ever I think (at least to date) has been Michael Douglas' younging down in Ant Man.  Absolutely superb.  Compare that to Carrie Fisher in Rogue One...(although I guess in Douglas' case they had the actual Douglas to use as a "skeleton" for the CGI, whereas Fisher wasn't on set for Rogue One I think?)

Yeah de aging does seem to be the most successful work(more recently Sam Jackson in Captain Marvel), I'm imagine it allows them to keep much more of the original performance than a Serkis style one done from sensors over the face.

I suspect the CGI Leia in Rogue One might have been a bit of an afterthought though, the CGI Cushing by comparison is I think far better and was always likely a major plot were as I wouldn't be surprised if the idea with Leia originally was only to show her from behind.