I have some questions for the People who worked on the show
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
2.) How did you get involved in the whole CGI field
3.) If somone wants to do what you guys do, how do you supose they do it. Do you need to go to College or University. DO you need to get GCE's in Mathes or English???
4.) How long does it take to make an epiosde of NCS.
5.) Will you all be involved in Lightspeed.
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How to saute
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DanDud88
- Ensign
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I sent a showreel in after seeing an advert on Flay. Ron T called me in for an interview a couple of days later and gave me the Lead Modeller job.
2.) How did you get involved in the whole CGI field
I did CG as a hobby for about 12 years or so..... and finally got a CG related jobin 2001 working at Particle Systems (games company that did IWar). I'd been a UNIX Software Support Analyst before that. So I haven't been a pro CG person for that long, but have been doing CG for many years.
3.) If somone wants to do what you guys do, how do you supose they do it. Do you need to go to College or University. DO you need to get GCE's in Mathes or English???
I went to college, but that was for training as draughtsman (my first post school job). I didn't get many GCSE's though my college ONC Mech. Eng. included A Level maths & Analytical maths. I have no formal training in art of any kind though... all my CG stuff is self taught.
4.) How long does it take to make an epiosde of NCS.
The offical turn around for one episode was in the region of 8 weeks, though I think that varied depending on how much modelling was required from us in Assets, and cool VFX that the teams had to do.
5.) Will you all be involved in Lightspeed.
Oooooff! The million dollar question. It's possible if it all goes ahead.
Hope the answers are useful
Cheers!
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CAClark
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2. I started in computer graphics way back in the Amiga/Deluxe Paint days doing 2D artwork - I slowly built a portfolio of work on my own time before approaching video games companies for work. I started off as a 2D artist at Argonaut Software (the sadly now-defunct creators of then, Starglider and more recently Croc).
Whilst there, 3D computer generated imagery had just started making its way to desktop computers in the form of 3D Studio (PC) and LightWave 3D (Amiga) - I bought a copy of LightWave 3D and started tinkering with it at home - 12 years later I'm still using LightWave (now v8.5), more or less self taught...
3. Most animators, modellers, TDs, etc seem to learn 3D at college or university these days (there weren't any courses in CG when I was learning ) but you can still get into the business by learning things yourself - it just takes a little longer. Depending on what software you might choose to learn, there are numerous "Learning" editions available for free as well as a wealth of good books that should help you get to grips with the basics before moving onto more advanced stuff.
Remember though that familiarity with the software is only part of the equation - make sure you spend some time investigating drawing, (traditional 2D) animation, photography and lighting as they'll all make you better at CG. Maths and English are not essential to CG but they help - English more I'd say - being able to communicate your ideas and critiques clearly and concisely is obviously very important.
4. What Craig said
5. Only Gerry can answer that one
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
Cityscape 3D
Old Street, UK.
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Aegis
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Just had a quick look at the Flay website and there's an article about new Scarlet. Gerry says he is gearing up for LightSpeed. Pre-production September, CGI of the standard raised by you guys in the second 13 episodes.
Once again. Thanks for all your hard work. Excellent!
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yorkie
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And I'd like to know if it was difficult making the Albatross appear to drop like a stone from Skybase!!
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Chris C
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Chris C wrote:And I'd like to know if it was difficult making the Albatross appear to drop like a stone from Skybase!!
If they ever build a Superhypermarionation theme park, THAT ride should be a major attraction. Not sure about the Mysteronisation Booth however....
I can't believe that creating something like NCS could ever be a chore but I would imagine that it's frustrating having to work to strict deadlines and not being able to get things juuuuust right due to time constraints.
Do you developers have ambitions towards the big screen?
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steviep
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NCS was always fun and always challenging - I worked with a great bunch of extremely talented artists - the only real frustration was never quite having the time you wanted to polish, tweak and enhance your shots - there's always something extra you'd have like to have done but never quite managed to get it in.
As far as the Albatross goes - yeah - it's quite a ride eh? Gerry was very specific in how he wanted the Albatross deployed and I believe the animation was revised a few times until he was completely happy with it - that kind of attention to detail is typical of Gerry's contribution to the show - he's got a great eye for detail and frequently picked up on small details in rushes that others may have missed
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
Cityscape 3D
Old Street, UK.
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Aegis
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Did you have much say in how each scene was shot? I guess you'd be given an overview of how a scene was supposed to turn out, but were the finer details left up to whoever was actually producing the CGI? The characters have obviously evolved over the series as well, Captain Scarlet looks quite different now!!
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Chris C
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Chris C wrote:The attention to detail in the series always amazes me. I have to watch each episode at least twice because there is so much going on in the background, it's easy to miss first time around!
I'll second that! I think all the artists involved deserve a big cheer for the amount of enjoyment they've provided.
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steviep
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Chris C wrote:So a hobby has turned into a career for you both now! Did you find making NCS fun, or did it ever get really frustrating if something didn't turn out quite right?
And I'd like to know if it was difficult making the Albatross appear to drop like a stone from Skybase!!
It was the best blast I have had i think. The crew was fantastic, though I didn't have much involvement with Mr Morgan here (aside from chatting out side on and off).
As for frustration... what Andy said! As a modeller in the assets team, we had typically 2 working weeks per set/vehicle or whatever. Give or take a day or three, once that time was gone, we were done with that specific asset... even though often there was soo much more you'd like to do.
Cheers!
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CAClark
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Since you all seem to have been part of different teams assigned to different episodes, was there any rivalry between the teams, as in who could create the best scenes/images/episodes?
And was there a Scarlet team?!!
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Chris C
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Scarlet
Green
White
Blue
In addition, we had an assets dept. who created all the sets, props, vehicles and characters you see in the show. As well as that, we had our own editing, sound and motion-capture facilities.
There was a certain degree of rivalry between the teams to begin with as each team tried to outdo the others in terms of visual quality - around the beginning of the second season however we'd achieved a specific look and feel for the show and many of the early production issues had been ironed out so the episodes look much more consistent.
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
Cityscape 3D
Old Street, UK.
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Aegis
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In addition, we had an assets dept. who created all the sets, props, vehicles and characters you see in the show. As well as that, we had our own editing, sound and motion-capture facilities.
I'm hoping the DVD's are going to explain how all of that fits together, and how everything has developed. I need pictures!!
Whatever 'competition' there was between the teams with the visuals obviously worked completely to our (the viewers) advantage, and I know it's been said by others before but I am going to say it too: a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the trouble to create such a FANTASTIC SERIES!!!
(And cheers for taking the time to answer all the questions....so far!!)
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Chris C
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...a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the trouble to create such a FANTASTIC SERIES!!!
I too would like to echo the same sentiments as those above. I'm sure many others on this forum would say the same.
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Lieutenant Green
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Ah, so I take it YOU were part of that elusive Scarlet team!!
Actually, no - I started off in White Team and worked on the lighting for one episode with them - Chiller - after that I moved to R&D to work on various technical issues with LightWave 3D. In addition, I helped out some of the other teams on specific episodes. In total, I worked on:
Instrument of Destruction Pts 1&2 (The whole studio worked on these)
Rain of Terror - Scarlet Team
Contact - Scarlet Team
Swarm - Blue Team
Mercury Falling - Blue Team
Fallen Angels - Blue Team
Chiller - White Team
Trap for a Rhino - White Team
Duel - White Team
GreySkulls - White Team
Thanks for all the congrats and praise - I'm glad people are getting a thrill out of seeing the show - even after seeing several episodes in the cinema here at Pinewood Studios, there's something incredibly cool about switching on the TV on a Saturday morning and seeing your work on the screen
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
Cityscape 3D
Old Street, UK.
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Aegis
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