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Customer Highlight: Ross Shain, Northern Lights Post
(May 26, 2004)
Northern Lights Post, founded in 1995 by editors Mark Littman and David
Gioiella, has earned a reputation as one of the leading creative
editorial/post production houses. The facility provides work for such top
advertising agencies as Saatchi & Saatchi, J. Walter Thompson, Lowe and
Ogilvy; and television networks Comedy Central, ESPN, Sci-Fi Channel, USA
Network and Voom HD. In addition, Northern Lights Post has edited numerous
long-form television shows to include MTV's popular show Cribs and numerous
VH1 specials. The company is also known for its production support of the
independent film community.
Northern Lights Post has recently added wondertouch's particleIllusion to its
state-of-the-art production pipeline.We caught up with industry veteran Ross
Shain an HD editor/effects artist at Northern Lights Post. Previously, Shain
served at Avid Technology as a product specialist. He has been working in the
post industry in various capacities for the past 13 years including roles as
an editor, effects compositor and graphics designer.
Shain outlined how particleIllusion is now being used at the facility.
Q: We understand particleIllusion has recently been installed at Northern
Lights Post and was just used for the first time on the new Beastie Boys
music video, "Ch-Check It Out."
That's right. We had been demoing particleIllusion for a few weeks, but
hadn't used it on a job until the Beastie Boys video. After our initial
evaluation of the software, we were able to learn the software within one
day.
Q: What initially impacted the decision to purchase particleIllusion?
We found particleIllusion's power, speed and large preset library allowed us
to easily produce high-quality, realistic effects and textures to our shots
quickly without going to a 3D package. Its price was also an attractive
feature.
Q: Can you comment on how particlIllusion integrates into the production pipeline?
Presently particleIllusion is being used in our Graphics & Finishing
department where it is running on the same CPU dual Windows XP machines as
our Avid DS Nitris system. Having the software on the same workstation as our
HD graphics/finishing station allows us to quickly pre-visualize effects, and
speed up workflow. Because it is so easy to learn and to achieve the desired
results, it is likely that editors may soon be using particleIllusion as well.
Q: Can you provide us with a summary of the Beastie Boys music video and the role that particleIllusion played?
The music video portrays the Beastie Boys humorously romping through a series
of zany visual non sequiturs, punctuated by their trade mark hip hop musical
style. particleIllusion was used to create effects predominantly in the
opening scene of the clip featuring a "Star Trek" TV-inspired parody where
the Beastie Boys, dressed as Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy, are beamed
into the streets of Manhattan's lower eastside. It was also used later in the
video, when the Beastie Boys, dressed in safari garb, are traveling through
the Florida Everglades on an out-of-control fan boat. [The song is off their
forthcoming CD "To the 5 Boroughs."]
This project was uniquely challenging in that it required Northern Lights
Post to mix various formats including 16mm film, 24P HD and NTSC stock
footage in order to finish the spot in HD, rare for a music video. We also
handled all of the visual effects design, compositing of 15 green screen
shots as well as the 24P HD online.
In the fan boat scenes, the fan boat and Beastie Boys were initially shot on
16mm film against a green screen set while the background water plates were
shot 24P HD location in the Everglades. To create a more realistic, shaky,
high-speed chase feel in the composite, it was necessary that we add motion
blur and camera shake to the entire composite as well as add animated water
splashes and mist. With particleIllusion's vast library of preset effects
readily available, we were able to dial-in the desired results quickly. The
rendered particles were then imported into the Avid DS Nitris system and
motion tracked to the movement of the boat.
The effect in the Star Trek scene, where the Beastie Boys are beamed down to
appear was created by generating a difference matte between the characters
and the background. Relying on particleIllusion's real time preview feature
in particular proved to be a major asset as I was able to show the director,
Nathanial Hornblower, some quick examples of the beam down particles without
having to render the final output.
Q: Would you care to provide any other comments about particleIllusion's use in a production environment?
As I touched on earlier, particleIllusion is so easy to learn and being able to
so easily access its vast library of preset emitters allows us to dial in a
range of desired results, quickly and efficiently. The real-time preview
function eliminates the need to create and render effects entirely in 3D,
which is a huge time saver as we typically work on tight schedules.
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