#OCEAN WAVES REALFLOW PATCH#
#OCEAN WAVES REALFLOW SERIES#

This was a solid decision for efficiency but also safe from the physics perspective because if you watch real objects at the surface in stormy conditions thereвЂ™s almost always very little visible interaction of this kind, and most of what you see are things like splashes and waterline foam - both of which could be generated on an as-needed basis using FusionвЂ™s ocean fx tools on a generic ocean surface. By вЂњinteractionвЂќ, we mean ripple-type wave generation on the surface generated by interaction with geometry. In order to do this, the team had to commit to leaving out any true physical interaction between the ocean surface and the raft or the whale, in order to avoid having to generate a custom surface for each shot. The first decision to be made was that Fusion would create a single re-useable or вЂњgenericвЂќ ocean surface that could tile into the distance as needed for a particular shot, so that Zoic could use and re-use the surface for whatever shot in the sequence made it to the locked edit. While the Zoic team refined the animation of the giant CG whale, Fusion focused on working up a stormy ocean surface.

WeвЂ™ll also highlight how the project was managed, which is a big part of how these kinds of fx could be completed on schedule. Ok, letвЂ™s have a look at how some of the cg fluid fx were put together. This of course meant that ZoicвЂ™s compositing department had to blend together the wave tank surface near the raft with the more turbulent CG ocean surface.

#OCEAN WAVES REALFLOW PATCH#

Even tho the wave tankвЂ™s surface did not approach the stormy character that was needed for the finished shot, it created a small patch of high detail reality around the raft and meant that Fusion wouldnвЂ™t need to create that water. The practical fx gave Zoic real water in the immediate vicinity and in contact with the raft, and interacting with Gepetto. The real Gepetto spent what mustвЂ™ve been an arduous shoot, standing on a raft in a small wave tank, being buffetted by fans, water sprays and the occasional bucket-full of water. The ocean surface tight to the raft is practical, with cg water beyond that. And Fusion, with its extensive experience with fluid fx on any scale and schedule, has a well-developed suite of tools and methods for creating oceanic fluid fx вЂ“ honing its expertise on films like:ДЄs well as a vast array of commercial & installation projects needing ocean fx.ДЄs a team, Fusion and Zoic were perfectly suited to pumping out this sequence.ДЄ real Gepetto on a real raft in a wave tank.

#OCEAN WAVES REALFLOW SERIES#

This kind of sequence would be out of reach for many studios, but Zoic is no stranger to doling out high quality VFX on crazy episodic tv schedules, having built a pipeline around the extreme demands of series television. In the sequence, Gepetto and Pinocchio attempt to navigate stormy ocean waters while stalked by Monstro, a giant whale. The episode received both an Emmy and a VES award nomination, so itвЂ™s a great example of how near film quality fx work is penetrating series tv. When Zoic approached Fusion CI Studios to create a very challenging stormy ocean sequence for ABCвЂ™s Once Upon A Time, The Stranger episode, there were a lot of excited fluids artists here in the house! We love ocean work and even the rigorous demands of a tv schedule couldnвЂ™t dissuade anyone from jumping on board. Client: Zoic Project: Once Upon A Time, The Stranger Episode

Ocean waves realflow