July 10, 2008

NEW DEAL EXPANDS DIGITAL FX DIVISION

According to digital effects supervisor Robert Chapin, the expansion means the New Deal team has the latest digital resources and practical assets on hand. "We have a truly full-service studio all under one roof,” he notes. “If we need to shoot elements on the spot, we can do it and pipe them back into our digital workstations instantly."

New Deal's all-Mac pipeline was designed by technical director/lead compositor Jeffrey Jasper. The studio uses Autodesk Maya for animation and Apple Shake for compositing. Rendering is handled via a Mac-based renderfarm. And the digital pipeline can scale based on a project’s demands. 

"We focused on simplifying the workflow process to give an enormous amount of control to the artists, enabling them to handle any number of effects shots quickly and efficiently,” says Jasper.

New Deal has added a full digital intermediate suite with 2K digital and 35mm film projectors for client timing sessions, screenings and work review. The digital art department pipeline links all of the divisions, allowing them to share digital assets. The team can work hand in hand with the art concept development team, using CAD accurate 3D programs, such as Rhino and Solidworks, to handle production design, construction drawings and rapid prototyping.

With their newly-expanded pipeline, NDS has served as an exclusive digital vendor on a number of recent projects, including providing over 300 digital shots for Paraiso Travel and the upcoming Famke Janssen thriller 100 Feet.  The studio is about to start work on both practical and digital effects for director Martin Scorsese's upcoming film, Ashecliffe.