What is previs in animation?
Previsualization or “previs” is an important tool that’s essential to the movie making process. It helps directors plan sequences and camera work surpassing principal photography plane starts.
Did you know that Marvel movies are all previs-ed? And in the Star Wars universe, Mandalorian Creator Jon Favreau used previs to explore story ideas and save budget, ultimately telling a largest story by figuring out key details early on.
All of the technology that we’re using [on Mando] is dependent on planning everything with previs.
– Jon Favreau
One of my supervisors, Clint Reagan, once said that previs is working towards a moving target, and I cannot describe it better. Here are seven things you should know well-nigh previs.
Let’s start with an easy one…
1. Previs isn’t just for the movies!
Previs is moreover used in variegated forms of media like games, theme park rides, short films, advertisements, and more. It is a widely-used tool that helps eliminate story plot holes and saves time and money.
2. Learn the difference between previs, tech-vis, and post-vis
There are three variegated types of visualization tools used in the industry: previs, tech-vis, and post-vis.
Previs is perhaps the increasingly widely-known process, where artists work with scripts to produce what is substantially a 3D storyboard.
Tech-vis typically happens without previs. Tech-vis artists take superintendency of the increasingly technical side of things using the completed previs sequences. They make sure that all shots are shootable in the very location, for example, getting the word-for-word untried screen measurements needed for CGI shots.
Post-vis refers to the process of previs-ing for post-production and happens only without footage has been shot. Post-vis versifier work with very footage from the shoot, which are most often shots that have CGI notation or environments. Post-vis artists decide how the digital notation will play into the shot, surpassing spending millions of dollars on rendering them.
During my wits working on The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, we were given simplified models of each unprepossessing from ILM with detailed information well-nigh the characteristics of each animal. As post-vis artists, this information helped us make increasingly plausible vicarial choices while animating.
3. Previs and the Mucosa Production Pipeline
Previs artists tend to work at the studio which is producing the movie. To produce the closest resemblance to the very film, previs artists are in an intricate workflow with the rest of the mucosa crew, including the director, cinematographer, editor, set designer, costume designer, propmaster, visual effects supervisor, and stunt coordinator. It is such a tomfool wits to see how important decisions come to be and how a whole movie is structured!
4. Adaptability is Important
Because of the close-knit workflow between so many other departments, previs changes happen daily. As artists, we have to transmute to new ideas quickly–a tiny transpiration can rationalization a big ripple. Stuff unsteadfast is a vital part of the previs process that took me a while to learn.
It was expressly difficult for a racing movie like Ford V Ferrari. All cars run on curves; a transpiration of location ways reshaping all curves to sit right on top of the new road, making sure the loftiness between cars is still relevant to the story points, and keeping cameras shootable and car speed in check.
5. Previs Artists Are Cinematographers
Often during the previs stage of production the script isn’t fully ripened and sometimes artists are given the self-rule to come up with heady shot ideas for the directors. Multiple versions of the same sequence might happen, which ways most of your work on the “failed” sequences will never see the light of day. But who cares when an very director reviews your work!
One of my favorite stories is from working on Ad Astra. The sequence when Roy McBride leaps from spaceship A to spaceship B through the asteroid whup was originally a screen left to screen right travel. However, director James Gray comes into the previs room one day with an idea that he personal came to him while watching the previs prune at home through a mirror. He decided that a screen right to left travel would be increasingly interesting. That sudden epiphany meant flipping the volatility and swapping the spaceships/location in the whole sequence. It took increasingly or less a week for the change, but he loved the result and that was what ended up in the movie!
6. Cheating is encouraged in Previs!
Tasked with designing shots, previs artists are responsible for everything that happens in a frame. They often use Autodesk Maya playblasts (very quick renders) to help visualize and test story ideas in a short value of time. There are, of course, shortcomings as time-consuming simulations can not be handled by playblasts. This calls for cheats!
Action films, for example, often have big explosions that are handled by the simulation team later in the production pipeline. In the early stages of production, a previs versifier would need to come up with a workaround or “cheat” to show the same effect. They would likely use a vellum (transparent image with an explosion) and would vivificate the size and placement, creating a quick effect that looks like an explosion when played when at speed.
Mesh deformations and tumor maps can moreover be helpful. I am currently working on a project that requires underwater shots, which is extremely difficult to unzip without the use of intense simulations. Instead, we use rainbow cards, water splash cards, and Maya fog hardware. The same goes for fog, debris, explosion, etc. Do not underestimate the power of cards! They squint pretty legit!
7. The Evolution of Previs
While useful, Maya playblasts still have plenty of limitations, which is where the power of game engines come in. I’ve worked on multiple projects that utilize the Unreal Game Engine. Originally previs was used for blocking out camera angles and story points, but with the help of Unreal it’s now used to create lighting and squint guides for the very film.
Not only does it offer the luxury of beautiful, quick renders, but using the Unreal Engine moreover gives artists the worthiness to create quick simulations. The Maya to Unreal workflow is still stuff hashed out, but it is a unexceptionable future for previs!
Why should you learn previs animation?
Overall, the value of stuff a previs versifier comes from constantly receiving self-ruling knowledge in filmmaking from respected directors, writers, stunt coordinators, and plane the production diamond team. These are definitely experiences you don’t get in mucosa school!
The value of stuff a previs versifier comes from constantly receiving self-ruling knowledge in filmmaking from respected directors, writers, stunt coordinators, and plane the production diamond team.
-Bao Er Ho (Fiona)
Previs artists spend a ton of time in the same scene, refining every single speciality of a shot so that the regulars will wits the weightier version. While sometimes tedious, what you get from that wits is the satisfaction of seeing the final version on the big screen without a year or so.
Think of it like stuff Dr. Strange in Avengers: Infinity War, where he experiences variegated outcomes until he directs everyone to the weightier version. As a previs versifier you are an essential part of making the weightier version of movies that people enjoy all over the world.
Bao Er Ho (Fiona) is a Malaysian-born animator currently working at Proof Inc. as a previs artist. She started her previs journey in 2018, helping directors envision shots for films such as Ad Astra, Ford V Ferrari, The Voyage of Dr. Dolittle, and other upcoming movies like The Tomorrow War, Moonfall and more. You can follow her work on LinkedIn.
Ready to learn previs animation?
Learn previsualization from industry veteran and mentor Nicole Herr. Nicole has been in the industry for 20 years and has worked on films like The Lion King, Rampage, and the Weightier Visual Effects Oscar-winning filmThe Jungle Book! To learn increasingly well-nigh Previsualization Basics for Animators click below.
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