TNG Visual Effects 3D SCANNING SERVICES

January 2015 - Vol 5 Issue 1

Building Characters With Resolutions

TNG VISUAL EFFECTS USA & CANADA

TNG Visual Effects, Los Angeles, and
TNG Visual Effects Canada, Inc., is a 3D scanning company in the entertainment industry that specializes in the creation of photo-realistic digital assets. Many characters, vehicles, cars, sets, props, animals, sculptures, and other items have been added to our scope of work since inception in 2009.

Our team knows how to work with producers, directors, coordinators, A-list talent, and other agencies, making the most of their precious time and ensuring a successful project. TNG's work is always guaranteed. We are also highly noted for our ability to travel at a moments notice for a project. Exclusive use of highly mobile scanning systems allow for TNG to perform scans in practically any location.

MOTION CAPTURE

Noitom's Perception - an inertia based Motion Capture system

Contact us if you need Motion Capture for your project.

OU R 3D SCANNING WORK

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

Nick Tesi Image

Nick Tesi

Happy New Year! Here we go again, another year to do all we can to service the entertainment industry. We love this job. Looking forward to working and servicing many projects this year and helping out where we can.

At TNG we are doing more in 3D scanning to give you better models and are getting deeper into cars and products to expand our markets with our talented scanners and modelers, plus our mobility. It is a challenge, but a well worth effort to move forward in our business, and to share the skills and technology we have to offer.

We are always researching new technology and software to keep the quality of our service at the highest level, and to accelerate our pipeline. We do our best to provide a great product to our customers.

We continue our search for partners who are synergistic to our service. Together we can help our customers save more while using better products. Contact us for more information.

TESTIMONIALS

WHO'S TALKING ABOUT US?

"I selected TNG Visual Effects and Nick Tesi for my 3D scanning needs based on our past history on other projects. He has always delivered on time at the price we agreed upon. His company is reliable and always proved to be a good choice of vendors. On my last project Nick arranged Lidar scanning and all worked out perfect. Nick has always been prompt, and helpful in supporting me to find the correct solutions."

-John Sullivan-

VFX Supervisor

Big Love

WHERE'S YOUR CLOSEST LOCATION?

5 ATTRIBUTES TO LOOK FOR IN A VENDOR

$$
They are quick to respond to your call, text, or email.

$$

They understand your needs and ask relevant questions.

$$ They do what they say they're going to do and in the time frame they commit to.

$$ They are more concerned about a win-win solution.

$$ There is a 100% guarantee for their service.

FOLLOW US

Follow us on social media!

Visit our website at TNGVisualEffects.com

3D SCANNING CHARACTERS

Building 3D Character

There are three components to creating a great 3D character. The first component is making sure the character design itself looks real like a human. The second component is full body animation, seeing how it moves - whether it's stiff, jerky, ill-timed, or even too smooth like an astronaut on the moon. In working with live action, the character needs to have fluid movement to match that of a live character. The third component is facial animation which must be a realistic performance. This is nearly always the giveaway. The facial performance has got to be strong; we know what faces look like as we see them every day. It's easy to comprehend a person's emotion by looking at their face, but in 3D that must be created. It's not difficult to land in the 'uncanny valley' with the dead flat eyes with a thousand yard stare and lower forehead. But as a VFX community, we're getting closer to mastering this.

Melika as a fully rendered image in high resolution

Building a 3D character can be done in several ways. The quickest way, and which is now becoming the most acceptable method, is to use 3D scanning. The dimensions that come from a 3D scan are accurate, saving a character artist more time to develop the final look of the model. The overall structure of the body and the look of the skin all need to look like a real person. From the hair to the cyber clothing, every part needs to flow naturally. The real life character and the virtual character need to make a person wonder which is which. It shouldn't even be a question. All elements on the screen should look real - right out of our world - and not polygons or pixels.

When using a motion capture system to create and capture the movement of a character, the only decision to make is to find a system you feel best serves your needs and your budget. As time goes on the prices will fall as more and more characters are done this way. There are systems on the market if all you need is a simple walk or run, however, in most cases there is a need for custom movement that will go through current pipelines using a standard like Autodesk MotionBuilder. This industry has had some vast improvements over the last years, especially with movies like Avatar and The Lord of the Rings. It was a combination of technology and talent that allowed the Mocap movements to translate so well into the final result.

The last piece is the facial performance capture. If not done correctly, the upper part of the face (dead eyes or a low forehead) could give it all away. It takes time and talent to get this right, not to mention the cost. Now that we're offering full body motion capture systems and services, our next stop on the road will be facial performance capture. Naturally all this technology blends together to create 3D effects that look entirely real.

Good luck in 2015 to all of you on your search for the best and most cost effective service that meets your delivery times, and gives you the product you need.

IMMERSIVE MEDIA

Bringing 3D Scanning into the World of Immersive Media

TNG Visual Effects is working with Vortex Immersion Media to bring 3D scanning technology into the world of immersive media - a form of virtual reality.

Vortex specializes in 360-degree immersive visualization environments and programming, ranging from large-scale digital domes to home experiences on virtual reality headsets. Founded in 2007 by entertainment technology engineer Ed Lantz and his partner Matt Fannon, Vortex brings a mesmerizing 'stimulation of senses' into mainstream entertainment markets.

Vortex has produced immersive media experiences for themed entertainment attractions, digital planetariums, and for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, NFL, Nike, and Turner Broadcast. Earlier this year, Vortex created a 'branded experience' for PepsiCo at the Super Bowl Village in Times Square, supplying branded projection mapping onto an 80' diameter dome stage. They also built two mobile dome theaters at Comic Con in San Diego.

The Comic Con domes presented a 360-degree 4D "thrill ride" adventure within narrative story worlds for television networks. The Constantine Dome, created for NBCUniversal in cooperation with Pop2Life, was a 3.5 minute cinema journey into the spooky world of the new series. The venue incorporated 46 theater seats and 4D effects including wind and strobes.

Vortex also operates the Vortex Dome, the first commercial immersive media production studio and events venue located in downtown Los Angeles. The 50' diameter venue has been home to a number of "black box" theater productions, in addition to shoots for feature films and TV shows.

- Ed Lantz, President & CEO, VORTEX Immersion Media

3D SCANNING

When Is Our Job Complete?

We just finished a complex scanning job that involved several large elements - all to be 3D scanned on stage using Lidar Scanners - within one day.

We were asked to scan all of the elements immediately because one of the sets was scheduled to be immersed in a water tank, which would make it difficult and possibly more time consuming to scan later.

To complete this job, we needed to coordinate not just our scanning schedule and professional photo session, but also plan around the various painters, the special effects crew, the riggers, the grip and electric crews, and the production department - all of whom also needed access to the same elements in order to meet their own deadlines.

Naturally, the crew's workflow constantly changed, so we had to work around these shifting schedules; however, because we were well prepared, and had carefully coordinated with each of the various department heads, we were able to successfully scan all of the required objects within a normal day's schedule.

For TNG, it's not just about creating an exceptional 3D scan, but it's also about accommodating our client and their own schedules throughout the entire process. We keep our clients continuously updated on the progress of each stage of cleanup and texturing. Our job is complete when our customers walk away with a smile and the satisfaction that the project was accomplished not just professionally, but also as smoothly as possible.

THANK YOU

Thank you for taking the time to review our newsletter. If you have any questions, or would like to consider TNG Visual Effects in your next bid, please contact us.

Nick Tesi

Founder & President