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Duologue: An interview with Analog Studio

Analog is a young London-based studio focusing on commercials. But what they lack in age, they make up for with their passion for VFX. Find outhow Analog is making its mark!

Analog is a young London-based studio focusing on commercials. But what they lack in age, they make up for with their passion for VFX. Find out
how Analog is making its mark!

Analog Studio was founded by Mike Merron and Matt Chandler in early 2011, after the duo had spent some time working together on various projects. Joining forces to create their own small, experienced, and passionate VFX-based team, Analog Studio was born.

Mike comes from a mainly arch-viz background, with additional experience supervising VFX commercials, while Matt came from a successful career at Jellyfish Pictures. Former Mainframe CG Supervisor Arvid Niklasson joined the team after a few months, bringing with him the experience and enthusiasm for 3D effects.

The small studio is perfectly sized to scale up and down, depending on the projects that come along. We chat to Matt Chandler of Analog Studio to find out about some of their awesome collaborations with the likes of Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Nexus, including this incredible short film, Duologue:

3dtotal: How important is being based in London to the success of your studio? Do you have international clients as well? How do you find them - or how do they find you?

Matt Chandler: This question gets asked frequently and, until this year, we were admittedly quite passive about how we found work. It's something I'm very proud of actually, as we were able to rely on our reputations and quality of work to generate opportunities both here and internationally.

Being in London certainly helps, although its increasingly not essential to be based here - with many well-known studios scattered all over. We all live around London, though - plus there is an enormous pool of talent residing here, so it wouldn't make much sense to be elsewhere at present.

With the advent of cloud-based licensing and decent internet speeds, however, I'm very interested to see how this will influence the working ethic and location expectations...

Analog Studio worked on the post-production VFX for this Film4 ident

Analog Studio enjoyed working out the limitations and possibilities of shooting these Film4 idents with ManvsMachine

3dt: Analog seems to be capable of everything from post-production, VFX, and CGI, to the production and direction of shots and entire commercials. What do you feel Analog's particular strengths lie, and are there any areas the studio would like to embrace in future projects?

MC: It's only natural for ambitions and directions to alter over time, and although Analog is primarily a VFX studio, it's highly likely that we will get more directly involved with production and independently produced projects.

I think the main strength of the studio is that everyone here is interested in all of the processes that contribute to a project - not just the VFX. We like to get involved, help directors steer and solve the challenges that come with CGI-led projects.

Some of us are dabbling with games, some directing, and we are all producing our own work in some way. The only thing we haven't done a lot of is character animation. There are many established studios who already do it very, very well and it's an area we consciously don't even try to compete in... yet.

3dt: The Honda ad was a fantastic effort from Analog on the VFX and animation side of things. Can you talk a little about this project and how you worked with Nexus on these make-or-break areas of the commercial?

MC: Honda Hands
was a very challenging piece that involved a lot of pre-planning. Nexus requested our help to execute the project and figure out the best way to shoot and track real, live-action props that would be removed later.

Analog had the pleasure of working on the VFX and animation for this outstanding commercial for Honda

All of the FX animation, compositing and grading also happened under one roof at Analog on the Honda Hands commercial

We shared the modeling of some of the models with Nexus since it was a massive undertaking with so many products and details. Nexus also handled the character animations, while we wrangled all of the tracking, FX, lighting, rendering, and compositing.

We used Softimage for most of the sequence as it could handle the very heavy, detailed models much more efficiently. 3ds Max was then used for additional effects such as smoke, cloth, and particle effects.

3dt: So we recently saw your Duologue work, which is a collaboration with the Marshmallow Laser Feast. Can you talk a bit about how this collaboration worked, and what Analog's part was in the process? What was the motivation/brief behind it?

MC: We have had a relationship with the guys at MLF for some time, and were waiting to see if there was something suitable for us to collaborate on.

The entire concept was originally to be an Oculus Rift experience, as MLF creative Barney Steele was very interested in combining emerging tech with visceral visuals. We all eventually decided to push ahead with a more conventional production of the video after some testing and develop Oculus material later.

The project then became very collaborative and I would sit for many hours with Barney going over camera moves, lighting, textures, and letting the imagery help shape the themes of the sequence. Being able to contribute creatively to a project such as this allowed us to bring our own aesthetic and ideas to how the images were created.

Duologue was a collaboration between Analog and MLF, featuring Beryl, an actress captured at Shepperton Studios

From the high-res scanned models Analog could then build realistic shaders for Beryl's skin> The eyes were extremely important to make the 3D character feel alive

To increase the believability of the character, Analog added many subtle tiny hairs to the body

As well as Beryl, Analog also modeled additional pieces for the film, such as this pomegranate fruit

3dt: What kind of feedback have you had to this project, with it being about a transition to death? What were the difficulties of dealing with a subject matter like this?

MC: The project was received very well from a technical point of view. There were a number of viewers who found the visuals uncomfortable, but enjoyed the sequence overall - and it was popping up all over the place online a few weeks after release.

It's been very interesting to hear all of the thoughts and interpretations so far. There was much more content created that ultimately didn't make the cut - as it was a bit too weird, perhaps...

The Duologue film is technically brilliant! But it's imagery caused some viewers to feel unsettled - which is all part of the risk of dealing with sensitive subject matter

There were actually only two of us that worked on the entire Duologue video - so we used the tools and techniques most familiar to us

3dt: Can you talk a bit about the creative workflow on Duologue? What software was used for the visual effects and rendering, and why these tools in particular?

MC: From early on it was established that the assets would be created with photo-scanning techniques - now widely used for digital-double work and creating incredibly detailed mesh data.

The actress was captured by FBFX scanning services at Shepperton Studios with its large camera arrays. There were many versions processed in a variety of poses and facial expressions so we could try out and discuss which one would work.

V-Ray for 3ds Max was used for all the rendering/VFX, and MARI was used to handle the huge resolution texture maps. NUKE was then used for compositing all the render passes together and dialling in the heavy depth of field.

3D artist/generalist Tim Woods handled the beautiful cloth simulations using Marvelous Designer before passing them over for light and render.

There were actually only two of us that worked on the entire Duologue video - so we used the tools and techniques most familiar to us.

Because Beryl is "transitioning to death" in the video, Analog also had to sculpt alternative versions where she is covered in an ash-like material

The beautiful cloth simulations were created using Marvelous Designer before being passed over for lighting and rendering work

Being able to keep up and apply new ideas/possibilities to the latest projects is something we strive to do

3dt: If we're to revisit this interview in one year's time, what do you hope for Analog to have achieved by that point with regards to your CGI projects? Are there any clients you'd like to work with that you haven't already?

MC: Analog is still a young studio with the current focus mainly on commercials. There is an ensuing passion here for VFX and the huge level of fun that can be had creating them. There seem to be waves of new software and tech to keep up with these days, and being able to keep up and apply new ideas/possibilities to the latest projects is something we strive to do.

The Analog team contributed to the direction and 3D VFX on this work for Meridian Audio

Another incredible client under Analog's belt: this time Toyota!

We are also taking the first steps toward a presence in New York - announcing an official affiliation with another studio already based there later this year.

Find out more about Analog Studio at www.analogstudio.co.uk, and follow Analog on Facebook.

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