In this exclusive interview, Anish Sreedhar, the Head of CG at PhantomFX, delves into the intricate world of visual effects for the film “Ayalaan.” With over seven years of experience at PhantomFX, Anish has driven CG innovation and mastered the full spectrum of visual effects production. He shares the primary challenges his team faced, particularly the time constraints and the complexity of creating fully CG environments and characters. Anish also provides a detailed breakdown of key VFX sequences, highlighting the techniques and software used, and discusses the close collaboration with the film’s director and other departments. Additionally, he reveals the groundbreaking technologies employed by PhantomFX and the meticulous process of integrating CG elements seamlessly into live-action footage.

The biggest challenge for “Ayalaan” was managing time. Although the movie began production 5-6 years ago, most sequences were completed in the final three months. To meet the tight deadlines, the team had to employ unconventional methods. The project included numerous fully CG environments, such as the alien world, and CGI characters, presenting a unique challenge as it was their first time tackling such complex tasks. Another challenging sequence was the pre-climax destruction, which involved creating a massive collapse of the mine using laser beams, requiring intricate effects and extensive coordination.

Anish’s favorite visualization in the movie was the interaction scene between the aliens in the human house at the top of the water tank. The facial capture in this sequence drew inspiration from Andy Serkis’ performance as Gollum, with performance capture heavily relying on Xsens and Faceware Systems technology. Despite some initial setbacks with a different mocap suit, the animators re-mocapped all the shots using the body/face mocap suit. Extensive data was gathered on location, including grey ball and mirror ball measurements and HDRIs, which aided the matchmove and lighting processes in post-production. Additionally, the color pipeline was a crucial element in ensuring visual coherence.

Credit – Vfxpress