The Rainbow Conference 2024
The first week of September saw the return of the London ACM SIGGRAPH Rainbow Conference, this time held at the iconic Barbican Centre in central London. Our team were thrilled to be invited to speak over both days; firstly delivering our talk ‘From Science to Cinema’ on Day 1, followed by our part in the panel discussion ‘Empowering Journeys: Inspiring the Next Generation’ on Day 2.
Directors Rob Hifle and Paul Silcox, and Compositing Supervisor Tav Flett presented ‘From Science to Cinema’ which focussed on how we use scientific datasets in our visual effects work and why accuracy is so important. Looking back on our work for The Crown, Our Universe, Secrets of the Neanderthals and more, the team showcased how science is imbued throughout the world of VFX and the benefits this can bring.
Rob opened by discussing the journey to becoming Lux Aeterna, followed by Paul who talked about how we use Houdini alongside python to create a powerful toolset capable of processing and visualising large amounts of complex scientific data. This was used in Our Universe to create the Theia collision with Earth using data supplied from the Cosma supercomputer by Dr Jacob Keggeris at Durham University, (now a fellow at Nasa). This provided us with a huge amount of data, 10⁹ points, one point 4 trillion data points processed in total. 30tb, this became the basis of the visual effects with it being processed in Houdini.
Moving on from this, Tav explored how VFX can be used in Natural History sequences, delving into how we did this in Our Universe with Koda the Alaskan Peninsula Brown Bear, who featured in the episode ‘Changing Seasons’. Tav also looked at the different artistic choices that went into making Our Universe including the choice of lens and camera angles used to give the show the levels of photorealism required by Showrunner Mike Davis.
As the ACCESS:VFX E Mentor Lead, and Executive Producer here at Lux Aeterna, Emma Kolasinska was a great addition to the ‘Empowering Journeys: Inspiring the Next Generation’ panel on Day 2. Moderated by Brenda Ximena Roldan Romero, Emma and fellow panellists Kate Gabriel, Hayley Miller, Hannah Wong spoke about their career journeys, their inspiration and what barriers they have had to overcome. Inspiring and informative discussions were had showing that there are numerous different paths into a career in visual effects and that there is so much to be gained from working in the industry. Emma studied at theatre school and worked as an actor for several years before moving into VFX showcasing the variety of career paths that can lead into the industry.
In the daytime prior to the talks our Lux Aeterna booth enabled us to connect with industry peers and students whilst showcasing our work.
Want to learn more about our work? Take a look at our project page here.
