Sign In
Sign in
English

FrontBanners21032903.jpg


March 31, 2021 9:00 AM
by B.N. Reporter
Media Artist Gerrit Kudge shares his story of use of Blender in the short film 814,
directed by 
Victor van Wetten. 

VFX breakdown for the short film "814"



Hi Gerrit. Congrats on your work in the film 814. It looks fantastic! It's great to have you for our interview!

1. I noticed from your IMDB profile you seem to have an exceptionally wide range of experience in the film industry. How did it all start?
I heard that this is considered a disadvantage if you want to be hired. Productions like “streamlined” people that focus on one thing. : D Oh well!

I studied at an art school with a focus on new-media. There was 3D, there was video-art, there was film, sound, philosophy, graphic-design, scenography … so I got to get a peek in all of these areas. And I think if you want to make films it’s good if you can do most of the work on your own. That way you can do it exactly the way it needs to be.

But the great diversity and freedom had one disadvantage, everyone was doing their own stuff. So it was hard to get somebody for every position. And I filled in many of the different positions such as sound, camera, script etc. But I don’t mind, I like to be self-sufficient.

2. How did you discover Blender?
Before studying I did a little bit of 3D in Cinema4D. But in 2010, when I began studying, I was shown Maya. It was much more complex and intimidating than Cinema4D, a true professional tool. And I thought, that’s good, I want to be professional, so I use Maya. But in the same room, the “3D-Lab” , some other guys had this other tool, and it was open source. I was told none of the big productions used it, so I was very skeptical of this Blender thing.

But there was this one guy who used Blender and did stuff that about blew me away. He was totally on an other level. At the time I was in my first semesters he worked on this stop animation/3D hybrid film called OMEGA. This guy was Andy Goralczyk, who now directed Spring.

That must have been 2010/11. Then all the Blender stuff slowly started happening, Big Buck Bunny, Tears of Steel… much later Eevee. And I felt more and more that Blender is really becoming a big, big thing. But at that time I was more into film than 3D and switching programs is always a big effort, so I didn’t switch until I had to.

3. How have you been using Blender as a filmmaker?
Honestly, not much yet. The UFO sighting was – apart from some small tests – the first real project in Blender I did. But surely not the last. In fact my next film, that we have just started to produce will rely solely on Blender for the 3D stuff.   


4. Why did you switch to Blender?
I switched because of costs and the chunkiness of Maya. Maya is a powerful program, but I think it’s designed to work in big production environments. Loads of specialized artists for each aspect, render farms and what not – and a lot of money to buy licenses.

Blender is just great for my small productions. The (multiple) GPU support in Blender is just wonderful and OPTIX makes it even faster than CUDA. Even with my relatively unspectacular setup of a 2060 super and 3060 TI I can do a lot of volumetric lighting that was just not possible before. And now with 2.92 even support for CPU render in OPTIX! I’m so happy!

But what made me appreciate Blender even more is the community. The tutorials, especially Ian Hubert’s lazy tutorials that always tell me: You can do it, it’s not that complicated! That restores a lot of optimism when I’m down.

5. What other tools did you have to use in addition to Blender for the film “814?”
After Effects for compositing – just because I’m more familiar with it than the Blender compositing environment. Also the title was added in and rendered with Cinema4D and Redshift by the director Victor. I tried to convince him to switch to Blender and to render it in Cycles, to get this really good-looking, physically correct bounce light for the neon letters. But it’s unwise to switch the program halfway through..

6. How competent do you think Blender currently is as a VFX tool, and what’s your expectation for it in the future (Such as what features would you love to have added to Blender)?
I haven’t worked to much with the compositing side of Blender yet, so I will not comment on that.

As for the 3D part, it’s great! I love that all the shading is node based. And now even geometry nodes! There are a few smaller hick-ups that could be worked on, but nothing deal-breaking, except maybe light-linking (individual control over which lights affect which objects). That would be the biggest feature that is missing. But I’m not the first one to point this out. And as I hear it doesn’t seem that it will be implemented anytime soon.    


7. Would you tell us more about the film “814?”?
814 (eightfourteen) is a 10-minute short film by my dear friend Victor van Wetten. In the opening shot, ominous lights move across the sky of a German city. 

PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-05.jpg

Down below in a bar, two friends discuss what objects they would take with them if they could time-travel into the year 814: A pistol or maybe medicine? Help or dominate those technologically less advanced?
PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-03.jpg
PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-06.jpg

Meanwhile, news on TV turn the bar silent in shock. But our two friends are too engaged in their discussion to notice. They ponder the moral implications of technical superiority, while a giant spaceship has been spotted, hovering silently above the Chinese sea.
PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-02.jpg
PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-01.jpg

I got to do all the interesting VFX/CG stuff like the stars in the beginning and the fighter jets in the end. Victor did all the uneventful keying and continuity-error fixes.
PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-04.jpg

The animation of the UFO in 814 was a sort of “test-project” to get familiarized with Blender. Because right now I and the director of 814 are prepping for my next film.

8. What is your plan for the film “814?” When is it going to be released?
We’re trying the film festival route. The film was finalized by the end of January and we now hope it will get a festival release sometime this year. Depending on how well the film is received on festivals, it will take one or two years until it can be shown online.
PF-814-Gerrit-Kudge-08.jpg

Most festivals have a very strict online-availability policy. They say: If the film was available online as one point it has had it’s premiere in every country of the world. And most film festivals want to have at least a national premiere. So they won’t select your film if it was online. It’s sad because we would like to share the film – especially with an opportunity like this interview. But to get a foot in the door of the film-w****orld, the most logical route is the festival route.

What is your next project?
My next film will be a 25~ minute animation-film called “Backup”, to the greatest part realized in Blender. It is a film about love and heartbreak between two teenagers, eight minutes before humanity will be extinct:

Lena and David live in the dream-machine, a neural network that stretches time. They are living in there, because there are only eight minutes left until earth – and humanity – gets wiped out by the sun’s collapse. But in the dream-machine those eight minutes get stretched into 12000 years.

One day Davids consciousness gets destroyed in an accident, and Lena has to start his backup. But the file structure of his backup has been corrupted and Lena has to lead him through their shared, long and complicated history to recover his consciousness.

It’s the first project that we got real funding for, so we can work on it full-time and I’m very excited! Right now we are in the concept/design phase. We are experimenting with character- and environment designs (like the environment below, that was realized mainly through projection-mapping in blender). We hope we will be done by November.
PF-Backup-Gerrit-Kudge_01.jpg

Wow, that sounds great. Thank you for sharing your story, Gerrit.    

Related Links:  
1. https://blenderartists.org/t/ufo-sighting-finished-animation/1282705
2. http://victorvanwetten.com/
3. 
https://vimeo.com/gerritkuge
4. https://www.instagram.com/gerritqge/
5. https://www.instagram.com/victor_vanwetten/

Category :
Production Focus
Views :
5692
Registered Date :
2021.03.31
16:48:38 (*.143.146.103)
Trackback :
http://blendernews.org/xe/21066/ca9/trackback
Article URL :
http://blendernews.org/xe/21066
List of Articles
No. Subject Author Views Votes Date Last Update
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective 211235   Feb 20, 2021 Feb 21, 2021 01:20
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file 563349   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file 426459   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 432222   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 376120   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345285   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 23:35
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file 684596   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 23:34
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file 408667   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345196   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381941   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376318   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969266   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 697077   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 551039   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765667   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file 1060589   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790837   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762574   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805902   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 814126   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 853009   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
888 Render of the Week 'Escape from the World' by Jan Flormann - the Winner of the Week of June 14, 2020 43222   Jun 19, 2021 Jun 19, 2021 03:04
 
887 Render of the Week '나는 마녀 니페리야'('I am the witch Niferia') by Mania Carta - the Winner of the Week of May 31, 2020 18424   Jun 05, 2021 Jun 12, 2021 12:40
 
886 Render of the Week 'Castle in the Sky' by Rémi Tou - the Winner of the Week of June 7, 2020 6820   Jun 12, 2021 Jun 12, 2021 12:40
 
885 Render of the Week 'Escape!' by Rasmus Poulsen - the Winner of the Week of March 22, 2021 7886   Mar 24, 2021 Jun 12, 2021 12:18
 
884 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 7, 2021 7717   Jun 12, 2021 Jun 12, 2021 11:24
 
883 Render of the Week 'Ice Trilogy' by Alexander Volodkin - the Winner of the Week of May 24, 2021 6640   May 29, 2021 May 29, 2021 03:19
 
882 Render of the Week 'Into the Woods' by Maciej Drabik - the Winner of the Week of May 17, 2021 7264   May 22, 2021 May 22, 2021 01:18
 
881 Render of the Week 'K’threya, the Blind Priestess' by Marco Iacopetti - the Winner of the Week of May 10, 2021 9418   May 14, 2021 May 14, 2021 22:08
 
880 Render of the Week 'Lone Monk' by Monorender studio - the Winner of the Week of May 3, 2021 8023   May 06, 2021 May 06, 2021 08:14
 
879 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of May 3, 2021 32575   May 06, 2021 May 06, 2021 07:59
 
878 Render of the Week 'Indiana Jones/Harrison Ford' by George Siskas - the Winner of the Week of April 26, 2021 7092   May 01, 2021 May 01, 2021 20:31
 
877 Render of the Week 'Anchiornis Huxleyi' by Joanna Kobierska - the Winner of the Week of April 19, 2021 6971   Apr 22, 2021 Apr 22, 2021 04:09
 
876 Render of the Week 'Lost Sanity' by Surya Teja - the Winner of the Week of April 12, 2020 7198   Apr 15, 2021 Apr 15, 2021 07:49
 
875 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 12, 2021 7976   Apr 15, 2021 Apr 15, 2021 07:22
 
874 Render of the Week 'Layered World' by Yanick Dusseault - the Winner of the Week of April 5, 2020 7467   Apr 07, 2021 Apr 07, 2021 05:26
 
873 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 5, 2021 7566   Apr 07, 2021 Apr 07, 2021 04:56
 
» Production Focus '814' - Interview with Gerrit Kudge the VFX Artist for the Short Film Admin 5692   Mar 31, 2021 Apr 04, 2021 02:47
March 31, 2021 9:00 AM by B.N. Reporter Media Artist Gerrit Kudge shares his story of use of Blender in the short film 814, directed by Victor van Wetten. VFX breakdown for the short film "814" Hi Gerrit. Congrats on your work in the fi...  
871 Render of the Week 'Carousel' by Daniel Gryningstjerna - the Winner of the Week of March 29, 2020 6772   Mar 31, 2021 Mar 31, 2021 16:24
 
870 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 22, 2020 6988   Mar 24, 2021 Mar 24, 2021 02:35
 
869 Render of the Week 'The 4th Wall' by Roman Lysenko - the Winner of the Week of March 15, 2021 160493   Mar 16, 2021 Mar 16, 2021 22:21