RedBaron85 interview prof. Giovanni Gallo, coordinator of Reib Studios RedBaron85, affected by the work of Reib Studios, wanted to dedicate an article interviewing the producer of the short film, prof. John Gallo.
Here's the interview:
"Reib" is the name of a group of students of Computer Science and the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania, currently engaged in the production of their first short film Professional quality digital, as reported in official blog of "Froggy is Back" (FIB) .
RedBaron85 met Prof. Giovanni Gallo, Professor of Computer Graphics at the Faculty of the University of Catania as well as producer and coordinator of the group , for a chat ...
... starting with the history of the group, Reib (if not mistaken means "cheese grater" in German ... that curious name!): When and how was it formed?
In 2005 some students of the Open Source enthusiast I have indicated the existence of Blender and I immediately adopted as the main instrument in the laboratories of my courses in universities and the Academy of Fine Arts In October 2009, finally occurred to me a group of students / friends with ideas for a short ... and it all started from there.
Looking for a name for the group wanted to refer to Catania, but without falling into cliche prickly pear, the volcano and the beret. Someone said that "katana" (the greek name of the city) means "cheese grater" and refers to the roughness of the landscape of Etna. I was learning a few words of German born "Reib. Along the way we feel proud and voila: the "Reib Studios."
Who are the members of Reib and what are their responsibilities?
"Reib studios" is a virtual reality a bit 'carbonara. Nobody gets paid nor € or with college credits. So it's hard to say who belongs and who does not. At first, we invited colleagues and friends also know the reason for asking and checking skills. In an almost natural some people are themselves involved, others were a bit 'in the margin.
I would say that there is a small cloud of about twelve people. Their names? wait for the release of "Froggy" and read the credits!
the "simulation" I chose the role of "producer" that is the purveyor of resources. The resources are: sofas the hall where the meeting to make a few Euros for a poster, permission to use university facilities ... the real substantial resources, human passion and ability, were given away by the girls and guys.
I think the experience of working in teams is the thing that students will never forget. Some roles are defined, however. Simone Iannuzzi has been acclaimed "director and director of the project. The boys of the Academy of Fine Arts are the designer and the "concept artist" while others chose to make the models, others to take care of rendering quality and interiors. All, however, have always been informed of the work of others.
Some people are only employed to support organized labor groups on FB or putting together a service of SVN. And then have joined the musicians and sound experts, the PR, and so on.
One of the "fortune" was finally involved in Reib Daniel Fountain, a graduate in Computer Science with a superb professional expertise in 3D animation. Daniel, who does anything to live, was the 'animation director of the project. Some things would have been impossible without his expertise and his infectious enthusiasm. All the end they wanted to animate characters and scenes, but Daniel has always had the final say on any aspect of this part of the production. The "producer" but he had to moderate the passion and the desire of the team members have always animated the "perfect". The production time would be here now ... Finally! So the whole team on the precious things you see in the animation, to me the responsibility to decide "hasty".
What is the degree of "flexibility" in the roles ?
What is not clear if you look into the production of a short is the variety and complexity of the skills it requires. At the end of this project I must say that when I think of beautiful products made by a single artist I am convinced that this is a miracle.
think the history, structure, develop the "concept art", made the "story board" to prepare the "blue prints" of the characters and scenes, curing materials, bottom, shape the characters, shaping the "props" stage, rigged characters, animate them, synchronize and track the movements of all activities, manage all the files involved, do not mess with versions ... down to the assembly. This required a tremendous effort of coordination on the part of some.
The others have focused work on issues that were more congenial. Simon, ER director, was very good at enhancing the skills of the individual friends. One big advantage was that almost all were friends with each other even before the project and that all they are now at the end of it.
artists and computer ... coexistence problem ?
beginning a bit ', but only for mutual shyness and poor. You can not, however, that creative and extrovert of twenty boys involved in a joint project remain "cold colleagues." In the months I believe that we have reached a very friendly and peaceful atmosphere.
On the technical and professional computer scientists have discovered that mastering an instrument without an education and formal aesthetics a bit 'of experience in visual communication is very limited. Instead the artists were given the opportunity to express themselves without having to suffer too much about the limitations of their technical skills with computers. Eventually, however, computer scientists have become somewhat 'artists and some artists' information.
This is a truly unique learning experience and I am absolutely thrilled.
In that sense I think we will do about this model is also active in other universities and "communicate" experience and results also in the Blender Conference, and I hope the conference dell'Eurographics Italian, the European Conference in Madrid in CG animation, and so on. And we're already thinking about the next production ...
E 'was difficult to coordinate the work of students, since each of them is involved with the study and, in some cases, it is also made off?
Yes, it was monstrously complicated. The coordination was done by Simone Iannuzzi patiently, wrist, and some very angry smile. I do not know whether Simon will continue his career in show-biz ... But if a company needed a coordinator of the working groups ... I think that Simon will boast a serious experience and I am ready to write a mega letter of recommendation. The study commitments have certainly slowed the work, but this was in the bill.
I still feel a bit 'guilty because you know ... to dance and sing a frog can distract loooong time from the theorems and theoretical essays. But I think all responsible members of the team have been able dosarsi. The fact that geographically it was a bit 'scattered why should it matter? There is net ... we are in 2010!
Each then worked with their instruments and regularly held meetings of the group: a budget on this method of work "distributed"? Pros and cons?
Yes, we meet, assign tasks, we will review and put together what has been achieved. At first, the mechanism has turned very slow. Then they all got used. Essential is the use of a social networks (Facebook) to be updated daily on the progress of each part of the project. Most important is to use a SVN. This experience will serve the information regardless of their future professional activity.
We experienced that, especially in the tight phases of production, no replace the network could be all together in one room, to do with coffee breaks, sandwich, pizza and so on.
The team was able to take advantage of areas of common work "night" thanks to the availability of an apartment. During the day, if possible, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has provided a classroom. He publicly thanked the Director. The "cohabitation" has accelerated the physical production and created a great sense of "ownership" among the team members.
We come to your main project: Froggy is Back.
We start again from the story: how did the idea? What's it about?
Well, just start by saying that the murderess is NOT the butler ....
The story is a story serene and smiling solidarity, believe in themselves and accepting help from others to achieve their goals. But that sounds too serious ... We say that is the story of a frog. The rest will find out looking.
The story we tell at the end of six months of production is a kind of a little "chapter" of a half-hour that Filmon, without regard to resources, we wanted to achieve.
Even if we gave up and reduced in the end the project was useful, at first, let their imagination and spend long hours analyzing, disassembling and reassembling the story and its mechanisms in endless brainstorming. It seemed rather lost time and the end "synthesize" and has made it possible to select a script and interesting "results" that we all love very much. The dream of the colossal, however, remains in the drawer ... who knows one day!
How long did it take the stage of "pre-production", including recruiting, defining Roles and workflow, production concepts ...?
The start of the project required a couple of months. The work, however, has become tight ends only in the weeks of production. The roles are defined gradually during production because, being a freelance project, each member of the group Reib could give any contribution to the short film according to their specializations.
About concepts: which style you've redone the definition of the characters of the setting and the atmosphere?
Being a collective influences and stylistic preferences, at least initially, were many. A selected line a bit 'all has been to quality and the look of "Pixar". The concept but in the end are all original. We joked a lot on the aspect of our Froggy: we even thought about a version of "raw" with vest and hair under the armpits.
Particular attention was paid to the setting. Simone has forced all members of the team to hours and hours of viewing a documentary type "Discovery Channel" about life in the ponds, the vegetation of the jungle, the plumage of tropical birds and so on.
We spend a few questions more technical ... to create the atmosphere of the jungle, lighting and rendering engine that you used?
As rendering engine we used only the inside of Blender. For the lighting, remember that the set is a scene outdoors in full sunlight and had to remember the strength and the temperature tropical. We used a Light Dome Light with Key to the shadows and ambient occlusion. In some surreal moments we choose to set up sophisticated lighting.
Have you used the particle systems or modeling systems to achieve the procedural elements of the jungle?
Yes, initially we tried using the L-System, however, the difficulty in controlling the products of such a procedure prevented us from getting what we wanted. We opted for a middle way. For each plant species we have created a series of leaves and logs that were then combined randomly to generate more and different models, so that you do not have reps, but that would give us the style we wanted.
Have you used the motor of fluid or other simulators to create the scenes?
No, but since we had to simulate a sheet of water, we use the displacement to get a natural movement. The displacement was achieved by a texture that varied over time.
For the phase of modeling and rigging, each student has used his computer ... and rendering? I take this opportunity to ask what the resolution will be produced everything, although I suppose it is Full-HD ...
For stage throughout the production, of course everyone has used their computer. The same was true for the modeling and rigging. For rendering we used for part of the workshops that the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. In the last step we have used a PC with four processors and i5 i7 some have graciously temporarily "contributed".
The entire short was rendered at a resolution of 1080p but do not rule out the conversion in the near 2K.
What tools did you use, aside from Blender?
Gimp, and some little thing the owner to mount ... but we think of our project as a fully Open Source, and then let us be a bit 'generic about this.
We can guarantee that 98% of the work was all about open source tools. The use of proprietary software was only due to time requirements. There was no time to "learn" a new tool and we took advantage of the expertise of some members of the team with proprietary software.
What was more challenging phase of work?
All steps were difficult, but if you need a name that stands for stress that would surely render, because some errors have occurred only after long hours calculation. We had to re-render a lot of scenes to remedy any errors which could not have found otherwise. But this forced us to continually change the schedule ... and not to sleep!
What was, however, the most challenging and, if desired, more fun, all in the workflow?
The end of each stage of production, because seeing the finished product always gives satisfaction and receive feedback on the work that stimulates us to move forward and do better.
Froggy is Back will be officially presented to second edition of the festival Hot Pixels Flowing (to be held in Catania on May 20 and to which We have already devoted an article ... ) , but I imagine that will be present in other festivals and entertainment, why not contest ... It is certainly our intention to involve Froggy is Back to the Suzanne Awards, and will confirm our presence at the Blender Conference 2010. Hoping for the best, who knows if our short-to participate in other contest and festival of animated films. For example, we are planning a festival of short films in Madrid in July at the foot of the Eurographics conference Animazine to your computer.
plans for the post-Froggy, how could "evolve" Reib or other projects to be implemented?
E 'already in our plans a second project and we are already starting to write the second script. We hope that the group does not dissolve. Even if this happens, however, we believe that the experience gained by all was a valuable and unique. Where to find a company that produces animated shorts where you do an internship in Sicily?
thank Prof. Gallo Reib and group members, wishing them good work e. .. Good luck! :-)
Thank you, and help raise awareness Froggy!
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