Why visual effects artists love this shiny ball

A chrome ball is a key visual effects tool.

How do visual effects artists match their digital creations to real light? Sometimes, it involves using a very shiny ball.

Leo Bovell of Tryptyc has worked on a range of visual effects projects, but one of his most memorable experiences might be shooting in the Lincoln Memorial for an episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” His task? Replace the real Lincoln with a completely digital — and destroyed — version. To do it, he used an industry-standard HDRI map of the light in the scene.

HDRIs — high dynamic range images — mesh together different pictures to create a complete depiction of the light in a real scene. After that, it’s a matter of teaching a computer to cast that light onto digital objects. This technique is used for everything from creating entire scenes to providing key references for artists.

Watch the above video to learn more.

Further Reading:
Paul Debevec is a visual effects pioneer for a wide range of projects, including creating the first digital portrait of the president of the United States. His work in HDRIs was equally groundbreaking, and he catalogs it and other work on his personal website.

Large libraries of these digital scenes make it possible to simulate a wide range of environments. HDRI Haven provides more than a few worlds to explore.

You can see more of Leo's work at his company's website:

[Azeria]

Me: submits dissertation for VFX degree and hops on YouTube to forget about it

VOX: *Shiny Ball*

[RaksoBackwards]

Sometimes I forgot how hands on, creative, and difficult jobs like VFX are. I almost always think of them as sitting at a computer but they do so much more than that

[fabianalfonsoooo]

ah yes the holy ball of the visual effect artists

[mongoose]

"I've been in the industry for 17 years"

Dude looks about 25

[ethanjaceabad]

What normal people think of VFX: Green screen
VFX artists: Cheap Shiny Ball

[crionidel]

Why am I watching this video explaining what an hdri is. I'M A CG ARTIST, I AM USING ONE RIGHT NOW.

[fly]

Video: *about a VFX secret*


Me: "Haha wide Spiderman"

[what-the-eff-jeff]

This is I love watching Vox, I learn things I didn't think I would ever want to know.

[AwesomeTechTeam]

Thanks for posting this! I was the VFX Wrangler on set for the most recent season of American Gods and I used that ridiculous ball EVERY DAY. Definitely my secret weapon 👌

[xmlthegreat]

As someone who's having to work on a scene without an HDRI this video hits hard

[Mimiastar]

And to think of just how good VFX are getting, I never thought it’s a whole art form

[menardes]

I was just writing about HDRI's for my thesis, then this video popped up in my subscriptions. The coincidence scared me. :)

[cuthbertrichardson]

The spider man in the cover reminds me of wide Putin

[JaydentheMathGuy]

1991: In 30 years, we’ll probably have flying cars.
2021: Shiny Mirror Ball

[weeliano]

When I was at ILM, we use a fisheye lens and a Nodal tripod to shoot multi bracketed photos and then stitched together using PTGui. When I was learning about VFX, I also bought a gazing ball and experimented with it. With a relatively affordable 360 camera like the OneX, I don't have to go through the steps of setting up the large DSLR with a heavy FishEye lens and shooting all the shots. I can easily take a 360 HDRI image remotely with my phone. I am now seeing a lot of multi sensor ball camera systems coming out of Shen Zhen and Hong Kong, China, these devices can take massive gigapixel high resolution 360 HDR photos with just a single click on your phone. Taking 360 photos have never been easier.

[Jey-fxzs]

I can’t imagine how a VFX artist must feel having to edit out non actors from the shots
“Is that an actor or a guys wearing a long red coat?”

[haziq]

Some Youtubers: Excessive spend on lighting, camera, and editing
VFX artists: BEHOLD MY SHINY BALL!

[kisaragi-hiu]

6:20 HDRI Haven!

Most HDRI repositories are really expensive (because taking and processing these HDRI paronamas is _really_ tedious and itself expensive in the first place), while HDRI Haven instead releases everything they take into the public domain (via the CC0 license) and relies on donation.

[c.b.]

Only here to say 1 thing:

*W I D E S P I D E R M A N*

[lawrencepettifer]

I feel like Vox has just been watching corridor crew and analysing their comments and techniques!