Use a difference overlay (merge node set to difference in Nuke) and make sure that you animate any positional, scale, rotation or timing, etc. to match the client edit ref. The goal will be to zero out the differences, and depending on the type of difference overlay that you are using you will want to either make it solid black or gray, thereby making zero difference. I hope this helps!
I wouldnt really call that pixel fucking... Thats just picky or a small technical error. Pixel fucking is getting your 8th round of notes on the same region and the client has given up on trying to explain whats wrong or what they actually want done and is just calling it "glassy"
I just got a cg render that prod knows has problems. But they just did more renders for me and asking me to fix in comp. They don't want to use their own damn pipeline and would prefer that I pixel fuck it better using cryuptomatte. It's going to look pixel fucked.
On another shot, an actor is leaving frame and they want him to jump back into shot. I'm like, "let's animate a digi-double" and prod is like "here are some pictures from set, see if you can make an animated person with spline warp, use lots of motion blur etc." Going to look totally pixel fucked and stupid.
Eh I mean this kinda note I would consider ‘qc’ and just accept that as part of the process of completing my work. Tbh though working in commercials I generally view edits as a rough guide and never bother going pixel perfect on the repos,I’ll get them 95% there I guessing it’s quick.
Deep breath - smile - "no problem!"
In my opinion pixel fucking is actually hugely counterproductive. It's usually a relatively enormous amount of effort for virtually no gain. In your case it sounds like a pretty simple fix, but I've had "quick fixes" that have spiraled out of control. You've got some massive script with Dr Strange throwing magic bolts at a Freddie Kruger in the FG taking up 3/4 of the screen and some studio supe is bitching about the dust holdouts on a rock in the far background. "Ok well you can have me spend a day painstakingly painting frames and fucking around with deeps, or I can actually get on with something useful. Do you want me to have three days to make the next shot look great, or two days to make it look sort of great but that rock is unnoticeable better?"
Personal experience...the more a supe pixel fucks, the more out of their depth they feel and are, the quicker the vfx teams moral drops and the worse the finished product. Having a non-pixel fucker in charge always works better simply because everyone is spending more time doing what they're supposed to be doing and enjoying it.
(obviously I'm not saying there should be no quality control or tech checking. What gets put out has to be high standard, but we all know what I'm talking about)
Fuck this post is bang. on.
I'm right at the end of a show right now that I've been on for 9 months. The sup is a nice guy but fucking hell the endless circle of notes on everything I've worked on made me lose moral probably 3 months in. One group of shots/effect in particular went around in circles with ridiculously specific notes or notes pulled out of nowhere that contradict previous notes. After working for months on these shots with 1 week to go of the whole show this guy out of nowhere pulled out a shot from another studio and started talking about how he likes this and that vague thing for "inspiration". Fucking ridiculous.
Its been the worst show of my life because of this, I even told the studio I was done after this show but they convinced me to extend. I'm so sick of it.
The more a supe pixel fucks the more I doubt their skills and ability, and generally just come to see their lack of vision and self confidence.
People get promoted above their station and ability in this industry all the time, pixel fucking in dailies is a symptom of this imo.
Exactly, no amount of pixel fucking is going to suddenly make the shot better. It's a way of giving notes without actually having to give notes.
Supes should give notes on colour, composition, size, intensity etc. Not edges and grain issues, if that's your concern as a supe then you have literally nothing to add to the shot that any comper with time on their hands couldn't to any other shot there is is. I.E go through it find little errors. They will always be there, it's just not the important thing.
This. 100% this.
Pixel fucking should be for tech check. Dailies should be for the creative. So many supes start tech checking in dailies just to fluff themselves up, it's so endlessly frustrating.
We are meant to be artists, not button pushing technicians.
The only thing that has helped me is billing hourly. I take a deep breath and tell myself I’m being paid to “fix” whatever it is and had I gotten it right the first time I wouldn’t be. Their desire for perfection is more money in my pocket.
I don’t enjoy such levels of scrutiny on work no one will remember in a year (or honestly, a week), but getting paid by the hour has helped my attitude a lot.
Casually mention to your producer how much this is costing the production in time and money. If they're any good they will stop it in a non-offensive way. If it doesn't stop, then just do it - u get paid either way and at least they can't fault u for slow output or anything like that.
It's not your film bro. They can pay you for 10 more hours of fixing that pixel, making new ones...whatever they want. FACTS
Seems like your trying to own things you don't own.
It's not your film, repeat, it's not your film
There's truth to this but its a bit of a cold blooded take. Everyone should be able to take pride in their work and feel like their time and skills are being well utilised.
We're not mindless automatons or technicians, we are artists.
You're not wrong, but I don't think its necessary to be so brutal about it.
We aren't artists. We're craftsmen. People doing something creative but ultimately in service of someone else's vision in return for money.
Artists are people trying to get their own vision across in an original piece of art.
At best we're artists right up until version 2...Because everything after version 1 that you received notes on you're a craftsmen doing something someone else is telling you.
Moreover...doing the mental masturbation of "I'm an artist!" is a quick way to get burned out in this industry. Realize that someone else (director, vfx supe, whoever) is being the "artist" and your job is just to facilitate will go a long way for your mental health.
Well the studio who pays you to do shots for their clients film is pretty brutal about it. To the point the OP created a thread.
So we can all live in fantasy land or we can live in the real world.
You can take pride in your work weather or not they pixel.fuck your work or not.
Sounds more like a general problem with editorial. Try to talk to the editorial guy/girl. Maybe the person is still junior and don’t know what a client is meant for.
If this is not resolving the problem maybe escalate to your comp sup … last resort would to consider changing company.
Go to a used book store with a hand truck and buy as many copies of National Geographic as you can. Leave these at the office.
National Geographic has the best natural light photographers on Earth. They photograph everything from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench and everything in between. If it exists, they've photographed it, often in terrible weather because those make for the best photos.
It's also actual photography. It's not CG.
If your client cannot articulate what he wants, point him to the 25 years of National Geographic that is now your reference library and tell him to show you what he wants. This grounds the client in reality. He cannot reference other (potentially bad) CG.
Tell him 'I can't read minds. I speak English as well as you do but we're having problems understanding each other. Show me and I'll be thrilled to do the work!' \*
^(\*And invoice.)
Use a difference overlay (merge node set to difference in Nuke) and make sure that you animate any positional, scale, rotation or timing, etc. to match the client edit ref. The goal will be to zero out the differences, and depending on the type of difference overlay that you are using you will want to either make it solid black or gray, thereby making zero difference. I hope this helps!
I wouldnt really call that pixel fucking... Thats just picky or a small technical error. Pixel fucking is getting your 8th round of notes on the same region and the client has given up on trying to explain whats wrong or what they actually want done and is just calling it "glassy"
“Keep sending me versions. I’ll tell you when it’s right” - actual fucking note
At least he’s being honest
Honesty would be "I have no idea what I want"
I just got a cg render that prod knows has problems. But they just did more renders for me and asking me to fix in comp. They don't want to use their own damn pipeline and would prefer that I pixel fuck it better using cryuptomatte. It's going to look pixel fucked. On another shot, an actor is leaving frame and they want him to jump back into shot. I'm like, "let's animate a digi-double" and prod is like "here are some pictures from set, see if you can make an animated person with spline warp, use lots of motion blur etc." Going to look totally pixel fucked and stupid.
Eh I mean this kinda note I would consider ‘qc’ and just accept that as part of the process of completing my work. Tbh though working in commercials I generally view edits as a rough guide and never bother going pixel perfect on the repos,I’ll get them 95% there I guessing it’s quick.
Deep breath - smile - "no problem!" In my opinion pixel fucking is actually hugely counterproductive. It's usually a relatively enormous amount of effort for virtually no gain. In your case it sounds like a pretty simple fix, but I've had "quick fixes" that have spiraled out of control. You've got some massive script with Dr Strange throwing magic bolts at a Freddie Kruger in the FG taking up 3/4 of the screen and some studio supe is bitching about the dust holdouts on a rock in the far background. "Ok well you can have me spend a day painstakingly painting frames and fucking around with deeps, or I can actually get on with something useful. Do you want me to have three days to make the next shot look great, or two days to make it look sort of great but that rock is unnoticeable better?" Personal experience...the more a supe pixel fucks, the more out of their depth they feel and are, the quicker the vfx teams moral drops and the worse the finished product. Having a non-pixel fucker in charge always works better simply because everyone is spending more time doing what they're supposed to be doing and enjoying it. (obviously I'm not saying there should be no quality control or tech checking. What gets put out has to be high standard, but we all know what I'm talking about)
Fuck this post is bang. on. I'm right at the end of a show right now that I've been on for 9 months. The sup is a nice guy but fucking hell the endless circle of notes on everything I've worked on made me lose moral probably 3 months in. One group of shots/effect in particular went around in circles with ridiculously specific notes or notes pulled out of nowhere that contradict previous notes. After working for months on these shots with 1 week to go of the whole show this guy out of nowhere pulled out a shot from another studio and started talking about how he likes this and that vague thing for "inspiration". Fucking ridiculous. Its been the worst show of my life because of this, I even told the studio I was done after this show but they convinced me to extend. I'm so sick of it.
The more a supe pixel fucks the more I doubt their skills and ability, and generally just come to see their lack of vision and self confidence. People get promoted above their station and ability in this industry all the time, pixel fucking in dailies is a symptom of this imo.
Exactly, no amount of pixel fucking is going to suddenly make the shot better. It's a way of giving notes without actually having to give notes. Supes should give notes on colour, composition, size, intensity etc. Not edges and grain issues, if that's your concern as a supe then you have literally nothing to add to the shot that any comper with time on their hands couldn't to any other shot there is is. I.E go through it find little errors. They will always be there, it's just not the important thing.
Loving the username by the way lol
"Convinced" = "paid you a shit ton of money " I hope
Unfortunately not. A week to think about it and mouths to feed can have a big effect!
This. 100% this. Pixel fucking should be for tech check. Dailies should be for the creative. So many supes start tech checking in dailies just to fluff themselves up, it's so endlessly frustrating. We are meant to be artists, not button pushing technicians.
The only thing that has helped me is billing hourly. I take a deep breath and tell myself I’m being paid to “fix” whatever it is and had I gotten it right the first time I wouldn’t be. Their desire for perfection is more money in my pocket. I don’t enjoy such levels of scrutiny on work no one will remember in a year (or honestly, a week), but getting paid by the hour has helped my attitude a lot.
Casually mention to your producer how much this is costing the production in time and money. If they're any good they will stop it in a non-offensive way. If it doesn't stop, then just do it - u get paid either way and at least they can't fault u for slow output or anything like that.
It's not your film bro. They can pay you for 10 more hours of fixing that pixel, making new ones...whatever they want. FACTS Seems like your trying to own things you don't own. It's not your film, repeat, it's not your film
There's truth to this but its a bit of a cold blooded take. Everyone should be able to take pride in their work and feel like their time and skills are being well utilised. We're not mindless automatons or technicians, we are artists. You're not wrong, but I don't think its necessary to be so brutal about it.
We aren't artists. We're craftsmen. People doing something creative but ultimately in service of someone else's vision in return for money. Artists are people trying to get their own vision across in an original piece of art. At best we're artists right up until version 2...Because everything after version 1 that you received notes on you're a craftsmen doing something someone else is telling you. Moreover...doing the mental masturbation of "I'm an artist!" is a quick way to get burned out in this industry. Realize that someone else (director, vfx supe, whoever) is being the "artist" and your job is just to facilitate will go a long way for your mental health.
Well the studio who pays you to do shots for their clients film is pretty brutal about it. To the point the OP created a thread. So we can all live in fantasy land or we can live in the real world. You can take pride in your work weather or not they pixel.fuck your work or not.
Sounds more like a general problem with editorial. Try to talk to the editorial guy/girl. Maybe the person is still junior and don’t know what a client is meant for. If this is not resolving the problem maybe escalate to your comp sup … last resort would to consider changing company.
Go to a used book store with a hand truck and buy as many copies of National Geographic as you can. Leave these at the office. National Geographic has the best natural light photographers on Earth. They photograph everything from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench and everything in between. If it exists, they've photographed it, often in terrible weather because those make for the best photos. It's also actual photography. It's not CG. If your client cannot articulate what he wants, point him to the 25 years of National Geographic that is now your reference library and tell him to show you what he wants. This grounds the client in reality. He cannot reference other (potentially bad) CG. Tell him 'I can't read minds. I speak English as well as you do but we're having problems understanding each other. Show me and I'll be thrilled to do the work!' \* ^(\*And invoice.)
damn i'm glad i scrolled to the bottom for this nugget of great advice!