Overview

This standard is about making particle systems, rigid bodies, cloth, fluids and crowds move under the forces of physics. This could include creating CG renditions of naturalistic physical or magical phenomena such as fire, water, clouds, smoke and physical destruction.  

This involves determining the various design solutions needed to create the effects, designing and creating effects and producing reviewable composites of FX elements for a shot.  It is often referred to as Procedural Animation or VFX Animation.

It could be relevant to someone involved with effects development or crowd effects.

Performance Criteria

You must be able to:

  1. work to the brief using interpretation and creativity when required
  2. plan the sequences, scenes, shots and action needed to achieve the effects 
  3. draw or create effects in the desired style
  4. set criteria for how things will behave and react in different situations and with different stimuli
  5. use scripting when it can make your work more efficient
  6. adapt set ups until they achieve the desired effect
  7. optimise set ups for efficiency
  8. interpret problems and find solutions to best achieve the desired effect
  9. share work with others when appropriate and constructively use feedback to revise effects when required
  10. identify when changes requested by others will have an adverse effect on budget, timescales, end result or other parts of the pipeline and communicate this in an appropriate manner 
  11. use industry standard software to deliver outputs
  12. check and confirm that work is delivered on time and meets required outputs
  13. store and provide work to others in an appropriate manner for the job and the organisation in which you are working

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. the behaviour of physical phenomena and how to replicate this when creating effects
  2. the creative style and overall concept of the production and the effects within it 
  3. how to arrange the timing of scenes, shots and action to convey the drama and tell the required story 
  4. the physical properties and mechanics of particle systems, structures, cloths, fluids and crowds and how they react and respond to different stimuli
  5. how to create fur or hair and make it react and respond to different stimuli
  6. how different elements work together
  7. how to simulate movement
  8. how lens and light can affect appearance 
  9. how to apply understanding of real world objects when creating magical objects
  10. how to use relevant software 
  11. how to create code to make work more efficient
  12. how to exploit the potential of industry-standard software to solve problems
  13. awareness of technological developments
  14. efficiency of data usage
  15. appropriate file naming conventions and data management for the organisation
  16. the value of seeking early feedback
  17. how to identify the effect of your work on others in the pipeline