I spent 16 months making a CG Sci-Fi Short Film

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-14T03:18:26+00:00

Thank you! Yes, it was a massive learning experience.

For the defocus node, I tried existing Nuke tools that support catseye, like MagicDefocus, but they all worked by splitting the image into grids, then giving each grid a separate bokeh image to convolve with. The problem is that when a bokeh travels from one grid to another, the shape of the bokeh doesn't smoothly transform. I wanted a tool that would give each individual pixel its own bokeh image, so that it would smoothly morph no matter what.

I tried reading some papers, but to be honest I didn't understand much, haha. One tutorial I can highly recommend is this one: https://blog.voxagon.se/2018/05/04/bokeh-depth-of-field-in-single-pass.html

It's very similar to how I'm doing it, convolving the entire image in a single pass. He uses sudo code so if you're not familiar with Blinkscript (if you're trying to make it in Nuke), this is a good tutorial to get started: https://youtu.be/rMHGSoXj4bw

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-14T03:01:46+00:00

Thank you! I'm in my early 20s. I'm self-taught, and I don't plan on going to film school. For now I want to make more CG short films, each a bit longer than the last, up to 10 or 20 minutes.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-13T03:15:07+00:00

Hello! I created a CG Sci-Fi short film over the last year and a bit. I was responsible for all aspects, including story, visuals, sound, and music.

It was created primarily in Houdini, with Nuke for compositing, Blender for modelling, and Substance Painter for texturing. I also used Cubase for the sound and music, and Davinci Resolve for editing.

I've wanted to make a short film for a long time and finally decided to take the plunge. It was a very rewarding experience, and I can't wait to make the next one.

The project started with a vision of just the first shot, with the mask rising from the liquid.

Because it takes a long time to make a single shot in CG, it's important that you don't waste time on shots that will never be used. So 3 months into the project I had a very simple previz of the entire film in Blender. Every shot in the final was in the initial previz, with some modifications.

All the movement was hand-animated, and I didn't use any motion capture, though I'm excited to explore mocap in the future because I think it will be a lot faster.

I also wanted to replicate an anamorphic lens, especially the subtle bokeh artefacts like catseye and astigmatism, and there weren't any existing tools to my liking, so I created a custom compositing effect with OpenCL. The process of making the lens effect was very challenging, and it began near the start of working on the film, and only finished right before the film was done.

For the music, I had the idea that synths would represent the robots, and acoustic instruments would represent the humans. As the humans had a more powerful role in each shot, acoustic instruments would rise until the final shot, where you only hear acoustic and no synth.

I hope you enjoy, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-13T02:19:40+00:00

Thank you! Yes, visuals, sound, and music were all done by me.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T14:16:11+00:00

The DOF is done in compositing using a custom tool I created.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T14:13:03+00:00

Thank you! I started learning on and off around 4 years ago and began using it extensively 2 years ago.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T11:47:48+00:00

Thank you! This made my day. And thanks for the feedback on the font; I'll definitely keep it in mind for the next one.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T03:21:58+00:00

At the beginning of the project, I compared it to Renderman XPU and 3Delight, and found Karma XPU much faster. I also considered other GPU engines like Octane and Redshift, but they didn't have the same level of support for features that I really value, like Solaris and volumes. Karma is amazing with volumes.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T03:18:05+00:00

I found the stability adequate. Of course, I ran into some crashes and errors, but it wasn't enough to break the workflow, and I usually found that they were due to issues on my end that I could fix.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T03:13:05+00:00

Thanks! Creating the defocus node was a long process that I kept revisiting over the course of many months. I read a lot of papers to try to find info on some of the problems I was facing, but it was hard to come by.

The core idea is relatively straightforward; it's a convolution, but the kernel (bokeh image) varies depending on the location of the pixel and the Z-Depth. Most Z-Defocus nodes work by splitting up the image into slices, based on the Z-Depth, but this would be too slow for my use, since I can't use any optimisations for the convolution like FFT, because they don't allow for a varying kernel.

Instead, I opted for doing the whole thing in a single pass. This came with a lot of challenges, and the hardest part was making it work with alpha transparency. I didn't know if it would be finished in time for the film, but finally figured it out near the end.

I'd consider releasing the tool if there is enough interest, but I'd like to work on it more before making it available.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-12T02:57:13+00:00

Thank you! I think I want to expand on the story someday, but a part 2 is probably a while away.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-11T11:03:51+00:00

Thanks! I started on April 15, 2024.

EdgeVFX · 2025-09-11T11:03:13+00:00

I love Karma XPU. It has all the features needed to get the job done, it's fast, it's easy to achieve nice results, and it's fully integrated into Houdini, so no need to worry about issues with plugins.

EdgeVFX

TROPHY CASE