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
If you haven't already, you should check out Corridor Crew channel. They do a ton of VFX work themselves, and they have a series called VFX Artists React that is excellent.
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 👌
do you know which software they used to import the hdr mirror ball data into the rendering? I have a theta 360 and I would like to start rending with it. Thank you
@@rylanlucyk6931 ptgui is the best software for stitching a hdri together. Then photoshop to blend the exposures together and to clone stamp stuff out (like the tripod or colour checker)
Dang that sounds tedious. I know next to nothing about any VFX stuff, so I’m just curious: why aren’t you able to use an HDRi for your specific project? I would’ve assumed they could be used as a starting point for lights on any set.
@@-Burb sometimes they don’t shoot HDRIs on set for a take or forget to capture a lighting setup. It’s not that they can’t use HDRI, it’s probably that one is not available from the shoot.
@@-Burb you cant just use any hdri cause it wouldnt be the same lighting that was on set. Vfx only works if you can integrate the cg perfectly, so you cant tell whats cg and whats real. That doesnt work if the lighting of the cg object doesnt match the live action plate
Just make sure you don't actually use anything from this video in your thesis, or you're quite likely to get an F. The guy doesn't really know what he's talking about :-)
@@kimisaacbuelagala1314 While there are a few things that are outright wrong, it's mostly a case of incomplete and confused information. For instance, HDR images does in no way require a chrome ball (which the on-set VFX crew would refer to as a "light probe"). The chrome ball is just one of many ways of capturing a panoramic image of the scene (technically referred to as an "environment map"). Although we generally do want our environment maps to also be HDR, those are technically two completely independent concepts, and conflating them the way he does in the video just makes for a confusing explanation. Also, he never explains what HDRIs actually are. What he is talking about instead is "tone mapping", which is a random example of something one can use high dynamic images for, but doesn't really say anything about HDRIs themselves. In fact, tone mapping is something we definitely will never want to do on an HDR environment map, so it's completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.
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.
@@cottonballs185 wrong, 'bad' VFX is the one that has manufactured look and not going to fool adult, 'good' VFX however are already fooling you without you even knowing it's there.
@@Bluestroke_ No i didn't. If anything i'm just making fun of certain youtubers who overspent their money on unnecessary things without improving their content 😅
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.
The amount of times I've spent hours trying to manually light a scene and have it look nice, only to plop an hdri in and instantly it looks amazing XD. HDRI Haven is a godsend!
This is gonna be an r/woosh comment but they play different roles. Green screens for importing CG/outside media and the chrome ball for imitating a light source to better make the object/scene believable.
VFX is a wonderful field, it's a beautiful culmination of science, engineering and art, it's amazing how innovations in computer vision and Artificial intelligence are turned around info beautiful masterpieces in the form of cinematic art.
@@alystdesign indeed there's cutting edge research that goes into it, most of the big studio productions have their own R&D centres, with highly qualified scientist and researchers.
VFX artist here, the grey ball you see at 20 seconds is actually more useful as it gives better colour/shadowing information then the chrome ball. The chrome ball is more for verifying your HDRI and other lights are in the correct position. Nice video otherwise. p.s. rembrandt is the best reference for lighting
Great job. Videos like this would be great to have, when I began learning 3d. Here is a tiny story about what amazes me with this technique: What I found very interesting is, that you can get nearly 360 degree dome out of the chrome ball. At one shoot, I was hiding behind the chrome ball, when we took the hdri. I wasn't visible at all! And once unwrapped, you could see my arms and t-shirt clearly and they had an influence on lighting! That would be amazing to show in another video!
I remember in highschool learning how to make HDR photos manually by stitching either digital photos or scanning and stitching physical photos on the computer. Now our phones do HDR. What a waste of a course lol
How far we've come in twenty years. I can't wait for technology to advance further, and one day we'll get to live in VR worlds like star-trek instead of being confined to our tiny apartments.
Good physically based shaders with the right amount of fresnel for any material (and the rest of course) is what is the trick and make it so the virtual light interactions do ressemble the filmed scene, of course. Yeah, I understood HDRI was important when I learned 3D just for fun, years ago, when it was only new, also.
5:15 the difference between that and the next one is so much that lighting is the last thing that makes it unrealistic. The first one moves with the camera and has no shadow. The next one has a shadow and the camera is on a tripod. The difference between the 2 was probably so little that you intentionally exaggurated the difference by changing other stuff than lighting
I like how they showed us the dark hole in the forrest on the normal picture and then switched to some trees to the left of the hole, which were just as visible in the normal picture, in the HDRI picture. It feels cheap.
@@Braham_the_Terror I meant more like if you're a professional in a particular industry, you own or use professional tools. Even though chefs eat instant noodles, they still own a stainless pot.
nowdays the chromeball is very rarely used to make the actual HDRI (if at all then only at very small productions that cant justify spending 300+ bucks on a 360° camera or the nodal stand that is only used for HDRIs), nowdays usually its either the small 360 camera or a normal camera on a nodal rotating stand, former is quicker while the latter produces very very good HDRIs (with the right software) wich could be needed if you have big clear reflecting surfaces on your CG object that would make a bad quality HDRI visible. the chromeball really is mostly used together with a matte-grey ball for light refernece for artists to be able to recreate the lighting as acurately as possible.
Agreed, it takes a long time to calibrate and lining up to shoot a decent 360 HDR with a Fisheye lens equipped DSLR. Later you have to crop the circular photos and stitch them together in pano software like PTGui. But that was essentially the workflow at ILM layout department. With a 360 camera, it is so much more convenient.
@@NomTom I think it's one of the most expensive methods. A chrome ball is just a chrome ball. You need a proper camera, a lens and software to stitch the HDRI manually. Especially this manual process is quite labour intensive and therefore costly. No matter if you are a hobby 3D artist or a production company - it is quite probably more expensive to go the chromeball route than to buy a 360 camera and have an HDRI in minutes.
@@MarkusLeist Just saying that if you are a hobbist in stuff like this you might have a decent camera anyway so just adding chrome ball and time is cheaper.
Me: submits dissertation for VFX degree and hops on TH-cam to forget about it
VOX: *Shiny Ball*
Yay!
Congratulations!
pumped up kicks
Decides to switch video and sees you commented on the hai video I clicked on... well this is awkward
Ugh im still writing mine...
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
If you haven't already, you should check out Corridor Crew channel. They do a ton of VFX work themselves, and they have a series called VFX Artists React that is excellent.
@@waywardmind lol literally came here to say that
@@waywardmind I'm so glad they started that series, now I have an actual reason to tell people about Corridor
You’ve never watched vfx artist react?
@@waywardmind yooo that show rocks! Been a corridor fan since like, 2010 around when I first discovered freddiew
ah yes the holy ball of the visual effect artists
For $20.99
@ps. Bruh😂😂
@@pshindigamingmobilegamer2609 for 4 dollars from a scammer.Pls buy my ball🤣
@@pshindigamingmobilegamer2609 ⁶m b know that k) is E
Why is in on a call with a black person
"I've been in the industry for 17 years"
Dude looks about 25
Dude looks like young lean
Yeah he’s been searching since he was 8 you got a problem with that
James Harden without the beard
Hahahahh nice one
@@annamienam Searching? What were you trying to say? Your comment makes no sense
What normal people think of VFX: Green screen
VFX artists: Cheap Shiny Ball
That's just the execution. Stuff is all around us, but not everyone sees things (and apply into problems).
VFX artist: Google search for something that looks close
Pls buy my cheap shiny ball from a scammer pls🥺
Hey the Grey ball is just as important!
they equally important. But usually Green screens are used to do things quick ,with a big budget you can get people to manually mask stuff out
Video: *about a VFX secret*
Me: "Haha wide Spiderman"
Timestap?
@@trays1503 thumbnail
Widerman
@@atticusv668 loll xD
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 👌
do you know which software they used to import the hdr mirror ball data into the rendering? I have a theta 360 and I would like to start rending with it. Thank you
@@rylanlucyk6931 hahahaha he'll have to google that 😂😂
@@rylanlucyk6931 ptgui is the best software for stitching a hdri together. Then photoshop to blend the exposures together and to clone stamp stuff out (like the tripod or colour checker)
Oh my goodness the VFX have been phenomenal so far these first 3 episodes! Great job!
This is I love watching Vox, I learn things I didn't think I would ever want to know.
So true!
The only thing I don’t like about vox is their politics videos but I like everything else.
They would be my favorite channel if they didn't make political videos
Amen.
I learn more things from Vox than school
Why am I watching this video explaining what an hdri is. I'M A CG ARTIST, I AM USING ONE RIGHT NOW.
Ok we get it youre an "artist",stop bragging
Hahaha me too, i took some hdri in the weekend. but its funny see how non vfx people explain our stuff 😆😆
'Cos it's a well done video.
Also, you're checking if they got stuff right.
hdri haven
@@albertdedeaux8921 sorry coach, i'll do better next time i swear
As someone who's having to work on a scene without an HDRI this video hits hard
Oof... i dont envy you
Dang that sounds tedious. I know next to nothing about any VFX stuff, so I’m just curious: why aren’t you able to use an HDRi for your specific project? I would’ve assumed they could be used as a starting point for lights on any set.
@@-Burb sometimes they don’t shoot HDRIs on set for a take or forget to capture a lighting setup. It’s not that they can’t use HDRI, it’s probably that one is not available from the shoot.
@@-Burb you cant just use any hdri cause it wouldnt be the same lighting that was on set. Vfx only works if you can integrate the cg perfectly, so you cant tell whats cg and whats real. That doesnt work if the lighting of the cg object doesnt match the live action plate
Ah I see. Thanks to both of you for explaining! :D
I was just writing about HDRI's for my thesis, then this video popped up in my subscriptions. The coincidence scared me. :)
Your phone hears you
This usually happens with me too
Just make sure you don't actually use anything from this video in your thesis, or you're quite likely to get an F. The guy doesn't really know what he's talking about :-)
@@egodreas what are the wrong information here?
@@kimisaacbuelagala1314 While there are a few things that are outright wrong, it's mostly a case of incomplete and confused information. For instance, HDR images does in no way require a chrome ball (which the on-set VFX crew would refer to as a "light probe"). The chrome ball is just one of many ways of capturing a panoramic image of the scene (technically referred to as an "environment map"). Although we generally do want our environment maps to also be HDR, those are technically two completely independent concepts, and conflating them the way he does in the video just makes for a confusing explanation.
Also, he never explains what HDRIs actually are. What he is talking about instead is "tone mapping", which is a random example of something one can use high dynamic images for, but doesn't really say anything about HDRIs themselves. In fact, tone mapping is something we definitely will never want to do on an HDR environment map, so it's completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.
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?”
And to think of just how good VFX are getting, I never thought it’s a whole art form
VFX is at its very best when it's unnoticeable, so that's why most of the time vfx artists are inappreciated when they do a good job
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.
1991: In 30 years, we’ll probably have flying cars.
2021: Shiny Mirror Ball
Planes are essentially flying cars. Both fly, both have wheels, both use fuel.
@@localwillow9948 ok so i will drive my plane in a highway.
@@zami5534 there is an actual flying car it functions like plane with extendable wings.
@@vinujabandara1566 wow, is it a prototype or can you actually buy it publicly?
@@zami5534 it’s not technically public but you can preorder it I think and when they start production you can get one.
The spider man in the cover reminds me of wide Putin
Hahaha, I see you're a man of culture.....
wide Putin!
W I D E P U T I N
Or Ben Swolo
Wide Parker Walking but he's always in frame
Only here to say 1 thing:
*W I D E S P I D E R M A N*
Why I see the W and N larger than ide spiderma?
widerman.
@@FrattaTV you got seeing problems?
I feel like Vox has just been watching corridor crew and analysing their comments and techniques!
Nothing wrong with that ;)
@@SirWrender do you guys ever work with the reflective ball or do you take Panoramas/360°- Camera images?
@@jjgunt We composite a bunch of 360 images into a single HDRI image for our reflections
Some TH-camrs: Excessive spend on lighting, camera, and editing
VFX artists: BEHOLD MY SHINY BALL!
@@cottonballs185 wrong, 'bad' VFX is the one that has manufactured look and not going to fool adult, 'good' VFX however are already fooling you without you even knowing it's there.
Bold of you to asume cinema doesnt spend tons in lighting camera and editing 😔
@@Bluestroke_ No i didn't. If anything i'm just making fun of certain youtubers who overspent their money on unnecessary things without improving their content 😅
@@cottonballs185 then you have not seen any worthy animation and renderings yet
@@cottonballs185 obviously movies aren't going to make vfx better than needed
6:54, Of course a guy obsessed with light will choose Impressionism
So that’s why the mandalorian looks so beautiful. He’s a big shiny hooman
the mandalorian actually uses LED pannels instead of green screens, that's why
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.
We aren't deserving of HDRI Haven
It’s now Poly Haven
Upvoted just for HDRI Haven... It's the lifesaver!
I now understand the importance of that teapot object and sphere ball in 3D's Max. 😅
Lol haha I always wondered why it was in Maya. Now I know
This is hella dope. No more needs to be said.
The amount of times I've spent hours trying to manually light a scene and have it look nice, only to plop an hdri in and instantly it looks amazing XD. HDRI Haven is a godsend!
The fact that it's available for free amazes me
Vibes that i got from the thumbnail : "Mom i peed the bed again"
If I sit down think for million years..... I wouldn't have thought about that shiny ball
Me: green screen
Vox: ball that cost 20 bucks
That is not secret
This is gonna be an r/woosh comment but they play different roles. Green screens for importing CG/outside media and the chrome ball for imitating a light source to better make the object/scene believable.
_Cut for them is like action for you_ 01:10
Probably the most underrated statement❤️
that thumbnail tho
haha wide spidermnan
I love this. Thank you Vox.
VFX is a wonderful field, it's a beautiful culmination of science, engineering and art, it's amazing how innovations in computer vision and Artificial intelligence are turned around info beautiful masterpieces in the form of cinematic art.
agreed. despite what people think there's science in this kinds of things
@@alystdesign indeed there's cutting edge research that goes into it, most of the big studio productions have their own R&D centres, with highly qualified scientist and researchers.
This video is so high quality, cant deny it.
This is new to me
Ah, The Great Ray Mak has arrived
hi ray mak 😊
Hi ray
Yo
You are everywhere
I do this digitally for video games! Capturing a digital environment’s shadows and lighting
The slack notification at 7:00 got me😁
I was wondering if anyone else commented this
Thank you Vox 🙏... Another great video 📹
I just realized that I didn't actually understand HDR. My sun photos will be better now 😄😂
This reminded me of that scam called "Fushigi" for some reason.
Contact juggling is real and can be super interesting, Fushigi just never told people it would take years to get decent at it.
Noobies: Adding VFX in film is not my cup of tea.
*VFX artists: Hold my tea pot.*
blender vfx artists: hold my monke
@@gonderage a blender user will always appear when least expected.
As a 3ds max user, i approve of the tea pot
We also use these for reflection textures in 3D modelling for video games as well!
This guy looks like he’s 12 and 55 at the same time.
Thanks Vox for constantly enlightening me on subjects I’ve never even thought about ?
I watched the whole video but I still feel clueless.
awesome vibes ! love the Degas answer about obsession ;)) cheerz to Leo Bovell at Tryptyc studio !
Hi everyone! :D I hope you stay safe and have a nice day, God bless you!
Vfx artist always had a ball of steel, to not sleep during deadline
more of random things like this that i never knew i needed lol
VFX artist here, the grey ball you see at 20 seconds is actually more useful as it gives better colour/shadowing information then the chrome ball. The chrome ball is more for verifying your HDRI and other lights are in the correct position.
Nice video otherwise. p.s. rembrandt is the best reference for lighting
00:27 Phil Edwards is a GARY OLDMAN doppelgangar
Awesome work Vox Team!
Bruh it's a ball he bought for $20.99
no, its a key to making virtual objects look real
Bruh Bruh Bruh
Bruh Bruh Bruh
@@olik1905 bruh
Bruh
Great job. Videos like this would be great to have, when I began learning 3d. Here is a tiny story about what amazes me with this technique:
What I found very interesting is, that you can get nearly 360 degree dome out of the chrome ball. At one shoot, I was hiding behind the chrome ball, when we took the hdri. I wasn't visible at all! And once unwrapped, you could see my arms and t-shirt clearly and they had an influence on lighting!
That would be amazing to show in another video!
As a 3D artist, let me tell you that HDRI haven (6:44) is Gods gift unto mankind.
Frickin true
chrome ball the hero of all.
Just relax and watch
as a 3D artist this video makes me happy.
as a 3D artist lighting makes me both happy and scared.
Video editors : Aaaaah, Video editing is soo tough, I guess how tough doing VFX work might be
Meanwhile VFX guys : *Shiny Ball go brrrrrrrrr*
Wow! Thank Vox for such an EYE-OPENING video. I did not know this trick before.
I thought this was another video about Tobey Maguire and spiderman multiverse😂😂
3 yrs since seeing this HDR option on phone. Got to know about it today. You are welcome to see my birthday party videos.
I remember in highschool learning how to make HDR photos manually by stitching either digital photos or scanning and stitching physical photos on the computer. Now our phones do HDR. What a waste of a course lol
Nah, learning about the basics will help you in the long run.
@@secretscarlet8249 meh tbh it's like teaching someone to use an abacus unnecessarily
Fantastic episode!! Thanks for sharing this.
How far we've come in twenty years. I can't wait for technology to advance further, and one day we'll get to live in VR worlds like star-trek instead of being confined to our tiny apartments.
Mine sure is.
They will love it.
Thumbnail for this video: *exists*
*song for Denise starts playing*
Underrated comment
Hats off to these people whose success is an irony.
It is their triumph when we can't differentiate the VFX from the rest of the world.
I already saw this shinny ball in Chronicles of Narnia B.T.S.
Let's take a moment to appreciate the bit at the start dedicated to the box
I was wondering why There was barely any comments
Turns out This just came out-
whoah dude no way
@@danielsteger8456 🐝
While I was learning 3D, I never thought HDRI would have it's own Vox video 😂
Anyone else here the slack notification at 6:59?
I always knew that the shiny ball was special.
I saw that scene from The Handmaid's Tale
I really like these episodes about film making.
They’re all secretly magpies
Good physically based shaders with the right amount of fresnel for any material (and the rest of course) is what is the trick and make it so the virtual light interactions do ressemble the filmed scene, of course. Yeah, I understood HDRI was important when I learned 3D just for fun, years ago, when it was only new, also.
Last time I was this early government was actualy doing stuff and compromising
Nobody asked
@@spencerhall4953 no one asked for any of these comments, yet they still expect to see one.
This has been there in video games for decades
It's cool how the Mandalorian set technology is slowly replacing this tool.
we love cubemaps too
5:15 the difference between that and the next one is so much that lighting is the last thing that makes it unrealistic. The first one moves with the camera and has no shadow. The next one has a shadow and the camera is on a tripod. The difference between the 2 was probably so little that you intentionally exaggurated the difference by changing other stuff than lighting
FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS ON THIS
17 years? What was he like 4 when he started?
I like how they showed us the dark hole in the forrest on the normal picture and then switched to some trees to the left of the hole, which were just as visible in the normal picture, in the HDRI picture. It feels cheap.
Something's off here. Yeah. "Offred".
Mind Blown. .. Wow! Thank you!!
6:59 that notification tho...probably slack?
I love your DeLorean!
0:28 "its a key to making virtual objects look real"
*shows blocky text that looks like it was rendered in the 90s*
That Slack notification at 6:59 ruined this rather chill video
No of people checking comments without watching full videos.
👇
Stop commenting for likes
No one cars bout yo comment
Finally understood what HDR is
17 years in VFX and still using a 1.3 MP webcam... smh
I don't think he's modelling himself xD
You say that as if he uses that camera at work...even chefs like to eat instant noodles at home.
@@Braham_the_Terror I meant more like if you're a professional in a particular industry, you own or use professional tools. Even though chefs eat instant noodles, they still own a stainless pot.
nowdays the chromeball is very rarely used to make the actual HDRI (if at all then only at very small productions that cant justify spending 300+ bucks on a 360° camera or the nodal stand that is only used for HDRIs), nowdays usually its either the small 360 camera or a normal camera on a nodal rotating stand, former is quicker while the latter produces very very good HDRIs (with the right software) wich could be needed if you have big clear reflecting surfaces on your CG object that would make a bad quality HDRI visible.
the chromeball really is mostly used together with a matte-grey ball for light refernece for artists to be able to recreate the lighting as acurately as possible.
Agreed, it takes a long time to calibrate and lining up to shoot a decent 360 HDR with a Fisheye lens equipped DSLR. Later you have to crop the circular photos and stitch them together in pano software like PTGui. But that was essentially the workflow at ILM layout department. With a 360 camera, it is so much more convenient.
never been this early
We don't care
Oh, I didn't ask you.
And "we" more like "you"
Nobody cares
@@EndyMX didnt you just see what i replied?
NOBODY.
Hey Vox, this is good! Thank you
Me thinking the whole time, why not just use a 360° camera...
2 minutes later: ....or use a 360° camera🙂
well a chrome ball is cheaper
@@NomTom sure is
@@NomTom I think it's one of the most expensive methods. A chrome ball is just a chrome ball. You need a proper camera, a lens and software to stitch the HDRI manually. Especially this manual process is quite labour intensive and therefore costly.
No matter if you are a hobby 3D artist or a production company - it is quite probably more expensive to go the chromeball route than to buy a 360 camera and have an HDRI in minutes.
@@MarkusLeist Just saying that if you are a hobbist in stuff like this you might have a decent camera anyway so just adding chrome ball and time is cheaper.
ohhhh that's how hdris work! ive used them all the time in blender, but i never knew the science behind it.
Yoss!