Pixomondo——用高端器材打造精细质量

Pixomondo参与了《2012》中水特效的制作

《红男爵》中战争场景群集特效的制作
　　Pixomondo是一家国际性的视觉特效公司，在柏林、法兰克福、慕尼黑、斯图加特、伦敦、洛杉矶、北京和上海都有全球联网工作室。
　　Pixomondo由Thilo Kuther在2001年建立，为电影、电视和企业宣传片提供视觉特效制作、监制、CG角色、三维动画和电影特效预览。位于洛杉矶的旗舰店工作室代表Pixomondo为世界级的影片制作视觉特效的开始，Pixomondo打算在这一最高领域赛逐争先。拥有着精深的国际经验和世界各地的名家设计师的Pixomondo把自己定位在视觉特效变化界的前沿，工作方式是一天24小时，一周7天的有效运作流程。Pixomondo近年参与制作了很多知名的影片特效，并在渲染和软件技术方面拥有自己独特的工作流程。
　　Christoph Zollinger先生曾多次代表Pixomodo公司来火星时代举行讲座，在火星时代举办的第二届大型CG人才专场招聘会上，笔者对Pixomondo公司特效制片Christoph Zollinger先生进行了采访。
　　I am writing a CG job occupation paper to my students. I need to tell them truth felling of this industry from you are professionals. And give newcomers some advice. Can you help me to answer these questions? Thank you very much！
　　（您好，我正在为学习CG影视特效的学生们编写一本名为《CG职业向导——影视特效篇》的图书，作为影视特效行业中的专家，我想请您和我们谈谈您对这个行业的理解和感受，并且为新入行的人带来一些建议。您能够回答我一些问题么？非常感谢！）
　　Questions(Q):Can you use some word to summary VFX industry? What make computer graphic effects different with other things?
　　（您能够对影视特效行业做一些概括性词语的介绍么？是什么使影视特效与其他内容区别开来的呢？）
　　Christoph Zollinger(C): I want say before we are trying to simulate to make things believable and as realistic as possible for the audience, we have to achieve very high leave of details and quality. So this is I think if you are taking commercials weather try to sell and so whatever, and only has to look good, not really believable but look good. And for movies as we are dealing with: real feature, real footage and real film staff, and we have to simulate the reality. We have to be very piggy and very detail, and this is like I think the different with Visual Effects and Commercials for.
　　（我认为我们在尝试对影视特效镜头进行探索和尝试，在将其尽可能真实地呈现在观众面前之时，我们需要达到非常高的制作质量和水准才行。如果进行商业类型项目的制作，例如广告等只需要让画面看起来好就可以了，不用获得特别真实的质感，但是制作电影级别的特效需要动用真人表演，使用真实的道具和素材来达到尽可能真实的效果，因此我们的特效也要尽可能地贴近真实。我们需要对自己的作品非常挑剔、非常重视细节。我想这是影视特效和其他商业类型作品的区别。）
　　Q: What kind of recommen-dations you will give to new student just get into this industry?
　　（您对刚刚进入这个行业的新人有什么样的建议？）
　　C：I will say don't try to learn everything. Maybe it is good to check every field, but just figure out what is best for me. No one can do everything. So you have always aware of that. May be are more artistic, you have more the eye for the detail, then you have the pacific feel is very careful.For example if you are very artistic, maybe you had better get into Animation department, also you have to be very creative in somewhere. For Compositing for example, you have the eye for detail and talent these staff. So for every kind of person there is different kinds of field.It is good to check everything and figure out what is best for me. That is the recommendation I can take. And of course Learn, Learn, Learn. That's always more popular technique stuff, series topics. So never stop, and learn forever.
　　（我会说千万不要什么都学！也许每样技能都接触和了解一下是好的，但是需要找到哪样是最适合你的。没有人可以学会做特效方面的所有事情，你需要一直提醒自己记住这点。如果你更偏重于艺术方面，需要训练自己着眼于对细节的把握，这将使你变得更加敏锐仔细。如果你是艺术背景毕业的学生，也许你可以进入动画部门工作，前提是你需要有很好的创造力才行。如果想要成为一名合成师，你需要有一些天才的技能和对细节的特别关注。所以不同类型的人才需要进入各自适合的领域。每样知识技能都稍微接触一下是好的，但是千万要选择出自己最适合的那项工作，这是我的建议。同时也坚持不断地学习新的知识，努力永不停息。）
　　Q: From your eyes, what do you think about Chinese film Industryand productions in worldwide environment? Why?
　　（您认为中国影视特效行业在世界范围内处在一个什么样的水平？为什么？）
　　C: Well, I would say the Chinese film Industry is not as develop as Hollywood of course. But they are willing try to catch up. They are making progress, really progress.As a lot of visual effect tools are forming now there's indeed. Chinese want to go into the Visual Effect industry. And I would say that develop of film industry, as visual effect getting better, the movies getting better, the film companies are willing to spend more money on visual effects. I would say, Yeah, It starting now and some years the qualities will as good as Hollywood.
　　（中国的影视特效行业目前肯定没有好莱坞发达，但是他们正在努力追赶好莱坞的水平，正在进步，而且进步的速度很快。已经有很多著名的特效制作工具和软件正在被广泛应用。中国想要发展视觉特效产业的意愿是非常强烈的。随着视觉特效的不断发展，电影业也会随之发展，电影公司反过来会对视觉效果增加更多的投资，这是一种良性循环。虽然现在仅仅是起步阶段，但一些年后，中国影视特效的制作质量和水平一定能够赶上好莱坞。）
　　Q: What is the requirement and promotions of new employees?
　　（您的公司是如何制定新人入行要求的？）
　　C: I would say for our company we want to have team players, passion team players with the eye for detail.This is the main focus we are checking for our interns and or new compositors or animators. We have obvious interview with them together, and try to find out which field they want to work. And we want to see the passion and of course we use may be tools that you don't learn here, for example, for match-moving or so. But we are well of that. We know we have to train our new employees to certain amount. But if we see the guys are like passion on it and want to learn by themselves, not sitting there, want to be teach, then I want to teach. That's the idea candidate.
　　（我们的公司期待喜欢团队合作，充满团队热情及对细节非常重视的员工。我们按照这些标准来要求我们的实习生、初级合成师和初级动画师。我们会将新员工们聚集到一起，然后试着找出他们更加愿意在哪些部门工作。我们最需要看到的是新员工的热情。也许在我们的公司中会使用到一些特殊的软件和工具，例如，反求摄影机使用等软件。这些软件在公司的外面不会使用到，但这并不会形成障碍。因为我们会对新入职的员工进行培训，使他们尽快适应岗位需求，但这也要员工向我们展示出他们的学习热情，因为我们不希望看到员工只是坐在那里等着别人来教他。这是前来应聘者应该注意的内容。）
　　Q: As a student, how could I get a job in your company and what kinds of important things I need to prepare for interview?
　　（作为新人，我怎样才能进入贵公司工作？去您公司面试的话需要准备哪些方面呢？）
　　C: Wow, First of all I would say for this question if they show us that you love the stuff and that you want to do stuff.We are skills and ask questions and figure out if someone wants to do it or just want to do it for certain time. And it is the same requirement as promotions. We have to see and we have to be sure and believe that someone is really passion on that stuff. Of course if we see as strong , passion and like already skills that are there in the demo reel. And of course we know，Ok, maybe it good thing to go for him or her into this kind of department. So always prepare some stuff to show and not about everything, but only the stuff you think that is the best work. You want to see the best work.
　　（首先，对于这个问题我要说的是向我们展示出你热爱这个行业并且愿意进入这个行业工作。我们会对向前来应聘的人做一些测试并问一些问题来看他是否真正的愿意在这个职位上做出成就，还是只想找到一份工作。这也会影响到个人能力的提升。我们必须能够确定，以及肯定他真的对这份工作充满热情。如果我们在他的个人作品中发现了其具有很强的能力、很高的热情和不错的技术水平，我们当然会希望将这类人才招到某一个特定的职位上。所以请随时准备好向我们展示作品，但不用是你所会的全部内容，而是你认为自己做的最优秀的项目。因为人们只愿意看到优秀的作品。）
　　Q: Because some student have strong passion and enthusiasm to work in Visual Effects Industrial, but sometimes they have not enough techniques and skills in the beginning, how to deal with it if it happens to you?
　　（有时候很多学生的确是有很高的热情进入影视特效行业，但是作为新人他们的技术水平和技巧不是很够，遇到这种情况贵公司是如何处理的呢？）
　　C: But there are departments and positions where you can really went to say: I can write Programs or I can write Scripts or some stuff. But I don't like to show 3D rendering pictures. Then may be take your time a month or so, to prepare some script stuff. Because if you are applying something for position, of course the company want to see something the position requires. Also for interviewers always should good to know what the companies doing.
　　（有的时候你去一些公司可以这样说：我可以编程或是写脚本之类的内容，但是我不会三维渲染，虽然你面试的可能是三维渲染类的工作，但面试后你也许可以花上一个月左右的时间准备你的脚本作品。再去这家公司投递新的简历。如果你到公司应聘某个职位，公司当然想你能够符合职位的要求。事前你也需要准备好这间公司经常做哪类项目，他们的主要业务是什么之类的事情。）
　　Q: Some times in company's VFX department, they just want some supervisor kind of people. But how could new students go into VFXdepartment?
　　（据我所知，目前我国的影视特效公司急需的是一些高级的技术顾问或高端技术人才，对于刚刚毕业的学生而言，您认为需要经过怎样的磨练才能达到这样的要求呢？）
　　C: Yes, the supervisor position always needs more experiences. Because before you can train people you have to known the stuff. That need at least three four five years to became a senior artist, very independent artist who only take the tasks and knows how to solve it for himself or herself. And after that then you like showing younger artist, not so experienced artist that stuff. So step by step you are growing into this the lead or supervisor position. But then of course need some years. After that maybe six seven eight years you became the supervisor, because you got the experiences. You can't into the company after you finish the school and say’ OK, I did pretty much everything during the study and now I am supervisor. You don't really know anything when you done your school because you need production experiences. That is what supervisor likes.
　　（技术顾问和高级技术人才的职位确实是需要很多经验的，因为在能够对他人进行指导之前必须要了解几乎某个领域的方方面面。至少需要三到五年的时间才能够成为一名高级技术人才，才能够成为一名独立的艺术家，能够了解如何独立完成任务并自己发现问题的解决方案。这之后你才能将更多的技巧展示给年轻的艺术家和其他没有那么多经验的人们，然后一步一步地晋升成为团队领导或是技术顾问，但这需要时间，也许六到八年之后你可以成为一名技术顾问，因为这时你已经积累了很多经验。你当然不能一出学校刚进公司就说：我在学校里面学习了全部的知识，我完成得很好，现在我是一名技术专家了之类的话。你刚刚走出学校的大门还很稚嫩，因为这时你还没有任何技术顾问所拥有的解决问题的经验。）