From his roots in South Africa, to the head of 3D Commericals at Framestore CFC in London, to his new job at Method Studios in Los Angeles; Andy has plenty of high end projects on his portfolio. Here he talks to us about the journey and how he came to use Houdini for many of the later projects he’s worked on.

od[force]: Tell us a little about yourself: where are you from, how did you started in 3D
Andy Boyd: I am South African. I studied printing and animation was just a hobby.
When I was 21 I decided to make my hobby my job. I applied for a job at a small (one of two) 3D company in Johannesburg. I made my show reel by taking a personal loan and buying a 3d studio R3 and upgrading the RAM in my computer to 32MB!!! After offering to work for free (guess my reel was not good enough!), I got the job. Only not as a 3D animator but as a multimedia programmer. However I was allowed access to the SGI 3D machines.  I would come into work at 4am and use Jason Iversen’s machine (his was the fastest!) and at 9am go upstairs and wait the day out and return at night for another session! After doing this for about 4 months I knew enough to get on the machine full time!

od[force]: You worked in this South African studio for how long?
Andy Boyd: I worked at Digital Directions (now the Refinery) for 3 years before leaving for London

od[force]: Did you use Houdini or PRISMS there?
Andy Boyd: No, Jason and Marc Horsfield did. At the time I was really into lighting and animating which was much easier in Softimage, and then in Maya.
I had a look but it seemed too hard to do simple things, but I always liked the nodal approach, though.

od[force]: …and then you went to London, directly to Framestore?
Andy Boyd: No, when I moved to London and went door-to-door looking for work and finally did at Glassworks.
Funny though when I started there they were still using Softimage – it was like traveling back in time! I started to head up the Maya front slowly converting people, but it was only after about 3 years at Glassworks that I started to get into Houdini
It all started when I was talking to a friend about people learning new software. I said that software companies should have a free learning version available for download. He said Houdini already has this! So I downloaded apprentice version 5.5 and so began my Houdini life.

od[force]: I see… so you studied it for yourself or was Glassworks interested in Houdini at some point?
Andy Boyd: At first I did all my jobs twice, first in Houdini – then I would try to get Glassworks to buy it, they would say no – then I would have to redo it in XSI.  One of my reasons for moving to Framestore was that they had Houdini.

od[force]: So you liked it that much?
As I understand you are (or were) a user of all the big 3: Maya, XSI, and Houdini.
Andy Boyd: I was bored with Maya – nothing had changed since version 3! XSI had rubbish scripting abilities and bad handling large scene. Houdini on the other hand was coming into its prime, new version every 6 months. Loads of development happing.

od[force]: and do you use all 3 now?
Andy Boyd: No, now I use Houdini 90% of the time and Maya for the rest. Depends on what I’m doing!

od[force]: Excellent! So, after 3 years at Glassworks you went to Framestore?
Andy Boyd: Well, I actually went to Mill Film for 6 months to work on the spiders for Harry Potter, when I realised that I prefer commercials so I moved to Framestore.
So, Digital Directions(3 years) > Glassworks (4years) > Mill film (6 months) > Framestore (4 years) > now in LA baby!!! Working at Method in Santa Monica

od[force]: That is great! It’s nice that you mentioned the commercials vs. features because I was just going to ask that: you were almost always involved in commercials, and I see this was intentional. Many people think of features as being the nirvana of CGI, why do you like commercials more?
Andy Boyd: Commercials are more diverse, every 3 months you have new set of problem to solve. Also there is much more involvement in creating the job – being on shoots, filming techniques, direct contact with directors and agencies to help realise their visions.

od[force]: I agree with that. How involved is someone from Framestore or Method when a commercial is done? At which stage are you called?
Andy Boyd: From the very start, the directors and agencies make sure that it’s all doable in time and budget before selling the idea to their client.

od[force]: And then you are consulted in the development of the script / concept?
Andy Boyd: No, it’s more of what should be real, what’s better done in 3D and how it should be filmed to work in post…

od[force]: I see. What I’d like to ask you now is some generic stuff about the technical environment, that is, what applications and operating systems are you using in your daily work?
Andy Boyd: Our render farm is Linux, our workstations are Windows (soon to be Linux). Software is Houdini, Maya, Shake, After Effects, Photoshop, but most 2D comps are done in Flame.

od[force]: How would you describe Houdini’s place (as a tool), among Maya and XSI?
Andy Boyd: That is a hard one as every one is different in their way of working. I would say that if you are tired of writing MEL scrips to do tricky stuff or can’t write your own C++ plugins, use Houdini. If you want to have the procedural flexibility in your workflow, use Houdini. If you want to be on the beach on the weekends and not fighting with Maya to get what you want, use Houdini!

od[force]: You seem quite enthusiastic about Houdini and it is great to hear that. Now, let’s suppose at some moment you want to go freelancing or to open your own small shop (you and 2 friends). Would you think of going with Houdini as the primary package for the shop?
Andy Boyd: Absolutely, but I think I would have still a few Maya’s as there are so many freelancers that know it.

od[force]: So the reason would be availability of people, not technical?
Andy Boyd: Try to find a good animator/rigger for Houdini and you can chose between 3 people! For Maya you have 10% of the world population!!

od[force]: That is true. Speaking of that, did you use Houdini on character jobs at Framestore or Method?
Andy Boyd: Only for the rendering of the fur. Calin Casian rigged the wolf for me, on the Rexona project when I was at Framestore – that was the only one.

od[force]: Why? because the character pipeline was already based on Maya?
Andy Boyd: Yes, all the character people knew Maya.

od[force]: So do you feel the only reason for Houdini not being used more for characters is inertia and general industry acceptance? Do you think there are also technical reasons?
Andy Boyd: Yes, I think it might also be easier in Maya – if you are a student who wants to animate and you prime concern is getting a job you most likely will go for Maya or XSI.

od[force]: Since we talk about “technical reasons”, what do you feel as being a major problem when it comes to Houdini? In what kind of situation would you rather NOT use Houdini? I’m speaking about technical stuff, not user availability.
Andy Boyd: Hmm, I think I would always rather use Houdini.

od[force]:
od[force]: Do you use H9 in production? What’s your opinion about it? What do you like, what do you dislike?
Andy Boyd: Yes I have been using H9 for 6 months now. I love the new Mantra 9, can’t think of anything I don’t like – I know that most things I don’t like are currently bring improved, like better example files

od[force]: Have you used fluids in production?
Andy Boyd: Yes, we are doing some 3D chocolate. Yummy! I have used it on other jobs too, one for Hummer.

od[force]: what do you think about them, compared with already established solutions like Real Flow?
Andy Boyd: Well there are 2 solutions for fluids. There is the particle fluid solver (like Real Flow) and there is the container/gas type solvers. I don’t think the particle solver is better than Real Flow, it’s just much nicer to have it in the package – keeping it all procedural. The container fluids is much better than Maya’s. However unless you are a DOPs king you will be using the new shelves in H9 get you going. In version H8 it would take me 2 hours to set simple DOP networks now it takes 1 click!

od[force]: What difficulties have you encountered when using fluids for the Hummer spot?
Andy Boyd: It was hard was to create a feeling of scale. When you don’t need a glass of water splashing and you need a swimming pool of water – thats when things get tricky! I used a combo of particle fluids and normal particles all surfaced with the new particle fluid surfacer SOP.

Please stay tuned for part II

Tags: andy boyd, framestore, method, squirrel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 10:53 pm and is filed under Interview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.