Broadcast Beat Magazine 2018 BroadcastAsia Special Edition | Page 46

felt not in words but via pixels on a screen. It is of
course also possible to perform these actions via
a mouse or trackpad, but Outpost VFX opts for the
flexibility proffered by Wacom. What better way for
artists to communicate than with a pen, after all. “Wacom and cineSync together offer a far more
haptic experience and more flexibility in note-
taking. It’s an advanced creative process.”
“Using a Wacom in our cineSync sessions rein-
forces the bridge we’re building over the physical
gap between ourselves and clients,” says Hixton.
“We can actually draw ideas, not attempt to give
them form in an email. It’s a far more efficient and
articulate way of sharing knowledge.” Outpost do not feel like outsiders despite their
coastal location. The team remains as fully
engaged with their creative collaborators as they
would be in London or LA. Where they are doesn’t
matter. It just means they get to pop to the beach
in-between reviews.
Outpost uses Wacom Intuos Pro tablets through-
out the studio and across disciplines, while con-
cept artists use the 27” Cintiq touchscreen tablet
for illustrations. Both make for a flexible, intuitive
review session, with the ultra-sensitive Wacom
tablets providing a tactile texture to feedback. The
hardware allows for much more precision as art-
ists quickly point out specific detail in frames or
quickly sketch out concepts, giving physicality to
what previously existed in imagination only. “cineSync, especially in conjunction with a Wacom
tablet, is a vital part of our workflow. I can’t see a
world in which we could do what we do without
them both,” says Hixson.
“I couldn’t imagine a situation where we wouldn’t
need Wacom tech in our cineSync calls,” says
Hixson. “You’re able to draw your ideas and dem-
onstrate where you’re planning to take a shot. It
gives real shape to your concepts, and the client
can immediately grasp them, or vice versa. That
means the next iteration a client sees is much
closer to what they envisage, which in turn means
we can push the look and feel of a shot so much
further in the same space of time.
46 • Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com
Tools and talent
“cineSync empowers us to work with people all
over the world in real time. Without that ability
we’d absolutely be doing our clients a disservice. A
big part of what we do at Outpost is to give clients
the world over a truly personal level of service.
Reviews in a real-time environment are crucial in
engendering that approach, and cineSync is part
and parcel of the process.”
With work now finishing up on the summer’s hotly
anticipated Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Outpost
has more than proven that there’s no such thing
as “far flung VFX”. Studios can operate and deliver
triple-A work from wherever they are in the world.
It’s the talent and the tools that enable stellar
work, not the location.