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Silence is Survival: "A Quiet Place: Day One" Set to Thrill Audiences in 2024

As "A Quiet Place: Day One" gets ready to open in theaters on June 28, 2024, the quiet will return. This critically acclaimed "A Quiet Place" prequel will reveal the beginnings of a world in which sound portends disaster and silence means surviving.The Beginning of the EndImage from Paramount PicturesImagine New York City, the world's loudest city, being abruptly thrown into a silent apocalypse. We are transported back to the terrifying early stages of the alien invasion in "A Quiet Place: Day One." The movie deviates from the well-known Abbott family tale and presents us to fresh people surviving the horrifying events of the first day of the invasion.Image from Paramount PicturesThe protagonists have to quickly adjust to a new reality where making noise can be their final mistake as anarchy breaks out. The movie aims to investigate the extent of human tenacity and the innate desire to shield close ones from an imperceptible and noiseless danger.A Story of SurvivalImage from Paramount PicturesThe story centers on the experience of the day the world became silent, providing a novel interpretation of the circumstances leading up to humanity's silent struggle for existence. "A Quiet Place: Day One" is a gripping tale of creatures that hunt by sound, filled with intense tension and profound emotion. It also serves as a powerful example of the human spirit's unwavering resolve to endure in the face of insurmountable adversity.Image from Paramount PicturesPrepare for the QuietMore than just a prequel, "A Quiet Place: Day One" takes you to the source of the quiet and terror that began it all. The excitement is growing for what promises to be a gripping cinematic experience as the days before its premiere draw near.Source: Paramount PicturesIf you're interested in animation and visual effects, you might want to check out Fox Renderfarm - the leading cloud rendering services provider and render farm in the CG industry. Fox Renderfarm has provided cloud rendering services to countless visual effects and animation studios, allowing them to get the best quality results in the shortest time. A $25 free trial is available to let you speed up the rendering of your 3D projects.

Exploring the Success behind Brooklyn Digital Foundry’s Viz Pro of the Year

Brooklyn Digital Foundry is a full-service creative agency renowned for its cutting-edge work spanning across a wide range of industries. Their exceptional talent and innovative approach have recently earned them the title of "Viz Pro of the Year" at the highly acclaimed CGarchitect 3D Awards with their work "Williamsburg Condominiums". Fox Renderfarm as the industry's top cloud rendering service provider and leading render farm is honored to interview John Szot, who is one of the founding partners and creative directors at Brooklyn Digital Foundry. Let’s uncover the secrets behind their success through this in-depth interview.Fox Renderfarm: Hi John! Thank you so much for accepting our interview! Could you please introduce your team to our readers?John: I am one of the founding partners and creative directors at Brooklyn Digital Foundry, which is a full-service creative agency. We work on various projects in various industries doing interactive architectural visualization, product visualization, video production, communications consulting, and campaign management. We have a team of 11 people, half of whom work on our computer graphics-oriented projects. We worked with fashion houses, architects, real estate developers, and non-profit institutions. Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning the CGarchitect 3D Awards’ "Viz Pro of the Year" category! How does your team feel about it?John: We’re stoked! We had the good fortune of winning a CG award in 2012, and CGarchitect has provided a tremendous amount of inspiration throughout the years for our studio. Many of the newest things going on in visualization are happening in real time on that platform. You have access to a lot of very talented people who are deeply dedicated to what they do. To be recognized within that forum is a tremendous honor.Fox Renderfarm: What significance does the name "Brooklyn Digital Foundry" hold, and how does it represent the essence of your work in digital visualization?John: The name of the studio comes from a deep-seated interest in the palpable quality of digital media. It's always been our belief that digital media has a timber and a texture of its own which doesn't necessarily fit into words. We attempted to communicate our commitment to that idea through this name which is also meant to locate us in a very specific place. We believe that our physical surroundings play a significant role in shaping creative output. Brooklyn, where the founding partners, including myself, were deeply inspired to establish the company and pursue a distinct aesthetic vision, holds a special place in our hearts. Since then, our company has grown to many more people and we have a much more diverse set of voices.Brooklyn SolarWorks © Brooklyn Digital FoundryFox Renderfarm: Could you give us a brief overview of your work "Williamsburg Condominiums" and the inspiration behind it? John: Much of our inspiration comes from the conversations we have with our clients. Our job is to absorb and understand our client's values and then project them into the media that we produce, so in a certain sense we have to be transparent. We spend a lot of time trying to understand where our client is coming from in order to make sure that the work we produce feels authentic. The client, in this case, came to us with the need to sell real estate. The building is located in a very inspiring place in New York City, so we want to showcase the beauty of the city as an important offering that comes along with the ownership of the building featured in the image. Our first move was to grant both subjects equal prominence within the image frame so that it is as much about the beauty of the New York City skyline as it is about the beauty of the building.Williamsburg Condominiums © Brooklyn Digital FoundryFox Renderfarm: What were the key design elements in your project, and how did they contribute to the overall aesthetic?John: I'd say the key design elements in this project are the compositional nature of the subject, and finding a way to harmonize that with other elements in the frame so that the subject feels like a part of its environment, which is very important from an architectural point of view. Yet at the same time, has the clear individuality that we need to bestow on our subject so that the material can do its job as part of a sales pitch. That’s essentially the fundamentals that we adhere to to maintain the authenticity of our work.Fox Renderfarm: Can you tell us about the pipeline of your work?John: It is a common practice in architectural visualization for many professionals to start with a model, often created in Rhino or occasionally in 3D Studio Max. In this case, we were provided with a Revit model to work on. The typical workflow involves transferring the model to 3D Studio Max for applying materials and performing lighting studies using V-Ray. Lighting is usually prioritized at the beginning to establish the overall space in the image, followed by the application of materials. This is mainly because it's much more challenging to establish a sense of space through materials than it is with light. That is usually the proper hierarchical approach to maintain a powerful composition in the final product. Once we are done with rendering the necessary passes in V-Ray, we bring those into After Effects and balance them out properly, doing the necessary color correction. There might be some work in Photoshop if there are post-production effects that we need, but we try very hard to do everything on camera because we get the most accurate lighting effects through this technique. Painterly type effects lead to a painterly type of interpretation, and in most cases, we're going for something that has the correct perspectival math and light balance that mimics physical reality.Fox Renderfarm: During the process of creation, were there any instances that brought joy? Additionally, which experience stands out as the most unforgettable?John: I'll mention something in the larger picture that I believe any CG artist can resonate with. That is the moment in which the information that comes out of the rendering engine finally gets put together in the post-production stage. You're then given the opportunity to hone those layers of information to bring the stimulated material reality into sharp focus. That moment which happens pretty much on every project is very special from my point of view because it’s the culmination of many small and complicated steps. The satisfaction that comes from that moment when you finally can collect the data and bring it into focus is sacred to me.Fox Renderfarm: How has your approach to architectural visualization evolved over the years?John: One of the things that has been a huge game changer is the quality of the professionals on our team. We have built our team very slowly over many years, by now the people that I work with have been working with us for many additional years. Their skills and dedication to the job continue to be the cornerstone of how we move forward. It's also that curiosity and dedication they bring to the table that essentially catalyzes the evolution of our craft in-house, so they deserve a ton of credit for making sure that the studio stays healthy and continues to evolve technically and creatively. Our work goes from rather punky attempts at telling a story to some of the most vivid examples of CG artistry that I can think of. I am regularly humbled by their ability to push that envelope with every project. Every time we complete a project I noticed a new level of nuance and commitment to developing a higher degree of fidelity and palpability to our work. I'm looking forward to the future, especially with some of the recent algorithmic tools that can produce high-fidelity material on such a rapid basis, I can't wait to see where our team takes that. Fannie Mae HQ © Brooklyn Digital FoundryFox Renderfarm: How does your team stay updated with the latest tools and technologies in the CG industry?John: CGarchitect has played a big role in that! But spending time online and interacting with other professionals is pretty critical. A little conversation at the corner of the industry could shed light on what we’re doing. I know that the team that I work with spends an enormous amount of time thinking about the technology outside of the deadlines that we have in the studio. As a result, when we do find ourselves on deadlines, we usually have several fresh ideas that might change the project in a way that makes it unexpectedly rich. How do they do that? I think it just comes from their innate tenacity and enthusiasm for the technology. I think you really have to possess that if you're going to compete in CG visualization.Fox Renderfarm: Have you ever used the render farm services offered by Fox Renderfarm? If yes, what are your thoughts on Fox Renderfarm's cloud rendering offerings? John: We are familiar with your company! Winning this award has helped us learn more about the services that your company offers. Sadly we have not worked with your company before, but this is the perfect opportunity to do so. We are on deadline at the moment so a render farm plays a critical role in making sure that deadlines are met. There have been times in the past when we have gone to third-party services to provide the necessary computing power to meet a deadline. Now that we are in touch with Fox Renderfarm, I look forward to seeing how your services assist us and turn our projects to the next level.Fox Renderfarm: What advice would your team give to aspiring professionals in the CG field?John: When we we started the business, architects were just getting familiar with computers and the idea that somebody would make a video to promote an architectural idea was a rather farfetched notion. We began making videos about architecture in 1999 when we had our first major architectural video commission. Although it wasn't a huge commission in the larger scheme, but it marked a pivotal moment as it was our first engagement with a client for video production services. The collaboration led to the creation of our very first viral architectural video. After that video, we launched our studio’s production unit, and we found ourselves getting a lot of work after that. That wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been experimenting with technology before meeting this client. Our approach enabled us to be prepared to offer the services our clients sought when opportunities arose. So my advice to people getting started in the visualization industry is to identify what excites you about technology and allow your creativity to drive exploration and utilization of these tools. Avoid letting concerns about marketability dictate your experimentation; instead, focus on honing a clear vision with the tools at your disposal, as market success will naturally follow.Thanks again to John for accepting our interview! Wishing new heights in your professional career!Brooklyn Digital Foundry’s social media:Website: https://brooklynfoundry.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brooklyndigitalfoundryTwitter: https://twitter.com/brooklynfoundryInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooklynfoundry/Dribble: https://dribbble.com/brooklynfoundryLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brooklyn-foundry

Capturing Eternal Memories: The Creative Inspirations of Digital Artist Liad

In the world of CG art, there are individuals who not only create stunning visuals but also weave compelling narratives through their work. Liad Damhuis, a 28-year-old digital artist from The Netherlands, is one such individual. Liad's artistic journey began at a young age, her love for movies and games, and the way they conveyed stories through various artistic mediums, ignited a spark within her. Recently, Liad's talent and hard work were recognized as she clinched 3rd place in Bad Normals' Worlds Inside Glass Challenge.In an exclusive interview with Fox Renderfarm, the industry's top cloud rendering and leading render farm service provider, Liad shares her insights, experiences, and the driving force behind her creative endeavors. Join us as we delve into the mind of this remarkable artist, unraveling the stories and inspirations that fuel her imaginative creations.Fox Renderfarm: Hi Liad! Thank you so much for accepting our interview! Please introduce yourself to our readers.Liad: My name is Liad Damhuis, I am a 28-year-old digital artist from The Netherlands. I’ve been drawing forever, and my teachers and peers always describe me as the "artist kid". Growing up I loved movies and games. I loved how they could tell stories through cinematography, music, and world-building. This inspired me to go and draw digitally to become a concept artist, however, after I graduated I ended up pursuing a career as a 3D artist, and 3 years later I am also looking into graphic design jobs. In general, I love being creative, it's my passion.Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning 3rd place in Bad Normals's Worlds Inside Glass Challenge! How do you feel about it?Liad: Thank you! Honestly, it was quite a surprise because there were some really good artworks and it was my first time participating in a challenge by Bad Normals so I had no idea what to expect. I totally forgot the top 5 could even win prizes because I was more focused on whether I could make an image that could convey the story I came up with, and if others could see it too. But winning the plugin and credits for render farm definitely motivated me to create more projects. Fox Renderfarm: How did you capture and recreate the spirit and memories of loved ones in designing the 3D visuals for Memorby?Liad: Once I came up with this idea of a deceased loved one I wrote down everything that I could think of in such a scenario. How do people grieve, what do they keep from this person, and what memories are their favorites. Specifically, the last thing that inspired me to make a personalized heaven orb. I thought of what type of person or people we see and what's their relationship. I picked a hobby or personality that was easy to show visually in both the background and inside the orb. Someone who loves painting might leave behind artwork to show in the background... but I wouldn't necessarily know what his or her forever home would be within that interest. So I picked hiking, the outdoors. I could reflect it in the orb with a bit of nature and the typical a-frame house, the books in the background, the pictures, and the hiking boots. I broke it apart just a little by adding in a baby Yoda too.Background Objects © LiadFox Renderfarm: In this artwork, the scene in the light ball looks very vivid, does a real memory of yours inspire it?Liad: It wasn't necessarily inspired by something I've experienced myself. The idea came to be after brainstorming about many different ideas and I got hyped about this one once I asked myself questions about how it'll work, what we see, and what can I do with it. But I do believe it reflects the way I personally think about memories and death. I do not believe in an afterlife or a place you'd go to, which is kind of a scary thought. What is nothingness then? People like to think that this person is in a better place, people spread ashes in places that remind them of that person. So I do find it a nice thought that your loved one could be somewhere where they'll be happy forever. I know that my dad would like a little house by the lake in Sweden, reading books and tinkering in his car. I know that I'd love to have an endless flower field with a small beach, feeling the soft sand between my toes and when the sun is a little too hot I can get in to cool down, or below a big tree and hear the leaves in the wind. I sometimes wish I could make the memories of my grandparents into a video so I won't forget their likes and dislikes, their quirks, and the sound of their voices. So I can imagine that a Memorby can be something extra to remember your loved one and feel as if they're truly in their forever happiness.Fox Renderfarm: Could you please tell us about your pipeline for this work? And how long did it take you?Liad: Certainly! It started with a mind map to generate as many ideas as possible. At first, I was skeptical about joining because I wasn't too excited about the first ideas like a season change portal or global warming inside an orb. I felt that I couldn't do much with storytelling in the details. I almost did a Black Mirror type of Tamagotchi idea where some rich kid doesn't realize, or maybe does, that the person living inside the orb house is a real person stuck in there. But because it wasn't an animation project, I struggled with showing this idea.Mind Map © LiadShifting gears, I considered a narrative where a less privileged child glimpses a life of luxury or experiences the harsh reality of war. I thought of him seeing his killed parents but felt it was too much and maybe becoming political. So it turned into a woman losing her fiance due to a war. I started making the scene, knowing I wanted a dresser with candles in the back, a picture, and maybe a TV on a news channel. Then I added in some details to really make it feel like home and all. Let's say this woman sends memories to this company to make the orb 2 weeks after he passed away... it might take another 2 or maybe a month to make and ship it, "why would a news channel still cover the incident?" I almost ended up putting bandaids on that plot hole when I thought... "why does it matter how he died? Why not focus on the memory?" That's when I changed his interest to the outdoors and also picked the right house inside the orb and made a whole package design for the object. Framing © LiadI made a quick house to put inside the orb 3 times. The first one was too sci-fi, it would take away the attention, and people would question the reason why it looked like that inside this story... when I made the second one it still felt sci-fi which was ok because the orb itself was a sci-fi idea.. yet the house felt more realistic. But when I got the idea for an outdoor personality I knew an A-frame would fit the narrative more. I couldn't tell you the exact hours because I was working on it on and off. Let's say an average of 5 hours per day for 2 weeks.House Design © LiadFox Renderfarm: There are many details in this scene, how did you decide which elements were important and needed to be highlighted?Liad: To really narrow down again after all those ideas and details, it's about a woman who bought a Memorby of her deceased lover. Ok, and this Memorby shows what about this person? He loved the outdoors, so anything else could be distracting. As I said before, I first wanted to explain the cause of death and then decided to focus instead on this memory. You know he's dead because of the pictures in the back, the candles, the flowers, the cards, the woman crying and her kissing the orb. Her relationship with his personality, his memory, is more important than what killed him. I added a baby Yoda in his hiking boot too just to kind of break up all the elements talking about his love for the outdoors. He has more interests than that obviously. I gave the woman a ring too so it's more believable that they were in a relationship than it is some random guy or perhaps a friend or brother. A ring, a kiss, those memories, pictures together, those are the storytelling ingredients you need to explain their relationship.Memorby Product © LiadBackground Details © LiadFox Renderfarm: The female character in the image conveys strong emotions, how did you capture and render these expressions?Liad: The company I've worked for used Character Creator 4, and just before I got laid off in December I downloaded their default character in case I need a character or a base very quickly when I don't have time to make something from scratch. These characters come with blend shapes and they were perfect to use with motion capture. Unfortunately, I don't have a suit myself, so I had to manually set the values of the blend shapes. Plus I added some red on the base color texture around the eyes, nose, maybe cheeks a bit, and the eyeballs. And I've also lowered the roughness there to give the impression of crying.Character Creation © LiadFox Renderfarm: What were the biggest technical challenges you faced while working on this project, and how did you overcome them?Liad: The biggest technical challenges... I actually didn't struggle a lot with this. It took me some time to get the woman in the right pose and also make her sit as the horizon wouldn't work if she was standing, but overall I didn't struggle technically. I think because my idea didn't come across things I've never done before, or because it wasn't an animation.Fox Renderfarm: Are there any moments you enjoyed during the creation process? And what was the most memorable?Liad: Actually it was the moment I went from "meh, not sure if I'm excited to spend 2 weeks on this challenge for just a season change" to "...o my god, someone's dead, you give them an eternal home, and I'm going present it like an actual product from a company with package design and all, that's a pretty cool idea?!" It was the hype I got from ideas that popped up, and as I tried to plot hole-proof them I only got more excited if I knew a way to dodge it.Fox Renderfarm: How do you envision the role of art in providing comfort to individuals, as demonstrated by Memorby's slogan "Their Spark In Your Darkness"?Liad: That's an interesting question, I got inspired by this Facebook graveyard thing and AI. I wouldn't be surprised if this would ever be a thing though. If you think about it... you can give AI a prompt and pretend to be a certain person. How to behave, what they like, to their little quirks. It can create real-life pictures of humans even when they don't exist, and this time you'd have an entire album of your person. If you want them to talk, send in a voice memo and you'll hear them talk or sing whatever. Next time AI could learn their movements from videos, make a 3D avatar... and voila, the environment is just 3D. Maybe there are a few interactive points, and you can have this very product in real life. Maybe even very comforting, the idea that this person didn't just disappear but is eternally home.In general, I think lots of people would like to keep a visual memory of someone, whether it is a picture, something they owned, or even ashes made into an art piece. It sounds weird but I do get it. My mom is getting a tattoo for my late grandmother even though I never expected her to, it just changed things. I personally love looking at old pictures of family members that even go back generations who were lucky to be wealthy enough to have them made. Wondering what their lives were around my age, and how they expected their futures to be. When looking at my childhood pictures I see all the people that cared for me when I was just existing and not knowing anything. So to me, visuals are very important.Fox Renderfarm: Have you tried or heard about Fox Renderfarm’s services before? What is your impression of our cloud rendering services?Liad: I've heard of render farms before, just not specifically the one from Fox Renderfarm. I think it could be very useful to render faster if you don't have the specs or to keep working on your PC while the render farm is in the process of rendering. I've actually bought a new laptop recently which can do quite some rendering, but I'll definitely use my coupon for upcoming projects. I want to challenge myself by doing lots more in 3D and then utilize a render farm for it.Fox Renderfarm: What did you learn from this project and how will it impact your future 3D art creations?Liad: I've learned to really prioritize. Give yourself time to come up with an idea and work it out in a block or in a sketch, write down what you need at a minimum to get this done. Only when the bigger elements are done, you can dive into details. Just in case you run out of time to do these details... At least the bigger picture is there. Liad’s Social Media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bulletproof_eggs/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BulletproofEggs28Blender Library credits:Rug: "Persian Carpet by BlenderKit Community"Table lamp: "Table Lamp by MNDV"One of the flowers: "Flower Jug-02 by Jhon Maycon" but changed the color and vaseProduct box: "Paper box template by Vilém Duha" but own made Memorby textureSketchfab assets:Yoda plush: "Baby Yoda Plush by Nom" Hiking boot: "Hiking Boots LOWPOLY by EFX"Other assets were self-made, either from scratch or from older projects. Exception for 2 or 3 landscaping assets of which unfortunately I don’t have the credits as they’ve been made/downloaded by ex-colleagues in the past and I’ve saved them for future purposes. So I can’t verify the original artist.