Fox’s Got Talent (FGT) is the platform for all Fox Renderfarm users to share their artworks rendered with Fox Renderfarm and get awarded free render credits.
We are excited to announce our Fox’s Got Talent July Winner Eleven FX, a video production company based in Auckland, New Zealand. The artwork, Audi RS7 TVC, stands out for its perfect lighting and realistic render.
Eleven FX offers comprehensive solutions in the areas of editing, visual effects, color all with the simple goal of empowering the creators we work with. Using state-of-the-art technology, they created a streamlined, 4k workflow that meets the vision, budget, and timeline of any client.
Here’s the interview between Deep Chahal, one of the Co Founders of Eleven FX, and Fox Renderfarm, in which we can find out how they created this wonderful video.
Audi RS7 TVC © Eleven FX
Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about ELEVEN FX being the July winner of Fox’s Got Talent (FGT)?
Deep: This is very exciting for us. We are truly honored and grateful that you chose our artwork as the July winner. As an up and coming studio, it is great exposure for us.
Fox Renderfarm: How long did you take to finish the Audi RS7 TVC?
Deep: The Audi RS7 TVC was a speculative project which means that this was something we created as a piece for our portfolio. It took us approximately one month to complete from the conceptual stage to the final output.
Fox Renderfarm: Can you tell us about your pipeline?
Deep: Our process involves working together with the client from the conceptual stage to the final output. We start with a brainstorming session and we narrow our ideas down to the top three. We then pitch this with the Client and after approval, we collate reference images and put together a stylesheet followed by the animatic which is then passed on to our animation team. With our first pre-viz, we go through another round of approval with the client and proceed to block the scene with simple Geo and animate the camera.
Simultaneously we test the lighting and animation. After another round of pre-viz, we replace the Geo with high poly models with appropriate shaders and we finalize our lighting and animation. This process took approximately one month for the spec - Audi RS7 TVC and this varies depending on the complexity of the scene. Our last stage in the 3D pipeline is rendering and we used Redshift as our engine with Fox render service to speed up our process.
Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most enjoyable part while creating the Audi RS7 TVC and what’s the most difficult part and how did you overcome it?
Deep: We would say the lighting was one of the most enjoyable parts. There were a couple of major issues we had. One of the issues was rendering time. We tried a couple of render engines but most of them were very slow on our machines. In the end, we tested Redshift and it cut almost 80% of the render time.
CGI breakdown for Audi RS7 2020 © Eleven FX
Fox Renderfarm: The perfect lighting and realistic rendering of the Audi RS7 TVC are really eye-catching. How did you make them?
Deep: A good reference and attention to detail are the key tools we use to attain realistic rendering. We collate a large number of reference images and put together a style sheet. For this particular project, we used Google maps as a point of reference to layout the streets and the buildings, to get a real-world scale. This goes a long way as it helps us emulate real-world lighting and reflections easily.
Fox Renderfarm: Which features in Redshift do you find the most useful?
Deep: We love everything about Redshift. It stands out in the industry because it is a GPU based render engine and gives faster feedback. This makes room for creative freedom, allowing us to change any setting and get instant results.
Fox Renderfarm: Have there been any big changes you’ve noticed through using different versions of Redshift?
Deep: This is our first time using Redshift, and we started using it from version 2.6.
Fox Renderfarm: Would you give us a brief introduction to ELEVEN FX’s development history?
Deep: A dream driven with passion and crafted with pure skills was the very beginning of the founding of Eleven FX - Auckland, New Zealand.
At Eleven FX our team is our Whanau (New Zealand Native Language of “Te Reo” word for Family). We are comprised of a diverse group of artists, storytellers, dreamers, and go-getters. Every individual brings a unique set of skills and experiences to the table and it’s not uncommon for the entire team to sit in on a creative brainstorming session.
What keeps us together is a true passion for the projects we produce and an unrelenting work ethic that enables the execution of impossible projects and constantly pushes the limits of what is possible.
We love partnering with like-minded creators whose passion is overshadowed only by their drive to tell their stories.
Eleven FX has the experience, flexibility, and scalability to take on any project; we are always looking for new collaborators and partners.
Fox Renderfarm: What's the story of your Company's name, ELEVEN FX?
Deep: The number eleven is considered to be a master number in numerology. It signifies balance, strength and purity in vision, which are the three core values that we channel to build our company. Our goal was to be a start-up VFX production house so we decided to represent us as ELEVEN FX.
Fox Renderfarm: As a video production company, ELEVEN FX produced lots of excellent TVC and VFX projects. Which project do you feel proudest and would you share with us how you make it?
Deep: Every opportunity we get to be creative is our proudest moment and we learn from our shortcomings and strive to apply what we learn in our next project.
Fox Renderfarm: What’s the vision for ELEVEN FX? Could you give a brief introduction to the studio’s next step or future planning?
Deep: Our next biggest step will be to transition into working full-time at our studio. Currently, this is challenging with the constraints of COVID-19, however, we are optimistic that we will be one of the biggest post-production studios in New Zealand in the coming years.
Fox Renderfarm: Could you share with us the CG industry in New Zealand?
Deep: It is a competitive market and as a growing post-production studio, it's been challenging to break into the industry. Our growth so far has been through word of mouth. We enjoy what we do and we are passionate about it.
Fox Renderfarm: How do you like Fox Renderfarm’s cloud rendering services?
Deep: We love using Fox Renderfarm. Setting up render jobs is easy with an intuitive, and user-friendly interface. We were also thoroughly impressed with the customer service provided by Fox Renderfarm, as we received instant advice on any queries.
