How Do VFX Artists Make CG Animals?

In the world of VFX, there’s two final bosses - Two big challenges that place the most pressure and demand on the VFX artists working on them. Now, one of them you’ve probably heard of - and that’s CGI humanoids - characters like Thanos or Tarkin or the blue people from Avatar - These guys tend to get a lot of coverage in the media these days for all their technical breakthroughs and how hard it is creating a photorealistic human But… There’s also a second huge challenge… that no one really talks about… - and that is: the creation of CG animals. Because under the surface - These guys have almost the exact same same features as a CG humanaid - They’ve got muscles, and tissue and skin that all needs to be very carefully figured out by a massive team of artists. And on top of this, since things like the Lion King remake in 2019 - CG animals have exploded in popularity, to the point where they are filling the same positions narratively as these other CG characters - Now we have walking around, dancing, talking and emoting - and essentially carrying the entire story on their backs. So, As a VFX artist myself, and someone whose found themselves constantly going in and out of working on these CG animals over the last few years - I thought I should shine a spotlight behind the scenes workflows of these animals, and discuss the tremendous amount of work that goes into making them. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the world of CGI animals TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Intro 0:54 - 3D Modelling 3:42 - Grooming 6:41 - Rigging 9:01 - Animation 11:15 - CFX 15:18 - Fur CFX 16:22 - Outro More VFX analysis here!: SOURCES: Art of VFX: Pictures of Cats: SideFX: ARTISTS: Francesco Gioia: And: Mehmet Fatih Usta: hosenjackeArts: Mekhla Kadam: Mehmet Fatih Usta: