SternRep: What was your first CGI job?

Paul Barshon: When CG was first coming onto the scene, a lot of agencies wanted to experiment to see what results could work. My first CGI consultation was updating a older model with CGI bits to bring it into the current model line.

SR: How many CGI jobs have you worked?

PB: Around 12.

SR: What do you like about working in CGI?

PB: Positives and Negatives. For me the positive is overcoming shortfalls that you encounter on a physical shoot. For example, you can rotate the dome (the 360 degree image that surrounds the car) to any angle to get the best lighting and reflection on the side of the car that you are working on. Lighting a car can be more specific, for example bounce-boards can cut through the car to any angle, but this isn’t possible on a real shoot. It’s also easier to experiment with different lighting and angles.  Any changes can be made quickly and the results are instant. The negatives for me is the ability to keep changing elements without end and sometimes this ends up with something that looks too perfect.  The human eye can unconsciously spot these perfections and makes the image less ‘real’.

SR: What shooting skills have you brought to your CGI consulting work?

PB: Understanding light on sheetmetal takes many years of experience.  How a car sits on the road, which lensing to use in CGI, which height works best for each car and how light reacts to paint. This is the experience that a of CGI modelers need to give the image realism. Many of these CGI project are a combination of real-life shoots with talent and a CGI car.  Background and talent movement need to feel real and natural.

SR: What challenges do you face with CGI compared to Location shoots?

PB: Firstly, I’m not on location!! I love being on location so the combination of CGI and location shoots are much more enjoyable for me. The biggest challenge is trying to bring a sense of reality to the image. Reality is relatable and I want the viewer to have an emotional response to the image rather than feel the image is fake/wrong.  This is hardest with off-road vehicles where we need to shoot dust and dirt that is the same color as the location. The car needs to have dirt and dust in the right places to create reality. This is the part that I enjoy!

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