Film VFX North America.

For well over a decade, the Prime Focus Film VFX division in North America has been delivering world-class visual effects to major feature film projects. Combining extensive experience in post visual effects production, previsualization, look development and custom R&D solutions, the Film VFX division offers clients a vast range of VFX services and a local presence for production and post production with integrated, collaborative offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Working directly with studios, VFX supervisors, directors and production houses, the VFX team is ready to guide projects from the earliest phases of preproduction to the completion of post.

Post Visual Effects Production

The Film VFX division built its reputation delivering precise and compelling VFX sequences for a host of projects. Signature work includes: the aerial sequence in the finale of 'G.I.Joe', which features a plane being eaten away by Nanomites, a bio-weapon that disintegrates metal on contact; the orbital destruction of Krypton and the Kryptonite missile-launch in 'Superman Returns'; 3d stereoscopic sequences for 'Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D'; the ground-breaking bullet-time bank explosion in 'Swordfish'; and the Emmy-nominated storm effects for Stephen King's 'Storm of the Century'. Crossing a broad range of movie genres, the team has consistently advanced the creative potential of VFX technology.

Previsualization and Look Development 

Incorporating next-generation ideas and advancements from the Prime Focus R&D team, complex look development and proof-of-concept reels have been created for numerous films – including structural Kryptonite reactions for Superman Returns. The VFX team is also able to generate previsualization for any timeframe, whether clients seek a simple production tool for scene execution or a detailed sequence to sell creative direction to studios. Previz work has provided early visual concepts for films such as 'Watchmen', 'G.I.Joe: The Rise of the Cobra', 'X2: X-Men United', 'Poseidon' and 'X-Men: The Last Stand' amongst many others.

Custom Software Solutions for Post VFX 

The Prime Focus R&D team specializes in delivering custom solutions to visual effects challenges. The innovative ocean surface software, Flood: Surf was used extensively on 'Superman Returns', as well as a custom Crystal Management System (or CMS) for enhanced crystal growth. The highly adaptable, custom fluid simulator Flood has been used extensively in feature films – creating dense silt effects for 'Superman Returns' and liquid skin effects for the Tar Monster in 'Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'. The Prime Focus team has also developed the high-volume particle renderer Krakatoa, capable of producing billions of particles per frame. The software was initially devised to handle particle-intense animations from Richard Baily's 'Spore' software; the end results were the supernatural lighting effects for the finale of 'Stay'. Since then, Krakatoa has proven to be a flexible platform for production pipelines, interfacing with a variety of creative design tools. After using Krakatoa to render particles driven through 3ds Max's Particle Flow, the team was able to generate fine-detailed explosions for 'Superman Returns'. Flood has also been combined with Krakatoa by using the simulator's physics dynamics to drive particle motion – and then rendering those particles in Krakatoa. This technique enabled the team to create realistic smoke effects for Wes Craven's 'Cursed'.

Thriving on new challenges, the VFX team's driving goal is to consistently exceed clients' expectations by delivering astounding, superior-quality work, offering added-value services and providing custom designed solutions. By pushing technology and creativity to new heights – and delivering distinct, superlative work that redefines the state of imagination.