KUNG FU PANDA 3

Scope of Work

Lighting, compositing and final completion of over 50 shots, special light rig setup for several one-off shots.

TASKS OF NOTE

Developed the look and completed all shots of Oogway's chi steal by Kai. Integrated the liquid jade and gold dust effect (created by FX) with the character's lighting. Also created a smooth transition between the character's two surfacing variants to change from skin to jade.
Set up the lighting and compositing rig for Mr. Ping's noodle shop during the jade-zombies fight sequence.
One of only 2 artists to finish the entire desert sequence with Crane, Mantis and other characters.

Challenges

The volume rays that represented the spirit realm and the 'chi-stealing' technique were heavily stylized and art directed and sometimes animated. Setting them up on a per-shot basis, given the complexity and cost of 3D volume rendering, and making sure that they did not occlude any key elements in the scene, could be quite tricky.

Fun Fact

Among all the Kung Fu master jade amulets that Kai wears around his waist, there's also one of Tai-Lung, who was the antagonist in the first Kung Fu Panda film. Also, It is still a mystery to me whether Kai is a bull or a yak.

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