Passionate Affection for Sapphire: Adam Fenwick, Pyrotechnic Specialist
Adam Fenwick's Mastery of Boris FX Sapphire Plugins Enhances Visual Effects Work
Adam Fenwick, a seasoned visual effects artist with 18 years of industry experience, relies on the Boris FX Sapphire plugins daily to elevate his work in Autodesk Flame. These plugins offer a suite of high-quality, stylized effects that include glows, transitions, distortions, and color grading enhancements.
Fenwick's journey with Sapphire began in 2001 during his studies in animation at Staffordshire University. Since then, he has become well-versed in the use of Sapphire effects, employing them for a variety of tasks such as cleanup, blending layers, and mask isolation.
One of the key advantages of Sapphire is its versatility. If given only one Sapphire effect, Fenwick would choose S_LensFlare due to its versatility in creating glints, color textures, and softening effects. His favourite Sapphire effects, however, are S_LenFlare, S_Glow, and S_Grunge for adding realistic lighting, texture, and softening effects, respectively.
Sapphire effects are built inside Batch, Flame's node-based compositing environment, but can also be shared with other applications like Nuke or After Effects for continuity on large projects. This feature allows Fenwick to maintain consistency across different stages of his workflow.
Sapphire's updated OFX support inside Flame enables more frequent use of S_Effect for creating custom effects like glows or lens flares. Additionally, the plugin includes Mocha's award-winning tracking and masking/effects isolation tools, which have helped streamline Fenwick's overall workflow.
One of Fenwick's favourite projects was a commercial for Go Outdoors, where he composited photoreal CG passes of a dog's head onto a live-action dog singing Gary Barlow's hit song "Let Me Go." Using Sapphire effects, he added the final polish needed to create a seamless integration of the CG elements into the live-action plates.
Fenwick also frequently uses S_EdgesInDirection for creating mattes and adding light wraps or highlighting areas for color correction. Experimenting with creative effects in Sapphire can be productive by loading preset libraries for time-saving and starting points. For instance, using Sapphire effects like S_FlickerMatch and S_RackDefocus can help integrate CG elements into live-action plates to match the interactive lighting.
Recently, Fenwick has worked on projects such as the Roald Dahl biopic "To Olivia" for Sky Cinema, commercials for Sky Glass, Photobox, and Lucozade Hula. His work frequently involves the use of S_EdgeAwareBlur for cleanup tasks in commercial projects and S_EdgeBlur for blending layers in composites.
Fenwick finds the Sapphire UI familiar and easy to use, providing him with control over his creations. He believes that more lens flare presets and animated textures would be welcomed as feature requests for Sapphire.
In conclusion, Adam Fenwick's mastery of the Boris FX Sapphire plugins has proven to be an invaluable asset in his visual effects work. These plugins offer a powerful suite of tools that help him achieve polished looks, creative image manipulations, and complex compositing effects efficiently within Flame’s finishing and VFX workflows.
- Adam Fenwick's expertise with the Boris FX Sapphire plugins extends beyond visual effects, as he incorporates them into his lifestyle for creative image manipulations and polished looks in projects involving entertainment, such as commercials and films.
- The versatility of Sapphire plugins, combined with advancements in technology like OFX support, enables Adam Fenwick to seamlessly integrate these tools into his workflow, ensuring a consistent and efficient approach in the field of entertainment and technology.
