Enrique De la Garza on the Complexities of Computer-Generated Creative
The animation, VFX and CGI space continues to boom as artists take advantage of the vast digital playground. Given the symbiotic relationship between a CG artist and their tools, staying abreast of trends and adapting to new technologies is crucial. Learning to utilise the newest tools to solve complex technical problems grants artists access to untapped creative potential, making imagination their own limitation.
Frame48’s CG supervisor and VFX director, Enrique De la Garza, is someone whose imagination appears to be limitless. Since joining the studio in 2019, he has consistently delivered unmatched creative. Donning multiple hats in his role at the motion design and post production studio, Enrique seamlessly merges creativity, technical skills, and leadership in a bid to get the very best out of every brief. His work across commercial and entertainment has seen him transform numerous initial concepts into tangible realities. Dedicated to his craft, the CG specialist tirelessly researches new techniques, tools and reference materials that will serve to elevate his latest project.
LBB’s April Summers sits down with the integral member of Frame48’s creative cohort to find out how he optimises efficiency to elevate the work and empower the artists on his team.
1.Muse - ‘You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween’
LBB> This music video looks like it would’ve been a lot of fun to work on, with its various horror movie homages, from It to The Shining. What was your favourite shot to work on and why?
Enrique> Working on this music video was an absolute blast, especially with all the horror movie homages throughout. It's hard to pick just one favourite shot, but if I had to choose, it would be the sequence featuring the iconic The Shining hallway, with an MC Escher twist.
In this particular sequence, we created a hero asset for the hallway. It was our CG artist, now art director, Steven Lee, who brilliantly laid out multiple instances of it in a creative way to achieve a trippy shot that felt like a maze. This, in combination with really cool easter eggs placed inside the hotel rooms, made this shot a standout moment that captured the essence of the video's homage to horror movies.
LBB> How did you work with director Tom Teller to ensure your visions were aligned both creatively and technically? Can you tell us a bit about the collaborative process?
Enrique> Working with Tom was an incredibly collaborative and rewarding experience. To ensure that our visions were aligned both creatively and technically, we had many creative breakout sessions. During these talks, we would lay out our goals, discuss the creative beats we wanted to hit, and identify any potential technical obstacles that we needed to address.
What made the collaboration particularly special is that Tom is also an incredibly talented CG artist himself. This meant we could dive deep into the technical aspects of the project together, bouncing ideas off each other and leveraging our unique ways of thinking to bring the most ambitious version of the creative to fruition.
LBB> What were the biggest challenges or technical difficulties of this project? How did you overcome them?
Enrique> One of the major challenges we faced with this project was handling the extensive amount of simulations required in the video. With approximately 50 shots, a significant portion of them involved our characters needing Clothing FX. To address this, I developed a specialised tool using SideFX’s Houdini, which really streamlined the process. It essentially provided a one-click solution, taking an alembic file from our animators as an input, performing a fast clothing simulation, and generating another alembic output for rendering in Maya. This automation significantly reduced the time and effort required and gave the artists more time to focus on other aspects of the project.
In addition, we also encountered the challenge of collaborating seamlessly across different digital content creation software (DCC) platforms, including Maya, 3DS Max, and Houdini. To overcome this, we utilised alembics and V-Ray Proxies, which allowed our team to collaborate on different aspects of the project simultaneously.
I also need to give a special shoutout to Alvaro Moreria, our talented FX artist, who was responsible for the “blood elevator” and other simulations in the video. His setups were instrumental in overcoming the technical difficulties and delivering exceptional FX.
2. Muse - ‘Will of the People’
LBB> ‘Will of the People’ and ‘You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween’ appear to live in the same universe – how did you get started on a project like this? What was your initial approach at the very start of the creative process?
Enrique> We have a great relationship with the band Muse, and their creative director, Jesse Lee Stout. Throughout our many years working together, they’ve put a great amount of trust in our abilities to execute in the 3D space. This makes every music video and tour visual feel like a creative playground where we get to explore without boundaries. The band came to us months prior to the album release with the music and their vision for what they wanted to do with this album. From there, we got to work.
LBB> What new technology or software is particularly exciting to you in your role as CG supervisor? Which of these tools did you use for this project?
Enrique> There are several new technologies and software that I find particularly exciting. One of them is the use of Virtual Cameras to simulate handheld camera motion in CG. I’m able to just lay out a scene, grab my iPhone, and walk around the studio as if I was in the virtual environment, framing up shots as if I was physically in the 3D space.
Another technology we utilised for this project was a combination of Houdini, V-Ray Scenes, and USDs (Universal Scene Description) to build Kitbashed assets for the buildings and other elements in the city. This approach allowed us to efficiently lay out and navigate the scene during the layout and lighting stages.
It's so fascinating to witness how technology continues to advance in the field of computer graphics. It seems like everyday there are new possibilities for creativity and efficiency, and a lot of my role is staying up to date with these latest happenings. Exploring these innovative tools and incorporating them into our workflow is definitely an exciting part of my role.
3. Twenty One Pilots - ‘Saturday’
LBB> When working on music projects, how important is it to you to immerse yourself in the music? What role does it play in informing your creative direction?
Enrique> It is so important, but definitely in moderation. By immersing myself in the sound and lyrics of the music, I'm able to absorb the essence and mood of the piece. This immersion can greatly influence the tone and feel of the visual elements I create. It helps me align the visual storytelling with the emotional journey that the music originally intended to evoke.
On the other side of things, you can imagine that we’re listening to these songs quite often throughout the project, so it's also important to balance this immersion with a degree of detachment. Sometimes, stepping back from the music can provide a more objective perspective. By removing the headphones every so often, I can view the piece with a fresh set of eyes and make decisions that serve the overall project vision rather than being solely influenced by the track.
LBB> Did this project help you hone your craft in any way? If so, how?
Enrique> Absolutely, this project was a significant milestone for me. I had an invaluable learning experience, particularly in the creation of the band’s mascot character "Trash the Dragon".
Creating this creature allowed me to explore and determine the correct approach to character creation. The complexities involved in bringing this character to life really helped me develop a deeper understanding of character modelling, rigging, texturing, and animation.
This is a great example of each project really being connected to the next. When this music video was delivered, we immediately jumped into more character and creature work for other clients, and my skill set in the space really snowballed into something much greater, always learning and improving upon the last one. The ability to grow and develop as an individual and team is something I look for in every project that we take on.
4. Shimano product campaigns
LBB> Frame48’s recent work for Shimano is very sleek and futuristic – how does the work you do add value and enhance the visuals of these projects?
Enrique> It’s a truly enjoyable experience, specifically because we get to explore creative choices that are a bit less conventional than traditional cycling advertisements. An important part of my role on these projects is to enhance the visuals and ensure that we are creating “Damn…That was sick” moments.
To achieve this, I often leverage my skills in Houdini, experimenting and playing around with different techniques and just overall cool FX that can elevate the piece. Houdini provides a wide array of tools that help us create visuals that align with Shimano's sleek and futuristic brand image.
LBB> What was your initial vision for the Shimano Wheels project, and how closely does the finished film align with it?
Enrique> The initial vision for this campaign evolved quite a bit throughout production. Typically, we begin by reviewing the client's pitch and understanding the key product features they want to communicate. From there, we engage in a creative breakout session to develop the main story and visual beats, while also keeping the timeline in mind to ensure realistic goals.
However, what tends to happen is that the team, including myself, becomes incredibly excited and starts discussing even more ideas during the creative process. We might say things like, "Oh, what if we add this?" or "What if the shoe enters a vortex of particles and smoke?" or "What if the wheels leave a trail and anything they touch turns into cloth?" This enthusiasm and creative energy in the studio is contagious, and always drives us to push the boundaries of what was initially discussed in our first meeting.
As a result, the final film we create often surpasses the original vision in terms of its creativity and visual impact. So, while the initial vision provides a pretty good foundation and direction for the project, It’s good to keep in mind that there’s always multiple solutions to the problem at hand, and always something that can be improved upon. We keep an open mind to new ideas whenever it’s appropriate to the story we are trying to tell.
LBB> You have worked on a number of Shimano product campaigns now – what is your approach to each new project? And what are the creative benefits of a long-standing client relationship?
Enrique> I approach it as a fresh opportunity to evolve and create the best piece we've ever made. While we have a foundation of experience from previous campaigns, I’m a firm believer in constantly pushing ourselves to new heights and delivering something even more exceptional every time we’re at bat.
Like many of the partners we collaborate with, our history with the Shimano brand definitely has its creative benefits. One of the most significant advantages is the established client relationship and the trust that has been developed over time. This trust allows us to have very open and collaborative discussions with the brand and our team, which in turn allows us to reach those new heights and push those boundaries. We know their brand identity. We know what it used to be three years ago. We know their target audience. We know their marketing goals for this new product. We know what to avoid. Every new project with our long-time partners is the perfect environment for innovation, because we know exactly what the last campaign took to create.
These are the kind of relationships we actively seek in our partners, and I’m grateful to be constantly creating, exploring, and honing my craft at such a high level. It’s always gratifying to hear how well these campaigns do, or how excited the brand is about a certain piece we just finished.
LBB> Finally, what are you currently working on that you are looking forward to seeing released into the world?
Enrique> I'm really excited with our upcoming work releasing this month. In particular, without breaking my NDA's, I can tell you that we have a big character animation piece coming out soon that I'm extremely proud of. It puts our creative and technical process mentioned earlier to the test, and I hope it opens even more doors into the narrative and character animation world.
