Brickyard VFX has expanded into 3D animation with the launch of a CG division. The bi-coastal outfit will be headed by industry veterans Jay Lichtman, Robert Sethi and Yafei Wu, who have been hired to help the studio continue to build its commercial vfx business while exploring opportunities in long-form entertainment.
Brickyard co-owner Geoff McAuliffe comments, “Since the day Brickyard opened, we have been doing some of the trickiest compositing in the business, often utilizing CG elements. Establishing our own CG division to bring character modeling and animation capabilities in house was a logical next step, thus affording us more control over the elements and offering a better and more complete service to our clients.”
Lichtman and Wu both come to Brickyard from London’s Glassworks, where Lichtman was head of production and Wu was senior 3D lead. Sethi joins the company from U.K. feature film and television effects house Double Negative, where he was most recently lead character animator and a technical director on the blockbuster Batman Begins.
The new division also brings changes to Brickyard’s pipeline, which is based on Autodesk Discreet Flame HD systems and 2d3 boujou tracking software. The company has added Alias Maya, Adobe After Effects, Apple Shake and a full, film-capable render farm running Pixar Renderman and Mental Images’ Mental Ray.
The new animation unit has already been put to work on a number of jobs, including a CG-intensive spot for the 2006 Super Bowl. Brickyard has provided digital effects work for such clients as Chevrolet, Old Navy, Citibank, Volkswagen, Target and Tyson Foods. More information on the studio can be found at www.brickyardvfx.com.
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