Case Study: Cinesite creates Emmy-nominated CG sequences with Foundry Nuke

Cinesite speeds up CG workflows by nearly 75% with Foundry

Cinesite, the main VFX vendor for HBO's True Detective: Night Country, faced the challenge of creating photorealistic CG creatures and environments for the series' unsettling opening sequence. This included generating a herd of over 40 caribou and transforming Iceland plates into an Alaskan landscape, all under immense pressure to set the show's haunting tone. To achieve this, they utilized Foundry's Nuke and its USD capabilities.

The solution implemented by Foundry involved a new custom USD workflow, which drastically accelerated data loading times to nearly a quarter of the traditional time. This integration, along with Nuke's tight connection to Cinesite's lighting pipeline, allowed for automated, real-time changes and more accurate iterations, saving significant time. The result was an Emmy Award-nominated sequence that was critically acclaimed, with the director even extending shots of Cinesite's CG polar bear due to its impressive realism.

Cinesite