Services
VFX
Effects that serve the shot rather than announce themselves. Smoke, fire, water and destruction — plus the invisible work, cleanup, roto and integration, that decides whether an audience believes what it's looking at.
What we make
Everything a VFX brief can include
Simulation and FX
Fire, smoke, water, sand, cloth and destruction, art-directed to the shot rather than left to whatever the solver happens to produce.
Compositing and integration
CG married into plates with matched grain, lens behaviour and light response, so nothing sits on top of the frame.
Real-time VFX for games
Niagara and particle systems for gameplay and combat, authored to a performance budget and profiled on target hardware.
Cleanup, roto and paint
Rig removal, markers, wires and unwanted reality, plus the roto and matte work that makes everything else possible.
Matte painting and set extension
Environments extended beyond what was built, projected onto geometry so the camera can still move through them.
Camera tracking and match-move
Solves, lens de-distortion and object tracks, with the scale reference sorted out so anything with physics behaves.
The process
How a VFX job runs
Every stage names its own approval, so you always know what you are signing off and what it unlocks. Nothing moves to the next stage until the one before it is agreed.
Step 01
Breakdown and bid
Every shot watched and classified — what it needs, how long it takes, what could go wrong. You get a per-shot count, not a lump sum.
A spreadsheet and some honesty
Step 02
Plate prep
Conform, camera solve, lens distortion and roto. Unglamorous, and the stage that quietly decides whether everything after it works.
3DEqualizer, Mocha Pro, Nuke
Step 03
Look development
One representative shot taken to near-final, so the effect is agreed on screen before it's multiplied across a sequence.
Houdini, Nuke
Step 04
Simulation and render
Sims run at final resolution with cached versions kept, so a note on shot 12 doesn't force a re-run of the entire sequence.
Houdini, Karma, Redshift
Step 05
Comp and finishing
Passes assembled, grain matched, grade applied, and every shot reviewed in the context of the cut rather than on its own.
Nuke, DaVinci Resolve
Software
What we work in
- Houdini
- Nuke
- Unreal Niagara
- Maya
- Blender
- Mocha Pro
- 3DEqualizer
- DaVinci Resolve
- After Effects
Not on the list? Ask. Most pipelines are a swap away, and we will say so plainly if yours is not.
Hand-off
What you get
- Linear EXR sequences at plate resolution
- Graded masters to your delivery spec
- Nuke scripts and Houdini scene files
- Cached sims — VDB, Alembic, bgeo
- Niagara systems profiled on target hardware
- A per-shot breakdown reel on request
Questions
VFX, answered
How do you price VFX?
Per shot, after watching the cut. A count of shots by complexity band is far more honest than a day rate, because it tells you what the number becomes if the shot count changes — and it usually does.
What do you need from the shoot?
Ideally a clean plate, an HDRI or a chrome and grey ball, lens and height data, and a tracking pass. Realistically we often get none of it and solve from the plate instead. Tell us early and we'll send a one-page on-set list — it costs nothing on the day and saves a great deal afterwards.
Can you take over a sequence another vendor started?
Yes. Send the scripts and caches. We audit them first and tell you plainly whether continuing is cheaper than rebuilding — sometimes it's not, and you should hear that before you pay for it.
How do we start?
Send the brief, or just the problem — a script, a deck, a level, a rough idea and a date. We come back within two working days with a shot or asset count, a crew, a price and a schedule. If the date isn't achievable we say so then, not in week six.
Can you match an existing style?
Yes, and it's most of what studio work is. Send the style guide, the shipped assets, or even a screenshot. We produce one paid test piece first so you can judge the match on your own asset before committing to the batch.
How does review work?
A shared review link with frame-accurate comments, updated weekly. Two rounds of revision per stage are in the quote; beyond that we bill by the day and tell you before the clock starts.
Who owns the finished work?
You do, on final payment — full assignment, including the source files. We ask only for the right to show finished work in our portfolio, and we hold that back for as long as you need us to.
Start a project
Have a VFX brief?
Send it with the deadline attached. You get a shot or asset count, a crew, a price and a date within two working days — or an honest no.