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Visual effects for the Indian blockbuster “RRR”
- andsoitis 4y agoAh, and I see you can watch RRR on Netflix.
- vipa123 4y agoIs it any good?
- hannofcart 4y agoDepends on who's asking and what they're looking for. Let's just say that nuance/subtlety is not a high priority of this genre of film. :)
- dominotw 4y agoyes if you have kids below 7 yrs.
- robin_reala 4y agoI really wouldn’t show it to kids below 12; there’s some pretty horrific torture scenes in it.
- gwill 4y agoI loved it. It's over the top, but embraces it really well. I recommend watching with someone else because discussing the movie is really fun. Don't get put off by the runtime, it's very well paced.
- andsoitis 4y agoI don't know yet, but I added it to My List to watch this weekend.
- nsajko 4y agoIt's fun, but seeing it was concerning because it's basically propaganda, and it seems like it's not out of place in this way where it came from.
- throwaway49374 4y ago+1
- throwaway49374 4y agoMy +1 is for the parent propaganda comment, Bollywood has a lot of right wing propaganda these days.
- nsajko 4y agoFTR, it seems that this is categorized as a "Tollywood" (Telugu) movie, as opposed to Bollywood (Hindi).
- unmole 4y agoIt's propaganda in the same way Sharpe's Eagle is propaganda.
- gernb 4y agoI enjoyed it. In fact it might be the best Indian movie I've seen in terms of just being interesting all the way through. I'm curious what if any serious Indian movies there are. Are they common or rare? Pretty much every Indian movie I've seen is full of amazing and fun nonsense in one form or another. Not that I've seen more than 10 or 15 Indian movies, just curious what the mix is of serious drama vs, break into dance and or show crazy stunt movies is
- washadjeffmad 4y agoI'm not very attuned to modern Indian cinema, but Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy is excellent, as is Charulata. For non fiction, Mira Nair's "So Far from Home" and Roberto Rossellini's "India: Matri Bhumi" are also captivating watches.
- srik 4y agoSatyajit Ray's entire catalog is delightful, and timeless. The Indian new wave parallel cinema movement that held such promise back then has bemoaningly since declined to a disappointing one or two entries every couple years. Distributors and studios being conservative and reluctant to change from the "bollywood doctrine" held the indian film industry hostage in a state of arrested development for the past few decades. It's kind of why I'm thankful for the rise of streaming services, they're enabling younger indie directors to break free and be bold again. It's a very hopeful time for indian cinema.
- ivanmilles 4y agoNetflix’s Sacred Games. It was their first domestic production and is a straight faced noir cop drama. It’s my favorite crime series of all time - I think it blends The crime boss mythology of The Usual Suspects with the multi-decade story telling of The Godfather. It is told in a way that it feels like a picture coming into focus, rather than a linear narrative.
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- pen2l 4y agoI liked it. It’s like if you mix Snatch with Inglorious Bastards and then made it over-the-top cheesy. But on the topic — I think this changes everything. Blender is now literally a viable alternative against behemoth setups that easily go in 5-digits (and 6 digits if you have hundreds of designers as some shops do). It’s now crossed that magical threshold where competent firms will choose it for their projects and any weaknesses that surface then, it will now be the, the big buys at big chops like the Mill or what-have-you, who will be contributing fixes and pushing Blender to new directions. Full alembic support, better volume-related features, some more UI touch-up, and we're almost all there. I’m nothing short of stunned at the pace with which Blender is moving forward and it’s clear that come another 5 years, it’ll be a force to reckon with and a worthy competitor to dethrone Houdini.
- pen2l 4y agos/the, the big buys at big chops/them, the big guys at the big shops/
- UtopiaPunk 4y agoYeah, it's tons of fun. It's a big goofy action movie, and they really lean into it in all the best ways. It's basically a superhero movie.
- efficax 4y agoIt's completely over the top, with absurd action sequences, fantastical characters, dance numbers, melodrama and heartbreak, one sided caricatures of evil Englishmen, and lots and lots of fun. It's excessive in every way, down it's more than 3 hour runtime. It's a blast!
- that_girl 4y agoNot much different from over the top movies by Tom Cruise.
- spaceman_2020 4y agoIts very well made for its genre. I personally found 90% of the movie to be great, but was let down by the climax. Went too hard on the CGI.
- dagmx 4y agoIt’s highly enjoyable though it is also very nationalist propaganda in parts, which foreigners won’t pick up on. For the most part it never becomes an issue because the brunt of the movie is fighting colonialism and therefore quite appropriate and incredibly good. The end credit scene is the only part that I’d consider problematic from a messaging standpoint as it takes a hard line on who they celebrate and isn’t subtle about the directors political allegiances. Anyway would really recommend watching it. It’s a wild ride, and incredibly well done. If you’re not from India, you can largely ignore the issues with internal politics Edit: Since people are asking for links about the politics… https://www.vox.com/23220275/rrr-netflix-tollywood-hindutva-caste-system https://www.vox.com/23220275/rrr-netflix-tollywood-hindutva-... https://slate.com/culture/2022/06/rrr-review-indian-blockbuster-netflix-hindu-nationalism.html https://slate.com/culture/2022/06/rrr-review-indian-blockbus... Essentially it’s holding up some of the more radical freedom fighters and downplaying the more pacifist and equitable ones which reflects the directors political stance
- hermitcrab 4y agoI did wonder about the Indian politics in the film. I did pick up a few bits here and there, but probably missed a lot. Care to say a bit more about that? If not, I understand.
- dagmx 4y agoI updated my post above with links of why many consider it nationalist, but I can elaborate more if you want. Just let me know. It’s subtle but it’s in the same vein of how many military and cop films push messaging
- unmole 4y ago> The end credit scene is the only part that I’d consider problematic from a messaging standpoint as it takes a hard line on who they celebrate and isn’t subtle about the directors political allegiances. I don't actually remember the end credit scene and I didn't pick up on any contemporary political references. Could you elaborate?
- doodlebugging 4y agoI thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie and found myself grinning ear to ear when it was done as I was describing it to my wife. She had been working while I watched so we plan to cue it up again and see it together. I felt totally entertained at the conclusion. I even watched the credits roll. Many of the CGI effects were pretty obvious but it made the movie more watchable in my opinion. The blending of real action with fake enhanced the ability to tell the story. It was great. Kudos to all involved in this epic!
- hermitcrab 4y agoObviously that is highly subjective. I really liked it, as did my 16 year old son. Although, being British, it was weird to see my countrymen as the cartoon baddies[1]. It is completely over the top and fantastical. But that is part of the appeal. I thought it made a very refreshing change from hollywood movies. [1] Not without reason. Read up on the depradations of the East India company
- blackoil 4y agoRandom digression. In wake of recent demise of the Queen, good curious how much do British see the colonion past as glorious and how much as a dark legacy?
- chinabot 4y agoUnless you were a baron or a lord, I doubt many British people got any benefit. Britain and most of its old colonies are pretty multi-cultural now (more so than any other countries colonies) I think that and standard english are probably the only real benefits we can see today.
- hermitcrab 4y agoI expect a lot of the resources from the colonies were used to finance the Royal Navy.
- hermitcrab 4y agoWhen I went to schools (40 years ago) history was all about the saxons, romans and vikings. Plus a bit about WWI and the Russian revolution. I don't remember doing anything much about the British Empire. But it was always tacitly assumed that the British Empire was "a good thing". I think most educated British people now know there is quite a lot that was "problematic" about the empire. Interestingly there is a very good new British podcast called "Empire" which talks in a lot of detail about what the British did in India and it is not comfortable listening. I would say the British Empire wasn't as cruel as the Spanish, Portugese or Belgian empires. But that is a very low bar.
- screye 4y agoProbably the best Indian-as-indian-can-be movie that's released in a longtime. This is the highest grossing film of all time in Indian cinema, the Avengers Endgame / Jurrassic Park of India. Pros * Incredibly stylized and fresh (not derivative) * great bro-drama * arguably best dance scene EVER * Not deeply cynical towards society like everything made today. Cons: * Long (but still somehow incredibly fast paced and dense, just a lot of arcs) * over the top (but shamelessly so, and taken seriously) ______ RRR is a tectonic shift in how Indian cinema views itself. It is worth watching purely because of its place in the Movie movement zeitgeist. IMO, This is the first Indian movie in 10 years that makes it to must watch territory for universal audiences (the last one being 3 idiots).
- silisili 4y agoI think it's going to depend on what kind of movies you like. I went in thinking it was going to be some nonstop action flick, and didn't like it at all. It seemed like an overly long musical to me, which I've never been a fan of. My wife on the other hand thought it was beautiful and loved it. YMMV.
- spaghettiToy 4y agoI hope to have one of these articles about FreeCAD one day. Maybe the stakes are lower for movies than engineering and that's why it hasn't happened yet.
- rcarmo 4y agoI’ve been trying to get to grips with FreeCAD for a few months and it reminds me a lot of pre-2.8 Blender - the UX is very opinionated and clunky, needs some serious re-thinking… (I am trying to avoid using Fusion 360, which has a much more streamlined experience)
- agumonkey 4y agoMaybe it's the perfect time to rebuild it.
- jahewson 4y agoWhy start from known bad point? Just build something else.
- agumonkey 4y agoit's always good to consider the existing before throwing it all away
- rcarmo 4y agoEspecially because FreeCAD is a reasonably good cross-platform desktop application, and rebuilding a CAD program from scratch tends to be interpreted as “let’s build a half-assed web service/Electron app” these days.
- sen 4y agoI spent a solid month trying to switch from Fusion 360 to FreeCAD (as a hobbyist maker) and while I got to the point where I could pretty much make anything I needed… it never stopped being a struggle, and taking twice as long. I really really want an OSS alternative to Fusion/etc but FreeCAD needs a lot of work before it’ll even come close.
- weinzierl 4y agoThere is also "I Lost My Body" which is full-length movie made in Blender. An interview with the director Jérémy Clapin[1] gives a bit of the backgound of the project. Both "RRR" [2] and "I Lost My Body" [3] are on Netflix. [1] https://www.blender.org/user-stories/i-lost-my-body-a-stunning-hybrid-cinematic-experience/ https://www.blender.org/user-stories/i-lost-my-body-a-stunni... [2] https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81476453?s=i&trkid=13747225&vlang=en&clip=81552243 https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81476453?s=i&trkid=13747225... [3] https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81120982?s=i&trkid=13747225&vlang=en&clip=81305435 https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81120982?s=i&trkid=13747225...
- jvdvegt 4y agoToo bad Netflix won't let me play [3]
- weinzierl 4y agoWorks for me. What error do you get?
- addandsubtract 4y agoThe "You are not in the US" error.
- Daub 4y agoLove Blender, but in my experience, the biggest advantage that 3DS Max has over Blender is its ability to handle massive scenes. In VFX, especially those involving explosions, dust, crowds and suchlike, this can be a deal breaker.
- Etheryte 4y agoYou clearly haven't watched the movie mentioned in the article. Most of the movie is massive scenes including exactly the kind of elements you described.
- Daub 4y agoIf you look closely at the Blender file in the example, you will see that some geometry elements in the Outliner feature a small icon that looks like a chain. This signifies that it is referencing (linking in Blender parlance) that geometry in other files. Linked files cannot be edited unless you round-trip to the original files. Max would not have this problem. Sorry if I came off as anti-Blender, but I am anything but. I have written over 100 pages of open-access Blender related learning material and was responsible for moving our school (400 design students) from max and Maya to Blender. No one regrated this move, even those who have spent their entire creative lives in Autodesk's shadow. However, it was not without cost. My top animator loves Blender, but says that its animation tools are not yet equal to those of Max/maya. And Max/maya can crease through files which Blender (currently) chokes on.
- lern_too_spel 4y agoMultiple VFX companies worked on RRR. This article is about one of them, which used Blender.
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- dagmx 4y agoTitle is misleading. It was made primarily in Blender but not entirely in it. From the article > Blender was used in our entire pipeline aside from the FX department Houdini was likely used for FX work since Blender isn’t quite competitive with it yet. Additionally, this is about a single studio’s pipeline and not reflective of all the total work involved.
- dboon 4y agoSpeaking of Houdini, https://github.com/setzer22/blackjack https://github.com/setzer22/blackjack is an excellent open source alternative that loses a ton of cruft and is scriptable in Lua. I highly recommend checking it out if this is your kind of thing
- capableweb 4y agoblackjack seems like a great (initial version of a) tool for doing procedural modelling, just like geometry nodes in Blender. However, it seems the similarities with Houdini stops there. While Houdini might be famous for the procedural nature of the tool, where it really shines is the physics, simulation and effects department. Which blackjack seems to not have any features about at all.
- gabereiser 4y agoNot even close to Houdini. It’s on par with its modeling but has nothing on Houdini’s sim, particles, FX.
- virtualritz 4y agoI like Blackjack and I'm even working on porting some of my Rust geometry code to Blackjack nodes. But calling it a Houdini alternative is, pardon my French, BS. :) Blackjack atm covers less than <1% of Houdini's modeling toolset. And modeling is the least used part of Houdini in VFX (less so in games, i.e. for massive open world building etc.) Houdini is usually used for what is called FX/effects in VFX. I.e. fire, water, explosions, destructions. Also crowd stuff is not seldomly done in Houdini.
- dang 4y ago
- jwitthuhn 4y agoExcited to see this posted here, I'm the author of the Cycles for Max plugin mentioned in the article. I was delighted when I first heard it was used in RRR. https://cyclesformax.net https://cyclesformax.net
- pen2l 4y agoI saw it in imax at the insistence of an acquaintance. While watching I kept thinking: "ok, so this is the results when you have a massive budget, access to lots of designers and top-of-the-line tools". I'm totally thunderstruck to learn it was all done in Blender pipeline. Bravo for making this possible.
- tomcam 4y agoSame. The movie was very fun and it was plainly obvious to me that they had a giant budget for crowds, visual effects, etc. Gobsmacked that this was an all-Blender operation.
- tooltower 4y agoI'm confused. What does budget have to do with using Blender? I thought a big movie budget is needed mainly for the labor and artistry, and comparatively little goes into software licensing. Is that not the case?
- ZiiS 4y agoPlenty of good films have been made with very small budgets. If you are shooting on a consumer DSLR or even phones then Blender is a godsend. If you have RRR's budget you can easily waste more money explaining to the lawyers and accountants that something is free. The decisions is purly on which software is better.
- tomcam 4y agoYou should be confused. My thinking was unclear and you are quite right.
- protoc 4y agoWhat type of computers do they use to render these FX these days?
- kelsolaar 4y agoDepends on the studio and the type of VFX. The most complex tend to be CPU/Memory bound as the datasets typically do not fit in GPU memory (48GB for an NVIDIA A6000). Thus you find AMD EPYC with a lot of RAM and NVME disks on the server side or AMD Threadripper Pro at artists desks.
- makach 4y agoNothing but masterful! Blender is a tool to be reckon with
- pvsukale3 4y agoUnrelated: If you enjoyed RRR and it's over the top drama, action sequences you might also like following movies. 1) Bahubali 1 & 2 (same director) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G62HrubdD6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G62HrubdD6o 2) KGF chapter 1 and 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qah9sSIXJqk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qah9sSIXJqk
- tomcam 4y agoRight up my alley, thanks! Do you have any recommendations for musicals? I love the 2000s era ones with super melodic songs. Last one I loved was Janatha Garage though. I feel like Telugu movies have seized the Bollywood crown. Not a lot of the jukeboxes on YouTube have impressed me since.
- pvsukale3 4y agoOn top of my mind, not an exhaustive list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geetha_Govindam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geetha_Govindam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2796_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2796_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saathiya_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saathiya_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sairat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sairat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_States_(2014_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_States_(2014_film) https://youtu.be/XTTAHt4VlUA https://youtu.be/XTTAHt4VlUA
- mikymoothrowa 4y agoI second Bahubali but please do not waste your time watching KGF. It’s just a series of hype scenes made for tik tok recreation. Not a movie. Has great music though
- krama 4y agoWho cares if they used Blender or Maya. As an Indian (and a South Indian at that), I must say I’m embarrassed at the level of attention this movie is getting for its over the top use of cringey special effects. There are so many other worthwhile Indian films to watch and enjoy.
- tandr 4y agoWhat would you recommend to watch instead?
- krama 4y agoGiven the number of movies made and regions, and decades, I’d run out of breath. But I’d start here. Malayalam Films : Known for their subtlety and craft in film making, and obsession with crime novels. Dhrishyam part 1 & 2 are like no movies I’ve seen in Hollywood. Hindi Films: Or Bollywood movies, known for their big stars, great attention to set pieces of grand dance sequence s and decent romantic comedies / sports movies. Hard to pick one as nothing has shined recently. I’d give “Zindagi Na milega dubara” / “Chak dhe” a look. Again nothing spectacular recently unless you want to watch a classic from the seventies “Sholay” Tamil movies : Gritty movies about inner city gangs / social upheaval or focus on stellar music/dance romantic comedies and major action blockbusters. From recent years I’d give “Vada Chennai”, or “Vikram Vedha” a chance for gritty urban movies. Or just the most recent action blockbuster “Vikram”. Which has a really good score. Telugu movies (the original language for RRR) : I’d give “Pushpa” a look before watching CGI drenched RRR.
- sremani 4y agoNah Bro.. RRR beats all the 3rd rate movies you have mentioned for global audiences.. this coming from a guy who loved Pushpa more than RRR.
- bhupy 4y ago> Hard to pick one as nothing has shined recently. I’d give “Zindagi Na milega dubara” / “Chak dhe” a look. +1 for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - one of my all time favorites. For a more recent Bollywood film, Kapoor and Sons is pretty good.
- 29athrowaway 4y agoThey will never surpass the most excellent Indian production https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8OJB5qLZ6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8OJB5qLZ6o
- jmartrican 4y agoI can't finish watching this movie because I do not want to see the two dudes fight each other. lol. I want to live in a world where they still BFFs.
- mikymoothrowa 4y agoIf that’s your problem, you can watch the ending and then rewatch the whole film.
- bergenty 4y agoThis is a spoiler you probably want to get rid of it though you can probably see what you’re saying coming.
- vivegi 4y agoThe film certainly took the level of art and craft in Indian cinema several notches up. Pleasantly surprised that some of the visual effects used the Blender pipeline. Very cool.
- js2 4y agoThis movie is apparently available to U.S. audiences only on Netflix with a Hindi dub. I'd really like to see it in its original language with English subtitles. As well, the total size of the UHD stream is about 14 GB which isn't going to be the best quality for a 3 hour runtime. https://old.reddit.com/r/Bluray/comments/v3fzni/rrr_bluray/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Bluray/comments/v3fzni/rrr_bluray/ I'll watch it anyway. Looks like a fun time.
- rootw0rm 4y agoI think I had a hard time finding Enthiran in it's original Tamil when it first came out, too.
- Sateeshm 4y agoOther than VFX, it's a terrible movie.
- js2 4y agoI recently finished watching all four Airport movies from the 70s. And Miami Connection. I’m prepared.
- ckardat123 4y agoI found it incredibly entertaining. I'd definitely recommend anyone watch at least through the second scene, at which point you'll probably know whether you'll enjoy the rest of the 3+ hour movie or not.
- boruto 4y agoThat's just your opinion. Mine is different
- tulasichintha 4y agoI watched this movie and visual feast for audience. Nice to see they used Blender pipeline for Visuals.
- TaylorAlexander 4y agoFor anyone unfamiliar with the movie or seeking some perspective on the film, I did very much enjoy this review/retrospective of RRR by Patrick H Willems, a channel which I generally enjoy. The same video is also on Nebula for folks with a subscription. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPU2D5Ftjbw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPU2D5Ftjbw
- andrewstuart 4y agoThe Critical Drinker - a YouTube movie reviewer who is very very selective about what he calls a good movie, says: "RRR is the best movie you've never seen" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKN6FAKjFPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKN6FAKjFPU
- rufusroflpunch 4y agoI love the Critical Drinker and I also loved this movie. I am not a fan of Indian movies usually, but this one was so good that it is really almost mythical in the way can tell a universal story.
- a_square_peg 4y agoI wholeheartedly agree - I never had so much fun watching a movie.
- solarkraft 4y agoI don't remember this guy ever being positive about a movie, so that's some serious enthusiasm.
- A-Train 4y agoHe liked Top Gun Maverick very much too. The review was fantastic.
- lizardactivist 4y agoIt's very cool to see Blender grow bigger each year and moving into the mainstream movie production. I can recommend Blender Bob's YouTube channel, he has worked in the VFX industry for many years and primarily uses Blender and shows how VFX is made: https://www.youtube.com/c/BlenderBob https://www.youtube.com/c/BlenderBob
- Doxin 4y agoAs long as we're doing recommendations: I can't recommend Ian Hubert enough. Especially the lazy tutorial series. They aren't good beginner tutorials at all, but they are great inspiration for once you get the blender basics down. Witty enough to watch even if you're not even using blender. https://www.youtube.com/c/mrdodobird/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/mrdodobird/videos
- amelius 4y agoIf only 10% of the efforts going into special effects these days went into the actual story ... Eye candy can contribute only so much to a movie. Spend 10x the budget on special effects and the movie will get at most 1% better, sometimes it gets even worse. Superman 1 was much more enjoyable than most movies that came out of Marvel the last years.
- Onewildgamer 4y agoMarvel has become worse these days, it peaked at Infinity War, then a slow decline since then. I'm looking forward to a franchise or a movie that's entertaining as the first Star Wars trilogy. That being said, if you like the story you'd really appreciate the movie RRR. I was pleasantly surprised when I went there without any expectation.
- DoItToMe81 4y agoI don't understand the big hoo ha about the special effects in this. They look tacky and fake, like things I've seen in advertisements years ago.
- known 4y ago