A Feather Challenge for Digital Apes

Csaba Elteto of Digital Apes Ltd. shares why the studio turned to Yeti to help solve their feather challenges when asked to create a CG Seagull.

“The job was to create an opening film sequence that would feature a computer generated seagull, so we went to look for a software solution that could do exactly that. The facility had already been using the usual hair and fur tools for smaller jobs but we hadn’t had enough positive experience to use them for a bigger project so our team immediately thought of Yeti as a possible solution.”

“Initially we spent time with the trial version and it quickly became obvious that Yeti’s node-based workflow and ability to use different grooms within the same system is very flexible and dependable. After these initial few weeks it was clear that we’re going to use Yeti in the future.”

“We only had one technological problem during the process which involved a mismatch between our custom Maya-to-Arnold build and the available Yeti version. Fortunately Peregrine labs responded almost immediately and thanks to that we managed to solve the problem quickly. During the production we received a huge amount of support from the Yeti Central forums including workflow aids regarding the handling of instances and working with dynamics.”

“Creating feathers was a new challenge for us and our Yeti expectations were high, nevertheless Yeti proved to be the right choice for handling instancing and look development for the feathers and allowed us to implement new ideas quickly during production.”

“Thank you for all the great support and help, we are looking forward to working with you and your products in the future!”

Thank you Csaba for letting us share your story!