The CG/VFX List
By Alastair Macleod - al at mocap dot ca
This is a curated list of VFX companies and individuals, with a focus on building asset or providing front end services such as 3d scanning, motion capture and asset creation rather than vfx shops that primarily work on shots.
The motivation behind this list is to help connect reputable companies and individuals with clients and to help spread common knowledge within the industry regarding who to go to get things made or work done.
If you have any suggestions for companies to add, please submit them here.
About me: I am a Motion Capture specialist working in Los Angeles. I mostly work at production companies (ESC, Image Engine, Weta, Laika…) and have occasionally work for service companies (Audiomotion, House of Moves). I am currently working at RYOT Films in Playa Vista California.
Legal: Any opinions listed are the opinions of the individual. Nothing stated should be considered an endorsement. No warranty for the validity of the information is given and all liability is waived. If you have a bad experience with someone who gets a favourable listing here, please don’t blame or sue me - but please let me know so I can make a note or even remove the listing.
Multiple listings: Some companies may fit in to many different categories, they will be listed in their primary area of expertise with other services offered as a note.
Table of contents
3D Scanning, Photogrammetry, Retopology
Autodesk Fusion - $60/mo, $495/yr
This section lists companies or individuals who can help with asset creation, from designing the initial concept through to delivering a film, tv or game ready production asset. Websites that sell assets may be listed here too.
The following companies or individuals can take a character description and a rough drawing on the back of an envelope and deliver a fully rigged and textured asset ready for production use.
Originally known as a previs company they have expanded into other areas.
Al | They do great work and are very well known in the industry. They likely will only work with big budget projects I expect. |
Asset creation and VFX. Originally from Germany and has offices in Venice and Montreal.
Full service asset creation through to final delivery.
Al | I worked with counterpunch when they were doing the Barbie Video Logs along with House of Moves. They do great work for asset creating, faceware based face animation and other services. |
Website where you get what you pay for with assets on this site. Often good as a starting point to build from.
A very well known and reputable matchmoving company.
A major player in 3D scanning. They have a mobile which is based in San Francisco but moves around America and is frequently in LA.
Al | I’ve not used them personally, but I have seen inside their mobile rig and it’s very impressive. I would certainly use them as an option for 3d scanning people. |
Animatrik - Vancouver BC
AudioMotion - Oxford, UK
Centroid - Buckinghamshire
House Of Moves - Los Angeles, California
Emily Carr University - Vancouver BC
The Sawmill - Vancouver BC
EA Capture Lab - Vancouver BC
The following websites provide motion capture animation clips.
Philippines based motion capture data cleanup company
Al | My go-to company for doing motion capture cleanup. Tell Marla I said hi. |
Norma provides suits and markers for most of the industry.
Al | Don’t let the terrible website fool you - this is where most people go to get their mocap suits made. Norma does great work. |
They sell the “X” markers.
Al | I’ll usually get suits from Norma (3x3) and markers from these guys - but both vendors sell both. The Mocap Solutions suits are fairly new, I’m not sure how they compare to 3x3. |
Vicon
Natural Point
Motion Analysis
XSens
Perception Neuron
Leap Motion
Joseph | “The full construction history and timeline to go back and make changes I find extremely useful as it makes it so much easier to make tiny tweaks to your model as you find the sweet spots of your printer.” |
Simon | Learn the Boolean modifiers to combine simple solids into complex shapes, very fast and fluid and you can step into the verts if you have to |
Al | This is the printer I have and it’s been great. |
Al | Download stuff to print from here. |
These schools are the best of the best, IMHO:
Gobelins - France
Gnomon - Los Angeles
Full Sail - Florida
Bournemouth University - England
Filmakademie - Germany
Lost Boys Studios - Vancouver, Montreal
Ringling - Florida
Savannah College of Art and Design - Georgia, Hong Kong
Vancouver Film School - Vancouver BC
Sheridan College - Wyoming
University of Southern California - Los Angeles
California Institute of the Arts - Los Angeles
These school are also worth checking out:
Rigging Dojo - Brad Clark
I would not recommend the Art Institute.
https://www.draw.io/ - Flowcharts
https://asana.com/ - Project Tracking
https://basecamp.com/ - Project Tracking
https://trello.com/ - Task Management
https://slack.com/ - Messaging
https://fonts.google.com/ - Free Fonts
http://paletton.com/ - Color Pallette
https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ - Python Editor
https://processing.org/ - Simple Graphics Programming
https://www.anaconda.com/download/ - Full python install, great for machine learning
https://opencv.org/ - Computer Vision Library
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/
http://www.gefen.com/ - Great video systems, cables, switching
https://www.paralinx.net/products/ - wireless
https://teradek.com/ - wireless
https://shop.redrockmicro.com/ - camera mounts
These resource provide royalty free assets for download:
https://unsplash.com/ - Images
https://www.wildtextures.com/ - Images
Delphine Doreau, Artist and color expert
I don’t know anything about these companies, but am listing them for future reference:
http://www.believe.tv/contact/ - Chile