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Darren Lutz, Balance Studios
December 2007

Balance Studios is an award-winning media boutique located in Green Bay Wisconsin, with a focus on animation/visual fx, interactive media development, and broadcast production. We recently spoke with President/Director of Animation, Darren Lutz about how Balance got it's start, what they've been up to and what's on the horizon for this American cheese loving crew.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the history of Balance Studios?

My name is Darren Lutz, I am the President and Director of Animation here at Balance Studios. I have been in the animation business longer than I care to admit and have been an avid user of LightWave pretty much since is inception.

My partner Tina and I had the bitter-sweet experience of starting our company on September 11, 2001. As we were signing our incorporation and lease papers, the world was changing in way that we may never understand…unbelievable to say the least. If you all remember the impact on media and marketing, needless to say the first two years were hit or miss. We have used those early days to help us stay focused on the big picture. That we may only have a minute in this world, and if that’s the case then let’s make every one of those minutes count.

Out of all of this came small but mighty production studio hailing from the big city of Green Bay Wisconsin where we work with an international client base on a very wide range and variety of projects within each of our three divisions: animation/visual fx –find out all the details below; interactive media – websites, content management systems (CMS), applications and games; broadcast/post – music videos, commercials, films, and video.

What are the benefits to being located in Green Bay?

The Packers, the Brewers, the Badgers and the Bucks. The work ethic, the people, the traffic is manageable, and beer’s made here.

Actually, we got a bit of flack from our industry brethren when we decided to locate Balance in Green Bay, WI. We like it here because it is a mid-size city with all four seasons and our families are here.

We are close to anything or anywhere we want to go. The cost of living is reasonable, there is tremendous amount of talent from the midwest and more is starting to come back. We have also been able to recruit talent from around the world and with the tools we’ve developed and other technologies available; it really doesn’t matter where your company is located anymore.

Because of our international client base, we’ve have also had the opportunity to travel all over the world which allows us to bring the creativity, ideas, technologies, and diverse cultures back to this midwest city and incorporate these unique concepts into our client and original projects.

How was Balance first introduced to LightWave?

I started out using Calagari TrueSpace back in the old days…circa 1993. It was the only cost effective 3D program that I knew of at the time. Back then tangible 3D was pretty expensive and only used commercially by larger studios, so creating a dynamic reel was pretty unheard of. If you had one, it consisted mostly of models and textures. I was hired by John Lemmon Films in Charlotte to add 3D to their already successful traditional and stop motion animation departments. When I moved back to the midwest I needed to extend my capabilities and was on the hunt for a more capable set of tools. A developer friend of mine introduced me to two different programs, 3D Studio (on DOS) and NewTek's LightWave. Needless to say after about two weeks of working with both, LightWave won out hands down. The modeling, the rendering, the animation tools, the tech support, everything was what I had been hoping for in a 3D package.

When I relocated back to Green Bay the first thing I did was to introduce LightWave to the animation company I was hired to manage and get everyone trained. I also attended LightWave classes in San Francisco for Washburn University and dug into the current courses that were available at the time. A very exciting time indeed. When Tina and I started Balance Studios in 2001, the first set of tools we purchased were a bunch of LightWave seats. So, needless to say, LightWave has been in the toolbox for many years, and will be for many years to come.

How much of the work at Balance has been created with the aid of LightWave?

LightWave is the only 3D tool we use at Balance Studios. We do combine LightWave with Combustion and Toxic for VFX and Smoke and Final Cut 2 for edit and finishing. We have contemplated a 3D pipeline of Maya and LightWave or XSI and LightWave, but we just can’t seem to get our animators to embrace these tools when they can get the job done with LightWave faster and more efficiently.

I concur with their assessments and support their wishes for the best tools for the job. It just happens to all work inside one program. The above statement is extremely important because of the current opposition to LightWave in some areas of animation. Balance creates high-end character animation, 3D prototyping, and 2D simulated character animation along with a myriad of other animation disciplines and they all have been workable inside LightWave alone. With that said, I am a believer in that if LightWave animators would spend half the time on finding a LightWave solution than they do on, lets say learning Max, they would get everything they could want from this awesome animation package.

What features of LightWave do you like the most?

I have a quite a few major likes and a few concerns with LightWave. The big pluses are the final rendered image. Best renderer in the Biz, and the best part…. It’s free. We all LOVE modeler and all of its tools; nothing compares. The development community as a whole is the best; I am a huge fan of Worley (Sasquatch, Fprime etc.) along with MULE from epicsoft, best network render on the market. (gotta support the little brother)

The new node editor kicks ass all over the place. We have implemented it in our pipeline and now can’t live without it. I love IK boost. What a freaky cool tool. It is SO cool we can’t find enough places to use it.

The new Camera tools are schweet. This is a major boost for us when matching plates. We have been using the new UV camera lately and love the fact that it doesn’t crash every time you use it, lol. I could go on forever.

I would like to see a muscle implementation sooner than later, either by NewTek or by a third party. As of now we have workarounds based on bones, scripts and dynamics but they are cumbersome and time consuming.

Is there any one project you’re particularly fond of?

Can I give two or three, or maybe four? I’ll make them short, I promise, Cool?, Thanks.
I am really jazzed about a series of projects with our sister company Wine Studios from Sendia Japan. We are creating a series of animations with them based on children’s stories. We have the awesome opportunity to create all kinds of animation types that include 3D, simulated 2D Stop Motion and some Motion Capture that will help the kids in Japan lean English. How cool is that? We can’t show them yet because the curriculum hasn’t been “officially” released, but I thought I would share a couple of projects to show the versatility we have been able to accomplish with LightWave ranging from the most photo realistic to cartoon-like.

What was your most challenging project?

I would have to say there are really two major ones that stick out immediately.

First, Balance and Wine Studios, our sister company from Sendia Japan, are under consideration by a top-level developer of broadcast television programming to work on one of their upcoming productions. As part of the negotiation, the producers commissioned four "audition" test shots from Balance with the challenge of creating *real* talking dogs by bringing together live-action camera footage with recorded dialogue tracks; and, through a process of CG "muzzle replacement", to put words into the dogs' mouths. The producers provided film plates of non-talking dogs, along with corresponding audio, and Balance took it from there…with the help of Wine Studios taking care of keying and some camera tracking. We used LightWave exclusively for modeling the snouts, UV’s and texturing. We managed the lions share of the muzzle compositing inside LightWave along with weighted morphs for the articulation animation. We also ran RPF passed into Combustion from LightWave also. This is where finished the piece for color correction etc.
Judge for yourself. Which of these dogs are real talking dogs and which ones are not? Bet you can't tell the difference!

Image 4,5,6,7 - Star Dogs – Muzzle Replacement/Articulation

Beagle: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=29
Hound: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=30
Sheep Dog: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=27
Golden Retriever: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=28

Second, a project for a film company called Wind Dancer. The brief was to take a live action eagle shot on green screen and attach a CG chain that was supposed to be connected to its leg. The eagle was to struggle on the ground, break the chain and fly away with the chain still attached to its leg. Not a world-ender. The problems arose when receiving the plates to work with. We finished the chain, created the sims for the chain and prepared for the final sign off on the pre-vis. In true production fashion, the client changed his mind last minute on the flight pattern for the eagle and thought that with a few clicks of a button the eagle would magically move on command. (side note: they were a wonderful client, just a bit misinformed ) Long story short, the client needed a CG ‘photo real” eagle to do the things he wanted and within the same timeline. LightWave to the rescue.

We modeled the eagle and rigged it. This will eventually become a tutorial for HDRI because there is NOTHING more complicated than a birds wings going from flight to folding all in camera. It’s a killer rig created by Jerrod Sullivan and Jeff Clifton. We created uv maps, painted the maps, created dozens of weight maps for both textures, bones, and a copious amount of Sasquatch. It turned out spectacularly and the client was ecstatic.

Image 8 - Wind Dancer Films

http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=1

What is the connection between Balance and epicsoft?

Balance is always seeking and finding ways to make processes more efficient and smooth for our company, clients and the industry as a whole. Initially we create tools out of our own necessity to help make our internal production processes better so we can pass those benefit on to our clients: project collaboration, rendering, and technology bridges/components for web development.

As the benefits of using these tools became apparent in our production workflow, we thought our clients and the industry could also benefit. Hence the creation of epicsoft, LLC – a subsidiary of Balance that “creates tools for the business of creativity.”

epicsoft's flagship applications are: MULE 1.5 – the LightWave network render controller that hauls ass; INSPIRE – the web-based communication hub for all project development; epicFlashComponent and epicFlashGallery – tools that help bridge the development gap for .NET and Flash programmers.

epicsoft has other application in the development and are looking forward to releasing them to the industry…the next to come is called FFG (Fishs Folder Generator)

www.epicsoft.net

What are the key benefits to Mule?

The fact that it works is a big plus. Honestly… we developed it for that very reason; we needed something that would work. We tried every single program on the market, starting with Spider. They all have the same issue that we just couldn’t get past. MULE is user friendly and chock full of cool features. The two I like the most are the SMARTgroups and MULEviewer. With SMARTgroups I can set up as many CPU groupings as I like and change them on the fly with a click of a button. The MULEviewer is awesome because I can see the frames rendered either in a single frame or in a sequence and then send them out to an AVI for client previews. Next to LightWave it is “the” most important tool in our whole animation process.

A kind of crazy side note to the story, when we finished MULE back in 2004 I blogged about our new development and it was picked by a few guys that go by the name of Don and Ralph, the boys from ToasterDudes…now back working at NewTek. They are the ones that got us jazzed on getting it out to the LightWave community. Honestly, without their support, I’m not sure people would be enjoying the benefits of MULE right now.

What does the team at Balance do to cut loose after a long week?

We are foosball fanatics, so we cut-loose a few times a day. We actually do quite a bit to keep everyone sane in this crazy industry we all decided to pursue. It is not uncommon to grab everyone up at 2pm on any random day of the week to go see the new film release: Pirates, Ratatouille (that’s R&D right), or a surprise-bowling trip on a Friday afternoon (beers, speed bowling, pizza… the works). We have been known to surprise the crew with concerts-most recently Weird Al-or on an REALLY challenging day, run next door to the Irish Pub for a coupla’ quick Irish Car Bombs

There are also three annual traditions at Balance: The Annual Christmas Pajama Party; The Annual Whistle Pig Extravaganza (This is our Ground Hog’s Day celebration where all of our clients, employee and friends have to dress up in a costume and come to commemorate Punxsutawney Phil and his prediction); and Half Way to St. Paddy’s Day where we bring in national Irish bands (one of our favs, Ceili Rain www.ceilirain.com) we all sport kilts, part-take in annual ceremonies, crown the annual Charlie Mopps (King for a day) and invite the town.

What does Balance look for when adding a new member to the team?

Desire, talent and an internal need to improve yourself each and every day. You can tell on a reel if they can animate, even if the amount of animation is lacking, the same goes for lighting and texturing. It’s doesn’t have to be over the top for us to understand if you are capable or not. It just needs to show that you understand the basics. For example; three well-placed lights can look far better that 15 poorly placed spots. Attitude is very important for me when evaluating talent. Desire to learn and continue to learn is also a prerequisite here at Balance. I have hired people with very little on their reel but was literally in tears when talking about getting into this industry. They had the desire and passion and they have turned out to be phenomenal talents.

Do you have any advice for someone new to 3D?

First, you need to really love animation. I mean really love animation because if you are to make it in today’s animation market you need to be passionate and you need to be good. And to be good you need to be dedicated to the craft. Study animation history. Learn the rudiments. That has been a HUGE problem that I have seen when evaluating student reels. I am a firm believer that traditional animation is not dead. So, study the old pros like Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas or Mark Davis. Read their books and absorb all they have to offer. Work hard and work late. Being an animator is not and will never be a 9-5 job. If thinking about going to college for animation and are to be successful in the biz, you really will need to put in every waking hour into your craft. It will be one year of commitment and intense training but in the end you will come out an animator ready for prime time. Don’t expect the big bucks when you first arrive. No matter what’s on your reel, you will still need to prove yourself. Stay focused and stay passionate. If you are lucky enough to have been bitten by the animation bug, then buckle up and prepare for the ride because it is awesome, fulfilling and just about the most fun a person can have with their clothes on.

What is your favorite type of cheese?

American all the way, oh, and headcheese, but the kind you can actually put on your head. Get all prepared for the big game!

What's next for Balance?

There is so much on the horizon. Let’s see if I can sum it up??? Blackbeard and pirate ships, film pre-vis, finalizing negotiations for potentially producing a visual fx heavy film where principal photography takes place in Ireland, 3D photo real AVATARs, Animation for Education…talk about having fun with diversity of project types.

We have also been contracted by our Japanese sister company to create Animated stories for their English As A Second Language curriculum. We are slated to work on some pre-vis for a $60million film, and we have the great relationships with our long-standing clients where we will continue to help them.

Honestly though, it has been a long and challenging 6 years. My partner Tina and I and our crew have worked very hard for a long time to get where we are today. One of the reasons we created Balance was so we could take a project from concept to completion. Including ideation, animation/visual fx, filming, editing, creating the marketing/brand materials, web and DVD development.

We do this for clients all the time, but now we are finally in the position to also follow our hearts and dreams of creating our own original properties. We recently started Believe Animation Studios where we have four original properties in development: 3 animated children’s series and one CG/Live Action feature film.

Thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us, Darren!

Thank you for the chat. If you can’t tell by now, we sure do love what we do, and we sure love the tools that the industry has created for us. I often think about where we would be without the likes NewTek. They were the innovators in 3D animation and Non-Linear editing. Anyone remember the Amiga? We wouldn’t have Balance without NewTek because you gave us a platform for which to work. 3D animation as we know it today would be drastically different, dare I say not for the better? There would be no MULE, there would be no sunshine. Viva Le NewTek.

Salute to the NewTek community as a whole, Prosit to Don and Ralph, and Proton, and Ron Thornton, and Sláinte to all the developers and innovators, the teachers of the animation industry as whole.

For more information about Balance be sure to visit them online at:
http://www.balancestudios.com
http://www.balancestudios/weblog