Demo Reel: Meats Meier

[brianellebracht]

I am surprised that no one has replied to this!! Great work. I like the layout of the new site, and the addition of your new demo reel. Great work! Keep it up!
Brian

BTW Congrats on the front page of CGChannel!

[SheepFactory]

Great reel Meats! , Plugged you at the front page.

[Hugh]

Well, I haven't watched it yet - just downloading it now, but I can quite confidently say 'Wow - amazing work' already...

Back when you posted your anim of the sculpture in your back yard, I asked about what tracking software you used - you said Boujou, but recommended Icarus... Thanks for that - I've been playing with Icarus, and plan to use it for a non-commercial project later this year....

[lildragon]

Downloading buddy, be back with a crit ;)

salud

[Hugh]

Okay - just watched it, and my previous comment still stands!

I didn't realise the 'artist' animation was yours, too!

Personally, I think some of your more recent stuff is a lot stronger, and it's always good to leave your audicene with something really good - I'd suggest having something like another shot of the hill-side with the praying devils on at the end...

[Selvagem]

holy awesome wild crazy wild crazyinessawesomeness

[lildragon]

Very nice reel Meats! I must say although I've seen pieces of your work here and there, I never seen it like this. You have some serious compositing skills man. The final result on that devil wire head in the driveway it looks like... is beyond spectacular! you had me guessing if it was hand crafted or modeled, that's a huge accomplishment.

The only thing I didn't like was the music but that's preference :p heheh

Are you looking for a gig? :curious:

salud

[lildragon]

In addition to Sheep's plug here on the talk, I've plugged you also on http://www.3dfestival.com

well done :thumbsup:

salud

[Hugh]

Oh, and due to the stunning compositing work in there, I've plugged it over at VFXTalk (http://www.vfxtalk.com), too.... Hope that's okay ;)

[MiGa]

Great work! :thumbsup:
The Compositing-Work is really great!

miga

[CGmonkey]

Breathtaking... :applause:

[meats]

Wow.
I love this community! Thanks for the front page and the plug on 3dfestival!

Hugh - damn, a plug at vfx talk! Appreciate it. It's too bad that Icarus has gone fully commercial, I was starting to use it almost exclusively. I guess now it's back to saving up for the $5000 version of Boujou 2.1..... Good point on the "leave the audience with something good" - I'm working on a new animation right now that will be the perfect ending, so I'll have to throw that it when it is done.

lildragon - you don't like the White Stripes? The music is just temporary, a friend at a music company is going to bring me some Cd's that I can pick music from.
>>looking for a gig?
Well, somewhat. I have something in the works that may turn out to be the biggest thing to happen to me ever, but it's not signed yet. I, like most people, are always on the look out for a great opportunity....

Thanks to everyone that has downloaded the reel so far!

[carnera]

gratulations.....

man your compositing skills are superb!

bye andras
http://www.mba-studios.de

[Hugh]

Originally posted by meats
It's too bad that Icarus has gone fully commercial, I was starting to use it almost exclusively.

I've not looked at their website for a while, but is it now illegal to use the non-commercial version which I have installed for anything? Or is it just that I won't be able to get at any new updates....

Originally posted by meats
I guess now it's back to saving up for the $5000 version of Boujou 2.1.....

There's always something on the horizon worth saving up for! I have too many things on my list of things to buy at the moment - working along slowly....

Originally posted by meats
Good point on the "leave the audience with something good" - I'm working on a new animation right now that will be the perfect ending, so I'll have to throw that it when it is done.

Looking forward to seeing it!

BTW - what do you use for compositing?

[Equinoxx]

excellent work man.

one thing tho, the vomoting heads really bring down the whole imo . . . they just don't fit in with the rest . . .

but other then that, looks really great

[meats]

Hugh -

Here is a thread about the state of Icarus:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48888
Kind of a bummer, but I'm happy for them and wish them success.
I compostite with AfterFx and Premiere. I used to be really good with Maya Fusion but haven't used it since I left my last employment.

Equinoxx - thanks! I do agree about the vomiting not really fitting in with the rest, but wanted to show some of my fluid dynamic skills. My reel was about four minutes long a few days ago, I've been whittiling it down since then....anyone else think I should cut it out? :thumbsup: or :thumbsdow ?

[rolhionjs]

Well i don't have your skills to judge what should be in this reel or not, because i think that's really an awesome work you did... This devil head is definitely awesome !! Keep doing such a fantastic work !

[lurifrax]

I love you meats!! You work is breathtaking.. especially your Creation.. :buttrock: :buttrock: on man!

[jah]

i can't donwload it... it keeps breaking up the connection... :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

can anyone post a mirror please??

[Mr.FeelNothing]

I must say, this is great work. You had me questioning whether or not the devil faces were CG or actual hand crafted models. Well done.:thumbsup:

[draconix]

Nice to get a look at it alltoghether.

[boomji]

Compositing and match moving...very nice.
Music isent.
shadows dead give away.
specular could do with a little toning down.

may be the icarus dudes give you a free copy if you let them use your excellent work on their show reel. :thumbsup:

b

[LPlasma]

Very nice, I liked the reel quite a bit. Though there are a few things I would cut, mainly, the subway monster and some of the close shots on that guy in the chair pressing the buttons. Those are not as strong as the rest, and it'd make it better w/o them in my opinion. Overall though, very very nice, I especially liked the devils on the hill.

[meats]

thanks - strike -
I love you to, lurifrax!
Jah, have you tried to download it again? Maybe a problem on your end...
ANd thanks for your nice comments Mr. Feelnothing, draconix,boomji, and LPlasma.

LPlasma - aw, I really like the subway monster, it makes people laugh, at least sometimes.....

[moontan]

I have watched your name and work ever since "FOA". I love it. Wonder how you find time? I am origanally from the Salt Lake area, so it's a kick to see talent from there. Your scenes remind me of home. Keep it up and I won't have to go home.

Just wondering about music on demo reels in general. What are the rules about using copyrighted music? Do you need to get permission from the copyright holder? Or do they feel it is a form of flattery and as long as it is not for commercial gain, they aren't going to worry.

[Syrogen]

whoa! great reel man, pretty scary too lol

[Oktavian]

Wow, a great work of art ...
... but do you sleep well with all those fantasies? ;)

[wanna3d]

Meats!!!! I love your new demo!!! Your my biggest inspiration!!!

That was some serious trackin, glad to know that other people love matchmovin as much as I do.

Anyway peace out!!!

Matt

[stephen2002]

amazing compositing skills :applause:

It's is all really impressive, and it is a fairly wide range of work...however so many of the things are done up in that funky wire/mashine style.

[Waters]

Amazing skills/work... now give to the community, and post some tutorials on compositing/match moving! :love: !

[TRyanD]

Awsome Job!

I like the song but imho a diffrent one would be better for the reel.

:buttrock: :thumbsup:

[dark_lotus]

Thats INSANE man!!!

I'd hire ya!!

The creation sculpture fully freaked me out. You got some mighty good talent there!

Hope to see ALOT more of your stuff!!

[Lunatique]

The photorealistic stuff blew me away, but the other stuff seems distracting because they lack the "wow" factor of your realistic stuff.

[Ariel]

Nice compositing and hdri/skylight lighting. The tracking is good most of the time but sometimes, objects "jitter" a bit and lose their connection to the ground.

If you want feedback on the quality, i think most of it is nice but you could still be more selective and probably could take away 20 seconds or so of the not so good work, like the character with jeans and red stripes shirt. He just isn't up to the level of quality of the rest of the reel.

Some sequences where the statues are throwing up, appart from that they could bee seen by employers as bad taste, you can see individual particles too much and it loses the "fluid" quiality and sometimes doesn't come out of the mouth the way it should. In short i, would only leave that sequence if I could fix how the vomit looks in terms of speed and consistency.

Now, the ones i really like were the baby statue at the begining and the metal mask composited over the cement floor, the garden compositing of the tree men and the fountain compositing.

I guess, If you're looking for a job as a compositor, just leave the compositing work and get rid of the rest cause that seems to be your strongest skill.

Good work, keep it up.

[meats]

Hmm, interesting.... When I have been creating this reel, my thinking was : show everything that I can do; show my range. I had everything from rotating models, set-ups, still images, and story boards. It was slowly whittled down mostly for times sake.
Now I am starting to see that the demo reel's real power is for getting peoples attention and getting your foot in the door...
I guess once you have someone's interest, you can then bore them with all of the details.
I'm going to cut a lot of crap out and concentrate on generating a few more quick motion tracked animation to even it out. This really changes my thinking, I'm glad I posted it :)

moontan - Hey, a Utahn! I'm not sure what the rules are about copyrighted music, I plan to use this current song for just a short, non-commercial, time :) I would think it was funny if they got mad about it, although. I'm sorry I gave your band a little free advertising....

oktavian - I sleep fine with my fantasies, I get them out during the day and then I sleep like a baby

Matt - Hey back at ya! I'm adding your site to my links page soon, you have some sweet tracks

Waters - I would post a tutorial on Icarus, but now you will have to pay $4500 to follow along:eek:

Lunatique - See top....thanks! BTW, I'm a big fan of yours and once stared at the painting you made your avatar from for 53 minutes...

Ariel - really great comments, thanks for the lightbulb. :lightbulb
nice hrdi/skylight lighting>>> actual I just usually fake the fake lighting with a few area lights with fuzzy shadows, it renders faster. It's amazing what you can get away with the low res of video. I think that the compression might make it look like there is more jitter than there really is. I'm pretty happy with the uncompressed versions of the tracks.
Good point on the puke, it's not strong enough and it is pretty strange, so I will agree with you and Equinox and nix it.

I never really even considered a job as a compositor, I just consider it a necessary part of the whole process. I love it to be sure, I just love the entire creation too much to do only that. I have never been able to decide what I love more; modeling, set-up, animation, tracking, or lighting/rendering (notice I didn't mention texture mapping ;) )
I think it would also be tough not to have more control over the images given to me.

thanks alot for your posts and comments Syrogen - stephen2002 - Major Lee High - dark_lotus:) -

[Lukashi]

Hey its really nice, my favorite is the statue with the tormented people, i also like all the little puppets playing in front of your computer :)

Also how did you get the grass to show up in front of your models in the one with the demons on the hill?

[aenema]

wow, great reel. my favorite is also the statue with the tortured people. great work :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[flamedevil]

That reel rocks and it's very interesting !
The first 20 seconds impressed me a lot, i liked the objets moving on the tablet, that's very funny :)

That's an excellent works meats.
Good luck for the next to come ;)

edit : btw, the music is great too :thumbsup:

[meats]

Thanks for your comments fakie and flamedevil!

Lukashi - >>how did you get the grass to show up in front of your models in the one with the devils on the hill?>>>

Paint FX in Maya. It's great for things in video resolution, less great for higher resolution. I've heard a rumor that there is a "convert to polygon" option for paint fx strokes in Maya 5 that I am drooling over - and hoping that it is true....

I am working on three new motion tracked animations to add to my reel, I'll post them as I come close to completing them.:)

thanks again

[Lunatique]

Lunatique - See top....thanks! BTW, I'm a big fan of yours and once stared at the painting you made your avatar from for 53 minutes...


hehe, thanks. That's almost like you meditated to it! Or were you thinking naughty thoughts...?? :love:

[meats]

Yes, it's true love:love:
Somehow her eyes are completely blurry yet totally sharp at the same time...I really don't know how you did it. I have always loved eyes...gateway to the soul and all that...

I think I will stare at it more tonight, I have it penciled in for 10:30 till 10:45 p.m. :)

[blinxpro]

Meats, you are my absolute hero when it comes to camera tracking. I understand you have a studio in SLC. Is it stop on in, or by invitation only?

[Pgraphics]

Awesome work man. Unfortunately I come upon it after some cuts. I would have liked to see more. The composite work is really great. The sculpture in the driveway is perfect. I can't tell it's cg by looking at it. I must say you have a strange mind but that's what makes the work so interesting.

By the way...I always wondered how you made all the wire sculpture pieces. Is every piece of wire modeled or is there some trick to it. There just seems to be an insane amount of wire that modeling it all would take forever.

Good luck with your future ventures.

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