Hartmut Engel

Alien Attacker ship modeling & texturing, Lightball animation & rendering:
I was CG supervisor for Independence Day and personally modeled all of the production used CG Alien Attacker ships. Together with two fellow crew members I also textured all of the CG models.
Apart from supervising I also animated all Lightballs for this shot.
Since the CG-crew consisted of only a handful of artists, each one not only animated but also fully lit and rendered their own shots/elements. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

Alien Attacker ship modeling, texturing, animating & rendering, Tracking:
The back plate for this shot was a miniature model filmed by a motion control camera. With no motion tracking software available I hand tracked the film plate and put in the deploying swarm of CG-Attacker space ships. I animated, lit & rendered all Alien Attacker ships for this shot. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX)

Alien Attacker ship modeling, texturing, animating & rendering:
Similar to the above shot I animated, lit & rendered all Alien Attacker space ships in this shot, including the tumbling foreground Attacker and its protection shield. I also personally remodeled much of the F-18 fighter plane model, since the stock CG models did not hold up to production standards. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX)

Period traffic modeling, texturing, animating, lighting & rendering:
This shot is a fully artificial composite featuring miniature model buildings next to CG-traffic and -pedestrians. I modeled & textured most of the period cars and animated all of the traffic in this shot.
I also brought in and supervised an artist who used 3D Studio Max for quickly turning out CG-pedestrians. (Alias Power Animator V.7 & Maya 1.0, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

Hotel building modeling, texturing, lighting & rendering:
The live action plate for this shot required replacement of the original building with this more mondane version. Although photos had been shot of an existing building they couldn't be used for this particular shot due to angle issues. Therefore I modeled this hotel building in CG and textured, lit & rendered it for use in this and some other shots. (Alias Power Animator V.7 & Maya 1.0, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

Racing cars animation:
Although primarily hired as character animator for "Back To Gaya" I also animated some racing cars in this and some other car racing scenes. I animated all cars and their pilots in these shots. (Maya 4.0)

Digital Effects supervising & CG-crew coaching/training:
On this German TV-Series I was hired to bring to level a team of four junior CG-artist, who were new and unexperienced in Alias Power Animator and photoreal Visual Effects. I did supervise these shots and trained the junior staff to create the quality required. Occasionally I helped out in modeling, texturing, animating, lighting and/or rendering. I also created animatics and camera setups for the storyboard breakdowns.
Additionally I did supervise the entire compositing process during production of the series pilot. (Alias Power Animator V.6.5, Photoshop)

F18 Fighter Planes modeling, texturing, animating, lighting & rendering:
Although originally being CG-stock models the CG F-18 fighter planes had to be heavily modified in order to meet the high standards given by the miniature model versions. Since the producer had no confidence in CG planes holding up in foreground, I spent lots of hours tweaking and texturing the CG-planes so they eventually could not be distinguished from their real world counterparts. This was a breakthrough for the production since many shots originally scheduled for miniature model planes could eventually relieve the tight motion capture schedule and be realized as CG models even in foreground situations for many shots.
I animated all F-18 planes in this particular shot, including lighting & rendering. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

F18 Fighter Planes modeling, texturing & CG supervising:
One of the shots I supervised. It also displays my texturing and model tweaking work on the fighter planes to hold up in foreground situations. Animation by another staff member. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

F18 Fighter Planes modeling, texturing & CG supervising:
One of the shots I supervised. It also displays my texturing and model tweaking work on the fighter planes to hold up in foreground situations. Animation by another staff member.(Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

Digital Effects supervising & CG-crew coaching/training:
Same as the Helicops' shot above this is another shot created by the CG-crew I supervised after I trained them. Live action plate with CG-helicopter. (Alias Power Animator V.6.5, Photoshop)

Digital Effects supervising & CG-crew coaching/training:
Same as the Helicops' shot above this is another shot created by the CG-crew I supervised after I trained them. Live action plate with CG-helicopter. (Alias Power Animator V.6.5, Photoshop)

Attacker & F18 Fighter Planes modeling, texturing & CG supervising:
One of the shots I supervised. It also displays my texturing and modeling work on the alien attacker space ships & fighter planes and Lightballs. Animation by another staff member. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)

F18 Fighter Planes modeling, texturing & CG supervising:
One of the shots I supervised. It also displays my texturing and model tweaking work on the fighter planes to hold up in foreground situations. This shot features all CG-planes against a miniature model landscape background. Animation by another staff member. (Alias Power Animator V.6, SGI IRIX, Photoshop)