Mihajlo Kocevski Matchmove Artist at Pixomondo
1- Intro and history
I grew up in Skopje, Macedonia, a small country in Eastern Europe. Raised in a family with both parent’s architects, I was constantly surrounded by creativity and designs. Through my college years as a mechanical engineer, I was always designing and modeling concepts and that’s how my passion for visual effects started to develop. I started working in a VFX company in Macedonia. It was a great stepping stone to greater things. Currently working at PIXOMONDO – Toronto and it is a pleasure to be a part of a great team and an amazing environment.
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2- way to VFX
After I graduated from college I started pursuing my career as a 3D artist. I would often stay up all night and model some concepts I’ve had on my mind. Usually, my inspiration would come from Sci-fi movies and games, and combined with my knowledge as a mechanical engineer, I would start designing all kinds of stuff. After working as a 3D artist and seeing what the VFX industry has to offer I became more intrigued where and how the process of visual effects begins, I discovered Matchmove.
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3- challenges and experiences in the early years
The biggest challenge for me was to observe how different camera lenses work because I had no technical knowledge of cameras. But in my convenience, the knowledge I had from 3D was a significant help for me to understand how the camera movement would look like in 3D space.
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4- resources they had when they started
I had the opportunity to work on many blockbuster movies, TV series and deliver some difficult and challenging shots. I literally started working with almost no tutorials, just a text script and help from my mentor. After going back and forth with my first few shots, I’ve gotten the hang of it and started working on my own.
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5- matchmove in VFX
In my opinion Matchmove is the core of VFX and if you are doing your job right, the audience won’t be able to recognize the visual effects in action, and that’s why it’s called “the invisible art of Matchmove”.
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6- explaining matchmove in the simple form
The simplest explanation for Matchmove would be matching the movement of the live footage with a virtual camera.
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7- what’s are the typical task or job of a matchmovers
A typical day in Matchmove would start with importing the shot into the software you work with such as industry leading 3DEqualizer, SynthEyes or other and jump into tracking right away, but it doesn’t stop here. You would also need to have a basic knowledge of Maya and Nuke to finish and deliver your given task. There is also rotomation which would require of you to use a rigged character to replace or animate an actor on the given shot
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8- how to get started with matchmove
With the growing demand of VFX in movies, starting a career in the VFX industry is definitely worth it. As for Matchmove, you could start working freelance or apply in bigger studios where you’d get to work on exciting and big projects
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9- growth in matchmove
Once you have established and understood the basics of matchmoving you can move on to different departments. Another option is to continue and pursue your career as a Matchmove artist, since the bigger studios have a high demand for experienced matchmovers.
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10- scope and opportunities with matchmove in VFX
With the evolving VFX industry, the demand for matchmove artists has been very high and VFX studios have opened their market for skilled artists. Basically you cannot start working visual effects on a shot without matchmove being involved (exception are the full CGI shots). You would have an advantage if you have previous experience working with 3D, Python, Maya, or Nuke.
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11- future technology of matchmove will it be AI originated or will it evolve?
Artificial intelligence is helping us become more efficient in every aspect of life, and it’s no exception in the VFX. I haven’t seen it yet in Matchmove, but I think it could be of great benefit if it gets implemented in a way that helps you track tough shots where there is a lot of noise or for example fast-moving shots with a lot of rolling shutter. It could also come in play with solving a lens distortion where you have no information whatsoever
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12- advice /tips to Young artists how they can grow fast and be more efficient
My advice to any artist that wants to improve themselves would be to never give up under pressure. Always challenge yourself and work on hard shots, because if you stay in your comfort zone you won’t be able to improve your skills and efficiency. As with everything in life unless you aren’t challenging yourself, you won’t be able to grow and improve.
Vfxexpress – prabu – Thank you Mihajlo Kocevski
Mihajlo Kocevski – Thank you Prabu
