Chaos' New Short Has an Answer for Hollywood VFX Problems
Brie Clayton September 19, 2024
0 Comments
Emerging Virtual Production Tools Get First Major Test; Offer Way for Artists, DPs and Directors to See More In-Camera Without Distractions
Today, Chaos releases Ray Tracing FTW, a new short film that takes aim at the state of VFX and filmmaking - from an artist's point of view. More than an airing of grievances, the comedic short is the first major test for Project Arena, a virtual production toolset that has now been production-proven by vets who've worked on Justified, Avengers: Infinity War and Dune: Part Two.
Inspired by classics like Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and Once Upon a Time in the West, Ray Tracing FTW is an Easter egg-laden commentary about what holds productions back from telling great stories. While a fix-it-in-post mentality can certainly cause problems, the short argues that a return to golden-age filmmaking is only lacking real-time tools that truly let people operate in the moment.
Technology is too often a distraction on set. It crashes, doesn't respond fast enough, or requires too many specialists to make it work right, said Christopher Nichols, director of special projects at the Chaos Innovation Lab and VFX supervisor/producer of Ray Tracing FTW. We've been developing Project Arena to change all that, so everyone from the artist to the DP can stop thinking about the technology, and just get back to the natural rhythms of filmmaking.
Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!
This happens because the functionality/content marked as Google Youtube uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
Project Arena is an upcoming virtual production toolset that offers studios a faster, simple alternative to game engines. With Project Arena, artists can move V-Ray assets and select animations to LED walls in around 10 mins, accessing real-time ray tracing with pipelines they know and trust. And because these tools are production-ready, artists can continue to utilize the same assets throughout the process (from pre to post), with no do-overs or drops in quality, mitigating the need for virtual art departments.
A Major Production Watching Ray Tracing FTW,you'd be hard-pressed to pinpoint Project Arena's role on the short. Instead, it worked as intended, bringing over 2 trillion polygons to the screen for three days straight, without any of the expensive crashes that people have come to expect when using game engines in virtual production. Having a consistent, always-on system helped the team forget the tech and even pull off 30 set-up shots during a standard 10-hour shoot day.
Feeding the screen was a massive V-Ray environment of an Old West town, designed by Erick Schiele and built by The Scope with the help of KitBash3D and TurboSquid assets. The production continued to use this environment on everything from all-CG establishing shots and tunnel sequences to the background for a physical train car set, which was able to portray nuanced details by using full ray tracing.
Having detailed CG models blend seamlessly with physical sets meant Director of Photography Richard Crudo (Justified, American Pie) could get nearly every shot in-camera, barring a Bottleship VFX-driven train crash or two. It also meant that when sudden needs came up - like finding a 3D hacienda for the final shot - the crew could just buy one online and get it on-screen in under 15 minutes.
I was shooting predominantly in an LED volume and I was continually blown away by how genuine the results looked - even to the naked eye. It was so clear how much quicker and more efficient Project Arena made the compositing process, which enabled a much more aggressive sense of creativity in the photography, said Richard Crudo, six-term past-president of the American Society of Cinematographers and director of photography on Ray Tracing FTW. By carefully managing the color and density values of the volume with the live foreground action, I was able to bake-in the exact look I wanted. And since there was no guesswork to burden the special effects supervisor, the DI process was equally invigorating. I'm certain my colleagues will embrace this tech as soon as it becomes available.
Although Ray Tracing FTW was designed to be a test project, no one treated it as anything less than a major production. According to Nichols, Everyone understood the assignment, which was to craft a love letter to one of Old Hollywood's most popular genres, using modern tools and opinions.
To achieve an old western look, the team used an ARRI Alexa 35, loaded with Panavision PVintage lenses, which replicate the original Ultra Speed lenses used throughout the 70s. For color, the team relied on Mark Griffith of FotoKem, the renowned post house which also graded V-Ray I.R.L., the Heat-inspired short that got Nichols and crew thinking about industry-focused films in the first place.
Since sounds and music are such an integral part of the genre, the production looked to Nick Cave and INXS super-producer, Nick Launay to make the theme song come to life and evoke the spaghetti westerns of old. Alex Smith and Margarita Mix then came in to handle the overall score and sound design respectively, bringing even more authenticity to the project.
In the 60s, the studios were in trouble. Audiences were tired of the same old stuff, said Daniel Thron, Director and Writer of Ray Tracing FTW. But then you get this wave of young filmmakers coming in with smaller cameras that allow for naturalistic photography and acting, and that revolutionized Hollywood. We have the opportunity to bring that same sentiment to the next
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/03/2026
NBC Sports selected Imaginary Forces to create the main title sequence for the M...
02/03/2026
The NFL announces the launch of the NFL Draft Innovation Challenge, a new crowds...
02/03/2026
The World Teleport Association (WTA) has named Skyline Communications' DataMiner SatOps solution as a finalist for the 2026 Teleport Technology of the Year ...
02/03/2026
Ventum Tech announces a strategic partnership with Pixotope, a real-time graphic...
02/03/2026
Victory , a free, ad-supported sports streaming service, announces the launch of...
02/03/2026
Global powerhouse Delta Goodrem to represent Australia at this year's Eurovi...
02/03/2026
SBS brings together prominent voices to discuss rising social division and seek ...
02/03/2026
NITV Unveils Wednesday Night Sport Night
Media releases
A Midweek Hub for Blak Sport
Flagship NRL program Over The Black Dot moves to Wednesdays at 9:30pm
...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 2, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) today announc...
02/03/2026
Harvey Norman tops New Zealand's biggest ad spenders as retail leads and telcos and beverages sure Auckland March 3, 2026 - Nielsen's New Zealand'...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, has appointed Jody Boatwright as Chief Strategy Of...
02/03/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, is reinforcing its commitment to simplifying complex AV environments with the continued evolution of its TPN...
02/03/2026
ZEISS Cinema opens its doors to an exclusive screening, filmmakers Q&A and hands-on showcase of the new ZEISS Aatma lens family on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00-9:00 ...
02/03/2026
To expand the creative potential of the compact Astera QuikBeam, DoPchoice introduces the SNAPBAG Round. The new light-shaping accessory transforms the powerfu...
02/03/2026
Douglas Dubler
On a rooftop in New York City, veteran photographer Douglas Dubler watched the sun's angle shift across the urban landscape, his internal cl...
02/03/2026
ZEISS is expanding its Otus ML lens family with the introduction of the new ZEISS Otus ML 1.4/35. This manual-focus lens is designed for photographers who live ...
02/03/2026
Matthews Studio Equipment now offers the new Dinkum Systems White FlexiMount and Phone Mount Kit, a compact, highly adaptable setup for mobile content creation...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
02 03 2026 - Media release Ausfilm and Screen Australia launch joint UK market initiative
Ausfilm and Screen Australia have announced Partner with Australia (...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
02/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer for 53 Sundays, the New Film by Cesc Gay
Entertainment
02 March 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
28/02/2026
With two features seen in Formula 1 coverage, the broadcaster aims to bring view...
28/02/2026
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses a crowd of approximately 1,500 L3Harris employees in Camden, Arkansas, as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour....
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Berklee Presents Mambo Mania: Eguie Castrillo and the Berklee All-Stars Big Band...
28/02/2026
Berklee Announces Two New Summer Programs in Los Angeles The Berklee Music Business Program and Electronic Music Production and Sound Design Workshop bring imme...
28/02/2026
AI-RAN is moving from lab to field, showing that a software-defined approach is ...
28/02/2026
Autonomous networks - intelligent, self-managing telecommunications operations -...
28/02/2026
Back to All News
Final Trailer for BEASTARS Final Season Part 2' Roars Tow...
28/02/2026
New way to intentionally discover molecular glues could expand drug discovery Scripps Research scientists and colleagues show how drugs that eliminate certain d...
27/02/2026
The E.W. Scripps Company names Oliver Gray as Vice President, Network Sports and...
27/02/2026
The Gotham Sports App, the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming home of MSG Networks and the YES Network, is now available for purchase through Prime Video fo...
Chaos' New Short Has an Answer for Hollywood VFX Problems 
