CGI & 3D Animation

Here is how this works in practice. CGI and 3D animation for productions finishing in Ireland routes through a deep VFX bench shaped by the country's big global-co-production VFX subcontract history. Framestore Dublin (the UK Framestore branch in Dublin that has supported Game of Thrones VFX, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and the wider HBO + BBC slate), Egg Post Dublin VFX, Mac Guff Dublin (the newer Dublin branch of the Paris-based animation house). The Mill Dublin (commercial and film VFX). Brown Bag Films Dublin VFX, and Boulder Media Dublin (the Disney/Nickelodeon partner.

Here is the short of it. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, The Amazing World of Gumball) lead the Dublin bench. Northern Ireland adds Yellowmoon Belfast (a major GoT VFX support partner across the eight-season run) and Carnegie Studios Belfast. Productions filmed in Ireland that have driven the bench's VFX capacity include GoT (eight seasons in The North. Titanic Studios Belfast home base), Star Wars Force Awakens and Last Jedi (Skellig Michael). Foundation Apple TV+. Vikings (six seasons in County Wicklow and County Dublin), Banshees of Inisherin, Belfast (Branagh 2021), The Wonder, and the Cartoon Saloon-Mac Guff cinema-animation pipeline.

Here is the breakdown. 3D pipelines run Autodesk Maya (the industry-standard cinema 3D animation and modeling tool for feature and television VFX). SideFX Houdini (for procedural FX. Simulation, and the most tricky pyrotechnic and water work). Blender (the open-source cinema 3D tool gaining traction in the Irish indie and commercial bench), and Maxon Cinema 4D (the broadcast and commercial-3D standard, specific for the Irish motion-graphics and commercial bench). Pixar RenderMan, Chaos V-Ray, Otoy Octane, and Redshift handle the production rendering. With Foundry Mari for high-detail texture painting. Foundry Katana for lookdev pipeline.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. ZBrush for sculpting, and Substance Painter / Substance Designer for PBR texture workflows. The Dublin and Belfast 3D bench services both the prestige global subcontract circuit routed from London (DNEG, Framestore. MPC. Cinesite). Vancouver (DNEG, ILM, Image Engine), and Los Angeles supervisor desks, and the Irish indie feature and commercial slate. Deliverables ship as EXR sequences at 4K, 6K, and 8K with full ACES-linear color pipeline. Dolby Vision and HDR10 HDR mastering, and ProRes 4444 XQ down-conforms for Egg Post Dublin, Windmill Lane, and Framestore Dublin compositing finishing.

Here is how the picture comes together. Output formats support Coimisiún na Meán + RTÉ Tech-Ops + BBC NI broadcast, Netflix Ireland office Originals + HBO Max + Disney+ + Apple TV+ + Amazon Prime + Sky Ireland streaming-sites, and theatrical DCP for Cineworld Ireland + Light House Cinema Dublin + the festival circuit.