Julian is a good friend that I have corresponded with for a couple of years now. I first approached him as he was getting ready to join Weta Digital, and we have remained in touch ever since. He has given me some great advice over the years, has pointed me to some wonderful web sites and tutorials, has shared confessions of his deep love for his beautiful new wife, and has taught me some valuable New Zealand lingo- Snogging, for example; my favorite.

I'll venture to say Julian is a kind man with a quirky sense of humor. He's a romantic, and a clown. He's dedicated, and takes great pride in his work, and is generous with time and knowledge. At least these are the traits I have seen through his emails. I'll get to confirm it one of these days over a long owed beer, if I ever actually get to meet him and Anna in person!
 

  Give a brief overview of what you do:

Currently I'm employed in the Creatures Dept. at Weta Digital in Miramar, Wellington New Zealand. My usual day involves enveloping work including working with our proprietary muscle and skinning systems, skeleton preparation, MEL scripting, cloth creation and solving, and the preparation of assets for rendering to be part of the films.

  How long have you worked in the field?

I've been involved in CG production now since 1996 when I graduated from Art School. This has involved freelance 3D work for television as well as animation and compositing for short film projects and music videos. Lord of the Rings represents my first foray into feature film 3D.

The only things you may have seen of mine were the occasional television commercial that made it out of New Zealand onto Australian and Asian Tv. And potentially effects work in the film Tongan Ninja, written and directed by Jason Stutter. And of course The Fellowship of the Ring… soon to be followed by The Two Towers. I've also worked on friends’ private projects, performance art pieces and other multi-media collaborations. I'm currently expanding my abstract painting portfolio as well as working on 3D stills. These are available for viewing on my website.

  What was your favorite project so far?

That would have to be The Lord of the Rings films working for Peter Jackson. Although I'm having a great time painting for friends and family, working with the people I am on this great project is a real blast. I can't get enough.

  What are your perfect working conditions?

Perfect working conditions include evenly balancing work and play and fitting health and fitness into my day. This isn't always the case… things get very demanding at certain points during almost any production worth putting your time into. But as long as there's seasons to the stress it's ok by me. Working with a dedicated team with mutual respect cannot be ignored. A sense of humour and fun in the workplace goes a long way and finally… GOOD CAFFEINE. ;-)

  What size team do you prefer, and what sort of location?

I think smaller projects somehow contain more drive and initiative, so I like short films. But nothing compares to being part of something really big and successful! In the jobs I've been involved in previously, specializing in one aspect of a production was a luxury, but now that's all I do. So… a big job, preferably right here. I love New Zealand.

  Is there a list of people you would like to work with again?

Sure is, but it's too big to print here. ;-)

    What are some of your favorite movies?

I enjoy most movies that benefit from the judicious use of CGI or effects work welded into a great story. I think we're entering into a phase where directors are more explicitly aware of using CGI as a tool, not the story itself. I like:

The Matrix – of course!
The City of Lost Children
Amelie
Ghost in the Shell
Most things Pixar do…
Blade Runner
Contact
Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Sixth Sense
Iron Giant

And a bunch of others…. The DVD collection is ever-growing.

    What scene would you have loved to work on, and what would you have done with the scene?  (This doesn't necessarily mean on a project you were involved with, it could be anything.):

I guess some of the upcoming digital-double work on Matrix|Reloaded and Revolutions would be something I’d love to be involved with. My main focus would be to push the realism with a focus on deformation and cloth setup and lighting considerations… motion seems to be the trickiest thing to pull off convincingly these days, but I'm not really an animator…

    If you could step into another crew members shoes for one day, whose shoes would you be wearing?

That's a tricky one…. I think maybe a modeller’s…. I find modeling kind of meditative and there's a whole bunch of stuff I’d like to learn about like sub’d surfaces… texture parameterisation… good poly skills etc... it would also be nice to not have to worry about how to rig things and just focus on clean and efficient use of edge loops and that sort of thing…blah blah secret plans etc.… ;-)

    Do you have a list of people you would like to thank or give credit to?

Yeah…

Dave Jackson at the University of Louisiana, for being a great computer graphics tutor here in NZ when I was at Art School in Dunedin. I need to include Dave Watts, Mark Maguire and Raymond Ghirado in that bunch also.

My mate Corey Brown at Complete Post in Sydney for being a great friend and someone who's skills I admire.

Brian Lomas at Right Hemisphere for being a great friend and ‘man on the inside’.

Everybody at Weta Digital that I've met and worked with over the last two years… an invaluable experience.

Lastly, my parents Rory and Christine for completely backing me in everything I wanted to do, and finally my gorgeous wife Anna, for all her love and support and fun times.

To learn more about Julian, go to http://www.avfx.net.nz/

To learn more about the Lord of the Rings film, go to  http://lordoftherings.net/

Or http://wp.netscape.com/ex/shak/movies/lotr/index.html

Purchase products featuring Julian Butler's work here:

The Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring Platinum Series Extended Edition  Collector's Gift Set (2001) List Price: $79.92 Our Price: $59.94  You Save: $19.98 (25%)  DVD- Pre-order- $59.94 Availability: This item will be released on November 12, 2002. You may order it now and it will be shipped to you when it arrives.	The Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring (Widescreen Edition) List Price: $29.95 Our Price: $17.97 You Save: $11.98 (40%)  DVD- Buy now- $17.97	The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring  Platinum Series Extended Edition (2001) List Price: $39.99 Our Price: $25.99 You Save: $14.00 (35%)  DVD- Pre-order- $25.99 Availability: This item will be released on November 12, 2002. You may order it now and it will be shipped to you when it arrives.

The Lord of the Rings  The Fellowship of the Ring  (Full Screen Edition)  List Price: $29.95 Our Price: $22.46 You Save: $7.49 (25%) DVD- Buy now- $22.46	National Geographic  Beyond the Movie  The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring  List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $22.48 You Save: $2.50 (10%) DVD- Buy now- $22.48

BOOKS:

The Two Towers Visual Companion (Official Illustrated Movie Companion) List Price: $18.95 Our Price: $11.37 You Save: $7.58 (40%)  BOOK- Buy now- $11.37	The Two Towers Visual Companion (Photo Guide) List Price: $8.95   BOOK- Buy now- $8.95

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The Lord of the Rings  (Movie Art Cover)  List Price: $38.00 Our Price: $26.60 You Save: $11.40 (30%)  BOOK- Buy now- $22.46	The Lord of the Rings  (Movie Art Cover)  List Price: $38.00 Our Price: $26.60 You Save: $11.40 (30%)  BOOK- Buy now- $22.46

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