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I'm not going to debate it any further. It's CGI. He said on his YouTube account he'd probably reveal his secrets in a few days. You'll find out then.

>> ^Payback:
1> The floor is already soaked, the "dry spots" are paint stains or something. You can see reflections on the floor to the right side.
2> He has quite a few spot lights set up to get shadows the way he wants.
3> I'm not saying it ISN'T CGI, just that it's possible (and far more impressive) to do it live.

>> ^Drachen_Jager:

If any of that were true, his shadow would not interact with the machine the way it does. Pause around :04 to :05 the shadow on the floor is crisp but the one on the edge of the machine nearest the guy is fuzzy.
JestJokin, you have no clue.
Other problems. There is no spray when the water falls. It does not hit the floor all around as it would hitting a fast spinning water wheel. The liquid does not flow naturally. Should I go on? It's CGI, end of story.
>> ^Payback:
-Water trails away from camera on a trough that gets bigger to fool perspective.
-Vertical poles everywhere lining up from camera's perspective.
-Water gets to "the top" which is actually 6 ft behind waterwheel, on floor.
-Water at "the top" gets sucked into pump inlet.
-Hidden pump and hoses move water, within the structure, to "the spout".
-"The spout" is directly over the waterwheel, and is perspectively in line with "the top" and camera, giving the illusion they are attached.
A really poor sketch:



1> The floor is already soaked, the "dry spots" are paint stains or something. You can see reflections on the floor to the right side.
2> He has quite a few spot lights set up to get shadows the way he wants.

3> I'm not saying it ISN'T CGI, just that it's possible (and far more impressive) to do it live.

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>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

^I think there is trickery with the lights. Perhaps the blur you mention is actually because of some kind of deceptive lighting?


He definitely put a lot of effort into the lighting in order to sell the illusion and camouflage any tells, but there are still some giveaways he couldn't conceal.

I won't even entertain the notion that the illusion is accomplished with CGI because it's totally doable and most likely done with practical effects.

If any of that were true, his shadow would not interact with the machine the way it does. Pause around :04 to :05 the shadow on the floor is crisp but the one on the edge of the machine nearest the guy is fuzzy.

JestJokin, you have no clue.

Other problems. There is no spray when the water falls. It does not hit the floor all around as it would hitting a fast spinning water wheel. The liquid does not flow naturally. Should I go on? It's CGI, end of story.

>> ^Payback:

-Water trails away from camera on a trough that gets bigger to fool perspective.
-Vertical poles everywhere lining up from camera's perspective.
-Water gets to "the top" which is actually 6 ft behind waterwheel, on floor.
-Water at "the top" gets sucked into pump inlet.
-Hidden pump and hoses move water, within the structure, to "the spout".
-"The spout" is directly over the waterwheel, and is perspectively in line with "the top" and camera, giving the illusion they are attached.
A really poor sketch: http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/256336/20110216/174500.jpg

I think Payback pretty much has it. Except, IMHO, I think some of the columns (vertical) were cropped/created using AFX/Maya type programs.
I work in Maya , Max , CAD , AFX etc... Drach's comments about shadows and 'his eye' were as vague as him saying "I work in CGI". Sorry, but 'bollocks mate'. The only shadow (raytraced) inconsistencies are on 'some' of the columns, and their corresponding shadows. Dystopian, I'll bet money that the water is real, as well as the channels it runs in. However some of the columns do not receive or create shadows as they should. If he did create the water in a 3D program, he should be working for one of the major animation houses as a fluid dynamics animator, but I don't think he did. I could be wrong though, because this was NOT a simple trick.

I love the sift, mostly because of the level of intelligence often displayed in the comments. But "CGI" is a vague term that could be used by anyone who's seen Lord of the Rings. If you know what you're talking about, be more specific please. You don't need to 'dumb it down', this isn't YouTube. >> ^Drachen_Jager:

Yeah, you can see it in the shadow-interaction if you look closely. The whole structure also stands out as a bit 'off' to me, but I work with CGI so I guess I have a trained eye.
The giveaway is the shadows though. Freeze frame it when his shadow is half on the structure. The edge of the shadow is blurred on the waterfall, but it's crisp on the floor.
>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
CGI water? I think you could pull something like this off with a hidden pump. I'd be disappointed if it were just CGI. >> ^Drachen_Jager:
It's just CGI guys. Pretty simple trick.
Very well done though.

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Yeah, you can see it in the shadow-interaction if you look closely. The whole structure also stands out as a bit 'off' to me, but I work with CGI so I guess I have a trained eye.

The giveaway is the shadows though. Freeze frame it when his shadow is half on the structure. The edge of the shadow is blurred on the waterfall, but it's crisp on the floor.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

CGI water? I think you could pull something like this off with a hidden pump. I'd be disappointed if it were just CGI. >> ^Drachen_Jager:
It's just CGI guys. Pretty simple trick.
Very well done though.

Solved: The trick is in the second left-hand turn. You can see the water run backwards for a moment and pool up at that corner before it all of a sudden shoots forward across the bridge. It looks like that last bridge does not go straight across; it's at almost a 45 degree angle upward and rotated back toward the wheel. There must be a pump or other similar mechanism forcing the water up.

CGI water? I think you could pull something like this off with a hidden pump. I'd be disappointed if it were just CGI. >> ^Drachen_Jager:

It's just CGI guys. Pretty simple trick.
Very well done though.

Yeah, but only the first level so it's ok.

>> ^lucky760:

Are we in someone's dream?

"There's no trick to it! It's just a simple trick!"

>> ^blankfist:

It's a simple trick actually. You just build a ramp that goes up normally and then use magic.

Are we in someone's dream?

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