Project Overview, Concept and References
This project is a VFX sequence based on a London rooftop plate. My goal was to transform the original footage into a dramatic city incident scene by adding CG and composited elements, including a drone, damaged buildings, fire, smoke, shadows and a reacting character.
The idea was to make the shot feel like an unexpected event captured from a rooftop viewpoint. I wanted the result to stay grounded and believable, rather than looking too exaggerated or stylised. The London skyline became an important visual element, because its recognisable buildings helped create a strong sense of location and scale.
For the moodboard, I looked at references of disaster films, news footage, drones, damaged buildings, daylight smoke and burning windows. These references helped me decide the overall tone of the project: realistic, atmospheric and slightly chaotic, while still matching the softness, haze and lighting of the original plate.
Plate Preparation and Camera Tracking
After deciding the visual direction, I started by preparing the original rooftop plate in Nuke. Since the shot included camera movement, I needed to create a stable matchmove setup before adding any CG or 2D elements.
I used CameraTracker to analyse the movement of the plate and generate a solved 3D camera. The tracking points helped me understand the spatial depth of the scene, especially around the buildings and rooftop structures. I also worked in an undistorted version of the plate, which made the tracking and 3D placement more accurate.
After the camera solve, I used the point cloud to create Cards in 3D space. These Cards were useful for placing elements such as building damage, window fire and other projected details onto the correct areas of the scene. This step was important because it allowed the added elements to follow the camera movement and feel connected to the original footage, rather than looking like flat images placed on top.
CG and 2D Element Integration
After setting up the camera tracking, I started creating and animating the main CG elements for the sequence. The drone, radar element and character were created as CG assets, and I animated their movements using keyframes. This allowed me to control the timing and action of the shot more precisely, instead of only relying on existing footage or stock elements.
The drone was designed as the main action element in the scene. I animated its movement so that it would travel through the shot and lead the audience’s attention towards the incident in the city. I adjusted its speed, scale and motion to make sure it felt believable within the perspective of the rooftop plate.
I also created a radar-style graphic element to support the idea that the scene was connected to a wider emergency or surveillance situation. This graphic layer added a more technical and monitored feeling to the shot, while still staying subtle enough not to distract from the main action.
For the character, I animated the movement to create a reaction to the event. The keyframed motion helped give the shot a stronger sense of narrative, as the character becomes part of the incident rather than just a static foreground element.
After the CG elements were animated and rendered, I brought them into Nuke for compositing. I adjusted their scale, perspective, motion blur, colour and transparency to make them match the original plate. I then added additional 2D details such as building damage, window fire, smoke and small atmospheric elements. These details helped increase the sense of destruction and made the environment feel more active.
For the fire effects, I used Cards and roto masks to place the flames onto the window areas more accurately. I also adjusted the timing and brightness of the fire so it would not look too repetitive or disconnected from the scene. Throughout this stage, I focused on making each element feel integrated into the same live-action shot, rather than appearing as separate layers placed on top of the footage.