Star Wars to Pixel Corp : Alex Lindsay- Artist in Action

Alex Lindsay is an extraordinary figure, an exILM Rebel Mac Unit visual effects artist who has set us a global training organisation, dvGarage. dvGarage believe that your ability to communicate your vision is just as important as math, reading and science. And they are building a network to bring that vision to the world. What is so extraordinary is that while many companies’ ‘vision statements’ may sprout such nobel ideals, dvGarage actualy does it, – not

While others assume a web site is global communications, – dvGarage leverages off its site to educate people in visual communication all over the world. Alex Lindsay the founder and ‘Chief Vision Officer’ of dvGarage talks openly about his move from Star Wars and John Knoll’s Rebel Mac unit at ILM to the Pixel Corps and dvGarage’s amazing resource web site.
dvGarage’s web site www.dvgarage.com provides a vast array of visual effects tutorials and compositing tools. From image libraries of water damage and stains – to Brain Dump Quicktime CDs on Photogrammetry.

FXG: How does an Eastern Philosophy major, from Denver, Colorado, who didn’t graduate, – end up running a world leading education resource on visual effects?

AL: dvGarage and the Pixel Corps actually are more connected to my Eastern Philiosophy studies than it may look from the surface. The whole idea started a decade ago. I had left school (if you study enough Eastern Philosophy, you realize it’s all empty and meaningless anyway) and had done a stint as a morning show host and music director for an alternative rock station. I realized the music industry was going to kill my liver and that I needed to find myself so I left it, waited tables, and took about every weekend personal development course I could find.

In one course, they instructed everyone to build a 10 year plan. I really got into it but the more the I worked on it, I realized you can’t do anything particularly interesting (world changing) in a decade. You have to think in decades and plan for a quarter century to a half century. It’s the generation of a singular use or endstate that wakes you up every morning provides a context for your actions.

So…my goal, or use, is the generation of a Global conversation where no one is left out, is the context of nearly every waking moment of my life. To achieve this, one needs to create an environment where everyone, regardless of race, economic condition, location, or belief can be heard. I believe this conversation changes…everything. It changes how we see the world, each other, and ourselves.

So, how do you get there? Well, I built a very long plan and started with exploring the digital production landscape. I worked in print, forensics, multimedia, real-time games, and finally film. When I finished my college (ILM and Lucasfilm), I started dvGarage. I had already been playing with the Pixel Corps for some time.

Digitial production is simply a means to that end. dvGarage provides products that empower people with what they need to visualize their own ideas. The Pixel Corps generates a community of artisans that builds a global network of production and provides the opportunity to everyone.

FXG: How did you get to join the JAK previz team at Lucasfilm working on Star Wars?

AL: Well, I got a ping from a friend at Electric Image that Lucasfilm was looking for artists. I didn’t have a demo tape so I just sent a disk of models and test animations. Then…waited for what seemed like an eternity…about 6 weeks…then they asked if I could come out for an interview. I think I bought $500 of stuff at the Ranch General Store because I thought I would never see it again.

Then I waited another month…then I got a call asking if I could be there in 2 weeks…and I was off!

I was sure they would figure out their mistake eventually so I worked 16 hour days for, I think, the first 3-4 months. It was an experience 🙂

FXG: What did you work on at JAK/StarWars? What sequences, and can you discuss your “guest role – appearance” in Ep 1?

AL: At JAK Films, I most worked on Pod Race, End Battle, and Space Battle. I built a lot of animatics models and boiler plates for the scenes. When I started there, it was just me and David. We then added 3 more artists over the following year.

When the animatics cooled off, I moved to ILMs Rebel Mac Unit to work on final shots. I did the surfacing for the Queenship and most of the shots of the Queenship in space.

I am also in the movie in a couple places. There’s an orange guy walking and seeming to talk to himself in one of the camera droid scenes. That is me. I am also running towards Anakin when he wins the race (I am way in the back)…oh…and when the queenship passes over the donut ship, I am in cockpit holding Menthos…I really thought it was a Menthos moment…But I don’t think you can see it on the DVD. I am not even sure how well it shows up on the film.

FXG: What software and hardware were you using then, and did you or your team have any issues with acceptance – given the world of big SGI systems you were entering ?

AL: The Rebel Mac Unit was really there to explore what could be done with off the shelf software. Hardware – 240 mhz Macs with 192 megs of RAM! It was a booming system at the time. We had two cpus each…so we could render on one (we were outside of the ILM render cue system). Software – we used Electric Image, FormZ, Photoshop, and After Effects 90% of the time.

We were, for the most part, troublemakers. We approached everything as guerrillas. How do we pull off something that should need a big workstation and 20 people? The attitude was definitely inspired by the real creator of the Rebel Mac Unit, John Knoll. Any time we thought we couldn’t do it on a Mac…he would usually set us straight or remind us of what it took to do it without the tools we have now.

We tended to step on a lot of toes. Some of us where very aggressive about stealing shots from CG (the standard Computer Graphics Unit). This caused some mild upsets every once and a while but nothing major. ILM, above everything else, is about getting the job done. You get respect when you do that, and correction when you don’t.

FXG: What is your vision for dvgarage?

AL: dvGarage is really just dedicated to producing products for the Pixel Corps and selling them to the public. We make stuff that we need and then see if anyone else wants it too.



The Tech TV studio used by dvGarage

FXG: How many staff do you have?

AL: We have 6 people on staff and usually 15-20 contractors at any one time.

FXG: How has dvgarage changed since it started? Has there been a move from the observations/critiques to more of the tool kits ?

AL: Well, it’s just growing into itself…what it was designed to do. The observations and weekly tutorials were experiments. This will become evident soon. The big thing that has changed is our understanding of the training process. Since we use our own productions, we get to learn alot about works and doesn’t work.

FXG: What has been the most popular item you’ve offered from dvgarage,
– Surface tool kit, ?
– Reflection tool kit, ?
– Composite tool kit ?

AL: I’m not sure what has been the most popular, but the Surface Toolkit has, by far, generated the most revenue. I still think it’s the most powerful tool we provide…though people have to work to understand it.

FXG: What would you like to see dvgarage do more of in the future?

AL: The Pixel Corps will need full training materials for it’s certification program. This will guide dvGarage’s development cycle. We also want to look for more ways to provide the opportunity of visual communciation to more people.

FXG:What is dvgarage’s relationship to your “partners”, cgchannel, Electric Image, PADD etc ? Are they investors ?

AL: Almost all our investors are my family actually. We have a variety of the partners. CGChannel has been key to our growth by promoting our work. Electric Image gave us the opportunity to bring 3D to a much wider audience. PADD handles our e-commerce. We do our best to stay focused on what we do best and let partners do the other stuff.

FXG: Can you talk about the roles of some of the other dvGarage team?

Chris Marler is the Director of Educational Operations. He has a lot of experience in this area. More importantly, he provides a stabilizing energy for the company. I will go “Let’s charge over that hill! and he will ask Is there a cliff on the other side? Do we have enough rope?” It’s very important role.

Alutha Jamacar keeps everything glued together, dvGarage and the Pixel Corps move at about 100 miles an hour over rough terrain with a few hundred people on board. Alutha makes sure everything is locked down and people have their seatbelts on. He’s a perfect XO.

Maina Mucoki is the Driector of African Operations. He’s originally from Kenya and has been in the Pixel Corps for almost 3 years. Currently, Maina is working on our first active Pixel Corps Unit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He brings both a great deal of local understanding and commitment that is necessary to get the project off the ground.



Alex and Saki getting the systems set up at ZIVA, in Zimbabwe 2000.

Beyond that, we have a host of partners and contractors that fill in the rest of the gaps from the website to African landing teams.



Alex working with Takudzwa and Onasis at Tengenenge.

FXG: Having worked on Star Wars, – you once said that Episode One had a great score – just not right for Star Wars, “it just did not have the magical experience”: So what did you think of Episode 2, and are you still looking forward to Episode 3?

AL: I enjoyed it. It’s not something I watch over and over but it’s fun. We have to remember that we’re not the target audience (10-14 year old boys). I’m growing to learn that part of what made my original Star Wars experience so magical was my age.

I very excited to see Ep. 3. I want to see how it all ties together. I think this will be the best of the 3 new ones. I’m more excited to see how George stretches the technology…both to make the movie and distribute it. I’m rooting for at least a digital only early release…it would turn the industry on its ear.

FXG: Do you still feel that Digital Capture (HD) will have a profound effect on independent film making?

AL: Absolutely. Removing film from the process will open the market dramatically in a variety of different ways. First, it reduces the cost of production. Tape is much cheaper than film. Second, you can see what you shot…like what you really shot…10 minutes after you shot it. You don’t have to worry about what happens in the lab or wait for it. Third, removing the digitizing and printing of film makes the process of adding FX much simpler and less expensive. Finally and most importantly, distribution changes the business model completely.

The key is to understand that Hollywood is not a land of creatives…it’s a land of bankers. Bankers making calculations that make money but not very good movies. Many of these calculations are based on when you release a movie and what movies are around it. If “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” or “Barber Shop” was able to scale to fulfill demand (rather than using box office to fund more prints)…the playing equilibrium becomes much more unstable. Careful calculations, calculations that are based on formula movies released at formula times to produce formula results…become unuseful. The art form again reigns as the key factor.

FXG: Do you want to direct? Would you like to produce or direct your own feature film?

AL: I have some ideas…