VFX artist Andreas Maaninka pushes the boundaries of VFX with AMD

VFX artist Andreas Maaninka pushes the boundaries of VFX with AMD

Andreas Maaninka and his company, Oasis Visual Effects, flawlessly mesh on-set and studio VFX production with AMD processors

Visual effects (VFX) have changed the way film, television, and advertising are produced. Entire imaginary worlds can be built from scratch before being blended with live-action footage to create composites. These are some of the most intensive tasks a laptop or workstation can perform. For VFX expert Andreas Maaninka, AMD Ryzen™ AI Max+ and Threadripper™ PRO CPUs deliver all the performance he needs to bring creative ideas to life.

Maaninka has more than 20 years of experience in the VFX industry, beginning his career at storied Pinewood Studios and going on to work with such luminaries as Framestore and WETA Digital on projects ranging from cartoons to feature-length films. As the owner of his own studio, Oasis Visual Effects, Maaninka’s mission is to support the top creative team on every project, or, as he puts it: “We are there to facilitate the pixel that their minds are trying to portray.”

According to Andreas, the mobile AMD Ryzen™ AI Max 395+ processor, his AMD Threadripper™ PRO CPU-based workstation, and an associated array of VFX software each play an essential role in helping him achieve his goals. 

Turning visions into virtual reality

One on-location shoot for a major commercial illustrated how AMD processors transform creative possibilities, particularly when paired with the right editing and compositing software. Scuffling between four Dalmatian canine actors threatened the shoot before the animal wrangler sorted out a single, well-behaved dog. At that point, the director worried whether a lone Dalmatian could convincingly play the four different dogs specified in the storyboards.

That’s when Andreas, as on-set VFX supervisor, decides to shoot tests during tech-scout and on the fly send it back to the team at Framestore who was ultimately responsible for post. Getting a slap-comp back and confirming that the workflow would succeed and the Director and DP would be happy.

The AMD Ryzen™ AI Max+ 395 CPU-equipped ASUS ROG Flow Z13 mobile workstation enabled Maaninka to test different effects and shots while he was on set. “It often bridges the creative vision on set with the technical execution on the post side. You can understand what you're going to get in the final picture before it's even been made,” he says. “I’ve never been able to do that kind of work in the field before.”

This additional flexibility allows Andreas to quickly import and process data-intensive raw camera feeds, LiDAR scans, HDRI images, 360-degree multi-bracketed images for lighting, and more. He reports the system is easy to hold, stays cool, runs quietly, and offers good battery life, thanks to the AMD Ryzen™ AI Max+ 395 processor’s unique integration of CPU, GPU, and NPU. Combining these disparate processors in a single chip negates the need to power and cool additional co-processors, increasing system efficiency.

Maaninka uses his mobile workstation to run and render effects in multiple programs simultaneously, enabling him to switch among Autodesk’s Maya and Arnold, Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Studio for color, editing, and grading, Unreal Engine, Gaussian splatting tools and LiDAR scan processing software. These capabilities enable him to produce high-quality effects while still on set, and show directors, producers, creatives, and agency executives how the live action and effects will work together with a high-fidelity preview of the final shot.

“Being able to use all these [apps] at the same time on location is fantastic,” Maaninka reports. “I can put an explosion in the exact timeline location it needs to be for that shot. The full edit is on the laptop, and I can show how the final [render] is going to look in context. That's been really valuable. Then I can take it back to my workstation and just upscale the details.”

Merging mobile power and workstation finesse

Andreas relies on the same processing-intensive FX software tools on his Lenovo ThinkStation P8 workstation. He puts a heavy load on this AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO processor-based system as well, with editing timelines, environment models, fluid, smoke, and fire simulations, as well as the occasional explosion running alongside dozens of open browser tabs. He describes the ability to run all of these effects and workloads simultaneously on a single machine as a “game changer” and believes using just one laptop on set and one desktop workstation in the studio improves his creative flow.

For example, Maaninka recently did a “seriously long and heavy LiDAR scan” of a street after heavy rain washed out a location shoot. The bad weather also meant the original plan to do minimal CGI was scrapped, so the entire shot would need to be a full CG creation.

“Usually it would take a workstation to process that scan, but the laptop handled it. That’s what really blew me away,” he says. The fast results permitted him to quickly decide whether the scan or a photo reference would be the foundation for the effects, then put together a schedule and estimate for the client.

Trusted processors unleash creative potential

AMD processors have been an essential component of Andreas’ efforts to create cinematic graphics and animation for an upcoming game release developed by OasisVFX with a handful of talented artists and a minimal budget. In addition to the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and AMD Threadripper PRO CPUs, AMD EPYC™ processors in the AWS Deadline Cloud specialized for VFX rendering helped him complete the game. AMD assisted him with technical expertise.

“AMD is excited about the creative process and what artists can do with their technology,” Maaninka notes. “VFX artists now can expect more. We aren’t limited to the way we’ve done things in the past.” He looks forward to working with faster and better fluid simulations that traditionally have taken weeks or even months to do.

”I’m very excited about the technology because with AMD, I can just trust that the hardware will work. That lets me focus on the creative output and the creative changes that are guaranteed to happen on set or in post-production,” Maaninka says. “I know it's going to do the work that I need it to do. And that's why I love working with AMD as well.”