A$AP Rocky - 'Helicopter' Music Video | Chris Rutledge | HEX

Welcome back to HEX! HEX is a podcast-oriented series where you will get to meet the artists behind the projects, the people behind Houdini software, and more. Please let us know in the comments what your thoughts are on this revisited format. In this HEX episode SideFX's Jeff 'Old School' Wagner sits down with animator Chris Rutledge - known for his iconic wobbly characters, and more recently A$AP Rocky's 'Helicopter' music video. Chris demystifies the hybrid workflow his team used to pull it off, including rendering over a terabyte of Gaussian Splat data and using alpha versions of Octane to handle relighting and reflections in 3D space. Whether you're curious about the tech behind volumetric capture or just want some solid advice on staying creative during a slow economy, this chat is packed with gems. Chris Rutledge Online: https://www.instagram.com/tokymegz https://www.youtube.com/@chr1st0pher https://linktr.ee/christopherrutledge Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Chris Rutledge 00:01:06 - Early Inspirations: From Flash to 3D 00:02:32 - Discovering Houdini Apprentice 00:04:13 - Breaking Into the Industry 00:05:33 - Short Films & Adult Swim Projects 00:07:18 - Collaborating with SideFX & Tumblehead 00:08:28 - The Power of KineFX & Procedural Rigging 00:10:00 - Joining Grin Machine 00:13:25 - Developing a Unique Creative Style 00:18:37 - Why Tool Development Philosophy Matters 00:22:13 - ASAP Rocky "Helicopter": Demystifying the Tech 00:24:39 - Building the Volumetric Pipeline 00:26:36 - Rendering Splats with Octane 00:33:16 - Managing Massive Data & Proxies 00:34:48 - Capturing Performances 00:36:16 - Latest Project: "Street Race" with Tumblehead 00:40:36 - Amalgamation & Future Collaborations 00:42:37 - Advice for Independent Artists