How Rohtau Delivers VFX Excellence through a Distributed Model

Since its inception, Rohtau - a creative VFX studio - has been built on the idea of assembling a custom team for each project by bringing the very best talent in the world, regardless of their physical location. With an extensive network of trusted artists only a call away, Rohtau currently works on a distributed model with talent in diverse locations around the world like Mauritius, Germany, the UK, United States (Alaska), Spain, Argentina and Brazil.

It’s what enabled Rohtau to thrive, working seamlessly, through covid on some of the industry’s biggest and most creative campaigns. Though the company itself is new to the industry, neither Jordi nor Josh are, with decades of expertise between both of them. 

Today, LBB caught up with Rohtau’s duo to learn more about how they made the campaigns that defined the company’s genesis.

The ‘Buy Better’ campaign for Levi’s, starring stars like Jaden Smith, Markus Rashford, and Emma Chamberlain, was basically made for Rohtau as it brought together two key areas of expertise: VFX and sustainability. It was a difficult campaign to work on as it was shot on multiple locations during full covid restrictions. “We fell in love with the message and the realisation that the creative team and Levi’s were in it for real, it was not a gimmick, but a real effort in sustainability,” says Jordi. 

The biggest challenge of this campaign was the timeline and, due to the lockdowns, Rohtau’s distributed set-up was tested in every direction, including working with multiple camera configurations which included 8mm. “Technically, it was hard. We had a few complex 2D shots and other 3D shots, plus dealing with celebrities during lockdown was challenging too,” says Jordi. 

“Filming Markus Rashford was very complex because understandably Manchester United didn’t want him to be exposed to covid. He was filmed with a remote kit that he could set up himself but was operated remotely, so we could film him without being in the same space, with the director, Leo Aguirre, likewise remote,” he adds. 

Effective communication was a vital part of making the shoot happen, with Rohtau using synchronous and asynchronous methods to keep everything running smoothly. “We are in the business of making pixels so we feel it is important to talk with pictures. We share pictures and annotate as often as possible. Synchronously we use Frankie, which is a live screen sharing software that we present with. We follow this up with asynchronous links using Frame IO which allows a larger file to be sent and downloaded, and notes to be made on the system in their own time, which everyone can see and review and respond to. We then take this information into shot lists and tasks on NIM, our Studio Tracking System. We also follow up each week with a roundup document, communicating what we have done, where we are and what the goal is for the following week,"  explains Josh. This is what allows Rohtau to succeed in communicating with clients that are in London or 6,000 miles away such as on this project. Testing this methodology proved to the team that they were on the right track with their vision of what a modern creative VFX studio can be. 

With the spot’s sustainable focus, Rohtau also delivers it's green credentials behind the scenes. Josh says that the team “proved that you can produce the highest level of VFX while creating a minimal CO2e footprint. This is a key tipping point for the industry and those brands that truly want to realise this potential and embrace a positive way of working.”

For this campaign, Rohtau worked with MJZ’s director, Juan Cabral and the team at AMV/BBDO; an experience that Jordi says was “simply incredible.” The result is ‘World Gallery’, a vintage, nostalgia-tinged spot that relied on some CGI help for key shots while Rohtau also had to ensure that all the shots that were multi-format - 35mm, S16mm, digital - looked the same at the end. “The most interesting part of this production was how to approach it so it does not become a VFX festival and together with the agency, I must confess, we ended up hitting our goal,” Jordi shares. 

Though the production was fairly straightforward, the team did have to deal with the logistics of transporting film stock and spent hours in the airport in order for the negatives to be brought back and developed in the UK. 

“The thing that became really clear during the production was that we are in a position to help the production company and agency much more than we ever anticipated by becoming the central repository of all the content that can distribute the one copy to editors and others. Especially since the footage came from varied sources. Efficient workflows were the key to the job. Being distributed also means we are 100% mobile, so when the agency asked us to bring the Flame artist/software to their offices and do all the mastering in front of them, for us that was a breeze, and it allowed the creatives to be on top of not only this critical step but also in the loop of everything else,” explains Jordi. 

When Vodafone’s brief landed in Rohtau’s inbox, the team was struck by its ambition. In ‘Greener Together’, vegetation starts sprouting in the middle of an urban environment, stopping cars and people in their tracks. Jordi notes that it was, “very much a continuation of their previous campaign so everyone had a bit of a reference for what we were doing which was great.”

Rohtau brought to the team an artist with the right expertise on plant growth patterns using specialised software, anticipating this could be one of the challenges to make the visuals as credible as possible. “From the point of view of VFX, we wanted to be able to accommodate a naturalistic integration of the vegetation and the environment. We embarked on a big Lidar survey of the environment combined with high-end photogrammetry to make sure we had an exact replica of the street so the trees would fit in a natural fashion. Ultimately we ended up scanning Nu Boyana’s main streets and reconstructing them in CGI to allow us to get proper shadows, reflections and lighting on the trees which was very fun to do. This paid off big time when we were asked to extend streets and revamp the set so people wouldn't see the location that has been used so many times before in other commercials, and of course, given it was scanned, it was perfectly aligned with the footage,” Jordi shares. 

In an industry that has started to rely on generalists and junior artists, Rohtau is seeing the necessity for real experts when it comes to getting the details just right. “We spend a lot of time finding the right experts,” says Josh. “We have nearly a thousand senior artists in our black book and this is ever-growing. They are based worldwide (literally) and because we are using these experts and not generalists we hit the expectations very quickly and are able to even supersede them by adding extra value. The artists love it too, of course, as when we contact them it is for their creative passion and not 'because they are free'; it’s a win, win, win.”

Rohtau knows that it’s not always easy for the industry to break away from engaging with the same creatives they have always had and give 'new' companies a chance. “We understand it takes confident, bold leaders and brands to leap into collaboration with us over the usual names, but now this bravery is justified. We are on a path to prove that this commitment is rewarded not just with excellent communication, outstanding creative, high-end output and competitive pricing structures, but also by aiding brands’ engagement and narratives towards sustainability, and adding greater value to all our journeys towards net zero in the process,” Jordi concludes.