After delivering Paddington in Peru, I had the opportunity to contribute to this high-profile project. I initially focused on the CG integration of Toothless and Hookfang in the arena sequence, where they face off. I led efforts to achieve a seamless blend of live-action and CG elements, paying close attention to edge treatments (from soft to hard) on Hiccup — especially around his hair and clothing — which required constant adjustments due to shifting defocus, changing camera angles, and his continuous motion.

One of the most technically satisfying challenges I tackled was matching the CG horns of Hookfang to the on-set reference, where Snotlout grips them while flying on a bluescreen-mounted saddle.

I was also responsible for several comp blocks* — most notably the sailboat sequence, which transitions from the high sea to a dark river where soldiers encounter monsters. For the high sea part, I used extensive keying and roto techniques to isolate clean alphas channels for the soldiers and the boat. Additional work included “faking” on-set lighting on helmets and faces to match the HDRI-based matte-painted background, ensuring consistency with the sun’s position. This setup was cleanly handed off to other assigned artist for the EC** stage.

I then took the full river sequence, where the boat and its long oars interact with CG wet rocks, waves, resurfacing monster spines, and dense layers of mist overall — one of the more challenging parts to match with surrounding shots. This involved complex hold-outs on multiple AOV passes across environment, creature, and FX renders.

Finally, I led a major redesign of the sky-view cliff sequence, handling the shot from initial stage through final delivery. This involved updating matte paintings and projections across multiples areas — adding grass to the cliff top, removing snow from the cliff face, and reshaping the headland. I also extended the distant background environment and ocean, reworking the water surface by breaking up CG waves with noise-based projections to create a more natural and realistic large-scale water look.

(*) The initial stage in the 2D pipeline, focusing on technical assembly and verification of all elements before creative compositing.
(**) Element Complete, the second milestone after the comp block, where a shot’s layout is technically approved for high-resolution creative compositing.