Ex-MPC VFX artist merges AI and CG in Evangelion fan PoC, keeping AI-CG contact pixel-aligned
KarimHann · reddit · 2026-10-20
A VFX artist from MPC/Framestore built a non-commercial Evangelion 4.0 fan proof-of-concept testing whether an AI-rendered character can hold 1:1 contact with a CG character through a complex camera move — the scenario where AI usually breaks.
Pipeline
- Camera, animation and the Eva are CG in Maya, rendered in Redshift with alpha/depth; AI handles Sachiel, tanks, city and environment, rendered in separate layers with ComfyUI alpha/depth passes, comped in Nuke like a normal render
- Explosions, blood and destruction done in Houdini
Alignment lessons
- Prep animation so frame-to-frame pose change is small, forcing the model to lock onto geometry instead of hallucinating
- Feed the AI clean simplified per-layer renders; keep proper passes for comp
- Cheap alignment tests in MiniMax first, finals on Seedance 2.0
- Shot-by-shot only; never interpolate frames — blended in-betweens drift off the original animation and break the comp
The AI side took about a month part-time. The author says this pixel-locked AI/CG contact hasn't been demonstrated before.
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