BUF Compagnie

BUF Compagnie is a French/American digital visual effects company, specializing in CGI for feature films, commercials, and music videos.

History

Based in Paris, France and Los Angeles, California, BUF Compagnie (BUF) was founded by Pierre Buffin in 1984. The company develops new software advances in visual effects (VFX) and computer animation for feature films, commercials, music videos and special venue projects. BUF’s pre and postproduction services have earnt industry nominations for Best Visual Effects and awarded innumerable technical achievement awards .

Technology

BUF’s research and development group is composed of 15 engineers.

BUF is credited with pioneering stereo-modeling and camera mapping techniques in production; creating the first French full 3D short-length film; the development of the first motion blur post-process and camera tracking software; first VFX company to use mental ray; creating the ‘freezing-effect’; conceiving the first 3D camera movements in a photorealistic environment reproduced by utilizing still photographic images; introducing new software that simulates clothing; producing invisible continuous shots between live action and full CG; advancing singular character animation software; introducing crowd generation and management techniques along with new fluids and solid dynamics systems; creating original tools dedicated to animation and paint3D and launching the ‘bullet time’ effect created for “The “Matrix” franchise, which was directly inspired by the research carried out by BUF while working on Michel Gondry's "Like A Rolling Stone"[1] music video in 1996.[2]

BUF has an animation studio complex in Pantin, France, which developed the entirety of animation for “Arthur and the Minimoys.” of over 1,600 shots requiring the involvement of 20 supervisors and 100 artists at any one time. Buffin also customized the equipment and trained his team of artists to work on every aspect of the structure and creation of the company’s first animated motion picture.

To date, BUF’s vibrant commercial division has developed more than 1,000 commercials adopting broad visual methods and technical challenges, to realize the director’s vision on the small screen. BUF’s most recent triumph was the #1 top-rated 2007 Super Bowl advert for Hewlett-Packard. Commercials for Mercedes-Benz, Lancia, Nissan, Peugeot, Canal +, Coca-Cola and Disney, have also been executed by BUF.

As of April 2007, BUF has received 14 awards for Best Visual Effects and 20 additional nominations and accolades in Technical Cinematic Excellence. The company has won eight Clio Awards, the advertising industry’s highest honour, and five Music Video Awards for The Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna and White Stripes. Other music video credits include Lenny Kravitz, Björk, Nina Hagen, Terence Trent d’Arby, Air, Emilie Simon, Chemical Brothers, Melanie Blatt, Ginger Ale, Daft Punk, Texas, All Saints and Foo Fighters.

Graphic design is a further extension of BUF’s strong and wide-ranging expertise, having executed principal branding campaigns for Disney, Coca-Cola, Citroën, General Electric, Lexus, Paramount Pictures, Studio Canal, Europa and Metropolitan.

As a broadly documented resource in the VFX domain, BUF has been integral to numerous publications, textbooks, industry reference books and manuals, including The Animation Business Handbook, Rendering with mental ray, Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods 2004, Cyberarts 2000: International Compendium Prix Ars Electronica, Comic Art of Europe Through 2000: An International Bibliography.

The company Buffin built into a $250 million icon over 23 years has not occurred by happenstance. The visual effects giant rewrote the rules of crafting a remarkable finished product. Buffin’s ingenuity has also served his company well. By forming an on-the-job learning Academy for young professional artists, BUF now employs a large percentage of its workforce directly from specialized universities across Europe, with a median age of 25.

BUF continues on the move carrying out numerous diverse VFX projects for feature films. Buffin is also actively mounting two literary adaptations destined for animated films, one from a Jules Verne novel and another from Lewis Carroll. In addition, BUF has two live-action projects and two animated sequels to “Arthur and the Minimoys” in development.

As a chief international developer of entertainment software and one of the finest VFX companies in its sphere, Buffin plans to reposition BUF beyond service provider to producing exclusively in concert with a major film studio. Already in discussions with several U.S. entities on this front, Buffin is presently producing pilots and two motion picture projects in Los Angeles. With its now heightened recognition across all channels, the company expects to generate broad expansion of the BUF brand.

Films

• Batman & Robin (1997)
• The Matrix (1999)
• Fight Club (1999)
• The Cell (2000)
• Panic Room (2002)
• S1m0ne (2002)
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• Van Helsing (2004)
• 2046 (2004)
• Alexander (2004)
• Batman Begins (2005)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
• Silent Hill (2006)
• The Prestige (2006)
• Arthur and the Minimoys (2007)

External links

• Official Website