
Quebec Charlie - Animation Checkpoint Ahead
In this Paths interview, Quality Control Supervisor Sacha Beauregard describes his career journey, from his first interest to leading teams, before giving advice to aspiring quality control artists.
What made you want to get into the film industry?
I grew up with cartoons and video games; cartoons in the morning before school, in the afternoon and on Saturday mornings, which I loved. That first contact with animation was really valuable for me. Later, I took a film class in high school, which presented an opportunity for me to discover that I liked a balance of both technical and creative challenges.
Another standout moment growing up was seeing a TV interview with someone working in the entertainment industry – I can’t remember who. To paraphrase, he said something like, “The role of the clown or entertainer is actually of tremendous value to society. Considering all the pain and injustices that make up the different realities of our lives, there’s no more noble thing that one can do than to lighten that load, to make people forget even just for a few minutes.” That really impacted upon me.
What does Quality Control (QC) do?
Making animated content can be a bit like a relay race, where each person contributes to a specific shot before passing the baton. My team is there to make sure nothing accidentally makes its way through and that everything works together. We look for problems that might later lead to slow-downs and we also make light adjustments to shots to make sure everything looks as good as it can be.
We’re involved more towards the end of the shot production process, but we also do a checkup earlier on in the pipeline, just after animation. Most of our work happens just before lighting and compositing come in. We look at everything, that covers layout animation, cloth simulation, special effects, even editorial! Our goal is to check everything that teams don’t have the time or the focus to check.
What made you decide to work in QC?
I started out in quality assurance for video games before moving into animation. From Animation, I became a Layout Artist and then I joined Cinesite. My attention to detail from working in QA, combined with my knowledge of animation and layout enabled me to see shots in a way that not everyone else was able to.
What has been your favorite project so far?
My favorite project would have to be Iwájù, which came out recently. I felt like I was able to point out all of the little things that I really wanted to get done, and we were able to make the shots better because of it. I like to see a problem and for it to get fixed, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to really stretch my legs. And it’s a fantastic series too!
What kind of program or background is required to get into QC?
I think the best QC background might be in animation because most of what I use is related to that. There are so many small issues that can occur during animation which are most easily fixed using the animation toolset.
That isn’t to say that other backgrounds are invalid. You can be a layout artist – I was a layout artist as I was moving into QC. I think what’s more important is to be familiar with the software. We mainly use Maya and more recently we started using Gaffer. But if you are familiar with Maya you already have quite a lot of what you need.
Are there specific paths that you think are better to get into QC?
If you can get into the industry at all, you can probably make your way into QC. In my opinion if you don’t have the experience to be an animator or layout artist, or to join another department, you could always begin as a runner.
Running is a perfectly valid way to get into the industry. You’ll be helping with office management, but it will give you the opportunity to learn using the licensing and skillsets that are available at the studio. There are two members of my team right now who started out as Runners, and another who came in via Cinesite Montreal’s LEAP program; they are all fantastic. So those entry-level options really do work.
What qualities do you look for in people who want to join your team?
Attention to detail is critical because we are looking for things often missed by everyone else reviewing the shots. Technical accuracy would be a big one too. Finally, being good at following a workflow for fixing a particular issue without skipping steps, but also being willing to try stuff. Sometimes we will run into an issue that cannot be fixed the normal way, so we have to adapt our workflow. So being innovative and adaptive are great qualities for QC too.
When people apply to your department, what kind of material should be submit?
Often, we fill QC roles with talented people who may not have started out with it as a goal, so we won’t often see a tailored demo. However, it’s useful to know you can do the animation work. I also want to see that you can pay attention to the composition and know what is important in each shot.
Beyond that, what I’m interested in is a little bit more to do with your personality. I want to know what your mindset is like when you’re approaching a challenge and your communication skills, which are important in figuring out collective solutions.
What have you learned in your role?
I’ve realized that I love teaching. I love being asked a question and putting myself into someone’s shoes to help them understand. Sometimes, it’s about figuring out which things need to be left behind or put aside for the time being. Other times, it’s what to focus on or how to fix one particular issue.
What piece of advice would you have liked to get when you were a student yourself?
When I was an animation student the advice that I would have really loved to have drilled into my head is you should always do reference. Starting out in animation, I was embarrassed to record myself acting as a reference for what I needed to create. That is something that animators need to get out of their minds. They have to record and even if you’re doing lighting or texturing, you need photo references.
Secondly, I wish I had been more aware of the time constraints that you will encounter in the job environment. You’re not always going to have the time to do everything perfectly. So you need to learn how to prioritize the really big value items. You need to focus on what will really improve the shot.