Based on the novel by Argentine writer Dolores Reyes, Cometierra is a supernatural thriller infused with touches of magical realism, telling the story of a young woman who can communicate with the earth itself. Produced by Oficina Burman, Cimarrón Cine, and The Mediapro Group for Amazon MGM Studios, and directed by Daniel Burman, Martín Hodara & Cris Gris, the series is deeply rooted in Latin America and shaped by a profoundly visual identity.
VFX BOAT took on some of the project’s most complex sequences, bringing the earth to life through breathing soil, living roots, and voracious vines, crafting a mystical and visceral natural world where the ground itself becomes a character.
The primary creative and technical challenge was bringing inert elements to life, dialing in the precise "acting" of the dirt as it interacted seamlessly with debris, leaves, and branches. We had to tailor both the visual look and fluid dynamics to match the specific moisture levels of each physical set. By utilizing basic particle setups as Previz, we guided the heavier, final FX work. Achieving the required depth and realism meant stacking multiple layers of particles, rigid bodies, and volumes, which resulted in extensive compute times and massive caches for every shot.
Managing this enormous volume of data rigorously tested our USD-based pipeline. We continuously optimized these heavy caches in parallel to ensure a robust and seamless data flow across all departments. Finally, during the render stage, our main hurdle was achieving the correct dirt density while keeping render times under control. We leveraged AWS to scale up our rendering capacity and accelerate the process, while instancing multiple particles onto each cached point (a technique commonly used in grooming), which allowed us to efficiently balance render performance and visual weight across both wide shots and tight close-ups.
Designing the morphology, growth, and behavior of roots and vines required the imagination and precision of more than 50 visual artists dedicated to delivering the pixels that bring the earth to life.
| 73 | 63 | 576 | 9479 | 15 | 20 | 2000+ |
| VFX SHOTS | VFX TEAM | VFX TASKS | VFX VERSIONS | 3D ASSETS | TB | RENDER HS |
VFX Supervisors: Santiago Svirsky + Carlos Villafañe + Juan Curcho + Guille Lawlor
VFX Producer: Bruno Fauceglia
VFX Coordinators: Lelio Heber Defelice & Sofía Arissian
