Digital Skin Grafting VFX

To begin with, Indian artists did an in-depth study of the European complexion. We found that white skin reflects more light and has less shadow when compared to dark skin and is translucent in some areas. Therefore a simple color correction of the hero's skin would not achieve the desired effect. For the shoot a London based young white lady with a fresh complexion and flushed cheeks was chosen and with the help of Cinematographer Mr. K.V.Anand every single shot of the hero was repeated with her because lighting conditions change in every shot. After the final edit all the 630 hero shots and 630 girl shots were scanned in 4K resolution. Each of the 9000 scanned frames where Rotoscoped to separate the body parts (face, hands, legs etc.). The white lady's skin was mapped onto the Super Star's image using Eyeon "Digital Fusion" software. Thus the Super Star got his glowing white complexion. The technique behind Super Star Rajini's European complexion in the film. A White lady's skin was mapped onto the Super Star's image using Eyeon “Digital Fusion” software.

Indian Artists` work on Digital Skin Grafting for `Sivaji`

At times VFX is about sheer technique, at times it is a lot of hard work!
Sample this: Rajnikanth starrer Sivaji-The Boss has a song sequence (Style song), where the wheatish skinned super star sports a European Complexion.Sounds like a case of color correction? or DI? It would have been so, but for a small thing, the makers of the movie wanted the star to not only have light colored skin but a soft fluffy texture as well!
Enter Chennai based studio ‘Indian Artists‘ which came up with the idea of Digital Skin Grafting.

"After the song sequence was shot with Rajnikanth, Cinematographer K.V.Anand and our team actually reshot the same song with an enchanting European belle who performed Rajnikanth‘s steps in the same lighting conditions. All the 630 shots with Rajni and the additional 630 shots with the European model were scanned in 4K resolution. Each of the 9000 scanned frames ware rotoscoped to separate the body parts (face, hands, legs etc.). The lady‘s skin was mapped onto the Rajnikanth‘s image using Eyeon "Digital Fusion" software. And finally the actor got his glowing white complexion with a soft fluffy skin texture" shared VFX Supervisor V. Srinivas M Mohan.
"There were two difficult aspects in this project. One was matching the girl‘s action with the hero‘s action and the second was matching both of their body proportions during mapping. The work involved was laborious and painstaking. Great attention was paid to detail right from the shoot until the final print. It has taken 25 dedicated CG technicians almost a year to achieve this 6½ min. feat" he added.
On being asked as to why not color correction or DI, Srinivas pointed out that, "The complexion would have changed, but the texture would have remained the same. Besides with fair complexion, there is a lot more translucency and hence very less shadows"
Why not CG? "With the full CG face, 3d tracking, matching expressions and lighting of the hero are again difficult and time consuming tasks and besides we are specialists in compositing" he elaborated.
The film ‘Sivaji-The Boss‘ starring Rajinikant is amongst the costliest film made in India. It has been Directed by S.Shanker, Music by A.R. Rehman and Produced by A.V.M Productions.