Davy Nethercutt is a Visual Effects Supervisor and Senior Compositor based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has received three Emmy nominations for his work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and a pair of International Monitor Award wins (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager). Davy’s prolific recent work includes his artistry on Renfield, National Treasure: Edge of History, and Causeway.

Today, Davy reveals more about his unsung hero of the kit, the true power of the iPhone, and his top-notch scanning app recommendations.

Davy’s go-to equipment:

• iPhone
• iPad
• Theta Z1 360-degree camera
• FARO 3D laser scanner
• Sony mirrorless A7 camera

What’s in the kit that you like to use? What’s your go-to equipment?

The things I use the most are probably my iPhone and the iPad. Now you have apps on the iPhone and iPad for basically a lot of what you need to do and then you can grab a lot of reference photos quickly without getting in the way.

The one thing I use a lot is the Theta Z1. If I’m trying to get HDRs while production is still going on…I’ll try to grab them with the Sony [A7 mirrorless]…But there’s a lot of times where it doesn’t have to be quite as detailed as a big CG shot. So, if we just need an HDR and looks like the shots are going longer, and the day is going long, a lot of times I’ll jump in with the Theta and grab an HDR between takes if I can.

On the importance of a good HDR shot:

I use that one [the Theta Z1] a lot. It’s always good to have an HDR because it’s going to be a VFX shot of some kind that could possibly have some CG in it, and for future reference. So, I’ll grab them from a lot of setups sometimes just throughout the day just to have them in case it pops up. And they’re quick…you can shoot an HDR if it’s well-lit in like, 60 seconds.

What kind of scanners have you used in the past?

I really enjoyed the scanner we used on Crater. Of course, it’s a couple hundred thousand dollars. So it’s an ideal scanner and it is not the fastest scan time, but it gives great results on large spaces, which I found interesting.

Was that a FARO scanner?

It was. I really like the FARO scanners, but unless you need a lot of detail from every set, it’s cost prohibitive. I do use my iPhone a lot for scanning. It doesn’t give us as much detail, but you do get a lot of space, information, separation, where things are [in the scene]. For laying out a scene, it’s pretty good, especially if you have enough reference photos to add with your scan. 

There are some really good scanning apps that I’m trying. I probably use Polycam the most. Canvas actually has a scanner if you need to grab something really quick like dimensions…for a set. I enjoy scanning – it’s probably one of the things I like the most. I think it just goes back to what I liked [before he got into the industry], drafting and drawing and CAD. This kind of brings that in and it’s something I don’t get to use a lot being a more 2D artist.

Do you have any apps that you like to use?

For the scanning, I do use Polycam. I just picked up Metascan but I haven’t really used it. I use an app called Theodolite. It has a lot of functions that I don’t use, but it can give you a camera angle, you can take a photograph of the setup at the same time, it gives you data on screen like camera, angle, tilt…

For measuring space and distance:

I have an app that allows me to measure distances if it’s a really tight space. You can still get the information from the camera to the floor. Even if you can’t necessarily get in there, sometimes space doesn’t allow more than the camera operator really. And I also use some other level apps for just getting space or distance.

And then there’s Artemis Pro – which I can put the lens package info in there and take some reference photos using, basically the same lens that they’re [a production] using.

On the continuing popularity of Zoelog with camera departments:

And then there’s ZoeLog which a lot of the camera departments are using. And it helps.
The second ACs are always putting their info in there and you get the camera reports, but these are replacing handwritten camera reports. You don’t have to decipher handwriting anymore.

Do you have anything that you’d say is like an unsung hero of the kit?

I do have a little stool that I keep. It’s a retractable stool, it’s not really comfortable but it’s lightweight and you can just hang it on the kit so you’re not carrying around a big chair…

In the kit, I think that it’s the DSLR. If you just keep it accessible, you can always grab a good raw image that has a lot of information in it, and the Sony shoots [in] pretty dark [conditions] so you can at least get good reference or what you need. I do like the Sony – that’s probably the tool in the kit that I like the most.

Thank you to Davy Nethercutt for the opportunity to speak with him about his VFX kit. Davy has recently finished working on The Georgetown Project, starring Russell Crowe and Sam Worthington. His upcoming TV show, Parish, is set to premiere on AMC later in 2023.