Contents Zoom In Zoom Out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue Next Page ComputerTHE MAGAZINE FOR DIGITAL CONTENT CREATION AND PRODUCTION June 2006 www.cgw.com WORLD
On CG Location Setting the virtual scene in prime-time shows Young Again Digital artists reverse the aging process for X-Men CSI: CGI Uncovering the clues for an immersive game experience
The Wheel Deal Team Disney/Pixar shifts into high gear to create cars with character
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June 2006 • Volume 29 • Number 6 THE MAGAZINE FOR DIGITAL CONTENT CREATION AND PRODUCTION
Also see www.cgw.com for computer graphics news, special surveys and reports, and the online gallery. Computer WORLD
10 Features Departments Cover story Editor’s Note 2 Car Talk 10 CHARACTER ANIMATION | Team The Ticket to Summer Fun Disney/Pixar builds the ultimate Will this year’s anticipated summer concept cars for the newly released blockbusters shine or fi zzle? vehicle-centric fi lm.
Spotlight 4 By Barbara Robertson Products On Virtual Location 18 18 Luxology’s Modo 201 DIGITAL SETS | All is not what it seems AMD’s energy-effi cient processors nowadays on TV, as more and more NewTek’s SpeedEdit, 3D Arsenal city-specifi c locales are built digitally. News By Martin McEachern CAD/CAM/CAE mergers and acquisitions Face-off 28 Investment group purchases Digital Domain MODELING TECHNIQUES | A studio specializing in digital cosmetic User Focus enhancements for music video stars FIRST Robotics Competition applies its craft to mutants on the big Seeing the effects of global warming screen by reversing the aging process Portfolio 34 for a fl ashback sequence. SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater By Barbara Robertson
Products 38 CSI in 3D 32 28 Backdrop 42 INTERACTIVITY | Game artists use Living a Nightmare mocap to bring crime-solving, CSI style, into a full 3D world. Compositors integrate live actors into the eerie digital world of Silent Hill. By Karen Moltenbrey
On the cover: Pixar’s model shop shifted into overdrive crafting the unique characters and their motions (and emotions) for the CGI feature Cars. See pg. 10.
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Karen Moltenbrey Chief Editor note
KAREN MOLTENBREY: Chief Editor [email protected]______The Ticket to Summer Fun 36 East Nashua Road Windham, NH 03087 (603) 432-7568
According to the calendar, summer doesn’t actually begin until June 21, but CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: for children and adults, the Memorial Day weekend is the “real” start of the Jenny Donelan, Audrey Doyle, Evan Marc Hirsch, George Maestri, season. That is when many open their swimming pools, uncover their grills, Martin McEachern, Stephen Porter, Barbara Robertson editor’s and head to the beach. It is a time for parades, barbecues, and backyard fun. It is also when studios kick off their summer box-offi ce bonanza. KATH CUNNINGHAM: Production Director [email protected]______Years ago, a summer night at the movies meant packing up the pajama-clad children (818) 291-1113 in the family station wagon and heading to the local drive-in for a double feature that CHRIS SALCIDO: Account Representative usually included less-than-stellar titles, since major studios avoided summer releases on [email protected]______the premise that moviegoers would rather occupy themselves with outdoor activities. (818) 291-1144 However, the whole concept of the summer movie changed in 1975, evolving into what COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD Editorial Offi ce: we call the summer blockbuster and transforming Hollywood in the process. The phe- 620 West Elk Avenue nomenon surfaced in June 1975 when Jaws took a giant bite out of box-offi ce revenues by Glendale, CA 91204 (800) 280-6446, x1105 becoming the fi rst to reel in $100 million in domestic sales (today’s defi nition of a block-
buster), slaughtering then-ruler The Godfather, with $85 million, and turning all subse- SALES
quent releases that year—including the classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—into TIM MATTESON: Publisher/West Coast Sales mere fi sh food. With its big thrills and chills, most of which were accomplished by an [email protected]______(310) 836-4064 animatronic great white shark and suspenseful camera shots, the fi lm kept people out of the water and in the theaters as they returned for a second, third, and fourth viewing. JEFF VICTOR: Midwest/East Coast Sales [email protected] Soon after, the summer fi lm lineups began shining as bright- (847) 367-4073 A typical summer ly as the summer sun, thanks in no small part to the use of LA Sales Offi ce: blockbuster fi lm spectacular effects. Just as Jaws redefi ned the summer fi lm 620 West Elk Avenue and made a fairly unknown director, Steven Spielberg, a house- Glendale, CA 91204 (800) 280-6446 is heavy on hold name, so, too, did a science-fi ction fl ick called Star Wars, action, light on which made Spielberg’s friend George Lucas a movie legend. Star plot, and big on Wars remains the highest grossing summer movie and the sec- ond highest grossing movie of all time (nearly $460 million in cutting-edge domestic box offi ce). Lucas further capitalized on the season, digital effects. and continued to kick off a sequel and prequel of summer hits, WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE particularly with the VFX-packed trio Episodes I, II, and III. President and Chief Executive Offi cer The typical summer blockbuster formula is simple: heavy on action, light on plot and Computer Graphics World Magazine is published character development, and big on digital effects—eye candy that may be sweet enough by Computer Graphics World, a COP Communications company. to recoup today’s huge budgets...or not, as was the case with June 2004’s Around the Computer Graphics World does not verify any claims or World in 80 Days (produced for $110 million; lost $115 million) and July 2001’s Final other information appearing in any of the advertisements Fantasy (produced for $137 million; lost $124 million). Yet, year after year, studios con- contained in the publication, and cannot take any responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred tinue to stream big bucks into projects, hoping that with enough spectacular effects and by readers in reliance on such content. edge-of-your-seat action, any property can be turned into a huge fi nancial success. Computer Graphics World cannot be held responsible for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited articles, Last year saw a weak crop of summer fi lms, no doubt contributing to the year’s 7 manuscripts, photographs, illustrations or other materials. Subscriptions: Address all subscription correspondence to percent drop in movie attendance. While the 2006 summer premiere is only begin- Computer Graphics World, 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, ning, the lineup thus far looks promising, with mutant superheroes, pirates with CA 91204. Subscribers June also contact customer service at [email protected].______For change of address please include panache, talking animals, cars with personality, and daring spies on impossible mis- the old and new address information, and if possible, in- clude an address label from a recent issue. Subscriptions are sions—all containing cutting-edge CGI. Indeed, the new digital techniques are spec- available free to qualifi ed individuals within the tacular enough to warrant coverage within the pages of Computer Graphics World. United States. Non-qualifi ed 1 year rates: USA $4.95. Canada & Mexico $6.50. All Airmail Delivery is available for But, will the fi lms themselves attract lines of moviegoers that snake around the block an additional $75.00 annually. (a telltale sign of a true blockbuster)? If the Memorial Day weekend was any indica- Postmaster: Send address changes to Computer Graphics World, tion, then it should indeed be a summer of hot hits. Do you have your ticket? 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204.
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3D MODELING Luxology Delivers Modo 201
Luxology rolled out Modo 201, its unique 3D ment. “Modo provides a fused work fl ow modeling, painting, and rendering software so artists can spend less time focusing PRODUCTS built on the Modo code base. Modo 201 com- on the mechanics of 3D content creation bines signifi cant modeling advancements and more time on realizing their artis- with cutting-edge 3D painting and rendering tic vision,” says Brad Peebler, Luxology technologies in a work fl ow customized to president. “It also offers an enhanced 3D enhance productivity for 3D artists working in creation experience by combining mod- game development, fi lm effects, video produc- eling, painting, and rendering technolo- tion, graphic arts, and design visualization. gies in a unique and complementary way.” Designed to fi t easily into existing tool pipelines and work Among the new features are: advanced modeling, integrat- smoothly with other leading 2D and 3D software applica- ed paint tools, accelerated rendering/baking technology, and tions, Modo 201 accelerates the creation of models, associat- work fl ow accelerators. ed color and normal maps, and ultra high-quality renderings, Modo 201 is available now for $895. Current Modo users while providing a comfortable and intuitive working environ- can upgrade to the new version for $395.
PROCESSORS AMD Unfolds Energy-Efficient Roadmap
AMD unveiled a top-to-bottom ener- seek to reduce operating costs, says Bob power AMD desktop processors. gy-efficient desktop processor road- Brewer, corporate vice president of the The introduction of the roadmap PRODUCTS map that will satisfy the requests by company’s Desktop Business. further demonstrates AMD’s com- consumers and businesses for small- Building on the company’s success mitment to an improved global envi- er, more elegant PCs that aesthetically in the blade and general-purpose server ronment; the new line will comple- complement offi ce and home environ- markets with the AMD Opteron proces- ment AMD’s Cool‘n’Quiet technology. ments, yet deliver the same perfor- sor, energy-effi cient AMD desktop pro- The processors are available now and mance as larger systems. cessors can deliver greater performance- range in scale. At the high end, the To that end, energy-effi cient AMD per-watt over standard-power AMD AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core pro- Athlon 64 X2 dual-core, AMD Athlon desktop processors and can reduce over- cessors costs $671 for the 4800; the 64, and AMD Sempron processors, all power consumption. For instance, AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core proces- based on the upcoming socket AM2, AMD purports that these desktop pro- sor 3800+ costs $364, and the AMD are confi gured for new freedoms in PC cessors can provide up to 37 percent Sempron processor 3400+ costs $145. form-factor design by offering signifi - greater performance-per-watt than stan- cant performance-per-watt advantages dard-power AMD processors, while over standard processors for commer- energy-effi cient small form-factor AMD cial and consumer markets. Energy-effi - Athlon 64 X2 dual-core desktop proces- cient computing is a crucial step for the sors can provide up to 154 percent great- computing industry as large businesses er performance-per-watt than standard-
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VIDEO • 3D ACQUISITION NewTek Unveils New Design Video Editor, 3D Offering NEWS Companies
PRODUCTS NewTek, manufacturer of video and 3D animation products, announced SpeedEdit, a resolution-independent video editor that works quickly and on Buying Spree effi ciently on any video project, from Web streams to HD. The company Following the close of fi rst-quarter fi nan- also beefed up its 3D product line with the addition of 3D Arsenal, a col- cials, a number of CAD/CAM/CAE com- lection of 3D content, plug-ins, and training material. panies announced mergers and acquisi- Rather than emulating the old-school fi lm-cutting work fl ow found in tions of various companies in an attempt most nonlinear editors, SpeedEdit streamlines the process by eliminat- to create economies of scale and to reach ing a number of unnecessary steps. For instance, it enables all editing a broader audience with their tools and functions to be performed directly within its timeline and storyboard technologies. interface, so users can Computer-aided design software bypass the intermedi- industry giant PTC announced its ate steps of transcoding intention to buy Mathsoft, developer of or pre-trimming content. Mathcad, which is engineering calcula- It further accelerates the tion software for manufacturing, archi- process by dynamically tecture, engineering, construction, and linking Storyboard and education. Meanwhile, Adobe completed Timeline, which allows a deal that now gives the company con- the performance of many trol of France-based TTF, which focus- common functions in es on CAD data and multi-CAD digital fewer steps. As a result, ripple edits, clip replacement, segment reposi- mock-up. Also, Dassault Systems com- tioning, 3D video rotation, color correction, animated titles, and Targa pleted the mandatory waiting time and sequence playback are just a few of the tasks that can be done faster. has been given approval by the German SpeedEdit will ship this summer for $495. government to purchase MatrixOne, a Meanwhile, 3D Arsenal and the 3D Arsenal suite simplifi es the cre- PDM company. ation of custom motion graphics and logo animations for video editors. In other moves, CAE vendor Ansys Based on NewTek’s LightWave 3D software, 3D Arsenal ships with more is buying Fluent, which offers compu- than 750 pre-created scenes and templates. A content-only version is tational fl uid dynamics solutions. And, available to current LightWave owners. Autodesk purchased Constructware, 3D Arsenal is available now for $495. LightWave users can purchase which manufactures collaborative tech- it for $295. nology for the construction industry.
ACQUISITION Investment Group Purchases Digital Domain
NEWS Digital Domain, the Academy Award- Holdings, has been elected chief execu- tunities in the entertainment business. winning digital studio and produc- tive offi cer and a member of the board Rapidly evolving digital visual effects tion company responsible for visual of directors at Digital Domain, replac- technology is going to allow motion-pic- sequences in such fi lms as Titanic, The ing Scott Ross, who is stepping down as ture directors to tell even more compel- Day After Tomorrow, and I, Robot, has CEO and remaining a consultant to the ling and visually stunning stories in been acquired by South Florida-based company. C. Bradley Call will remain the future, and Wyndcrest believes that Wyndcrest Holdings, LLC, a group led as president and chief operating offi cer. Digital Domain is uniquely positioned by director Michael Bay and investor Bay and Textor will co-chair the board to take advantage of these new technol- John Textor. of directors. According to Stork, the ogies, as well as new distribution chan- Carl Stork, a long-time senior Micro- acquisition will allow Digital Domain nels and platforms, a spokesman for the soft executive and principal of Wyndcrest to capitalize on the expanding oppor- investment fi rm says.
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CAD DESIGN • VIZ Student Engineers Aim High in Robotics Competition
USER FOCUS High school students from across the globe spent six weeks to achieve a common goal are elements for success both in designing and then building a robot that had to perform engineering and in life.” a set of designated tasks as part of a national engineering As Rob Hoffman, senior entertainment product marketing contest. In the end, a team from Rolling Meadows High manager for Autodesk, points out, “Every year these students School and Wheeling High School in Schaumberg, Illinois, are recruited and given scholarships to prestigious schools along with professional mentor Motorola, took home the top such as MIT and Virginia Tech, so participating in the com- Chairman’s Award for their invention. petition really does open doors. Plus, the life skills they take Backed by a host of corporations and educational insti- away—teamwork, leadership—will enable them to pursue tutions, including offi cial championship sponsor Autodesk, any career they want, be it science-related or not.” the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition challenges future engi- Design Intent neers to push the boundaries of innovation with leading- This year, 1130 teams from seven countries designed edge 3D tools. This year’s challenge theme, “Aim High,” and constructed robots using Autodesk’s Inventor (3D tested the students’ and their robots’ abilities to fi re foam mechanical design software) and 3ds Max (3D model- ing, animation, and rendering software). Using a stan- dard “kit of parts” and a common set of rules, the teams, with help from their mentors, solved a common problem during a six-week timeframe by building robots from the parts. Then the teams put their projects to the test in 33 regional competitions, where they entered the inventions in a series of competitions designed by Kamen and a com- mittee of engineers and industry professionals. The game “rules” vary yearly, so students are constantly challenged to come up with new, inventive ideas. Students are judged on various criteria that correspond to a number of awards. Yet, teams are also rewarded for excellence in design, demonstrated team spirit, gracious professionalism During competition, students cheer on their respective inventions and maturity, and the ability to overcome obstacles. that they designed using Autodesk software. As part of the competition, Autodesk sponsors two design balls through hoops, plow the balls into fl oor goals, and contests: the Autodesk Inventor Award and the Autodesk program a robotic vision system to navigate the robot. Visualization Award. The Inventor Award, this year presented This year’s FIRST competition marks the 15th anniver- to Team Cybersonics from Palisades High School (Kintersville, sary of the event, founded by inventor/entrepeneur Dean PA), is given to the team that best understands, documents, Kamen in 1989 to inspire and foster an appreciation of sci- and communicates the distinct phases of the design process, ence and technology in young people through accessible, from concept to production, using Inventor software. The team innovative programs that build self-confi dence, knowledge, used a combination of AutoCAD and Inventor for its submis- and life skills. To this end, Autodesk has been working with sion. The group’s robot was a sophisticated machine that was the FIRST Robotics Competition since 1992, providing stu- built on the success of last year’s entry, which depended on dents with donations of high-end engineering and visual- speed and maneuverability of the robot chassis. ization software to use in the competition. Honorable mention in this category went to the Burning “Autodesk continues to encourage students to learn Magnetos team from Summerville High School, Fort about these disciplines and inspires the inventors and Dorchester High School, and Dorchester Country Career engineers of tomorrow,” says Kamen. “Partnering with School (North Charleston, SC). Receiving the Rising Star mentors, developing relationships, and working as a team (rookie) award was the NASA Fresta Valley Robotics Team
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from Fresta Valley Christian School (Marshall, VA). Meanwhile, the Visualization Award recog- nizes excellence in animation that illustrates the concept of “Ideas Realized.” Student teams used 3ds Max to create a 30-second animation about Receiving Inventor Awards were these designs from Team Burning Magnetos (left; how the FIRST Robotics Competition has helped second place) and the NASA Fresto Valley Robotics Team (right; third place). them realize their ideas. The Grand Prize winner in this category power of team strategy, and the collaboration and determination was Gunn Robotics Team from Henry M. Gunn High School (Palo of students. In the contests, entrants played short games with their Alto, CA), for its 3ds Max animation “Building a Better Future.” remote-controlled robots by piloting them on a course. Honorable mention was given to the Eagle Strike Team from Los More than 85 percent of the high schools and their company Altos High School (Los Altos, CA), which used Max and Inventor mentors have stayed involved with the competition year after for “Dreams to Design.” The Rising Star winner was Team Argos year. Longer term, a Boston research fi rm in 2000 found that the from Peoria Area High School (Peoria, IL), which used 3ds Max students had an improved attitude toward science, math, team- and Inventor for the animation “How to Create a FIRST Robot.” work, and the working world, while a Brandeis University evalu- Teams are formed in the fall at the beginning of each school ation found that participants were nearly twice as likely to major year, and Autodesk provides the software that students can use for in science or engineering as their peers. —Karen Moltenbrey the robot design, engineering, and animation. In January, FIRST announces the competition theme, after which students have six weeks to complete their projects. Then, the robots are packed into crates until the regional competitions are held. In April, the regional winners gathered at the Atlanta Georgia Dome for head-to-head competition among 340 teams (compris- ing 15 to 25 students each), for a total of 8500 students. As Kamen points out, that number is outstanding when compared to the 1992 FIRST championship that involved just 28 teams gathered in a New Hampshire high school gym near where FIRST is located. Teams earned their invitations to this year’s championship by excelling in competitive play, sportsmanship, and various awards, including Autodesk’s two design accolades. The competitions involve high- intensity events that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the
Through 3D tools, hands-on work, and mentors, high schoolers
are introduced to science, math, and engineering at a high level. ______
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ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS Effects of Global Warming
When executive producer and environ- To help visually depict the mental activist Laurie David teamed with complexities of global warming, HBO and Lovett Productions on a docu- Vincent MacTiernan, animator USER FOCUS mentary showing the devastating effects and founder of Extreme Digital of global warming, they needed to illus- Productions, created climatic and trate their point with CGI that blended atmospheric visual effects using seamlessly into the live action for a real- Wondertouch’s ParticleIllusion istic, rather than exaggerated, look. software, which ran along- The documentary, titled Too Hot Not side Adobe’s After Effects and Using a range of digital tools, Extreme Digital to Handle: A Global Warming Premier, NewTek’s LightWave in his stu- Productions created CG imagery to illustrate the featured in-depth descriptive discus- dio’s pipeline. The majority of the effects of global warming for a documentary. sions with some of the nation’s top sci- effects sequences involved the entists and explored the immediate Earth spinning, with plumes of green- of the Earth that included their planetary effects of global warming; it house gas rising from the surface. It also request for photorealistic smoke and also focused on positive actions by busi- featured digital smog, water evaporation, smog elements.” nesses, local governments, and individ- air pollution, and more. Impressed with the results, the uals to counter the growing threat. The fact that MacTiernan was HBO team brought Extreme Digital awarded this proj- Elements onboard in a graphics and ect occurred by hap- animation capacity. penstance. He had In a particular sequence involv- been visiting a facil- ing greenhouse gas emission, Extreme ity for which he often Digital Production created a 3D model does work when he of the Earth slowing spinning with real- encountered the HBO istic plumes, representing toxic carbon production staff as dioxide that gradually increased in vol- they were reviewing ume and rose from the Earth’s surface. graphic shots for the “We started out by selecting basic documentary. When ParticleIllusion smoke presets. With it appeared that just a few changes to the color and the elements were size, we were able to easily customize not quite what the the plume effects without having to go group had in mind, back to square one or to a new 3D scene,” MacTiernan offered explains MacTiernan. “Next, we showed to provide samples of the client real-time, full-resolution pre- atmospheric effects. views of just how the plumes would “Because of the look. The client appreciated being able immediacy required to approve the look of the effect right to turn around the away without having to wait hours or samples, using a 3D even days to see a render.” particle program was The approved plumes were then out of the question,” rendered out with an alpha channel Digital artists were challenged to generate visual MacTiernan says. “But and imported into After Effects. This effects that illustrated the conceptual issue of global with ParticleIllusion, I gave the group better control while warming only in a realistic way. To accomplish the effects, knew I could quickly manipulating the effects with the 3D they used ParticleIllusion software from Wondertouch. generate a 3D image backplate. —Karen Moltenbrey
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© 2006 AJA Video Systems
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORK AND WORK OF ART
AS PASSIONATE AS YOU ARE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE OUR DESKTOP VIDEO SOLUTIONS CAN MAKE,
VISIT US AT WWW.AJA.COM.______
VIDEO SYSTEMS
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. . . . Character Animation car talk Pixar’s seventh feature animation sends a stock car racing down Route 66
By Barbara Robertson
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Character Animation. . . .
From day one, Pixar has put CG anima- ward as he takes a trip to the big Piston was ‘truth to material,’” Clark says. “So, tion on Hollywood’s fast-track. Now, the Cup Championship in California. On the on the one side is realism—we knew we multiple-Oscar-winning studio puts pedal way, he crashes just outside Radiator could animate a car that looked believ- to the metal with Cars, a Walt Disney Springs, a desert town along Route 66 in able. But, the car had to emote.” Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios feature Carburetor County where he must spend So, the Cars characters couldn’t be as fi lm that stars an ensemble cast of hot rods, time repairing a little damage. There, he caricatured as, say, Disney’s short anima- stock cars, sports cars, and rust buckets. learns that while achievements are fi ne, tion “Susie the Little Blue Coupe,” but they The drama begins at a fast and fl ashy the journey in life is the reward. had to come alive. “We do exaggerate,” NASCAR night race on the East Coast, and Cars was directed by John Lasseter, Clark says. “But because the medium has then follows one participant, Lightning the driving force behind Toy Story and such dimensionality, a car doesn’t get on its McQueen (actor Owen Wilson), after- Toy Story 2 who has overseen all Pixar’s back tires and gesture with its front tires.” creative endeavors, and co-directed by To turn the cars into characters, Pixar the late Joe Ranft, who also served as made the front of each car the head and put story supervisor for the fi lm and voiced eyes on the windshield. Any yet, although several incidental characters. the eyes have an iris, sclera, and dimen- The ambitions of the character McQueen sionality, they still look like they’re made center on beating his main racing competi- of plastic and glass. The metal above the tors: The King, a 1970 Plymouth Superbird windshield acted as a mix between an eye- voiced by Richard Petty, and Chick Hicks, lid and an eyebrow, and provided a hint of voiced by Michael Keaton. McQueen’s a furrowed brow. The mouth, where a grill epiphany arrives via Radiator Springs’ might be, became the most plastic facial notable citizens. Doc (Paul Newman), a feature. The cars pivot from their back 1951 Hudson Hornet, is a quiet country axels and steer with the front. “So the doctor (mechanic) with a secret past. Sally, back became the hips,” Clark says, “and a 2002 Porsche 911 (Bonnie Hunt), is a the front tires became hands. By steering California refugee now operating the Cozy or tipping, the tires became gestural, and Cone (traffi c cone) Motel. Fillmore (George then, by pivoting the car’s front from the Carlin), a 1960 VW Bus, is the resident hip- back axel, the whole car became a head.” pie. Sarge (Paul Dooley) is a 1942 Army Male cars had angular shapes; female Jeep, and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) is a cars had softer curves. Sally, the Porsche, good ol’ boy tow truck. These are but a few for example, has a small, cute mouth. of the town’s four-wheeled residents. There “Humans are the hardest characters to are no human characters in this fi lm. In animate because there are so many lay- fact, with the exception of a few bugs (fl y- ers of believability,” says Clark. “We had ing VWs with wings), the only characters to strip away the noise and fi nd the sim- in the fi lm are cars. plest and most elegant way to get across Any other studio given a “car” theme for that this is a car, but it’s alive, and this is an animated feature might have created a a male or female car. It was almost a Zen-
All images © Disney 2006 Enterprises, Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios. car-toon. Not Pixar. To the animators, the like way of animating.” Cars stars aren’t cartoon characters. “John [Lasseter] wanted a story in Body Shop which the cars are humans,” says Scott A team of between 35 and 40 animators Clark, supervising animator. “The doors worked on the ensemble cast, each per- don’t open; you don’t look inside their son animating all the characters in a scene. heads. They become humans; a human All the cars used the same basic rig. “We drama unfolds in front of you.” At the didn’t want to spend forever creating varia- same time, Lasseter had another require- tions,” says Eben Ostby, supervising tech- ment, one born of the 3D medium in nical director. “We needed to produce large which they’d be working. “John’s edict numbers of different models from one kind
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. . . . Character Animation
of rig. We could take the facial rig for one car, move it to another In the Dust car, and it would still work. We’d just stretch it to fi t.” The opening stock car race happens on a small track at night. “It Built into the rig were two systems that helped the cars act gets the movie off to a rip-roaring start,” says Ostby. “As the cars like real cars. By using a path-based driving system installed in pass through all the light sources around the track, we see tiny every car, animators could create a line through space, and the shadows. It looks almost like the light is strobing. It helps make character would follow it. While the car was moving down the the start of the fi lm energetic.” By contrast, the middle act in road, ground maps showed the road’s elevation. So, whether the quiet Radiator Springs is relaxed. And then the last act puts us roads were curvy, hilly, or bumpy, the system locked the wheels back at the track—this time, in California. The California race- to the ground and handled the physics. Tires squished and the track has a different feel,” adds Ostby. “Accidents happen. We cars bounced as they drove over bumps; they swayed around cor- have smoke and dust, and McQueen races through the smoke.” ners, and behaved like real cars when they screeched to a stop. “It To create the smoke and dust, Pixar developed a new ren- would have been impossible for animators to look at that in every dering model for the aerosol fl uids. “That wasn’t the key thing, frame,” says Clark. “But we had the choice to use it or not. We though,” says Ostby. “The key thing was that we used a lot of it, could even run the simulation and adjust the animation later.” and we art-directed it.” As with a real car, the suspension system could be changed Effects supervisor Steve May led the teams that created these by the animators to suit the character. Thus, Sarge lumbers effects and others. “The main effects were dust,” he says. “John and rolls, while racy McQueen stays low to the ground and [Lasseter] gave us reference footage from rally racing in Europe, grips the road. with cars on large expanses raising huge clouds of dust that could A spatial weighting system for various car parts provided the performance controls. “By and large, many of the controls have analogs in creatures,” says Ostby. For example, the crew rigged the cars’ facial animation system using controls similar to those they might devise for animating a creature’s face. “The cars have a jaw and cheeks,” he says. “But there are also differences. For example, the eyelids are on a sliding panel on the windshield.” To animate the stadium crowds for the races at the beginning and end, Pixar used Softimage XSI’s Behavior software and a proprietary system. Behavior handled cars with such particular actions as queuing up in line. The proprietary system managed the massive crowds and allowed the animators to give individual Thousands of tiny Maya particles rendered with PRMan point cars specifi c actions that they would perform on cue. “Making a primitives kicked up dust behind the 1951 Hudson Hornet, Doc. Large crowd look alive and not planned is an art in and of itself,” says particles rendered volumetrically formed distant, billowing dust clouds. Clark. “The crowd has a personality. We didn’t just create a bunch of cycles and hit the random button.” The animators discovered, be hundreds of meters long, but at the same time, had this complex for example, that if they multiplied an eye-blink cycle and applied behavior in them.” With that footage in mind, the effects team cre- it to the stadium cars, thousands of cars all blinked at the same ated giant dust trails for the cars racing through Cars’ deserts. time. “The windshields are bigger than people’s eyes,” explains To do this, the crew tried, at fi rst, putting 3D car models into Clark. “We couldn’t have that. There was a lot of really carefully virtual wind tunnels and running full fl uid-dynamic simulations, considered animation done by artists in the art department.” but the lack of control over the simulations persuaded them to use two types of particle simulations instead. To create the big clouds of dust, which would have required too many particles to produce the fi ne details in the reference fi lms, the effects team generated between 20,000 and 40,000 large particles that they rendered volumetrically. “Some of the particles were as big as the car, but most were the size of a wheel,” says May. “We used a sophisticated shader written by Erdem Taylan fi rst for underwa- ter explosions in Finding Nemo, and then for explosions in The Incredibles. It can add nice details that create a rotational feel.” For smaller scale dust, the effects crew generated as many Pixar used custom crowd-simulation software to cue specifi c actions tiny particles in Autodesk’s Maya as they could push through within the thousands of cars in the stadium, and Softimage XSI’s the system using small point primitives in Pixar’s PRMan to Behavior software to control cars queuing up in line. render them. Disk space, not rendering memory, limited the
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. . . . Character Animation
number of particles. The crew produced turbu- lent particle dynamics for the dust clouds and for the smoke in the car crash scenes by using Maya hair dynamics to set up the fl uid fl ow. “We attached hairs to the bottom of the cars, and they gave us overlapping dynamics as a basis for gen- erating the particle dynamics,” Ostby points out.
Road Crew Animators handled the car crash at the begin- The Fiat Luigi, the stock car racer Lightning McQueen, and the Italian forklift Guido ning of the fi lm without help from a simulation. have the same basic suspension rig, individually adjusted, that helped animators keep the cars’ tires on the road in the fi lm. Instead, aptly named animator John Khars mas- terminded the physics. “We could have hit the push the pieces away, starting with the smaller pieces near the ‘simulate’ button and gotten something interesting,” says Clark. center and then the larger pieces later. “It’s like a zipper,” says “But we wanted to be in control. We wanted caricatured jokes.” May. “And, it goes on for at least a football length or two, kick- Procedural animation helped, though, when McQueen crashes ing up rubble and spray that hits the buildings.” through Radiator Springs. He’s out of control, runs through a The effects team also created a waterfall. In a scene that barbed wire fence, and becomes attached, literally, to a statue of May describes as particularly majestic, Sally and McQueen the town’s founder. When that happens, he pulls so hard that the drive up a mountain and come upon a magnifi cent waterfall. statue topples off its pedestal and the post that held up the statue “John [Lasseter] wanted this to be an awe-inspiring moment,” lands in front of him. He’s still attached to the statue, but it’s says May, “one of the most beautiful things McQueen has night, he’s scared, and he’s not sure what’s going on, so he keeps ever seen.” driving. As he heads down Main Street pulling the statue behind For reference, Lasseter sent the crew photographs that he him, he wreaks havoc. The statue rips up the road like a knife had taken in Yosemite of a waterfall that showed the distinctive pulling through brittle icing on a cake. strands of water he wanted. By emitting particles from layers To tear up the street, the effects group used Voronoi tessella- of maps, technical director Jason Johnston simulated the water tion to procedurally break the road into little chunks of asphalt. falling at different speeds in the huge waterfall. “One level of “Ferdi Scheepers created a clever algorithm that uses McQueen’s particles became a generator for other levels,” May says. “We path,” explains May. “The chunks are smaller on the center line, didn’t want anything viscous. We wanted distinct parts—inde- and get bigger as they get farther away. Then he placed all the pendent groups that moved as a group.” tiles back in an unbroken state and seamed up all the shading To generate the waterfall, the crew used so many particles so you can’t tell it’s pre-broken.” As McQueen drives on a long that the simulation shut down the renderfarm. “It was the net- path that winds for blocks through the town, animated forces work traffi c,” points out May. “We have an adequate render- farm, but bringing the data to the renderer made the system Sally Carrera, a 2002 Porsche 911, drives past a waterfall that used grind to a halt.” To reduce the load, the group quarantined the so many particles the simulation shut down the renderfarm. Parti- cles emitted in layers simulated water falling at different speeds. shot so that only a few frames would render at a time. In addition to these large par- ticle simulations, the effects team also modeled individual pieces of geometry to create a fi ne layer of dust in Doc Hudson’s garage. They distributed the geometry using shaders, although sometimes Lasseter wanted the individual bits of dust backlit. “It’s fun to develop new tech- nology,” says May, “but it’s also great to focus on artistic aspects. The dust clouds are beautiful. It’s not just dirt; it’s like clouds rising from the cars during the golden hour of the day.”
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. . . . Character Animation
Detailing For the fi rst time, Pixar rendered with raytracing throughout the fi lm—the cars demanded it for the refl ections. “We used ambient occlusions to help bring out the shapes and crevices in diffusely lit objects,” explains Ostby. “And, we used raytracing for diffuse radiance—to spill colored light from one object to another.” The studio renders with the commer- cially available RenderMan software, PRMan, although Ostby points out that they tend to be early adopters. “The tricki- est thing for us was in using these tech- niques in a fi lm with as much stuff as in this one,” he says. “We used a multi- Stochastic pruning reduced the amount of geometric complexity in the sagebrush-littered pronged approach to get our renders to be desert. Note the tail fi n-shaped mountains rising from the plains behind Lightning McQueen. reasonably cheap.” The studio calls one of those approaches “shrink-wrapping,” cal, lighting also helped tell the town’s story. “We contrast the town which is a texture-mapping technique that reduced the complexity from the way it used to be in its heyday to how run down it is now of rendering fully detailed cars in a scene. “We bake information through the use of neon lighting,” says Ostby. To do that, the crew onto the surface of the cube so the process becomes, essentially, used new area light sources for particular neon tubes, along with the process of rendering the cube,” Ostby says. Displacement maps RenderMan light shaders. “It was a lot of work making the neon made the cubes render as if they were a fully detailed cars. lights look right and cast the right light on the set,” Ostby says. The rendering team also helped speed rendering, particularly of raytraced refl ections, by becoming early adopters of PRMan’s Motoring Down Route 66 brick maps. “We baked out whatever we could into brick maps,” In 2001, the two directors, producer Darla Anderson, and other says Ostby. “We baked raytraced refl ections, occlusions. You members of the production team drove a caravan of four white compute the refl ections only once, but you can fi lter them when Cadillacs on a nine-day trip along Route 66 from Oklahoma to you read the map in. So you can add an extra layering of fi l- California. “When John went on the road with the story guys, tering.” That helped them more easily repair any aliasing and they went to meet the people on Route 66,” says Clark. “They noise problems that occurred. knew the story they wanted to tell about the cars. They didn’t To reduce the amount of complexity in the desert, with its know the through-line. There’s a lot of Joe Ranft in this movie, miles and miles of sagebrush, the crew used what it calls “sto- and he felt there was something really human about how the chastic pruning.” “We wanted to build the sagebrush accurately, towns were forgotten when the interstate system was built in with thousands of leaves on each,” says Ostby, “but we also the ’50s. Route 66 is a physical representation of American cul- wanted hundreds of thousands of plants in the desert valley.” ture, and one of the stories is about the town. It’s kind of an With stochastic pruning, the sagebrush plants didn’t lose vol- appropriate story to tell.” ume; they became less complex. “As the object becomes small With Cars, Pixar took a risk by sticking to John Lasseter’s man- on the screen, we drop off leaves, but we compensate,” Ostby date “truth to materials.” Turning the cars into cartoon characters explains. “We dropped them off stochastically across the sur- might have been easier, but the crew believes the result wouldn’t face so we didn’t have bald spots, then we compensated the size have been as engaging; people wouldn’t have become as immersed of the leaves, the amount of surface area, and the shader, which in the world. In any animated feature, the technical sophistication needed a different response to light as the leaves changed size.” and animation skill all goes to waste if the story doesn’t capture For Cars, the R&D group wrote a new lighting tool dubbed people’s hearts, but Pixar always has a story to tell. That’s why Lumos that allowed the lighters to manipulate much of the light- the studio’s fi lms have been box-offi ce hits, Oscar contenders, and ing interactively. “We could change light directions and shad- Oscar winners. And that’s likely to be true for Cars, as well. ows, all those good things, but not the fi nal touches,” says Ostby. Let the races begin. The crew rendered out a small number of passes—usually three or four, sometimes as many as 10. Using Apple’s Shake, the com- Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and a contribut- positors could dial the intensity of refl ections up or down. ing editor for Computer Graphics World. She can be reached at
In addition to making the cars look real and the landscape magi- [email protected].______
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. . . . Digital Sets On Virtual Episodic television opens
a new frontier for effects
artists setting a scene
By Martin McEachern
A revolution is under way, and it is being ers and production designers while still parking lot to the parking lot of the US televised. Only, no one has noticed—even as reducing costs. With that goal, they’ve Capitol, the crew sprung into action it unfolds before millions of eyes each week turned to facilities such as Zoic Studios, on multiple fronts, sending an artist to on such hit shows as Crossing Jordan, CSI, Look Effects, and Stargate Digital. Washington, DC to gather reference photos and Las Vegas. And, it’s happening, quite lit- As these companies rise to the chal- for texture mapping, another to the LA set erally, in the background of every show. lenge, a new and potentially lucrative to gather lighting and camera data, while Look closely at the detectives on Fox’s frontier for the industry hangs in the bal- the rest of the team began the modeling prime-time drama Bones as they pass ance. At stake is a future where digital set process using LightWave and Autodesk through Arlington National Cemetery or asset libraries become a valuable com- Media and Entertainment’s Maya. at the military offi cers on NBC’s E-Ring modity, and digital set design and pro- For Zoic, which also does virtual sets as they stride through the parking lot of duction design become intertwined. But for CSI: Miami and Battlestar Galactica, the Capitol Building, for example. In fact, changing the channel on the future will E-Ring was a golden opportunity to show- wherever you fi nd your favorite characters not be easy. Artists must learn to work case its talents because the production was each week—be it near Boston Harbor, the much faster than their counterparts in severely limited in its travel budget, making Las Vegas strip, Central Park, the Lincoln fi lm, who often labor for months, some- virtual locations a necessity. “Usually, set Memorial, even in Afghanistan—chances times years, on a single shot. dressing would furnish the live-action sets are they were fi lmed in a backlot, parking They also must learn to use simple, with foreground elements or anything else lot, or studio in Los Angeles. The worlds all-purpose software packages. NewTek’s interacting with the actors,” says visual they inhabit are increasingly virtual. LightWave, for example, shines on the effects supervisor Andrew Orloff. “But for Overwhelmed by shrinking budgets, episodic stage; rarefi ed and highly spe- the Capitol shot, there was no dressing at narrowing production schedules, and cialized tool sets do not. And because all, not even cars in the lot. We had to cre- rising viewer expectations, TV produc- there’s no time to fi x mistakes on an epi- ate everything in 3D because the director ers are in desperate need of a new pro- sodic schedule, the artists are invested planned to shoot the action with moving, duction paradigm—one that can trans- with a level of trust and creative respon- panning, tilting, and craning cameras— port actors each week through virtual sibility found nowhere else in the indus- not lock-offs. We couldn’t just put a matte sets and set extensions created within a try. Moreover, they must learn to collabo- painting back there and track it in [Adobe] matter of days, not weeks. But with larger rate with directors, production designers, After Effects or [Autodesk Discreet] Com- effects companies tailored to handle long- actors, and cinematographers, assuming bustion; it wouldn’t look real. We needed term, high-budget effects, these produc- a far more active and integrated role. the parallax to sell the shots.” ers are pinning their hopes on smaller, With only a week to complete the com- “boutique” houses to fulfill the prom- Capitol-izing on Zoic posite, the team arrived on set with a 360- ise of a brave, new virtual world—com- When producers for NBC’s E-Ring (about degree camera to gather high dynamic panies with production pipelines that the top-secret missions of two Pentagon range imagery for refl ection mapping. As it emphasize speed and simplicity, which military offi cers) asked Zoic Studios to rotates on a special tripod mount, the cam- can unshackle the imaginations of writ- transport the actors from a Los Angeles era takes a picture every 20 degrees along
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Digital Sets. . . . l
Location Images © Bruckheimer Television, Warner Bros. With a limited travel budget, E-Ring relied on Zoic to dress a sparse greenscreen set (left) using 3D elements, resulting in this fi nal shot (right).
the x and y axis, allowing artists to stitch make certain suggestions as to what was to camera and particle data from Maya— the exposures together to form a spherical needed, such as a 50 mm lens and so forth. into LightWave. “LightWave has this tool image of the location. The entire process Once the director and director of pho- called background radiosity, which does takes about 15 minutes, and when done, tography execute the shots, the group image-based radiosity lighting,” says the resulting image is mapped to a sphere works closely with the assistant camera Orloff. “It’s fast, and looks great.” in Maya. Zoic uses proprietary tools and crew to gather precise information about HDR Shop’s free Lightgen plug-in for Maya the camera lens. This data is then fed into Crime-Scene Work to “read” the sphere and place directional 2d3’s Boujou. The goal on set, accord- The Capitol shots were completed in just lights across the virtual sky dome that ing to Orloff, is to be minimally invasive, under a week, but for the crew at Zoic, approximate the on-set lighting. Artists never imposing restrictions on the cam- there was no time to rest on their lau- then use these lights to create refl ection era work that could undermine the signa- rels. For in the episodic world, where jobs maps and shadows for the scene. ture visual style of a show. “When you see are short and fast, juggling multiple proj- The studio constructed the Capitol as a the shot, you want it to feel like they shot ects is key. So at the same time, the team light, polygonal mesh in Maya. Using the the Capitol, not like they made a hundred played musical chairs with other projects, reference photos, the artists refi ned the concessions to composite the Capitol into including regular work for CSI, E-Ring, and textures in Adobe’s Photoshop, and pro- the scene,” says Orloff. “Our effects have to Battlestar Galactica. jection-mapped them to the building in conform to the visual style of the show.” According to Orloff, Mental Images’ LightWave. For UV mapping, or stretching Using Boujou and artistic fi nesse, the Mental Ray, Maya’s Fluid Effects, and a texture map across a piece of geometry, team allows both the cameraman and Next Limit’s Real Flow are crucial tools the team also used Maya. To enhance the director to work unfettered, tracking the for the group’s work on CSI—in all its lighting and detail of the concrete surfaces, camera movements and applying them to incarnations—especially when the cam- the artists used Pixologic’s Zbrush to paint the 3D camera in Maya. This same cam- era whooshes through a body, down hair normal maps, which encode information era is used by the compositors in After shafts, pushing through capillaries, con- for all three axes. “With Zbrush, we’re Effects and Combustion to add clouds, nective tissues, and bodily fl uids. CSI not able to create normal maps very quickly, trees, telephone poles, fl ocks of birds, only relies heavily on Zoic’s previz work getting a massive amount of detail with- and other set dressings in 2D. Allowing for staging virtual set shots, but for doing out upping the geometry, which can crip- the 3D and 2D artists to work in parallel motion-control shots as well. “We handle ple work flow and protract rendering with a synced-up camera is crucial to fi n- the motion-control shooting for CSI, so times,” says Orloff. ishing shots on an episodic schedule. we’ll swap data from the laptop and actu- Prior to arriving on set, Zoic will create Once the modeling, camera tracking, ally program the motion-control rig using a previz in Maya to block out shots, creat- and texturing are fi nished, Zoic uses a the data from the 3D fi le,” explains Orloff. ing virtual dollies, cranes, and other rigs proprietary system to export the Maya In addition, the producers of CSI: Las for the CG camera, and constraining it to scenes to LightWave for rendering. The Vegas depend so heavily on virtual set the speeds and motions of the real camera. in-house software translates everything— extensions that, at the beginning of every Taking the previz to the set, the team could from rigged characters and hair dynamics, season, they send Zoic to that city to shoot
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A CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page BEF MaGS A CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page BEF MaGS 10Gb NAS with a lot of SAS... Images © CBS Productions, Bruckheimer Television, Alliance Atlantis. Rorke Data & Fujitsu deliver cost-effective multi-user, multi-stream NAS storage solutions
Today’s dynamic Digital Media networks typically demand ultrafast node-to-node interconnections to support a high bandwidth of data transfer.That’s why Rorke Data has partnered with Fujitsu. We integrate Rorke’s Galaxy series of high-performance, scalable NAS solutions with a blazing combination of Fujitsu XG series 10 Gbit switch infrastructure and Fujitsu’s MAX series 3.5," 15K rpm SAS drives. Cost-effective 10Gb connectivity, the unparallel performance of SAS drives, with Rorke’s service and support – It’s revolutionary disk storage, The fi rst image is from raw footage shot for the show CSI: Las without the spin. Vegas. The team at Zoic digitally removed some trees to the left and added the top of a Las Vegas hotel, as seen in the second image.
360-degree panoramic plates. This way, the studio remains up- to-date with the ever-changing sprawl of hotels. “They give us our own camera crew and location manager. We go to the top of buildings with a miniature version of a 360-degree rig and shoot Galaxy NAS • The world’s first non-blocking panoramic moving plates on 35 mm, so we have the entire strip single-chip 10Gb Ethernet switches from the east, west, north, and south stitched together on mul- Capacity: 2TB to 12TB* • Offers industry’s lowest latency in tiple moving fi lm plates,” says Orloff. “You can seen these plates Drives: SAS-based over 10Gb Ethernet Switching (450ns 1GB/s fall-through latency) in the backgrounds of panning shots, especially when the build- RAID: Level 3, 5 or 6 • Delivers 240 Gbps throughput per- ings are in the far distance.” OS: Embedded formance with compact form factor Over the years, Zoic has witnessed the tides of change in TV Microsoft or Linux • Includes link aggregation, IGMP land. “Somehow, in the last few seasons, VFX shots have gotten snooping and port security really long,” muses Orloff. “For a typical TV show, we used to do Fujitsu XG Series 60 90-frame shots; if we got a 200-frame shot, we’d look sideways and say, Wow! Now, we’re doing 1500 900-frame shots as a mat- ter of course. Every single pilot this season had multiple shots that were over 1000 frames.” In the past, VFX shots would be gov- erned by the rule of “get in and get out,” he notes. But those days are long gone; effects shots are now interwoven into pivotal plot Fujitsu MX SAS drives points that demand close attention and expanded screen time. • 3.5-inch RoHS compliant Enterprise Hard Disk Drives offer 15K RPM spindle speed and feature storage On Sacred Ground capacities up to 147GB/hdd In one such pivotal plot point for an episode of Fox’s Bones, the • Mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) detectives discover the charred remains of a body lying against of 1,4000,000 power-on hours a headstone in Arlington National Cemetery. The studio could • Native Command Queuing (NCQ), providing faster execution of not get permission from the government to shoot on the hal- operation commands lowed grounds. So, they turned instead to Look Effects, whose
*Capacity determined by number of enclosures credits include Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Malcolm in the Middle, and The OC. “Because they didn’t just want to put something ______Rorke Data, Incorporated identifi able in the image, like the Chrysler Building, to ‘tag’ it, 9700 W. 76th Street • Eden Prairie, MN 55344 800.328.8147 • 952.829.0300 they needed all of Arlington Cemetery so they could have total Rorke Data is a Subsidiary of Bell Microproducts. SAN • Fibre Channel • RAID • Archive Libraries • Servers • Installation • Service & Maintenance
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Whether it’s with a pencil or a mouse, we’ll teach you to unleash the power of your vision.
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. . . . Digital Sets
freedom in blocking the shots,” says visual effects supervisor Max Ivims. Surviving Pilot Season Zoic worked on a slew of pilots for this season, including The Way, Ultra, and With just under two weeks to complete the shot (which Ivims Eureka, a sci-fi original series airing on the Sci-Fi channel July 18. In one com- concedes is much longer than usual), the crew arrived at the plex shot for Eureka, in which the camera descends from the clouds into a town arboretum in Arcadia, California, where set dressers had impro- skirted by tree-topped mountains, artists created the entire geography virtually, vised a small military cemetery using 100 Styrofoam headstones using Maya’s Paint Effects for close-up plant life, such as trees and grass, and and a fake fountain. The cemetery had to be digitally expanded LightWave’s Vue 5 Infi nite (from E-on Software) as a terrain generator for the to 5000 headstones for various day and night shots. In the 900- sweeping expanses of mountains and densely treed forests. frame opening shot, which was completely greenscreened, the “Unlike feature work, where you tend to use one specifi c functionality of a soft- camera moves with the main characters as the entire cemetery ware package, in episodic work, where you’re doing everything under the sun, you fi lls the background. To keep rendering times low, artists con- need a fl exible package that can handle the full gamut of effects very rapidly,” notes structed a simple polygonal model of Arlington in Maya. Because VFX supe Andrew Orloff. That includes particle effects. So to generate the clouds there was nothing in the shot to enable matchmoving, the art- for the shot, the artists used the new Dynamite hypervoxel engine for LightWave, a ists used a combination of eye-matching the 3D and doing 2D third-party particle and dynamics volumetric renderer. “Since the clouds were rela- adjustments in Apple’s Shake and After Effects. For panning tively static, we could just move the texture around inside them to generate some and craning shots, the crew used Boujou and The Pixel Farm’s internal motion.” LightWave’s volumetric rendering power is also behind the fi re, PFTrack to synchronize their virtual cameras. smoke, explosions, and other particle effects of Battlestar Galactica. For texture mapping and re-creating the on-set lighting in its For another pilot next season, called October Road, the company used Paint virtual cemetery, the team did extensive photography of the area, Effects to dress all the bare trees lining a road with bright orange leaves, employing including the fake headstones, trees, grass, and other plant life Maya’s Dynamic Fields to make all the branches and leaves shudder in the wind with in the arboretum. However, the group did not go to Arlington; varying turbulence. For simple shots like these, involving one, discreet image created Ivims says it was more important for the textures to be consistent in Maya, the team uses Mental Images’ Mental Ray for rendering. —MM with the faux cemetery than the real one. Unfortunately, the team could not use the texture maps derived from the Styrofoam head- stones. “The set-dressing headstones looked fi ne when we were patches of greener grass interspersed with swaths of burnt and on set and in practical photography, but when we took photos of dying grass. The more little details you add, the less your brain them and tried to map them to the virtual ones, it just registers recognizes it as a synthetic environment.” The artists prepared in your subconscious that something is wrong. Real headstones all the texture maps in Photoshop. While the crew normally have a little stain on the bottom from rain splashing up from the uses Maya’s Paint Effects to generate foreground trees, because ground. The fake ones don’t have that.” most of the trees were confi ned to the far background, it was To solve the problem, Look Effects took photographs of easier to project the tree images onto cards. gravestones at a local cemetery. The secret to virtual environ- Later, the team adds as much depth of fi eld as possible in ments, argues Ivims, lies in the little details that take the “curse” Maya before rendering the scenes in Mental Ray and sometimes off it. Those details include color depth, texture-map complex- in LightWave. According to Ivims, prodigious use of depth of ity, and, in the case of the gravestones, undoing the perfect geo- fi eld is integral to the extreme micro close-ups in CSI:NY. When metric order in which the digital ones had been arrayed across the shot shows a substance being absorbed through the skin, the virtual fi eld. “When we had them all lined up, they looked the camera quickly zooms in to a real arm, then Zoic uses a mechanical, so we had to angle them just slightly, so they’re not motion blur to dissolve into a CG arm. After applying a photo- in perfect rows and not perfectly vertical,” explains Ivims. “For real texture map, artists composite multiple renders using trans- the grass, we didn’t use repeated texture maps, and we added parency to give the illusion of subsurface scattering. Images courtesy LookImages courtesy Effects.
For this scene from the new hit show Bones, the team from Look Effects fi lmed at an arboretum, where set dressers had added Styrofoam headstones, which were digitally multiplied, to simulate Arlington Cemetery. CG elements and greenscreened actors were also added later.
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Digital Sets. . . .
After Look Effects proved it could reproduce Arlington likens it to shooting a movie without actors. “By shooting those Cemetery, the producers of Bones returned with an even big- images at extremely high resolutions (8000 lines), the directors ger challenge: re-create Washington, DC for an elaborate aerial and DP can visit the environments from the positions we’ve shot pullout from the Washington Monument that lands in the lap them and go in much further if they want to,” he says. “They can of the Lincoln Memorial. The nighttime aerial originates from plan their own camera moves within the environment, and no two a polygonal model of the Washington Monument sculpted in people would create the same sequence with the same footage.” Maya, and then fl ies over an entire virtual set of Washington Nicholson estimates it takes about two hours of footage to create a toward the Lincoln Memorial. “We built everything, including variable-resolution, 360-degree environment. the Memorial, the malls on either side, and the refl ecting pool,” Rather than dollying around a circular set surrounded by a says Ivims. The water was a simple polygonal mesh to which greenscreen, which Nicholson says creates too much bounce- the artists applied a sine wave to make the surface ebb and fl ow. back lighting, the team places the actors on a rotating turntable It was then mapped with a highly refl ective shader and ray- as the lighting grid above turns with them. Using the Virtual traced in Mental Ray to create refl ections of the world above. Backlot and nested 3D geometry, Stargate has built virtual sets and set extensions for ER, Las Vegas, CSI, and Steven Spielberg’s Stargate to the Virtual Backlot Into the West. “Crossing Jordan also uses them a lot because it’s While Zoic Studios and Look Effects have become adept at assem- easier to re-create Boston on a greenscreen than it is for the bling digital sets in a matter of days, the ability to offer clients a actors to fl y there,” says Nicholson. “Moreover, time stands still library of ready-made virtual sets is what many experts argue will in the Virtual Backlot. Because magic hour lasts forever, you can become the next big step in streamlining episodic production. And afford to perfect a background and add CG foreground elements that’s exactly what’s being tried at Stargate Digital, where founder/ and put actors and partial set work in between.” CEO Sam Nicholson and his crew have been building 360-degree, Stargate’s most recent Virtual Backlots were created for the TNT high-resolution mega-mattes of every conceivable environment a original fi lm Battleground, starring William Hurt. For the movie, director could want. It’s called a Virtual Backlot, and Nicholson Stargate created scores of digital characters using a combination of
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. . . . Digital Sets
greenscreened live actors and virtual people created in Maya and mapped with motion-captured data. All the shots were composed on the circular turntable at Stargate’s Van Nuys, California, stage. For creating and lighting nested 3D geometry, such as the mas- sive digital layout of ancient Rome for the miniseries Spartacus, modelers rely primarily on Maya and occasionally on LightWave; compositors use After Effects and Shake; texturers and matte painters work with Photoshop exclusively; and matchmovers track shots in Boujou. “With Boujou, we don’t have to waste time on set gathering lens information,” says Nicholson. “Indeed, no two lenses are the same, so it’s better to let Boujou determine the [focal length] of the lens. Instead of 24 mm, it will say 23.75, and it processes it—and it’s pixel perfect.” Images courtesy Stargate Digital. courtesy Images Stargate’s renderfarm houses approximately 200 processors running primarily in Boxx computers and some Dell machines. The studio also maintains about 100TB of storage to effi ciently run its proprietary VOS (Visual Operating System) software, which organizes visual information and disseminates it to a number of artists in various countries. “Transparently tracking all our effects These images are from Stargate Digital’s Virtual Backlot Russia loca- tion, for a project the group completed last year. The fi rst image is a shots, VOS provides real-time access to, and playback of, an exten- greenscreen shot, with the digital set applied to the fi nal (below). sive stock-footage library as well as every rendered effects shot from any desktop in our facility,” adds Nicholson. assets. Surprisingly, such a system is missing in most of the large companies doing million-dollar digital set shots. Sometimes they The Digital Road Ahead end up re-inventing the wheel for every new project. To make a Looking to the future, the three companies are widely optimistic, comparison, modern architecture today is an assembly process not only about the prospects for small effects houses tailored for based on huge catalogs of ready-made construction components episodic work, but the ability for virtual sets to expand the creative that are assembled according to a design grammar. An archi- horizons of television and completely redefi ne the role of the digi- tect works with custom elements only sporadically; most of the tal effects artist. “With the absence of sci-fi shows, visual effects design vocabulary is based on a library of tried and trusted com- artists have to change from a bunch of guys who can render space- ponents. I see the same thing happening in the future, to some ships to heads of departments who interface with TV production extent, for virtual sets.” and collaborate on set,” says Look Effects’ Ivims. “We get to be And Bina’s vision of the future gets even brighter. With z- more creatively involved with all the other departments.” depth cameras and crossover technologies from advanced ren- Moreover, television’s reliance on virtual sets could serve as a dering engines for games and video card chips, real-time virtual seedbed for change in the fi lm world, as well. Vlad Bina, a digi- set compositing could be only 10 years away, he says. Indeed, a tal set designer from xyBlue Design, whose credits include the primitive system has already been successfully tried on Disney’s Matrix fi lms, agrees: The Book of Pooh TV series. Stargate’s Nicholson also empha- “Stargate’s Virtual sizes the importance of standardized, workhorse software like Back lot is one of the Maya and LightWave, which can deliver the “good, fast, and fi rst attempts to cre- cheap” triangle, and shorten the learning curve for new artists. ate a system and pipe- And, it’s the artists themselves who will profi t the most from the line for acquiring and growing market, says Orloff. organizing digital set “TV tends to be dominated by smaller companies because we’re able to harness the collective talents of a small group of For Crossing Jordan, artists better than larger companies can. When we get a project, Stargate Digital utilizes I’ll tell four guys to put their heads together and pitch me the its Virtual Backlot to best solution that exploits everybody’s talents,” says Orloff. “On re-create a Boston backdrop, since it is far the episodic stage, everybody gets to shine.” easier to generate a virtual version of the Martin McEachern is an award-winning writer and a contribut- city than it is to fi lm ing editor for Computer Graphics World. He can be reached at
© NBC Studios, Inc. Crossing Jordan Fridays 8 pm, 7 pm Central. the actors there. [email protected].______
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Our world just got bigger!
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. . . . Modeling Techniques Face-
Artists turn back the clock for actors
Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen
By Barbara Robertsonoff and © 2006 M arvel Characters, Inc. TM & © 2006 Twentieth Century Fox. X-Men character likenesses TM
Artists at Lola gave actor Patrick Stewart a digital face-lift for an opening scene in the newly released X-Men using techniques sharpened during the past eight years on music video divas.
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Modeling Techniques. . . .
X-Men: The Last Stand where makeup can’t go. And, that’s the “We had one or two fi lms the fi rst year, opens with a fl ash- exciting aspect of it.” four or fi ve the next, and have 12 this back, an event that took The studio initially began performing year,” says Straus. “I can’t give examples, place around 25 years in the digital touch-ups for music videos. “In the because most of the work is strictly confi - past: The mutants Xavier (actor mid-’90s, music video directors came up dential—they don’t want people to know Patrick Stewart) and Magneto with the idea to make their singers look who looked good and who looked bad. (actor Ian McKellen) meet fellow better,” Straus says. “We even out skin That’s why X-Men is so cool. We took a mutant Jean Gray as a child. Typically, texture, take out bumps. Now the divas vanity tool set and applied it to support such fl ashback sequences rank low on a even request people by name to do their the story.” director’s list of favorite scenes. To turn digital makeup as if they were request- back the clock, a director’s options have ing makeup artists.” Soon, models in cos- Digital Skin Grafting been to plaster their stars’ faces with metics commercials also wanted digital Particularly for fi lm, Lola developed a pro- makeup and prosthetics or, if the age dif- touch-ups—a bit of blurring here and prietary technique it calls “digital skin ference is too great, substitute younger there to soften fl aws and make the actors grafting.” “The approach we took for music actors. Neither solution is perfect. look better. Recently, Lola began market- videos and commercials—blurring out the Now, there’s a third choice. Thanks to ing the fl attering techniques to the fea- skin pores and throwing grain on top— a stealth studio called Lola, director Brett ture-fi lm world. makes everyone look younger, but it won’t Ratner fi lmed Stewart and McKellen per- forming the fl ashback as if it were any other scene. Later, Lola reversed the actors’ ages digitally in postproduction. “We filmed the sequence unhindered,” says John Bruno, visual effects supervi- sor. “The opening sequence is a bit of a groundbreaker.” Ratner fi lmed the actors on stage— an interior set with a greenscreen win- dow—and in exterior shots. “We did a no-holds-barred process,” says Greg Straus, co-founder of Lola and its sister studio, Hydraulx. “We didn’t have track- ing marks. We didn’t limit the actors’ motion, blocking, expressions, or any- thing. The DP [director of photography] used the lighting he wanted to use. They did everything in-camera the way they wanted. And, we ended up with extreme
close-ups: forehead and chin full frame. ______That meant our work had to hold up on a 40-foot screen.” Lola specializes in what the studio calls “digital cosmetic enhancements.” But X-Men pushed the state of its art. “We had to take 20 to 25 years off these guys,” Straus says. “We pushed into a realm
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. . . . Modeling Techniques
cut it in a feature fi lm,” says Straus. “It makes people look like and three years working on fi lm, and in having built the skin- they’re wearing masks.” graft libraries over the years. In the case of X-Men, the crew also Straus describes digital skin grafting as a 2D and 2.5D tech- did extensive research. nique that utilizes a pipeline based on Autodesk Media and Entertainment’s Discreet Flame and Inferno systems. The pro- The Years Melt Away cess, according to Straus, maintains the actor’s expressiveness It was easy to discover what Stewart and McKellen looked like and performance, as well as such skin details as pores, lines, as younger men: Each actor has a large body of television and and subtle wrinkles. “One thing we’ve learned after working fi lm work, plus portfolios of numerous photographs, magazine on a dozen movies or so is that maintaining the texture of the covers, and so forth. But, in addition to reference photography, skin is the most important aspect,” he says. Not necessarily, Lola artists worked with a plastic surgeon. “Looking at a pho- however, the skin from the actor getting the makeover. tograph is subjective,” says Straus. “You don’t know if someone Lola artists can draw from a propri- looks younger because of their expression etary library of skin elements for the See the July issue of Computer or a physical change. The plastic surgeon smooth 2.5D high-resolution skin patches Graphics World’s sister publica- helped us understand what happens to faces that they place on footage of an actor’s tion, Post Magazine, as X-Men: as they age.” face to, for example, fi ll in deep lines. The Last Stand director Brett The surgeon also helped the artists avoid Although painters might refi ne individ- an important mistake that even occurs in Ratner talks about taking over ual patches, the age reversal process Lola real-world plastic surgery: making a face a successful franchise as well as used for X-Men does not involve frame-by- look androgynous. “Men and women age frame hand painting. Rather, artists graft the editorial and visual effects differently,” says Straus. “In an early test, the skin patches and change facial topog- process for this fi lm. we had made one of the actors look younger, raphy using warping techniques. but he looked weird. The surgeon taught us “It’s parametric,” says Straus. “We didn’t write custom soft- it was because we had made a masculine feature feminine. It’s ware. We built everything as an Inferno batch setup. We’re able very easy to make someone look gender-nonspecifi c.” to make tweaks by moving sliders.” Although the artists used photo documentation of the actors, The trick, Straus believes, is in knowing how to apply the they didn’t scan the 60-year-olds to create their youthful faces. Inferno tools in the right order—experience gained from eight “Using their own skin wasn’t going to get us there,” says Straus. years of digital touch-ups for commercials and music videos, “We had to go to our library of skin.” Each actor presented unique challenges. For example, Digital skin grafts drawn from a proprietary library of skin elements helped smooth actor Ian McKellen’s craggy face, and warping one trick for making someone look young is to add hair, but techniques applied in Inferno changed his facial topography. The Stewart’s character had to be bald. “We had to go to 30 years end result is a younger version of the mutant character Magneto. younger to have the audience believe he was 25 years younger,”
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Artists applying the digital skin grafting techniques used to make Patrick Stewart Straus says. McKellen’s craggier face, on the other (at left in images) and Ian McKellen (at right in images) look younger consulted hand, required more digital skin grafting. with a plastic surgeon to avoid making the men look androgynous. Lola artists produced light, medium, and heavy versions of each actor’s rejuvenated faces, with “heavy” the shift,” Straus says. “Writers have stayed away from fl ashbacks most altered—cheekbones raised higher, nose or ears smaller, because directors don’t like casting other people. This could lines erased. “We could ask the director which version he liked break open a fresh wave of ideas that had been off-limits.” best,” says Straus. “If we were painting, there’s no way we could have had as much back and forth.” Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and a contribut- Then, working with scanned live-action plates, they cre- ing editor for Computer Graphics World. She can be reached at
ated full-motion tests for nervous studio executives who were [email protected].______ready to cut the sequence if the age reversal wasn’t convincing. As the shot begins, the technocrane booms up over Stewart, who is spinning. Then, the camera backs up. “Where it gets tricky is when the guys move their heads in 3D and the lighting responds and moves over the work we’re doing,” says Straus. “That’s what separates the men from the boys. In the opening shot, there is full 3D movement of patches tracked onto the actors, and the patches respond to the lighting. That’s the real trick—obeying the lighting in the scene. That’s what makes this stuff not easy.” The quality-control work is exacting; the work can be tedious. Although the pro- cess doesn’t demand unique tools—it’s based on the clever use of existing tools— Straus believes that the Lola artists’ wealth of experience gives his studio a competi- tive advantage, one they’ll need now that they’ve opened the door to new possibilities. Artists using digital tools can deform and change the shape of actors’ faces; they can make them look gaunt and thin—something ______impossible to do with prosthetics. And, that makes new kinds of stories viable. “I think this could cause a fundamental
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. . . . Interactivity
CSIin3D
Animators solve the technical mysteries
behind CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder
By Karen Moltenbrey
in the top-rated television drama the crimes, players must visit the scene, in real time, so players can walk around CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the interview suspects, and collect and ana- the crime scenes at will, and the game’s crime-solving team of John Grissom and his lyze physical evidence using puzzle-solv- advanced interactivity makes it seem as group of criminalists use the latest tools and ing and interrogation skills to establish a if players are actually using the tools for methodologies to solve some of Las Vegas’s relationship among the suspect, the vic- collection and detection of the evidence. most perplexing crimes. Similarly, for the tim, and the crime scene. As a result, it feels as though players are Ubisoft/Telltale Games CSI: 3 Dimensions of With the game’s new 3D graph- actually solving the case, rather than Murder PC title, based on the TV show, CG ics, players can move around the crime having the computer solve it for them. artists and animators applied the latest digi- scene and zoom in for a close-up look at And, if they are successful, they can then tal techniques that enabled them to bring relevant hot spots in the game and are make an arrest. the crime story into the interactive space. not limited to doing so simply within Although the third interactive itera- the same axis. However, they will not It’s the Way that You Move tion of CSI, this title is the fi rst to bring the be able to walk around the space freely Further supporting the game’s realism gameplay into the full 3D space, and as in the game space in the style of a fi rst- are the motions of the characters. To a result, mimics the television show more person shooter. Still, all the objects and accomplish this, Telltale Games teamed closely than the previous releases for a scenery are fully modeled and rendered with mocap studio House of Moves, which more immersive experience. recorded approximately 75 In the game, players use the actual motions involving latest forensic science and an array of props—knives, crime-solving equipment— guns, jars, books, garbage including Mikrosil casting bags, and so on—that lent material, magnetic powder some authenticity not only for enhanced fi ngerprint to the cinematic sequences, analysis, and Luminol for but also to the in-game detecting traces of blood play. These movements were evidence—as they work acquired via single- and mul- alongside Grissom and the tiple-person capture with a
cast to solve fi ve cases The game CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder brings the characters from the hit 100-camera array of 4 mega- with deep plot lines. To television drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, including supervisor John pixel, grayscale Vicon MX 40 discover the truth behind Grissom, into the interactive 3D space, enabling players to solve crimes. motion-capture cameras.
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According to David Felton, production Body language is often the key to uncovering the truth from suspects (left); for realistic and manager at Telltale Games, using full- subtle character motions, the crew used a great deal of motion capture. Mocap data also body motion capture enabled the group to enhanced some of the hand-animated movements of the investigators themselves (right). record a set of specifi c, believable actions. “Especially in our cut-scenes and recon- be a lot of work for something that would and cleaned up, it was delivered as Auto- struction sequences, where you see sce- only be used once,” explains Felton. desk Media and Entertainment Maya narios of what happened or might have As Christopher Bellaci, production scene files, where marker information happened, the characters ‘talk’ with their manager at House of Moves, points out, was applied to Maya skeletons; the char- bodies rather than with words,” says the group captured everything from ges- acters were modeled in Maya and tex- Felton. “Using motion capture allowed us tures and idle motions like leaning on a tured in Adobe’s Photoshop to look like to have our 3D characters communicate table, sitting, and walking. The crew also the actual actors in the show. This was through their actions.” mocapped specifi c sequences of action accomplished by “revisions,” says Felton. As Felton explains, it was important that were later applied to a character who, “Actually, we used reference photos pro- to capture realistic human motion, espe- for example, is hit with an object and vided by the show to model all the CSIs. cially for the game’s cinematic sequences. then gets up, or a person wielding a knife Some of the characters were easier to get Because motion-capture animations come in a threatening manner. This was done [correct] than others. LVPD detective Jim from real human motion, there is a lot of within a capture volume of 35 by 40 feet. Brass, Dr. Al Robbins, and investigator subtlety in the data that cannot be as eas- In all, Felton estimates that the ani- Nick Stokes came together very quickly. ily achieved with hand animation. mators achieved a 5:1 time-savings using We revised investigator Warrick Brown All the cinematic sequences in the game mocap data instead of hand anima- about four times before we were happy.” were almost entirely mocapped. These were tion. “We captured all the mocap anima- Yet, the biggest challenge in terms of primarily crime re-enactments accom- tions that we used for the game in one the content creation and aesthetics was panied by a voice-over, so the character’s day. We then had two animators ‘clean’ achieving a realistic look while at the body language had to convey the action. the data in a little less than a week. This same time keeping a low minimum spec The rest of the game used hand-animated was to adjust the generic character size (the game does not require a high-end suites that were designed to blend with the of the mocap data to the specifi c propor- PC), since the more polygons that are on characters’ idle poses. Yet, the group did tions of the fi nal character models it was screen, the lower the game’s performance. work in some of the mocap data for some being applied to,” he says. “ It would have So, the art team had to convey a lot of of the character idles, as well. taken two animators about fi ve weeks to realism without using a lot of details. Most of the mocap data, however, was accomplish the same thing by hand. “This game was going for gritty real- for specifi c, complicated, full-body char- Once the mocap data was acquired ism, and using motion capture provided acter acting. “It doesn’t make a way to add a level of sense to hand animate this hyper-realism to the char- sort of thing because it would acter animation,” says take a long time, and you prob- Bellaci. ably would not have as much Like in the television detail. In addition, it would show, technology and teamwork helped solve Although the game is the third the case. based on the TV series, it is the fi rst to bring the gameplay into the full 3D space, resulting Karen Moltenbrey is the in a far more realistic and chief editor for Computer immersive experience. Graphics World.
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Clockwise from top: Considered one of the premiere animation events, the annual SIGGRAPH Computer Animation 458nm (Special Jury Honors winner) Created by Jan Bitzer, Festival showcases the best CG works from students and professionals around the globe. And Ilija Brunck, and Tom Weber from the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects, and Postproduction at Filmakademie judging from the caliber of the works accepted into this year’s festival, the event surely will Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany, this project caught the not disappoint audiences. “The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is an internation- eye of the judges for its intricate detail and elegance. ally recognized event that engages and inspires artists and technologists alike,” says Digital Bubble Girl This compelling animation, from Psyop, was cre- Fauxtography’s Terrence Masson, chair of the 2006 Computer Animation Festival. “Each year, ated for a television commercial for its client Aero. it serves as a mirror of what is possible today and a window into what can be achieved in the Brush Lei Chen, a student at Bournemouth University in the UK, crafted this highly stylized fi lm for a master’s degree future. It provides equal merit to fi lms from independent and major studios as well as students.” project in 3D computer animation. The 2006 event is the culmination of nearly two years of planning and preparation by the festival committee, which comprises industry volunteers who committed thousands of hours to bring this presentation to the SIGGRAPH audiences and beyond, during special post-SIGGRAPH screenings at selected locales.
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The committee received a record 726 entries from six continents and 37 countries, includ- Clockwise from top left: ing Australia, Germany, Iran, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain, resulting in a 25 per- Dairy Crest “Cityside” In this TV spot, created by artists at cent increase over the number of submissions from last year. Moreover, the entries represent a Framestore CFC in the UK for client Dairy Crest, hungry digital creatures blend into a live backdrop. range of computer graphics from across many disciplines. In all, 97 pieces were accepted: 34 Everyone’s Hero This upcoming CG animated feature is from into the prestigious Electronic Theater and 63 into the Animation Theater. Of those, 51 are ani- directors Christopher Reeve, Dan St. Pierre, and Colin Brady of mation pieces, fi ve are scientifi c pieces (including scientifi c visualization, medical imaging, and IDT Entertainment. technical submissions), 10 are art pieces, 16 are broadcast pieces, three are computer game Flow Presented by head of R&D Stephan Trojansky from Scanline Productions, this project features a digital Megalodon jumping cinematics, 12 are visual effects pieces, and 38 are student works. out of water, which was further enhanced with Scanline’s Each year, two Electronic Theater submissions are singled out for special recognition. This proprietary fl uid-simulation techniques. year, the animated short fi lm “One Rat Short,” from Alex Weil of Charlex, received the Best of Guinness “noitulovE” This fi sh-out-of-water animation was created by Framestore CFC for Guinness. Show award. This fi lm, which uses computer graphics for a more dramatic and cinematic look as opposed to a cartoon look, follows a New York City rat from his gritty world to the interior Doll Face This project was done by Andrew Huang from USC.
JUNE 2006 Computer Graphics World | 35
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Portfolio
Clockwise from top left: of a futuristic laboratory (for more on this project, see “Oh, Rats!,” May 2006, pg. 16). One Rat Short (Best of Show award) An emotional piece, “This piece immediately stood out to the jury for many reasons,” says Masson. “The fi lm’s this fi lm-noirish animated short from Charlex and director Alex Weil uses CG imagery in a unique way; rather than present emotional tone, cinematography, and technical realization melded wonderfully into a simple yet the medium in the typical shiny style, the group used CGI touching short fi lm. Repeatedly, the two lead characters transfi xed our gaze with extreme close- for a dramatic, cinematic look. ups, and we instantly wondered what they were thinking. Our ability to clearly empathize with Into Pieces This stylized selection is from director the main characters’ desires is one of the fi lm’s single greatest achievements.” Guilherme Marcondes in Brazil. The other award-winning fi lm was “458nm,” by Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, and Tom Weber of Rexona Go Wild This is yet another unique spot from Framestore CFC for one of its clients. Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany, which received Special Jury Honors. The fi lm is a The Inner Life of the Cell One of the show’s technical pre- romantic story of two mechanical snails that fi nd each other under the moonlight. “The initial submit- sentations, this scientifi c animator is presented by John Liebler ted artist’s description in no way prepared us for the stunning impact of this fi lm. The grace, beauty, from XVIVO. and power conveyed with such humble subjects are only more appreciated upon multiple viewings,” says Masson. “Intricate details and subtle animation build layer upon layer of simple elegance.”
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Other notable Animation Theater pieces, as singled out by the jury, include “Robin Hood Clockwise from top left: Flour,” from Richard Rosenman of Red Rover Studios in Canada. In this animation, it is a holi- Robin Hood Flour—Giving This warm animation from day evening and the main characters are being interviewed at their dining room table. They are director Richard Rosenman and Red Rover Studios in Toronto earned special kudos from the judges. furiously wrapping gingerbread cookies in gift boxes. The table shows various gift-wrapping Tread Softly A unique animation from director Heebok Lee of accessories, the freshly baked cookies, a glamorous candle ornament, and a kitchen cloth with Carnegie Mellon University combines multicultural imagery into the Robin Hood logo. The cold winter setting outside contrasts with the warm dining room one compelling visual. lighting inside and helps develop a cozy holiday atmosphere. Warhammer This image, from the opening cinematic of the computer game Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, was crafted by These projects, along with many others, will be featured in the Electronic Theater, held dur- director Istvan Zorkoczy of Digic Pictures in Hungary. ing the conference in Boston. Evening performances and matinee performances are scheduled Wojna Directed by Agnieszka Kruczek of the Institute of throughout the conference. Animation, Visual Effects, and Postproduction Filmakademie in Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany, this stylistic presentation A sampling of still images being shown in the Electronic Theater is presented on these scores for its unique look. pages. —Karen Moltenbrey
JUNE 2006 Computer Graphics World | 37
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SOFTWARE VISUAL EFFECTS
DESIGN Jahshaka VFX
Win • Mac • Linux The Jahshaka Project has The Power of N released the Jahshaka 2.0 RC3, an open source, Win nPower rolled out Power Translators real-time editing and visual effects application. Pro, an extension to its Power Translators plug- The tool is distributed under the GNU General in for Autodesk’s 3ds Max, for importing large Public License, and the software and its source CAD models and assemblies into 3ds Max and code are available for public download at www.____ Autodesk’s Viz software. The product offers Jahshaka.org. Designed for editors and other professionals involved in digital content cre- improved productivity for professional design at $1295; upgrades from 2.0 cost $249. Knoll ation, Jahshaka is a postproduction suite that visualization engineers who need to render Spark Pack works on Autodesk’s Inferno, Flame, will ultimately include modules for video and numerous large, complex CAD models accu- Flint, Fire, and Smoke. audio editing, compositing, animation, visual rately and effi ciently. With Power Net, the prod- Digital Anarchy; www.digitalanarchy.biz uct maximizes the design visualization through- effects, graphics, and paint. Hardware-acceler- ated using OpenGL and built using cross-plat- VIDEO form technology, the software runs equally well on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The Edius Enhances its NLE Software Jahshaka 2.0 release also includes JahPlayer, a The Grass Valley business within Thomson cross-platform media player that eliminates the announced Edius Pro Version 4.0, the lat- need to install multiple media player software. est in the company’s real-time, multi-format The tool supports 2K and 4K playback of media video editing solution. New features such as fi les to raw image sequences, and maintains multi-cam support, nested sequence editing, the aspect ratio of the source improved trimming tools, and keyframe sup- Jahshaka Project; www.jahshaka.org port for color correction maximize the editing system’s productivity. To meet the high stan- Knoll Spark Pack Lights Up dards and fast-paced environments of broad- put by leveraging distributed computing power SGI • Linux Digital Anarchy announced cast and postproduction facilities, including and network optimization for the large models Version 3.0 of its Knoll Spark Pack, offering support for new tapeless acquisition and stor- and large volumes of data typical of the CAD increased control over the look of hundreds of age systems, the new features found in Edius industry. Complex data translation process- lighting effects and furthering the creative abili- Pro Version 4.0 will also be included in the com- ing, which used to take days or even weeks ties of broadcast designers and visual effects art- pany’s Edius Broadcast software solution. to accomplish, can now be done in a matter ists to deliver innovative effects in 2D compos- The new multi-cam feature supports up to of hours. And Power Translators Pro maintains ites. The Knoll Spark Pack was originally written eight cameras and provides real-time monitor the high-quality surface defi nitions required to by John Knoll to create the Photon Torpedos preview, as well as a master channel preview obtain the most accurate rendering. Instead of in Star Trek: First Contact. The pack contains that displays all eight camera angles. The multi- translating their high-quality surface models three fi lters, the centerpiece being Knoll Lens cam feature provides users with the feel of a into imprecise polygonal models or intermedi- Flare Pro, designed to create lens fl ares and live switcher, but with the fl exibility of a non- ate formats and then generating high-quality other lighting effects, including lasers, explo- linear editing environment. renderings, design visualization professionals sions, and suns. The other two fi lters are Knoll Edius Pro Version 4.0 software is avail- can transfer the precise surface defi nitions gen- Unmult, for matte generation, and Knoll Min/ able this month for $699. Version 3 users can erated by the CAD designers. Power Translators Max, for matte adjustments. The pack sup- upgrade for $199. Edius Broadcast Version 4.0 Pro sells for $1995 and includes a free one-year ports 64-bit SGI and 32/64-bit Linux, and has software will also be available at the end of subscription to Power Net. been updated to take advantge of Autodesk’s June for $999, and $199 for upgrades. nPower; www.npowersoftware.com newest systems. Knoll Spark Pack 3.0 is priced Grass Valley; www.thomsongrassvalley.com
38 | Computer Graphics World JUNE 2006 www.cgw.com______
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PROJECTION cessors for thin and light notebook PCs that ity MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-frame codec so users can offers long battery life and outstanding perfor- capture other HD and SD formats using the Maestro VRX Plays to the Crowd mance, even when using multiple applications system’s analog inputs, and mix all types of Orad Hi Tec Systems demonstrated for the fi rst simultaneously, including demanding digital footage on the timeline in real time. Priced at time its new Maestro VRX system designed to media applications. AMD also is bringing 64- $1,995 and including Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, provide a high-resolution, multi-channel, scal- bit computing to the Mobile AMD Sempron Matrox RT.X2 will be available this month. able real-time graphics solution for backdrop processor family. Now AMD delivers the only Matrox also unveiled Matrox Axio LE, rear-projection systems. Backdrop rear-projec- complete mobile product portfolio offering a real-time HD/SD editing platform. It fea- tion systems are becoming more popular as the ability to seamlessly transition between 32- tures no-render HD and SD fi nishing in a high-quality replacement for conventional and 64-bit computing. Moreover, the proces- compressed and uncompressed formats, video walls or bluescreens. sor will be ready to run the upcoming 64-bit real-time color-correction tools, advanced Maestro VRX merges between the VRX version of Microsoft Windows Vista. real-time effects, and a full complement of technology and the Maestro on-air graphics sys- The AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technol- analog and digital video and audio inputs tem. The Maestro VRX is a template-based 3D ogy is based on the same Direct Connect and outputs. It also lets users work seam- and 2D real-time graphics system. The graphic Architecture featured in the AMD Opteron and lessly with the other Adobe Production templates are produced using Orad’s 3Designer AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors, providing high- Studio applications. It supports Adobe authoring software. During production, the speed links between cores, memory, and I/O Dynamic Link and provides WYSIWYG video for increased system performance. Notebooks output support for Adobe After Effects and based on AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technol- Photoshop CS2, as well as other animation ogy should be available in retail stores and and compositing packages. Matrox Axio is through commercial distribution channels this priced at $4495, and is available now. quarter. AMD Turion 64 X2 models TL-50, TL- Finally, Matrox unveiled its MXO, a DVI-to- 52, TL-56, and TL-60 are available now. Pricing audio/video output adapter for the Mac that for the family ranges from $184 to $354. AMD; www.amd.com
templates are fi lled in with real-time informa- SLI-Powered Mobile Systems tion that can be typed in manually or alternately Alienware has introduced two new ultra-pow- pumped from external databases. The Maestro erful mobile systems loaded with dual Nvidia VRX can work as a stand-alone system or as GeForce Go 7900 GPUs: the 17-inch Aurora part of a larger setup with interfaces to all major m9700 and the 19-inch Aurora mALX. As newsroom and automation systems. Alienware’s most powerful desktop replace- One of the unique features of the Maestro ments to date, the Aurora m9700 and Aurora VRX is its ability to output graphics either by mALX provide up to twice the graphics perfor- takes the DVI output from a Mac computer DVI or VGA with confi gurable resolution out- mance of a single-GPU mobile system and are or laptop and converts it to broadcast-qual- put. Furthermore, multiple Maestro VRX sys- the fi rst to feature groundbreaking True MIMO ity video. Users can preview Apple Final Cut tems could be chained together to create a wireless technology from Airgo Networks for Pro projects or the output of other QuickTime- single output channel with enhanced graph- faster, more reliable Wi-Fi performance over based applications such as Motion, Shake, or ics performance. greater distances. Pricing starts at $1999 for the DVD Studio Pro from Apple, or Adobe After Pricing and availability were not announced. m9700 and $4499 for the mALX. Effects, as they will actually appear on TV, and Orad Hi Tec Systems; www.orad.tv Alienware; www.alienware.com then record them, frame accurately, to tape. Matrox MXO can be used to provide a fl icker- HARDWARE EDITING SYSTEM free video output of the computer desktop with any application, allowing the user to RT.X2 Gets Premiere record and display Keynote and PowerPoint MOBILE Win • Mac Matrox Video Products Group presentations, Web browser sessions, and announced Matrox RT.X2, a high-perfor- software application training. 64-bit on the Go mance, real-time native HDV and DV editing Available in June, MXO will be priced AMD introduced AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile platform bundled with Adobe’s Premiere Pro at $995. technology, a family of 64-bit dual-core pro- software. Matrox RT.X2 provides high-qual- Matrox; www.matrox.com
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John Knoll | BA University of Southern California | Visual Tobi Saulnier | PhD Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic, San Francisco, CEO, 1st Playable Productions, Troy, New York | 3-year California | Co-creator Photoshop | 20-year SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH attendee attendee 5 days of real-world, real-time graphic, interactive twingularity The only conference and exhibition in the world that twingles everybody in computer graphics and interactive techniques for one deeply intriguing and seriously rewarding week. In Boston, where thousands of interdisciplinary superstars find the products and concepts they need to create opportunities and solve problems. Interact with www.siggraph.org/s2006 to discover a selection of registration options that deliver a very attractive return on investment.
The 33rd International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference 30 July - 3 August 2006 Exhibition 1 - 3 August 2006 Boston Convention & Exhibition Center Boston, Massachusetts USA
IMAGE CREDITS: Diamond Age © 2004 Jeff Prentice; Khronos Projector © 2005 Alvaro Cassinelli, Monica Bressaglia, Ishikawa Masatoshi; Rogue IV © 2004 Eric Heller; John Knoll photo by Tina Mills
A CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page BEF MaGS A CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page BEF MaGS back Interview by drop Chief Editor Karen Moltenbrey Alain Lachance is the senior compositor, VFX supervisor, and one Living a Nightmare of the founders of Mokko Studio in Montreal. His latest accomplishment Digital compositors bring the frightening digital world of includes the recently released Silent Silent Hill to life in the fi lm adaptation of the game series Hill from Tri-Star Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Silent Hill began in 1999 as a survival horror video game from Konami that has since grown sions for many of the shots. We into a lucrative franchise; currently, there are fi ve Silent Hill video games. Each unfolds A even created entirely virtual envi- like a movie, with several possible endings, as a person’s choices during play determine ronments for some shots where all which ending is revealed. Recently, Sony Pictures released a fi lm version of this eerie series, we received from the client was just a charac- maintaining its visual fi lm-noirish design depicting dark, fog-enshrouded, decaying envi- ter or a vehicle shot against a greenscreen. ronments enhanced by chilling (and very sudden) sound effects and thoroughly unnatu- ral, disturbing, and surreal/absurd creature designs. The main storyline, cinematography, How did you achieve that? and set designs for the live-action fi lm adaptation follows the original CG game. The plot Q With most of the shots, we centers on Rose Da Silva, a married mother whose life takes the unexpected turn toward began tracking the characters Silent Hill as she tried to discover the source of her adoptive daughter’s nightmares, which and cameras. We then used have her crying out “Silent Hill.” Among the facilities that worked on the 619 effects shots A a combination of 2D matte was Mokko Studio, which completed 50 of the shots in two months. paintings, 3D elements from Autodesk Maya combined with 3D matte What work did you do ing immediately after receiving the plates. paintings. We used a lot of Maya fl uids on Silent Hill? Having all of this work done before we for the smoke and fog effects, and Maya Q I supervised our 3D artists as well received any initial direction enabled us to particle systems for ash falling like snow as the compositing team, and begin adding elements into the shots the throughout the fi lm. Most shots had over A also created key composites. The instant after speaking to the director. 10 layers in the fi nal composite. most exciting part of my job was to work hand-in-hand with our artists at How did your experience What other software and creating the mood that Christophe [Gans, help you achieve this? hardware did you use? the director] was looking for, from the con- Q As an editor and then as a digi- Q Autodesk Maya animation soft- cept all the way to the fi nal composites. tal compositor, I have worked ware and Autodesk Toxik col- A on many high-end projects A laborative compositing soft- Pertaining to the within both the commercial ware formed the backbone of effects, what was the and fi lm industries. In addition, I have our pipeline for Silent Hill. We also used Q director’s goal? an extensive background in commercial [Adobe’s] Photoshop for matte paint- He was looking for the most work with clients such as: Coke, Nestlé, ings, [2d3’s] Boujou for tracking, and realistic results possible, and Labatt, Fido, and Budweiser. When I am some Autodesk Discreet Combustion. Our A I think we did a good job of not in the studio supervising the digital hardware is fairly average among other delivering that, especially considering team, I’m usually on set to assure that production facilities. Production work the time constraints. we have everything necessary for the is more about software these days as team at Mokko Studio to create the most opposed to a few years ago, where you What was your directive? breathtaking shots possible. needed the fastest machines available. Q We actually began work on the shots without any directive. We Can you detail some of the Of the backgrounds, focused on rotoscoping the char- more impressive effects you Q how many were CG A acters and creating all the neces- Q did for this fi lm? versus live action? sary masks needed for composit- We did some massive set exten- On most of the shots, the
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live-action background was cache the layers for shots over- other was doing. We showed A only the immediate surround- A night so that in the morning, A both designs to the director so ings of the character. Everything we could do our dailies and all he could choose which look he else was set extension and matte painting. the layers for a particular shot would liked best. In the end, we mixed their ideas In many shots, we had to zoom out and play out in real time, even at 2K. together, creating a composite design from end with a very wide shot that involved two artists; the director then approved that. a combination of tracking, set extension, What were the biggest matte painting, and, of course, a huge Q technical challenges Was any of the work proportion of the background in CGI. you ran into? Q on the fi lm unique? Our biggest constraint was time. We had a particularly unique How many shots required A We also had some concerns shot with a jeep driving across Q roto and compositing of about asset management—hav- A a bridge where all we received the characters? ing a lot of layers to deal with for each from the client was simply a jeep Ninety percent of the shots. shot was daunting. driving about 10 meters on a greenscreen. A Roto was done on most of the The shot wasn’t really working with the characters to add ash effects How did you overcome this? source material, so we matched the cam- around them. In one shot, we completely Q Again, Toxik was very helpful era movement, created a 3D jeep in Maya, rebuilt the road in CGI. For the bridge here; due to the collaborative and then projected the texture of the jeep shot, we had to create a huge dolly out— nature of the work environment from the original footage back onto the 3D the live-action car didn’t work, so we had A in Toxik, we were able to have model of the jeep. That was an interesting to rebuild a 3D car with complex fl uid, two and some- fog, and ash trailing behind the car. Of times three compositors course the bridge that magically appears working on a shot at the in front of the car was CGI as well as same time. One artist could most of the décor surrounding the action. work on the fi rst section of the comp while another Why was the work on worked on the middle or Hill Films, Inc. Image courtesy Silent Q this fi lm more complex than fi nal section. The whole other roto/composites? sequence was updated Challenges for this project instantly on each machine A included a short deadline (50 as the artists worked shots in two months) as well as together. There was no Most shots by Mokko entailed rotoscoping and quickly matching the look of the other stu- searching for images to add compositing actors into eerie backdrops. dios already onboard (fog, ash, ambiance). into the composite. This The ash look was quite unusual and was was very much a time-saving feature. shot, and in the end, this method offered a cool challenge, especially with very long us much more control. We added refl ection shots. The ash was Maya particles with a What were some of the layers to the jeep and other interactive lay- unique behavior on each particle. Q biggest creative challenges? ers like swirling fog with Maya that would When working with other stu- have been diffi cult to simulate in the origi- Did you devise any dios on a fi lm, the most impor- nal footage of the jeep against a greenscreen. Q special techniques? A tant goal is to achieve the mood Not particularly; I suppose for the director is looking for while Any other highlights Silent Hill, the work was more also matching the look of the shots from about your work A software-related. This was our the other studios. The director was look- Q for this fi lm? fi rst real production experi- ing for an ominous foggy atmosphere and As with any new software on a ence using Autodesk Toxik. We certainly almost surreal mood for the shots. A production, you are always a bit learned some good lessons in effi ciency nervous because you will have while working on this fi lm. How did you handle that? unknown factors to contend, and there is Q We initially had two concept art- not a lot of room for error when you are Can you elaborate? ists working on ideas for the on a tight schedule. With Toxik, we actu- Q We implemented some Python look independently of each other, ally saved time by implementing a new scripts into Toxik to import and meaning neither artist knew what the product into the pipeline for Silent Hill.
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