Framestore Animates "Walking with Dinosaurs" with Softimage 3D Submitted By: Avid Technology Europe Monday, 1 November 1999

FrameStore Animates "Walking With Dinosaurs" With Softimage 3D Submitted by: Avid Technology Europe Monday, 1 November 1999

Avid Contact: Sadie Paris, +44 1753 658 478 [email protected] Framestore Contact: Stephanie Bruning +44 171 208 2600 [email protected] October 1999 - Softimage 3D was the sole modeling and animation software used on the award winning BBC Science series "Walking with Dinosaurs". Created by London based graphics facility FrameStore, the series is the biggest production ever undertaken by the BBC and consists of three hours of complex CG animation. The programme which is currently being aired in the UK will air in Germany and Japan this fall and is scheduled for release in the US next year on The Discovery Channel. Softimage has been involved in the Dinosaur project since its onset three years ago when a test animation was created for the BBC by Mike Milne, creative director of FrameStore. Milne, who has 20 years CG animation experience, decided at the start of the project that to create the feature film quality images and meet the rigorous demands for detail and authenticity, only Softimage 3D would be suitable. "It was the program that the animators and I all wanted to use," explains Milne. "The Softimage interface is so intuitive and was the one package that we knew would fit in with the project for its ability to use plug-ins which made our jobs so much easier. The moment we started using Softimage 3D, I knew everything was going to be fine. I am delighted-so much of it is better than even I thought it would be." At the start of the project there were originally 24 CG dinosaurs to be modelled. By the time the last episode was complete this number had grown to 40. When the project hit full-scale animation, the efficiencies of working with the Softimage 3D system were quickly realised. For example, the animation team maximised the use of the Softimage 3D skeleton when they realised it would be faster to transport the animated dinosaurs from the first program to the second program and so forth. Because all dinosaurs share a similar bone structure, the animators were able to create a specific naming system based on the Softimage skeleton and export it. FrameStore created a plug-in to copy an animation from one bone and paste it onto an animal with that same bone name (regardless of the size of the dinosaur).

Page 1 Milne feels that this technique was a real time saver: "For example, now someone comes along and says we want a scene with 30 dinosaurs and two more joining in, walking along the water. Three years ago I would have said 'no way' but now with the software and rendering capabilities, it is possible." Each dino was also given a walk, run and chill cycle that lasted about one minute. For example, the chill cycle for a herbivorous dinosaur's "chill and graze" meant that the dinosaur was animated to put its head down, then look up and glance to one side before carrying on its grazing. If the producer wanted another three dinosaurs in a shot, the animation team could quickly create a new image with just a slight alteration in the timing so that viewers wouldn't recognise that they had seen that action before. The powerful rendering capabilities of the mental ray® software on the Windows NT platform also contributed to the efficiency of the project. Milne comments that they were able to "keep stacking up the boxes" and typically rendered 5,000 to 10,000 frames a night and as many as 30,000 frames over a weekend. The Avid Media Composer system was also used for offline editing on the project. Simon Davies, International Product Marketing Director concludes, 'this is a great example of how Softimage 3D can be used to create many detailed and realistic 3-D characters. We are very proud to have been involved in this project and look forward to working with FrameStore on future projects.' About FrameStore FrameStore specialises in visual effects and computer animation for commercials, feature films, television dramas, video games, promotional graphics and title sequences. These include the John Smith's Extra Smooth Bitter commercials, the ground breaking Blackcurrant Tango commercial, the main opening titles to 'Tomorrow Never Dies' and the visual effects for 'Gulliver's Travels', 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Merlin' for Channel 4 and NBC. Visit www.framestore.co.uk About Avid Technology, Inc. Avid Technology, Inc., which acquired Softimage Co. in 1998, is an international, industry-leading provider of digital audio and video tools for information and entertainment applications. The company's products are used by a variety of customers worldwide including film, television and interactive content producers, TV news broadcasters, corporate communicators and consumers. For more information, visit Avid's Web site at www.avid.com or the Softimage site at www.softimage.com

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