Autodesk Helps Unwrap Holiday Films
Autodesk software solutions helped to shape more than 25 films for this holiday season. From golden quests to untamed landscapes, Autodesk technology was used to create complex digital characters, environments and visual effects, and to digitally color grade this season's hottest films.
Facilities that relied on Autodesk solutions include Sony Pictures Imageworks, Framestore CFC, Rainmaker UK, Luma Pictures Inc. and EFILM, a division of Deluxe Laboratories Inc.
Marc Petit, SVP, Autodesk Media & Ent., said, "The holiday season is a special time for movie-makers and moviegoers alike. Autodesk technology makes this possible; enhancing the movie experience by enabling digital artists to create the magical stories that audiences look forward to year after year. The audience's taste for digital visual effects -- from the subtly invisible to the jaw-dropping -- continues to increase year after year, and Autodesk is proud to be a leading provider of the creative tools that give life to people's imagination."
EFILM's EWORKS color grading system, consisting of a proprietary configuration of Autodesk Lustre and Autodesk Incinerator software, was used to digitally color grade numerous holiday films, including: MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, I AM LEGEND, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, THE GREAT DEBATERS, THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, THE COMEBACKS, RENDITION, BORDERLAND, LIONS FOR LAMBS, SOUTHLAND TALES, LUST CAUTION, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, THE SEEKER, THE DARK IS RISING, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, THE BRAVE ONE and GOOD LUCK CHUCK.
London-based Framestore CFC used Autodesk Maya and the Autodesk Inferno visual effects software to shape THE GOLDEN COMPASS. "Autodesk Maya was used as part of our visual effects pipeline, to create and light all the challenging polar environments, ice and snow shots in the film," said Laurent Hugueniot, Framestore CFC's CG supervisor. The facility also used Maya to build and animate all shots of a massive armored polar bear, one of the film's heroes. "Maya, with its wide-reaching flexibility, has always been a terrific package for us, easily and efficiently enabling integration of our in-house tools and other packages in our pipeline."
Maya was also used by Rainmaker UK on THE GOLDEN COMPASS. Artists at the facility modeled, rigged, animated and lit CG doubles in Maya, using customized shaders. For example, the software was used to craft one of the film's chase scenes depicting two Samoyed warriors plunging to their deaths off the side of a cliff into a giant chasm.
Paddy Eason, visual effects supervisor at Rainmaker, discussed the facility's work on THE GOLDEN COMPASS: "We used Maya extensively on THE GOLDEN COMPASS. We took the top of the cliff and the distant mountainous horizon from the original plate, and extended the landscape down into the depths. The warriors were replaced entirely with digital doubles, and the original camera move was replaced with a CG one that extended the tilt of the cliff. Animated noise deformers on the 3D geometry helped simulate fast moving cloth and wind dynamics and additional snow particle effects were also created to add interaction with the environment."
Sony Pictures Imageworks used Maya and Autodesk Flame visual effects software to help shape I AM LEGEND. "Autodesk Flame is an important tool in creating live-action and CG films at Imageworks," said Lisa Deaner, senior lead Flame artist. "In the case of I AM LEGEND, the multitude layers involved were difficult to place in scene and matchmove, mainly because of the complicated scenery of fast-moving New York City street scenes. The CG deer, weeds, and aging elements all needed to be integrated and prioritized accurately. Between the Tracker, Paint, Modular Keyer and Sparks functions, Flame helped us easily handle these challenges. Flame is a 'catch-all' for complex, problematic composites, and the finessing that goes along with them."
Facilities that relied on Autodesk solutions include Sony Pictures Imageworks, Framestore CFC, Rainmaker UK, Luma Pictures Inc. and EFILM, a division of Deluxe Laboratories Inc.
Marc Petit, SVP, Autodesk Media & Ent., said, "The holiday season is a special time for movie-makers and moviegoers alike. Autodesk technology makes this possible; enhancing the movie experience by enabling digital artists to create the magical stories that audiences look forward to year after year. The audience's taste for digital visual effects -- from the subtly invisible to the jaw-dropping -- continues to increase year after year, and Autodesk is proud to be a leading provider of the creative tools that give life to people's imagination."
EFILM's EWORKS color grading system, consisting of a proprietary configuration of Autodesk Lustre and Autodesk Incinerator software, was used to digitally color grade numerous holiday films, including: MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, I AM LEGEND, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, THE GREAT DEBATERS, THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, THE COMEBACKS, RENDITION, BORDERLAND, LIONS FOR LAMBS, SOUTHLAND TALES, LUST CAUTION, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, THE SEEKER, THE DARK IS RISING, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, THE BRAVE ONE and GOOD LUCK CHUCK.
London-based Framestore CFC used Autodesk Maya and the Autodesk Inferno visual effects software to shape THE GOLDEN COMPASS. "Autodesk Maya was used as part of our visual effects pipeline, to create and light all the challenging polar environments, ice and snow shots in the film," said Laurent Hugueniot, Framestore CFC's CG supervisor. The facility also used Maya to build and animate all shots of a massive armored polar bear, one of the film's heroes. "Maya, with its wide-reaching flexibility, has always been a terrific package for us, easily and efficiently enabling integration of our in-house tools and other packages in our pipeline."
Maya was also used by Rainmaker UK on THE GOLDEN COMPASS. Artists at the facility modeled, rigged, animated and lit CG doubles in Maya, using customized shaders. For example, the software was used to craft one of the film's chase scenes depicting two Samoyed warriors plunging to their deaths off the side of a cliff into a giant chasm.
Paddy Eason, visual effects supervisor at Rainmaker, discussed the facility's work on THE GOLDEN COMPASS: "We used Maya extensively on THE GOLDEN COMPASS. We took the top of the cliff and the distant mountainous horizon from the original plate, and extended the landscape down into the depths. The warriors were replaced entirely with digital doubles, and the original camera move was replaced with a CG one that extended the tilt of the cliff. Animated noise deformers on the 3D geometry helped simulate fast moving cloth and wind dynamics and additional snow particle effects were also created to add interaction with the environment."
Sony Pictures Imageworks used Maya and Autodesk Flame visual effects software to help shape I AM LEGEND. "Autodesk Flame is an important tool in creating live-action and CG films at Imageworks," said Lisa Deaner, senior lead Flame artist. "In the case of I AM LEGEND, the multitude layers involved were difficult to place in scene and matchmove, mainly because of the complicated scenery of fast-moving New York City street scenes. The CG deer, weeds, and aging elements all needed to be integrated and prioritized accurately. Between the Tracker, Paint, Modular Keyer and Sparks functions, Flame helped us easily handle these challenges. Flame is a 'catch-all' for complex, problematic composites, and the finessing that goes along with them."
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