Autodesk Celebrates Digital Artists Behind Most-Acclaimed
Movies of the Year
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 9, 2011 -- The remarkable
transformations of cityscapes in "Inception" were achieved with the
help of visual effects software from Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), marking the 16th
consecutive year that Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation tools were used
on a Best Visual Effects Oscar–winning movie.
"We're thrilled to see a win for 'Inception,' and for
long-time Autodesk customer Double Negative," said
Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media &
Entertainment. “The Double Negative team did an incredible
job, transporting the audience into the dreams of the film’s
main characters with groundbreaking visual effects work that
seamlessly integrated digital elements with the sp ecial effects
and live-action footage.â€
Achievement in Visual Effects
“Inception†— Oscar
Winner
In “Inception,†Double
Negative, the sole visual effects house and British Academy of Film
and Television Arts (BAFTA) winner, helped create an unforgettable
visual landscape where dreams and reality are interwoven in a
complex tale of redemption. Double Negative used an arsenal of VFX
tools to fold an entire city block in Paris in on itself, erect
vast expanses of modernist buildings and crumble dilapidated
architecture into the sea.
“Alice in Wonderland†— Academy
Award Nominee
"Alice in Wonderland" offers a new
twist on the classic Lewis Carroll tale, in which
computer-generated (CG) characters interact with a host of
live-action performers -- many of whom are digitally stretched,
pinched and distorted to appear vastly different from their
real-life counterparts. Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI), the primary
facility on the project, made extensive use of Autodesk Maya,
Autodesk Mudbox and Autodesk
Flame software. "We are extraordinarily proud of the work
and celebrate the talent that went into its production. Ken Ralston
and the Imageworks team used virtually every conceivable technique
to achieve Tim Burton's creative vision. Autodesk technology, using
Maya as the foundation for every shot to some intricate compositing
in Flame, was a key part of our production pipeline. It is an honor
to be nominated in this year's distinguished company," said
Rob Bredow, SPI chief technology officer. The Third Floor also
relied on Maya and
Autodesk MotionBuilder software to create the 263-shot detailed
previsualization on the movie.
Image courtesy: Industrial Light & Magic
© 2010 MVL Film Finance LLC.†TM & © 2010 Marvel
Entertainment, LLC& its subsidiaries.†All rights
reserved.
“Iron Man 2†— Academy Award
Nominee
ILM, which created 527 visual effects shots on “Iron Man
2,†created the film’s remarkable Iron Man suits and
spectacular action sequences with the help of Maya and Flame.
"Maya played an invaluable role in providing our artists the
tool to create the animation for ‘Iron Man 2.’
Animators that were new to ILM were able to jump straight into shot
production with very little training time and thanks to Maya's
opened ended platform we were able to customize and create new
tools that were vital in bringing both Iron Man and War Machine to
life,"
said Marc Chu, ILM animation director. Autodesk’s Digital
Entertainment Creation tools were also central to the
previsualization work by The Third Floor (700 unique shots).
Image courtesy: Baseblack
© 2010 Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part
I†— Academy Award Nominee
The Harry Potter franchise continues to push its story of wizardry,
friendship and adventure into darker realms. MPC (180 shots),
Framestore (100 shots), Baseblack (250 shots), Cinesite (100
shots), Double Negative (190 shots) and Rising Sun Pictures
digitally created a host of otherworldly characters and effects
that inhabit the world of Harry and his Hogwarts cohorts including,
Deatheaters, Dementors, character transformations, digital doubles,
fire and battles. Framestore CG Supervisor Andy Kind said,
“Maya was our principal tool for modeling, rigging and
animation. By giving us the flexibility to write a suite of rigging
and animation tools, Maya enabled our animators to bring Dobby and
Kreacher to life.†Baseblack Executive Producer Stephen Elson
added, “Eighty of our shots involved 3D content and Maya was
the backbone of our pipeline in every case.â€
Image courtesy: Framestore and Warner Bros. Pictures
© 2010 Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
“Hereafter†— Academy Award
Nominee
"Hereafter" opens with an incredible reenactment of the
devastating tsunami that destroyed a wide swath of coastline in
Thailand in 2004. To create the photorealistic CG water sequence,
Scanline VFX used Autodesk 3ds Max software
for modeling, animation, rigging, cloth and hair simulation. All
water and fire simulations were created by its proprietary fluid
simulation system, Flowline, which is tightly integrated with 3ds
Max and V-Ray for rendering; for crowd simulations with motion
capture, Scanline turned to MotionBuilder. Stephan Trojansky,
Scanline visual effects supervisor said, "Realism is a
hallmark of Clint Eastwood's film, and a key part of the challenge
in ‘Hereafter’ was creating supporting visual effects
that were realistic and believable, yet highly controllable. The
film required us to push our proprietary software, Flowline, to the
next level, with improved ways of controlling the behavior of the
physics of water, as well as rendering it for optimal
effect.â€
Autodesk technology was also used to shape Oscar-winning and
Academy Award-nominated films in the following categories:
Best Animated Short Film
• “The Lost Thing†—
Oscar Winner -- Co-directors Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan
of Passion Pictures Australia used a variety of Digital
Entertainment Creation software to tell the tale of a boy and a
creature he finds on the beach.
Autodesk Softimage software was used for modeling, rigging,
animation, lighting, rendering, dynamics and particle effects;
Autodesk Smoke software for online mastering and conform; and
Autodesk Lustre for color grading.
Image courtesy: Screen Australia and Passion Pictures Australia
© Screen Australia, Passion Pictures Australia Pty Ltd
• "The Gruffalo†— Academy
Award Nominee — Directors Jakob Schuh and Max Lang of Magic
Light Pictures, brought this classic picture book to life using a
combination of Maya for animation, Autodesk Combustion for
compositing and Mudbox for texturing and sculpting 450 shots.
Image courtesy: Magic Light Pictures
© Orange Eyes Limited
Achievement in Cinematography
• “Black
Swan†— Academy Award Nominee — Tim
Stipan of Technicolor New York used Lustre software to do the color
grading on this film, while LOOK Effects, Inc. used Maya to create
210 visual effects shots, including the stunning transformation of
actress Natalie Portman into the Black Swan.
• “True Grit†— Academy Award
Nominee — EFILM used Eworks, a proprietary workflow built on
Lustre, to color grade this classic western remake from the Coen
Brothers, using dusty, understated hues.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in
3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers
across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and
media and entertainment industries -- including the last 16 Academy
Award winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software to
design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction
of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the
broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets.
For additional information about Autodesk, visit
www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Combustion, Flame, Lustre, Maya,
MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Smoke, Softimage and 3ds Max are registered
trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its
subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.
Academy Award and Oscar are registered trademarks of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. EFILM and Eworks are registered
trademarks of EFILM, LLC. All other brand names, product names or
trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves
the right to alter product and services offerings, and
specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not
responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear
in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Autodesk
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