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"Transformers," "Star Trek," "Terminator" and "Harry Potter": ILM Delivers
Visual Effects Magic with Autodesk Software
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., July 9, 2009 - Academy Award-winning visual effects
house Industrial, Light & Magic (ILM) relied on Autodesk, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:
ADSK) digital entertainment software to create thousands of visual effects
shots for this summer's hottest movies, including "Transformers: Revenge of
the Fallen," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Terminator
Salvation" and "Star Trek." ILM created stunning visual effects using
Autodesk visual effects software, including Autodesk Maya and the Autodesk
Inferno software that is part of ILM's proprietary SABRE high-speed
compositing system.
Star Trek
© 2009 Paramount Pictures. Star Trek and Related Marks and Logos are Trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic
"Every year the quantity and quality of visual effects-driven movies rises.
ILM continues to push the technological and creative envelope by creating
stunning visual effects that thrill audiences worldwide," said Stig Gruman,
VP of digital entertainment, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. "Autodesk is
proud to be associated with ILM and its hundreds of visual effects pioneers
who contributed some of the most memorable and stunning effects of this
summer."
Star Trek
© 2009 Paramount Pictures. Star Trek and Related Marks and Logos are Trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic
The summer movie season began in early May with the global release of "Star
Trek" for which ILM created 797 shots on some of the largest CG models it
has ever built using a combination of tools, including Maya and Inferno.
"'Star Trek' was one of the most creative, fun and artistic projects I've
ever worked on," remarked Eddie Pasquarello, ILM's associate visual effects
and compositing supervisor on the film. "We specifically positioned this
project in the Inferno/SABRE system because we knew we could make something
really special. The reliability of the system combined with the outstanding
talent we have here virtually guarantees spectacular results. 'Star Trek'
was a magical combination of super powerful software and amazing talent."
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
© 2009 DreamWorks LLC / Paramount Pictures
All Rights Reserved. Photo courtesy of: Industrial Light & Magic
"This film represented a new beginning for 'Star Trek.' Working closely
with J.J. Abrams, we wanted to bring a fresh look to everything," said ILM
Animation Director Paul Kavanagh. "Using the hardware rendering tools of
Maya, we were literally able to animate 70 shots in five days - a process
that normally requires months for production. The speed of Maya, its
ability to iterate so easily, and its seamless tie into our proprietary
Zeno software platform make for a toolset that doesn't inhibit creativity
and was, in fact, a key to the success of the project."
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
© 2009 DreamWorks LLC / Paramount Pictures
All Rights Reserved. Photo courtesy of: Industrial Light & Magic
With over 555 shots and 46 hero robots - some with over 50,000 individually
animatable parts - as well as the need to create an IMAX version, the
sequel to "Transformers" posed many challenges for the ILM crew of 250+
artists who worked on the project. The crew calculated that it would take a
typical home computer 16,000 years to render this movie. Associate
Animation Supervisor Jeff White said, "With different artists of different
disciplines and skill sets collaborating on the movie, the ever-increasing
interoperability of Autodesk tools is a big advantage." ILM used the
capabilities of a range of Autodesk software across the "Transformers"
production pipeline: Autodesk 3ds Max software for digital matte painting,
Autodesk Softimage software in the art department, Inferno/SABRE for
compositing, Autodesk Backburner software for network processing and Maya
as the core tool for animation, rigging and layout. White added, "Maya gave
us incredible performances from the robots; it's not just about the action
sequences Ø a big part of the story are the artistic and emotional aspects
of key moments between the robots and the human actors. We could achieve
this because of Maya and the flexibility of the Python scripting. Great
animators with great tools made for a fantastic movie."
Terminator Salvation
© 2009 Warner Bros. & Sony Pictures
All Rights Reserved. Photo courtesy of: Industrial Light & Magic
In addition to "Star Trek" and "Transformers," an ILM team of 150-plus
created 366 effects shots for "Terminator Salvation" using Maya and
Inferno. "Autodesk software was integral to achieving the ambitious visual
effects of 'Terminator Salvation' within the short production schedule,"
explained Ben Snow, ILM visual effects supervisor on the film. "Maya was
the backbone for ILM's animation for all the Terminator robots and its
flexibility has made it easy for us to integrate it with our proprietary
software. Inferno was instrumental in the success of creating the digital
Arnold Schwarzenegger T-800 by allowing us to seamlessly blend the CG actor
with the real body double," added Snow. "Inferno also provided the
firepower, speed and flexibility we needed to create the challenging shots
of the digital human T-800 being blasted with grenades and the resulting
damage."
Terminator Salvation
© 2009 Warner Bros. & Sony Pictures
All Rights Reserved. Photo courtesy of: Industrial Light & Magic
And in this summer's upcoming Harry Potter installment, 80 artists
contributed 165 shots to the film using a combination of Maya and Inferno.
The scope of ILM's work on the film includes extensive photorealistic fluid
simulations of fire and water as well as crowd duplication scenes,
including thousands of animated characters in a single shot. ILM is
currently in production on Gore Verbinski's first animated feature,
"Rango," James Cameron's "Avatar" and M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last
Airbender" and plans to use a similar set of Autodesk tools.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
© 2009 Warner Bros. Ent.
All Rights Reserved. Image courtesy: Industrial Light & Magic
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc, is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the
manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment
markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has
developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping
solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real.
Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize,
simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to
save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional
information about Autodesk, visit http://www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Backburner, Inferno, Maya, 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 is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences. Python is a registered trademark of Python Software Foundation.
All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their
respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings
and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for
typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out all the valuable resources available right here on Renderosity, for all your artistic endeavors, starting with the following related links:
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