Aphics - World.August.2008 sacrFX

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www.cgw.com August 2008

__________
Animation
Mother Click here
Artist Meats Meier evolves to access
the state of the art with an Education Supplement 08
animated hologram
$6.00 USA $8.25 Canada
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Convergence of pure performance and your vision

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!UGUSTs6OLUMEs.UMBER Innovations in visual computing for the global DCC community
Features
Mummy’s The Word
14 Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues create an animated terra-cotta emperor
and other creatures for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
By Barbara Robertson
Labor of Love
22 Meats Meier’s holographic the “Animation Mother” commissioned as the
face of SIGGRAPH 2008.
By Linda Law
Extreme Effects
29Creating CG hellish characters
for Hellboy II.
32Honoring the director’s
vision for The Dark Knight.
Unleashing the Artificial Horde

42 AI-driven simulation finds a new home in architecture.
By Kenneth Wong
Arts and Sciences

50 CG artists resurrect species that have long been extinct.
By Karen Moltenbrey
Virtual Iraq
56 A VR solution helps combat post-traumatic stress disorder.
By Debra Kaufman
Departments Compositing for the HD Age
Editor’s Note CG: An Evolving Medium
2 A number of changes are in store at this year’s SIGGRAPH, one of which is

the restructured Computer Animation Festival, now a true competitive festival.
64 Hardware and software keep pace with the move to higher resolution.
By George Maestri
Change is also in the air at CGW, with a newly designed magazine and logo. All Hail the Renaissance
Spotlight 70 Artists are reaping benefits by combining 3D imagery and photography.
By Frank Moldstad
4 HP DreamColor LP2480xz. Cinnafilm HD1. Allegorithmic Substance. AMD ATI

Radeon HD 4850 and 4870. Blackmagic DeckLink HD Extreme, Mini Converters.
Vicon MX T-Series. Softimage XSI 7. News SAP, Right Hemisphere deal.
sThe X-Files: I Want to Believe editor
Viewpoint: Stereo SEE IT IN Richard A. Harris cuts with Final Cut.
10Bruce Long, Iconix Video CEO, provides a stereoscopic 3D field guide, with
information to consider before your next stereo project.
sSurviving and thriving in a downturned
economy.
s4HISSUMMERSHOTVISUALEFFECTSlLMS
Portfolio
____________________________
Still images from projects appearing in the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer
74 Animation Festival.
Back Products ON THE COVER

Digital artist Meats Meier created this stunning image, just one
Recent software and hardware releases.
76 of 1300 animated frames contained within the hologram titled the
“Animation Mother,” which serves as the centerpiece for this year’s
SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival. pg. 22
August 2008 1
Editor’sNote
CG: An Evolving Medium The Magazine for Digital Content Professionals
E D I TO R I A L
any people select summer as their favorite season—a perfect time to kick back
M
KAREN MOLTENBREY
Chief Editor
and relax. For those of us in the computer graphics and interactive technologies KAREN CGWCOMs
_______
%AST.ASHUA2OAD
community, summer means SIGGRAPH, where we can meet up with old 7INDHAM.(
friends and colleagues, learn about new technologies, and just be amazed by it all. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
SIGGRAPH 2008 marks the 35th anniversary of the conference. Over those years, Courtney Howard, Jenny Donelan,
Audrey Doyle, Evan Marc Hirsch, George Maestri,
the show—like the technology around which it revolves—has changed significantly. Kathleen Maher, Martin McEachern,
Stephen Porter, Barbara Robertson
And no doubt, it will change even more in the future.
In the early days, the SIGGRAPH crowds were small in compari- WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE
Publisher, President and CEO,
son to the 30,000 attendees expected to converge in Los Angeles this COP Communications
month. And decades ago, the papers were written primarily by those
SA L E S
in academia. Today, the technical papers still contain techie-sound- LISA BLACK
ing names, such as “Folding and Unfolding Surfaces,” “Differential National Sales Manager
#LASSIFIEDSs%DUCATIONs2ECRUITMENT
Equations,” “Faces and Reflectance,” and so forth. Indeed, these LISAB COPCOMMCOMs #'7 0/34; =
_________
FAX
are not for the CG hobbyist. They are for the hard-core computer
graphics artists who can talk the talk, as well as walk the walk. For Editorial Office / LA Sales Office:
those wanting a behind-the-scenes look at how a new technique 7EST%LK!VENUE'LENDALE#!

or technology was implemented in a real working environment, the talks are a good
choice—for instance, “Bend Me Break Me” offers a look at the creation of the Rope PRODUCTION
KATH CUNNINGHAM
Bridge animation system used in Kung Fu Panda, how Rhythm & Hues made statues Production Director
come to life in The Mummy 3, and the invention of Digital Domain’s CracTastic tool for KCUNNINGHAM CGWCOMs
__________
the fragmentation of solid geometry in that same film. (Of course, for those of you not
MICHAEL VIGGIANO
attending the show, you can read about those particular feats right here in CGW.) Art Director
mviggiano@copcomm.com
____________
Back in the 1970s, very few people could afford the hardware required to run com-
puter graphics. For many outside the government, computer graphics were cool though CHRIS SALCIDO
Account Representative
not economically feasible for the masses. Today, the show floor is filled with commercial CSALCIDO COPPRINTSCOMs
___________
products for just about every aspect of CG creation, from motion capture, to model-
ing, to rendering, and beyond. A number of vendors also will be leading Exhibitor Tech
Talks and Sessions about their latest hardware, software, and systems.
For years, the highlight of SIGGRAPH has been the Computer Animation Festi-
val, which comprised the prestigious Electronic Theater (the best of the best) and the
Computer Animation Theaters (juried selections presented in themed showings). This
year, however, the show’s organizers have created a new Computer Animation Festival Computer Graphics World Magazine
tradition for conference-goers—a real “festival” format, which means an actual competi- is published by Computer Graphics World,
a COP Communications company.
Computer Graphics World does not verify any claims or
tion, with prizes given for Best of Show, Jury Award, and Student Prize, as well as Well other information appearing in any of the advertisements
contained in the publication, and cannot take any
Told Fable Prize and Audience Prize. Of course, the event remains an official qualifying responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred
by readers in reliance on such content.
festival for the Academy’s Best Animated Short Film.
Computer Graphics World cannot be held responsible for
In fact, the SIGGRAPH organizers are promising a number of changes this year, the safekeeping or return of unsolicited articles,
manuscripts, photographs, illustrations or other materials.
among them, New Tech Demos, which replaced the Emerging Technologies area. But Address all subscription correspondence to: Computer
Graphics World, 620 West Elk Ave, Glendale, CA 91204.
don’t fret, this area will still feature hot new innovations and very cool applications. Subscriptions are available free to qualified individuals
within the United States. Non-qualified subscription rates:
And speaking of change, I hope everyone likes the new look of the magazine. Like USA—$72 for 1 year, $98 for 2 years; Canadian
subscriptions —$98 for 1 year and $136 for 2 years;
SIGGRAPH and the CG industry, we want to continue evolving, and have given our all other countries—$150 for 1 year and $208 for 2 years.
Digital subscriptions are available for $27 per year.
Subscribers can also contact customer service by calling
magazine pages and our logo a modern makeover. Soon we will be unveiling a newly (800) 280 6446, opt 2 (publishing), opt 1 (subscriptions) or
sending an email to ______
csr@cgw.com. Change of address can
redesigned Web site, so stay tuned. But rest assured, we will continue to adhere to our be made online at http://www.omeda.com/cgw/ and click
on customer service assistance.
professional editorial standards and experience that have made us the leader in this
Postmaster: Send Address Changes to
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Please send customer service inquiries to
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Karen Moltenbrey
CHIEF EDITOR
karen@CGW.com
________
2 August 2008
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HP Shines Light On Color-Critical Display

HP began shipping its new color-critical professional product design, and graphic arts categories. Designed
computer display, available for under $3500, less than a for professionals for whom accurate color management is
quarter of the cost of competing offerings. The HP Dream- essential, the display achieves more than 64 times the colors
Color 30-bit, LED-backlit display features a new LCD that available on mainstream LCDs. Reds, blues, and greens are
provides a range of more than one billion colors. visibly deeper, blacks are four times darker, and
The HP DreamColor LP2480xz is the first display to be whites are adjustable.
introduced under the HP DreamColor Technology initiative. The new HP DreamColor display
The result of a technology collaboration with DreamWorks includes the HP DreamColor engine
Animation SKG, the display addresses an increasingly criti- software, which manages the display,
cal need for affordable and consistent color accuracy in the and the DreamColor calibration kit
animation, game development, film/video post, broadcast, for precision calibration.
PRODUCT: DISPLAYS
Cinnafilm Unveils Film-Look System Allegorithmic

After four years of research, Cinnafilm has announced the fruits of its Shows Substance
labor: the Cinnafilm HD1 real-time film simulator system, which harness- Allegorithmic has rolled out Substance, its new
es graphics card parallel processing to transform HD digital video to texturing middleware for authoring, generating,
cinematic film quality in real time. Cinnafilm HD1 is intended for creative and streaming dynamic textures in real time.
professionals who wish to easily and cost-effectively apply the look of film The company says Substance is positioned to
to nearly any digital video source, while maintaining the highest levels of redefine the development and distribution of
production quality and visual integrity. rich content for the next generation of online and
Cinnafilm HD1 is driven by a parallel-processing engine that mini- retail games.
mizes the time it takes to process digital video by harnessing 3D Substance allows for continuous texture
graphics hardware at a rate that delivers 30X to 100X performance streaming during the execution of a game, so
improvement on computational video tasks as compared with a play is no longer restricted by bandwidth or
modern CPU. memory allocation issues, enabling develop-
With Cinnafilm HD1, users can quickly apply pristine film-simulation ers and players to experience higher reso-
effects to even uncompressed HD video handling SD or HD video up to lution textures, more dynamic content, and
10-bit uncompressed RGB/YUV 4:4:4. Filmmakers, videographers, and richer environments.
editors can previsualize filmed productions, integrate uniform looks and Substance supports fast and multithreaded
frame rates from most film and digital video sources, and instantly achieve texture generation (higher than 4MB/sec per core
the classic look of film tailored to individual preference, while avoiding or per SPU), making it ideal for racing games,
time-consuming and expensive off-line rendering. That’s because the flight simulations, and other games featuring
product’s real-time effects engine splits large tasks into simultaneous large environments and open worlds.
independent processes using a proprietary algorithm. The pricing for Substance varies according to
Cinnafilm offers the Cinnafilm HD1 process as an in-house service. the type of game and gaming platform that is
Rack-mounted and portable units are available for lease. used.
PRODUCT: POSTPRODUCTION PRODUCT: MIDDLEWARE

4 August 2008
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Draw Fast.
Laser Focus.
“Nonstop deadlines, demanding clients, complicated assignments—

it’s part of the job, whether we’re creating a magazine cover or an
advertising image. That’s why we use LightWave 3D. It helps us
quickly turn ideas into realistic illustrations, with unparalleled control
over every aspect of the creative process.”
B_]^jMWl[):
Joe Zeff, industry-le
industry-leading
ading digital illustrator of hundreds of magazine
maagazine covers,
Time, Fortune,
including Time, Fortune, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated
Visit
Visit www.lightwave3d.com/getitdone to download a
white paper o
on how LightWave gets it done for print graphics.
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_______
AMD Delivers World’s First TeraFLOPS Graphics Chip

AMD recently launched two firsts: a teraFLOPS graphics stock GPU core clock speed of 750MHz, 512MB of GDDR5
card (the ATI Radeon HD 4850) and a graphics card featur- memory rated at 3.6GB/sec, and comes in a dual-slot PCI
ing ultra-high bandwidth GDDR5 memory (the ATI Radeon Express 2.0 configuration with a maximum board power of
HD 4870). 160 watts.
“The ATI Radeon 4800 series represents a 2X performance The ATI Radeon HD 4850, also available now and priced
jump over the ATI Radeon HD 3800 GPU, the biggest at $199, has 800 stream processing cores (identical to the
generational increase since the launch of the Radeon 9700 ATI Radeon HD 4870), a stock GPU core clock speed of
in 2002,” says a company spokesman. 625MHz, 512MB of GDDR3 memory rated at 2GB/sec, and
The ATI Radeon HD 4870, available now at $299, repre- comes in a single-slot PCI Express 2.0 configuration with a
sents 1.2 teraFLOPS of visual compute power. It features a maximum board power of 110 watts.
PRODUCT: GRAPHICS CARD
Blackmagic Unveils a Vicon MX T-Series Offers

Range of New Products 4X Camera Resolution
Blackmagic Design released a new DeckLink HD Extreme card with all Vicon has rolled out the MX T-Series, sporting a new
the features of the original model, which it replaces, with the addition of camera design and Giganet device with cameras
HDMI capture and playback, 3Gb/sec SDI technology, and 3D lookup available in a variety of resolution options, including
tables. The offering features SDI, HDMI, and analog component, NTSC, the T160 (16 megapixel), T40 (4 megapixel), and
PAL, and S-Video capture and playback, combined with balanced T20 (2 megapixel). The T160 camera represents a
analog and AES/EBU digital audio, allowing customers to connect to four-times resolution increase over existing profes-
all decks, cameras, and monitors. Users can switch instantly between sional optical motion-capture solutions. This resolu-
SD and HD video, and now can do so to full-res 2K film editing. tion boost is made possible by Vicon’s own Avalon
The DeckLink HD Extreme is priced at $995 and is available now. sensor.
Blackmagic also announced a new family of five Mini Converters, The external styling of the camera has been
plus the new Broadcast Converter. The Mini Converters—designed completely reworked, and the new mechanical
to be easily used—include 3Gb/sec SDI technology, redundant SDI design now makes the 18mm Vicon lens a standard
inputs, balanced analog and AES/EBU switchable audio, standard fit. Additionally, the system now supports remote
quarter-inch jack audio connections, and an international power supply focus and aperture setting with Canon-mount lenses
with adapter plates. for the MX T-Series camera, allowing a single opera-
All the models have the same basic features, and there is only one tor to adjust focus and aperture settings remotely via
model for each type of conversion: Mini Converter SDI to Analog, Vicon’s Blade software.
Mini Converter Analog to SDI, Mini Converter SDI to HDMI, and Mini The new cameras also support 2D onboard
Converter HDMI to SDI, and all are priced at $495. Mini Converter tracking so that the processing of 2D tracking
Sync Generator is a black burst and tri-sync generator model priced points is now done in the camera. This makes the
at $295. The Broadcast Converter, which offers a complete bi-direc- reconstruction of 3D data much faster and more
tional conversion solution and allows simultaneous SDI to analog, and accurate, and frees up processing power from
analog to SDI conversation, retails for $995. the PC.
In other news, the company unveiled the new Broadcast Videohub, The T-Series cameras are backward compatible
large enough for the biggest postproduction studio. The offering with Vicon MX and MX F-Series cameras, and can
includes 144 SDI outputs, 72 deck control ports, and switchable SD, be used in combination within the same capture
HD, and 3Gb/sec SDI. The product, which eliminates manual patch- volume. The MX T-Series is available now; pricing
ing, sells for less than $15,000. varies according to system setup.
PRODUCT: VIDEO CARD PRODUCT: MOTION CAPTURE

6 August 2008
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onn how LightW
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:
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_______
Softimage XSI 7 with ICE

Softimage, part of Avid Technology, is thawing XSI 7, the latest version of its
professional 3D animation software that introduces a transformative open
The list of platform called ICE (Interactive Creative Environment), designed to capture
Fusion houses the creative vision of content producers.
continues, With a visual interface and an easy-to-use node-based programming model,
to name a few...
Softimage XSI 7 enables users to quickly create complex visual effects and
Aardman Animations Ltd. tools while coding less. ICE will allow artists to explore, learn, and modify the
Animal Logic
Atmosphere Visual Effects
Battlestar Galactica VFX library of particle-based visual effects and deformation tools that will ship in
Blur Studio Inc
BSkyB Version 7, or simply build new ones from scratch. Powered by the Gigacore
C.I.S. London/Vancouver
C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures II parallel-processing engine, which was designed from the ground up, ICE
CAFEFX
Charlex utilizes all the available processing power on multi-core workstations, scaling
Clear
Custom Film Effects with the number and speed of available cores.
D.A.M.N. FX
Def2Shoot
Digi-Guys Softimage will offer numerous open, pre-built, production-ready ICE
Digital Dimension
Digital Pictures Iloura “compounds” for particle-based effects and deformations that will allow
Disney Toon Studios
Django Animation Ltd artists to jump right into production. Customers who create their own ICE
Eden FX
Electronic Arts
Enigma Studios Inc
compounds can share them in their facility or with the global community on
Envy Post Production Softimage|Net, in either an open XML format or a locked binary file to protect
Fake Graphics Ltd.
Flash Film Works
Ford Motor Company Inc. their IP.
Framestore CFC
Frantic Films XSI 7 also will feature support for Mental Ray 3.6, with new rendering
Ghost A/S
IMAX Corporation “stand-ins” and optimized controls for final gathering and global illumination,
Intelligent Creatures
Janimation
LLP Digital Inc.
enhanced support for clusters and cluster properties, a Real-Time Shading
M2 Television architecture that will allow fragment and vertex shaders to exist in one node
Magna Mana Production
Matte World Digital
Mechanism Digital and will be programmable and controllable from any ICE attribute, and more.
Mercedes-Benz USA LLC
Motion FX XSI 7 is expected to be available this quarter. Essentials will cost $2995,
Origami Digital LLC
Peerless Camera Company and Advanced will be priced at $4995.
Pendulum
Prime Focus London
Rhino FX
Rhythm & Hues Studios 02/$5#4-/$%,).'s!.)-!4)/.
R!OT
Rocket Science VFX
Rushes
Sanctuary Post
Screaming Death Monkey
Stargate Atlantis
Starz Media Canada Co
SAP Inks Agreement
The Boeing Company
The Orphanage
The Syndicate
with Right Hemisphere
Tigar Hare
Toon City Animation Inc. SAP AG has licensed and will be integrating Right Hemisphere’s 2D and
Toy Box Entertainment
Troublemaker Studios 3D visualization technology into the SAP Product Lifecycle Management
Turner Broadcast
TV2 / Denmark
TV-Asahi
(PLM) Solution. Right Hemisphere’s visualization technology will serve as the
Ubisoft
Walt Disney Television Animation standard for viewing, collaborating, and publishing graphical product data for
SAP’s next generation of enterprise applications.
To great artists. The next release of SAP PLM—which is to begin shipping later this year—
To a great team.
will be the first SAP application to integrate and take advantage of Right
To the future.
Hemisphere’s 3D technology. This technology integration will also allow
eyeon SAP users to seamlessly incorporate additional Right Hemisphere client
and enterprise software products into their IT infrastructure for state-of-the-
art 2D and 3D product graphics authoring, management, and publishing
capabilities.
8 August 2008
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___________________________
_______
By BRUCE K. LONG
STEREOSCOPY
Stereo 3D Field Guide
tereoscopic 3D moviemaking is finally coming into its of a good 3D shot is to remove anything that the viewer’s
S own, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve been a fan of the

medium since back in the days when it wasn’t necessarily
comfortable to watch—giant meteors and spear-throwing
eye might have difficulty resolving and which may cause eye
fatigue. Matching cameras, lenses, and even the sweet spot of
the sensor all come into play.
aside, a headache and a queasy stomach can be a high price Camera gear aside, there are also myriad editorial decisions
to pay for an evening’s entertainment. to be made prior to jumping into stereoscopic 3D production.
Technology has come a long way since then, and we’re now In the gray area where editorial meets production, you have to
able to produce vastly improved stereo 3D images. As with all think about shot choices and how those change in the context
new filmmaking tools, there’s always an adjustment period be- of your stereo 3D movie. If it’s going to be a 2D and 3D re-
fore a technology is truly integrated into a filmmaker’s arsenal. lease, which so many movies are today, as the transition to 3D
Stereo filmmaking is in the midst of a resurgence, and it’s up takes place, then certainly your shot list is going to be address-
to the filmmakers to make the right choices this time around: ing your 2D version of the movie. Most directors have observed
The tools are out there for the creation of real movies that draw that they do fewer cuts and fewer transitions in an immersive
3D stereo movie, as the viewer tends to move his or her focus
Bruce K. Long is around within a stereo 3D scene. Lots of quick cuts and hard-
CEO of Iconix Video, angle transitions may also increase eye fatigue, so fewer edits
makers of high-def may be a trend with stereo content.
camera systems, Along with planning shot lists, there is also planning for visual
digital cinema, and effects. Stereo VFX sequences should be looked upon as an op-
stereo workflow
portunity, and though there are some unique challenges to shoot-
solutions.
ing VFX in 3D stereo, the results can be breathtaking and are
well worth the effort. In some cases, such as 3D animation, the
us into the experience in a more dynamic way. What’s more, solutions are completed within the software, and sequences can be
stereoscopic 3D is not just for big studio projects; the technol- elegantly controlled and made predictable. When you’re shooting
ogy has come far enough to make it accessible even to the live-action visual effects in stereo, however, planning for the stereo
individual creative auteur. and the non-stereo versions is imperative. Though storyboards are
not perfect for making changes on the day of the shoot, planning
Take Time to Plan the composition on the right and left sides of the frame is impor-
With so much new technology to contend with, the challenges tant because you’re actually combining two different framing
of shooting a 3D stereoscopic film project can seem daunting at areas—eight different edges—and you have to ensure that you get
first, and there are many things to consider. I’m by no means an the correct angles and coverage on both cameras.
expert in stereo 3D production, but I have been fortunate enough Editorial process is an important point in the chain of mak-
to work with some leaders in the field, and these have been my ob- ing “comfortably watchable” 3D content. We have heard from
servations. For any production, large or small, there are three areas editors that they will cut a sequence in one eye, then take it
of planning that need to be addressed during preparation for a 3D into a room with a 3D stereo projection, and view the same
stereoscopic shoot: on set, editorial, and pre-production. cut sequence in 3D to make sure it’s not hard on the viewer.
On set, unless you’re using a true stereoscopic 3D camera, This sequence-by-sequence review approach allows for fewer
you have to ensure that the cameras are gen-locked and color- stereo-related changes after the rough cut, thereby allowing the
balanced, and that the lenses and sensors are aligned. Though creative team to focus on story during the rough cut and less on
it may seem subtle, color balancing is crucial. The litmus test technical stereo concerns.
10 August 2008
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Decisions also have to be made differently at

the pre-production level, which brings us back
to cameras again. It’s a reasonable assumption coming at your head. The immersive,
to make that you could use a Panavision Gold dramatic quality that the medium
or Sony F950 in almost all the shots that provides is one of the most powerful
you’d use in your motion picture. However, elements of stereo 3D production.
when you’re approaching it from a 3D per- The idea of doing a movie like A
spective, you may actually use a combination Room With A View, which has a very
of different rigs for different scenarios, and specific, deeply powerful cinematic
even different shots. Because of its C-mount look, or A River Runs Through It in
and depth of field, the Iconix Studio2k 3D is particularly appealing. One of
provides a lot of flexibility in a wide range of shots, the great opportunities is to move past the
though today, some people believe that no single rig will be gimmicky aspects of stereoscopic production and move into
able to give you all the shots you need for stereo 3D produc- an incredibly emotional resonance that you get in stereoscopic
tion. This shouldn’t be the DP’s crisis on the day of the shoot; experiences. If you were to watch Lawrence of Arabia in 3D,
rather, the subject should be addressed during the planning and the epic nature of that movie would be dramatically enhanced
budgeting phase of a project. when you look at it from a stereoscopic perspective.
The idea of epic motion pictures going stereo 3D is a very
Experience Is Invaluable powerful one, and I think there’s incredible potential for
In stereo, knowledge really is power. And to shoot 3D, you movies outside the summer blockbuster—dramas, docu-
should take the time to work with experts who have worked mentaries, and natural history—in a way we’ve never seen
with these unique challenges and found reliable solutions. before. Even comedies, like Animal House or Little Miss
Experience and science are your best friends on a stereo 3D
shoot. Do not undervalue the time and wisdom the leaders
in this field have earned: from Vince Pace to Steve Schklair
to Max Penner, from Jim Cameron to Peter Anderson, we
are just scratching the surface of possibility that this new
expanded medium holds.
Further, combining material shot in native 3D with
“dimensionalized” material that has been taken from a
2D source is analogous to combining disparate visual ef-
fects techniques on a sequence to provide the viewer with
the “How did they do that?” moment. Stereo capture is a
powerful tool set, but in some cases, practicality and budget
may require combining capture techniques with animation
techniques. (Dimensionalizing is putting wireframe anima-
tions and left-eye/right-eye offsets into an existing sequence,
thereby providing the viewer with stereo 3D content that
Iconix cameras in a Polecam stereo rig capture the action with boxer Amir
was not originally shot with two cameras). Though this may Khan that was used in a short film presented by Reebok.
be off-putting to some, combining has been the solution for
many VFX shots, and has been a viable option for visual ef- Sunshine, take on new life in stereo. My hope is that stereo
fects supervisors for over a decade. drives storytelling to new heights, not the lowbrow and
As part of this industry and as a fan of the medium, I think exploitive direction that has spoiled its history and stunted
it is important to broaden our perception of what a 3D film its growth thus far.
should be. Presently, it is considered only the domain of For stereo 3D to really thrive this time around, we have to
“event” special effects projects like Beowulf, Avatar, and Jour- believe in our stories and trust that the audience will respond
ney to the Center of the Earth; and for concerts like U2 3D and to the dramatic moments and not just the gimmicks. This
Hannah Montana. We believe that the future of the medium medium can succeed on the same values that have always
is not just amusement park type of effects, such as spears made content great—without giving the viewer headaches. Q
12 August 2008
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QQQQCharacter Simulation
Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues work together to

create an animated terra-cotta emperor and other creatures
for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
By BARBARA ROBERTSON
14 August 2008
Character Simulation QQQQ
ho knew there were mummies in China?

Thousands of mummies. Uncounted armies of
mummies, in fact, as dashing archaeologist Alex
O’Connell (Luke Ford) discovers in The Mummy: Tomb of
the Dragon Emperor. Leave it to the reckless son of Rick and
Evelyn (Evie) O’Connell of The Mummy and The Mummy
Returns fame to awaken the shape-shifting Dragon Emperor
Han (Jet Li), the first emperor of Qin, from a 2000-year-
old curse, not to mention his 10,000 terra-cotta warriors.
It’s more than the young adventurer can handle, so he calls
on mum (Maria Bello) and dad (Brendan Fraser) to help
him stop the mummified emperor from achieving his goal:
global domination.
Directed by Rob Cohen, the third film in Universal
Pictures’ Mummy franchise also stars Michelle Yeoh as
Zijuan, the wizard responsible for the curse; John Hannah as
Evelyn’s brother; and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang as General
Yang. Filmed in Montreal, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia,
Beijing, and other locations in China, the movie features
approximately 1000 visual effects. Digital Domain and
Rhythm & Hues, the two major vendors, split the effects
work in half, and in doing so, shared many of the shots.
Digital Domain, led by visual effects supervisors Joel
Hynek and Matthew Butler, created the emperor in his
mummified terra-cotta form, his terra-cotta army (the bad
guys) and a second army of mummies (the good guys),
and animated huge battles between the two armies. The
studio used Autodesk’s Maya, Pixologic’s Zbrush, Headus’s
CySlice, Side Effects’ Houdini, Massive’s software, Pixar’s
RenderMan, The Foundry’s Nuke, and proprietary tools.
Rhythm & Hues animated the emperor riding through
the streets of Shanghai in a carriage pulled by metal horses,
created furry yeti creatures, transformed the emperor into
a Foo Dog and a three-headed dragon, extended sets and
created environments in the Himalayas, and filled a pool
with diamonds. Rhythm & Hues used proprietary software
for modeling, animation, rendering, and compositing,
and Houdini for effects.
As the story unfolds, we learn that in 50
BC, the emperor believes Zijuan will give
him immortality, but instead, the immortal
wizard turns him into wet clay and bakes
him like a ceramic pot in a painfully
grotesque manner. “Mud oozes from every
pore,” Butler says. “He vomits mud, which
Images ©2008 Universal Pictures. is the source material for the terra-cotta. It
Courtesy Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues.
Digital Domain created a terra-cotta outer shell

for Emperor Qin in his cursed form, and then put a
burned mummy inside.
August 2008 15
Digital Domain created 20 different bodies and heads, and then scrambled the combinations to
produce 4800 terra-cotta soldiers. New cracking techniques made Emperor Qin’s clay army look To give Cohen the cracks and fissures
believable when the statues marched, fought, and shattered into pieces in Massive-driven battles. that created the appearance of deformation,
Digital Domain developed a custom rigid-
self-ignites and fires, and leaves him in this statue. Although still made of terra-cotta, body dynamics system. “It’s not fully rigid,”
solid fashion.” the emperor comes to life, and the now- Rahhali says, “but it looks rigid and real.”
For the mud, artists at Digital Domain digital emperor stars in the remaining Digital Domain then sent its model,
applied fluid simulations to live-action two-thirds of the movie in shots created textures, and cracking system to Rhythm
footage of Li. 3D tracking and warped 2D at Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues. & Hues for use in a sequence that sent the
maps helped the artists match Li’s subtle “The emperor speaks in Chinese and is very emperor racing at night through the streets
facial expressions. expressive,” Hynek says. “We had a team of Shanghai in a carriage pulled by bronze
“We had a number of fluid simulations of animators bringing life to him through horses. Rhythm & Hues kept the look devel-
that had to track onto him accurately,” says traditional keyframe animation.” oped at Digital Domain, but to better feed
Nordin Rahhali, CG supervisor. “It was To transform Li as the emperor into an the model into their proprietary system, the
one of the most difficult tracking shots I’ve animated CG terra-cotta statue, Digital facility rebuilt the model within its propri-
seen in a long time.” Domain created a model, starting with scans etary Voodoo software and rendered it with
For the fluid simulations, the CG crew and photographs of Li’s body and face. “At its Wren engine. Similarly, the studio based
used an SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydro- first, we created a statue that looked real, the cracking system on methods and shaders
dynamics) technique first practiced by the but Rob [Cohen] wanted it more stylized, developed at Digital Domain.
studio to create waves of water for Pirates of so we took it further,” Hynek says. “We had developed a similar cracking
the Caribbean: At World’s End. The trick was to animate the emperor’s system within our proprietary software
Rahhali explains: “Traditional fluid sims face without losing the quality of the inani- based on compression and expansion maps
are done in level sets; you effect fixed posi- mate terra-cotta, even though in reality, the for the horses,” says Jason Bayever, digital
tions in space for the particles to run through. pottery would crack and break. effects supervisor at Rhythm & Hues. “We
SPH is the opposite. It isn’t contained in a “In the beginning, Matthew [Butler] and based our shader cracks for the edges on
level set. [The particles] try to maintain a Rob [Cohen] did stress studies to examine exactly what Digital Domain gave us. The
clump factor, like water fired out of a hose; how a terra-cotta face would break, exam- system they developed was very cool. Crack
each particle knows about its neighbors.” ining the most stressful parts of the face and heal, crack and heal.”
Thus, the system behaved like a fluid, yet and having a team cracking the face along
the VFX artists could still take advantage of those points,” Hynek notes. “It was physi- Cracking-Good Chariot Race
particle-system tools to control the mud. cally right. But, it wasn’t very pretty. So we As the emperor moves, his pottery shell
Once burned into terra-cotta, the started modifying it.” breaks; and then as he moves again, those
emperor remains unchanged for 2000 Butler explains: “The terra-cotta had to cracks disappear, but others form. “The
years, like an old clay pot resting on a break apart and reform to show facial char- geometry heals, and then the shader
dusty shelf, until Alex accidentally splashes acteristics and body motion, and still have a heals,” Bayever says.
the right combination of stuff on the dry, brittle feel to it.” Rhythm & Hues plans to deliver a sketch
16 August 2008
Character Simulation QQQQ
describing the procedural horse-cracking Emperor Han’s Inner-Mummy and his under-mummy, the team used
system at SIGGRAPH. “It essentially uses That desire to give the emperor a vivid motion captured from Li on set during
stretching,” Bayever says. “The horse is personality resulted in a late addition to principal photography, with three “witness”
rigged like a normal horse, with skin stretch- the 2000-year-old pottery warrior: an HD video cameras in conjunction with the
ing. So when the horse extends his leg, or inner-mummy. motion-picture camera. In addition, for
moves its head, the geometry stretches the “Making the emperor look like a statue some late-arriving shots, Digital Domain
skin, and when the surface stretches a lot, imposed limitations on his motion,” captured a stunt double for Li.
a crack happens. Then, as the underneath Hynek says. “Late in the game, Rob and “We used [on-location] motion capture
geometry comes back, the cracks heal.” the studio said, ‘We’re not scared of this mainly for interaction with the set,”
The geometry includes pre-scored cracks, thing.’ So, we came up with a way to Hynek explains. “The three-camera setup
but the sophisticated system doesn’t use all bend the rules, deform him a little, and allowed us to do an accurate job of roto-
the cracks with every movement, nor does do minimal cracking, and he looked good. animating. The integration team here has
it heal every crack. It randomly uses about But by then, Rob had come up with an come up with a way of doing that in an
a quarter or two-thirds of the cracks, and under-mummy scheme.” automated or semi-automated way that
knows which ones it uses. “The different The idea was that when the emperor makes it practical.”
plates remember whether they cracked the becomes excited or takes a shot, a part Butler adds: “It’s an old concept—trian-
last time they moved,” Bayever points out. falls off and reveals a burned, desiccated gulation on a frame-by-frame basis—
“If it cracked the last time, it won’t crack Li imprisoned inside the terra-cotta shell. applied in a modern fashion.”
this time.”
The Shanghai sequence for which they
developed this system starts with the horses
and chariot crashing through a window.
“We rebuilt the interior set that we shot on
greenscreen in China by projecting photo-
graphs of the set on the lidar scan, and built
an entirely digital exterior,” says Derek
Spears, Rhythm & Hues’ visual effects
supervisor. “We couldn’t do the action we
needed on the stage with the real card.”
On set, the crew put an engine inside the
chariot and motored the prop through a
Digital Domain programmed 200 actions into the motion tree for each of the five Massive agents,
fabricated version of Shanghai, using that
which meant the team captured approximately 1000 motion cycles for the armies, with the help of
engine and sometimes a tow vehicle. “We Giant Studios.
originally thought we could use real horses,”
Spears says. “But halfway through the Hynek says, “We told Rob, ‘OK, we can do The team used the system to capture Li’s
sequence, Rick [Brendan Fraser] has to sit this, but you’re going to have to direct the body and face, and to capture stunt actors
on one of the horses. The streets were wet, motion capture and approve it on the spot. playing other synthetic characters, especially
so we had safety concerns, and it became And, of course, every single one changed. the mummies and terra-cotta soldiers that
easier to attach digital horses.” He wanted more anger, or lust, or what- interacted with the humans. “We used it
Thus, the postproduction crew fit ever. So we ended up hand-animating the anywhere we wanted to do a 3D reconstruc-
animated bronze steeds under footage of under-mummy using motion capture as a tion of motion,” Butler says. “It was really
Fraser riding a mechanical bucking bronco departure point.” useful in a fight between Rick and Evie and
that they rotoscoped and removed. Anima- To create the under-mummy, the team the synthetic creatures. We had stuntmen
tors used existing motion-captured data to started with the same scan of Li captured in green spandex with markers all over their
help create the digital horses’ performances. earlier to build his terra-cotta shell. “We bodies fighting with Rick and Evie. The
“[Fraser’s] body language really sold the up matched him exactly, and then started cameras captured the postures of the green-
and down motion,” Spears says. stepping away from Li,” says David suited stuntmen during filming. When we
As he rides along, the hand-animated Hodgins, CG supervisor. “And then we replaced them with terra-cotta warriors, the
terra-cotta emperor inside the chariot mummified him.” fight looked realistic.”
reacts to the environment, gives directions The team accomplished the burned,
to General Yang sitting next to him, and desiccated mummy look with shaders and Cracking Warriors
cracks and heals, cracks and heals. “Rob textures. “He had to look like Li, but scary When the emperor comes alive, his terra-
wanted to give the emperor personality,” and god-awful,” Hynek says. cotta fighting warriors come alive, too, and
Spears says. To help animators perform the emperor like the emperor, they needed to crack and
August 2008 17
the studio captured close to 1000 motion

cycles. Giant Studios provided the motion-
capture sessions for the armies and the hero
characters in Los Angeles and Montreal.
Choreographer Michelle Ladd directed the
motion capture for the Massive actions.
At Digital Domain, Chad Finnerty led
the Massive effort, with James Thornton
building many of the agents’ brains. “We
had to build something that would hold up
under scrutiny in broad daylight,” Finnerty
says. “And sometimes we bring the char-
The team at Digital Domain helped director Rob Cohen choreograph the intense battle scenes by
previsualizing shots with Massive simulations. acters right to camera. For the most part,
the Massive characters held up, but if we
break apart. But unlike the emperor, they are shatter these guys in interesting ways, and needed to, it was easy to pluck them out
only shells; they don’t have inner-mummies. they kept going.” and augment them in Maya.”
The last 20 minutes of the film feature By the time the plates arrived, the studio
various stages of a battle between thousands Massive Battles had built all the agents, so Finnerty used
of these warriors and the foundation army The “keep going” animation happened Massive to previs the battles for Cohen.
of traditional-looking desiccated mummies. through Massive software, which Digital Rahhali describes the impact: “Until then,
At one point during the battle, Rick’s old Domain set in motion for both armies in the entire battle was in Rob’s head. Chad’s
friend Mad Dog Maguire shoots the brittle the great battle and for other scenes in the team got an effects edit in front of Rob so
terra-cotta soldiers from his World War II film. For example, the so-called “foundation he could make decisions and we could get
airplane, and they shatter into bits of clay. army” that fights the terra-cotta soldiers approval for the flow of the battle.”
“It’s like a massive skeet range,” Butler says. climbs into the light from beneath the Great Because the effects team had a lidar scan
CG supervisors Hodgins and Rahhali Wall, where they’ve been buried for centu- of the location where the live-action foot-
helped develop techniques to crack and ries. To make that possible, Digital Domain age for the battle took place, they could
shatter the terra-cotta. “We knew that Rob took lidar scans of the location, created a pinpoint Li within the battle even though
Cohen likes to blow things up, so we would CG terrain that matched the plates, and practical dust obscured the markers. Also,
have to not only animate the army, but to then, essentially, unzipped it, creating a hole plug-ins sent footstep data, sword hits, and
shatter it right in [the audience’s] faces,” from which the foundation army emerged, so forth in world space to Houdini so the
Rahhali says. “We have some smart people thanks to the Massive agents. Houdini team could add dust, terra-cotta
here who basically wrote a custom OTL “We got an extraordinary variation in bits, and other elements to make the battle
[operator type library] in Houdini and a motion from the Massive soldiers,” Hynek more realistic.
level set converter to do that.” says. “When they come out of the ground, During the battle, the Massive agents
By using the level set, the crew didn’t they’re supposed to react to Rick, and they react to characters and objects created at
have to prescore the terra-cotta characters do. Some threaten, some are afraid, some Rhythm & Hues, including a yeti that
to shatter them. “The OTL would convert scratch their heads. In the battle where we charges through the battleground and a
the geometry to a level set, which is kind see groups rush at each other, these guys get World War II airplane. “We built a yeti
of like a voxel format, based on where the into it full on, cutting heads off, skewering agent in Massive that played Rhythm &
hit happened,” Butler explains. “It would with big pikes, jumping on the other guys.” Hues’ animation,” Finnerty says. “Our
take into account the impact and automati- For the 2500 foundation mummies, characters would collide with that agent.
cally create a series of intersection objects Digital Domain modeled 10 different And we did the same thing with the plane,
that dice the level setup into a number of bodies, 20 heads, eight clothing styles, and making a plane agent that collided with the
chunks—concentrated bits at the impact eight hair styles. For the 4800 terra-cotta foundation army and the terra-cotta army.”
point that get larger as the energy disperses soldiers, the studio created 20 different
out. It was all procedural.” bodies and heads. Massive then scrambled Yeti, Dragon, and Diamonds
The effects team then ran those chunks the combinations to produce different- The sequences with the yeti begin in the
through a rigid-body simulation so they looking characters. Himalayas. “It starts with Rick and Evie
would fall and collide realistically. Some- For the motion, Digital Domain O’Connell landing on a digital glacier,” says
times, a terra-cotta warrior might take programmed five agents and used the Spears. For this shot, Rhythm & Hues built
multiple hits before it finally crumbled out-of-the-box Massive logo guy for one the airplane, the surrounding CG moun-
onto the floor. “We were like kids in a candy sequence. Each character had approximately tains, and, using Houdini’s particle effects,
store,” Rahhali says. “We had the tools to 200 actions in its motion tree, which meant added snow to this environment and others
18 August 2008
Don’t wait for a blue moon . . .

to reveal your vision.
Scratch that creative itch and get your
visual adrenaline glowing today.
Let Intel help spark your innovation in visual computing.

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http://www.alzhem.com. Jose rocks the CG arts with a
custom-built computer based on two Intel® Xeon® processors
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* Other names and brands are the property of their respective owners.
during a search for Shangri-la.

“It’s a big, sweeping shot over the Himala-
yas, which are beautiful 2.5D matte paint-
ings,” says Pauline Duvall, lead compositing
TD of the plane-landing sequence. “The
CG plane lands and breaks off a big piece of
the CG glacier. Then, later during the same
sequence, we have shots with the emperor
and the yeti, and an avalanche.”
The yeti are furry creatures, nine feet
Rhythm & Hues used tools developed for its digital creatures in Narnia to create the furry, nine-
tall, that help the humans fight the foot-tall yeti. Houdini software helped the effects crew match the yeti’s footprints in the snow; the
emperor. “They’re strong but beautiful, studio’s proprietary software Voodoo put snow on the yeti’s fur.
and almost cute and cuddly,” Spears says.
The studio created the yeti using tools team used the studio’s fluid-sim software cal-flow analysis creates motion vectors at a
devised for Narnia. and Houdini particles. “We ran the Houdini pixel level that, using the image, can blur the
Once in the Himalayas, the studio added particles through the motion from the water roto spline shape appropriately to properly
set extensions to live-action shots of the simulation,” Bayever says. “The particles motion-blur the shape back into the scene.”
actors in snow gear. “We also projected the inherited the motion of the water. Then we For example, to put Rick and Evie in
existing set back onto itself to repair prob- attached circles, triangles, and so forth to the the foreground with a battle raging in the
lems with plates and to replace stunt people particles to get the facets of a diamond. We background, the artists had to place their
and stand-ins,” Spears explains. On set, sent tons of elements to compositing.” shapes, rotoscoped from filmed footage, in
Epsom salts created snow that the studio The emperor emerges from the pool front of the battle. The optical flow soft-
matched with Houdini particles to create as a three-headed dragon, a complex ware motion-blurred the edges so the actors
yeti footprints. A system created within creature with wings and limbs that the didn’t look composited on top.
Voodoo put clinging snow on the yeti’s fur. animators performed within the studio’s Toward the end of the battle, when
For lighting, Rhythm & Hues’ proprietary standard animation pipeline. “The diffi- the emperor sees the tide turning against
camera system, a six-sided cube, captured culty for them was creating the action in a him, he goes into an isolation chamber,
HDRI images of the environment. All six constrained space,” Spears says. In addition summons up the five elements, and places
cameras fire simultaneously, taking between to this shape-shift, Rhythm & Hues also a ball of fire between his hands. The fire on
six and eight bracketed photographs that transformed the emperor into a Foo Dog his hands is practical; the fire between his
the studio stitches together in TIFF files. that crashes through the opposition army hands is Digital Domain’s CG fire.
“We have a plug-in that converts the digital of mummies during the big battle, which Like its predecessors before, this third film
files from the cameras into color images, Digital Domain masterminded. in the Mummy franchise uses visual effects
winds them together, and projects them as Cohen filmed the actors participating to make a fantastical story possible and,
environment maps,” Spears says. in the battle on location, not on green- equally important, fun to watch…from
To create a digital avalanche, which rolls screen. “Rob didn’t want huge amounts the martial arts battles between Jet Li as
down the mountain onto the set, the studio of greenscreen,” Digital Domain’s Butler the emperor and the wizard, to the armies
used a combination of Houdini particles says. “In the past, we might have fought of breakable terra-cotta soldiers fighting
and Felt, a proprietary system that describes more against that, but our optical flow thousands of mummies. And, from the
volumes. “Rob wanted boulders, chunks, techniques have improved by leaps and furry yeti to the enthusiastic, if sometimes
and ice, not just smoke clouds,” Spears says. bounds, so we can re-contribute motion- bumbling, archaeologists.
At the end of the sequence, the emperor blur effects onto roto splines.” “It was cool working with Rob again,”
jumps into a pool of supposed eternal youth. The optical flow software, written by Hynek says. “And the fact that this is a
Rather than water for this magical pond, Doug Robles, processes hard-edged roto comedy…”
Cohen wanted liquid diamonds. “We used splines to achieve more optically correct Butler interrupts. “It’s a comedy?”
a vector field to push around lots of tiny, motion-blur effects. “When you draw roto “Well, comedy-esque,” Hynek says. Q
faceted diamonds,” Spears says. “We might splines for motion-blurred edges, you roto
have set a render record in the studio the first the center of the blur,” Butler explains. Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and a
time we tried it.” “Then you run the optical flow analysis on contributing editor for Computer Graphics World. She
To move the diamond water, the effects the plate that has the visual data. The opti- can be reached at ____________
BarbaraRR@comcast.net.
20 August 2008
Why am I passionate about my pen?

My pen completes me. Without it, I’d be useless.
I’m Chad. I’m a 3D Modeler. The precision that I get

with my pen gives my models something new. Using
a pen on screen allows me to push and pull points in
an organic flow. It feels natural, like I’m sculpting.
If only I could navigate life with my pen. I could build it

exactly the way I want it to be. I came to the Pen
Collective to find people that understand me. Maybe,
just maybe, I’ve finally found a group I can mesh with.
Listen. Share. Learn.

Come to Grips with Your Pen Love.
www.PenCollective.com
© 2008 Wacom Technology Corporation. Wacom is a trademark of Wacom Company, Ltd.

All other references to third-party software are recognized as trademarked property of their respective owners and used with their permission.
QQQQHolography
Meats Meier’s holographic Animation Mother commissioned

as the ‘face’ of SIGGRAPH 2008
By LINDA LAW
his year’s SIGGRAPH conference is acknowledging

the dynamic shift toward 3D in the entertainment industry, not only by
the two days of programming on the subject, but also by commissioning
veteran animation artist Meats Meier to create a digital hologram to serve
as the centerpiece for the conference and the exhibition’s newly revamped
Computer Animation Festival.
The animated piece, titled the “Animation Mother,” is the latest of Meier’s
creations in collaboration with RabbitHoles Media of Ottawa, Canada,
which produces its own branded form of holography, the RabbitHole (see
“Digital Holograms,” June 2008). As viewers walk around the hologram,
the image of the woman moves. She morphs into different incarnations.
She is dimensional. She literally pops out from the canvas.
As such, the “Animation Mother” will be the face of this year’s
SIGGRAPH, gracing the award plaques given to winners of this year’s
Computer Animation Festival. Prints of the image will also be widely
featured at the conference and exhibition.
From Interest to Art

Having seen his first hologram on the cover of National Geographic maga-
As viewers walk around the hologram, the animated image of
zine in the early 1980s and then seeing many examples of them in the now- the ethereal-looking woman evolves, morphing and changing.
defunct Holos Gallery in San Francisco, Meier became inspired to try his
22 August 2008
Images ©2008 Meats Meier.
August 2008 23
QQQQHolography
hand at what is now being termed “analog

holography” (compared to the more recent
“digital holography”). This pre-digital form
of holography has very exacting require-
ments for vibration isolation and challenges
artists in many ways, prompting most to
custom-build their own systems for creat-
ing such pieces. Working with a friend,
Greg Downing, Meier quickly realized
how difficult the process is when the pair
attempted to make holograms themselves.
Although somewhat stalled in his quest
to create holograms, Meier remained fasci-
nated with the medium and made under-
standing it a long-term goal. More than
two decades later, in early 2007, the artist
happened upon a Web site for XYZ Imag-
ing, the original company that developed
the technology now owned by RabbitHoles
Media. After months of unsuccessfully
trying to contact the company by e-mail,
Meier finally had a change of luck with a
phone call on what turned out to be the
first day of RabbitHoles’ ownership of the
company. After checking out the artist’s
Web site, RabbitHoles quickly established
a partnership and friendship with Meier,
giving him free reign to do tests for them.
Meier’s initial viewing of samples by
RabbitHoles Media elicited an excited
response from the artist. “RabbitHoles
had already created a few of their different
commercial-style images, including one, a
The “Animation Mother” image will serve as the centerpiece for the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation
3D model, that was done by an actual 3D Festival. The animated hologram, which plays 1300 frames, will be on display at the festival. Also, a
artist,” recalls Meier. “It blew me away, and holographic rendering of the image will grace the awards given to the festival prize winners.
I brought in everybody that was possibly
connected to me to see these things.” reproduce bright colors very, very well.” In of images into a 3D image, and a distorted
Soon thereafter, Meier’s initial test holo- fact, Meier has been exploring the limits of view results.
grams arrived, and he began to understand these images by running tests on “every- Meier found this distortion to be one of
some of the rules that underlie the creation thing from black and white all the way up his biggest problems, but he found that he
of good-quality holographic images. to really high contrast images.” could make it work to his advantage once
Although disappointed with some of his he gained an understanding of the issues.
original tests, Meier began to play with Understanding the Medium “I want to animate things and make things
the possibilities of the technology. With One of the limitations of digital holograms move from one frame to the next, but it
his growing understanding of the creative is the issue of “time smear.” Digital holo- really just comes down to the motion blur,”
limits of this new medium, he realized that grams are created from a series of rendered Meier explains. “If the image is moving too
his original excitement was justified. 3D animation frames or video footage that fast, you will get blur, so you really have to
“Once you understand the rules, you can viewers see as three-dimensional because keep things fairly subtle and moving purely
play with them a little bit, and the result- they experience them as a series of stereo locally. It is definitely a problem, but at the
ing 3D in the holograms is just amazing. pairs. The left eye may be looking at frame same time, I think we can make it work for
The fact that it is animated as you walk 10, for example, and the right eye would us as a visual effect when we want it to be
around from one side to the other and the then be seeing, say, frame 15. If too much like that. Sometimes blur in the image is
brightness of the colors really excites me,” movement occurs between the two frames, pretty cool.”
says Meier. “These holograms can really the brain cannot effectively fuse these pairs Meier also discovered another key rela-
24 August 2008
Holography QQQQ
tionship in the process of creating these is traveling outward, and she presents the necessary tools for creating the image base
holograms. The depth that can be achieved the big, hovering, floating teapot,” a for holographic images.
effectively in the image is related to the perennial SIGGRAPH icon. Meier also works with two other
degree of animation. “RabbitHoles Media Building an animation that works as a programs to achieve many of the effects
mentions that it’s good to have about one- hologram is a multi-layered process for seen in the animation for the “Animation
third of the image projecting out in front of Meier. “It’s basically ‘what you see is what Mother,” including Pixologic’s Zbrush,
the holographic film and about two thirds you get’ with 3D art, so I’m continually software he has been using since it was in
behind, and I think that’s pretty accurate. moving from one side of the timeline to beta form and he has taught how to use at
There’s a certain point where you start to the next,” Meier explains. “When I’m at the The Gnomon Workshop. “I used Zbrush
get that depth of field, which is a really nice front of the timeline, I see what it looks like mostly for the detailed sculpting in the face
thing,” Meier explains. “What we’ve found at the left, and as I get to the end, I can see and the morphing of the face,” he points
is that you can have a lot of animation or what you would see at the right. And it’s out. “The teapot also morphs from a sphere
you can have a lot of depth. So the faster just building, one thing after another. I look into a teapot, so I used Zbrush to create
that things are moving, the less solid they and see what I’ve done in the animations; I those different morph targets.”
appear in three dimensions; but if it’s fairly keep playing it back and forth and slowly For this particular piece, Meier also used
stable, you’ll get a really solid effect. Mostly add or take away until it’s what I want.” Braid Art Lab’s Groboto, new 3D imaging
that is because of time smear—the motion In all, the hologram plays approximately software. Creating instances of geometry,
blur doesn’t give you the depth correctly. 1300 frames of animation as the viewer called bots, produces extremely detailed
It’s just like when you see motion blur in a walks from one side to the other. geometry very easily that can then be
photograph: If it is moving fast enough, it One challenge Meier had to overcome animated. “In Groboto, you can actually set
is transparent.” is his initial instinct to make everything up two different instances of geometry, and
move and spin around. “I always have to they’ll morph from one to the next, so you
Birth of Animation Mother edit myself,” he says. “I start out trying to can set up different sequences. It will play
Approached by Jill Smolin, SIGGRAPH do as much as I possibly can, putting in with dynamics, albeit with a little bit of lag,
2008 conference entertainment director, to everything I want, and then I have to go things like that,” he says. “I used it mainly
create an image that would serve as the “face” back in and take things out. What’s neat for the hair, where the hair was different
for this year’s Computer Animation Festival, about this process, though, is that I create spirals and fractals.”
Meier introduced her to RabbitHoles Media, the 3D geometry and I can also create five Meier integrated into Maya the models
and together they came up with the idea of or six layers on that same geometry that created with Groboto and Zbrush. He notes
placing the resulting image onto the awards are rendered completely differently. So, for that a series of .OBJ files can be exported
that will be handed out to the festival winners. instance, one layer may be a shiny chrome from Groboto and strung together and
Also, several large-scale holograms of the or one might be bright blue. I render out animated. “It’s something that is actually
“Animation Mother” printed by RabbitHoles all those different passes, and later on, using fairly new; in fact, the sequencing of the
will adorn the conference floor. compositing, I can make all
When brainstorming ideas, Smolin and those changes.”
Meier began looking at an older image of
Meier’s, from his “Mother Nature” series. Tools of the Trade
“Because the festival is based on the concept Meier can use software, such as
of evolution, we thought it would be a cool Adobe After Effects, to mix and
idea to see where that idea would evolve to match the different passes. He
now and how my work itself has evolved,” starts out with a version that is,
says Meier. Developing this earlier image, for instance, flatter, a brighter
updating, and changing it was seen by the white, or a different shade,
pair as a metaphor for the evolution of 3D and he’s able to fade that one
computer graphics. compositing layer into the next.
Describing the animation in the final As a result, he can make several
hologram, Meier says, “As you walk from different composite holograms
the left side to the right side, it starts out from the same 3D data.
as a fairly flat image, and it’s more of a As for creating the 3D imagery
lower-resolution version of her. But, as itself, Meier works in Autodesk’s
you turn from one side to the other, she Maya 2008, software he has used Pictured here is an early version of the “Animation
blooms—her hair grows, and she forms since it first came out years ago. Mother.” Mainly, the artist uses Autodesk’s Maya and
Pixologic’s Zbrush for the modeling and sculpting. He also
into the lady as you get to the other However, he points out that any used Braid Art Lab’s Groboto.
side. Parts of her are scaling, her hair 3D package today would provide
August 2008 25
QQQQHolography
.OBJs is something I requested,” says Meier.

“They had requests for it before, but they
actually put a kick into their development
work and sped up the process to create that
plug-in so I could generate this hologram.”
As for hardware, Meier builds his own
machines. “The main machines that I like
to put together are the Shuttle machines,
which have a small form factor. All of
them are quad core with 8 gigs of RAM;
I have six of those networked together into
a renderfarm,” he says. Meier equips these
machines with high-end Nvidia GeForce
graphics cards.
Show Images
In addition to the holograms, the animation
is also being used to create a lenticular image
The “Animation Mother” is extremely high in resolution, even in her earlier form.
for SIGGRAPH. Using nine rendered views
for the lenticular version, Get Flipped, an
Orange, California, company, is creating in their tracks, and they look at it longer ity to create anything. The image can morph
ID badges for SIGGRAPH organizers. than they would a painting. A lot of people into the smallest speck. It can change color
In terms of exactly what we will see at look at a painting for five or six seconds and 5000 times. “It gives me unlimited possi-
SIGGRAPH, the final number of images move onto the next one, but the holograms bilities,” he adds. “I don’t think we have
on display there has yet to be determined, pretty much lock people down.” really scraped the outer layer of what this
but the main image will measure 13.9 by Meier points out that it is always an inter- will lead to.” For those digital artists look-
19 inches, and there will be 11 prints in esting experience at a gallery where holo- ing to get into holography, Meier advises
this edition, with three artist proofs. For grams are being shown because to see the them to look into what has been done so
the Computer Animation Festival, there piece correctly, a viewer has to walk from far. “True holographers built the base of all
will be three awards given, each with the one side to the other. “So at times, it’s a little this, and now it’s starting to go digital like
same RabbitHole print of the “Animation bit like bumper cars. In a really crowded everything else, and that has opened [the
Mother.” Those prints will be 8.5 by 12 area, there are people moving from one medium] to everybody.”
inches, and will be framed, with an engraved side to the next, bumping others who are Meier may have been in the right place
plaque on the frame. A wall-mounted light also moving back and forth,” he says. “It’s at the right time when he contacted Rabbit-
will be included for the winners to view always kind of interesting what people look Holes Media last year. The “Animation
their awards. like. It’s more interactive than just looking Mother” will bring major exposure of this
The “Animation Mother” will also be at a painting.” exciting new medium to thousands of 3D
included in a show at the Gallery of the When asked what fascinates him most animators this summer at SIGGRAPH
Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Los about holography, Meier points out to a 2008, and with companies like RabbitHoles
Angeles, where the opening of the gallery benefit of 3D animation: As he is creating his Media available for production services, we
will be timed to coincide with SIGGRAPH images, he can turn them around. There is a may see a wave of new and experimental 3D
2008 and will remain open the following back to them; they are fully dimensional. art heading our way. Q
month. The art show will consist of 12 “I get immersed in it. I can spin it around
new limited-edition holograms by a group and look at it. I can closely zoom into it, Linda Law is a digital/holographic artist who has
of respected 3D entertainment artists and and it becomes an actual thing,” Meier says. been working in holography since 1975. She is a fine
commissioned by RabbitHoles Media. “But when I print that 3D object using a artist who has also worked in holographic research,
When asked about seeing his holograms standard printer, it becomes this flat thing. education, as curator for the Museum of Holography,
on exhibition, Meier replies: “Every time I turn it around and I just see the back of as a 3D animator for digital holograms, and as a
I’ve been included in a public display of the paper. So, I just love the fact that there writer about 3D technology. She will be co-chair-
these holograms, I try to hang out a little bit is a medium that will actually bring this out ing the Digital Holography sessions at the eighth
to get a feeling for how people are reacting. and let everybody see it basically how I see International Symposium on Display Holography in
One thing’s for sure, whether or not you it, with dimension and movement—and China in July 2009. She can be reached at ___
llaw@
like my particular art style, just the holo- that there’s life within those polygons.” hvc.rr.com; for more about Linda Law and her work,
gram itself, the medium itself, stops people According to Meier, he now has the abil- visit www.greenwomanart.com.
26 August 2008
“Growth” by Taron “Fly” by Laurent Pierlot “Kalima” by Pascal Blanché
RabbitHoles 3D Motion Holograms

RabbitHoles 3D motion holograms are the “3D on 2D” print
solution for the entertainment, advertising, and art industries.
Unlike any other print medium, RabbitHoles are

capable of displaying 1,280 frames of
full-color 3D imagery with up to 7-seconds
of fluid, seamless, and interactive animation,
on a completely flat surface; they also
house numerous digital data types,
and can be printed from wallet
size to wall-size.
“Holloween Boy” by
Scott Spencer Like SIGGRAPH, people choose “Head of a Woman”
to be revealed at show by Jeremy Engleman
RabbitHoles because they are exponentially
more effective than traditional print at awing
and entertaining audiences.
Jill Smolin, Entertainment & Computer Animation Festival Director

for SIGGRAPH says, “RabbitHoles defy explanation,
demand experience, and are quite simply the coolest
way to experience 3D art. It’s as if the artist pulls you
into his animated, multidimensional universe and lets
you see the art just the way he intended, with detail,
nuance and animation. Couldn’t be cooler.”
If you’re ready to go down a RabbitHole visit ____________

RabbitHoles.com.
“Animation Mother” by Meats Meier; on display at SIGGRAPH for the Computer

Animation Festival and on sale at Gnomon Gallery, Hollywood.
“Tribal Old Woman”
“Kiss” by Alex Alvarez by Kris Costa
Gnomon Gallery, Hollywood | 8/13 – 9/10

RabbitHoles Media is proudly sponsoring the Grand Opening “RabbitHoles”
show for Gnomon Gallery – the newest addition to Gnomon’s Hollywood
campus. The show will launch 12 limited editions of breakthrough artwork
by 10 renowned entertainment industry artists, all in the form of RabbitHoles
3D motion holograms.
The Gnomon Gallery will be distinct in its focus on spotlighting artists in the
entertainment industry, and RabbitHoles is excited to bring the visionary work
of 3D artists to the world in its intended form — 3D. For more info about the
gallery and purchasing visit GnomonGallery.com.
GNOMON GALLERY
“Nape of the Neck” www.gnomongallery.com www.rabbitholes.com “Small Invader”
by Jeremy Engleman by Fred Bastide
“The Hide” by Taron “Thorn” by Aaron Sims “Animation Mother” by Meats Meier
The comic-book superheroes Hellboy and Batman both fight evildoers, but the
similarities end there. Hellboy is a supernatural being who couldn’t exist in our
real world. Batman is a (fictional) real man, a billionaire who uses technology
as a weapon. Hellboy lives in a fantasy world; Batman fights crime in Gotham
City, a fictional version of a real city. Perhaps, even, Chicago.
The directors of the two latest films about these icons, Universal Pictures’
Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Warner Bros.’ sixth Batman film, The Dark
Knight, showcase those differences.
Guillermo del Toro, who is from Mexico and had previously directed Hellboy
and Pan’s Labyrinth, populates Hellboy II with visually exciting mythological
creatures who have eyes in places you’d never expect. British director Chris
Nolan, who had previously written and directed Batman Begins and Momento,
pits Batman against The Joker on the gritty streets of Gotham City, and dives
deep into Batman’s soul.
Despite these differences, both directors focused on practical effects
for their fast-moving action flicks, using CG to enhance and expand those
effects. Del Toro put men in “rubber suits,” using animatronics, prosthet-
ics, and makeup to create many of his creatures. Nolan flipped and
crashed real cars and exploded real buildings.
Even so, Hellboy II had approximately 1100 visual effects shots,
with Double Negative giving thousands of bizarre creatures
their often-horrific action and adding visual complexity
to the animatronic suits and fantastic environments.
The Dark Knight had approximately 700 visual effects
shots created at Framestore CFC, Double Negative, BUF, and
Cinesite, intense complex shots with CG effects that needed
to precisely match live-action footage shot in IMAX resolution,
even down to the surface of the roads.
To help their artists become effects superheroes,
most of these studios used real-world off-the-shelf
software, and all crafted fantastic new tools and
techniques, as you’ll see in the following two
articles, which pull back the curtain on the
extreme effects in Hellboy II: The Golden
Army and The Dark Knight.
—Barbara Robertson
28 August 2008
Creatures QQQQ
Imagine Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro’s version of Chapman and Martin concentrating largely on 3D and De Wet
hell on earth and you have an inkling of the visual feast in his latest on 2D. All told, the film has approximately 1100 shots, a small
film, Universal Pictures’ sci-fi action thriller Hellboy II: The Golden portion of which Double Negative subcontracted to Cube Effects,
Army. Written by del Toro and Mike Mignola, who wrote and The Senate, Lipsync, and Baseblack. The creatures, though, came
illustrated “Hellboy,” the original Dark Horse Comic, the sequel to alive at Double Negative.
del Toro’s 2004 Hellboy pits a mythical world against humanity in “Our main challenge was the number of creatures,” says Martin.
a bid to rule the planet. “We built a lot of different creatures, and we had multiple creatures
Actor Ron Perlman once again plays the tough-talking, hell- in some shots.” Multiple is an understatement.
spawned hero who must save the earth. Fighting alongside the bright Double Negative’s digital creatures with the most screen time are
red and appropriately horned Hellboy are two other supernatural the tooth fairies, the golden army robots, and the Elemental. Two
beings in the FBI’s Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense out of the three appear in multiple versions: Thousands of tooth
(BPRD): the psychic, fish-like Abe Sapien and the fiery Liz Sher- fairies burst into some shots, and 80 hand-animated robots fight
man, played by returning actors Doug Jones and Selma Blair. in others. As for the Elemental, the foliage-covered creature stands
But even more fascinating are the dangerous, strangely limbed, nearly 10 stories tall.
multi-headed creatures rising from the myths, their eyes in odd The studio created other creatures as well, built digital environ-
places. As is del Toro’s wont, many of these odd gods and charac- ments, enhanced Abe’s and Liz’s performances, and added complex-
ters are men wearing rubber and animatronic suits and prosthetic ity to a largely practical “troll market” with CG pixies that resemble
makeup. But, some are not, and for these and other effects, del those in Pan’s Labyrinth and Striders that look like headless elephants
Toro turned to Double Negative. on giraffe legs with pointy feet. “They’re a good example of what we
Mike Wassel led a visual effects crew of approximately 250, had to do on this movie,” Butler says of the Striders. “They’re in two
many of whom began working on the project in October 2006. shots, and they took six months to build. But the design lent itself to
Eamonn Butler supervised animation. Andrew Chapman, Justin experimental animation, and it works. They make the troll market
Martin, and Adrian De Wet supervised the digital effects, with sequence look incredibly diverse, which was the point.”
©2008 Universal Studios.
Double Negative covered this

super-sized creature with foliage, and
developed sophisticated rigging systems
that gave animators control over
Elemental’s tentacle-like appendages.
August 2008 29
QQQQCreatures
rigs for those they were. “It wasn’t real time,

but it was workable,” says Butler.
Elemental, My Dear Hellboy

The creature called Elemental starts as a magic
bean that grows quickly and bursts through
the ground in Brooklyn nearly 10 stories tall,
shaking foliage, dripping water, and giving off
steam. He spots Hellboy and runs down the
street, trashing things as he goes.
Shaped like a tree trunk, with leaves and
vines covering his body, Elemental has
long, hanging tentacles that wrap around
One tooth fairy looks mean enough, but thousands burst from the walls and attack the BPRD
agents. To help animate the attack, Double Negative designed Swarm, a crowd-simulation system
and lash out at things. One tentacle has a
based on smart particles. clubfoot that acts like a limb; sometimes
the tentacles act like hands. We catch only
Tooth Fairies cameras to capture alternate angles of the glimpses, never the whole creature. Anima-
At first glance, they look benign, even cute, live action for this and other sequences. “We tors moved the tentacles using spline-based
but these fairies don’t leave money under covered most of the shots even if they didn’t controls rigged in Maya on top of a stan-
your pillow. They’re tooth fairies because have CG because we often added to the prac- dard IK setup. “We needed total control
they eat your teeth, and they eat your tical effects,” he says. “The other angles make over the shape,” Butler says.
bones. They have four pincer-like legs, two it easier for the tracking department to work The foliage, Double Negative’s idea, helps
humanoid arms with nasty clawed hands, out where everything and everyone is.” sell the creature’s scale. “The vegetation is a
four paper-thin wings that look like leaves, Digital doubles, which were matched recognizable scale, so it instantly made him
and a big head. They’re a little over eight to actors tracked in the footage during look large,” Chapman says. “And, it added
inches tall. And, they appear throughout postproduction, helped animators attach detail.” To animate the vegetation, the effects
Double Negative’s first big sequence. the tooth fairies accurately. “All the main artists devised procedural techniques in Side
We first see one in an auction room actors had digital doubles even if we Effects’ Houdini. “We’d bring the animation
digging up a tooth in a pile of brown muck. only used the doubles for roto-anima- into Houdini, apply the vegetation, and then
“They’ve eaten everyone,” says Butler. “We tion,” Chapman explains. “And, we had a send it back to Maya for lighting,” explains
don’t show that, but Hellboy and the other generic human model that we scaled to fit Martin. The studio uses Pixar’s RenderMan
BPRD agents put two and two together background actors.” for rendering geometry such as this, and
when the cute fairy turns and attacks them. Animators performed some hero tooth relies on its own DNb renderer for volumes.
All the tooth fairies hiding in the walls bust fairies, 2D artists created the illusion of The Elemental sequence takes place on a
out and attack. They go for the teeth first, fairies pulling and gnawing on cloth, but live-action set in Budapest, Hungary, and
but they eat everything in front of them. to create the multitudes, Double Nega- ends with Hellboy on a very tall hotel sign
And, there are thousands, landing on the tive designed a crowd-simulation system holding a baby. The sign, however, was
agents, crawling into their mouths, biting, implemented in Autodesk’s Maya that the on the ground when filmed, and Double
pulling their hair. Guillermo described studio called Swarm. “It’s a smart particle Negative added the digital city. “That sort
them as vicious little Chihuahuas.” system that determines where they travel of digital environment work is Double
Creating this technically difficult scene and land,” Butler says. “The particle system Negative’s bread and butter,” Chapman
required extensive body tracking and roto- drove a second system that switched says. “Once you invest the time into putting
scoping to fit the digital shadow-casting fair- between half a dozen flying behaviors. It a pipeline in place, it’s relatively simple. I
ies into the plate and onto the actors’ cloth- was smart enough to blend into another think we almost take it for granted.”
ing. “Hellboy stamps on one tooth fairy and animation when a fairy landed.”
squishes it,” says Butler. “And another eats a When fewer than 20 fairies are on screen, Golden Robots
guy to the bone. It’s gruesome. But, it was a animators worked with one at a time. To In the film’s climactic action sequence at the
helluva lot of fun to animate.” control a swarm, they animated groups of end, 12-foot-tall killing machines emerge
Chapman worked on set with Wassel, ori- 60 by switching from cached geometry for from golden eggs. “They’re huge and power-
enting between one and three HD “witness” groups they weren’t animating to animation ful,” says Butler, “but they move with agility
30 August 2008
Creatures QQQQ
and dynamism. They are true badass bad on a shot-by-shot basis.” interesting facial expressions by replacing
guys, so we came up with ways to give them For the clockwork mechanism, the riggers the suit’s face with a 3D model that the
attitude. They push each other out of the devised a procedural system that moved animators performed. Scans provided the
way aggressively. And, they fight.” the cogs based on the animation, and textural data as well as the geometry.
To unfold the big, golden machines from rigid-body dynamics sent the cogs flying In fact, most of the characters in the troll
the tiny eggs, the animators worked back- during the fight. In addition, the team market are men in suits, but Double Nega-
ward, cheating the mass to reorganize their used NaturalMotion’s Endorphin to help tive animators also inserted digital trolls and
bulk into an egg shape. When standing, each perform the fighting robots. “We’d do a replaced parts of the sets. “It was easier than
robot has at least 70 moving pieces. “I’d hate pass with Endorphin’s dynamics to see what it sounds because we had the reference in
to think how many pieces,” says Martin. that looked like,” Butler says. “If it worked, the plate to match to,” Butler points out.
You can see the clockwork mechanism we used it. If not, we keyframed over it.” In addition, the effects artists lit the super-
whirring behind the robot’s ribs, all its little For one sequence during which the robots natural Liz on fire throughout the film using
cogs moving and glowing red-hot. The heat climb a staircase, animator Jay Davis devised Squirt, the studio’s proprietary fluid-simula-
causes each robot to snort steam through a technique to simplify the process. First, tion software, to create CG flames. To tie the
its nostrils, which the effects team created the animators created the performances, fire to her performance, the fluid solver emit-
using fluid simulations and the volumetric and then modelers fit the stairs to the ted the fluid dynamics from a body track of
renderer. More difficult was the robots’ animation. “We wanted the animation to the actor. Compositors generally worked
nasty habit of reforming after being broken look cool,” Butler says. “We didn’t want to with lighting passes to fine-tune the look,
apart. In one sequence, the robots fight go, ‘Oh no, the stairs are the wrong size.’” but in the last part of one fiery sequence, the
each other, sending chunks of gold flying. The studio’s DNasset system managed the fireball was practical.
Then, they put their arms back on, pull hundreds of pieces in scenes that often had The studio also blinked Abe Sapien’s
themselves together, and set their heads as many as 80 robots. To render the gold rubber-mask eyes, and created a digital
back onto their shoulders. Rigging was a surface, the team used such typical tech- double for a sequence during which the fish-
massive undertaking. niques as reflection occlusion. Compositors like being swims underwater in a tank—the
“First, we got a basic animation rig work- working in Apple’s Shake added the steam, actor couldn’t swim in the prosthetic suit.
ing,” Martin explains, “then we worked on which the effects team had rendered using “We worried about the shot a lot because
the secondary stuff. We created custom rigs holdouts for the geometry. Tippett Studios had done it so well in the
previous film,” Butler says. “But the CG
Set Dressing team did a phenomenal job on his muscles
One of del Toro’s favorite Double and skin, and in adding particulate matter to
Negative characters was a rat-sized the water. Two shots and it was done.”
creature with two heads, kangaroo The ectoplasmic Johann Kraus has no
legs, three arms, and a pouch. “He muscles, so to help this fourth BPRD agent
didn’t talk,” Butler says. “He commu- leave his deep-sea diving suit, the artists
nicated by clicking his two heads collapsed the suit using cloth simulation
together. He was like a mascot for and then released his blubbery mass using
Guillermo. Every time he saw him, Squirt and the volume renderer.
he burst out laughing.” The character, When audiences see the amazingly fantas-
which the crew dubbed Bogart, is in tic creatures in the fast-moving Hellboy II,
only five or six shots during the troll the last thing on their minds will be, “Is it
market sequence, drinking water, CG or is it real?” But, we can imagine that
scrabbling around in the dirt, and is exactly what was on Guillermo del Toro’s
delivering a message that Mr. Wink, mind. And, thanks to the efforts of the 250
the cave Troll, is dead. But he added artists at Double Negative, he was able to
richness to the sequence. “Guillermo harness the digital world to achieve mind
loved him, that’s for sure,” Butler says. over mythological matter. Q
(Top) actor Ron Perlman is Hellboy and Doug Jones
is Abe Sapien. (Bottom) Brian Steele is Wink. Double As for Mr. Wink, actor Brian Steele
Negative blinked Abe’s rubber-mask eyes and gave plays the big troll while wearing an Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and
Wink flexible facial expressions. animatronic suit. However, Double a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World.
Negative gave the creature more She can be reached at BarbaraRR@comcast.net.
_____________
August 2008 31
VFX studios Double Negative, Cinesite,

Framestore CFC, and BUF honor director
Chris Nolan’s vision for The Dark Knight
By BARBARA ROBERTSON
32 August 2008
CG / Live-Action Integration QQQQ
he clue to Warner Bros.’ sixth film in the Batman franchise and director Chris Nolan’s second is
in the title: The Dark Knight. The Knight is Marvel Comic’s Batman (Christian Bale), a crime-
fighting superhero who acquires power from his armor and his weapons, not from something
supernatural or alien. The “dark” is everywhere: The black comedy that emanates from Joker’s
(Heath Ledger) dark mind, and Batman himself riding his black-as-night motorbike, the cape on his
famous costume billowing like inky smoke behind.
Critics applauded Nolan for looking deep into Bruce Wayne’s troubled soul, as we followed the
billionaire’s evolution from citizen to vigilante in Batman Begins, and for grounding that film’s superhero
effects in a gritty physical reality. In The Dark Knight, Wayne confronts the consequences of becoming
Batman, and the reality is grittier.
Double Negative interspersed CG backgrounds with live-action plates in scenes set in Gotham City, and Framestore
CFC did the same for shots in Hong Kong.
Double Negative’s Paul Franklin, who received a BAFTA nomination for supervising the studio’s photo-
realistic work on Batman Begins, laughs as he remembers discovering the mission for The Dark Knight.
“When we started on this film, the production designer said it would be the realistic version of Batman
Begins. He said they considered Batman Begins to be stylized and unrealistic, even though they attempted
to ground it in observed reality.”
Four studios helped create the The Dark Knight’s approximately 700 visual effects. “Double Negative,
the lead vendor, did around 370 shots—the digital Batman work, all the Gotham City creations and
extensions, and the digital Batpod (Batman’s motorbike),” says Nick Davis, overall visual effects supervi-
sor. “Framestore CFC did all the Harvey Dent (Two-Face) effects and a sequence in Hong Kong. Cinesite
predominately did 2D cleanup work for removing rigs and wires from complicated live-action mechanical
Images TM & © DC Comics. Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
effects. And, BUF created Batman’s sonar vision.”

The shot list almost makes the work sound simple and straightforward. In fact, most shots were complex
mixtures of live-action cinematography, greenscreen footage, miniature models, physical effects, and CG
that, for the most part, had to be so photographically and physically realistic no one could tell it’s there.
But, that’s why we’re here.
Bruce Wayne’s World

Double Negative had built a Gotham City for Batman Begins, but Nolan’s increased demands on photo-
realism and the realization that the studio would be matching footage filmed with IMAX cameras sent
the digital architects back to their computer screens. “We were able to reuse some models, like the digital
Batmobile and the monorail that plays in the background, but everything had to be overhauled and
refurbished to hold up to scrutiny,” Franklin says. Double Negative bases its pipeline on Autodesk’s Maya,
Pixar’s RenderMan, and Apple’s Shake.
August 2008 33
QQQQCG / Live-Action Integration
For example, other than Wayne tower, Lower Wacker Drive flicks a switch, and we see a front tire spin.
the buildings in the prior film worked in The chase sequence demonstrates the And, from this point forward, the Batmo-
predetermined lighting conditions. For this complex integration between live action bile is digital. Batman flips another switch,
film, no buildings had baked-in lighting. and digital effects. It takes place on Lower panels move, and we see inside. The car
“We lit them the hard way, in 3D,” Frank- Wacker Drive, where the Joker’s henchmen lurches. Gun pods lock into place around
lin says. “But we had more flexibility.” in a garbage truck smash cars between them the wheels. A final toggle blows all the panels
Framestore CFC, Double Negative, and an armored car. Using his Batmobile as off, the front wheels swing into place, and
and BUF all worked on IMAX shots. a battering ram, Batman tries to stop them. Batman accelerates away on his Batpod, cape
Framestore CFC handled a Hong Kong The sequence takes place largely in-camera billowing behind.
sequence, and BUF added Sonar Vision on location and in miniatures created at Working in Maya, James Guy built the
to various shots (see “Sonar Vision,” this New Deal Studios. model. Bruno Baron textured it. Dorian
page). However, most of the IMAX work, “In the shot, the garbage truck and all the Knapp animated the broken Batmobile.
which totaled approximately 40 minutes of cars flipping are real, the rocket-propelled Nicola Hoyle developed a secondary dynamic
the film, landed at Double Negative. grenade launcher is real, and the Batmobile is system for the shuddering and shaking. Dan
“We initially planned to work at 8k reso- mostly real, all filmed in IMAX in Chicago,” Wood and Mike Nixon handled simulation,
lution,” Franklin says. “But, we concluded Franklin says. “We took out rigs, extended and Teena Roy and Hoyle, known in the
that 5.6k resolution was more realistic.” the backgrounds and sets, added traffic, studio as the “vixens of destruction,” moved
At that resolution, each frame required smoke, and dust, and sent a digital Batmobile the body panels. “It’s terrifically complicated,
approximately 160mb. “Huge, but manage- flying past the Joker for logistical reasons. but they make it look easy,” Franklin says.
able,” he says. But they blew up a real Batmobile on set in Although a stunt rider wearing a Chris-
Double Negative’s hero sequences included Cardington, England. When they didn’t like tian Bale mask most often raced the practi-
a lengthy armored car chase during which the result, they totaled a second Batmobile to cal Batpod, at speeds up to 100 miles per
Batman switches from the “Tumbler” (his get three shots.” hour, Double Negative’s digital Batpod and
Batmobile) to the Batpod, and a sequence After the Batmobile crashes, we see Batman digital doubles for Batman and the stunt
inside the so-called Prewitt building. inside checking the computer displays. He rider rode into some shots.
Sonar Vision Batman can see through walls . . .when the machine is working
Consider that in Gotham City, everyone has a cell phone. Know- rotoscoped the actors using the four angles to help animate
ing this, we learn in The Dark Knight that billionaire Bruce Wayne the CG characters. For shots of Batman looking through his
and his high-tech friends built a supercomputer that translated sonar-vision virtual camera while riding through Gotham City,
all those signals into digital data that acts like 3D sonar. As a BUF modeled a large part of the city by referencing matte
result, whenever someone uses a cell phone, Batman can see, paintings and models from Double Negative.
on monitors in his Batcave and through special goggles, the “Chris [Nolan] didn’t want X-ray vision,” says Alain Lalanne,
scene surrounding the phone. BUF created the effect. visual effects producer. “He wanted to see all the surfaces of
Inside the Batcave, hundreds of screens line the walls, and the objects. He hates a CG look.”
every screen tells a little story that BUF created, a moment from And yet, the studio needed to create the scenes in CG to
everyday life—people cooking, talking, riding to work in a car, give themselves and Nolan the flexibility of a CG camera. “We
sitting at a desk. “We see the city on these screens,” says Domi- knew we had to see people’s everyday lives, but we wanted
nique Vidal, visual effects supervisor. “Batman also uses [the to give Chris the freedom to tell us whether he wanted to
goggles] like a virtual camera to see through walls and floors.” see people cooking, being at the office, or walking down the
To create these “sonar vision” scenes, the studio modeled street,” Lalanne says. “So, it was easier to create the actions
typical apartment rooms, a subway, stores, and various other with CG characters than produce thousands of minutes of
environments. To add people, they shot the slice-of-life perfor- 2D footage.”
mances with the studio’s Video Motion Capture (VMC) system, In addition, to sell the idea that the images “pulse on” when
which uses four cameras to capture multiple angles, and then the cell phone goes live, the footage sometimes needed to
34 August 2008
create the shots. Double Negative’s DNasset

managed objects modeled in various levels
of detail. DNshatter, which works with the
studio’s rigid-body simulation tool, Dyna-
mite, shattered the glass. DNsquirt, a new
fluid-simulation tool developed in collabo-
ration with Stanford researchers, and Maya
fluid dynamics—both rendered through
DNb, a volumetric renderer—engulfed the
helicopter with flames.
To create the surface street, the crew
The Joker speeds through the streets of Gotham City. For a bank heist in the opener, and during
other chase sequences, Double Negative created digital backgrounds, a digital Batmobile, and a used lidar scans and photography. “It looks
digital Batpod. flat,” Franklin says. “But it undulates all
over the place. We photographed every
LaSalle Street cables, it’s completely digital, as is the street, inch of the road in excruciating detail, and
The police pursue the Joker, who is now because they couldn’t shoot plates from the lidar-scanned the entire surface. We could
in a semitrailer driving down LaSalle Street, angles they needed,” Franklin says. “We selectively replace the road in IMAX shots
a continuous mile of skyscrapers. “It’s like a could place our digital camera at 10 feet because the survey data gave us confidence
canyon,” Franklin says, “very dramatic.” A from a building, and it still looked good at in the tracking. It was easier than painting
police helicopter flies down the street with a IMAX resolution.” things out.” For tracking, Double Nega-
sniper hanging out the window. Two hench- The digital helicopter catches the wires, tive used 2d3’s Boujou, The Pixel Farm’s
men in buildings on either side of the street crashes, careens down the street, smashes PFTrack, Science-D-Vision’s 3D-Equalizer,
thread cables across to catch the helicopter. into a window, spins wildly, sprays glass on and an in-house photogrammetry program,
“They flew a real helicopter down the the fully digital street, and catches fire. DNphotofit, that also does camera solves
street, but when we see it catch in the Several proprietary tools helped the artists using tracking points.
look transparent or opaque. And sometimes, the technology destroy an image with a lot of quality than to do the reverse.”
breaks down. “But,” Lalanne continues, “we had to find a design that would
The erratic technology was Nolan’s idea. The audience explain to the audience that the machine was a prototype and
discovers the notion of imperfect technology during a not perfect. Chris explained the idea of the machine, but it was
sequence toward the end of the film that takes place in the a thing that doesn’t exist. We had to imagine what this non-
under-construction Prewitt building. Sonar vision makes existing machine would let us see. That was quite interesting.”
it possible for Batman to explore the skyscraper without The artists at BUF altered the images with flashes, noise
moving. patterns, shaking, artifacts, and so forth using shaders and 2D
“He uses the gadget to fly his vision through the building effects. And then they created what Vidal calls a choreography
to look at different places and clarify the action,” Vidal says. of texturing the image.
In doing so, he discovers which characters are good and “The [sonar-vision] shots are between the live-action shots,”
which are bad. He can see the people on different floors and says Lalanne. “So, we used the virtual camera to give a violent
in different rooms, those being held hostage, the Joker, and rhythm to the scene.” For example, they might add a flash at a
the SWAT team. Sometimes we see through a wall to other particular point to staccato the rhythm.
rooms in the building, room after room after room, and it gives “It is not far from a stroboscopic effect, but not too aggres-
a vertigo effect. sive,” Vidal says. “It took us a year to find the rhythm, the
“During the process of building this effect, Chris [Nolan] and decay of each, how long you’d see the set, how long it would
Nick [Davis] pushed and pushed us to make something photo- be revealed.”
realistic,” Lalanne says. “When we had achieved the photorealis- To create the sonar-vision effects, BUF used proprietary
tic quality, Chris told us to destroy the image. He explained to us software. “That’s the interesting thing with BUF,” Lalanne says.
that Batman doesn’t have superpowers, only technology. And, “We develop a specific software for every movie. For sonar
technology is never perfect; the machine Batman was using vision, we created software, for this movie, for this effect, for
was not working well. It was very smart of them. It’s easier to this director.” –Barbara Robertson
August 2008 35
guy over, and the whole chain tumbles out

of the building, 30 stories up,” Franklin
explains. “They shot it from helicopter. The
stunt guys had rigs to protect them and
crash mats for when they slam back into the
building.” So, Double Negative replaced
the building and lit the digital model to
match the movement of practical lights.
“The biggest challenge with the Prewitt
building, though, was the huge amount of
keying work for shots filmed on the set in
Cardington,” Franklin says. “They had a
200-foot greenscreen outside the set that
we replaced with views of Gotham City.”
They also added Gotham scenes out the
window for shots during a supposed pent-
house party filmed in a ground-floor lobby
in Chicago. “The party is about 100 shots,
and every shot required background replace-
ment,” Franklin says. “The lighting condi-
A stunt rider wearing a Christian Bale mask raced the practical Batpod, but Double Negative’s tions are constantly changing from magic
CGl Batpod and digital doubles starred in dangerous shots and those calling for the bike to do
acrobatics. hour, to deep magic hour, to full night.”
During the sequence, the Joker pushes
The shot ends with a real fuselage that the The shot ends with Batman riding his Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) out the
production crew set on fire and crashed into digital Batpod up the side of a wall. “It’s like window and, without hesitation, Batman
the armored car, and with Batman scream- the scene with Gene Kelly running up the dives after her.
ing after the Joker on his Batpod between wall in Singin’ in the Rain,” Franklin says. “That was a CG shot,” Davis says. “Double
exploding cars and practical pyro. “When the bike gets to the apex, the center Negative put Gotham outside the window,
“They drove a real Batpod through the flips 180 degrees, so Batman is still the right and created CG doubles for Maggie and
practical pyro, but our digital Batpod did way up when he’s on the ground.” Batman, but when they land at the bottom,
the extreme maneuvers, like 90-degree it’s a live-action scene. So, it involved compli-
turns,” Franklin says. “The maximum Partying in the Prewitt cated greenscreen and character work.”
deflection for the real bike is five degrees.” For a later sequence, Double Negative artists Similarly, Double Negative re-created an
And, Batman couldn’t flatten the real bike, matched the location, the Trump Tower in interior environment and replaced Batman
which he needed to do for the next shot: He Chicago, which was under construction, and two hostages with digital doubles for
slides between the wheels of a semitrailer with a 40-story digital model that they a shot later in the sequence when Batman
that flips 180 degrees, tail over nose, and he blended into a nine-story set filmed at grabs the hostages and jumps over a stair
comes out the other side. Warner Bros.’ studio in Cardington. “It was rail to escape. And, the studio put digital
Cables woven around lampposts stopped insanely complicated,” Franklin says. “The doubles on the rooftop of the digital build-
the semi and caused it to flip, uprooting the roof was covered in construction cranes. ing for a confrontation between Batman and
lampposts. The 18-wheeler is real, rigged There were cement mixers, spools, shipping the Joker.
with metal teeth on its nose that dig into the containers. You could see straight into the If that weren’t enough, the studio also
road surface and flipped using a telegraph open floors because they hadn’t covered the created two ferries, filled them with
pole fired from a nitrogen launcher. Double sides with glass. We had to build the whole panicked citizens, set them afloat on digital
Negative removed the nitrogen launcher, thing down to the ground, including the water, and gridlocked 30,000 people and
added the cable, removed the teeth, and police cordon.” 10,000 automobiles on Wacker Drive on
replaced the road and the lampposts. “The During one shot, several men who try their way to the ferries.
prop lampposts didn’t have enough weight, to corner Batman at the building’s edge For the crowds, the studio wrote a simple,
so we rebuilt them and animated them with become roped together. “Batman kicks one easily art-directed crowd placement tool. “The
dynamics,” Franklin says. over the edge and the rope pulls the next artists could paint lines of people,” Franklin
36 August 2008
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says. “They aren’t aware of other people, but

they don’t stand on top of each other.” Anima-
tors created motion cycles for the crowd by
rotoscoping extras in reference footage.
Hong Kong
Long before the ferry evacuation, Bruce trav-
els to Hong Kong to pursue money launder-
ers, an IMAX sequence for which Framestore
CFC built Hong Kong’s tallest skyscraper,
the 88-story Two ifc, its cousin, the 39-story
Some directors might have composited the Joker in front of CG fire, but Chris Nolan had Heath
One ifc, the environment surrounding the Ledger walk out of a real building that was blown up. CG previsualizations helped the demo experts
buildings, and a CG Batman. “Bruce Wayne plan the timing of the explosions during the continuous, in-camera shot.
gets into his Batman garb on top of the Two
ifc,” says Davis. “So we filmed plates from who flies around digital Hong Kong, and of a miniature building that Framestore
the top and from helicopters to have digital then transitions again to the stuntman who CFC inserts into a CG building. Then,
Batman leap off the building.” smashes through a window of the lower stunt Batman fires a little weather balloon
The shot starts with a stuntman on green- building. The stunt Batman sticks bombs that floats up to a real C130 transport plane.
screen. It transitions into a CG Batman onto other windows and blows out the side Digital Batman grabs onto a skyhook and
Two-Face When Harvey Dent’s face catches fire, Framestore CFC

provides the flames and the afterburn in 120 shots
The effect is this: A fire splits actor Aaron Eckhart’s face right was that all these different bits of burnt flesh had to look real.”
down the middle. One half is normal. The other half is not. The The performance tracking also enabled the studio to stick
fire burns his skin crispy in some places, burns through to the photographed fire elements onto Harvey Dent’s face when he
bone in others. bursts into flame.
“The last time Two-Face was in a film, prosthetic makeup CG supervisor Ben White led the tracking effort. On set,
created the burned side of the face,” says Nick Davis, visual the crew generally used three small HD “witness” cameras
effects supervisor. “This time, we wanted it to be a subtractive running at 48 frames per second to capture Eckhart’s perfor-
effect, as if half his face had gone. You see his teeth, exposed mance. For a sequence that takes place inside a car, they
muscles, his eyeball.” taped lipstick cameras inside the vehicle and, in one shot,
The trick, then, was to create the burned half, move it in could use only the film camera.
concert with the normal half, and somehow have it all look Eckhart wore a partial prosthetic on the back of his head and
realistic. But, not too realistic. markers on his face, approximately 25 primary retro-reflective
“Chris [Nolan] wanted us to come up with a design that was markers and 50 makeup dots. To line up the markers consis-
photorealistic and shocking, but not so revolting that the film tently from one day to the next, makeup artists applied the dots
would be unwatchable,” says Davis. “We have an emoting, using a cardboard mask cut with holes. Ring lights on the main
performing human with a human face, although it doesn’t look camera and the HD cameras helped capture the markers in
very human.” low light.
Tim Webber led a crew at Framestore CFC that created For tracking the captured dots, the crew used Movimento
the effect. “There were two big challenges,” he says. “The first from RealViz, now part of Autodesk, and hand-tracked 2D
and biggest was tracking [the burned face] onto the actor’s points when necessary. “First, we established the position and
performance. We had to do a full-performance capture during orientation of the actor’s head in each shot in conjunction with
a normal film shoot to get such a precise performance that we the camera track, using filtering techniques to get rid of noise,”
could stick the digital face on without any sliding. The second White explains.
38 August 2008
enters a digital cargo hold in the plane. to reconstruct the room from the photo- worked out to get the right feel for the cape,”
“Our buildings had to match shots with graphed environments. “We didn’t model says Webber, “and we worked on new shad-
real buildings cut directly with CG build- to the level of pencils and pens,” says Ben ers to reproduce the way the light bounces
ings, and in one shot, we have a bit of our White, CG supervisor, “but we modeled off all the different black surfaces.”
CG building on top of the real building,” computer monitors, chairs, lamps, furni- Keeping his gliding style grounded in
says Framestore CFC’s Webber, “and we put ture—anything with a clearly-defined physical reality was equally important.
a 2.5D city around the building. We were form.” Photographs projected on the “Everything needed an extra level of natu-
pretty well equipped to do the buildings, models provided the realistic textures. ralness above and beyond photoreality,”
but we created new photogrammetry tech- The studio created most of these digital says Webber. “It wasn’t enough to look real.
niques for the highly detailed office inte- sets, the background matte paintings, the It had to look really possible.”
riors.” Framestore CFC also uses a Maya, tiled environments, and the highly detailed While Bruce Wayne/Batman might be
RenderMan, and Shake-based pipeline. foreground buildings with modeled interi- conflicted in the film, the director was not.
To create the interiors, the studio shot ors at 5.6k resolution, with some renders Fortunately, an army of artists controlling
high-resolution fish-eye stills inside numer- at 8k. “We didn’t need to change the pipe- state-of-the-art technology provided the
ous Hong Kong offices, several per room, line,” White says, “although it did make the superpower to bring his vision to light. Q
using a digital camera mounted on a network glow a bit.”
custom-built camera head. They stitched As for Batman, the studio paid particular Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and
the stills into environment maps and attention to his cape as he glides through a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World.
triangulated the positions of objects inside the city. “Our cloth sims had to be carefully She can be reached at BarbaraRR@comcast.net.
_____________
Once the crew positioned Eckhart’s head in the scene, match the skin as if it had been burned, which meant all the
they placed the facial track onto his digital model and good skin hadn’t been completely damaged,” he says. “So
began applying his facial deformation, binding the geom- we had carbonized flesh, and then all the organic things—the
etry to the virtual tracking points and making sure the face exposed muscle tissue, the teeth, the eyes. And, the face is
deformed accurately. divided exactly down the center of his head, which is unnatu-
“Even though we used the cardboard mask, the markers were ral, but it’s a necessary part of his character, so we had to
off a few millimeters every day, which would deform his head in make that credible.”
a way we didn’t want,” White says. As a result, the rigging and For reference, the team had a prosthetic model from Warner
scripting team developed techniques to sample the position of Bros., 2D concept art created by artists at the studio, and a
the primary markers on the skin and then determine where to burned chicken. “We bought a chicken at the supermarket,
base deformers and muscle groups. And although the facial burned it, and examined it under light,” Allman says. “Burned
tracking was fastidious, sometimes it wasn’t enough. skin has a twinkly quality, like charcoal. It’s important to see
“We’re used to seeing skin slide over bone in CG characters, how it moves and deforms the face.”
and we captured that skin performance, but in Two-Face, we For subsurface scattering, the team implemented systems
can see the bone,” White says. “We needed to know what’s developed by Pixar that are part of the standard RenderMan
going on underneath.” Thus, they used Eckhart’s teeth to tool set, embellishing them to create the charred look, and
determine how to position his jawbone and attach muscles to created other variations for the gums, teeth, and eyes, all in
his skin and bone. When he tenses his jaw angrily and there’s neutral environments.
no captured movement, animators and the facial-tracking team “We didn’t have footage for quite a while, so we worked
keyframed the performance. blind, looking at reference, writing shaders,” Allman says. “As
Animators also keyframed the digital eyeball’s movement to soon as we got the footage, we introduced the colors and
match the actor’s eye. “The fake eye had to move exactly like lighting from the plates. There’s only so much you can do in a
the real one,” White says. “In the CG world, usually an eye has neutral environment.”
a center and it rotates perfectly. This eye is a ball of jelly in a During the development process, Allman worked back and
socket pulled by muscles, and we can see it. We had keys on forth with compositing. “A compositor would develop some-
every single frame in every single shot.” thing in Shake that I rolled back into shader development,”
Look-development lead Rob Allman worked with a small Allman says. “It was a two-way process. If the 2D artists
team—a compositor, a texture artist, a modeler, and an anima- are involved, they can inform the 3D, translate the 3D, and it
tor—to devise a realistic look for the burned face. “We had to enriches the look.” –Barbara Robertson
August 2008 39
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CRT monitors and warehoused them for CRT monitors to LCD flat panel displays, a
future use. But DreamWorks was facing new level of qualit y and consistency Precise, Predictable, Painless Color
the prospect of time-consuming produc- needed to be achieved.” for All
tion bot tlenecks as CRT supplies
dwindled, or skyrocketing capital costs if Th i s c o l l a b o ra t i o n evo l ve d i n t o a n “The HP DreamColor display shakes up the
they bought five-figure color-critical LCD arrangement called the HP DreamColor economics of digital content creation by
flat panels — neither of which was an Technology initiative. In June 2008, HP putting the cost of accurate, consistent
acceptable outcome. i n t ro d u c e d t h e n ew H P D re a m Co l o r c o l o r d i s p l ay wi t h i n re a ch of l a rg e
facilities, such as DreamWorks Animation, Boosting Accuracy and Productivity DreamColor in its workflow for the next
as well as small to mid-sized companies of major film release, “How to Train Your
graphics designers, game developers, The accurate yet affordable color-critical Dragon”, slated for early 2010.
editors, effects artists, and other digital DreamColor LCD display can also save “This new HP DreamColor flat -panel
content creation professionals,” said Jim considerable time that used to be spent display is going to allow us to expand the
Zafarana, Vice President of HP Worldwide calibrating CRTs, compulsively checking range of color we can view at the desktop
Workstation Marketing. “At $3,499*, and double -checking colors, redoing to encompass the full gamut of what we
we’re democratizing this technology and prototypes, and repeating proof cycles. see every day in theaters. In evaluating or
making it accessible modifying our movies at any stage of
production, we can be confident that
to a wider range of “This new HP DreamColor A n o p t i o n a l H P
ever yone is dealing with images
media creation
flat-panel display is going to D r e a m C o l o r
displayed in the exact same color space,
professionals.”
allow us to expand the Advanced Profiling
Solution (APS) kit is for better results,” said DreamWorks
range of color we can view Visual Effects Supervisor Doug Cooper.
“This display will available for
give you significant
at the desktop to encompass calibrating and “This technology is giving us greater
savings of both time the full gamut of what we p r o f i l i n g t h e H P latitude to stay faithful to the artistic
a n d m o n e y,” s a i d see every day in theaters.” D re a m C o l o r vision, and to use color in creative ways
Mark Lewis, owner LP2480zx display to emotionally influence the audiences.”
of Studio 121 in Loveland, Colorado, a from one device to another, as well as for
small production facility that specializes validating and optimizing International © Copyright 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company,
in providing digital photography and Color Consortium (ICC) profiles. In this L.P. All other company and/or product names are trademarks
prepress services for commercial photog- way, geographically dispersed facilities of their respective owners. The information contained herein is
raphers, graphics designers, and artists. subject to change without notice. HP shall not be liable for
and their clients can be assured of seeing
technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
“If you’re working on color sensitive
the exact same colors regardless of which Screen image courtesy of DreamWorks L.L.C. © 2008. All
d ig i t a l i m a g e r y, l i ke a s o d a c a n o r
HP DreamColor display they are using. rights reserved. Keyboard shown may differ from keyboards
product packaging, you’ll be able to get
currently available *All prices are estimated U.S. HP prices.
the correct color faster than you would by
Today, DreamWorks Animation is no Actual prices from other locations or websites may vary.
guessing on an old style monitor, or by
longer stockpiling CRT monitors or slave
constantly stopping to do color checks.”
to rigorous recalibration schedule to
“With the DreamColor monitor, I’m now c o rre ct fo r C RT c o l o r d ri f t. Wi t h H P
able to see the full range of colors in the DreamColor displays now dotting its
Adobe RGB color space as never before, entire workflow, DreamWorks Animation
and producing much faster,” said Lewis. is now able to maintain color fidelity
“And what I see on my monitor, I know I’m throughout the production of its full-length
going to see on my prints.” animated features, and has implemented
QQQQSimulation/Architecture
BJ.esjwfo!tjnvmbujpo!ß!oet!b!ofx!ipnf!jo!bsdijufduvsf
Cz!LFOOFUI!XPOH
Using STEPS, software developed to study and simulate

pedestrian movement, architectural consultant Hatch
Mott MacDonald identified the foot traffic anticipated
during normal hours of operation at a train station. The
firm is using the software to study the design of a
stadium under construction in New York City.
42 August 2008
Simulation/Architecture QQQQ
bout 12 months from now, in the heart of the the majority of ship-collision incidents. Following develop-
Big Apple, an estimated 52,000 fans will stream ment of appropriate collision-avoidance rule sets, BMT used
into a new baseball stadium to watch the inau- Massive, which once helped Peter Jackson re-create the traffic
gural pitch. On game day, they’ll race across the conditions of 1930s New York for the movie King Kong, to
steps of the courtyard, walk through the marbled simulate the frenetic activity of Hong Kong harbor, which
lobby, and pause to admire portraits of baseball heroes on the generates more than 15,000 vessel movements daily—every-
giant banners. At present, however, oversize cranes tower over thing from the world’s largest container ships to high-speed
the home plate, and scaffoldings lean against the windows. ferries, tugboats, and sampans.
Nevertheless, to fulfill the resident team’s desire for a fan- AI was once considered pure science fiction, but in the last few
friendly stadium, the operators need to know how visitors will years, architects, facilities operators, and government agencies
react to the environment, currently
still under construction. Based on
this information, they can refine the
fans’ experience. For instance, if they
know it takes too long to reach the
nearest washrooms from the luxury
suites and the club suites, they might
consider relocating the toilet facili-
ties. Or, if they find out that most
first-time visitors tend to assemble
in a specific corner of the lobby, they
can pitch that spot to advertisers for
top dollars.
Short of herding 52,000 volunteers
into an incomplete stadium and
observing their random movements,
the owners have few options for figur-
ing out the anticipated foot traffic. So (Above) Autodesk’s Kynapse, an AI solution for driving
virtual entities in games, can be used for architectural
they enlisted the help of Baljinder simulations, especially to study evacuation scenarios
Bassi, a project manager at Hatch like this one. (Right) Massive Software is introducing
Mott MacDonald, a global architec- AI-driven agents specifically designed for architec-
tural simulation.
ture and engineering consultancy. He
can let loose a horde of virtual pedestrians into a digital replica of have come to regard it as legitimate science. The same algorithms
the stadium. (Per instructions from the client, the architectural that once brought Orc armies to life in The Lord of the Rings now
firm is not permitted to release the name of the stadium.) drive the behaviors of enthusiastic fans and frantic evacuees in
Four years ago, the concerned managers of another stadium computer-run simulations. The experiments in this emerging
approached Kynogon, a company specializing in artificial intel- discipline reveal not only the potentials of the new application,
ligence solutions and recently acquired by Autodesk. Their but also the elusive nature of human behavior.
stadium was about to host a major sporting event that could
Image courtesy Hatch Mott MacDonald.
attract not just thousands of spectators, but also demonstrators. Watch Your STEPS
Could Kynogon help them study a number of riot scenarios at To simulate the conditions of a game day still a year away, Bassi
the location? Pierre Pontevia, Kynogon’s CTO, was happy to and his team first built a digital copy of the new stadium in
oblige, commanding an army of computer-driven rioters ready Autodesk’s 3ds Max, using the Autodesk AutoCAD drawings
to do his bidding. supplied by the client as a foundation. Then they brought the
A couple of years ago, Diane Holland, CEO of Massive Soft- model into STEPS (Simulation of Transient Evacuation and
ware, was contacted by marine engineering consultancy BMT Pedestrian Movements), a software program developed by Hatch
to deploy Massive’s AI engine to study marine traffic within Mott MacDonald and available for commercial licensing.
Hong Kong’s harbor and the busy ports of Southeast Asia. This STEPS can read 3ds Max’s ASCII Scene Export (ASE) format.
came from BMT’s recognition that human factors underpin It can also read DXF files, along with elevation information. The
August 2008 43
obstructions (pillars, walls, “Massive gives architects, engineers, and

and furniture) along the city planners a range of tools to design
way to get to the destina- better, safer buildings and urban infra-
tion using the shortest structure,” Holland says. “You could even
and quickest route. These use Massive to simulate a grocery store,
behaviors can be further using the behaviors and motion patterns
refined so that if a chosen of retail customers to determine how best
route is too lengthy or to place products on the shelves.”
many other fans are using Massive imports 3D geometry in OBJ
the same route, the select format, the open format exportable from all
few representing impatient major DCC software, including Autodesk
fans may change direction Maya and 3ds Max. “One of our current
and use alternative routes development strategies is focused on using
available to them. Autodesk’s FBX to further integrate Massive
with architectural models, lighting setups,
Massive Evacuation and skeletons,” adds Holland.
Massive, which the firm Massive’s AI system works with autono-
describes as “an AI author- mous agents (approximately $1500 to
ing solution for simulation $2500 each) that can detect and interpret
and visualization using nearby pixels. The AI system itself is avail-
autonomous agents,” was able for permanent licensing under two
previously available on flavors: Massive Jet ($5999, with $1299
Massive’s AI engine, employed to re-create the traffic conditions Linux only, beyond the annual upgrades and a support fee) or
of 1930s New York City for King Kong, is also used to simulate
the freight and shipping activities of Hong Kong harbor, among reach of the PC-dominated Massive Prime ($17,999, with $3999
other applications. architecture industry. But annual upgrades and a support fee).
at SIGGRAPH 2007,
software has its own built-in 3D modeling Massive’s founder and product manager, Kynapse Brain Configurator
tools, but they’re better suited for refining Stephen Regelous, declared Massive to be Autodesk’s newly acquired Kynapse AI
and correcting the imported geometry than available on Windows, throwing the doors solution contains Map Builder Service as a
for building new structures from scratch. wide open to the architectural community. component of the software, for automati-
Once the architectural environment is in One company that has embraced Massive cally generating the topology of the virtual
place, the user selects all the planes repre- is Arup, a consulting engineering firm. world and the navigation paths within it.
senting the surfaces on top of which pedes- Arup is using Massive to study occupant According to the company, the topology
trians can walk. Usually more than one behavior in the celebrated Transformation: and path data are the equivalent of poly-
plane is involved in a simulation scenario, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art gons for rendering or collision meshes for
resulting in the creation of a path network. Campaign, a master plan for the museum physics. They constitute the basis for [the
These planes are then stitched together as designed by Renzo Piano. agents’] 3D navigation and 3D perception.
a collection of surfaces and exits through “Massive is unique in that it simulates The program uses several formats, includ-
which the virtual humans can walk. reality from the bottom up, modeling an ing the open-standard OpenFlight (origi-
In the stadium project, programmable individual’s decision-making process that nally developed by MultiGen-Paradigm) to
digital entities, also called agents, represent produces emergent behavior,” says Arup import the geometry. The agent’s thinking
the fans. These agents are equipped with a fire discipline leader Nathan Wittasek. logic is written in C++, or LUA scripts.
field of vision. Simply put, they can detect “Each agent finds its own way around an Users can set the agent’s base behavior (for
the solid objects defined by the user as environment based on what it sees, hears, example, attack, flee, hide, overtake, explore,
they travel through a plane. They use this touches, and remembers, just like a real and so on), and further refine the behavior
knowledge—or intelligence, if you will—to person would.” by placing other constraints (find shortest
execute the navigation commands issued to Targeting the AEC market, Massive plans route possible, take the stealthiest path, avoid
them. So if they are programmed to move to demonstrate the technology’s versatility zones marked as hazardous, and so forth).
from point A (the box office) to point B in accurately simulating anything from Furthermore, the dynamic object manage-
(the concession stand), they will avoid the humans, planes, trains, or automobiles. ment feature lets users simulate the doors
44 August 2008
_______________
and elevators that the agent encounters. Such behavioral details add realism when
According to Olivier Pujol, Kynogon’s simulating the foot traffic at London’s
business development manager, the company Heathrow Airport, for instance. The user
has been contacted by those interested in can adjust the memory parameters so that
using Kynapse to produce architectural an agent traveling along a path the second
demonstrations. “As the architect put it,” he time would move faster, as would indeed be
recalls, “[the design] is not just a building, the case with commuters who have become
but a life center. And it cannot be presented familiar with the environment.
empty. So the architect wants to let his In addition to navigating using sight (or
customers move inside the building like a the detectable pixels), an AI agent may rely
human would—or a player in a first-person on sound, too. For instance, an agent in
3D game—and mingle with people in a search of a musical event might move faster
sensible way.” Such a demonstration would once it enters the designated zone where it
involve random patrons entering and exiting can perceive the sound cues issued from
the lobby, the housekeeping staff performing the stage.
their daily chores, passersby, and even urban
traffic in the surrounding area. Behavioral Experts Wanted
AI developers point out that simulation
Training Your Agents results are much more accurate if the client
Computer game players who have seeks expert input on modeling the behav-
watched the industry mature—from the ior of the target demographics. Technology
blocky graphics that made up opponents lets folks customize the agent’s vision, speed,
in Id Software’s original 1993 Doom fatigue level, and other aptitudes, but some
to the pixel-perfect NFL stars from EA basic information about the norms and the
Sports’ lineup today—will quickly point social protocols among the target popula-
out that AI-driven secondary characters tion is vital, too.
have become much smarter recently. In For instance, if someone is model- The introduction of memory, or the virtual
entities’ ability to recall their surroundings,
the early days, their logic was confined to ing the crowd movements at an overseas provides added realism to airport traffic
pacing back and forth between two points sporting event where alcohol intake is a simulations, like this one.
and attacking anything that came within consideration, the person might want to
the kill zone. But in the latest games, examine the alcohol tolerance levels of of families with children, so you have
nonessential characters are endowed those who live in the area. This way, the to consider that fans may be grouped
with memory (see “Mind Expansion” agent’s navigational intelligence can be together. However, on Friday or Saturday
and “Mind Over Matter,” June and July set to deteriorate at the appropriate pace nights, there’ll be far more young people
2008, respectively). To a game character’s based on its alcohol consumption. In some who are more inclined to consume alcohol
detriment, these non-player characters cultures, isolated individuals tend to stand and probably more boisterous.”
can actually remember a player’s previous farther apart (they demand more personal Children and the disabled, for instance,
strategy and prepare for it when they are space). In others, they tend to travel in require different walking speeds in simu-
assaulted the second time around. groups. Thus, the agent parameters from lations such as this. Therefore, Bassi is
Software developers are now infus- the simulation of Grand Central rush hour constantly on the lookout for hard data
ing these AI tools with a similar kind of in New York City won’t be applicable when that will tell him more about these two
memory management system that will simulating similar types of movement in a segments of the population.
make the agents’ behavior more realistic Tokyo subway station. However, modeling the behavior of a
outside the gaming world. Indeed, this is the type of information young adult with a few beers in his or her
“Using Massive’s patented vision process that was requested when simulating the system requires more of a nod to behavior
and a new memory feature we’ve added specif- traffic flow for the new stadium project science than to AI. So to refine its technol-
ically for AEC, Massive agents can remember in New York. “The client wants us to ogy, Hatch Mott MacDonald is partnering
the directional signs they’ve seen. And that simulate different game dates, which is with researchers from the TC Chan Center
memory can be set so it decays at different quite complicated,” Bassi notes. “During for Building Simulation and Energy Stud-
rates for different people,” says Holland. the weekdays, for example, there’ll be lots ies at the University of Pennsylvania. The
46 August 2008
Get into character.

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not standard practice, though responsible

designers have traditionally been expected
to complete an adequate number of simula-
tions to bind the set of possible outcomes,
thus facilitating their engineering judg-
ments. Simultaneously, computer simula-
tions have found favor as communication
tools, he adds, permitting the designers to
more effectively interface with the authori-
ties having jurisdiction, thus improving the
likelihood that the associated projects will
This STEPS simulation provides a visualization of a commuter train station evacuation at different
times. The lack of hard data on the average walking speeds of children and the disabled presents
gain the necessary approvals.
a challenge.
Reality Bytes
center explores, among other things, the ‘behavior library’ where you can buy off- Because mathematical equations and
incorporation of realistic human behaviors the-shelf behavior changes.” hierarchy logic dictate the virtual entities’
in crowd-movement simulation. Massive, for one, realizes this situation. decision-making in AI, the technology is a
“Despite the extensibility of Massive,” dependable simulator of rational behavior.
Pioneers Needed Holland states, “we realize that architects But, for better or worse, human behavior
For some segments of the AEC industry, don’t always have the time to study and is not always governed by logic or common
switching from 2D to 3D was a leap of build in a lot of basic behaviors. Massive sense. Sometimes, real-world behavior
faith. Today, these groups are beginning has been working with a select number stumps AI developers.
to exhibit a comfort level in the latest 3D of architects, engineers, and institutions Eric Pellissier, a full-time consultant at
building information modeling (BIM) to develop simulation and visualization Hatch Mott MacDonald, once ran an
systems, such as Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD or products for the AEC industry, including experiment to see if the simulation results
Autodesk’s Revit. In recent years, the AEC a Massive ready-to-run pedestrian and in STEPS were reliable. To do that, he
segment also began using computer-based evacuation agent with built-in behaviors.” compared the film footage of a real evacua-
energy-efficiency simulation tools, such as As a Massive user, Wittasek notes that tion to a re-enactment of the same scenario
EcoTech from Green Building Studio (see most simulation solutions incorporate the in STEPS.
“Measuring Green Footprints,” May 2008). model of the building into the agent’s AI, “It was an L-shape floor, with a fire exit
So AI-driven simulation might not be such but real people navigate a building using at each end,” Pellissier describes. In the
a hard sell after all. vision and other natural senses. “Massive STEPS simulation, the agents behaved as
As a matter of fact, it’s no coincidence that has a flexible AI-authoring environment you might expect ordinary people to react:
Kynogon (and its Kynapse product) was for modeling the idiosyncrasies of complex, They moved toward the exit that was clos-
acquired by Autodesk, makers of Revit, one real-life behaviors into agents who use visual est to them. In the real evacuation footage,
of the leading BIM solutions in the architec- and auditory cues, as we do in real life,” he however, that was not the case. In the real
ture market. The deal raises the possibility adds. “Because of this, Massive holds the evacuation, the people on one side of the
that, by crossbreeding its entertainment promise of revolutionizing the architectural floor walked all the way along the L-shape
and media portfolio and its architecture and engineering industry.” corridor to the other end to use the exit
products, Autodesk could give birth to an Concerning regulatory bodies’ attitude there because they saw their friends on that
AEC-specific simulation solution. toward this new field, Wittasek says, “In the side, and they knew it was an exercise, so
But like any other emerging disci- past decade, regulatory agencies have increas- they weren’t in a panic.
pline, adopting new technology requires ingly embraced the use of computer simula- Pellissier cautions, “AI is great at predicting
patience and resources. Pujol points out: tions in the context of fire hazard and occu- average behaviors, but it cannot predict how
“For a single evacuation simulation, you pant movement analyses. The use of such an incident would play out in reality.” Q
need hundreds of individual behaviors. models has been predicated upon a certain
They can be identical, with small param- level of transparency, requiring the users to Kenneth Wong is a freelance writer who focuses
eter differences, or completely unique. document key assumptions, limitations, and on the computer game and CAD industries, exploring
Yet, there is no standard today for creating design inputs in a rigorous fashion.” innovative usage of technology and its implications. He
such behaviors. In other words, there’s no Wittasek admits that such simulations are can be reached at Kennethwongsf@earthlink.net.
_______________
48 August 2008
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QQQQModeling/Texturing
# F
Digital artists use the best of both
disciplines to resurrect species
that have long been extinct
By KAREN MOLTENBREY
One challenge that the paleo artists

face when bringing these ancient
creatures back to life is determining
their texture and color since there
is no such fossil evidence. Instead,
the team looks for clues in living
relatives or those with similar traits.
Images ©2006 ADAGP. Courtesy

Marc Boulay and Sylvia Lorrain.
50 August 2008
Modeling/Texturing QQQQ
oday’s animal kingdom comprises creatures of differ- or body, for Lorrain’s detailed textures, or skin. In his recon-
ent sizes and shapes, from magnificent polar bears and struction, Boulay makes 3D models of extinct species using
playful penguins at the tip of the world, to the stealthy fossil evidence. Though a great deal of his work focuses on
panther and agile monkeys of the equatorial jungles, life that has been extinct for many millennia, he also sculpts
to the enormous whales and flying fish that dwell in or models living animals or species, such as insects, that
the oceans, to everything in between. So, too, was the case are difficult to capture on film or in photographs. Lorrain’s
during the prehistoric periods. work, meanwhile, entails texturing models of those extinct
We know what those present-day species look like; species and integrating them into a visualization of their
after all, we have living, breathing creatures to study and natural habitat.
photograph. But what about those beasts from millions “Thanks to the various 2D/3D techniques of organic
of years ago? How do we
know what they looked like?
Yet, ask any child and he or
she can describe, in amazing
detail, a Tyrannosaurus Rex,
a Triceratops, or any number
of popular dinosaurs that
lived millions of years ago.
That’s because scientists, pale-
ontologists, and artists have
worked together to provide
as-accurate-as-possible visual
representations of these dino-
saurs based on a combination
of scientific data (fossils, bone
fragments), scientific theory
Re-creating extinct dinosaurs in CG involves many disciplines:
and anatomy, and visual logic. (at right, from top) uncovering the fossil of a Dicynodon, the
Indeed, most of us are quite cleaned skull, the 3D model; (above) the final 3D rendering.
familiar with the look of the
long-necked Brachiosaurus, the spiky-back Stegosaurus, and modeling and photorealism, we are able to represent the past
the flying Pteranodon. But there are countless others whose and the present, as well as imagine the future,” Lorrain says.
forms have yet to be revealed, aside from fragmentary
elements founds in fossils. And sometimes that In the Beginning
is the only piece to this grand evolution- A decade ago, Boulay, a trained sculptor, began focusing
ary puzzle from which French artists on an area that impassioned him: hyper-realistic animal
Marc Boulay and Sylvia Lorrain, sculpture and comparative anatomy. In the beginning, he
partners of HOX.Studio in France, sculpted dinosaurs and other creatures from clay before
have to work. Rather than use fine brushes turning to 3D software. Today, he works closely with
and chisels, as paleontologists do, this duo scientists, particularly paleontologists and entomologists,
relies on pixels and polygons to “unearth” their reconstituting species that existed before the dinosaur age.
find and give it a shape. “Given that most of them have not been reconstructed at
For years, Boulay and Lorrain have been working with Dr. this time, the work is quite challenging,” he says.
J. Sebastien Steyer, a paleontologist at the National Museum Meanwhile, Lorrain first became involved with this type
of Natural History in Paris, making scientific reconstructions of unique work after participating, along with an interna-
and models of creatures from the past, such as dinosaurs, tional team of paleontologists, in a scientific mission to
marine reptiles, fossil amphibians, and more. Largely, their northern Laos that was organized by Steyer. The purpose of
2D illustrations are used to accompany scientific articles or the mission was to search for fossils of mammalian reptiles,
scientific reviews in international publications and journals. notably Dicynodons, from the Permian Period (250–300
Their 3D pieces are typically used by museums, scientists, million years ago). She really dug the work.
and even in movies, including the upcoming IMAX fiction- “The experience of being there, of seeing the scientists
documentary Sea Rex, shown in stereo 3D. working in the field, and observing their daily hauls
Boulay is an organic modeler, who provides the structure, inspired me to no end,” Lorrain says. After Lorrain returned
August 2008 51
to France, she and Boulay began working

on the 3D reconstruction of a Dicynodon
with the assistance and advice from special-
ists Lorrain had accompanied on her trip.
Observation, explains Lorrain, is the
central tenet to the pair’s work: “Nothing
is triggered without close observation.”
To represent an extinct species in a hyper-
realistic way, Lorrain and Boulay must first
comprehend the creature’s anatomy, habi-
tat, and locomotive functions, and consider
its contemporary version, so to speak,
through close observation. That helps them
establish similarities between the past and
present creature—a process Boulay likens Sylvia Lorrain re-created these Alanoropus and placed them into a “reasonable” environment.
to “profiling.” For instance, the pelican
could find the Dsungaripterus in its family The Science Behind the 3D way of validating whether they had such
tree, and the shark may be a relative of the Before using Zbrush, Boulay built his sculp- scales or not, but after extensive discussion
Liopleurodon. tures with clay, an arduous and expensive with specialists in the field, they were more
“When I worked on modeling one of process, requiring scientists to make numer- of the opinion that the skin was akin to that
the first amphibians, called Acanthostega ous visits to his studio to validate the design of a salamander.” In no time, she reworked
(an extinct species from the Devonian at certain stages during the reconstruction. the model to incorporate that change.
Period, about 370 million years ago), I Moreover, Boulay had to build the sculp- Alas, based on new findings, Lorrain
set out by observing their living relation, tures to scale, a daunting task considering may have to rework the texture yet again,
the salamanders and newts, from tadpoles the very large, or very small, sizes involved, says Steyer. Pending new discoveries of
to adults,” Lorrain explains. In parallel and then deliver the model to the museum. the post-cranial skeleton, which the field
with her own observations, she garnered With 3D technology, these obstacles have scientists hope to locate in the future, the
additional information from scientists and been eliminated, enabling him to model model could return to the original scaly
specialists in this field, and supplement many plants or animals that he was unable skin, retain a softer hide, or be given a
their research with extensive reading and to consider before going digital. hybrid of the two. “With CG, we can easily
browsing on the Internet. First drafts of his models are now sent by accommodate two or even three versions of
The artists also must consider the habitat e-mail, making the process much faster and a theory,” Steyer adds.
of the extinct creature, including original easier for all involved. After the model has Furthermore, working in 3D enables
climactic conditions—all of which would been authenticated by a scientist, Boulay Lorrain and Boulay to move the model
have impacted its look. Often, Lorrain passes it off to Lorrain for texturing. around, zoom in, choose a specific angle for
visits diverse natural sites, photographing When re-creating the creatures’ habitat, presenting the creature, and so forth. “It’s
sequoias, conifers, ferns, and various species Boulay models a panoramic landscape so easy to change the shape of a leg or the
of vegetation that have survived throughout using Terragen, a freeware scenery generator skin appearance of an animal modeled in
the various geological periods. program published by Planetside Software. 3D,” Lorrain says. “Undertaking the same
In fact, Lorrain’s process is much like Lorrain then transforms it as necessary, maneuvers with a sculpture or a drawing
that of a matte painter. She takes HD adding 2D and 3D objects—vegetation, means starting over from scratch each time.”
photographs of the animals that she has flying reptiles, waterfalls, and so forth—in When the work calls for abstract
been observing and uses that information Adobe Photoshop and Zbrush, respectively. creations, Boulay and Lorrain have more
as a texture database for the CG models. According to Lorrain, the advantages creative freedom. Hyper-realistic and
“I tend not to use procedural textures, of working with CG are many, includ- realistic reconstitutions, however, involve
but only organic textures, which, in turn, ing the speed and ease that it affords her a greater level of complexity and require a
I paint directly onto the 3D model using when making changes. Lorrain offers a solid comprehension of the various fields
Pixologic’s Zbrush,” says Lorrain. “Macro- recent example when she was texturing relating to the subject: paleontology, anat-
photographing the subject provides a the Watsonisuchus. “I made the scales and omy, and life sciences.
subtlety and richness of texture that would scutes similar to those found on crocodiles “Illustrating the subject as faithfully as
otherwise be impossible to acquire.” because various indicators, such as the possible is the biggest challenge, hands
While Lorrain is doing research, Boulay size, shape, and proportions of the extinct down,” says Lorrain. While it is possible to
begins his first 3D model, after which “seri- amphibian’s skull closely resembled this obtain a reasonable idea of the anatomy of
ous collaboration with scientists can begin.” modern creature,” she says. “There was no an extinct species by closely examining the
52 August 2008
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“Take, for example, the flying reptiles: to the medium, we also reach 3D anatomi-
A contemporary reference would be birds. cal structures that were unavailable before.
The male’s plumage is often colorful. This We can go inside the bones to see and
serves a biological purpose in that it attracts reconstruct bone tissue, or inside the skulls
the female’s attention during his courtship to reconstruct the brain.”
attempts. Peacocks have an extremely eye-
catching plumage; the downside to such an Present Tense
ostentatious display is that the birds become In just a few short years, Lorrain and Boulay
easy prey to predators,” explains Lorrain. “In have brought an entire bestiary back to life.
a similar vein, the Tapejara, a flying reptile For Lorrain, the main purpose of these
dating back some 120 million years, had a 3D re-creations is to faithfully represent
crest more than a meter tall—something that species that no longer exist. “This is not a
would impinge on its ability to fly with ease. static process,” she says, “new discoveries are
I presume that its crest served as a means of constantly being made in paleontology.”
attracting the female’s attention, and that it Boulay also views this work as a nod to
was colored in such a way as to seduce. These the past as much as the present and future.
The artists, working mainly with Pixologic’s
theories allow me to work the entire gamut “My aim is to make everyone aware of
Zbrush, provide a variety of CG imagery
of the color palette.” that is used for various purposes, such as the origins of the existing species, and to
informational sources. enlarge our knowledge about those species
Digital Paleontology that are no longer existent. I also want to
While Boulay and Lorrain have been forms in order to identify the object. “Then inspire people in regard to the future and
focused on this unusual work for a number I put all the body articulations together and what it holds in terms of evolution.”
of years, Steyer has only been using CG propose a reconstruction of the skeleton Not long ago, the artists’ 3D paleontolog-
models in the museum’s Earth History and of the beast, if I have enough compara- ical models were presented at the Interna-
Department for less then three years, ever tive elements,” Steyer explains. tional Congress of Vertebrate Morphology
since Boulay and Lorrain began work- Until recently, this process was done in Paris. Some also grace a new exhibition,
ing with CGI. According to Steyer, the entirely in 2D (some still is) because Steyer Giants of the Past, at the museum.
3D models are increasingly being used in and his group were publishing papers Without question, the role of CG within
various “paleo fields,” such as paleobiology of their work in scientific journals. “But the scientific community of paleontology
(the study of an extinct species’ behavior), with the 3D techniques, we enter into a is growing. At the museum in Paris, for
paleoecology (reconstruction of complete new dimension,” he says. “Thanks to the example, two other specialists have initiated
landscapes from the past), and biomechan- Internet, we are now able to publish in 3D. 3D departments, aware of the possibilities
ics (how the bones and muscles are articu- And thanks to cinema, we are able to see that digital technologies can offer in their
lating and moving together). dinosaurs and other creatures moving like research. “With today’s 3D tools, the divide
Currently, Steyer is using the 3D images they do in our dreams. Mark and Sylvia between the arts and sciences has been less-
to study and better understand the fossils bring the third dimension to my descrip- ened,” Lorrain notes. Presently, Steyer is in
his group is reconstructing—how the creative works; they bring hyper-realism. They the process of building a database of virtual
ture walked, ran, climbed, jumped, swam, make me think in three dimensions now, fossils, reconstructed in 3D, to partly
dove, flew, and flapped, as well as how (and which was not the case until recently.” replace and save the fragile originals, which
what) it ate. Did it crush its food? Chew it? In fact, Steyer contends that the 3D are becoming degraded and damaged from
Pierce it? In particular, the CG techniques models increase the accuracy of his and handling and study. Moreover, the digital
have proven ideal for anatomical obser- other scientists’ reconstructions because versions from these collections will be
vation, “to better observe complex and they provide much more information than accessible to other scientists on the Web.
microscopic structures,” he explains. In the can be obtained from a 2D model. “CG Boulay adds: “The digital arts are evolv-
future, Steyer hopes to secure funding for gives movement, speed, and rhythm to ing rapidly. Within the next 10 years, I’m
additional 3D modeling and sculpting that the reconstructions,” he explains. “Fossils, convinced that the projections of 3D images
can be applied to other facets of his work. by nature, are static, dead animals. CG will be visible not only in museums, but
As a paleontologist, Steyer focuses mainly goes far beyond the simple 2D reconstruc- will become part of everyday life.” Perhaps
on teeth and bones—the hardest body tions we built before; it now allows for 3D they will. After all, that’s what technological
tissues that are fossilized when vertebrate animations in which we can model and evolution is all about. Q
die. When he locates a fossil in the field, observe anatomical changes during the
he cleans it (a time-consuming process), development of a species and during their Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of Computer
draws it, and compares it with other related evolution, through 3D morphing. Thanks Graphics World.
54 August 2008
________________
QQQQVR / Medical
A VR solution helps combat

post-traumatic stress disorder
By DEBRA KAUFMAN
he Humvee bumps along the dirt road, its rough ride

vibrating through my body. The scent of body odor
competes with the smell of exotic spices and garbage; Clinicians are helping
soldiers suffering from PTSD
I scan for insurgents and suspicious activity, and hear the sound by immersing them into a
of a helicopter droning overhead and the Muslim call to prayer. virtual Iraqi setting using
Suddenly, the Humvee in front explodes, the result of an IED, and a head-mounted display, a
gaming controller, hardware,
amid the smoke and walkie-talkie static, insurgents leap into the and CG imagery.
road, firing directly at me.
That’s a scenario that happens every day in Iraq, but I’m not
in the Middle East; I’m at an office in Marina del Rey, Califor-
56 August 2008
____________ ____________
QQQQVR / Medical
nia, wearing a wrap-around head-mounted

display and holding a standard gameplay
device to navigate through the scenario. In
the therapeutic environment, a clinician
would be guiding me through the experi-
ence, controlling the intensity and type of
sensory input.
This is cutting-edge therapy for post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a range of
symptoms that have plagued soldiers after
every war and finally given a psychological
framework in the aftermath of the Vietnam
War. Stories of PTSD for soldiers returning
from Iraq have already made the news, and
the prospects for a torrent of PTSD cases in
the future are, unfortunately, likely as the
conflict rages on. According to published
figures, the Iraq War is expected to gener-
ate more than $800 billion in health-care
and rehabilitation costs for US veterans in
coming years.
In A Clockwork Orange, the youthful
criminal Alex undergoes an experimental
and horrific aversion therapy to turn him
away from violence. Scientists have learned
a lot since then about what is called “expo-
sure therapy,” and Virtual Iraq is at the lead-
ing edge of scientific inquiry.
Virtual Iraq is, first of all, compact and
inexpensive enough to fit into a therapist’s
office. The software is loaded onto two
The imagery used in this cutting-edge therapy is easily customizable. Presently, two broad
laptops, one of which is the VR screen environments exist: a rural desert setting and an urban street setting. Within each, the point of
for the patient, and the other the control view can be altered so the patient is seeing the scenarios from whichever POV is most fitting to
that soldier’s situation.
panel for the therapist, both of them prefer-
ably 3ghz PCs with 2gbs of RAM and an
Nvidia graphics card. A vibrating platform sity professor and therapist renowned for her therapy work, or is it a novelty? We proved
(to simulate riding in a Humvee) can be work in PTSD, Virtual Vietnam evolved that it worked,” Rizzo explains.
built for $300, and the Smell machine, a after the trio had already created VR-type Rizzo was later teaching at the USC
powerful memory and emotion trigger, applications to overcome phobias, the first School of Gerontology, doing research
costs approximately $1800. for the fear of heights and then another for into cognitive rehabilitation with people
the fear of flying. For Virtual Vietnam, they suffering from brain damage. He dipped
Rebuilding Iraq abandoned SGI computers in favor of PCs, back into virtual reality to build a virtual
The birth of what became Virtual Iraq dates to make it possible to get more systems into 3D “mental rotation” test used in brain-
back to 1996 and Virtual Vietnam, among more therapists’ offices. damage rehab. That threw him into prox-
the first of several virtual reality-based “expo- Dr. Skip Rizzo, a primary mover behind imity with USC’s 3D immersive group
sure therapy” solutions. The brainchild of Virtual Iraq, was a protégé of Hodges at and, ultimately, drew him to the Institute
Dr. Larry Hodges, then at Georgia Tech the time, and helped him build the Virtual for Creative Technologies (ICT), a partner-
University (now at the University of North Vietnam prototype, which featured scenar- ship between USC and the US Army that
Carolina, Charlotte), Dr. Ken Grapp, and ios in a helicopter and in a rice paddy. “The focuses on VR and computer simulation
Dr. Barbara Rothbaum, an Emory Univer- key question was, Does VR-based exposure for military training.
58 August 2008
_____________________
QQQQVR / Medical
The CG imagery was created by two 3D artists and integrated into the VR application with
assistance from a programmer and computer scientist. The group is currently working on creating
on Amazon). We can meet the needs of an
an Afghanistan-style program to better immerse those soldiers inflicted with PTSD after serving in office-based system with a solution that’s
that region. fairly compelling for patients.”
Building this application currently
One of Rizzo’s colleagues from his Geor- on Full Spectrum Warrior, an action-war relies on two 3D artists, Matt Liewer and
gia Tech days was computer scientist J. game and US Army training game devel- Brad Newman, computer scientist Anton
Jarrell Pair, who was also part of Hodges’ oped by Pandemic, produced by ICT, and Treskunov, and PTSD programmer Joseph
virtual environment group. After grad distributed by THQ. (ICT later produced Nunn. The game engine used for the appli-
school, Pair began working with Doug Full Spectrum Command, a strategy-oriented cation is Emergent’s Gamebryo. “It’s highly
Trumbull’s Entertainment Design Work- serious game intended for higher-ranking customizable, unlike the Unreal engine,
shop and got into the field of “wearable” military officers.) which is more pre-built,” explains Liewer.
computers. Rizzo eventually interested Pair “For Virtual Iraq, we took the artwork “There are a lot of people who take a
in his work at USC, drawing Pair to the from Full Spectrum and ported it into our first-person shooter game engine and use it
Virtual Iraq project. game engine,” explains Rizzo. “We have for virtual-reality applications,” adds Rizzo.
The Virtual Iraq project, says Rizzo, has a FlatWorld Simulation Control Archi- “But that takes away the flexibility. Game-
been on “a rolling start” for years through tecture (developed at USC’s ICT), which bryo is a graphics rendering engine, not a
ICT. “We’ve been building immersive is code capable of building an interactive game engine. It takes us longer to create
environments for military applications for environment with spatially immersive things, but we have complete control.”
years,” says Rizzo. “Virtual reality hasn’t displays, including a headset, a curved Rizzo stresses that the group is not creat-
been the mega-industry that we once screen, and a CAVE. So, with this, you can ing a game. “It’s a customized, real-time
thought it would be. But niche areas, like create the program once and distribute it to movie, and the clinician is the director,” he
oil and gas exploration and military appli- three screens. That’s what made it possible says of the setup.
cations, have taken off. I think therapy is for us to shop around the prototype.” All the modeling and animation is done
the surprise niche application. The hard In the Marina del Rey studios, the ICT in Autodesk Maya, with Adobe Photoshop
data supports the fact that it works.” team could demonstrate the prototype on as the second major tool. The team has so
The turning point in developing Virtual a large-screen display or a head-mounted far created two large-scale, flexible environ-
Iraq, recalls Rizzo, was the involvement display. On the road, they showed it with ments: a desert/rural setting and an urban
of Russell Shilling at the Office of Naval the head-mounted display. “There is some street setting. Within either, various scenes
Research. With his background in psychia- anecdotal evidence that a head-mounted can be established; for instance, one may
try and having worked on the video game display isn’t ideal because of the limited show a patient riding as part of a Humvee
America’s Army, Shilling believed in the vision,” says Pair. “But with phobia treat- convoy in a rural area, with a POV of the
possibilities of VR for therapeutic purposes, ment, it may be a good thing.” driver, passenger, or from the turret. Both
and got the initial money for the project. Adds Rizzo: “You want a controlled scenarios can include IEDs, attacking insur-
“The Office of Naval Research allowed us environment that can be delivered in a gents, Black Hawk helicopters, wounded
to take the project out of prototype and into therapist’s office. And the eMagin Z800 soldiers, and Iraqi citizens. “The goal is to
clinical work,” says Rizzo, who notes that the 3DVisor, which creates a virtual 105-inch work on more key scenarios and also to give
project is into its fourth year of funding. display in front of your face and has basic the clinician more ability to customize the
As a prototype, Virtual Iraq relied in part tracking, is available at a low cost ($899 scenarios,” says Liewer.
60 August 2008
_____________________
_____________________
QQQQVR / Medical
helicopters, and so of Medical Sciences in Washington, DC,

on. “The sounds you Tripler Medical Center in Hawaii, and VA
hear on Virtual Iraq hospitals in Atlanta, Little Rock (Arkansas),
are real,” Rizzo says. Manhattan and Montrose (New York),
“And we can posi- and Providence (Rhode Island). Approxi-
tion them in space mately half a dozen returning veterans have
and use the binaural completed treatment with Virtual Iraq.
headset’s tracking Rizzo and Pair say they have received
capabilities.” a tremendous amount of feedback from
Smells for the patients and clinicians, and are adding more
experience conjure features and tweaking others. “All the feed-
up memories of the back we get is valuable,” says Pair. “I knew
novelty Smell-o- the challenge would be prioritizing it.”
Vision, used for a The future for Virtual Iraq is, unfor-
USC’s ICT group is still tweaking Virtual Iraq’s interface, making it even handful of movies tunately, rosy. Rizzo reports that the
easier for medical professionals to customize the visual input. in the past. But, “wounded-to-killed” ratio for Iraq is an
for treating PTSD, astounding 16:1 (in Vietnam, it was 2.6:1),
Currently, the team is “Afghanistan-izing” scents are actually a very important compo- the result of tremendous strides in body
the imagery, adding mountainous terrain nent. In Virtual Iraq, the menu of odors armor and medical care on the battlefield.
and imagery pertinent to that location. includes burning rubber, cordite, weapons The downside, says Rizzo, is that a very
fire, Middle Eastern spices, diesel fuel, large population of returning soldiers will
The Reality of War garbage, and body odor. face significant challenges with PTSD.
Liewer, who has a degree in multimedia “There are two reasons for smell,” says “There’s an interest among members of
design, and Newman, who has one in Rizzo. “Our partners had worked with smell Congress to provide the best possible care for
interactive media, uses Iraqi posters and and had experience using it with virtual soldiers, so there’s interest in using this not
money, US military items such as protein reality. And the second reason is that smell just as a therapy tool, but for more informa-
bars and caffeinated chewing gum, to create links directly into the limbic system, which tion about brain function and research on
authenticity to the scenarios. For reference, is central to both memory and emotion.” who is susceptible to PTSD,” Rizzo notes.
they also rely on a stack of DVDs, includ- Rizzo reports that soldiers who have experi- The future also promises more use of
ing Baghdad ER, Gunner’s Palace, and The enced Virtual Iraq have requested that two computers, virtual reality, and game-like
War Tapes, the latter which are videos taken additional, very different smells be added: technologies for post-war rehab. Rizzo
by soldiers in Iraq. blood and cooked lamb. reports that a “side project” is under way in
Another huge source of reference video Rizzo developed the therapist’s control which a Sims environment is used to help
is the Internet and YouTube, and still panel based on what he learned from build- family members and loved ones learn what
photos on Flickr. Insurgent groups in the ing Virtual Vietnam. “Some clinicians have to expect from the returning soldier and how
Middle East upload videos of their attacks limited experience in using a computer,” he to interact without unrealistic expectations.
on YouTube, as do soldiers. “There’s no says. “The controller needs to be compli- “Graduated exposure therapy for simple
shortage of footage,” says Liewer. “The trick cated, to guide many factors, but we hide a phobias is one of the best supported in
is getting it to look the way we want. It lot of the complexity so they only have to terms of therapeutic efficacy,” says Rizzo.
doesn’t have to be photoreal—just enough worry about a few things. They double-click “It’s endorsed as a first-line treatment by the
to trigger the memories.” on a scenario, and the rest is [fairly simple].” Veterans Administration. It’s traditionally
Adds Rizzo, “We’ve learned that a ‘cartoon’ The interface looks almost like a touch been done with closed eyes and the imagi-
or simple world is still very effective. People screen; the clinician simply clicks on a box nation. But avoidance of cues is one of the
already come to you with powerful mental that generates the various effects. To change most prominent symptoms of PTSD, and
images, and simple cues can bring it back.” the time from day to night, the clinician that’s the rationale for VR. It’s more effec-
Audio is another important factor in uses a slider. tive than the imagination.” Q
making the virtual-reality environment Currently, Virtual Iraq is installed at
immersive and authentic. Careful sound Camp Pendleton, San Diego’s Naval Debra Kaufman is a freelance writer in the
design relies on Hollywood sound librar- Hospital, Ft. Lewis in Washington state, entertainment industry. She can be reached at
ies with actual recordings of gunfire, Emory University in Atlanta, the University dkla@ca.rr.com.
________
62 August 2008
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XJUIUIFNPWFUPIJHIFSSFTPMVUJPOBy GEORGE MAESTRI
Yet again, the world is changing. This demand for HD content puts new demands
The world of video is in the process of a major on digital content creators. A stream of 1920x1080
transition. The 50-year-old standard-definition TV HD video requires six times the storage and band-
format is slowly going away in favor of high defini- width of standard-definition (720x480) video.
tion. LCD and plasma televisions have dropped in Compositing is one area that is particularly affected
price and are flying off store shelves, and custom- because it combines multiple streams of video into
ers are demanding high-resolution content to feed a single image, multiplying the bandwidth require-
these large screens. ments and taxing both the hardware and software.
In the early part of this year, the high-definition Not only does the increased amount of data require
format war between Sony and Toshiba ended when faster and more capable computers, it also requires
Sony’s Blu-ray prevailed, clearing the way for that faster software.
format to replace the venerable DVD. High-defini- The high end of the compositing world has been
Today’s compositing
software, such as tion broadcasts are also becoming more prevalent. doing this sort of work for well over a decade.
Autodesk’s Combustion Cable and satellite providers are adding more HD Those in feature films have always worked in high-
(shown below), is
tuned to handle high- channels every year, and digital broadcasts will definition formats, and, historically, compositing
definition imagery. become the US standard in 2009. for features has always been at the cutting edge of
technology and performance.
High on Hardware
High-end systems, such as Autodesk’s Flame, cut
their teeth in the world of feature films, where large
files and huge bandwidths have always been an
issue. To achieve this level of performance, Flame
has always required dedicated hardware that has
been tuned for maximum performance. Originally,
this hardware was high-end Silicon Graphics-based
machinery, but these days the software runs on a
much more standard Linux-based workstation.
Current versions of Flame ship with an HP xw8600
workstation configured with a top-of-the-line
64 August 2008
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QQQQCompositing
ure systems with dual quad-core Intel

Xeon processors for similar performance.
If you marry any of these with a fast
RAID disk system, you have a machine
that can composite multiple HD streams
in real time.
One advance that helps high-definition
compositing is the advent of the 64-bit
operating system. Linux and Mac OS
have been 64-bit for quite some time, and
Windows offers a 64-bit version of XP
and Vista. The big advantage of having
Eyeon’s Digital Fusion is used for feature-film work, and as such, is ideal for handling visual
effects and finishing work. It sports a node-based structure with a powerful scripting engine. a 64-bit OS is increased bandwidth and
the ability to address more than 4gb of
Nvidia Quadro FX 5600 graphics card and when combined with a fast disk array, you RAM. Most compositing systems create
an AJA HD video subsystem. The bottom can do very high end work with a reason- their previews in RAM, so HD naturally
line here is that fast hardware is the engine ably priced system. requires more RAM.
that runs a good compositing system. For those who use Apple products, the The bottom line is that the high-end
Of course, fast hardware isn’t limited Mac Pro has always been a very capable machines are required for compositing
to high-end compositing systems such as machine. The current system sports dual high-end graphics. Ideally, the resolution of
Flame; it also can power just about any quad-core processors for a total of eight the monitor required for compositing HD
compositing package. Today’s quad-core processors. On the Windows side, compa- should be higher than HD resolution so the
processors provide tons of horsepower, and nies such as Boxx and HP can also config- images display at full resolution. This means
_______________________
66 August 2008
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QQQQCompositing
a 30-inch monitor or dual 24-inch monitors

are needed. To power such a large display,
you need a capable graphics card, such as
an Nvidia Quadro or AMD ATI FireGL
card. These OpenGL cards can also provide
acceleration for tasks within compositing
programs, such as Adobe After Effects.
Software Support
Of course, the hardware is only half the
story; the software itself is probably the most
important part of the equation. After Effects
has always been the “everyman’s” composit-
ing tool and is used by a wide array of studios
to create everything from motion graphics, For compositing high-resolution images, the entire hardware system should be considered, including
to character animation, to special effects. the resolution of the monitor so the graphics display at full resolution.
After Effects CS3, the latest version of the
software, speeds up the software for HD Autodesk’s 3ds Max and Maya. they are ready for immediate playback and
with new multicore and graphics accelera- For those situations where HD is not processing. This enables playback speeds of
tion plus disk caching. The new version also enough, the next new trend is not only well over 30 frames per second and makes
provides a number of new tools, including increasing the size of the image, but also the the most efficient possible use of RAM.
the Puppet Tool for character animation. dynamic range of the image. These high On the Apple side, Shake is a venerable
The new Brainstorm feature can speed up dynamic range images (HDRI) require tool for creating special effects, and has
production by generating animation varia- additional data for high bit depths, as well been used on a wide variety of feature films,
tions based on chosen parameters. as compositing software than can handle including The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Autodesk has a number of solutions for them. Autodesk’s Toxic 2008 specializes in It was designed specifically for handling
HD compositing. In addition to the high- HDRI compositing and is ideally suited for large images, so the software is more than
end Flame, Flint, and Inferno systems, the special effects work where a high degree of capable for HD compositing. In addition
company also has Combustion, which is a realism is required. The software integrates to its role in features, Shake also works
more affordable desktop version. Combus- particularly well with Maya, which allows well in broadcast environments. One of
tion offers a powerful 3D compositing artists to export high-quality images directly the better broadcast features of Shake is
solution on both Windows- and Macin- to Toxik. its tight integration with Apple’s Final Cut
tosh-based systems. For those using HD, Eyeon’s Fusion has been used in a number Pro, allowing for the quick transfer of data
it provides OpenGL and multiprocessor of feature films, and is well suited for HD between the two.
acceleration. compositing for special effects As we move into the high-definition era,
One of the key features of and finishing. Fusion uses we will need to handle larger images, and
Combustion is its a node-based compositing those images will need to be higher quality.
integration with other system with a powerful Compositing will become an increasingly
Autodesk software. It scripting engine to provide important way to add quality to images,
can be used to feed both ease of use and power. not only with better special effects, but also
higher-end systems, It also has a 3D particle with finishing tools that put the final polish
such as Flame, and it system for special effects. on a project. The current crop of composit-
can also be fed from Fusion provides users a ing software and hardware can handle these
3D applications such as high degree of interactive tasks to create a new level of quality for all
and playback performance sorts of high-definition content. Q
Fast compositing through the use of a power-
systems require fast
hardware. The Mac Pro
ful, multiple-tool memory George Maestri is a contributing editor for Computer
has proved itself as a cache. This cache stores Graphics World and president/CEO of RubberBug
very capable machine in processed images from animation studio. He can be reached at _____
maestri@
this area.
active tools in memory, so rubberbug.com.
68 August 2008
Freedom of movement W W W . M O V E N . C O M
______________________
VEN
N S OF MO N
O N S TR AT IO
V IS UA L IZ AT IO
M
LIVE DE S, R E A L
-T IM E
M E R A
N O CA
OOT H 1423 OS ANGELES

B UST 2 0 0
8, L
U G
12-14 A
CUSTOME RS & PARTN E RS I N CLU D E
QQQQTrends & Technology
Artists are reaping the best of both worlds by

combining 3D imagery and photography
By FRANK MOLDSTAD
omputer graphics or photography? It’s been a tough

choice for print advertising creatives because the two media have
different strengths. Photography excels at straightforward product
depictions, while CG can produce renditions limited only by the
imagination. And never the twain shall meet, or so it was thought.
But in an ironic twist, the print advertising industry’s increas-
ing use of computer-generated imagery is spurring a renaissance
in photography and image retouching. New 3D software capa-
bilities and digital photography techniques mean it is no longer
necessary to make an either-or decision about CGI or photog-
raphy. Instead, creative types are drawing to the best qualities
of each medium for producing print images that could not be
created in either medium alone.
While computers have been used to enhance images since the
advent of digital photography and the adoption of Adobe’s Photo-
shop, the integration of 3D software—such as Luxology’s Modo,
Maxon’s Cinema 4D, and Strata’s Strata 3—promises a similar sea
change. Or a larger one, as new mixed-media possibilities emerge.
Even artists who are well versed in 2D techniques need to make a
transition to the added dimension.
“In the 3D workflow, instead of just breaking down an image
to its RGB or CMYK color values, we actually have to look at the
exact way light interacts with the product,” says McKay Hawkes,
A new trend, particularly within the print advertising world, is the
a digital effects artist at Pixelbox in San Francisco who specializes
integration of CGI and photography to produce an image that could
in high-end digital imaging and animation for marketing, advertis- never have been accomplished in either medium alone, such as this one
ing, and interactive campaigns. “We need to closely observe and by Eric Tobiason.
replicate things like diffusion, spectrality, reflection, fresnel, index
refraction, subsurface scattering, absorption distance, and transpar- The auto industry was an early adopter of techniques that combine
ency to create convincing and accurate photorealistic qualities. 3D and photography. In that rarified market, the computer offers
This is before we even get into bump and displacement mapping undeniable cost savings, since the expense and risk of shipping
for textures and other various details. It can be a very challenging prototype cars can be sidestepped with CGI, using appropriate
process, but the rewards are great, as it blows the door wide open HDRI imagery and backplates shot on actual location (see “Basics
for creative potential and improved workflows.” of HDRI,” pg. 72). Cars can now be placed into virtually any loca-
70 August 2008
HP recommends Windows Vista® Business.
When DreamWorks decided to turn a 260-pound panda into a kung fu warrior,

there was only one computer up to the task: the HP Workstation.
Not only do HP Workstations have the memory, processors and graphics power required for
DreamWorks’ visual storytelling, they’re available with HP’s performance-tuning software
so all your applications, operating systems and hardware work together efficiently. Put that
kind of power to work on your next big idea.
HP Workstations, starting at $639.* Learn more at hp.com/go/workstationspeed
*See hp.com for pricing on the xw8600 model shown above; reseller price may vary. Certain Windows Vista product features require advanced or additional
hardware. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/hardwarereqs.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx
for details. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help you determine which features of Windows Vista will run on your computer. To download the tool, visit
www.windowsvista.com/upgradeadvisor. Kung Fu Panda™ & © 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved. © Copyright 2008 Hewlett-Packard
Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Simulated images. Microsoft and Windows are
U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries.
QQQQTrends & Technology
tion, before they’re even manufactured. tool in creating imagery that is given a final money—which is also good for me, as they
And the ability to leverage existing CAD enhancement by digital retouchers. Indeed, are able to produce a stable, well-supported
datasets (albeit with some preparation) and photography and CGI are becoming more product,” Tobiason adds.
repurpose them for marketing has been intertwined, as many images are a combina- Another part of the process includes
another big catalyst for the adoption of tion of photography (texture, backgrounds, demystifying CGI for print within the
CGI in the automotive business. HDRI lighting) and CGI elements. The advertising community. There is still room
A good example of how CAD data, photographer’s eye is needed more than for a lot of growth in CGI for the print
CGI techniques, and photography were ever, whether he or she is directing a live or market, Tobiason points out, and one
combined for an automaker’s ad is a print computer-generated shot. obstacle is that the best artists are split up
campaign that ran in Europe for the rede- Even as CG rendering can now simulate at different small studios instead of being
signed Mitsubishi Pajero. The prototype reality, photo retouchers can work with concentrated at large high-profile shops.
wasn’t available when the ads were being these simulated images just as they do with Another obstacle is the unfamiliarity of
designed. So the agency, Golley Slater photographs. After all, the goal for the the technology among members of the
of Cardiff, commissioned creative shop advertising world is not to simply show an design community.
Saddington & Baynes of London and its image of reality, but to present a striking or Any new medium has to offer advantages
associate photographer, Richard Prescott, beautiful one. to make the jump from early adoption
to produce a striking image of the Pajero “My goal is to take the applicable advances to broad implementation, and computer
parked in the surf, with waves lapping in CGI from the film industry and apply graphics is no exception. CGI has the abil-
around its wheels. In the distance, a fore- them to print advertising. I also want to ity to render almost any subject believably,
boding promontory looms, with a moody help create 3D software innovations specifi- with a fine degree of control over light-
sky hanging over the scene. The image cally for the print advertising industry,” says ing and camera characteristics. Fragile or
looks natural thanks to seamless compos- Eric Tobiason, founder and CGI director at hard-to-capture elements, like a butterfly
iting of multiple photographic and CGI the Chicago-based ad agency Alter. balancing on the lip of a glass, are a natural
elements, and yet the car never existed in One step in the process is partnering for computer graphics, as are impossible-
reality. It even has water droplets and sand with a software provider. By doing so, to-get camera shots. A POV can be shot
around the wheels, accomplished through a Tobiason can keep the company informed from inside part of an object, or from a
combination of 2D and 3D techniques. about the needs of CGI for use in the print vantage where no real-world camera could
advertising industry, and in return, the be placed, for instance.
Photo Enhancements vendor can develop its product in a way Ad agencies are driving much of this
CGI is not replacing photography, though. that meets those needs. “This makes my trend toward CG, spurred by the new
Rather, it joins photography as another work easier and allows them to make more creative freedom they can offer clients
when it comes to producing extraordinary
images. Agencies also like the fact that 3D
Basics of HDRI content enables natural tie-ins to interac-
tive and online “rich media” campaigns,
The advent of utilizing CGI in the demanding world of advertising was in part acceler-
ated by fundamental advances in the subtlety with which computer graphics imagery such as online 3D car “configurators”
can be rendered. High dynamic range (HDR) lighting is one of several new techniques and themed 3D video game experiences.
that can dramatically improve the look of CG images. Furthermore, radical changes to CG
This technique requires the capture of one or more HDRI images that have been content can be made more easily than re-
shot from a location close to the center of where the final rendering will be placed. The shooting practical photography.
HDRI images are joined together edge to edge, typically covering an area all around These are exciting times for CG artists,
the subject from XX degrees to YY degrees. When this image is used as a light source, photographers, and retouchers alike. Their
it is incredibly effective for integrating a computer-generated object into a scene and
collaborative efforts are bringing about a
achieving incredibly rich reflections and shadows. HDRI images and the appropriate
quantum leap in the quality and flexibility
backdrop photos—in the hands of the right creative team with the right software—can
of advertising imagery, and a true renais-
convince viewers that a car is really on a mountaintop or a beach. Another important
technique is global illumination (GI). This technique (sometimes referred to as radiosity) sance for the arts of photography and
adds realism by accurately simulating the subtle shadows that appear in nooks and retouching. Q
crannies of a scene. Typically, HDRI and GI are used together, often with the addition
of light rigs in the computer, to make the subject really “pop.” –Frank Moldstad Frank Moldstad is a freelance writer covering the
content creation and entertainment industries.
72 August 2008
_________________
_____________________________
For the first time in decades, the structure of the feature films, scientific visualization, animated short
annual SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival has films, computer games, and television commercials,
been revamped, but show-goers will not be disappoint- to name a few.
ed. Like always, they will be treated to juried clips of “Computer-generated animation has evolved
compelling animations that surely will thrill, entertain, exponentially since SIGGRAPH first started screen-
education, or inspire them. But instead of having the ing animation. We’ve seen an industry explode—great
content divided into the prestigious Electronic Theater stories, beautiful characters, and incredible technology
and the subsequent Animation Theaters, for 2008, the combining to make us run to theaters, as the next
animations will be presented in a traditional competi- incredible piece hits the screen,” Smolin points out. “CG
tive festival format. animation takes us from way out in the heavens, where
In addition, there will be curated screenings that include we have yet to travel, to the inner body, where cameras
a reel of eye candy from VFX/animation studios, a retro- never will. Animation shows us science and fiction: It
spective from a dozen schools, a Flash reel, an historic can depict anything we can imagine. I hope the new
look at Polygon Pictures, and more. “There’s so much format celebrates all this: the past, the future; animation
going on,” says Jill Smolin, this year’s festival director and and visual effects; independent projects, studio extrava-
conference entertainment director. “It’s truly amazing.” ganzas; works from teachers and students; for all of
The competition portion features approximately us who love the best in computer-generated animation,
80 unique pieces that reflect the state of the art in and the incredible artists who bring it to us.”
computer graphics animation for 2008. Culled from These two pages feature still images from some
hundreds of submissions, the content spans the vari- of the incredible animations that will appear in this
ous industries where CG animation plays a vital role: year’s festival. —Karen Moltenbrey
74 August 2008
SIGGRAPH
2008 Computer
Animation Festival
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT
confine(s) From Makoto Yabuki of Tangram Company in
Japan.
Shatter From Kouhei Nakama of Nabla in Japan.
Family Portrait From Emanuel Strixner of Filmakademie
Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Morula From Kristian Labusga, Stephan Schaefholz, and
Anja Hartmann of Stuggart Media University in Germany.
The VFX of Movie Dai Nipponjin From Hiroyuki Seshita and
Hitosi Matumoto of Yoshimoto Kogyo Company in Japan.
(far left) Quand revient la mousson From Benjamin Beal,
Mikael Brosset, Benjamin Foumet, and Cynthia Guilpin of
Supinfocom Arles in France.
(middle) Al Dente From Jean-Francois Barthelemy, Mael
Francois, and Carlos Filipe Leon Ortiz of Supinfocom
Valenciennes in France.
August 2008 75
For additional product news

and information, visit CGW.com
3D figures, QuickStart gets users up and a free, standalone 2D and 3D graph-

SOFTWARE
running quickly, Content Manager helps ics viewing application. Deep View also
ANIMATION categorize 3D content, whereas levels of enables users to embed product data
GO, in the US detail, multiple UV, and an enhanced user directly into industry-standard document
FlickerLab and Gonzoft have launched interface round out the latest version. Daz formats, including Microsoft PowerPoint,
Gonzoft’s GO real-time animation sys- Studio 2.1 is offered free of charge for Word, and Excel, or to publish to Adobe
tem. Available in the US exclusively from use with Windows 98 SE or higher and PDF. Deep Exploration 5.5 supports
FlickerLab, the software enables users to Mac OSX 10.3 or higher. the production and output of real-time
produce and broadcast shows in real time Daz 3D; www.daz3d.com
_______ WIN MAC 3D manufacturing instructions, and
with characters animated in 2D, 3D, and sports an enhanced user interface and
stop-motion styles; up to 16 characters 3D DIGITAL PROTOTYPING added technical illustration capabilities.
performing on screen simultaneously; live Sustainable Materials Assistant Deep Exploration users must upgrade
switching between characters or scenes; Autodesk has announced the Sustainable to Deep View 5.5 to take advantage of
live or stored video; and interactive games. Materials Assistant, a software add-on for new output features. Deep Exploration
Users can control and trigger virtually ev- use with Autodesk Inventor 2009. The is offered in two versions: CAD Edition,
erything in the GO environment, including new tool helps manufacturers incorporate which includes translators to import
the animation, scenes, and camera angles. environmental design considerations early CAD data, and Standard Edition. Deep
The system further offers expandable ani- in the design process and select materials Exploration 5.5 is available in multiple
mation libraries, real-time simultaneous lip that can reduce their product’s environ- subscription licensing options. Custom-
sync of up to 16 characters, and an ed- mental impact. The Sustainable Materials ers have a choice of a one-year or a
itable timeline. The GO production solu- Assistant expands the Inventor materials three-year subscription for a floating
tion—well suited to companies with brand- library, adding new property fields that network license, a fixed network license,
ed characters and existing Web, mobile, can be populated with information about or a fixed standalone license, the prices
and live events—enables the creation of toxicity, recyclability, carbon footprint, of which range from $595 to $6739. A
animated characters that can perform live and regulatory compliance issues. Users free trial of the software is available on
and interact with audiences. also can output a Sustainability Report in the company’s Web site.
FlickerLab; www.flickerlab.com
_________ WIN HTML format to document, compare, and Right Hemisphere; ____________
www.righthemisphere.com WIN
communicate the sustainability of their
Free Daz Studio 2.1 designs with key stakeholders, helping ArchiCAD 12
Daz 3D has announced Daz Studio 2.1, design teams make informed, environmen- Graphisoft is now shipping ArchiCAD
the latest version of the company’s 3D art tally responsible product decisions. The 12, the latest version of its Virtual Build-
and animation software for creating high- Sustainable Materials Assistant is avail- ing modeling solution. Designed to
quality digital images and characters for able as a free technology preview down- enhance creativity and productivity, the
use in games, virtual worlds, multimedia, load on the Autodesk Labs Web site. upgraded Building Information Model-
and illustration projects. Daz Studio 2.1 Autodesk; _________
www.autodesk.com, ing (BIM) software offers improvements
WIN
features a full-color OpenGL Preview, inte- labs.autodesk.com
________ in speed, design, and documentation.
gration with the 3Delight Render Engine ArchiCAD 12 supports multicore proces-
(compliant with Pixar’s RenderMan), Fast- CAD/CAM sors, speeding 2D/3D navigation and 3D
Time Rendering via the system’s graphics Deep Exploration model generation. Version 12 provides
card, and preconfigured 3D scenes, pose- Right Hemisphere has announced the increased performance when work-
able characters, and accessories. Drag & availability of its new Deep Exploration ing with bitmap images, large fills, and
Drop automatically fits clothing and hair to 5.5 client software and Deep View 5.5, large layouts, as well as improved PDF
August 2008, Volume 31, Number 8: COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD (USPS 665-250) (ISSN-0271-4159) is published monthly (12 issues) by COP Communications,
Inc. Corporate offices: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204, Tel: 818-291-1100; FAX: 818-291-1190; Web Address: __________
info@copprints.com. Periodicals postage
paid at Glendale, CA, 91205 & additional mailing offices. COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD is distributed worldwide. Annual subscription prices are $72, USA; $98,
Canada & Mexico; $150 International airfreight. To order subscriptions, call 847-559-7310.
© 2008 CGW by COP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without permission. Authorization to photocopy items for internal
or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by Computer Graphics World, ISSN-0271-4159, provided that the appropriate fee
is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA 508-750-8400. Prior to photocopying items for educational
classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA 508-750-8400. For further information check
Copyright Clearance Center Inc. online at: www.copyright.com. The COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD fee code for users of the Transactional Reporting Services is
0271-4159/96 $1.00 + .35. Ride Along Enclosed.
POSTMASTER: Send change of address form to Computer Graphics World, P.O. Box 3296, Northbrook, IL 60065-3296.
76 August 2008
_____________________________________________________
generation. Designers can more easily AcceliCAD 2009 RENDERING

communicate with owners, consultants, Autodsys has released AcceliCAD 2009 Maxwell Render 1.7
contractors, and subcontractors by with extended support for third-party Next Limit Technologies has upgraded
creating a document with any 3D view plug-ins. In fact, its new Custom Entity its Maxwell Render rendering and light-
Display enables plug-ins to override simulating software to Version 1.7. This
display properties and control how latest update, now available, boasts a
entities are displayed on screen new Physical Sky system and a re-written
and printed. Application develop- Sub-Surface Scattering component. The
ers also can use built-in primitives— enhanced Material Editor features faster
such as LINEs, ARCs, CIRCLEs, performance, an updated material preview,
and POLYLINEs, without the material swatch storage, and new image
need to create custom objects controls and wizards. The available plug-
and define grip points or editing ins are compatible with Version 1.7 and
operations. The 2009 Version also have gained improvements and bug fixes.
enables users to load multiple .vbi Maxwell Render 1.7 and the updated
files simultaneously, to edit custom plug-ins are now available for download
of the model, dimensions, annotations, objects created in Autodesk applica- on the company’s Web site.
and additional 2D drawing elements. tions, to right-click edit text and mtext Next Limit Technologies; WIN MAC LINUX
A curtain wall tool, partial structure objects, and to create 2D drawings from www.nextlimit.com, ___________
_________ www.maxwellrender.com
display, hotlink module management, 3D objects using the 2D Projector. A free
and fill management system round out trial version of AcceliCAD 2009 can be HyperShot Trio
the new version. ArchiCAD 12 is now downloaded from the company’s Web Bunkspeed has debuted HyperShot
available for $4250. site. AcceliCAD is priced at $375. Version 1.5, an upgraded version of
Graphisoft; _________
www.graphisoft.com WIN MAC Autodsys; _________
www.autodsys.com WIN its photographic 3D rending solu-
_______________ ____________
78 August 2008
Your Search Is Over.

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companies
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jobs
news
classifieds
Over the past 7 years, ProductionHUB has become the most trusted online
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users every month, whatever you need is just a click away.
_________________________________________________
The Production Search Engine
Wherever you are, whatever you need, we're just a click away.
877.629.4122 | www.productionhub.com | ___________________________

help@productionhub.com
tion designed to deliver faster perfor- SERVERS

mance. HyperShot offers improved Serving Up Quad-Core
interaction with major 3D solid- and Sun Microsystems has launched eight
surface-modeling solutions, the abil- new servers designed to take advantage
ity to quickly render more realistic of the power management and virtual-
photographs from 3D models, and ization capabilities of Quad-Core AMD
increased support for McNeel Rhinoc- Opteron processors and the efficiency
eros, PTC Pro/Engineer Wildfire 4, and scalability of AMD’s Direct Connect
and SolidWorks files. HyperShot is Architecture. Sun has expanded its line
now available in three editions: Hyper- of servers with the Sun Fire X4140,
Shot Web for $195, HyperShot HD Sun Fire X4240, and Sun Fire X4440.
with up to 4.1-megapixel resolution for The Sun Fire X4440a is the industry’s
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ited resolution for $3495 plus mainte- processor-based server in a 2U form
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as a student edition for $100 per year. Fire X4100 M2, and Sun Fire X4200
A free trial of HyperShot is available on M2 servers are also available with the
the company’s Web site. Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor.
Bunkspeed; __________
www.bunkspeed.com WIN MAC The new servers are designed with
AMD CoolCore Technology and Rapid
HARDWARE Virtualization Indexing, to help reduce
One node - 32 CPUs Renderfarm PROJECTOR
power, cooling, and space costs.
AMD; ______
www.amd.com
Widescreen Imagery
NEC Display Solutions of America has DISPLAYS
released the NP3151W, a 4000-lumen, Widescreen NEC
high-brightness LCD projector. It deliv- NEC Display Solutions of America
ers 1280x800 WXGA resolution and has launched the 26-inch EA261WM
supports widescreen notebook comput- desktop LCD monitor, the first in its
ers and wireless networks. new MultiSync Enter-
Designed to deliver prise Advanced (EA)
HD portable digital recorder VTR home-theater video qual- Series. The enterprise
ity, the NP3151W sports display features a wide-
advanced HQVT video screen design, enabling
processing, detail and gaming, CAD/CAM, and
contrast enhancement, other users to increase
and advanced signal noise productivity. The New
filtering. It also takes advan- MultiSync EA261WM
tage of Vista’s Windows delivers 1920x1200
Network Projector func- (WUXGA) resolution,
tionality via the wireless a four-port USB hub,
adapter or integrated four-way adjustable
RJ45. USB connectivity stand, ECO low-power
enables users to control and Dynamic Video
the system via a mouse modes, and Windows
and keyboard, while Vista Premium compat-
remote diagnostics enable administra- ibility. Now shipping, the MultiSync
tors to monitor and adjust the projector EA261WM display includes a three-
remotely via the network. Now shipping, year parts, labor, and backlight warranty
the NP3151W is priced at $4999. and is priced at $680.
tel: (800) 794-4622 NEC Display Solutions of America; NEC Display Solutions of America;
www.necdisplay.com www.necdisplay.com
www.GVS9000.com _________ ________
80 August 2008
CW
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Contents Zoom In Zoom Out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue Next Page

www.cgw.com August 2008

$6.00 USA $8.25 Canada

Convergence of pure performance and your vision

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If only I could navigate life with my pen. I could build it

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© 2008 Wacom Technology Corporation. Wacom is a trademark of Wacom Company, Ltd.

Meats Meier’s holographic Animation Mother commissioned

his year’s SIGGRAPH conference is acknowledging

From Interest to Art

Images ©2008 Meats Meier.

hand at what is now being termed “analog

.OBJs is something I requested,” says Meier.

“Growth” by Taron “Fly” by Laurent Pierlot “Kalima” by Pascal Blanché

RabbitHoles 3D Motion Holograms

Unlike any other print medium, RabbitHoles are

Jill Smolin, Entertainment & Computer Animation Festival Director

If you’re ready to go down a RabbitHole visit ____________

“Animation Mother” by Meats Meier; on display at SIGGRAPH for the Computer

Gnomon Gallery, Hollywood | 8/13 – 9/10

Softimage XSI 7 with ICE

One jaw-dropping !# "%

!