Gizmodo Australia » cgi

Benjamin Button Special Effects Guru On Creating a Human Face

Mark Wilson — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:20:00 +0000

“It was really hard, it was really slow, it was really tedious, it was really expensive. And then next time we do it it’s going to be less difficult, and less slow and less expensive.”

That’s what Ed Ulbrich, Executive VP of Production at Digital Domain told me about designing the 100% digital head seen in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button—a challenge he justly refers to as the “Holy Grail” of special effects imaging.

In case you were interested in a few more specifics regarding the process, Ulbrich’s TED talk from a few months back is quite revealing. Despite the ludicrously complicated methodology (conveniently abbreviated during TED), Ulbrich can’t deny that human recreation will democratise like every other in the special effects industry, like morphing.

“In 1991 when I saw Terminator 2, it blew my mind. It made me want to be in this business. It was a miracle,” Ulbrich said. “Now, I have a 5-year-old daughter who has a little program on the Mac that can take two photos and morph them. It becomes just another arrow in your quiver.”

The movie is out today on Blu-ray and DVD. More from our talk with Ulbrich to come later.

To Conceptualise a Trillion Dollars, We Require Computer Visualization

Mark Wilson — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:40:00 +0000

While you will never see a trillion dollars in person (nature’s way of protecting your sanity amidst the bailout), computers can do the job without breaking a sweat—or worrying about retirement.

This particular rendering was made through Google SketchUp, Google’s 3D modelling software. Measurements were taken of a $US10,000 stack of $US100 bills (just half an inch thick!) and pretty much multiplied from there using simple geometry. In that trillion dollar shot, each pallet holds $US100 million…and the pallets are double stacked.

As for that red blob on the left? It’s a human. [PageTutor via BoingBoing]

The 50 Greatest Special Effects Shots In Cinema

Mark Wilson — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Not only did the Den of Geek assemble a respectable (if not a little controversial) list of the top 50 special effects shots of cinema, the site also explained the tricks behind the illusions.

Of course the well-deserving staples show up in the list (Star Wars, Tron and Jurassic Park), but there was one in particular that I didn’t know about, and it may be the most convincing moment on the list.

In Total Recall, there’s a brief moment when a secretary changes the colours of her nails with the tap of a wand. How did they do it? The illusion was created through rotoscoping, a layered matte animation in use since 1915.

Since you’re not doing anything at work today, hit the link and enjoy the whole list. And no, there was no mention of that other effect from Total Recall in the top 50. [Den of Geek via OhGizmo!]

This Man Isn’t Real, But Would You Have Guessed? (No.)

Mark Wilson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Yesterday we showed you a clip of Emily, a product of Image Metrics facial mapping and animation. She looked very lifelike, but you could spot her flaws if you were looking for them. Then commenter totoro pointed out this other example clip (that uses the same techniques behind Emily) that’s, to my eyes, a generation beyond Emily. In fact, it’s…basically perfect…making it hard to believe that the model is not a real human. Truly, at least in this one particular circumstance/pose, the uncanny valley seems to have been crossed. Here’s the clip:

Hit about 2 minutes in for the meat.

Emily Isn’t Real, But Would You Have Guessed?

Mark Wilson — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:45:00 +0000

The woman above is not real. I mean, she was real once, when real actress Emily O’Brien provided Image Metrics (you know their work from GTAIV) with 35 facial poses in front of a pair of digital cameras. From there, O’Brien was dismissed so the animators could go to work. Apparently “ninety per cent of the work is convincing people that the eyes are real.” And the results–while not always perfect–are pretty extraordinary. Here’s Emily’s “interview”:

I’m not sure if Emily has quite crossed the uncanny valley, but one thing’s for sure. Dating sims are about to get a whole lot more interesting.

If only these models didn’t look like they were wearing dentures. [timesonline via neatorama and technabob]

Footprint Fireworks Were Faked into Olympics Opening TV Show

Kit Eaton — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:04:00 +0000

A local Beijing paper has revealed that some of the amazing fireworks in the Olympics opening show were digitally-crafted fakes, inserted into the live TV feed. The Beijing Times quotes the head of visual effects, who says that the 28 giant footprints that stomped through the air above the city, ending at the stadium, were advanced CGI. Though the pyrotechnics really were set off, the airborne camera view that the rest of the world watched was fake. Why go to these lengths? Apparently the Olympic committee decided that to follow the real trail of firework footprints was too dangerous for a helicopter camera. Instead a team spent almost a year crafting the fake segment, paying attention to even get the smog lighting effects correct. [The Telegraph]

Leaked Clone Wars Trailer is the New Force Hotness

Gizmodo US Edition — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:40:39 +0000

Feast your eyes—squinting a bit—on the leaked two-minute trailer that was briefly seen in YouTube and then pulled off just to be rescued at the last minute by a Polish Corvette, saved into an astromech droid, launched onto a desert planet, and found by us in a garage sale somewhere in Kraków. Or something like that. The trailer further shows the work of the three hundred 3D animators who have been working on this project at Lucasfilm Animation for the past three years. And except for its lousy quality it, it seems that we are in for a ride (here’s hoping Mr. Lucas didn’t write the dialog.)