In 2019, Eric Saindon detailed the work made by Weta FX on Alita: Battle Angel. At the moment he returns to inform us concerning the many challenges for Avatar: The Manner of Water!
What was your feeling to be again on Pandora?
I learn an early model of the script a yr previous to heading again to Pandora and was very excited to return to Avatar. The brand new creatures and characters made it thrilling and the problem of the water and scale of the movie scared the crap out of me.
How was this new collaboration with legendary Director James Cameron?
For the primary Avatar, I labored largely at Weta and interacted with Jim solely at opinions. This time, my position was initially Onset VFX Supervisor for the dwell motion filming, then I turned the face-to-face contact particular person for Jim each day. I had an workplace only a couple doorways down from Jim in post-production and would usually play clips on my monitor to lure him into opinions at any time when he walked previous. He would cease in virtually each time and joked that I at all times had « director bait » on my monitor, however he couldn’t assist himself and at all times needed to cease.
What have been the principle modifications he wished to do for the reason that first movie?
The most important concern for Jim and Weta was getting the performances from the actors to learn via the characters. We spent a whole lot of additional useful resource upgrading the facial and seize methods so we may actually translate the emotion of the actors in order that because the viewers watches the movie, they really feel the emotion they need to on the proper occasions. There may be nothing worse than getting distracted and shedding the magic of a scene because of a nasty CG character.
Are you able to elaborate concerning the Digital Manufacturing course of?
The film was solely shot as a digital manufacturing which included full performances, lighting supervised by the DP, and fundamental FX. For every scene within the digital manufacturing, a whole space was created in order that when the actors carried out, Jim may put the digital camera anyplace he wished and see the world come to life. A digital manufacturing atmosphere is a bit like a high-end online game in which you’ll be able to wander round and discover the world. A illustration of that is then constructed on the efficiency seize stage, so the actors have a correct set to carry out on and react to. The actors’ movement is then positioned onto the CG characters for cameras and FX to be added.
How did you manage the work together with your VFX Producer?
Having each day catchups with all of the supervisors and our Senior VFX Producer Lena Scanlan helped everybody keep updated with new strategies and useful course of. We didn’t need any of the groups reinventing the wheel for no motive.
How did you break up the work amongst the opposite VFX Supervisors at Weta FX?
We break up up Avatar amongst a good variety of VFX Supervisors to try to maintain related varieties of work with completely different teams and work as effectively as potential. One of many largest benefits of doing it this fashion was we may focus the FX division on sure varieties of work on every crew. For instance Wayne Stables supervised many of the jungle work and his FX artists have been ready to focus on plant simulation and never fear about large water simulations.
Are you able to elaborate concerning the design and creation of the assorted Avatars?
For all the Na’vi and Recoms, the designers included components of the actors into the characters’ designs. Incorporating components like mouths, chins, or different options helped to translate the efficiency to the character and produce them to life. The underlying construction of their CG our bodies can also be related, with muscle methods and bones driving the rig.
Had been you capable of reuse a few of the property or did it’s essential to begin virtually from scratch?
We have been ready to make use of a few of the base fashions for crops and bushes however they have been all constructed to the next decision. The characters have been all constructed from scratch utilizing the unique fashions as a information. The extent of element within the designs and simulations of the characters was vastly elevated within the new movie. For instance, within the first Avatar we simulated the hair on the characters with strips, and clumps of hair have been all simmed as one so they didn’t react with each other. Within the new film, know-how updates allowed us to unravel particular person hairs, not solely on the heads of the characters, however for his or her peach fuzz because it interacts with the wind or water. We have been additionally capable of perceive compression and stretch for issues like pores and skin and modifications to the blood stream below the floor, which in flip impact the color of the subsurface or pores and skin color.
Are you able to elaborate concerning the face efficiency work?
The brand new movie is the primary to make use of our new facial system that has been in growth for just a few years. Up thus far, and all the best way again to Gollum, we used a FACS system for our facial work. Within the outdated mannequin, we’d create numerous sculpts of poses that characters may obtain, then the system would interpolate in between the poses to generate the facial efficiency. The brand new system, however, is absolutely muscle-driven and makes use of an AI community to assist decide the right stress for muscle tissue and fats below the floor, driving the pores and skin. Utilizing this technique, we achieved high-res facial performances for all the characters within the movie, as an alternative of just some heroes. Within the new film, it is best to be capable to watch any background character and see the total vary of emotion and efficiency.
This new film is taking us underwater. Are you able to elaborate concerning the design and creation of this atmosphere?
One of many nice issues about working with Jim and the entire crew at LEI is the design course of and the digital manufacturing. All environments within the movie have been constructed based mostly on designs from the artwork administrators. As soon as a structure was generated, a primary lighting go was accomplished by our crew imbedded at LEI, led by Dan Cox, VFX Supervisor for Weta. Dan and his crew would work with Richie Baneham to point out all the environments to Jim for approval earlier than something was turned over to Weta. As soon as it arrived at Weta, we’d add all the element and FX to carry the world to life. The underwater sequences have been a brand new problem for Weta. The layouts of all of the crops and animals underwater used AI-driven procedural era when potential to assist get real looking progress patterns. The opposite factor that helped to correctly perceive the underwater world was correct attenuation and scattering within the quantity – attenuation creates modifications in hue, scattering causes so known as ‘veiling gentle’. If both of those is ready improper, the characters or atmosphere unfastened scale or the amount seems empty, in order that they appear like they’re floating in area. Including a bit little bit of marine snow was additionally very helpful to present the sense of quantity, particularly when watching the movie in stereo.
The opposite large problem was the right pronunciation of underwater animals like anemones. I obtained taught by Jim each time learn how to correctly say it and will nonetheless by no means get it proper… Anemone – /??nem?ni/.
Are you able to inform us extra concerning the filming course of and the underwater mocap fits?
The underwater efficiency seize was one of many large challenges of the brand new movie. Ryan Champny at LEI was set in control of determining one of the simplest ways to seize each above and beneath water on the identical time. Two volumes have been created – the above water quantity was a regular setup, and the beneath water quantity used a blue gentle spectrum for seize, because the pink falls off so rapidly below the floor. The second quantity was dropped into the tank and lowered into place, then the 2 have been synced. White ping pong balls have been then used to cowl the floor to cease reflections on the floor, from beneath and above, so the cameras weren’t confused by bouncing gentle.
We uncover new creatures and fauna. Are you able to inform us extra about them?
The Manner of Water is just about all new creatures and fauna. We had just a few crops and glimpses of animals from the primary Avatar, however as soon as the Sully household leaves Excessive Camp, we enter an entire new Pandora. We labored carefully with artwork administrators Ben Proctor and Dylan Cole on the designs of each plant, above and beneath the floor, and each creature.
Are you able to elaborate concerning the design and creation of the Tulkun?
The Tulkun designs have been based mostly on just a few creatures. A whale is the apparent affect, though the Tulkun are 4 occasions the dimensions of a blue whale. When swimming at depth they swim like a whale or a dolphin, with a up and down movement of the tail. When swimming on the floor they’ll swim extra like a sea otter, with extra of a facet to facet utilizing the break up again fin. We additionally wanted to embrace easy issues like a touch of a brown and versatile flesh across the eyes to permit the animators to get emotion within the face.
Are you able to inform us extra concerning the creature animation?
The creature animation was all blocked out by a crew at LEI and led by considered one of our Animation Supervisors in LA, Eric Reynolds. As soon as the essential movement and intention was sorted so Jim may edit the footage, it came to visit to Dan Barrett and the animation crew so as to add weight and correct anatomical movement to the creatures.
Did you used procedural instruments for the fauna and the underwater crops?
Every time potential, we use procedural instruments for mannequin era, texturing, and even animation. Utilizing issues like AI has helped us to raised perceive what a number of variations of crops would possibly appear like, together with how they might develop in several conditions. We have been additionally ready to make use of issues like water simulations to get correct motion from tidal swells or open ocean waves on underwater crops.
How did you’re employed with the SFX and stunts groups for the interactions between the people and the Avatars?
We labored carefully with SPFX on issues just like the movement of the boats, so we may get correct knowledge that enabled our coupled simulations between the boats and the water to work correctly. If the movement of a ship within the water was incorrect, it will trigger the sims to fail because the boats would trip too low or excessive within the water, so the buoyancy would look incorrect.
We additionally labored with a stunt crew that wore blue fits onset to assist dwell motion actors perceive the spacing of Na’vi in a scene. New to our onset toolset was the eyeline system, which gave actors correct eyeline and timing when interacting with CG characters.
The eyeline system is second solely to really having the Na’vi there with us on set. It’s a 4 pick-point cable cam system that’s usually used to fly a digital camera throughout sporting occasions. As a substitute, we mounted a small HD monitor and a speaker – the monitor performed footage from the MOCAP performers headcam and their audio got here from the speaker. The movement of the monitor was created by constraining the movement to the CG character’s skeleton and the information is synced and genlocked. This meant the dwell motion expertise may stroll round and work together with a spatially correct “fellow actor”.
Are you able to elaborate concerning the spectacular water work?
For this venture, our FX crew wanted to increase our conventional simulation and workflow options to be not solely be dependable and repeatable for scale, however tightly built-in with each other to match the water-based efficiency seize and dwell motion. Creating over 1,600 distinctive water simulations required a brand new and versatile manner of reaching the director’s imaginative and prescient. As a foundation we used our real-time GPU-based ocean spectra to present the digital manufacturing a bodily correct start line to seize swell timing, water ranges, and fundamental character interplay. A customized toolkit, Pahi, was created to transform the ocean spectra into water deformations in Houdini after which into our in-house simulation framework Loki. Secondary workflows comparable to bubbles, foam, and spray transitions have been added for integration with automobiles, creatures, and dwell motion components.
How does the HFR course of impacts your work?
We setup our pipeline at 48FPS and did all our rendering on even frames. If Jim determined he wished a shot at 48FPS, we’d merely render the odd frames as properly.
How did you’re employed with ILM?
We shared mannequin property and textures with ILM. We additionally had a number of photographs that have been break up between us, the place ILM did the comps after we delivered renders of CG characters.
What’s your favorite shot or sequence?
« The Tulkun Hunt » was one of the difficult, stored me up at evening, and was considered one of my favorite sequences within the movie. The sequence was a problem as a result of it married sensible movement knowledge and simulated wave patterns with the CG water to make sure character motion on vessels within the open water have been real looking. To match the director’s imaginative and prescient for marine accuracy, the onset crew constructed full dimension boats and management rigs that have been sooner, extra correct, and sophisticated machines that might safely transfer heavy bodily objects round onset in a manner that might be tightly built-in with the digital environments. Utilizing Overdrive to manage the ten ton hydraulics with 6 levels of freedom, we have been capable of get very genuine boat movement knowledge. As soon as we had that, we have been capable of run water simulations for the boats and the Tulkun in a single simulation to attain realism with the water.
What’s your greatest reminiscence on this present?
Certainly one of my favorite reminiscences on the present was about midway via the dwell motion shoot. We have been taking pictures some Spider plates on the day and at Weta we have been in progress on just a few early turnover sequences. One of many sequences was the dwell motion plate extensions and Quaritch getting on the boats. We obtained first variations to point out Jim so I plugged my laptop computer into the HDR monitor within the DI tent and known as Jim over for a viewing. He was floored and ended up getting all of the actors and an enormous portion of the crew to come back over and see the footage. Sadly it derailed filming few a pair hours, however it was thrilling to get everybody amped up.
How lengthy have you ever labored on this present?
I went straight onto this present on the finish of 2018 after ending Alita: Battle Angel.
What was the dimensions of your crew?
The general crew dimension for this venture was round 1,700 individuals at Weta FX.
What’s your subsequent venture?
We solely have 2 years to complete the following Avatar so we have to get going.
An enormous thanks in your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Weta FX: Devoted web page about Avatar: The Manner of Water on Weta FX web site.
Disney+: You’ll be able to watch Avatar: The Manner of Water on Disney+ (coming quickly).
© Vincent Frei – The Artwork of VFX – 2023
