Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1144162
s u m m e r 2 0 1 9 c g w 7 with pebbles and details on the ground." MPC's R&D department created new tools to manage and optimize the enormous amount of geometry, add weathering to rocks, and help create landscapes procedur- ally. The sets covered 150 square kilometers. "But, I have to say that we did a lot manually," Ferrara says, "especially the big features, the trees and rocks." During pre-production and produc- tion, Ferrara moved from London to Los Angeles to supervise work on the game- engine-ready sets built for the previs and the VR shoot. Once Favreau approved shots, the low-res shots moved to London to be up-res'd. Newman remained in London while Valdez and Ferrara were in Los Angeles to receive the packages of virtual production scenes – Autodesk Maya scenes, virtual pro- duction assets, animation, characters, and the previs sets – and translate the previs into production assets and rigs. "We'd get simplistic scenes designed to move quickly," Newman says. "They were effectively like previs scenes. But, instead of getting third-party QuickTimes to match, we had real 3D data. We could track the assets – what species of tree, which character was in the shot. We'd know that in this shot there were 20 wilde- beests. We learned from Jungle Book how important it is to track changes. We had that information shot by shot. In this shot, the light and trees are here; in that shot in the same location, the light is over there. We had tools to track that." Ferrara adds, "We could capture every- thing. Not just the sets and animation, but the camera and lighting, and each film- maker's input. This was all in the package shipped to London. We didn't have to search for how many meters it was from here to there, or where the animals would walk. All those questions were resolved before the sets arrived in London for postproduction. Being the only vendor on the show really paid off." PREVIS ANIMATION Animation moved through the process in a similar way, that is, from rough blocking with low-res characters in VR to more refined movements shot in VR that led to approved edits, before moving to postproduction for SIMBA The Crown Prince of Pride Lands. Donald Glover (adult lion), JD McCrary (young lion) "Adam Valdez [visual effects supervisor] and his team at MPC did a spectacular job grooming young Simba's fur," says Andy Jones, animation supervisor. "And, animating the character was really fun. But his mouth is so small and furry, it was hard to sell that he was talking. It took a lot of back and forth. When I saw adult Simba, I thought, 'Whoa!' We've made such big steps in the groom quality, the render quality, and the performance of these animals." MUFASA Simba's father, the King of Pride Lands. James Earl Jones "We did a lot with Mufasa's head position," says Jones. "He holds his head high. He walks with attitude to show Simba how to carry himself as king. We can't change the mood with eyebrows – that would be too human. But we found head position conveys a lot of intention." NALA Simba's childhood friend and future love inter- est. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter "Nala as a cub had a design that was a little less realistic, which made it complicated to animator her," says Jones. "Female and male cubs look similar, so we had to push her look. This was even tricky with the adult lionesses. It's hard to tell one from the other, so it became about their voices. Adult Nala, though, is easy to tell apart." RAFIKI Mufasa's friend, the mandrill shaman of Pride Lands. John Kani "I think Rafiki was the most difficult," says Jones. "We slowed him down, which gave him more scale. But it made him more human. So we struggled with that in the physical shots. What's cool is that he was really well designed. I'm proud of what the animators did for his facial performance." ZAZU A red-billed hornbill, majordomo to the king. John Oliver "Jon thought he would be hard, but he ended up being a lot easier to animate," says Jones. "John Oliver gave us a fun performance for this small but proud bird. And talking wasn't tricky. We've seen birds talk. We had controls to have his feathers flare up and down to give him more of a performance." SCAR Simba's treacherous uncle. Chiwetel Ejiofor "Scar was everyone's favorite," says Jones. "Scar's head is down when he's gotten the short end of the stick. As soon as he gets power, we held his head up. But it's not natural to him to be a leader. So, it was fun to put that into his scenes. Chiwetel Ejiofor has a subtle depth that fit the tone of our movie."