Computer Graphics World

November/December 2013

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ANIMATION ■ ANIMATORS could move digital doubles freely and use a tool later to correct the pivot point and stabilize the character in 3D space. mated the resulting images and copied the movement onto 3D characters. Then, using custom tools, they computed where the center of mass would be at any time to see how much it deviated from what it should be. If the difference was marginal, they used the footage. If not, they fixed the motion. "We calculated the correct pivot point, Butler says. "It's a " complex problem to solve with a skeletal structure, but that's what computers are for. The tools let the performers and animators do what they wanted, then we computed the motion of the center of mass. The tool came up with new animation that satisfied the laws of physics in zero gravity and kept The visual effects studio Digital Domain was a co-producer   of the film Ender's Game. We asked Writer/Director Gavin Hood about the impact of having a VFX studio involved in the production from the beginning. Prior to Ender's Game, Hood most recently directed the films X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Rendition, and Tsotsi, for which he received a BAFTA nomination. Visual effects play an important role in Ender's Game, as they have for some of your previous films. Did having Digital Domain onboard as a co-producer make a difference? It made a huge difference. I know that without them in the early phases, this film would not have been made. How did having Digital Domain involved in the early phases help? This wasn't a film everyone wanted to make; it would always be what it became – an independent movie. So, we needed to convince investors. For the battle room sequences, the only thing we built was the gate. When the kids jump out, they're on wires on greenscreen, and there was a lot of concern about these sequences with four kids flying around in zero gravity. So, early on, I wrote a 45-second teaser and then designed a full version in the computer in 3D with Ben Proctor [production designer along with Sean Haworth]. And, of course, we brought 20 ■ CGW Novem ber / Dec em ber 2013 the head pointing back to camera in the same orientation as when the actor was photographed, Butler says. "That was " important. " The artists projected texture detail from the photographs onto the geometry – the 3D characters – and re-rendered the characters. "It was important to get footage as close as possible in [Visual Effects Supervisor] Matthew Butler, who really understood zero gravity from an engineering and physics point of view. Then, a team of six or eight artists, including Previs Artist Scott Meadows, worked together at Digital Domain to previsualize every battle sequence. We put it together using animated characters in the proper space, and this is what I took to investors; we showed it to 250 buyers at Cannes. Did you previs the entire film? We fully previs'd every scene in the battle school, every shot. On set we could show it to our stunt coordinator so he could rehearse. The previs was about blocking and camera angles, and about saying to the stunt department, 'This is where I see actors' faces.' The stunt department had amazing rigs, but at some point, we had to let the CG guys replace the bodies to have real movement in zero gravity. The key was having previs done well. With the previs, I was able to more accurately show what I wanted to achieve and could divide the work between the departments. Did you have lighting in previs? No. But, we had the visual effects department involved on set. The battle room has a glass dome with reflections, and we wanted each of the four scenes to be lit differently,

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