Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/711516
50 cgw j u ly . a u g u s t 2 0 1 6 The crowds were also challenging, requiring the group to instance a number of character variations with custom anima- tion cycles across a large environment. "We ended up rendering close to 300,000 agents, which we had to deliver in stereo," says Carlos Cidrais, Digital Domain's lead lighter on the film. For the Auschwitz sequence, Digital Domain not only undertook a faithful re-creation of the concentration camp itself, but also tore it apart in a spec- tacular fashion. "We had to deal with large datasets being generated by the FX department," which we did using V-Ray proxies, says Cidrais. R I S E A N D D E M I S E The scene when Angel transforms into Arch- angel was probably the most complex scene for MPC. "It took a good couple of months to work out how to do it," says Rustad. "We had concept art from Fox, but nobody knew what it would look like when Apocalypse recon- structs Angel's wings in metal. Our idea was to have a fractal growing and meshing pro- cess whereby the metal pushes the feathers out. But we had to work out which bits would be hand-animated, which would be simula- tions, which would be done in shading." The feathered wings feature about 100 primary feathers with special shaders reflecting a silvery light. The heavier metal feathers were only about 30 in number, so the loss of the extra feathers had to be ac- counted for. "We deformed and bent the feathers to the shape of the metal feath- ers so they lined up and we could wipe from feather to metal," Rustad explains. "The extra feathers were pushed out and floated to the floor." A digital scan of Angels' upper body was used to create a replica torso; animated formers represent his ribs sliding under the skin during the transformation – a "rather gruesome moment that has people squirming in their seats," says Rustad. – Christine Bunish, Linda Romanello TMNT: Out of the Shadows Everybody's favorite heroes on the half shell are back, and they're facing multiple threats as they strive to safeguard the world. Shred- der has returned and joined forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and henchmen Bebop (a warthog) and Rocksteady (a rhi- no). And Krang is leading an alien invasion in the skies over New York City. That's a lot for any superhero to contend with. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows comes on the heels of the successful 2014 TMNT film. "We knew this picture would be double the size of the first movie," notes Pablo Helman, VFX supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, who assumed the same role on the original feature. As the lead VFX house, ILM divided up 1,385 VFX shots among its San Francisco, Vancouver, London, and Singapore loca- tions. ILM also supervised Quebec-based VFX house Hybride; additional VFX vendors included Ghost VFX in Denmark, Base FX in Beijing, Whiskytree in San Rafael, California, and Atomic Fiction in Oakland, California. ILM upped the ante for this sequel with motion capture. "The performance-capture system we used on the first film had not been very friendly in production nor with the animators. We needed a system that would be volume-friendly, animator-friendly, and a lot simpler to use," Helman notes. In development at the time of the first picture, ILM's proprietary Muse 2.0 is now a full-blown, high-resolution perfor- mance-capture system that places 138 markers on the actor's face and body. It even tracks pupils to show eye movement. Using Muse for the TMNT sequel enabled ILM "to get an incredible amount of fidelity and a lot of nuances in the performances" of the four Turtles, Helman says. Comedic performances are built from the best of a number of takes, so it was crucial for Muse to assist in that process. In contrast to the Turtles, the non-anthro- pomorphic Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang were basically keyframed. "The actors gave performances in ADR with facial perfor- mance capture recorded as reference," says Helman. Autodesk's Maya enhanced the action integrated into both the keyframed and motion-captured animation. Audiences will notice that Out of the Shadows takes its title quite literally. "This film is about two stops brighter than the first movie," says Helman. "We now see more of the characters. The design changed to soen some lines in the assets, and the animation changed to make the characters more appealing." The movie marks the first time that ILM was tasked with creating river rapids. "We've done lots of oceans and waves but no rapids," notes Helman. Live-action aerials and boat work were shot in Brazil. ILM then created the rapids, water splashes, mist, and their interaction with the characters. Animators used the fluid sim tool in ILM's proprietary Zeno package, matched the reddish clay color of the real rapids, and married the fluid sims with plates of a tank, half of a C-17 aircra, the Turtles, and Bebop and Rocksteady. – Christine Bunish THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ARE BACK IN ACTION, THANKS TO A DIGITAL ASSIST BY A NUMBER OF STUDIOS, INCLUDING ILM. COURTESY PARAMOUNT