Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/714180
EVEREST VR www.postmagazine.com 34 POST AUGUST 2016 The group started with thousands of pho- tographs — many taken on the mountain by Einarsson himself using a Canon 5D camera. They also collected data and photo reference from a number of other sources. Then, they turned those photos into a point cloud, a 3D representation of the photos, using a photogrammetry solver from Designing Reality. The stereophotogrammetry process was done using 28-core PC workstations with 128GB RAM equipped with six Nvidia Titan X graphics cards. "Using thousands of photographs, you can create a very accurate surface," says Einarsson, who estimates the team used approximately 4,000 to 5,000 photos in the actual build. We processed somewhere close to two trillion polygons in total. From there, it goes through a pretty traditional asset building pipeline, where we re-model it, re-topologize it or fix the topology." As Einarsson notes, there are inevita- bly some holes or patches that need to be fixed. "Mainly, you get areas of low resolution in terms of the photo quality or the model gets soft, so you need to go to a more traditional VFX modeling and tex- turing pipeline to fix it up," he says. "We use a process whereby we project the photograph onto the 3D model and paint and fill gaps, holes, even the lighting, to make sure it is consistent throughout." The artists had less photographic ref- erence for the higher-elevation locations, which required more hand-modeling. This was done using Autodesk's Maya, with texturing in The Foundry's Mari. Einarsson says the model is extreme- ly accurate, based on comparisons to low-resolution topology data of the mountain range and summit area. CLIMBING EXPEDITION Everest's Kormakur set out to make the feature film as authentic as possible, wanting moviegoers to feel as if they had almost climbed the mountain them- selves. But in Everest VR, that is exactly what users do, albeit virtually. Everest VR is a realtime experience, powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 4. As Einarsson points out, there are very intricate details in the 3D surfaces of the model, making the VR presentation as realistic as possible. Yet, Everest VR is far more than a scenic tour of this amazing environment. It attempts to provide users with the experience of an actual climb. Headphones with stereo sound help situ- ate users in the setting; hand controllers enable them to utilize the climbing gear, such as ladders for crossing chasms. And, of course, a VR headset immerses them in the stereo imagery. "This is not a game," says Hardarson. "It's an emotional experience." The virtual ascent starts with a tradi- tional puja ceremony, and then users start off from base camp, through the Khumbu Icefall, on to camps I through IV, pass- ing the Hillary Step before reaching the summit. This is the southeast route that adventurers take when making the actual climb. If users move too quickly in the higher altitude area known as "the death zone," they start to black out — here in a virtual sense, of course. During the treks, users walk near the ledge and climb up to the ledge above for a view of the surrounding area. "It's about being in the moment," Hardarson says of the experience. And between treks to the location points, hikers are led on cine- matic journeys, giving them a good sense of the geography. "You get to know the route very well," he adds. Yet, Everest VR is more than a simu- lated physical experience, as educational information about the mountain, climbers and sherpas is presented along the route. MAGIC MOUNTAIN On the virtual mountain, climbers will experience a range of snowfall and wind, as well as changing skies, all created with simulations. For the snow effects, the artists used Nvidia's new Turbulence scalable fluid simulation, part of Nvidia's GameWorks, which enables artists to change parameters such as fluid viscosity, turbulence and particle mass to generate particle effects based on fluid dynamics. "We are using millions of particles in a 3D fluid simulation in realtime," says Hardarson. The particles and turbu- lence fields, generated within the game engine, collide with the environment and form swirls and blow from side to side — bouncing off the hikers' gloves, for instance. To create snow in the distance, the artists used Side Effects' Houdini and Autodesk Maya. "There are over 50 different words for 'snow' in Icelandic," says Hardarson, not- ing there is snow everywhere in Everest VR — on the ground, in the air. "There are many types in the experience, and we used multiple methods to produce the effects, from simple shader trickery on sprites and planes, video cards created Users take the southeast route to the peak, passing the Hillary Step. An image progression (top to bottom) shows a wireframe, lighting and final render.