Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/786150
24 cgw j a n u a r y . f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 7 was lit and rendered and then enhanced with digital matte paintings. Numerous lay- ers of 2D smoke at varying depths helped create the final look. Meanwhile, the city of Madrid shown in the background of the sequence was achieved in 2.5D using photographs pro- vided by production that were projected onto simple geometry – 2.5D digital matte paintings, essentially. CG cars helped give the city some life, and in two specific shots, trees and a cemetery were incorporated. One of the more iconic scenes from the game lore occurs a dynamic rooop chase in ancient Spain, culminating in the signa- ture Leap of Faith. Real actors did most of the action for the sequence – including the parkour and the amazing 125-foot free fall. The environment, however, was far less so. Most of the shots had some type of unique design requirement, handled by the team at Dneg. "We had a lot of work to do laying out the shots and building the elements, not to mention the time spent adding the necessary detail, since many of the environments are also seen incredibly close up with shiing camera moves," explains Page. To build 15th century Seville, the artists used mainly Maya and Pixologic's ZBrush, along with Houdini for the effects work. Isotropix's Clarisse was used for lighting and rendering, and Nuke for compositing. According to Page, most of the shots were almost fully digital, apart from the charac- ters, though the artists based their work on photographic reality, to help ground the sequence. For instance, in the buttress run section, which happens aer the jump onto the tiled roof, only the characters are real. The team used photography of a dressed location in Malta that they re-projected as the basis for the backgrounds, and then combined it with fully-CG assets and some matte paintings. The artists further used a good deal of reference photography from across Spain, such as Albarracin, which boasts red tiled roofs and medieval churches. "The details helped us create an authen- tic look for the city," says Page. The hero reveal of the Seville Cathedral at the end of the sequence is based on footage of the actual Cathedral, and the layout of the city is in part based on the real city, though with the modern buildings replaced. However, with the surrounding scaffolding and markets within the scene, this structure became one of the more complex to build. DNEG: ANIMUS Central to the story line is the Animus, a device used to take a person out of real life and into virtual reality, where the lives of their ancestors can be relived. In the games, this was a lounge chair with a VR headset, but in the movie, it takes on a whole new design: a mechanical arm. "It was very much the vision of Justin [Kurzel], who wanted to steer towards a much more visceral, physical representation for the Animus, rather than having a charac- ter in a chair," says Page. The new look was designed by a team of artists on the production side and at Dneg led by the film's VFX art director, Vir- ginie Bourdin. A full-scale practical version was constructed, as well as a digital mod- el that was created in Maya and ZBrush, and rendered in Pixar's PRMan and The Foundry's Katana. And, there was always a performance by Fassbender upon which the animation was based. "For the Animus shots, we generally body-tracked Michael and then animated around the performance to make it feel like the arm was supporting and driving Cal, not the other way around," says Page. BLOOD LINE The Assassin's Creed property was born from computer graphics, with CGI at the heart of its DNA. But, in a universe where game-to-film titles rely heavily on the prop- erty's digital roots, the director of this film opted for an alternative path. Nevertheless, 2.5D and 3D elements still course through the film's blood, adhering to a legacy appreciated by die-hard Assassin's Creed fans as well as those introduced to this world for the first time. ■ Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of Computer Graphics World. CINESITE ARTISTS BUILT THE OUTSIDE VIEW OF ABSTERGO INDUSTRIES USING COMPUTER GRAPHICS.