International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Australasia and Southeast Asia29 November - 2 December 2005   ·   Dunedin, New Zealand

  Workshop: Digital Visual Effects at Weta Digital

Tuesday 29 November, Seminar Room 1 (previously the Main Lecture Theatre)

Welcome to the Digital Visual Effects at Weta Digital. Attendees are welcome to bring pen and paper if they would like to take notes, however no recording devices please. Assume four 90 minute sessions including around 15 minutes for questions after each session.


9:00 - 10:15

Session 1: Introduction

Digital FX Pre-production: Building Assets for Use in Shots

  • design
    • Weta Workshop
    • Production VFX Art
  • modelling
    • organic
    • hard surface
    • procedural
    • creating displacement maps in geometry
    • geometry formats
      • polygons
      • NURBS
      • subdivision surfaces
  • texturing
  • shading
    • shading models
    • ambient occlusion
    • subsurface light scattering
  • puppet building
  • rigging
  • code/R&D

Digital FX Shot Production

  • camera tracking
    • onset survey
  • secondary dynamics: cloth, muscles, fur, hair
  • animation
    • motion capture/motion edit
    • keyframe
    • procedural
  • lighting
    • prman
    • grunt
  • comp
    • shake/nuke
    • inferno
  • roto/paint
  • matte painting
10:15 - 10:30 Session 1 questions
10:30 - 11:00 Morning Tea

11:00 - 12:15

Session 2: Shot / Flow Process

The Life of a VFX Shot

  • previs
  • technical breakdown
  • contours
  • turnover: editorial
  • scanning: IO
  • camera tracking
  • terrain
  • animation
  • dynamics simulations
  • shotsculpting
  • lighting
  • fx
  • compositing
  • grading
  • recording: IO
  • delivery: editorial

Rendering Pipeline

Film review/dailies/rounds

Shotsub

Hardware Infrastructure
12:15 - 12:30 Session 2 questions
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 - 15:15

Session 3: VFX Applications I

Digital Doubles

  • applications
  • examples
  • Legolas

Environments

  • Dwarrowdelf
  • Pelennor Fields (incl. Minas Tirith miniature)
  • I Robot: tunnel chase sequence
  • King Kong: CityBot for period New York

Crowds

  • Helms Deep
  • Pelennor Fields

Destruction

  • Black gates
  • Lava
15:15 - 15:30 Session 3 questions
15:30 - 16:00 Afternoon tea

16:00 - 17:15

Session 4: VFX Applications II

Creatures

  • horses
  • trolls
  • eagles
  • Balrog
  • Shelob
  • Treebeard and the Ents
  • Mumakil
  • Gollum
    • reference performance
    • keyframe vs mocap
    • facial animation system
    • details
17:15 - 17:30 Session 4 questions
17:30 Close