SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc.'s
(Nasdaq: ADSK) Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya 3D animation, modeling and
rendering software were used extensively on this season's line-up of
blockbuster films. Using 3ds Max and Maya, digital artists created
sophisticated 3D content for the live-action films Talladega Nights: The
Ballad of Ricky Bobby and World Trade Center, and also shaped the fully
computer-generated (CG) movies Everyone's Hero and The Ant Bully.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO )
"Over the past two years we have seen a sharp increase in the number of
entirely computer-generated movies, as well as the amount of CG content in
live-action films," said Marc Petit, Autodesk's Media & Entertainment vice
president. "There are more 3D visual effects than ever before in film, CG
characters are increasingly popular in both live-action and CG movies, and the
demand for photo-realism is rising. The creation of true-to-life digital
components, such as CG race cars in Talladega Nights and a CG Manhattan in
World Trade Center, show the new heights that can be achieved when today's
most talented artists use Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max."
Visual effects facility Double Negative used Maya software for its work on
World Trade Center, the epic story of two port authority police officers
trapped in the rubble of New York's Twin Towers. Maya was used to digitally
model lower Manhattan, as well as to create all of the film's smoke
simulations. Knowing that some fluid simulations can take up to a week to
create at high resolution, such as those needed for smoke effects, Double
Negative prepared by adding to its already formidable smoke library. This
library included everything from the small smoky geysers on ground zero to the
massive plumes of smoke that would pour out of the burning towers.
"Autodesk Maya, in combination with our proprietary voxel renderer dnb,
allowed us to achieve the high level of realism this film deserved. From the
outset of the project, I felt that the smoke was going to be the biggest
challenge that I've personally faced in computer graphics," noted Ryan Cook,
one of the CG supervisors on World Trade Center. "The sensitive nature of the
subject, combined with the fact the world has seen images of this tragedy,
meant that anything less than a photo-realistic re-creation of the tragedy
would be unacceptable."
3ds Max software was used by Digital Dimension to create CG race cars and
set extensions for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. "In some of
the shots our digital cars were hero elements in the frame, so they had to
appear photo-real up close, alongside live-action race cars," said Andy
Roberts, lead CG artist at Digital Dimension. "Autodesk 3ds Max render
elements, advanced extensions and the open nature of the software allowed us
to achieve this." The 3ds Max xref system also enabled Digital Dimension's
artists to make geometry and texture adjustments to CG race cars, stadiums and
racetracks, and have these revisions automatically ripple across all the
relevant shots downstream in the visual effects pipeline, producing countless
time savings.
"On occasion, when we needed to step outside of Autodesk 3ds Max, such as
for crowd creation or fluid dynamics, the software's robust import/export
ability allowed us to exchange data efficiently and without fuss," added
Roberts. "This pragmatic approach to the realities of a visual effects
pipeline, where multiple tools are often employed, was very refreshing."
Maya software was also used by Los Angeles-based Starz Animation to create
the entirely computer-generated film, Everyone's Hero. Approximately 150
artists worked to complete roughly 1450 shots for the film, which included
more than 250 characters, over 130 sets and sub-sets and more than 500 props.
Maya helped the facility to manage assets and scene complexity, to effectively
integrate crowds into final rendered scenes and to find a balance between
rendering speeds and image quality.
"Autodesk Maya was integral to our pipeline for Everyone's Hero,"
explained Jeff Bell, VP of technology and CG supervisor at Starz Animation.
"We used it in all stages of production, from rough layouts done on the front
lines, to the lighting interfaces, to the very back end where we employed it
with standalone operation of mental ray rendering software. The openness of
Maya allowed us to easily integrate the software with our own toolsets and
interface with our asset and production management systems, resulting in
greater operational efficiencies and allowing our teams to make the most of
the creative tools available."
Another all-CG film created with Autodesk's 3D software is Warner
Brother's The Ant Bully. Over 250 artists at Las Vegas-based DNA worked on
the film over a period of three years and delivered more than 1,500 shots.
Autodesk Maya software was used for character animation, modeling, rigging,
cloth and hair.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 company, wholly focused on ensuring that
great ideas are turned into reality. With seven million users, Autodesk is the
world's leading 2D and 3D software company for the manufacturing,
infrastructure, building, media and entertainment, and wireless data services
fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage and share their
data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas
into competitive advantage, become more productive, streamline project
efficiency and maximize profits.
Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For
additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com .
Autodesk, 3ds Max and Maya are registered trademarks or trademarks of
Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. mental ray is a registered
trademark of mental images GmbH licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. All other
brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Contact: Brittany Bonhomme, 514-954-7419
Email: brittany.bonhomme@autodesk.com
SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
09/26/2006
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Web site: http://www.autodesk.com (ADSK)
8360 09/26/2006 16:30 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
