Commercial Breaks Graphics to Go Making Waves

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T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R D I G I TA L C O N T E N T C R E AT I O N A N D P R O D U C T I O N
April 2006 www.cgw.com
WORLD
®
Freeze
Frame
Ice Age’s evolutionary
breakthroughs in
water and fur effects
Commercial Breaks
Super spots from
the Super Bowl
Graphics to Go
The state of 3D in
mobile games
Making Waves
Poseidon’s new
simulation technique
$4.95 USA
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$6.50 Canada
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Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page EMaGS
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Introducing
Face the Future
Lifelike facial animation that puts a smile on your face.
Create, solve and animate. In days, not weeks.
Come and find out more about the future of facial
animation at softimage.com/face_robot
© 2006 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product, features, specifications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without
notice. SOFTIMAGE, Avid and Face Robot are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States
and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page EMaGS
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Character building
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Maya® 7, the latest release of the award-winning 3D software, is packed with innovative new
features allowing you to realize your creative vision faster and more easily than ever before.
Capitalizing on Alias MotionBuilder® technology, Maya 7 makes character animation
easier and more accurate. Other improvements such as advanced render layering and
new modeling, texturing and effects tools help you achieve more with Maya.
To find out how the new and innovative features of Maya are changing the face of 3D,
visit www.alias.com/maya7.
Image created by Meats Meier (www.3dartspace.com)
© Copyright 2005 Alias Systems Corp. All rights reserved.
Alias, the swirl logo, Maya and MotionBuilder are registered trademarks and the Maya logo is a trademark of Alias Systems Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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April 2006 • Volume 29 • Number 4
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Computer
T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R D I G I TA L C O N T E N T C R E AT I O N A N D P R O D U C T I O N
Also see www.cgw.com for computer graphics news,
special surveys and reports, and the online gallery.
WORLD
Departmen ts
12
Editor’s Note 4
Computer Graphics World’s new owner,
COP Communications, outlines its plans
for the magazine.
Features
Spotlight 6
Cover story
Products
Thawsome
ATI’s FireGL and CrossFire
Softimage’s Face Robot
NaturalMotion’s Endorphin, Euphoria
Boxx’s GoBoxx 1400
20
By Martin McEachern
News
Dell to Acquire Alienware
Top Spots
Digital Video Viewpoint 8
High Dynamic Range Displays
Brightside’s HDR display technology
is new and expensive, but it offers a
glimpse at what is possible for monitors
and displays in the near future.
20
BROADCAST | Post facilities use digital
effects to score high in this year’s Ad
Bowl commercial showdown.
By Debra Kaufman
Small Screens Run Deep 28
Products 39
MOBILE GRAPHICS | Getting 3D
mobile content is a waiting game:
developers waiting for handsets,
handset manufacturers waiting for
apps, and end users...well, just waiting.
Product news from NAB2006
By Jenny Donelan
Portfolio 36
E frontier’s image gallery
Backdrop 44
Size Matters 31
Casual Approach
28
12
CG ANIMATION | Using new tools and
techniques, Blue Sky evolves Ice Age’s
primitive characters and effects.
MODELING/SIMULATION | ILM makes
a big splash in Poseidon with a novel
approach to making water and waves.
Interview with Jason Kapalka, of
PopCap Games, who reveals the
secrets of his company’s success in
the growing casual games market.
By Barbara Robertson
On the cover:
Blue Sky makes an evolutionary leap
in graphics technology for Ice Age:
The Meltdown. See pg. 12.
31
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APRIL 2006
Computer Graphics World | 3
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editor’snote
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KAREN MOLTENBREY: Chief Editor
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated…” —Mark Twain
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS:
Jenny Donelan, Audrey Doyle,
Evan Marc Hirsch, George Maestri,
Martin McEachern,
Stephen Porter, Barbara Robertson
SUZANNE HEISER: Art Director
The demise of Computer Graphics World has also been greatly exaggerated while the magazine has been going through a change of ownership. We
happen to believe that Computer Graphics World is exactly where it should
be—home. For an incredible publication like Computer Graphics World, “home” is
being part of a publishing group that understands the value of its assets and its value
DAN RODD: Senior Illustrator
MARI RODRIGUEZ: Production Director
KATH CUNNINGHAM: Production Director
[email protected]
__________
(818) 291-1113
MACHELE GALLOWAY: Ad Traffic Manager
to the ever-growing computer graphics industry.
These are very exciting times for Computer Graphics World, which has been purchased by COP Communications, the publishers of Post magazine. For some time,
COP Communications has been courting PennWell, Computer Graphics World’s longtime publisher, in an attempt to acquire the graphics industry’s leading publication. We are very excited to have Computer Graphics World joining the family. We
CHRIS SALCIDO: Account Representative
[email protected]
_________
(818) 291-1144
COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD
Editorial Office:
620 West Elk Avenue
Glendale, CA 91204
(800) 280-6446, x1105
have assembled an incredible team to bring the enthusiasm and excitement back into
SALES
Computer Graphics World.
Having been a part of this market for more than 15 years, I understand that joining with such a well-respected title like Post magazine offers our readers and advertisers content and market reach that is simply not offered through the legacy publishers, which have decided to make publishing much more about
We are
committed to
extending our
coverage of the
3D community
across the varied
disciplines.
bottom-line numbers and less about the markets they serve.
I believe that it should be all about understanding and passion—both of which are essential if your editorial focus is on
TIM MATTESON : Publisher/West Coast Sales
[email protected]
________
(310) 836-4064
JEFF VICTOR : Midwest/East Coast Sales
[email protected]
_______
(847) 367-4073
LA Sales Office:
620 West Elk Avenue
Glendale, CA 91204
(800) 280-6446
the professionals of the market, who take immense pride in
what they do, along with the manufacturers, which offer the
razor-edged technology that helps these creative professionals perform their magic. Computer Graphics World has the passion and understanding that both Karen Moltenbrey and I bring
with a team that will continue to celebrate the core of Computer
Graphics World and all that has made it a first-class publication.
We invite you all to join us in our re-energized quest in serving the worlds of entertainment, gaming, industrial design, science, CAD, and simulation, and nurturing the
crossroads of innovation among disciplines. It’s no secret that CAD designers want to
learn about the newest modeling techniques used in the latest blockbuster effects fi lm,
while scientists are interested in the real-time rendering advances coming from the
WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Computer Graphics World Magazine is published
by Computer Graphics World, a
COP Communications company.
Computer Graphics World does not verify any claims or
other information appearing in any of the advertisements
contained in the publication, and cannot take any
responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred
gaming industry. We intend on celebrating these professionals, and are committed to
by readers in reliance on such content.
extending our coverage of the 3D graphics community. And, we look forward to your
Computer Graphics World cannot be held responsible for
continued support in the years to come.
manuscripts, photographs, illustrations or other materials.
the safekeeping or return of unsolicited articles,
Subscriptions: Address all subscription correspondence to
Computer Graphics World, 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale,
Sincerely,
CA 91204. Subscribers may also contact customer service at
(818) 291-1100. For change of address please include the
old and new address information, and if possible, include
an address label from a recent issue. Subscriptions are
available free to qualified individuals within the
United States. Non-qualified 1 year rates: USA $4.95.
Tim Matteson
Publisher
Canada & Mexico $6.50. All Airmail Delivery is available for
an additional $75.00 annually.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
Computer Graphics World,
620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204.
4
| Computer Graphics World
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spotlight
Your resource for products, user applications, news, and market research
PRODUCTS
GRAPHICS BOARDS
ATI Expands Its FireGL and CrossFire Products
Extending the company’s workstation graphics line, the
oped from the ground up with multi-GPU gaming in mind.
1GB FireGL V7350 and 512MB FireGL V7300 are designed to
Engineered with two true x16 PCI Express interfaces, the
be ultra-high-end boards for digital content creation, imag-
CrossFire Xpress 3200 is designed to deliver ease of use, accel-
ing, and CAD professionals. Both take advantage of an ultra-
eration, advanced overclocking capabilities, and stability.
threaded parallel processing GPU and ATI’s Avivo video and
The company also revealed that Hewlett-Packard has
display technology. The new graphics cards deliver a large
selected the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 to power the new
color palette and increased detail, given their graphics pipe-
HP Compaq nx9420 Notebook PC. The business notebook
line of 10 bits per RGB component and two dual-link con-
also benefits from a 17-inch widescreen display and
Intel’s Centrino Core Duo. The Mobility
nectors in support of high-end displays. Priced at $1999
Radeon X1600, offering multimedia
and $1599, respectively, the FireGL V7350 and V7300
functionality and power manage-
are based on 90-nanometer process technol-
ment, delivers ATI’s Avivo tech-
ogy, 512-bit ring bus memory architecture,
nology for refined video capture
and 128-bit precision.
and playback, and PowerPlay 6.0
ATI has released its Cross-
technology for long battery life.
Fire Xpress 3200 chipset, devel-
PRODUCTS
FACIAL ANIMATION
6
Softimage Delivers Face Robot
Softimage, a subsidiary of Avid Tech-
previously possible, Face Robot aids art-
animation interface, animation retarget-
nology, has unveiled Face Robot, its
ists in producing emotive expressions
ing, iterative performance refinement
software solution for creating realis-
with natural skin and soft-tissue move-
utilities, and support for the importa-
tic facial animation for high-end film,
ments in as few as six steps. The soft-
tion and exportation of Autodesk 3ds
postproduction, and game applications.
ware, compatible with popular 3D pro-
Max and Maya file formats.
Softimage
Face
Robot
current-
Designed to enable more lifelike ani-
grams and work flows, provides precise
mation of digital faces in less time than
control over anatomical features such
ly is shipping in two configurations:
as the mouth, eyebrows,
Designer and Animator. Face Robot
and jaw.
Designer, priced at $94,995, provides
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APRIL 2006
The integrated facial
the tools necessary to prepare, solve,
soft-tissue “solver,” mean-
and animate faces, including those
while, offers a corrective
for defining wrinkles, placing tendons,
sculpting system and
and fine-tuning the mouth. Priced at
helps simulate the ways
$14,995, Face Robot Animator presents
in which facial tissue
a hybrid environment for keyframe
deforms as expressions
animation and motion capture, as well
are formed. Additional
as features a retargeting algorithm and
features include a visual
advanced tuning controls.
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PRODUCTS
3D ANIMATION
NaturalMotion Upgrades Endorphin, Debuts Euphoria
NaturalMotion, Ltd. has unveiled the
as its adaptive behaviors, char-
latest version of its 3D animation soft-
acter edit mode, and integration
ware solution, Endorphin 2.6, and a new
with popular 3D and animation
run-time technology for next-generation
work flows. Endorphin 2.6 is
game development.
available now for $9,495.
The
Newly updated, the Endorphin 2.6
suite of tools is designed for the creation
company
also
of realistic, interactive 3D character ani-
mation technology for gameplay
mation in games, films, and broadcast.
and development on next-genera-
Its new network licensing enables mul-
tion platforms. Euphoria utilizes
tiple licenses to be shared across a net-
the company’s Dynamic Motion
work from a single dongle, whereas new
Synthesis technology to develop
reference and training material provide
interactive animations on the fly. The
recent Game Developers Conference,
up-to-date information, more-detailed
solution is based on fast simulations of
Euphoria is being implemented in next-
tutorials, and a number of tips and
game characters’ motor control, mus-
generation game titles and is available
tricks. At the same time, NaturalMotion
cles, and biomechanics, rather than on
through
has enhanced such Endorphin features
canned data recall.
ment program.
Shown behind closed doors at the
NaturalMotion’s
co-develop-
WORKSTATION
Dell Inks Agreement
to Acquire Alienware
Dell has entered into an agreement to acquire Alien-
PRODUCTS
WORKSTATION
NEWS
intro-
duced its Euphoria run-time ani-
Boxx Launches a New
Version of Its GoBoxx
Boxx Technologies has unveiled a new edition of its
ware, known for its unique, high-end workstations.
GoBoxx 1400 mobile workstation sporting AMD’s
Alienware’s PC product line for gaming and multimedia
Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors. The GoBoxx 1400,
DCC and management will complement Dell’s high-per-
suited to mobile 2D/3D graphics and animation profes-
formance workstation offerings. Alienware will operate
sionals, has a 17-inch WSXGA+ (1680x1050 resolution)
as a wholly owned subsidiary to Dell, and will be head-
GlassView-type Active Matrix display and Nvidia Quadro
ed by Alienware’s current management and founders.
graphics with a PCI Express
Meanwhile, Dell recently unveiled its XPS 600 Rene-
FX Go 1400 GPU, OpenGL,
gade, a limited-edition, custom-painted desktop comput-
and 256MB of video memory.
er. Designed to deliver immersive gaming experiences,
Rounding out the offering
the Renegade benefits from the industry’s first dedicated
are two DIMM slots with up
physics accelerator, the Ageia PhysX processor. The PhysX
to 2GB of memory, dual HDD
processor lends to lifelike gaming environments given its
support with RAID 0 and 1,
ability to power real-time dynamic motion and interac-
dual-channel DDR2 memo-
tion on a large scale. The Renegade system also employs
ry, and a built-in 1.3-mega-
Nvidia Quad-SLI graphics
pixel digital video camera.
and the Intel Pentium 965
The company additional-
Extreme Edition processor
ly debuted the Boxx Apexx 8
at up to 4.26 GHz.
workstation targeted at visu-
The XPS 600 Renegade
al effects professionals. The system is designed to han-
is offered in limited quan-
dle 2K and 4K film, as well as to deliver real-time func-
tities, priced at $9930 with
tionality when working with very large files, through
Dell’s 30-inch 3007WFP
the use of 16 processing cores.
flat-panel monitor.
Pricing for the workstations vary with configuration.
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Video
viewpoint
High Dynamic Range Displays
The human eye is an incredible instrument. It has the ability to process a very high range
of colors and even a larger
range of luminance variations.
Indeed, when we hear display
contrast ratios like 500:1, 2000:1, or even
50,000:1, they ultimately pale to the
roughly 1,000,000:1 luminance range of
our eyes. Similarly, the 24-bit color processing (or 32-bit, including alpha channel) that seemed pretty
good a decade ago now
feels unsatisfying in the
By Jeff Sauer
Brightside Technologies recently
introduced the first
HDR display, its
DR37-P, which uses
a different backlight
compared to typical
LCD monitors. While
the technology is
highly desirable, the
monitor’s price,
$49,000, may prove
to be too steep for
the average user.
quest to produce lifelike
images and video.
And that is just why
a small but growing
Jeff Sauer
is a contributing editor
of Computer Graphics
World and director of
the Digital Video Group,
an independent research
and testing organization
for digital media. He
can be reached at
[email protected].
__________
number of applications,
could display the full quality of imagery would be so much better.
Now there is at least one such monitor. Brightside Technologies is a small Western
some as common as
Canadian company with the first HDR-capable display. Unfortunately for most of us,
Adobe Photoshop CS2,
Brightside’s high dynamic range display—priced at $49,000—isn’t likely to show up on
and computer games
our individual desktops very soon. But, the technology is eye-opening and, hopefully, it’s
are moving toward high
a glimpse at the future.
dynamic range imagery (HDRI) and creating
Lighting It Up, and Down
HDRI with as much as
On the surface, Brightside’s DR37-P uses a fairly straightforward LCD panel, similar
16 bits per color.
to any other higher quality 37-inch LCD TV/monitor. But there are a couple of critical
Of course, while
variations: First, Brightside uses a much different backlight; and second, that back-
While costly,
the software can pro-
Brightside’s
probably don’t have a
through a matrix of liquid crystals. Electric charges cause the liquid crystals to “turn
monitor that can show
out” to allow some or all of the light to pass through, thus creating different levels
HDR display
it. Naturally, “quality
of brightness and varying shades of gray. The light then passes through red, green,
in” begets “quality out,”
and blue color filters to create different colors. Since the “white” backlight is theoreti-
technology
and maintaining a high
cally made up of red, green, and blue light blended together, this subtraction method
dynamic range through-
should yield all possible colors.
cess more data, you
may offer a
glimpse at
the future.
out the creation and
editing processes will
reduce rounding errors
light doesn’t just turn on and off with the power switch.
LCD monitors typically create brightness by shining a large, defused backlight
Yet, as the saying goes, “in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice....”
Consider the difference between a typical tungsten light bulb and an overhead
and yield a better image
office fluorescent lamp, or even one of the newer fluorescent bulbs designed for
even on a low dynamic
house lamps. While both are called “white,” most people recognize a difference
range monitor.
and describe the tungsten bulb with words like “warmer” or “softer.” That creates a
Still, a monitor that
8 | Computer Graphics World
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pleasant environment, but the actual “white” leans toward red and orange. Formally
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speaking, tungsten bulbs have a lower
color temperature than white that is
made up of equal parts of red, green, and
blue light. The Cold Cathode Fluorescent
Lamp (CCFL) backlights of traditional
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Several companies
have been
DLP rear-projection TV that uses LEDs
instead of a traditional projection lamp.
experimenting with
blue are subtracted from less than 100
percent white, the result is a mathematically limited range of possible colors.
Several companies, including
Brightside, have been experimenting
with LED backlights instead of CCFLs
Those products all, like NEC’s, use
an array of red, green, and blue LEDs
LCD monitors similarly diverge from
“pure white.” And, when red, green, and
ing with Texas Instruments’ DLP (Digital
Light Processing) technology to build a
LED backlights
instead of CCFLs
and other kinds of
fluorescent lamps.
to create a pure, adjustable white backlight, and the visible results in each
case are impressive.
Still, the technology ultimately only
improves color accuracy and not necessarily contrast.
and other fluorescent lamps. NEC, for
The Bright Side of LED
example, now has a 21-inch desktop monitor, the LCD2180, that employs two defused
To create a true HDR display, Brightside
arrays of red, green, and blue LED as the backlight. The combination of red, green,
exploits another critical characteristic of
and blue LEDs act like the red, green, and blue light guns of old CRT projectors,
LEDs. As solid-state devices, LEDs can
blending the primary colors to produce that pure white and, in turn, a wider range of
be turned on and off extremely quickly—
other colors. NEC reports a range of saturated colors that exceeds Adobe RGB color
within nanoseconds. They can also shine
by 9 percent and NTSC color by 4 percent.
at reduced power levels to produce a
Similarly, a development partnership between Samsung and Sony has yielded a
gray light. Most importantly, Brightside
small number of products, including Sony’s Qualia 005 (a 46-inch LCD panel) and
modulates the LEDs individual on the fly,
Samsung’s LN-S8297DE (a gigantic 82-inch LCD panel). Samsung has also been work-
adjusting for each display image and even
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each “field” of 60 field/sec motion video. That fields two
important improvements over traditional LCDs.
First, turning the LED backlights off while the liquid crystals are changing state (turning) helps minimize the image
ghosting that remains a negative LCD stereotype with video.
Second, the DR37-P actually looks ahead a handful of video
frames to analyze the picture, then adjusts the LEDs individually to accommodate light and dark scenes and light
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luminance range of the inner tote bag to allow us to discern
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our eyes have adjusted to a different overall luminance.
In order to create a similar range, Brightside uses an
array of 1380 LEDs with mildly defused pixels behind the
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By Martin
McEachern
In the 2002 prehistoric
animated adventure Ice Age, a
melancholic mammoth (Manny), a klutzy
are about to burst
sloth (Sid), and a stoic saber-toothed tiger
and flood the valley—and
(Diego) form an uneasy bond to return a
drown all the creatures in it. Their
human child to his family. The story of
only hope is to journey to the other end of
reflected Blue
the mismatched trio venturing across the
the valley and escape on a primitive ark.
Sky’s initial trepidation at
From above and below, their trek is
goers across the globe, making $382 mil-
fraught with perils and predators. A sla-
verdant playgrounds, gushing floodwaters,
lion worldwide, earning an Oscar nomi-
lom course of bursting geysers, teetering
ultra-realistic fur, and elastic character ani-
nation for best animated feature film, and
rock formations, sharp-toothed amphib-
mation of the sequel are a sure sign that
setting the stage for the climate-changing
ians attacking through cracks in the ice,
those fears have been washed away.
follow-up, Ice Age: The Meltdown. Making
and a flock of hungry-eyed vultures, who
$70.5 million during its opening weekend,
the CG sequel was another mammoth
Images TM & © 2006 Twentieth Century Fox.
embarking upon a feature film, then the
frozen tundra warmed the hearts of film-
break into a Busby Berkeley rendition of
“Food, Glorious Food,” are but a few.
“We’re a lot more confident now,” says
lead animator Dave Torres. “But it still
wouldn’t be any fun if we weren’t con-
success for Fox’s Blue Sky Studios, eclips-
Along the way, they meet two manic
stantly pushing ourselves technically and
ing the original Ice Age’s weekend take
possums, Crash and Eddie, and their “sis-
artistically. And on this film, we had huge
by almost $25 million and becoming the
ter” Ellie, a mammoth who believes she’s
hurdles to overcome, specifically in the
year’s first box-office bonanza.
a possum. Still pining for kinship with a
form of complex water and fur simulation.”
As the story opens, the animals are
fellow mammoth, Manny finds hope in
To achieve that, Ice Age: The Meltdown
reveling in the virtual water park that
Ellie, and begins a fumbling courtship.
would not only require the development
global warming has made of their once-
Meanwhile, Sid’s desire for self-worth is
of new tools for water and fur simulation,
frozen habitat, frolicking on water slides
kindled by a race of miniature sloths who
but for simulating froth and splashes, as
and ignoring the apocalyptic warnings of
worship him like a god—until, of course,
well. Character animators also set a goal of
Fast Tony, a con-artist turtle voiced by Jay
they try to sacrifice him in a pit of lava. Sid
pushing smear frames, squash and stretch,
Leno. But, Manny, Sid, and Diego soon
also peels away Diego’s false bravado and
follow-through, and overlapping action to
learn that Fast Tony’s dire
forces him to confront his fear of swim-
extremes. To do so would require the build-
forecast is about to
ming. And, finally, the beleaguered Scrat
ing of new meshes and rigs for all the char-
come true. The tow-
continues his quest for the ever-elusive
acters to handle the extremes of motion.
ering glacial cliffs
acorn in wildly inventive comic interludes.
that loom over
The simplest one involves a botched pole-
Character Evolution
home,
vaulting attempt using a pole that’s a bit too
Because only handful of the sequel’s 60-
holding back
short to reach the far edge of deep crevice.
plus animators had worked on the origi-
their
the melt-
You can imagine what happens.
ing ocean,
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APRIL 2006
If the stark icescape of the first film
nal Ice Age, Blue Sky conducted seminars
at the start of production to establish guide-
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....
Fox/Blue Sky bring a
Thawsome
flood of innovation to
I ce Ag e : T h e Me l t d o w n
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CG Animation
lines for the animation of each character, giving examples of expressions
and showing what director Carlos
Saldanha did or did not want. The animators also created internal Web pages
geared to each character, and spent a
day of team building at the Bronx Zoo,
studying tigers and elephants.
Led by lead modeler Mike Defeo,
artists discarded the NURBS meshes
used for the first film and resurfaced
all the characters using subdivision
surfaces in Autodesk’s Maya. “Except
for the eyes and teeth, all the characters were a single-surface sub-D mesh,”
says Torres. “All the problems we had
on the first Ice Age, with tears and
Thanks to a new, volumetric fur tool, called Fur Follow Through, the long mane and woolly coat of
Manny and Ellie sport millions of hairs that respond to wind, inertia, and gravity.
seams around T-junctions and the convergence of [five or more] sur-
can use them as “hookups” between shots. For example, when
faces, were gone.” Aesthetically, the characters retained their origi-
there’s a cut on action, on the last frame an animator can snap to
nal design, except for Diego, whose eyes are now more cat-like.
a pose from the Pose Tool Box, so that the next animator knows
Working primarily in Maya, riggers outfitted each of the main
where to begin his or her animation.”
characters with more than 800 controls. These included for-
Cataloging poses became doubly important when character
ward kinematic/inverse kinematic (FK/IK) handles, Maya blend
animators challenged one another to a smear-frame competition.
shapes, Maya Set Driven Keys, corrective blend shapes, and sim-
Trying to outdo one another with squash and stretch, animators
ple deformers such as lattices for flattening out a piece of geom-
created wildly exaggerated poses that, without the Pose Tool Box,
etry, creating impacts, or adding a hint of squash and stretch to
could have created a consistency nightmare for multiple animators
the beaks of Fast Tony or the vultures. Instead of using Maya’s
working on the same character. To create these exaggerations, the
Sculpt Deformers for the dynamic animation of wobbling bel-
animators manipulated special squash-and-stretch nodes placed
lies, jostling fat, or bulging muscle, Blue Sky uses a proprietary
by riggers at the ends of the joints. “We could extend the nodes,
tool called Follow Through. While not a fully dynamic solution,
and it would simulate squash and stretch, preserving volume, thin-
Follow Through is a joint-based system that uses the “gross”
ning out the geometry with extension, or fattening it with compres-
motion of a piece of geometry to calculate overlapping, follow-
sion. We would scale, rotate, and translate the joints, and essen-
through, or other secondary motions that would be tedious for
tially try to break the rig,” notes Torres. “We intend to push it even
an animator to keyframe.
further on our next film,
Follow Through is most
Horton Hears A Who!”
clearly visible on the more
Choosing a winner of
gratuitously cartoony char-
the smear-frame contest,
acters such as Scrat, specif-
Torres points to a scene
ically on his cheeks, ears,
in which Crash and Eddie
belly, and the spline ani-
are logrolling down a
mation of his tail.
hill. Sucked underneath,
With multiple animators
they’re
flattened
and
often working on the same
stretched in true Chuck
character for any given shot,
Jones fashion.
animators
used
another
For the many still lakes, ponds, and puddles interspersed across the melting
tool—called Pose Tool Box— landscape, Blue Sky used Next Limit’s Real Flow and displacement shaders.
to access a wide variety of
Animators also took
smear frames to extremes
on Sid. In one shot, in
recorded poses so they could seamlessly blend with one another’s
which the sloth exclaims prematurely, “We’re gonna live,” only to
animations. “Pose Tool Box lets us record hundreds of physical
realize otherwise, and says, “We’re gonna die,” Torres says the pro-
expressions, such as sad, angry, mad, happy, and so forth,” says
cess was pushed to the point where it didn’t look like Sid. “But it
Torres. “When an animator creates a new pose, we can store all or
works for the mood,” he says. “So, while we tried to exaggerate as
any part of it, from the face to various parts of the body. Then, we
much as possible, we didn’t want to violate the look of the charac-
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registered trademarks or service marks, of their respective owners in the United States and/or other countries.
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ters from the previous film or, worse, distort the true personality of
knots while trying to snatch Crash and Eddie, who keep popping
the character.” To that end, animators did not exaggerate heavily
in and out of holes in the ground. “Previz artists put placeholders
on Diego, whose withdrawn nature demanded a subtler approach.
for where the holes would be, judging how far they had to be apart
Ellie’s comic delusions about being a possum also demanded
so that Sid and Diego could reach from one to the next without
a highly nuanced performance—one that was broad enough to
being too far from Crash and Eddie,” says Torres. Using this rough
capture the humor of her delusion but restrained in a way that
choreography, modelers modeled the ground plane with the holes
in the correct position, and layout artists created the appropriate
camera movements, all of which was then sent to animation.
Refurbished Fur
Thanks to a new, fully voxelized, volumetric fur tool, all the
animals in Ice Age: The Meltdown sport a new coat of fur, each
bearing millions of hairs that respond to wind, gravity, inertia,
and turbulence. In the first film, Blue Sky employed image cards
bearing the image of one to three hair strands. Though alpha
maps and transparency gave them a sense of dimension, their
Possums Crash and Eddie were squashed and stretched to extremes
using Blue Sky’s proprietary Follow Through tool.
showed those delusions stemmed not from stupidity, but psycho-
motion, even in windstorms, was caused by a jiggling of the
cards and appeared somewhat stiff. In contrast, the new fur system procedurally draws millions of B splines on each character.
Each point on the spline carries information about its position in
logical need. “We didn’t want her to come across as dumb,” states
space, along with color, length, density, transparency, and other
Torres. “She lost her family when she was young and found a sur-
attributes. From these millions of hairs, a couple thousand are
rogate family in two possums. So we wanted to show she was
selected to be rig hairs, which are attached to the animator’s char-
brassy, smart, and caring, and that her confusion—much like
acter rig in Maya and drive the animation of the other hairs.
that of Tarzan—comes from the way she was raised.” Similarly,
To simulate motion dynamics on these “rig hairs,” technical
because Manny was the “heart” of the film, animators also
director Adam Burr wrote a tool called Fur Follow Through, which
abstained from giving him wide-eyed, cartoonish expressions
adapts the Follow Through tool for fur animation. Using the tool,
that would undercut his emotional weight. To capture the roman-
the animators could adjust the hair’s drag, inertia, cycle, and settle
tic subtext in his interactions with Ellie, animators used eye dart-
time, as well as assign force vectors for wind, gravity, turbulence,
ing, stuttering, stammering, and eye-contact avoidance.
and other environmental influences. “You can see the breezes
running through the hair now. And, when characters move for-
Freestyle Animation
ward, the hair is drawn backward,”
Artists built all the sets and props
explains Torres. In addition, Fur
prior to animation. While layout
Follow Through can recognize
artists established most of the block-
when the fur is partially immersed
ings, the animators did a lot of the
in water, automatically selecting its
camera work themselves, especially
Underwater Follow Through so that
when their performances exceeded
it appears to flow with the current.
the scope of a shot. In fact, the ani-
However, the fur is still not fully
mators had more freedom than ever
interactive. If, for example, a char-
before in staging their scenes. Only
acter puts its hand to its chest, the
a few sequences were prevized,
fur would penetrate the hand rather
among them Whack-a-Mole and
than compress under it.
Indeed, because the animators
Balance. In the latter, all the characters find themselves on top of a
rock that’s teetering precariously on
a bunch of other rocks stacked one
When Sid’s “rig hairs” intersect with a water body, the
hairs automatically assume their wet look, reflecting
changes in density as they absorb water.
could only see the rig hairs during
animation, their biggest gripe during
production was fur intersection. To
on top of the other in the middle of a giant canyon. “The cho-
resolve that problem, the team fed all the Maya animation into its
reography of the characters was extremely intricate and inter-
Grinder system, which translated it into scripts for CGI Studio, its
connected,” says Torres. “Previzing it was a huge collaboration
proprietary raytracer. When the rendering was complete, it was the
among animators, previz, layout, and modeling.”
job of the technical animators to scrutinize each frame for fur pen-
Meanwhile, in Whack-a-Mole, Diego and Sid are twisted into
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etrations and then notify the character animators. “Often, they’d
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see the fur go right through the hand, and we’d have to go back and
alter the animation to bring the hand out of the fur,” says Torres.
....
Once the dam bursts and the main wave passes, the deluge of
floodwaters flowing through the entire set and through which the
With millions of hairs to process and only four months to ren-
characters must swim is the work of Wave Synth. Falling under
der the entire film, Blue Sky moved to a 64-bit architecture for
the class of spectrum-based techniques, Wave Synth’s fundamen-
Ice Age: The Meltdown, upgrading its renderfarm to 1000 2.4
GHz
tal building block is called a Gerstner wave, which resembles a
processors, increasing its storage capacity to 40TB, and installing
sine wave and has been used for a long time in oceanography.
new Angstrom workstations running dual 2.4 GHz processors and
Using such variables as wave height and speed, and simple equa-
Nvidia-based graphics cards. Under the new system, the average
tions for calculating how waves move in deep water, Wave Synth
render time per frame was 13 hours. “We used a primitive form
sums together many waves.
of the new hair for the humans in the first Ice Age,” says effects
While the same technique has been used for such films as
lead Eric Mauer. “However, since CGI Studio is a raytracer, which
Titanic, Wave Synth differs by not compressing the calculation of
means all the geometry has to be in the scene
at render time, our RAM footprint for the voxel
bodies was really prohibitive. Each scene had
to be represented in less than 1GB. Through our
new architecture and advancements to the furvoxel rendering made by researcher Maurice
Van Swaaij, our RAM footprint for Ice Age: The
Meltdown was 6GB.” In addition, Van Swaaij
also made advancements to CGI Studio that
enhanced the motion-blur effect on the fur.
For creating matted, bedraggled hair,
the process was twofold. When artists procedurally modeled the fur, they also modeled its wet look, establishing the frequency
with which the hairs would clump and
the changes in density as it absorbs water.
Then, during animation, when the rig hairs
intersected with a water body, the hair rig
accessed the wet or dry fur description, and
morphed between the two.
“Intersections between water and fur are
always a challenge,” says effects lead Kirk Garfield. “Because fur and water are both transparent bodies, you have to boolean one out of
the other any time they’re touching. So, within
our pipeline, we came up with templates to
easily boolean out the fur that was in any other
transparent bodies, such as bubbles.”
Digital Deluge
Artists remodeled all the
characters, including the
acorn-obsessed Scrat, using
subdivision surfaces before
rigging them with Maya IK
controls. Then, with Blue
Sky’s proprietary Follow
Through tool, the team
added secondary animation, and with the Fur Follow Through tool, animated
the hair.
Blue Sky relied on four primary tools for
water simulation: Next Limit’s Real Flow for
creating the crashing, folding waves of the
dam burst; a proprietary tool developed by
researcher Simon Brown called Wave Synth
for the intense, choppy waters that flood the
valley after the burst in the third act; a customized rig employing Maya Particles for
creating splashes; and a proprietary Froth
tool developed by Rhett Caulier for saturating characters in a foamy spray.
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thousands of waves using Fast Fourier transform, which tends to
where without breaking the budget. Sometimes, we’d use our
compromise the “peakiness” of the waves. Instead, Wave Synth
own in-house mesher to fatten the droplets; in other cases, we
builds a wave spectrum, choosing only the best waves to add
would just render it as spray.” While effects artists could make
together, rather than summing thousands of inferior ones. Simply
the splash particles interact with the separately simulated water
stated: It’s quality over quantity. “You can add hundreds of waves,
surface, they found that it was rarely necessary.
but if you choose bad ones, with the wrong wave heights, lengths,
To envelop characters in froth and foam when they’re close
and speeds, it won’t look realistic,” says Brown. “So, the spec-
to a large body of water, researcher Rhett Caulier developed a
trum defines the type and amount of waves that will be used to
proprietary froth simulator that worked with Wave Synth. Using
achieve the most realistic simulation.”
a point-cloud system to represent the water surface, the charac-
Wave Synth’s ability to regulate a wave’s level of detail with the
proximity of the camera is one of its greatest advantages. It can
ters, and the environments, the tool calculated the intersections
between the geometry, and then procedurally generated the
froth particles that aerated off the water surface, clouding over
the characters. Constrained to the water surface, the froth particles became part of the main visual cue indicating the direction
and the speed of the current, and used a laminar flow-collision
model to swirl around objects in their path. “It’s a collection of
scripts and C++ code that runs entirely within our proprietary
system. So, only after all the data from Maya was fed into our
Grinder could we apply froth to it,” says Caulier.
Effects Animation
Having abandoned texture maps on Robots, Blue Sky continues
to use a proprietary procedural method for texturing, which layers materials made of various noise functions (see “Mech Believe,”
March 2005, pg. 22). To create the gauntlet of bursting geysers
that the characters must cross, artists used CGI Studio’s Smog tool,
which simulates smoke, steam, clouds, and other aerosols by defining an isosurface within which light is scattered and absorbed.
Finally, for Ellie’s dream-like flashback to the loss of her
Blue Sky’s CGI Studio raytraced the entire film in only four months,
including the millions of hairs and complex water reflections.
family, artists created the snow in the scene using Maya par-
produce complex choppy waves close to the camera, but as the
the snowfall thickens. To create the footprints in the snow, the
waves recede into the horizon, it will only calculate what is neces-
effects team used Z depth maps taken from an orthographic
sary. However, since Wave Synth is tailored for fast-flowing waves
camera to produce a set of displacement maps in Apple’s Shake.
that swell and crest violently but do not fold over on themselves, it
Many former Disney artists who Blue Sky Studios hired after the
was not used for the dam burst. For the calmer waters of the many
closing of the Orlando studio painted the beautiful deep vistas
ticles, instancing them with larger spheres or ice chunks when
ponds and still lakes visible at the opening of the film, the artists
of the tundra and backdrops for the valley scenes. Finally, art-
used simple displacement shaders, bump maps, and noise patterns.
ists generated the grass in the valley using the new fur tool, ani-
For any light disturbances of those waters, they used Real Flow.
mating the millions of blades with Fur Follow Through.
Because the characters are constantly thrashing about in
For Blue Sky Studios, Ice Age: The Meltdown entered theatres
water—especially when Wave Synth was used during the deluge
leaving a flood of innovation in its wake. In fact, the studio is
in the third act—the effects animators led the character animators
currently preparing sketches on Wave Synth, the froth simula-
by providing an animated NURBS patch showing the troughs and
tor, and its splash rig for this year’s SIGGRAPH. Torres empha-
crests of the waterline, so they could choreograph their charac-
sizes the importance of making each film a learning experi-
ter animation with it in Maya. On the other hand, when the water
ence—an opportunity to grow technically and artistically.
simulation was done in Real Flow, effects animators received the
“Everything we do, we learn from,” Torres says. “With each
character animation first, and then ran the simulation to match it.
film, we search for better ways of working, better tools, and are
For splashing and spraying water, the artists used a patchbased Splash rig employing Maya particles. “The rig would
constantly developing things to help out work flow, not only to
make us faster, but to make our jobs easier.”
allow us to pose a NURBS patch representing the water surface, emit particles off it, then turn on dynamics and let grav-
Martin McEachern, a contributing editor for Computer Graphics
ity take over,” explains Garfield. “We could put splashes every-
World, can be reached at [email protected].
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TOP
SPOTS
Di g i t a l e ff ec t s
turn in a
g a m e -w i n n i n g
p e r f o r m a nc e i n
t h i s y e a r ’s S u p e r
B o w l co m me rc i a l
sh o w d o w n
By Debra Kaufman
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The Ad Bowl, which takes place during Super Bowl Sunday, is a highlight
of the year for advertising agencies, commercial production companies,
and all the visual effects, animation, and post houses serving them. The
commercials—supposedly Madison Avenue’s best—are as much of an
....
“SPORTS HEAVEN”
MOBILE ESPN
Agency: Arnold Worldwide
Director: Jake Scott
attraction as the game itself, and this year was no exception.
The 2006 super spots appeared to be a notch up from last year, when
cautiousness prevailed, squelching creative, riskier opportunities. As
Production company: RSA
Visual effects: Brickyard VFX
expected, humor continued to reign supreme, as did commercials featur-
S
Mobile ESPN makes the entire world “sports heaven,” the
ing animals, particularly those involving Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdales.
theme of this successful spot. A young executive walks through
The draws, as well as the duds, were the culmination of the hard-
the city, so focused on his new Mobile ESPN phone that he
est work in the shortest time, as agencies, pro-
doesn’t notice the superstar athletes everywhere around him:
duction companies, and VFX profes-
a group of motocross racers speed out of a parking garage; a
sionals raced toward a fixed deadline,
usually with just days to spare. Aside
from being expensive in terms of
Chicago Cub steals a base across an intersection; a pro bowler
sends the ball rolling down a driveway for a strike.
Brickyard VFX handled all the effects, and touched every
shot with CG imagery and/or compositing. According to
work and time, the spots were also
executive producer Jay Lichtman, who is based in the effects
costly in terms of dollars—with an
house’s Santa Monica, California, office, Brickyard VFX
average price tag of $2.5 million for
started the job with concept boards. “There were no shooting boards,” he says. “Director Jay Scott was brilliant. He and
30 seconds of airtime. The cost to air
his production company went on location and created a live-
a commercial far exceeded the cost to
action animatic that was very closely timed, and we followed
create one, even though some of the
special effects-heavy ads reportedly
that. He framed everything the way he wanted. It did change,
but it was a good starting point.”
During filming, Brickyard VFX Geoff McAuliffe and Robert
cost upward of $1 million to make.
Sethi supervised, collect-
With so much at stake, some advertisers
ing camera and lighting
took a chance with an unusual or risky presentation, while others
played it safe with a variation of their tried-and-true formula from
data, reflection images, and
reference stills. The elements changed organically
previous years. And then there were those that just plain missed
throughout production—up
the mark. The revolving refrigerator—a clever sight gag in which a
to three days before deliv-
“hidden” refrigerator to some luckless Bud drinkers ends up being a
magic refrigerator to the tenants on the opposite side of the wall—
was the all-round MVP this year. Anheuser-Busch also scored a big
ery. “There was an intersection shot with a one-down
marker,
which
covered
up a lot of the foreground,”
hit with “American Dream,” featuring the little horse that could, and
Lichtman recounts. “It cov-
“Superfan,” in which a sheep becomes a memorable streaker. FedEx
ered up too much action so
also came out on top with a commercial that put cavemen in a cave
office, replete with a troglodyte boss.
Formula One cars, one CG
The ever-popular Kermit the frog was another hit, as the fuzzy puppet kayaks, climbs, and finally reaches his destination—the Ford Escape
Hybrid—all with a song on his puppet lips. Gorgeous cinematography
took a bow with the Cadillac Escalade commercial, with visuals that drew
attention and almost made you forget that there really wasn’t a story.
Here is a closer look at some of this year’s top spots.
the crew removed it, and
we replaced it with two CG
NASCAR car, and 18 to 20
CG motorbikes.”
The CG elements were created in Brickyard VFX’s Santa
Monica facility, while most of the tracking, rotoscoping, and
compositing were done in Boston, where Kirsten Andersen
served as that location’s executive producer on the project.
For the replacement shot described above, says Lichtman,
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Nearly every shot in the live-action spot
for Mobile ESPN was digitally touched
in some way, including this one, with the
original shown above and the final below.
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the group also had to re-create the world behind the one-down
marker, which required a CG road and buildings.
In another last-minute change,
one player on the Florida Marlins
“SUPERFAN”
BUDWEISER
Agency: DDB Chicago
baseball team was traded to the
Director: John O’Hagen
Chicago Cubs during production.
Production company: Digital Domain
“We had to digitally change his
Visual effects: Digital Domain
uniform,” Lichtman recalls. In
addition, the marathon shot was
Budweiser’s Clydesdales are a familiar touchstone during the
entirely digital, as well. “There
Super Bowl broadcast, and this year’s offering was particu-
was no ‘marathon button’ on
larly good. “Superfan” was one of this year’s most memorable
the computer,” he notes wryly.
spots, with a whimsical twist as the iconic horses played ball on
Instead, the Brickyard VFX crew
opposing sides of a pasture gridiron.
brought in their running clothes
The spot opens on a wide shot of a golden field with snowy
and, one by one, hopped on a
mountains in the distance. The two teams of Budweiser
treadmill and were filmed against
Clydesdales approach the line of scrimmage in slow motion,
a greenscreen.
Meanwhile, the in-house programmer built a script that allowed
him to take the runners and place
them on sprites, which read the
distance that each person’s stride
would carry them down the road
for a realistic animation.
On PCs running Linux, the team
performed all the tracking for the
spot with 2d3’s Boujou, and all the
modeling and animation within
Autodesk’s Maya 7.0. The artists
also used Adobe’s Photoshop for
the textures and painting, Adobe’s
Fans from the animal kingdom were composited into this liveaction shot as they watched the Bud horses play football.
After Effects for rough 3D compos-
Last-minute changes were made to
the spot, such as altering a baseball
player’s uniform (first image set).
Also, compositing work on the
second and third set of images
added water and the Heisman
Trophy to the respective shots.
ites, and both Pixar’s RenderMan
as the fans on the sidelines—goats, antelope, buffalo, foxes,
and Mental Images’ Mental Ray for
wolves, and sheep—wait in anticipation of the play. As the
rendering. Final compositing was
tension builds for the play to begin, a freshly shorn sheep
done on Autodesk’s Discreet Flame
sprints out onto the field. It’s a streaker, notes one of two
Version 9.2.6.
cowboys watching the game. As the fans cheer, the sheep
“It’s a very busy spot, full of ele-
runs between the horses and then stands on its hind legs, as
ments,” says Lichtman. “We had to
a shot of a fox strategically covers the animal’s exposed body
prioritize [the work], but we also
parts for a G rating.
had to make everything perfect.
Visual effects supervisor Jonny Hicks notes that the director
The rule we had was that it had to
asked the VFX team to be involved in the planning stage of the
pass the ‘pause’ test—if someone
commercial, since the spot would require so many new, chal-
paused the image on their DVR, it
lenging actions. “We saw the boards of the sheep standing on
would still look great.”
its hind legs, waving its front hooves in the air, and shaking its
Lichtman continues: “To make
that happen, we needed to have
finished piece.”
the very best communication
Of that production time, one week was spent shooting on loca-
between the departments and the
tion at Lone Pine, a small town nestled in a valley between two
artists and the client. We needed
mountain ranges, where several animal wranglers looked after
them to understand the post pro-
the real bears, wolves, sheep, and other animals, which were
cess—and they did.”
filmed individually against greenscreen. The main shoot involved
CW
booty,” recalls Hicks. “We had four weeks from concept to the
APRIL 2006
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This Budweiser commercial required a number of shoots, including
those with the animals and a series with backgrounds.
Flame artists did a tremendous amount of cleanup in the spot,
including painting the sheep’s animal handlers out of this shot.
the Clydesdales and the hero sheep, while the B shoot—accom-
screen shots, minimized the challenges the artists faced with the
plished using three cameras to get shots from different angles—
Flame composite.
captured all the animals that would make up the crowd scene. The
Another challenge was designing the lineup of the crowd.
greenscreen was L-shaped, so the crew could get front-on and side
“The considerations were visual,” explains Hicks. “We wanted
shots of the animals at the same time. To keep the lighting correct,
to give a shape to the crowd, with a center point. The bison was
the greenscreen setup was regularly moved throughout the day to
the imposing center point, and we also got depth with charac-
keep the sun on the animals’ right side.
ters situated in front and behind.” Some of the shots, says Hicks,
But the real challenge was getting the sheep to dance. This
comprise 50 to 60 layers. “It was a good, solid composite job that
was done by three animal handlers wearing green Lycra suits;
involved getting every bit of it right,” he adds, “and doing it all
they manipulated the sheep’s forelegs for the waving motion and
within a very short period of time.”
hips, to keep its legs on the ground and
create a gyrating movement. “There
was quite a lot of trial and error,” says
Hicks. “Once the director saw the
range of motion he could get with the
sheep, we went through a series of
moves and gesticulations so he could
have more choices in the edit.” (The
ASPCA was on hand to make sure the
sheep were treated well.)
“All the magic happened with a lot
of hard work in the Flame,” says Hicks.
There was a huge amount of cleanup
and [image] removal: for instance,
painting the animal wranglers’ hands
off the sheep and painting sheep textures back in, painting out the skewer
of meat used to get the bear to run, and
removing the collars that many of the
animals wore.
One of the challenges was that, due
to the enormity of the job, the group
had to start shooting the animals
before the crew shot the background
plates the animals would be set into.
The director and his cinematographer
scouted locations carefully, while the
_____________________
VFX team took notes of where the background plate would eventually be shot.
That work, in addition to good greenw
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“GLIDE”
The 3D manta ray was modeled in 3ds Max and animated in
Maya. But before that was done, the group conducted research
NISSAN
using books, videos, and other sources. “A manta ray’s motions are
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles
similar to those of a bat—very fluid,” says Banks. “We stylized the
Director: Jake Banks
manta rays a bit so they weren’t entirely realistic in their appear-
Production company: Stardust Studios
ance, and then rendered them out two different way—with a cellshader render and then a shader render—and mixed them together.
Visual effects: Stardust Studios
The cell shader gave the image an outline, so mixing the two gave
In a trio of spots for a Nissan Murano campaign, all directed
the model more of a graphic quality, more illustrative.”
by bicoastal Stardust Studios’ owner/executive creative director
The artists also incorporated additional layers of bub-
Jake Banks, the Murano transforms into a manta ray (in “Glide”),
bles, some water, reflections, and shadows, all a mixture of
Adobe After Effects and Maya.
a bird (in “Soar”), and then a paper airplane (in “Fly”), all designed to show
Cleanup work for the car, which
how smoothly the vehicle’s Xtronic con-
had reflections of the camera-car,
tinuously variable transmission operates.
was done in Autodesk’s Discreet
Combustion. Lighting is always
tricky
when
shooting
a
car,
because the sun is always moving
and the car itself is a giant reflective surface. So, the team shot the
scene with the shadow side of the
car to avoid bright hot spots.
In the Nissan Murano commercial “Glide,” digital artists crafted stylized 3D manta rays using 3ds Max and
Maya (above), whose fluid motion matched the
movements of the vehicle (left).
“The live-action footage was
very desaturated, so we had to
pump color into it,” Banks says.
“We blew up the car a little bit,
but also had to make sure that we
“Glide” was the spot that debuted just before Super Bowl XL and
stayed true to its real color, which was blue. The manta ray was
aired during ABC’s Super Bowl halftime show.
also blue, to match it to the color of the car.”
According to Banks, one of the challenges in using CG was stay-
For all three spots, Stardust Studios provided the design, liveaction production, animation, editorial, and visual effects. The
ing true to the spot’s overall design. “The key was to keep it clean
facility also previsualized the camera moves (using Autodesk’s
and simple, and not add too much,” he explains.
Maya and 3ds Max) for the live-action shoot, building a 3D car in
Maya and moving the cameras to match the car and helicopter perspectives. Director of photography Neil Shapiro captured dynamic
shots that matched the storyboard using a camera-car, helicopter,
and locked-down mounts. “We had to shoot the car in a way that
would be in tune with the elements of flowing, soaring, and
gliding,” explains Banks. “These extremely dynamic camera
moves allowed us to be more free with the animation.”
“The idea was to keep it simple and clean throughout,” Banks
continues. “The big thing we had to figure out was how the car
“THE WAVE”
BUDWEISER
Agency: DDB Chicago
Director: Paul Middleditch
Production company: HSI
Visual effects: Method Studios
actually transformed into the manta ray. Do the doors flip out
and form wings? We went through dozens of ideas about how
In this spot, the stadium “wave” becomes a way for thou-
to do it. We wanted it to be stylized, with its own feel and look,
sands of people with placards to create an eye-catching
and not seem as if it were transforming into a robot.”
feat: to open a bottle of Budweiser, tilt it so the stream of
The two-day shoot took place on the tarmac at a local airport
beer goes halfway around the stadium of 97,000 virtual
in San Bernardino, California. After the edit was locked and
fans to fill a glass with the beer, and then drink it down.
the crew pulled selects of what worked best, the team tried to
After the shooting boards came in, says Method Studios’
mimic the previs. Six artists did roto and cleanup on the car at
producer Kim Wildenburg, the team went through a care-
the same time as lead animator/visual effects supervisor Shane
ful previsualization stage, done by Pixel Liberation Front,
Zucker animated the manta ray with rough-rotoscoped footage.
to determine how the spot would cut together and, just as
CW
APRIL 2006
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CG artists built this digital stadium and filled it with Massive
agents. They also made and
placed digital placards in the
stadium to achieve the unique
Bud wave, shown here.
similar agents with adjusted textures and football uniforms. CG
lights matched the lighting in the background plates.
“There was a lot of ‘to-ing and fro-ing’ in the first stage,”
says Wildenburg. “CG would give us the basic pieces and animation, and we’d comp it with the live-action plates and send
it to the agency and director to make sure we got the timing
important, that the produc-
correct. Then it was sent back to the artists, who’d get into tex-
tion company, agency, and
turing, lighting, and rendering.”
VFX studio were all on the
....
The cards were animated in Maya but used a plug-in written by Bell, a custom instancer that created a particle system to
same page.
The two-day shoot took
represent the cards and then create geometry on the fly. “The
place at the LA Coliseum
instancer that we wrote exists as a single object inside Maya, but
with 300 extras, who would
it’s generating 90,000 individual pieces of geometry for every
form the foreground, aug-
card,” explains Bell. “All the cards were animating indepen-
mented by thousands of
dently, but were treated as one object, which minimized the time
Massive Software characters
used.” Another tool created by Bell allowed gray-scale values to
situated in the back rows of
express timing, to control when the placards flipped over.
the stadium. Wildenburg,
“What was nice about that was that I could turn the tool over to
along with Method Studios’
a less technical artist, and that person could experiment with cho-
CG director Laurent Ledru,
reography just by painting a texture in Photoshop,” explains Bell.
attended the shoot, which included eight helicopter plates. For
“He could see in nearly real time how that would modify his ani-
the shot that pans across the entire stadium, the crew moved the
mation. It allowed us to open up the well-understood 2D toolbox to
300 extras en masse around the stadium to get nine separate shots.
“The first test was to build the stadium and place the Massive agents
so they lined up with all the plates,”
says 3D VFX artist James LeBloch,
who handled the Massive Software
shots. To solve the problem of placing
90,000 virtual characters within the
rows and aisles, Method Studios’ software developer, Andrew Bell, wrote a
script to export placement of the characters from Autodesk’s Maya (used for
modeling) into Massive. “Ultimately,
what we did was model the stadium
as NURBS geometry, and then the
script gave James some controls that
allowed him to define a region on the
model and say how many rows and
seats were in that region,” explains
Bell. “Then the script would iterate
those specifications and come up with
a Massive setup that matched.”
___________________
All the placards were also CG, rendered in Maya, and the same placement created for Massive was used to
generate the CG cards and put them
in their proper location. The football
teams are also Massive agents, says
LeBloch, who notes the players were
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Multimedia Campaign
Culminates in Super Bowl Spot
“FLIP TO MEXICO”
FRONTIER AIRLINES
control time.” An additional function of the custom
instancer was to create appropriate, individual textural information, which enabled the team to use
one shader for all the cards. Texture placement was
generated procedurally using the NURBS stadium
as a reference.
Meanwhile, compositing was done on the
Agency: Grey Worldwide
Autodesk Discreet Inferno system, with Mark
CG elements: Cell FX
Felt serving as the lead 2D VFX artist. The spot
Editing: WildChild
was rendered in Mental Images’ Mental Ray,
with the exception of the Massive rendering,
Graphics: Wildstyle
which was done in SiTex Graphics’ Air using
Frontier Airlines’ “Send Flip to Mexico” campaign reached its anticipated conclusion
several PCs running Windows XP repurposed
during Super Bowl Sunday, when audiences found out whether Flip the dolphin got his
to form a Linux renderfarm.
wish to be sent to warmer climates or, as the creature had threatened in the first spot,
“We’re always in the position of coming up with
“Ultimatum,” if it would quit the business. The blitz of 12 30-second and 60-second TV
solutions on the fly,” says LeBloch. “And we’re
and Internet commercials was supported by a Flip Web site (www.fl
iptomexico.com),
___________
pretty good at it, but that was ongoing all through
an online petition, leaflet campaigns, billboards, and even a roving Flipmobile.
this commercial. It was definitely one of the most
Viewers were already familiar with the Frontier animal mascots, all of them created by
challenging projects we’ve worked on.”
Cell FX in New York. According to Grey Worldwide vice president/creative Shawn M. Couzens,
WildChild, along with its sister company, Wildstyle, has been working with the agency on the
The Winners and the Losers
Frontier account since 2003. “We consider them a creative partner,” says Couzens.
Not all the spots at Super Bowl 2006 were win-
The “Send Flip to Mexico” campaign attempted to blur the line between reality
ners. In fact, there were a few memorable bombs.
and fantasy. The talking dolphin was pure
Hands down, the Ad Bowl critics gave a unani-
fantasy, but the campaign built around
mous raspberry to “GoDaddy” (a young, shapely
him included extremely realistic newsroom
woman tends to have a clothing malfunction)—a
and documentary-style film footage as
commercial Ad Week’s Barbara Lippert called “a
“newscasters” covered the ongoing drama
$5 million vanity project.” All in all, “GoDaddy”
of Flip’s imminent departure—either to
was a tired idea in a tired performance. Even so,
Mexico or to the animal mascot unemploy-
some college marketing students gave it a provi-
ment line. The realistic news-style graphics
sional thumbs-up for grabbing attention.
were all created in-house by Wildstyle.
The multimedia “Flip to Mexico”
campaign blended digital
elements into news-style film
footage to achieve a look that
melded fantasy and reality.
That was not the only questionable commer-
“Though the CG Flip was used in the
cial. You’re either a fan or you’re not of the weird
campaign, the one for the Super Bowl
king in the BK spot, and the fast-food giant’s Busby
actually had the least amount of com-
Berkeley routine with the Whopperettes left more
puter graphics,” reports WildChild edi-
than one Super Bowl party cold; although, some
tor Neil Miller. “It was more live action,
thought the vegetable showgirls in the commercial
which was unusual for the campaign in
were amusing. The idea of a big 1940s-style musical
general.” When the project arrived at WildChild, voice-over artist Joe Barone, at Bar1,
piece, complete with showgirls, must have sounded
had already laid down the audio track. Miller then put together a cut based on the
like a good idea on paper, but in reality, it just didn’t
track, “faking” the animation by using some older animation sequences done by Cell
play as it was intended.
In all, Super Bowl 2006 set a rather indifferent
FX’s John Bauman.
In the spots, Flip and the other animal mascots are always 2D. “We found that if
benchmark for the annual ad fest. Although the
they were 3D, they look a little scary, a little creepy when they come off the plane,” says
commercials were, as a group, a better lot than
Miller. As Bauman worked on the animations, he fed them to Miller as QuickTime files,
its tame counterparts in 2005, we can only blame
and Miller replaced the “stand-in” animation with the finished segments.
for so long Janet Jackson’s show for dimming
One challenge was finding new facial expressions and physical actions for Flip.
“We gave Flip some new reactions and motions,” says Miller. “We created a new
innovation and edgy ideas. It’s time to take a risk;
that’s what Super Bowl Sunday is all about.
physical vocabulary of new facial expressions, something that’s subtle but ones he
hadn’t done before.” The spot was finished in Autodesk’s Discreet Flame. “The big-
Debra Kaufman is a freelance writer in the
gest challenge is that any time we finish a spot, our standards go up,” says Miller.
entertainment industry. She can be reached at
“We’re always pushing ourselves to get the most out of it.” —Debra Kaufman
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APRIL 2006
[email protected].
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Mobile Graphics
small screens
R i ch 3 D g a m e co n t e n t
i s st a r t i n g t o f l o w o n
mobile phones
By Jenny Donelan
f
CW
its own right—a waiting game.
In particular, when it comes
to 3D content on handsets, “everybody
has been waiting for everybody else,”
says Michael Schade, CEO of mobile 3D
game developer Fishlabs Entertainment.
Developers have been waiting for handsets powerful enough to support their
applications, while handset manufacturers have been waiting for enough applications to justify upgrading the handsets
that can handle them. Both parties have
been waiting to see which APIs will reign
supreme, and carriers have been struggling with issues like bandwidth, compatibility, and customer interest.
“There hasn’t been critical mass,” says
Schade. “That’s why everybody is waiting.”
The only parties not waiting for 3D
mobile gaming to take off are the end
users themselves, the great majority of
whom seem content to shuffle through
solitaire games at the bus stop, unaware
that developers are burning the midnight
oil to create richer, more complex content
for them. When that content does arrive,
however—and it is starting to—users
will notice, say experts and vendors alike.
run
deep
or several years, the business of
mobile gaming has been a game in
APRIL 2006
The situation is somewhat analogous to
2D and 3D games on PCs—people weren’t
clamoring for 3D applications, but what
they saw, they liked, and weren’t ever
going back to 2D.
What’s not in question is that users are
playing, or at least willing to play, some kind
of game on their mobile phones. In a recent
survey conducted by Sprint, the carrier
determined that more than half of US wireless phone customers use mobile phones for
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something other than talking, and one-third
last year that it was going to buy Jamdat,
the console experience to the mobile space.
of respondents said they at least wanted to
a major mobile game developer whose
Most have failed because the way [mobile]
play games on their phones (the survey
titles include Tetris, Bejeweled, Collapse!,
games are played is very different—gener-
included users of voice-only phones that
NBA 2006, and many others. Such a move
ally, they are arcade-style, five minutes of
obviously indicates a strong interest from
fun rather than hours of intense play.”
don’t allow downloads like games).
....
Another big change for companies
The global story is even more impres-
the PC and console side of the market. It
sive. According to Robert Tercek, chair-
also indicates a willingness to try new
involved in US mobile game develop-
man of the GDC Mobile conference,
approaches.
ment involves the relative positions of the
nearly 200 million people worldwide
“[EA’s] acquisition of Jamdat, a mas-
market. The US has always trailed Japan,
have downloaded games to their mobile
ter at the mobile space, clearly shows
Korea, and even Europe when it comes to
phones thus far. “This makes the mobile
that EA understands the need for a dif-
state-of-the-art mobile applications and
gaming audience the biggest gaming
ferent approach in order to be a success-
handsets. But that may be changing as
audience on any platform, even bigger
ful mobile games publisher—the console-
the US market itself grows and evolves.
than the Game Boy crowd,” he notes.
game business models don’t apply in the
According to a recent report from UK-based
“These numbers dwarf those of console
mobile space,” says Paul Beardow, chief
analyst firm Screen Digest, “Japan and
game players, which hover around 50
technology officer of mobile game pub-
Korea, once regarded as the powerhouses
million. And mobile gaming is growing
lisher Superscape. “Some have tried to take
of the mobile games industry, have seen
their position eroded. During 2005, the
by 50 percent or more each year.”
Western markets of Europe and, in par-
Indeed, new mobile titles, most
of them 2D, are announced every
ticular, the US have seen rapid growth—
month, so the market is lively. Recent
now accounting for 52 percent of mobile
examples include Prince of Persia:
games revenues.”
The Two Thrones and King Kong: The
Official Mobile Game of the Movie from
Technology-Enabled Evolution
Gameloft, iWin’s Mah Jong Quest, and a
Hurdles for mobile gaming implementa-
Dilbert game scheduled to ship this fall
tion involve compatibility and reliability. The phone you buy from one carrier,
from Namco Networks.
Image courtesy Gameloft.
But the 3D aspect is what’s hot. “2006
is all about 3D games,” says Sanette Chao,
public relations manager for Gameloft.
And though not everyone has the phones
to handle the 3D content, there cer-
for example, may support that carrier’s
game titles and no others, because some
aspects of content delivery and performance are hardwired to the actual phone.
In terms of reliability, long-term play can
tainly are a lot of those phones out there:
be frustrating when you lose a signal,
approximately 100 million 3D-enabled
even if it’s only every now and then.
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (above) is
part of an established title, while King Kong:
Java-based handsets worldwide, accordThe Official Mobile Game of the Movie (below)
ing to Fishlabs’ estimate.
is tied to a popular movie, making both more
However, it would be a mistake to viable mobile titles than most others.
are appearing from almost everywhere.
view games as the killer app for mobile
“Today, neither the mobile network nor
phones. Last year, ringtone downloads
the mobile handset presents a signifi-
exceeded those of games. And accord-
cant obstacle to 3D mobile gaming,”
However,
technological
advances
that will help overcome these hurdles
ing to a recent report from analyst firm
says Tercek. “Of course, there are still
In-Stat, US consumers have expressed
hundreds of millions of legacy handsets
greater long-term interest in mobile
in the marketplace today. So, most pub-
music service, meaning downloadable
lishers of mobile games must address
files or digital radio, than in gaming.
two segments: the vast number of leg-
But of course, they haven’t seen the rich
acy phones that can only depict a game
gaming content of the future, either.
in two dimensions, and the growing
A Mobile Market
There are other changes afoot in mobile
gaming besides the push to 3D. Game
goliath Electronic Arts announced late
3D graphics.”
Hardware acceleration and new
processor
designs
are
enabling
those more powerful handsets. One
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Mobile Graphics
approach to the issue of bandwidth is V Cast, a content-deliv-
The Casual Connection
ery network from Verizon that is powered by the company’s
Conventional wisdom has it that the primary audience for the
EV-DO network. Right now V Cast is enabling the majority of
mobile game market are the so-called casual gamers, who flip
3D mobile gaming in the US. It’s implemented by a so-called
open their phones to kill a few minutes. The titles that are popu-
Brew API on V Cast-compatible phones, which Superscape’s
lar, notes Beardow, are racing and other sports games, as well as
Beardow describes as “probably the best gaming handsets
brands, meaning popular titles (such as Tetris) from other plat-
out there today.”
forms and tie-ins to media events such as movies.
Superscape’s own Swerve Client, developed in collabora-
“Brands will be the key at the end of the day,” Beardow says.
tion with chip developer ARM and mobile software company
“People recognize a big brand...the mobile game doesn’t have to
Sinjisoft, is a software engine that implements the Java Mobile
be the same as the console game, it just has to preserve the cru-
3D Graphics (M3G) API, formerly known as JSR-184. One ver-
cial elements of the brand and retain its image quality.”
sion of the Swerve Client is for 3D accelerators, and helps reor-
Moreover, most experts don’t believe that there’s anything
ganize graphical data for optimal performance on different plat-
other than a niche audience for a complex, long-playing mobile
forms. Beardow says the company is also working on additional
game. And, the Sprint survey would seem to support the casual
versions that take advantage of new instruction sets and vector
gamer theory. Out of the participants surveyed, 57 percent said
floating-point capabilities found in the latest ARM processor for
they had played games in the doctor’s office, 52 percent while
next-generation handsets.
commuting, 37 percent while at the airport, and 32 percent
while in the bathroom.
“These processors, coupled
with 3D acceleration, will take
But while agreeing that the casual gamer
mobile gaming to a new level of
connection exists, Fishlabs’ Schade isn’t so sure
performance and end-user expe-
that users, console gamers, and others won’t be
rience over the next year or so,”
attracted to the right game with a bit more depth
predicts Beardow.
to it. Galaxy on Fire, with graphics quality he
As far as APIs go, Java and
describes as close to that of the Sony PlayStation
Brew have percolated to the top
1 console, has a fairly involved story line but is
and are now the two leading plat-
still very popular.
“Everybody told us, don’t make such a long,
complicated game, but it worked,” says Schade.
forms used to download and run
applications on mobile handsets.
New Titles
All these advances are making
3D gaming a reality. A recent
title in this area is the Java-based
Massive
Snowboarding
from
Gameloft. The game comes with
However, he notes that while there is an overarching, long gameplay, the title also has short action
sequences for those waiting-room situations.
As far as the future of the market is concerned:
“It’ll grow rapidly, though I think there will be
With its fast-paced action
amid 3D rendered
environments, Massive
competition for the end
users’ attention with
games vying against
eight slopes in four environments, Snowboarding represents
all rendered in 3D. The quality of a major step forward
music and TV,” says
the graphics is superior to what
Beardow. “But when the
was available last year at this
in 3D mobile game
development.
user has five minutes
to kill at the bus stop or
time. “[It’s] the ultimate boarding
simulator that’ll make you forget that you’re on your mobile
during lunchtime, then
phone,” the company literature states optimistically. And in
nothing beats tearing
fact, the title does push the envelope in terms of graphics.
around a track in a fast
Image courtesy Fishlabs.
Another 3D game, from Fishlabs, is Galaxy on Fire, a
sci-fi adventure that received an award from the German
electronic magazine Airgame for its graphics, atmosphere, play, and so forth. Fishlabs started out developing the game for Sony Ericsson handsets with HI Corp.’s
3D Mascot Capsule game engine. However, the company
ended up writing its own middleware to optimize the
play and graphics. The game is based on Java, and a Brew
extension version is in the works.
CW
APRIL 2006
car or blowing things up
while venting the frustrations of the day.”
Jenny Donelan is a con-
Galaxy on Fire, from Fishlabs, uses highend 3D graphics for a longer-than-most
mobile game that also incorporates short
action sequences.
tributing editor for Computer Graphics World.
She can be reached at
[email protected].
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Modeling/Simulation
The boat’s size meant that the ILM crew couldn’t use a miniature boat and real water; they had to create the shot digitally.
224 feet from hull to funnel. All told, modelers built 181,579 renderable pieces (see “Boat Builders,” pg. 34).
“We like to shoot water at quarter scale,” explains Libreri. “It
“The triangular face count in the basic ship is 1.3 million
wasn’t practical when it’s meant to hit an 1100-foot-long object,
faces,” says Vince Toscano, CG set supervisor. “We used a ref-
so [Shermis] asked if it would be possible to do a digital boat
erence library system that gave us a 10:1 savings. If we hadn’t,
and digital water.”
there would have been 11 million faces.”
This isn’t the first time a visual effects studio has created digi-
When the camera draws close, you can see ashtrays, steam
tal water or a digital boat. But this time, the amount of water col-
in the hot tub, cabin interiors, posters on the wall, martini
liding with a large object and reacting in complex ways was espe-
glasses on tables, cameras, cabling, deck chairs, towels, light
The 1106-foot luxury liner and surrounding water are digital,
created at ILM for an opening shot during which the camera
follows actor Josh Lucas as he jogs around the deck.
cially massive. “We had a giant body of water around the boat,”
fixtures, and people walking on the deck—all computer-generated. “You can even see people watching TV inside their cabins,”
says Libreri. “And at night, with over a thousand CG lights, it
looks like a floating Las Vegas.”
says Mohen Leo, associate visual effects supervisor. “Near the
Modelers built the ship in Autodesk’s Maya, and set dressers
end of the movie, we had to run all the ocean around the ship
assembled the luxury liner in ILM’s proprietary Zeno software
through the fluid simulator to move the water and foam around,
system. Meanwhile, painters used Zeno and Adobe’s Photoshop
and move all the debris in the water.”
to create texture—80 percent of the textures were painted, five
That sequence, during which a 200-foot wave rolls the
percent were photographed, and the rest were procedural.
Poseidon, was one of three created by ILM, one of several stu-
Toscano decided on a Lego approach to building the Poseidon,
dios working on the film. (The Moving Picture Company, for
using such modular units as cabins, railings, decks, and interi-
example, handled the water inside the ship.) ILM’s other two
ors that snapped into place. To replicate a bridge interior set that
sequences centered on the boat: a long, opening shot in which
included a library, a bar, and an exercise room, ILM projected
the camera rises from underwater to follow actor Josh Lucas jog-
photographs of that set onto geometry within the digital model.
ging around the deck, and nighttime shots of the luxury liner. In
Inside the cabins, curtains appeared closed and open, set dress-
all, it took a crew of 80 visual effects artists at ILM, 12 of whom
ers varied the furniture, and CG people walked around. “I could
were CG supervisors, a year to create the cruise ship, the digital
look at the ship in profile and never see repetition, even with
water, and the three sequences.
200 cabins on the side of the ship,” says Toscano.
S.S. Poseidon
screen catalog, for example, placing a green cushion on one
The team building the digital sets selected parts from an onTo build the digital ship, modelers worked from concept art and
style of lounge chair and a red one on another, hanging paint-
blueprints provided by the production unit for the required set
ings, and adding light fixtures. Towels folded in various ways
pieces; ILM’s art director Wilson Tang refined the final ship
had pre-set simulations to blow them wildly or slowly. “We
design. The Poseidon measures 1106 feet from bow to stern, and
had hot spots where pieces could snap onto each other,” says
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Toscano. Set-dressing kits varied depending on the shots. Once
....
don’t think anyone has run global illumination to this level.”
Philippe Rebours set up the materials and the lighting
the set dressers finished snapping pieces onto the modules, they
could use a second kit for parts, such as cabling, that extended
method, and was CG supervisor for the daytime shot. “The boat
across more than one module.
was like a huge creature made of 400 parts,” he says. “It had to
Artists could view modules on screen in low, medium,
be completely realistic. There were tons of self-reflections—it’s
and high resolution, depending on how much of the behe-
made of painted metal. And, it’s so huge that it becomes the
moth boat they needed to work with, and could see the entire
environment itself.”
ship in proxy mode. Proxy mode approximated the model—a
Lighting conditions included daytime, underwater, and
lounge chair, for example, would look like a bent square with
nighttime scenes. At night, 1000 CG lights illuminated the ship—
arms, while a cabin window would be opaque with boxes
cabin lights, deck lamps, and so forth. Rather than have the ray-
inside that represented the interior.
tracer determine where the light bounced from all 1000 lights
onboard the ship, Rebours’ team developed a system that, based
Scene Lighting
on the intensity of the light, automatically defined the geometry
Lighters working inside ILM’s proprietary Lux, a lighting mod-
illuminated by a particular light. When the boat was underwa-
ule within the studio’s Zeno system, could assign materials and
ter, the lighters could override previously set parameters.
lights to the proxies that the real geometry would use for final
For the daytime shot, the lighters created materials, environ-
renders; the artists could click on a proxy element and see it in
ment lights, and a key light that would work with lighting from
full resolution. “Even though it’s referencing an archived piece
the greenscreen shot. “We’d do a prepass to get all the indi-
for rendering, they can still turn it on and see what it looks like,
rect lighting,” says Rebours, “not just the ambient light coming
drape something on it, or put a light on it for rendering,” says
from the world, but from the ship. For the nighttime shots, we
Toscano. “The model lets the artists open up an entire scene.”
needed to gather light coming from those thousand lights. They
In addition to level of detail, the ship builders and texture art-
all needed indirect lighting—especially along the decks.” The
ists created variations for each piece of geometry that changed
lighters worked with one of 25 model sections at a time. When
Images ©2006 Warner Bros.
the look. To help with lighting, the basic surface changed
they achieved the look they wanted, they’d duplicate it for the
depending on whether the shot was in daylight or at night. In
next section and vary it slightly.
addition, anticipating the water simulation, modelers optimized
Rendering the daytime shot took three days using 300 twin
some pieces by capping parts that didn’t need to have water
CPU dual-core 64-bit machines—the equivalent of 1200 proces-
flowing inside. And, because the wave smashes the ship, the
sors. “The whole shot takes 5TB,” says Pat Conran, digital pro-
set dressers had a special kit filled with damaged pieces. “We
duction supervisor. “We needed 1.4TB just to store the fluid sim-
took the original models and broke them,” says Toscano. “We
ulation. It’s such a large boat; we had to see massive turbulence
had broken glass, broken chairs, bent arches, metal panels, and
in the water.”
wooden floors that broke away and buckled. We stripped the
boat, exposed the understructure, and ripped it up.”
The most intense shot of the ship appears in the beginning
Making Water
To create that turbulence, ILM used its Physbam simulation sys-
of the film and, at 4300 frames, it’s the biggest shot in the movie.
tem. “[Shermis] asked us to take CG water and CG water simu-
“It starts out underwater,” Libreri says. “Sun streams through
lations to the next level,” says Leo. “He wanted us to make sure
the ocean surface, and we see this massive structure move.
our water simulations were at a level of detail and realism that
The camera lifts out of the water and reveals the 1100-foot-long
hadn’t been seen before, so we spent a lot of time working with
cruiser. The shot lasts for three minutes.”
Ron Fedkiw at Stanford University and his Ph.D. students, and
Actor Josh Lucas was filmed at Sepulveda Dam near Los
with Nick Rasmussen in our R&D department.”
Angeles while running in front of a mas-
ILM had previously used
sive greenscreen. He’s the only live
the Physbam Particle Level
element in the shot, and a digital
ON DECK:
Set (PLS) system for com-
double replaces him half of the time
putational fluid dynamics
the deck. During the journey, the
456 deck chairs
413 signs with directions
and warnings
20
as the camera follows his jog around
681 lounge chairs
described by Fedkiw and
others in many SIGGRAPH
newspapers
and magazines
papers. The simulator had
73
miscellaneous towels
melted liquid chrome in
37
bar glasses (most used
glasses: juice glasses)
Terminator 3: Rise of the
camera zooms in close enough to see
348 tables
ashtrays and bubbles in the hot tub.
45
umbrellas
“It took a year to get the shot together,”
32
lifeboats
says Libreri. “We rendered it all with
31
life preservers
global illumination using raytrac-
31
security cameras
2
full bars
pirate drink a glass of wine
ing in [Mental Images’] Mental Ray. I
44
first-aid boxes
8
bar stools
in Pirates of the Caribbean:
CW
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Modeling/Simulation
The Curse of the Black Pearl, and poured water off a magical ship
B O AT B U I L D E R S
in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (see “A Draconian Test,”
Some Poseidon Stats:
January 2006, pg. 26). Now, the studio needed something that
Size: 1106 feet from bow
would create all the key elements of dynamic water—the ocean
surface, splashes, spray, foam, bubbles—from a unified, physically accurate, high-resolution fluid simulation. But, ILM had
to stern; 224 feet
Hot tubs: 2
from hull funnel
Parts: 181,579 renderable
Cabins: 382 on 6 floors,
never used Physbam at a Poseidon scale. “In the past, for something of this scale, we’d typically fake it by sculpting a shape
and using particle emissions on the crest,” says Libreri.
ship model; 2117 archived
penthouses
Mental Ray files for the
Cabin interiors: 14 unique
appetite for memory and processors. Simulations are difficult
furniture layouts in
to control, and they’re sequential—that is, they start on frame
pieces in the base
including 2 lofted
Portholes: 876
They faced one problem, however: Physbam had a big
Swimming pools: 3
instantiation of the ship
Texture maps: 11GB of
mip-mapped textures
220 lower cabins
one, go to frame two, and so forth to the end. What happens
before dictates what happens next, and that adds up to oceans
of production time. “When you’re simulating a volume, every-
where the surface tension would break: the areas where water
thing scales cubically,” says Conran. “We were scaling by a
turned into droplets and air into bubbles.
“So, we added gravity and buoyancy to these particles, and
thousand; we had to find new methods of working.”
So, the Stanford and ILM teams solved the problem by split-
used them to represent spray and bubbles,” says Leo. “By track-
ting the simulation in a frame into multiple pieces that could
ing where the particles hit the main water surface, we could
run on different processors; that is, they parallelized the fluid
define areas for foam particles, which were advected with the
solver code. “That gave us fast turnaround,” says Libreri. “The
fluid.” In effect, underwater bubbles followed the churning
simulations became scalable, and we got higher detail. We were
water; when spray landed on the waves, it became foam, and
able to take two waves, collide them against each other, and
the foam moved with the water surface.
as they interacted, the waves would break and particles would
“You automatically get a very good first take of cresting
pour off in a simulated way. It was a real breakthrough. We
waves, foam on the surface interacting with the boat, and large
started to see things we never thought we would see.”
events like a wave crashing down on the boat,” says Conran.
The key was high resolution. At low resolutions, when the
“But, if you have a huge particle splash, there are a lot of dynam-
simulation grid was large, the movement looked like that of a
ics going on that are different from surface foam. The foam is
viscous liquid—more like syrup than water. At high resolutions,
turbulent. It pulls apart and forms into cellular patterns.” Thus,
the liquid approximated water, inside and on the surface. And,
Willi Geiger, who helped mastermind the particle-based fiery
when the simulated water became the most turbulent, when it
lava for Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith (see “Dark
moved with more force than the high-
and Stormy Knight,” June 2005, pg. 10), worked on perfecting
resolution grid could handle, it ejected
the surface foam by feeding the removed particles from the fluid
particles. Conveniently, the solver
simulation into another simulation system in Zeno.
A proprietary particle system
made it possible for ILM to
hand sculpt and choreograph
a 200-foot wave of water that
moved slowly toward the ship.
spit out those particles in places that
Most of the time, the simulation used “one-way coupling.”
matched those areas in a real ocean
That is, the water moved rigid bodies like floating deck chairs,
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ILM created the final composite (above) by (from top to bottom,
at left): first, previsualizing the animation and camera; second,
simulating the turbulent ocean around the ship; third, rendering particles for spray, foam and bubbles; and, last, rendering the
sinking ship using raytracing and global illumination.
And for the giant wave, the team started with a hand-sculpted
wave and choreographed the particle system. “You couldn’t simulate a 200-foot wave that moves slowly and reaches threateningly for a ship,” explains Leo. “A real wave would break or collapse. But we used the fluid solver for the interaction around the
boat.” By the end of the film, the crew was using the solver even
for small elements. “It became our Plan A,” says Leo. “It was the
most reliable way to create bow wakes and minor splashes.”
Indeed, the solver worked so well that the crew mimicked
practical methods to control it by setting initial conditions and
velocities and letting it run. They dumped “waves” onto the
ship. They pulled a “plug” to make the water disappear. “In
the early days, sims weren’t at the resolution we needed, so we
had to cheat a lot of things,” says Libreri. “Now we can use all
the same tricks that practical effects technicians use. It gave us
such accurate simulations that when we dumped a million gallons of water into a tank, it wiped out the camera.”
Libreri, who was a visual effects supervisor on The Matrix
trilogy, believes that simulation systems such as ILM’s Physbam
and also the custom system used by Munich-based Scanline
for various projects represent an important evolution in visual
but the deck chairs didn’t affect the water’s movement. “We
effects. “It’s something I’ve talked about for years,” he says.
could have had two-way coupling, but it wasn’t necessary for
“Our industry is evolving from emulation to simulation. We’re
the most part,” says Leo. In fact, in some shots, although the
beginning to mathematically model the real world, rather than
simulator moved the life rafts and debris around, to protect
cheat and pretend it looks right.”
the director’s framing, the crew treated the boat as a hand-ani-
“It’s not the easiest path,” Libreri adds. “It’s the hardest path.
It’s stressful for the director and the producer, but they stuck by
mated rigid object and splashed water against it.
Physbam couldn’t solve everything, though. The simulation
engine was best at moving water surfaces and objects that dis-
us. Wolfgang [Petersen] and Boyd [Shermis] really helped us
push the state of the art forward.”
placed water. For white water caused by big splashes, the team
used a new particle system in Zeno. “We upgraded the system
Barbara Robertson is an award-winning journalist and a contrib-
to render more particles than before and to do smooth particle
uting editor for Computer Graphics World. She can be reached at
hydrodynamics,” says Leo.
[email protected].
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E Frontier Image Gallery
Portfolio
Clockwise from top left:
E frontier’s Poser and Shade are tools for the professional digital artist. Yet, their intuitive
Sunwave 2 By Cube
structure and attractive price make them attractive to novices and newcomers to the world
Murcielago By Bunbun
of 3D art and animation. According to Daryl Wise, product marketing manager for E Frontier,
Virtual Look By Mike Campau
nearly half of all Poser and Shade users are professional artists, as opposed to hobbyists.
“There are a number of artists who create fantasy art of inventive landscapes and fig-
Fei-Fei By Studio Blue Moon
ures,” Wise says of the user base. “And, some prefer photorealistic, lifelike renderings, and
stylized art that is more painterly.” Wise notes that he is unaware of any “signature” look
in regard to the images created by Poser and Shade artists, since they tend to use the same
types of tools available in other high-end modeling and rendering software—GI, raytracing,
path tracing, radiosity, and more. Yet, many of the characters that are incorporated into the
36
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APRIL 2006
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final scene can be recognized as popular Poser models, including James, Miki, and Jessi, or
Clockwise from top:
specific scenes and props that are available in Shade or the company’s Vue landscape-cre-
Something to Believe In By David Ho
ator program. “Our users create art, both 2D and motion, that is virtually indistinguishable
Dark Star By Laura Haskell
from photos or motion pictures. A few years ago, this was not possible,” he adds.
Dead City Colony 77 By Robert Czarny
Featured on these two pages are images created by Poser and Shade artists.
Presently, the company is sponsoring a unique contest challenging participants to correctly
choose the real image (a photo) from among four or five highly realistic digital images
created in Poser, Shade, or another E frontier 3D application. More images and
animations can be found on E frontier’s Web site at www.e-frontier.com/go/
community/galleries.
__________ —Karen Moltenbrey
APRIL 2006
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Tina Blaine (Bean) | Masters of Entertainment Technology,
Carnegie Mellon University | Media Interactivist, Carnegie
Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 5-year SIGGRAPH attendee
F
Doug Roble | PhD, The Ohio State University | Creative
Director of Software, Digital Domain, Venice, California |
1998 Technical Achievement Award, Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences | 14-year SIGGRAPH attendee
5 days of real-world, real-time
graphic, interactive twingularity
The only conference and exhibition in the world that twingles everybody in computer graphics and
interactive techniques for one deeply intriguing and seriously rewarding week. In Boston, where
thousands of interdisciplinary superstars find the products and concepts they need to create
opportunities and solve problems. Interact with www.siggraph.org/s2006
to discover a selection of registration options that deliver a very attractive
return on investment.
The 33rd International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques
Conference 30 July - 3 August 2006
Boston, Massachusetts USA
Exhibition 1 - 3 August 2006
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
IMAGE CREDITS: TouchLIght: An Imaging Touch Screen and Display for Gesture-Based Interaction
© 2005 Andy Wilson; Tentacle Tower © 2005 Yoichiro Kawaguchi; Spore 1.1 © 2005 Matt Kenon,
SUNY Fredonia; Tina Blaine photo by Charles Palmer; Doug Roble photo by Deborah Shands
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new+improved
w
ww.cgw.com
__________________________
For additional product news and information, visit
Product News from NAB2006
This month, the editors cast a spotlight on product announcements
portion of NAB2006 boasted keynote speakers Dylan Tichenor, editor of
made during NAB2006, held at the Las Vegas Convention
Brokeback Mountain, and Hughes Winborne, who won the
Center. The NAB Digital Cinema Summit for profession-
2006 Oscar for his work editing Crash. NAB is the
als in entertainment technology, creative and techni-
annual electronic media show coordinated by
cal production, and postproduction included a key-
the National Association of Broadcasters. For
note address by filmmaker James Cameron. At the
additional information about the association
same time, the NAB Post/Production World Conference
SOFTWARE
or its events, visit www.nabshow.com.
and support for such popular 3D applications
as Autodesk’s 3ds Max and Maya, NewTek’s
COMPOSITING
LightWave, Softimage’s XSI, and Curious
Software’s Shade. Included are two high-reso-
A First Look at Nuke 4.5
Win • Mac • Linux • Irix D2 Software, a sub-
lution exterior texture maps from digital photos
of the human heart and an animation of the
sidiary of Digital Domain, demonstrated its Nuke
Version 4.5 at NAB2006. Now shipping, Version
4.5 of the Nuke compositing and effects system
intersections, or GPS coordinates, as well as
boasts a new image-based keyer (IBK), new
to produce animation using wizards. The Map
user interface mode, and expanded support for
Presenter playback system aids users in build-
Open FX. The IBK enables users to adjust color
ing, or importing from Traffic Producer, a run-
channels individually, as well as provides tools
down of stills or animations. Broadcasters can
for overcoming matte edges and the halo effect.
change the rundown order, add video clips or
The latest edition also offers artists the ability
live or recorded telestration, or play through
to change 3D elements—through the applica-
the full rundown automatically or according to
tion of multiple independent transforms, shad-
cues from the presenter. Available now, Curious
Traffic Flow is priced at roughly $5000, depend-
ers, and materials, for instance—directly within
full cardiac cycle with cutaway interior views.
Nuke. Nuke 4.5 costs $4995 for the software
Available for licensing from www.3DScience.
ing on the exact software configuration.
license, and annual maintenance costs $999 per
com,
___ Human Heart 3 pricing starts at $1200.
Curious Software; www.curious-software.com
year. Additional render nodes are offered at a
Zygote Media Group; www.zygote.com,
price of $745 per seat. Version 4.5 is a no-cost
www.3DScience.com
VIDEO
INTERACTIVE MAPS
VDS Update
upgrade for customers with current support
contracts. Quarterly lease options, volume dis-
Win
counts, and education pricing also are available.
D2 Software; www.d2software.com
3D MODELS
Traffic Tool Kit
Maker of automation and content-
design solutions for the postproduction, broad-
Win • Mac Curious Software, acquired last
cast, cable television, and Internet markets, VDS
year by Vizrt, has released Traffic Flow for the
has unveiled Version 7 of its Twister HD soft-
design, production, and on-air presentation
ware program. Twister HD Version 7, the next
Have a Heart
of traffic maps. Traffic Flow encompasses the
generation of the company’s Liberty Paint, pro-
Zygote Media Group has introduced Zygote
company’s Traffic Producer and Map Presenter
vides broadcasters with paint, work flow, and
Human Heart 3, said to be the only animated
programs. Traffic Producer provides users
graphic content-creation tools. Twister HD can
3D heart model available for licensing. Targeted
with a template-driven user interface, drag-
function as a stand-alone application or as a
at graphic designers, animators, and scientists,
and-drop symbols, and the ability to highlight
plug-in to content creation, editing, manage-
the model offers realistic detail gleaned from
roadways. It enables users to search the street
ment, and display systems. The software pro-
MRI and CT data, a reduced polygon count,
database with street names, house numbers,
vides users with a variety of brushes and paint
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products
utilities, unlimited lay-
synchronization, and output tasks. The new solution sports the Control
ers,
image-processing
Color integrated primary color corrector and built-in Still Store, a utility
and masking tools, and
that MTI Film co-developed with Silicon Color. Version 5 of the compa-
support for third-party
ny’s Correct DRS film and video restoration and finishing software now
Photoshop-compatible
provides the ability to record to image files (DPX), save and reuse custom
plug-ins. New to the
look-up tables (LUTs), and rename and drag and drop clips. Other fea-
latest version are sup-
tures in Version 5 include a new recording console, three-layer dirt detec-
port for 3D past image
tion, pan constraints, clip-to-clip rendering, and improved cut detection.
and mask layers, video
MTI Film; www.mtifilm.com
grab to canvas functionality, real-time paint show to video in SD or HD, and compatibility with
Video Authoring for the PSP
Chyron, Aprisa, Pinnacle, Avid, ORAD, and Quantel hardware. Now avail-
Win Sony Media Software has updated its Universal Media Disc (UMD)
able, Version 7 is priced at $1500 for the plug-in and $2500 for full stand-
authoring software suite. UMD Composer 2 is designed to aid film stu-
alone software; complete turnkey HD systems begin at $24,000.
dios and production houses in the production of UMD Video and UMD
VDS; www.videodesignsoftware.com
Music titles. Enabling users to format video-based UMD discs, Version 2
includes such enhancements as refined distributed encoding for improved
MTI Film Findings
efficiency and a streamlined setup process. Also new to the software suite
Win NAB2006 set the stage for the debut of MTI Film’s Control Dailies
is a stand-alone multiplexer, which enables multiplexing and encoding pro-
2K and Correct DRS (Digital Restoration System) Version 5. The Control
cedures to operate on separate
Dailies 2K image and audio-control environment aids users in the delivery
workstations; in this way, UMD
of motion-picture dailies and image transfer, metadata collection, post
Composer 2 enables concurrent
multiplexing for increased productivity and efficiency. UMD
Composer 2 features documentation, samples, and tools designed
to provide stream encoding and
multiplexing, playlist composition,
previewing, compiling, image generation, and image checking. Included
in the software suite are the Stream Composer Package, aiding in the preview of the encoded stream file and generating a PlayList file; the Video
Interactive System, with utilities for testing and validating menus in a PC
environment; and the Image Creator Package, for converting files into
UMD disc images and verifying their compliance. Users with a current support agreement can upgrade to Version 2, now available, free of charge.
Sony Media Software; www.sony.com/mediasoftware
HARDWARE
VIDEO
Northlight 2 Debuts
During NAB2006, FilmLight demonstrated its Northlight 2 scanner.
Equipped with new sensor technology, optics, and electronics enable, the
upgraded device is able to achieve scanning speeds up to four times faster
than with the previous version. These enhancements allow the system to
input two frames per second at 2K quality and one frame per second at
4K. Also new to Northlight 2 are infrared scanning, archive and restora________________
_____________
tion features, and support for third-party dust-removal applications.
FilmLight; www.fi
lmlight.ltd.uk
____________
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continued from page 44
vast majority of tradi-
And not having to rely on advertising rev-
tional video games don’t
enue means that casual game developers
translate well to mobile
can focus more on the games themselves
devices—the process-
without having to build out a sizable sales
ing power, data storage
staff to sell ad space.
capacity, input controls,
and broad appeal of
Q
A
What staff is required?
mobile devices, espe-
The combination of a viable sales
cially mobile phones,
model and the growing penetra-
make them really well
tion of fast ’Net connections that
suited to casual games,
allow consumers to download an
which are fun even in
average-size casual game in its
small time increments
In PopCap’s Insaniquarium for the PC, Pocket PC, and Palm,
players feed the fish, fight aliens, and solve timed puzzles.
deluxe form (about 8 to 10MB) has helped
of 5 or 10 minutes. Also,
grow this market tremendously. Casual
they don’t require you
games are still built by small groups of
to read a manual to play, have basic game
developers/artists on modest budgets (three
controls that are easily adapted to mobile
to eight people, $200K budgets vs. 100 or
handsets, appeal to all ages and both gen-
more people and $5 million to $10 million
ders, and much more.
What attracts players to
Is there room for creativity
Q
A
and innovation?
ics; easy, straightforward controls and
budgets for hard-core games). But the tools
casual games?
The attraction is different for
everyone, of course, but some
of the common themes that
innovative in ways that the traditional video
Q
A
game sector lost or forgot many years ago.
marketing budgets, casual games must
challenge and reward—casual game fans
succeed on their own merit. So casual
want to jump in and be playing the game
to build the games, the means of getting
those games into consumers’ hands, and
the devices on which those games can be
played all continue to evolve rapidly, keeping the casual games sector vibrant and
Q
A
we hear include: great graph-
Unlike traditional video games,
game rules; addictive gameplay; atten-
with their massive develop-
tion to detail; and the engagement. The
ment teams, movie and comic-
engagement factor behind successful
book tie-ins, and enormous
casual games is the fine balance between
How vibrant is the market?
game developers must innovate at a very
within a minute of purchasing or down-
The casual games sector is a
fundamental, archetypal level—you can
loading it. But, they want it to remain
$500 million to $1.5 billion
only make so many ‘match three’ type
fun and challenging for a long time.
industry today, and is expected
of games before you’ve exhausted the
to grow to $3 billion to $8
subject. Casual game developers are also
billion in the next few years.
in a position to do more experimenta-
Do casual games span
The disparity in these figures is due to
tion than traditional game developers
some firms breaking out certain types of
are. It’s a lot easier to shelve a $200,000
games, or certain distribution channels
project midway through than a $5 mil-
(some casual games are sold at retail, for
lion project. So we in the casual games
Q
A
weird stuff such as rhythm/dancing
other game genres?
A casual game can really be in
any genre: a puzzle game like
Bejeweled or Tetris, an action
game like Zuma or Pong, or
example) or platforms (most importantly,
space are always trying new ideas, many
mobile). Figures peg the overall audience
of which never see the light of day. But
games like Dance Dance Revolution or
at 100 million people, all playing casual
those that do work are generally differ-
even The Sims.
games on a monthly basis.
ent and novel.
Q
A
Q
A
Why do you think casual
gaming is an area to watch?
One key reason is the advent of
mobile entertainment. From cell
phones to PDAs and new ‘ultra
mobile PCs,’ consumers are get-
Are casual games going 3D?
PopCap, 72 percent of our
Q
A
seven million monthly visitors
whole lot that 3D can add to a game
Who is the typical casual
game player?
The typical casual gamer is
a 40-something woman. At
Visually, the games are becoming more sophisticated, with
megabytes of high-quality, professional artwork. Yet, beyond
flashy effects, there’s not a
are female, and fully three-quarters are
like Tetris, Bejeweled, or Solitaire; they’re
puting power with them wherever they go,
over the age of 35. This is reflective of
just 2D games at heart, and I think a
even if they only carry a cell phone. The
the industry as a whole.
lot of games will continue to be 2D in
ting more mobile and taking more com-
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the future by their inherent nature. Also,
probably our second-biggest hit; it is
casual game players have older comput-
more action-oriented than Bejeweled, but
ers with substandard video cards, and
still easy to get started.
for them, 3D isn’t practical.
Q
A
How long does it take to
develop a casual game?
In theory, they can be done
very quickly—a matter of
months with a small team of
more people have fast ’Net
A
connections that make downloading a 5 to 10MB game
quick and painless. Also, most peo-
Q
A
What makes some of your
ple’s leisure time continues to become
recent titles compelling?
fragmented; other than while you’re
Chuzzle was our big hit from
on vacation, how often does the aver-
last year. Like Bejeweled, it’s
age working adult have three hours to
a match-three type of game,
set aside for a session of CounterStrike
where you have to shuffle rows
or Halo 2? As consumers increasingly
of furry critters to get three or more of
seek short mental breaks while waiting
them adjacent to one another. The char-
at the bus stop, airport, doctor’s office,
several reasons. First, the bar for produc-
acters are a big part of its appeal; we
grocery store, and so forth, casual
tion quality has been rising, so you need
worked hard to make the Chuzzles cute
games grow in their appeal.
three to five people. In practice,
the dev cycle has been getting longer, for
to spend more time on art, sound, music,
and fun to click on. Also, Feeding Frenzy
and so forth.
2 is our most recent release. It is an
arcade game whereby you control a fish
Q
A
Is there a key to a
that must navigate an ocean environ-
successful casual game?
ment, eating smaller fish to grow larger,
They need to be addictive and
while avoiding getting eaten in turn.
fun, like any game. But where
a casual game differs from a
traditional console game is
that it is often meant to be relaxing or
soothing instead of energizing or exciting. A lot of casual game players play
Q
A
Q
A
Are there any new trends
in the content?
Along with mobile, one interesting new market is the Xbox
360. While this caters in theory to the hard-core gaming
What is the longevity
market, the 360’s Live Arcade feature,
of a casual game?
where you can download simple games
A hit casual game can be a
for $5 to $10, has been extraordinarily
solid seller for years. This is
popular. For the first time it offers con-
largely due to the fact that
sole gamers the chance to buy simpler
these games can never
games of the sort that PC users have
be fully mastered; the
had access to for years.
game continues to present
entering this
Q
A
space growing?
tion in the field, with some companies
increasingly difficult decks
or levels.
In Bonnie’s Bookstore unique word puzzle game, players
help the main character become a children’s book writer.
Q
A
Is the number
of developers
What can we expect
in the near future?
There’s a lot more competition
in the market than there used
to be, and that probably means
there will be some consolida-
Developers con-
getting acquired or dropping out. Also,
tinue to enter the
there has been a lot more interest in the
space because it’s
space from bigger media and game com-
perceived as easy money.
panies lately, and they may change the
The reality is that because
landscape if they aggressively start buy-
games to unwind after a busy day. The
of the try-before-buy sales model, any
ing or building their own casual game
most successful casual games are often
me-too copycats generally don’t suc-
ventures. Furthermore, Asia is a large
the ones that don’t require too much
ceed. Developers also continue to enter
gaming market, and there’s a lot of buzz
concentration.
the casual games space because they see
around multiplayer or community-based
the money that’s being made and want a
games, which are prevalent there and
Q
A
What are some of your
piece of the pie.
elsewhere. There’s also discussion about
most successful games?
Bejeweled and Bejeweled 2 are
our flagship games. They’re
just very simple, elemental
puzzle games. Zuma is
following the Asian lead in basing games’
Q
Is the user base growing?
economics around avatars, subscriptions,
The user base continues to
or microtransactions. Nobody has quite
grow as more people become
made this work in the West yet, but it’s
aware of casual games and
probably only a matter of time.
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phone or web
page
@XI Computer
www.xicomputer.com
19
ACM Siggraph
www.siggraph.org/s2006
38
Alias Systems
www.alias.com
2
Blackmagic Design
www.blackmagic-deisgn.com
5
BOXX Technologies
www.boxxtech.com/apexx4
9
D2 Software
www.d2software.coom
15
e-Frontier
www.e-frontier.com/go/cgwcontest
10
eovia
www.eovia.com
C4
Isilon Systems Inc.
www.isilon.com
27
Metro Orlando Economic Development
www.orlandoedc.com
C3
Okino Computer Graphics, Inc.
www.okino.com
40
Rorke Data
www.rorke.com
11
Softimage Avic
www.softimage.com/face_robot
C2-1
index
indexto
toadvertisers
advertisers
advertiser
A
The ad index is published as a service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.
April 2006, Volume 29, Number 4: COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD (USPS 665-250) (ISSN-0271-4159) is published monthly (12
issues) by COP Communications, Inc. Corporate offices: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204, Tel: 818-291-1100; FAX: 818-2911190; Web Address: www.cgw.com. Periodicals postage paid at Glendale, CA, 91205 & additional mailing offices. COMPUTER GRAPHICS
WORLD is distributed worldwide. Annual subscription prices are $55, USA; $75, Canada & Mexico; $115 International airfreight. To order
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POSTMASTER: Send change of address form to COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD, 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204.
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backdrop
Interview by
Chief Editor Karen Moltenbrey
Jason Kapalka is chief creative officer
Casual Approach
of PopCap Games, a casual game
The genre may be called ‘casual gaming,’ but with a large
ment platforms. Kapalka founded
user and revenue base, it is serious business
the company in 2000 along with
Casual gaming is big business, and getting bigger all the time, as Web-based developers
like PopCap are now porting their games to other platforms, from cell phones and PDAs to
the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade aspect of the third-generation game console. While the types
of games in this space are expanding, most are still puzzle and card titles. Designed for
people of all ages and gaming experiences, casual games tend to draw more women than
other gaming genres. Most appealing about casual games is they do not require a large
developer for the Web, PC, mobile
phones, and other digital entertain-
Brian Fiete and John Vechey.
Q
A
How have casual games
changed or evolved?
When I first got involved in 1997,
it was a very young field, with
numerous dot-com start-ups
viewing the casual games space
time commitment from players. Also, many are fully downloadable from the Internet, so
as a source of ad revenue. At PopCap,
their file sizes tend to be small, so casual games do not have the breathtaking aesthetics
we even tried the ‘free games supported
of compelling PC or console titles. However, that doesn’t mean that the new generation of
entirely by ad and sponsorship dollars’
casual games is not focused on graphics. For instance, PopCap’s extremely popular Bejew-
approach at the outset, only to watch the
eled 2 puzzle game includes some impressive 3D animations that are used primarily as
ad-supported model crumble as the dot-
cut-scenes as the player advances to a higher level of play, while only modest changes have
com boom ended. We believed that there
been made to the graphics in each basic game level.
was a lot of opportunity in the area of
more sophisticated, original game concepts
Q
A
When did you get into the
this not totally boring? The online bingo
in genres like puzzle games, word games,
casual gaming space?
games in 1998 were fairly primitive. I
and classic arcade-style action games, but
Initially, I had been writing for
ended up with a design that’s still used
the business model for casual games—unil
Computer Gaming World, and
on pogo today...basically slapping a chat
then, ad revenue—was looking grim.
then went to San Francisco
room onto a single-player game. You’re
during the dot-com era to join
not directly interacting with other players,
casual game space?
Q
A
Like most of the casual games
making the deluxe versions of the games
the Total Entertainment Network (TEN),
but they still give you a sense of commu-
which would later become pogo.com. I
nity, which is important in online gaming.
was there from 1995 to 2000—the full
into offering free play over the Internet,
Q
A
TEN’s business model changed (several
seemingly mindless little games. But as
times) as well.
I started working on them, I began to
boom-to-bust cycle. TEN started out
as a hard-core gaming service featuring subscription titles like Duke Nukem
and Total Annihilation. However, as the
trend for these sorts of games evolved
Why did you stay in the
money. We refined this a bit by
more involved, with additional bells and
first wasn’t sure about these
justify paying for something that he/she
a simple game was actually a lot harder
than making a complex one, and that
I went from producing multi-
making games accessible to everybody
player tank games to casual
was more challenging and rewarding
games such as...Bingo! My first
than making games for a niche audience
thought was, how do you make
of hard-core gamers.
CW
days of PCs: try the game for
free, and if you like it, send us
whistles, so the consumer could further
affect your direction?
APRIL 2006
model first used in the earliest
core gaming space, and at
How did that market change
We decided to try the shareware
people, I started in the hard-
understand several things...that making
Q
A
How did you respond?
could essentially get for free.
Q
A
That model was successful?
This try-before-you-buy model
has been extremely effective, and
is now used by nearly everyone
in the casual games business as
the primary source of revenue.
continued on page 41
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where companies dream in hypercolor.
Business is busting at the seams for Orlando’s digital
media sector. Home to top-notch studios like Electronic
Arts, specialized higher-ed training programs, and the
world’s largest concentration of simulation developers,
it’s no wonder companies around here are so animated.
C A L L 8 8 8 . T O P. C I T Y O R V I S I T O
RLANDOEDC.COM
________________
CW
A
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Imagine
Passion calls you. Your inner artist responds.
Today you discover who you are meant to be.
Fearless. You embrace the tools in front of you and
take pleasure in your infinite potential. The journey
to your success begins with this first step.
Take it.
The Powerful, Approachable, Complete 3D Solution
CW
experience it at eovia.com
A
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Commercial Breaks Graphics to Go Making Waves

Transcription

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