Web-slinging hero comes alive with Autodesk

zoom

zoom

CafeFX used Maya 3D animation software for modelling, texturing, rigging and animating characters on approximately 50% of the shots completed by Imageworks.

zoom

Plates of a building in New York were juxtaposed with its cgi counterpart, only to be destroyed in a hail of animated and propagated glass, rubble and smoke.

Spider-Man 3 did so well in the Middle East market that it is reported to be the first Hollywood movie to have grossed more than US $1 million in the Arab world. In fact, the total revenue from the movie in Arab countries is reported to have gone up to a whopping US $5 million. Clearly, this interest from the Arab world merits a closer look at the visual effects in this film.

Sony Pictures Imageworks brought to life the tangle of computer-generated villains and heroes in Spider-Man 3 with the help of post production house, CafeFX.

CafeFX used Autodesk's Maya 3D animation software for modelling, texturing, rigging, match-moving, character animation and visual effects animation on approximately 50% of the shots completed by Imageworks.

The firm used Flame for character face replacements and to composite live footage of the main characters into fully computer-generated environments.

"One of our most significant accomplishments on Spider-Man 3 was integrating character animation with effects animation, as they were very closely related," says Peter Nofz, Sony Pictures Imageworks' digital effects supervisor for Spider-Man 3. "Maya's flexibility and adaptability made it possible for character animators to work concurrently with effects animators to produce seamless results."

CafeFX also created a 46-shot sequence vertigo-inducing crane disaster for Spider-Man 3, setting the stage for a classic Spidey rescue.

The scene opens with a steel beam, suspended from an out-of-control construction crane, spinning towards a glass-encased skyscraper. From her photo shoot taking place inside the skyscraper, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) reacts to the impending disaster and the audience sees her dawning horror in the reflection of the windows. She dives for cover as the beam slices through the building, shattering windows and shearing off support columns. The off-balance crane then swings in a wild arc and takes out the floor below, causing the floor that Gwen is on to collapse and tilt at a perilous angle.

CafeFX integrated hundreds of animated CG elements with live action cinematography, models and miniatures, digital doubles and photographic backgrounds of New York in the hybrid production of this signature sequence, which is also seen from multiple angles and triple takes.

"The crane disaster sequence challenged us on all levels," says Scott Gordon, visual effects supervisor at CafeFX, who oversaw the production of visual effects for the movie. "In order for the action to work, it had to play out against the ultimate choreography, integration and interaction of countless practical and computer graphics elements."

Photographic backgrounds, shot by Imageworks, were tiled and mapped by CafeFX onto the geometry of the Manhattan cityscape throughout the sequence. A real steel beam was intercut with a cgi beam; the model crane cab was augmented with cgi glass and a cgi crane. Plates of an actual building in New York were juxtaposed with its cgi counterpart, only to be destroyed in a hail of procedurally animated and propagated glass, rubble and smoke.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

READERS' COMMENTS

View all comments (0)

Have your say

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM