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Robert Kuczera was a Senior Animator for several scenes involving the aliens of District 9. In an interview with CGHeute, he discusses some of the finer points of using motion capture data.

What are the characteristics when working with Motion Capture data?

The first work with animates on basis of Motion Capture data is the animation data so well it goes from breakdown data (Jittern, Zuckeln) settling and nevertheless as much as possible from the performance of the Motion Capture Performers maintain.

Working and Ausglätten of the animation curves of the Motion Capture data over again, without losing much from the animation refinement to, exclusively took place in graph the editor of Maya.

A large challenge with work with Motion Capture data is to find out to what extent one the Acting of the Motion Capture Performers change may.

The interview is in German, but you can use various online translation services to get the basics (Babelfish Translation, Google Translation).

Robert Kuczera – Animieren für District 9 | cgheute.

Graphics district9, interview, vfx

MAXON has issued a new press release congratulating the guys behind District 9, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and 2012 for their Academy Award Nominations, and is not so careful to point out their use of various MAXON software packages.

“We’re thrilled again this year to see our customers recognized at the highest levels for creative excellence in digital filmmaking,” said Paul Babb, president, MAXON USA. “This year’s nominees pushed the boundaries of 3D technology to new heights delighting audiences with both fantastic and realistic effects. We deeply appreciate their reliance on our professional 3D animation toolset to achieve these well-deserved milestones.”

Several studios are mentioned across the various projects, but it really looks like BodyPaint and CINEMA4D are getting a lot of use out of the major studios.  Read the full release after the break.

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A new press release from Maxon reveals that their CINEMA4D and BodyPaint3D products were a big hit in several of this summer’s biggest films.

Newbury Park, CA – November 12, 2009 – Some of this year’s hottest movies, including G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Surrogates and District 9, all have one thing in common – they feature spectacular CG animation and visual effects sequences created with MAXON’s CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D, the leading 3D animation software celebrated for its intuitive interface, powerful toolset and positive impact on productivity.

Read the full release after the break, and see some great pictures of their work.

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Science bodypaint3d, cinema4d, district9, maxon, movie, surrogates, vfx

CGSociety has a fantastic interview and writeup on the various people and technologies used in District9.  Expected to be a 2-part feature, part 1 is online and covers the work done by Vancouver’s ImageEngine.  They get into some great details such as Marco MEnco’s work on the “Prawns”.

Marco’s specialty was poly-modeling and texturing of the aliens and the clothes. Starting from a 3D scan of the clay model provided by WETA Workshop, the IE crew re-topologized the model and then cleaned the geometry in Maya to prepare it for rigging. Playing with lots of different aspects of character creation, they used ZBrush mostly for texturing, for gross displacement for background clothes. “I was pretty excited to work with the ‘marquette’ of Christopher Johnson (the main alien) on my desk, especially thinking that was done by the great artists at WETA,” explains Menco.

They also get into the details of managing the huge amount of assets involved in the alien textures and models, using an in-house tool called Jabuka.

“Jabuka is an asset management and shot setup system written in python using a postgreSQL database backend,” adds Nigel Denton-Howes, Modeling and Texturing Supervisor. “Many of its shot-end lighting tools are built upon the cortex libraries open sourced by Image Engine. Jabuka was designed to handle version control of assets, shot setup and interdepartmental dependencies once in shots.” Although Jabuka was used and useful on every shot in ‘District 9′, it really shines in shots with large numbers of creatures.

CGSociety – DISTRICT 9 [PART 1].

Graphics district9, image engine, jabuka, movie, vfx

fxGuide has added several new before & after shots of the plates used in District9.  I find the ones showcasing the work of Imageengine where you see the actors in the original plates, replaced with the Aliens in the final shots.

For District 9, writer/director Neil Blomkamp turned to a host of Vancouver-based studios, along with Weta Workshop and Weta Digital in New Zealand, to provide alien creatures and other effects for the film. fxguide profiles the work of Image Engine, The Embassy Visual Effects, Zoic Studios and Goldtooth Creative in bringing Blomkamp’s vision to life.

via fxguide – vfx knowledge – District 9.

Graphics district9, image engine, makingof, movie, vfx

Weta Digital had the task of making the “Dropship” from the end of District 9.  The liftoff, short flight, and subsequent crash landing have now been added to their website in a short video showing the various layers used to create the composition.

Weta Digital.

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District9 is out, and reports of the VFX work have been coming out for a while now.  A new press release from Zoic shows some of what they contributed to the film.

As one of the VFX companies on the project, Zoic Studios was tapped to design and create 30 shots including the highly complex Alien Fluid, which was based on the behavior of Ferro fluid when affected by an electrical current. The team also created explosions, weapons activations, Alien weapon trails, an armored vehicle and blood and dirt debris.

Read the full press release after the break, with photos from the film.

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Science district9, movie, vfx, zoic