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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has finally hit theaters here in the US (It landed in European theaters a few years ago, and shows some fantastic VFX work ranging from the psychedelic title sequence to the more traditional color work and face-replacement.  Over at FXGuide, they talk to Method and Digital Domain about their contributions.

“The vignettes with Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) and Salander (Rooney Mara) had a base of motion capture for the body performances and then were enhanced bia keyframing,” continues Ross. “The performance capture helped us get the subtle nuances of realistic movement. The character’s facial animation is morph targets driven by performance reference of Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig which we shot here in LA during additional filming, it allowed us to capture them still ‘in character’.”

via Digital storytelling: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | fxguide.

Graphics digital domain, method, movie, vfx

A new VFX studio is on the street today, built from the pieces of Ascent Media and CIS Visual Effects.  Both owned by Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, they’ve been combined and renamed into Method Studios under the guidance of the new Executive Vice President Dan Glass and Weta Digitals CTO Paul Ryan, now the VP of Technology.

“By combining CIS with Method, we are able to provide our clients a broader range of visual effects services with an integrated workflow across Deluxe’s multiple locations,” said Stefan Sonnenfeld, President of Creative Services for Deluxe.

This new studio has offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, and London, making it an international venture with projects available to tap into tax incentives and resources around the world.  Get all the details at their new site.

via Visual Effects Companies CIS and Method Form Global Powerhouse – BroadcastNewsroom.

Graphics ascent, cis, method

The latest commercial for Halo: Reach “Deliver Hope” shows some fantastic VFX and CG work alongside Live Action, and is the focus of a new interview available on the Chaos Group’s website.

Halo: Reach “Deliver Hope” is an emotional live-action trailer with stunning effects and awesome animation, recently acknowledged with VES Award for outstanding visual effects. Can you share more from ‘the kitchen’ of the project?

Are you trying to taste what I’m cooking here? With a commercial production this large you pretty much have to raid the pantry. That includes using grandma’s fine china plates. The main course for this commercial was Maya and Houdini. Grilling was done by Nuke and Flame. Then for desert Artists had the choice between 3 Renderers to use on Halo. Renderman, Mantra, or V-Ray.

Watch the commercial below, then read the entire interview.

via Customer Success Story :: Method – Halo: Reach “Deliver Hope”Interview with Scott Metzger, VFX Artist.

Graphics halo, method, vfx, video game