DISCREET PLAY KEY ROLE IN EFFECTS FILMS

DISCREET have announced that their powerful effects software systems played a key role in the special effects generation for ‘The Perfect Storm’, winner of the Achievement in Special Visual Effects BAFTA.
The award was given at a ceremony held on February 25 at the Odeon, Leicester Square, in London. Visual effects teams that worked on other BAFTA ‘Visual Effects’ nominees including ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ also used Discreet’s high-end digital systems and software in the post-production process.
Eric Lemaréchal, General Manager of Discreet EMEA, said: “We are very pleased to see our customers recognised and rewarded for the second year in a row. Again, they achieved great success at the BAFTAs, with the winner of the 'Achievement in Special Visual Effects' award using Discreet solutions.
"We feel confident that our special effects systems will continue to spearhead creativity and play a key role in helping film-makers to create great cinema long into the future."
On ‘The Perfect Storm’, Catherine Tate’s colleagues at Industrial Light & Magic needed sky replacements performed on a series of shots and needed the work done in just a few days. She said: “These shots came to us at the very last minute, and for each of them we had to finish in a few days what would normally take from one to two weeks to complete.
“And, in addition to speed, a high level of interactivity was extremely important to us for this project. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish either without the speed, flexibility and interactivity of inferno.”
The hidden effects used on ‘Gladiator’ (pictured) are the work of London-based Mill Film. From the computer-generated Coliseum to making 2,000 extras seem like hundreds of thousands, effects helped enrich the story and convey the power of the Roman Empire. Matching the effects and lighting to the live-action camera required intelligent compositing.
On ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, lead compositer, Travis Baumann and the rest of the team at Manex VFX in Los Angeles used inferno throughout post-production for tracking as well as for pre-visualisation of some of the most complicated sequences. Throughout the process, Baumann made extensive use of inferno’s strengths at compositing in an interactive 3D environment.
Discreet’s inferno offers an integrated suite of visual effects tools designed to provide immediate feedback for interactive online experimentation and client-driven design, while flame’s real-time online digital effects toolset is ideal for broadcasters and boutique post-production facilities. (CD)