“The Lord of the Rings:“The Return of the King”” by Jackson


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  • ©Peter Jackson  Weta Digital Ltd.


Conference:


  • SIGGRAPH 2004
  • More animation videos from SIGGRAPH 2004:
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Title:


    The Lord of the Rings:“The Return of the King”

Length:


    5:58

Director(s):


Company / Institution / Agency:


  • Weta Digital Ltd.

Description:


    For “The Return of the King,” the third film in New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Weta Digital aimed to exceed expectations set by the previous two films. Returning favourites such as Gollum were taken to new heights of realism and digital performance while the battle of Pelennor Fields drew on every aspect of the VFX palette.

    At Weta Digital, the work of the artist is paramount. While we have an impressive array of technology at our disposal, including world- leading and Academy Award-winning solutions for digital creature rendering and crowd animation, this technology exists only to serve as a tool set for our artists. It is the work of our artists in visualising a whole world such as Middle Earth, placing the audience in the middle of the battle of Pelennor Fields, and bringing a complex digital character like Gollum to life that we consider to be Weta Digital’s true strengths.

Hardware:


    HARDWARE: Desktop: Dual 2.8 Ghz CPU, 4Gb RAM, NVIDIA FX1000 Graphics. Renderwall: 900 x 2.2 Ghz CPU 2Gb RAM, 2352 x 2.8 Ghz CPU 3Gb RAM.

Software:


    SOFTWARE DEVELOPER: Modelling and Animation: Maya 4.5. Compositing: Shake 2.5/3.0. Rendering: RenderMan 11.5, Grunt (Guaranteed Renderer of Unlimited Things), in-house software for rendering massive dynamics: Realflow 2.0, Syflex 2.0. Additional software: Commotion 2.2 (2D rotoscoping), Inferno, Flame, Cineon, Zbrush, Furnace, Mayaman, boujou, Reflex, 3DE, Motionbuilder, Photoshop, Advantage, Houdini, Studio Paint. OS: Linux RH7.2, Irix 6.5, Windows 2000, Mac OS X.


Additional Contributors:


    Digital Visual Effects designed and created by Weta Digital Ltd., Wellington, New Zealand
    Visual Effects Supervisor: Joe Letteri
    Visual Effects Producer: Eileen Moran
    Animation Designed & Supervised by Randall William Cook
    VFX Cinematographer: Brian Van’t Hul
    Software Dev Supervisor: Richard Addison-Wood
    Models Supervisor: Matt Aitken
    Chief Technical Officer: Scott Houston
    Creature Supervisor: Dana Peters
    Digital Operations Manager: Milton Ngan
    Animation Supervisor: Richard Baneham
    Head of Facilities: Suzanne Labrie
    3D Supervisor: Theresa Ellis Rygiel
    Digital Image Supervisor: Pete Williams
    2D Supervisor: Nelson Sepulveda
    VFX Editor: Matt Holmes
    Massive Supervisor: Jon Allitt
    Digital Systems Architect: Jon Labrie
    Production Manager: Annette Wullems
    Production Manager: Robin Saxen
    Paint & Roto Supervisor: Sandy Houston
    Senior Animators: Elisabeth Arko, Stephen A. Buckley, Andrew Calder, Adam Dotson, Oliver Exmundo, Richard Frances-Moore, Joe Han, Christopher Hatala, Steven Hornby, Keith Huggins, Heather Knight, Matt Logue, Chad Moffitt, Mike Murphy, Atsushi Sato, Mike Stevens, Paul Story, Mary Victoria
    Animators: Shane Acker, Jamie Beard, Cory Bedwell, Graham Binding, Samati Boonchitsitsak, Alexander Burt, Paul Charisse, David Clayton, Richard Dexter, Grace Blanco Dotson, Paul Griffin, Wayne Howe, Michael Kiely, Bert Klein, Sophie Lodge, Patrick Lowery, Robyn Luckham, Gianni Malpeli, Michelle Meeker, Gwilym Morris, Thai Nguyen, Tonya Noerr, Annabel Page, Matthew Riordan, Scott Smith, Jon Turburfield, Dennis Yoo
    Animation Lead: Jason Schleifer
    Animation Technical Directors: Shawn Dunn, Justin Miller, Casey Dame
    3D Sequence Supervisors: Greg Butler, Dan Lemmon, Eric Saindon, Guy Williams
    3D Sequence Lead TD’s: Eric Fernandes, Chris George, Geoff Harvey, Todd Alan Harvey, Samson Kao, Ken McGaugh, Nick McKenzie, Matthias Menz, Mike Perry, Jean-Colas Prunier, Brian Samuels, Sean Schur, Mark Tait, Craig Wentworth, R. Christopher White
    3D Lighting Technical Directors: Kelly Bechtle-Woods, Jill Berger, Sam Bui, Kathleen Davidson, Dale Drummond, Frank Dürschinger, Mark Fattibene, Shine Fitzner, Mark Gee, David Gould, Michael Grobe, Mikael Hakansson, Sandip Kalsy, Miae Kang, Tom Kluyskens, Bomsok Ku, Joosten Kuypers, Jake Lee, Michael Manza, Jean Matthews, Jennifer Nona, Jane S. O’Callaghan, Roger Shortt, Rob Stauffer, Lee F. Sullivan, Blake Sweeney, Eric Tablada, Zachary Tucker, Wayne Stables
    Barad Dur Destruction Lead: Gray Horsfield
    Lead Environment Technical Directors: Hiroaki Muramoto, Imery Watson
    Shader Writers: Paul McInnes, Steve Upstill, Mike Lemmon
    2D Sequence Supervisors: G.G. Heitmann Demers, Alex Lemke, Mark Tait Lewis
    2D Sequence Leads: Sonia Calvert, Paul Conway, Jason Greenblum, Ed Hawkins, Dave Houghton-Williams, Saki Mitchell, Alfred Murrle, Frank Rüter, Charles Tait, Matt Welford, Erik Winquist, Klaus Wuchta
    Lead Compositors: Colin Alway, Lyse Beck, Jonathan Bowen, Katie Hecker: Pete Jopling, Laure Lacroix, Keith MacGowan, Ivan Moran, Lisa Moore Alway, Fred Place, Karim Sahai
    Compositors: Johan Aberg, Holly Acton, David Brunette, Chris Burn, Catherine Burrow, Jodi Campanaro, Norman Cates, Simon Dye, Claire Inglis, Moritz Glaesle, Simon Jung, Rita Kunzler, David Man Yiu-Chung, Jolene McCaffrey, Michael F. Miller, Tor-Björn Olsson, Helen Paul, Hannah Peirce, Jason Porter, Donny Rausch, Tom Rolfe, Campbell Rose, Tomoko Shin, Christian Zeh, Lindsay Adams, Alex Fry, Kory Juul, Lance Anthony Mabin, Steve McGee, Mike Root, Christoph Salzmann, John Stillman, Tamara Stone, Guerdon Trueblood, Udo Smutney
    Inferno Artists: Julian Bryant, Mark Hopkins
    Colour Timer: Mel Kangleon
    Head of Matte Painting: Max Dennison
    Sky Photographer: Guy Robinson
    Senior Matte Painters: Ronn Brown, Dylan Cole, Karen deJong, Roger Kupelian, Mathieu Raynault
    Lead Digital Modellers: Kyla Bendall, Andrew Camenisch, Glen Christie, Dave Cardwell, Tibor Madjar, Marco Revelant
    Digital Modellers: John Butiu, Florian Fernandez, Paul Jenness, Andrew Kunzel, James Ogle, David Ostler, Orash Rahnema, Ileana Stravoskiadi, Wade Acuff
    Lead Creature Technical Directors: Andrea Merlo, Julian Butler, Steve Preeg
    Creature Facial Lead: Bay Raitt
    Creature FX Art Director: Gino Acevedo
    Rotomation Technical Supervisor: Tim McCallum
    Creature Technical Directors: Frederic Fortin, Briana Hamilton, Jeff Martin, Peter Megow, Noah Peterson, Navin Martin Pinto, Jakob Schmidt, Craig Lewis Stevenson, Eric Tang, Stephen Unterfranz, Marco Vidaurre
    Lead Texture Painters: Paul Campion, Mel James, Sergei Nevshupov, Dmitri Krasnokoutski, Hillary Yeo, Tze Ann
    Texture Painters: Ben Dishart, Simeon Duncombe, Nick Gabchenko, Glen Gustafson, John Huikku, George Edwin Oliver Jr., Robert O’Neill, Lance Powell, Jason Snyman, David Swift, Angela Ursillo
    Lead Massive Technical Directors: John Haley, Geoff Tobin, Lisa Wild
    Massive Technical Directors: Dave R. Howe, Linda Johnson, Dylan Neill, Terrance Tornberg, Malcolm Wright, Chris Young
    MOCAP Supervisor: David Bawel
    MOCAP Assistant Director: Lisa Wildermoth
    MOCAP Combat Choreographers: Carrie Thiel, Michelle Ladd, Sharon James
    MOCAP Technician: John Curtis
    MOCAP Studio Technical Director: James Van Der Reyden
    MOCAP Stage Manager: Frank Cowlrick
    MOCAP Stage Hands: Jacob Botting, Emily Pearce
    Motion Editor Lead TD: Patrick Runyon
    Motion Editor Lead: Sandra Warren
    Senior Motion Editor: Bassim Haddad
    MOCAP/Animation Assistant: Mike Wallis
    Motion Editors: Hans Butler, Nick Carter, Kevin Cushing, Tom Holzinger, Brett Ineson, Jacob Luamanuvae-Su’a, Danie Lupovici, Sverker Nordqvist, Emi Tahira, Todd Widup
    Senior Camera Technical Directors: Lee Bramwell, Nic Marrison, Matt Mueller, Stephan Remstedt
    On-Set Technicians: Malcolm Angell, Erina Fon, Eric Gambini, Richard Hopkins, Alex Kramer, Brian McMillin, Sean Mathiesen
    Camera Technical Directors: Michael Bain, Emily Cobb, Mark Evans, Allan Torp Jensen, Sergei Koudriavtsev, Lars Kramer, Vicky Kwan, James McCallum, Wolfgang Neidermeier, Alexander Nowotny, Rolfe Schneider, Albrecht Steinmetz
    Senior Software Developer: Jeff Hameluck
    Pipeline Engineer Supervisor: Bret Hughes
    Software Developers: Philip Hunter, Martin Preston, Shane Cooper
    Pipeline Engineers: Lance Lones, Joe Spampinato, Remy Torre
    Senior Paint & Roto Artists: Paula Bell, Jim Croasdale, Brett Dix, Quentin Hema, Alex Mein Smith, Barry Metin, Emrys Plaisted, Kara Vandeleur, Phil Van Der Reyden, Christine Watkins
    Paint & Roto Artists: Mia Askew, Ned Barraud, Suzanne Becker, Sandrine Bernet, John-Michael Bills, Alicia Bissinger, Jennifer Bloomfield, Barbara Bordo, Hyeseung Nam, Marcus Carter, Tim Cheng, Christine Cram, Doug Cram, Steven Cronin, Loring Doyle, Mia Jewett, Agnes Leroux, David Luke, Brenda Mah-Madjar, Siuan McGahan, Angela Menz, Lauren Morimoto, Troy Ramsey, Derek Rausch, Paul Redican, Sandra Reis, Anne Ritter, Jennifer Scheer, Hamish Schumacher, Brad Selkirk, Murray Smallwood, Cameron Smith, Justin Steel, Petra Stueben, Jensen Toms, Trish Whalan, Melissa Widup, Joyce Young
    Sequence Managers: Cheryl Kerr, Cyndi Ochs, Sandy Coco Taylor, Marvyn Young, Clare Burgess
    Animation Department Manager: Monica Singh Haley
    MOCAP/Massive Coordinator: Mahria Sangster
    3D Department Coordinator: Susie May Kleis
    Matte Painting Coordinator: Annie Taunga
    2D Department Coordinator: Steven McKendry
    Digital Resource Manager: Adrian Samuels
    Pre-Production Coordinator: Fiona Foster
    Digital Resource Coordinator: Roland Watson
    Code/Camera Coordinator: Kevin L. Sherwood
    Publicity Coordinator: Hannah Clarke
    Production Accountant: Steve Bayliss
    Accounts Assistant: Heather Kinaston-Smith
    VFX Producers’s Assistant: Kathryn Horton
    Recruitment: Leslie Oliver
    HR Manager: Susan Cuthbert
    HR Assistant: Cathy Adams
    Facility Manager: Donyale Hema
    Facility Technician: Mike Gunn
    Housing Coordinators: Jacqui Pryor, Georgina White
    Production Runners: Luaan Ruaine, Paul Everitt, Dave Hampton, Erin Horton, Sarah Rausch, Janet Sharpe, Ross Collinge, Roxanne Sutherland-Valentine, Samantha-Kate Belcher, Dee Jamieson, Steven Shields
    Associate VFX Editor: Lucas Putnam
    Scanning Coordinator, Jade Lorier
    Second Assistant Editor: Martin Simcock
    Editorial Assistant: Jessica Cowley
    Digital Imaging Engineer: Roman Gadner
    Macintosh Programmer: Glenn Anderson
    Scan/Record Supervisor: Nick Booth
    Scan/Record Technician: Mohan Ramachandran
    Systems Manager: Paul Gunn
    Wrangling Manager: Betty Shaw
    Systems Support: Shane McEwan
    IT Coordinator: Ann Cloet
    Technical Support Leads: Campbell Taylor Fairweather, Campbell March
    System Administrators: Aaron Caskey, Evan John Fraser, Bill Ryder, Adam Shand, Glen Sharah
    Tech Support: Malcolm Aitchison, Geoff Gordon, Geoff Hadfield, Ben Hall, Katherine Hurst, Damian Mackle, David Miles, Tim Nicholas, Siong Long Choong
    System Coders: Svend Andersen, Loren Brookes, David Gilligan, John Clegg, Lulu Lianhlupuii Pachuau
    Render/Data Wranglers: Graeme Demmocks, Tristan McMahon, Mike O’Neill, Giuseppe Poli, Nick Shore, Aaron Symes, Murray Nuttall, Edward Wilkie, Joseph Wilkie, Lucas Young

Animation / Video Overview:


Type: