A sneak peek this week of Rhythm & Hues' work on THE GOLDEN COMPASS (opening Dec. 7 from New Line Cinema) –- the Los Angeles-based company's most extensive in its 20-year history -- provided a glimpse of the daemons: the animal-like creatures that are manifestations of people's souls in this parallel universe where children are kidnapped by a mysterious organization. The Chris Weitz-directed fantasy is based on Phillip Pullman's award-winning HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy
Mike Fink is the overall visual effects supervisor, with Rhythm & Hues and Rhythm & Hues India contributing 800 shots and more than 500 artists combined. Other vendors include Framestore CFC, Cinesite, Rainmaker, Tippett Studio and Digital Domain.
VFX Supervisor Bill Westenhofer, Co-VFX Supervisor Raymond Chen and Animation Director Erik de Boe lead the Rhythm & Hues team.
"Daemons are a central theme in this parallel universe," Westenhofer emphasized. "The animals follow you for life and exhibit knowledge of the person they shadow."
Westenhofer said the challenge was to make them as real and convincing as possible. Two of the most interesting daemons are Pan and the Golden Monkey. Pan belongs to the adolescent protagonist Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) and is able to shape-shift until Lyra reaches womanhood. Pan can be a ferret, cat or bird. The Golden Monkey belongs to the enchanting and dangerous Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), and is a fictional variation of a spider monkey.
First and foremost was creating believable 3D characters (all keyframed) with realistic weight and motion. Contact with the real life actors also proved challenging. The tech animation team was responsible for whisker bounce, fur, mass and simulations to help sell the realism.
Maintaining consistency (including color palettes among shape-shifting daemons) was also a challenge, as were the transformations, which had to be smooth. Since these are no ordinary creatures, a special colored sheen was created to make them stand out. And the eyes of the daemons had to match the actor's they are paired with.
Dust particles in this universe are a source of intelligence, so Rhythm & Hues created fluid simulations to visualize this. Most intriguing is the way the company pulled off the death of daemons through the fiery disintegration of dust particles using this same fluid simulation.
For a key battle sequence shot on greenscreen, Massive was used to create a multitude of background daemons.
After working on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, Rhythm & Hues has definitely streamlined the way the company handles hundreds of shots. "This is a leap forward in realistic animals," remarked de Boe.
Mike Fink is the overall visual effects supervisor, with Rhythm & Hues and Rhythm & Hues India contributing 800 shots and more than 500 artists combined. Other vendors include Framestore CFC, Cinesite, Rainmaker, Tippett Studio and Digital Domain.
VFX Supervisor Bill Westenhofer, Co-VFX Supervisor Raymond Chen and Animation Director Erik de Boe lead the Rhythm & Hues team.
"Daemons are a central theme in this parallel universe," Westenhofer emphasized. "The animals follow you for life and exhibit knowledge of the person they shadow."
Westenhofer said the challenge was to make them as real and convincing as possible. Two of the most interesting daemons are Pan and the Golden Monkey. Pan belongs to the adolescent protagonist Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) and is able to shape-shift until Lyra reaches womanhood. Pan can be a ferret, cat or bird. The Golden Monkey belongs to the enchanting and dangerous Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), and is a fictional variation of a spider monkey.
First and foremost was creating believable 3D characters (all keyframed) with realistic weight and motion. Contact with the real life actors also proved challenging. The tech animation team was responsible for whisker bounce, fur, mass and simulations to help sell the realism.
Maintaining consistency (including color palettes among shape-shifting daemons) was also a challenge, as were the transformations, which had to be smooth. Since these are no ordinary creatures, a special colored sheen was created to make them stand out. And the eyes of the daemons had to match the actor's they are paired with.
Dust particles in this universe are a source of intelligence, so Rhythm & Hues created fluid simulations to visualize this. Most intriguing is the way the company pulled off the death of daemons through the fiery disintegration of dust particles using this same fluid simulation.
For a key battle sequence shot on greenscreen, Massive was used to create a multitude of background daemons.
After working on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, Rhythm & Hues has definitely streamlined the way the company handles hundreds of shots. "This is a leap forward in realistic animals," remarked de Boe.
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