Massive FX for Doctor Who
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Doctor Who will be showcasing the first use of crowd-generating Massive FX technology – created for the Lord of the Rings movies – on television for the first time when the new season premieres on 5 April. And the guy who developed it for Weta, Stephen Regelous, flew half way round the world to work on the show. For the episode “Partners in Crime", Doctor Who’s CG maestros at The Mill contacted Regelous to help them create an army of diminutive critters. Regelous created Massive at digital effects company Weta. Now regarded as the premier animation system for generating crowd effects, Massive allows animators to populate a scene with individuals who are unique in their appearance and responses. When this is scaled up into the hundreds – or hundreds of thousands – the results are brilliantly realistic. And Regelous couldn’t have been happier to be approached by The Mill. Why? Because he’s a huge Who fan. “The Mill was one of our very first customers,” explains Regelous, referring to the fact that The Mill has used the software for its movie work previously, “and we’ve been very excited to see the wonderful work that’s been produced over the years there using Massive. When I first found out that The Mill was working on Doctor Who, I was quietly hoping that Massive might be used to create hordes of Daleks or Cybermen and with series four, I jumped at the opportunity to be involved”. “By the time I came to London for my three weeks of lending a hand, The Mill had already done a great job of putting together the characters, complete with geometry, textures and animation cycles,” Regelous continues. “So all that was left to help out with was the fun stuff of putting some magic into the brains. Though the creatures all look quite similar to each other, we were able to create a lot of subtle variation in behaviour, motion, proportions and look.” Regelous adds “It’s been very fulfilling to be a fan from about three or four years old and finally be able to contribute to the Doctor Who universe.”
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looks like they watched alien
Posted by Mr Cairo (127.0.0.1) on March 27, 2008 at 06:03 PM GMT #
Eh? He created it in the 1990s *after* doing LOTR? I suspect you mean Weta was created in the 1990s?
Posted by Wolf 359 (127.0.0.1) on March 27, 2008 at 07:36 PM GMT #
Posted by Frogfan (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 12:11 AM GMT #
Posted by Cybos (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 09:07 AM GMT #
Posted by Liam Devine (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 11:10 AM GMT #
Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-hA1
Those are undetailed/untextured test images used for generating the movemnet data NOT what will be screen next week.
Posted by Simon (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 11:18 AM GMT #
Posted by Edward. (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 12:12 PM GMT #
Posted by Finklestone (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 12:22 PM GMT #
"Prepare for trouble
Make it double
To protect the world from devastation
To unite all peoples within our nation
To denounce the evils of truth and love
To extend our reach to the stars above
Jesse!
James!
Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light
Surrender now or prepare to fight
Meowth, that's right!
Posted by David Blyth (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 12:37 PM GMT
Website: http://www.tvrage.com #
Next month in Childhoods Ruined: Tintin has an extra-martial affair with heroin addict Pippi Longstocking.
Posted by Victor Vector (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 11:10 PM GMT #
the Catherine Tate controversy:
"I can't believe the divisive effect
this has had on the show's viewers.It's like
casting Heather Mills as the companion".
Posted by Victor Vector (127.0.0.1) on March 28, 2008 at 11:50 PM GMT #
Yes, of course, in the finished version they'll all be farting.
And calm down Russell. Whatever are you doing coming on here under such a ridiculous alias.
Posted by Liam Devine (127.0.0.1) on March 30, 2008 at 05:17 PM BST #
This is the DEAD FANTASY series part one and two are out. What's so amazing is this was done using character model grabs from computer games such as Final Fantasy and Dead or Alive.
Better than most of the movies i've seen for the past five years!!
Using machines infinitely LESS powerful than the computers used by the Weta studios, can you imagine what the director/animator/choreographer Monty Oum could do with one of those?!?!
I'm liking the Whoverse linking BBC is doing i.e. Torchwood finishes then Dr Who is on, will this mean that the Sarah Jane Adventures will start when Dr Who finishes?
I know your not allowed to use HTML syntax but you really do need to see this, part Two is amazing!!! He did this on a laptop people!
Posted by Adam w Finch (127.0.0.1) on March 31, 2008 at 12:15 AM BST #
Posted by The Brigadier (127.0.0.1) on March 31, 2008 at 04:42 PM BST #
Posted by MTS (127.0.0.1) on April 01, 2008 at 05:07 PM BST #
Posted by Pachineee Buathong (127.0.0.1) on April 03, 2008 at 11:37 AM BST #
Ii watched this episode today.
It was quite amaze :]
They were the uctest little things i have ever seen XD
Posted by yourmum. (127.0.0.1) on April 05, 2008 at 10:28 PM BST #
cant wait till last episode... the doctor... donna... martha... cpt jack.. and the wonderful and never forgotten rose
Posted by billy big biscuits (127.0.0.1) on April 05, 2008 at 11:19 PM BST #
Posted by nadine (127.0.0.1) on April 10, 2008 at 06:12 PM BST #