Founded in 1975
• By George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd.
Star Wars
• First episode released in 1977 / Best Visual Effects
• Launched the company’s credibility
Episode III contained the longest battle
scene of any film in the series.
• Development of new smoke simulation software
and pyrotechnic approaches.
Zenviro (a new camera mapping tool
• Allowed artists to project 2-D images onto 3-D
object in a 3-D environment.
Zeno
• Contained all of the editing tools an
artist would need, therefore eliminating
the need to convert between
programs.
• Now being used in most film and video
game productions.
Physbam
The “Lego Approach”
• The large amounts of
water kept ILM from
being able to use
miniatures. This
advanced form of fluid
simulation was
developed to handle to
large amounts of water.
• Photographs were
projected onto
objects in the 3-D
model one piece at a
time to give the ship its
very detailed interior.
iMocap
• Davy’s crew worse gray body suits that had tracking balls
around their joints.
• iMocap still had its problems, however.
Compare
• Helped animators switch between Nighy’s live performance
and his computer generated character.
Improvements to iMocap
• Its capabilities were expanded to also
interpret Nighy’s facial expressions.
• Tracking Nighy’s tentacles still proved difficult.
• Instead of dressing Depp in a gray suit, only
tracking bands were placed around his joints
so his costume did not have to be computer
generated.
Too Few Men
• The studio came to realize that Davy’s crew
was too small to handle to large fight scenes,
so ten new members to added to the
already existing sixteen.
• All crew members were generated using
iMocap technology.
ILM handled the shots of
Saphira until she became
an adult.
Subdivision Surfacing
• The studio used lived young
animals to reach the desired
effect of how she would move.
• This technique splits the image
into several partitions so that
each piece can be textured
and then molded together.
The Bigger the Animal, the
More Neutral.
Wings prove to be a
problem.
• ILM had learned their lesson The
Hulk about large creatures being
bright colors. They decided to
give Saphira a neutral golden
tone with a blue belly.
• After about a year into
production, the studio
decided they wanted the
wigs to look strong bird wings
rather than like bat wings.
Lighting Difficulties
• The studio first tried to light the robots like vehicles, but realized that there
were too many moving parts to make this possible. Success came when
they lit the robots like live actors.
Coloring
• ILM used the same coloring techniques that had been used in Eragon:
keeping the majority of the robots neutral while using brighter colors as
accents.
In the end…
• ILM succeeded in making the robots look realistic and convinced the
audience that these robots could really be crashing through downtown L.A.
Thestrals
• ILM’s first task for the latest Harry Potter film was to
develop the thestrals that pull the carriages at
Hogwarts.
• They used their Zeno and advanced Physbam
technology to develop the skin around the
creatures.
Dementors
• ILM had developed the dementors for all of the
Harry Potter films, but the studio wanted something
some demonic for this film.
• A program that worked within Physbam was used to
create the flowing of the clothe around the
dementors.
Patronus Charm
• The same technique was used to create the
patronus charm as was used on the dementors.
As of 2006, ILM was in the
process of moving their
studio.
• Lucas was moving his empire
from San Rafael, California to
seventeen acres in San
Francisco’s Presidio.
• Bandwidth was being
increased by ten times.
• Many renowned landscapers
were hired to make the
campus perfect in every way.