Avatar James Cameron: CG film that bring new era of motion capture tech

Abstract
This research explores the overview of the Avatar and how the
movie brings a new era of motion capture technology. Primary and
secondary data analysis was conducted by assembling information
gathered from manuscripts, journals, and a behind-the-scenes
documentary. Our analysis showed the impact of Avatar on 3d
animated film and the new technology of 360° motion capture
room manages to be the top of the box office in 2009 and held the
title of the highest-grossing film for a decade. The reason we choose
this film is because we deem Avatar as the most intriguing work of
art that captures how far 3d technology has accomplished. We
conclude that Avatar has become the stepping stone of achieving a
new era of motion capture technology. We hope this study to
convey and appreciate Avatar's achievements as it should be
glorified.

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Introduction
Avatar has contributed to the Film industry. Even before we begin
to dive deep into the subject, we all aware of how this movie shock
the world when it first released. This analysis is crucial because of
not many media platforms display the transformation in the film
industry after utilizing Avatar's legacy such as Techvis,
Performance Capture, and Fusion Camera System. Not only that,
but we also will depict how the newfound technology assists Avatar
becoming the incredible movie we know today.

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 James Cameron’s Avatar
Synopsis
The story starts off in a futuristic earth with Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine who thinks that he
has no more purpose in life. However, his life took a drastic turn when his scientist twin brother,
Tommy Sully, was killed in a robbery. Tommy was supposed to be a part of the Avatar Program, but
now, Jake must take his place. By doing so, Jake and a team of scientists were sent to a faraway moon
called Pandora. There, the human base was operated by the Resources Development Administration
(RDA), who runs a team of scientists and military personnel. The main goal in that planet was to
obtain Unobtanium, a precious mineral that costs 20 million dollars per kilogram. However, further
obtaining this mineral will disturb the natives, called the Na’vi.

The Avatar Program lets humans connect to an Avatar, an artificial hybrid between human and
Na’vi. This program was made by the scientists to peacefully negotiate with the Na’vi so they can
obtain the Unobtanium in a civilized manner. However, the military team felt that it was better to
use force because negotiation is a waste of time. Jake was more on the military’s side, following their
orders, but that soon changed when he met one of the natives, Neytiri. She showed Jake the beauty
of life on Pandora, and it was enough to make Jake change his mind. However, the military was still
focused on taking over Pandora and getting all the Unobtanium no matter what. Then it was up to
Jake and his team of scientists and the Na’vi to protect Pandora from the incoming military attack.

Main Cast: Production Crew:

Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington), a Directed and Written by James Cameron
paraplegic ex-marine who joined the Avatar
Program. Produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau

Dr. Grace Augustine (played by Sigourney Music by James Horner

Weaver), an experienced scientist and the Cinematography by Mauro Fiore
leader of the Avatar Program.
Editing by John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin
Norm Spellman (played by Joel David Moore), a
scientist and one of Jake’s first friends in the
Avatar Program.
Trudy Chacon (played by Michelle Rodriguez), Production Locations:
a pilot that takes the Avatar team to various Hamakua Coast, Hawaii, USA
locations in Pandora.
Kaua’i, Hawaii, USA
Miles Quaritch (played by Stephen Lang), the
chief security officer of the military who does O’ahu, Hawaii, USA
not care about the natives. Wellington, New Zealand
Parker Selfridge (played by Giovanni Ribisi), the
Playa Vista, California, USA
administrator of Resources Development
Administration who only cares about getting Los Angeles, California, USA
Unobtanium.
Neytiri (played by Zoe Saldana), the princess of
the Omoticaya Clan of the Na’vi.
Mo’at (played by CCH Pounder), Neytiri’s mother,
and the clan’s spiritual leader.
Eytukan (played by Wes Studi), Neytiri’s father,
and the leader of the clan.
Tsu’tey (played by Laz Alonso), the clan’s
strongest warrior.
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Main Studios: Supporting Studios:
Stan Winston Studio (Character design)
Weta Digital (Visual effects and animation)
Industrial Light & Magic (Visual effects and animation)
Giant Studios (Performance capture technology)
Framestore (Visual Effects)
Halon Entertainment (Previs)
(and more)

Short Production Trivia:

James Cameron has already worked
on Avatar since 1994, and it was
originally supposed to be released in
1999. However, he stated that the
technology at the time was not
advanced enough to fulfill his visions
and expectations, and at the time, no
studio was able to fund him. So, he
waited until the time is right.

Interestingly, when he saw the

character Gollum from The Lord of
the Rings: Two Towers (2002), he
was convinced that there was
enough CGI technology to continue
developing Avatar. After
preparations were ready, James
Cameron and his production team
finally began filming in early 2007.
 James Cameron
James Cameron, Canadian filmmaker known for
his expansive vision and innovative special-effects
films, most notably Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009).
Born on August 16, 1954, in Kapuskasing, Ontario,
Canada. A science-fiction fan as a child, he grew up
to become one of the most visionary filmmakers in
Hollywood. In 1971, his family moved to California.
After studying physics at California State University
at Fullerton, Cameron worked at a series of jobs,
including machinist and truck driver, before a
viewing of Star Wars (1977) inspired him to try his
hand at movie making.
(Picture: James Cameron, @ JimCameron)
He went to work on low-budget science fiction films
as a self-taught designer and visual effects artist. In
Film:
1978, Cameron made his first film, a science-fiction 2019 Terminator: Dark Fate (Writer, Producer)
short called Xenogenesis. The film helped him get a
job with New World Pictures, a company run by 2019 Alita: Battle Angel (Writer, Producer,
famed B-movie director Roger Corman. Screenplay)

At New World, Cameron worked in number of 2012 Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away (Executive
different roles, from art director on Battle Beyond Producer)
the Stars (1980) and the following year he made his
directorial debut with Piranha II: The Spawning 2011 Sanctum (Executive Producer)
(1981). Fail at the box office, the movie encouraged
2009 Avatar (Director, Writer, Producer,
Cameron to write his own material. The result was
Screenplay, Editor)
Terminator (1984) and established Cameron as a
bankable filmmaker. A series of high-the and big- 2005 Aliens of the Deep (Director, Producer,
budget pictures followed, including Aliens (1986) and Cinematographer)
The Abyss (1989), each of which received an Oscar
for best visual effect, Terminator 2: Judgment Day 2003 Ghosts of the Abyss (Director, Producer)
(1991) and True Lies (1994).
2002 Solaris (Producer)
In 1992, Cameron formed his own production
company Lightstorm Entertainment and the 1998 Titanic (Director, Writer, Producer,
following year he cofounded Digital Domain a state- Screenplay, Cinematographer)
of-the-art effects company.
1994 True Lies (Director, Producer,
In 1998, Cameron write, direct, and produce Titanic, Screenplay)
one of the most expensive movies ever made and
broke box-office record and tied Ben-Hur (1959) for 1991 Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Director,
most Academy Awards won (11 Awards). Skillfully Writer, Producer, Screenplay)
blending special effects with a fictional love story,
Titanic stood atop the American chats for an 1989 The Abyss (Director, Writer)
unprecedented 15 weeks and earned more than $2.1 1985 Rambo: First Blood Part II (Screenplay)
billion to become the highest-grossing movie in the
world. 1984 The Terminator (Director, Screenplay)
In 2009, Cameron returned to feature films with 1981 Piranha II: The Spawning (Director,
Avatar, a science-fiction thriller that was noted for Writer)
its special effects. A major box-office success, it
surpassed Titanic to become the highest-grossing 1981 Escape From New York
movie in the world, earning more than $2.7 billion. (Cinematographer)
The movie also received critical acclaim. At the
Golden Globes ceremony in 2010, Cameron 1980 Battle beyond the Stars (Art Director)
received the award for best director and the film

5 was named best picture.

Creativity behind the scenes
As said before, James Cameron has already worked on
Avatar since 1994. The 80-page treatment for Avatar
was already complete before he left for his 1995
undersea expedition to the Titanic, but the necessary
technology did not exist to achieve his story and vision.
Avatar gathered dust till early 2005, when advances in
digital technology made it possible to tell the story the
way he imagined. Concept designs, technical research,
and development began in earnest under the code
name of "Project 880" which was a "retooled version" of
the original 80-page treatment that Cameron wrote for
Avatar over ten years previously.
James Cameron himself made the first sketches for the (Picture: James Cameron Thanator sketches)
different creatures that he imagined might populate
Pandora, his new world. Based on those images, as well
as reference from the natural world culled from Every drawing had to be approved by James
National Geographic photos, botany books and nature Cameron before rendering to Photoshop.
documentaries, a core group of artists including Wayne Once a rendering was approved by the
Barlowe, Yuri Bartoli, Jordu Schell and Neville Page director, it was transferred from a 2D
began producing hundreds of pencil-and-paper concept to a 3D digital sculpt in ZBrush. In
drawings. In mid-2005, Stan Winston Studio also some cases, clay models were also sculpted
joined the conceptual and character development and used for visualizing the designs and to
process working on the Thanator, Viperwolf, Direhorse provide lighting reference.
and the Banshee’s head.

TyRuben Ellingsong as Lead Vehicle

Designer, responsible for the design of
vehicles, mining equipment suits, also the
flying vehicles. And Yuri Bartoli as
Supervising Virtual Art Director, work
directly with James Cameron to design the
creatures and environments of Pandora and
(Picture: Thanator concept by Scott Patton from Stan responsible for leading the team creating
Winston Studio’s)
digital sets for the real-time virtual
production process of the Volume, which
included the performance capture and
virtual camera systems.

(Picture: James Cameron Viperwolf sketches)

(Picture - left: Creating Norm's (Joel David

Moore) avatar. Actor photographed,
conceived as a Z-Brush sculpture,
finished in Photoshop, and finally
sculpted as a life-size bust for lighting
reference)

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 Design of Pandora
The organic structures of the Pandoran flora and fauna, the landscapes, and the overall planet
Pandora itself all had design origins on the planet Earth. Every Pandoran creature and plant had
earthly counterparts, sometimes in hybrid forms.
The team who design the world of pandora decides to take a reflection from the real world to make
a whole new planet. That said, the team decides to use the exotic plants, creatures of earth for their
reference and turn them into a whole new bioluminescent lush world of Pandora.

Kaua’i Rainforest, Hawaii Aurora Boreal, Northern Skies

Angel Falls, Venezuela

Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China
Havasupai Waterfall,
Grand Canyon

As they took reference

from the real-life
places, they also
change the way the
biomes look based of
Pandora’s condition,
The lower gravity,
Socotra Dragon Tree, Yemen Living Root Bridges, India
thicker air, strong
magnetic fields and
different day-night
cycles have all shaped
the evolution of life,
one obvious example
is gigantism.

Mycena Chlorophos, Japan Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand

7
 Illustration by
Daffa Athafitra - 2301961033
 Creatures of Pandora
The Creatures of pandora initially started with an actual animal as well, for example they use horse and
then reinvent the models into having 6 legged instead of 4. Doing a thorough research which result the
team to realized that the remodeling also causing them to reengineer the way they move, react, and
even breathing this is also applies to other creatures as well. Creatures and plants in Pandora designed
to give people the beauty but deadly terms such as wild creatures and numerous dangerous vegetative
living.
Many of the creature designs had to display common features, the most important of which is the
“queue” — antennae-like structures that enable the Na’vi to connect with their steeds. Other key
characteristics for the predatory creatures included super-slick amphibian-like skin, aerodynamic
bodies, and race-car-looking patterns, including racing stripes. Some of the creatures were designed with
special breathing holes located in the trachea, echoing the intake valves of high-performance sports cars.

“from the inception of the ‘black-ops’ design phase back in ’05,

Jim was interested in exploring vivid markings and almost
amphibian-like body textures. Poison-dart frogs were
mentioned as possible inspirations for the look he was seeking.
The solutions we began to play around with all encompassed
those early concepts. While the vibrant colour schemes of the
terrestrial creatures fell by the wayside, the unique body
textures were retained. Obviously, the aerial fauna remains
intensely colourful. These were, I believe, choices Jim made
answering his inner, artistic muse.”
– Wayne Barlowe

According Bartoli, creature features are had already been laid out in the script, so there are a lot of ideas
and designs that either weren’t right for Avatar aesthetic or doesn’t work on certain scenes or were held
back due to limitations of telling the story.
According to Tully Summers, one of the creature designers, the fauna was entirely devoid of hair to
avoid a more direct resemblance to their Earthly counterparts. “[It was supposed to] accentuate the
creatures’ other-worldliness. Putting fur on our mammal equivalents would have been redundant and
too obvious.”.
DIREHORSE / PA’LI
The Direhorse was intended to be a creature that Na'vi warriors use for riding and hunting. Conceived
as a sort of horse crossed with a dinosaur, it had to incorporate reptilian aspects while maintaining a
horse's natural grace and glory. The main terrestrial inspiration for the designers was the Clydesdale horse
with its massive scale and strength.

Based on Wayne Barlowe's concept,

Christopher Swift sculpted the final
direhorse maquette. Joseph C. Pepe did
design modifications and color designs
in Photoshop that ended up serving as
the final design scheme for the movie.

9
 THANATOR / PALULUKAN
The most feared land predator on Pandora is the Thanator, similar to a Terrain panther. Originally
Thanator was called Manticore. This was the only design where James Cameron did not have a complete
vision in his head. Designing this animal took months and hundreds of illustrations.

The name was changed to Thanator;

and James Cameron himself took on
the final design late in the production.
Neville Page fleshed-out the design
and built it as a Zbrush model

VIPERWOLF / NANTANG
The lean body and graceful motion of the mink inspired the design of the Viperwolf. Jim Charmatz
rendered the concept artwork in Photoshop, then Scott Patton did a 3D model of the head in ZBrush.

HAMMERHEAD / ANGTSIK
Hammerhead is a massive armoured herbivore with a characteristic fan-like crest used for display and
a bony protrusion on their skulls used to threaten predators and for direct offense.

James Cameron came up with the idea

of basing this creature on
hammerhead sharks on Earth. That
huge bony protrusion has two
purposes: It’s good for attacking,
obviously, but it’s probably also useful
for mating displays, much the same
way that rams smash their horns
together to attract a female.”

As with all the terrestrial creatures, getting the six legs to work together and make them seem
natural and still beautiful and graceful was one of the greatest challenges. The animators
ultimately achieved a natural-looking gallop by coupling the front four legs, but off-setting the
movement of the first pair by a few degrees.

10
 BANSHEE / IKRAN
The references and inspiration for the Banshee (and The Great Leonopteryx, too) came from sea
creatures such as manta rays, skates, and the great white shark. While sea-creature biology informed the
profiles and bodies of the flying creatures, their aerodynamic and hydrodynamic characteristics
incorporated the most current thinking of the way extinct species such as plesiosaurs and pterosaurs
moved through water and air. But the most unique feature of the banshee was the articulation and
mechanics of its mouth and teeth.

Skin of both the Banshee and the

Great Leonopteryx has a wide range
of complex color schemes based on
Earth animals, like poison dart frogs
and monarch butterflies. Their
wings were a mixture of bird and
bat wings. And while Banshee has
only vestigial legs, the Great
Leonopteryx legs are not vestigial at
all!

GREAT LEONOPTERYX / TORUK

The Great Leonopteryx is the apex flying predator of Pandora. In conceiving the Monster, the team of
artists applied some design cues that had already been devised for the Banshee, such as the multiple
membranes on the wings — inspired by butterfly wings — and the fish-like extending jaws.

Cameron wanted a superficially

different configuration for the
Toruk’s head, with a protruding
beak which the designers
eventually based on that of a
parrot. The colour scheme was
based on that of a Monarch
Butterfly to make the
Leonopteryx stand out in the
sequences it stars in — most
importantly the climactic fight
scene. The creature’s vibrant
colour scheme was devised by
concept artist Daphne Yap.

The concept of lower gravity on Pandora was the justification for the evolution of giant fliers like
banshee or the great leonopteryx. Both creatures were conceived as bird-like four-winged aerial
predators, extremely colorful and very bright.

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 NA’VI
Na'vi are an indigenous species on Pandora standing 9 to 10 feet tall. Each individual feature unique
characteristics, distinguishable from each other, so that each one has distinctive visible personality and
character.
James Cameron himself made the first sketches for all the Pandoran
creatures including the Na’vi. Those early sketches already featured the blue
skin and feline characteristics such as cat-like eyes, broad leonine noses,
large articulating ears, and tall, slender, muscular bodies.
Na'vi have four fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot, unlike the
human-created avatars which have five fingers on each hand and five toes
on each foot due to the influence of human DNA during avatar genetic
sequencing.

(Picture - right: Avatar

Stan Winston Studio built
human-size sculptures
(Picture: James Cameron and busts of the main
conceptual design for Na’vi characters)
Neytiri)

James Cameron wanted elegant, slender, blue-

skinned cat creatures that retained humanoid forms
with human-facial characteristics. To capture the
look, Jordu Schell created the first concept sculptures
and James Cameron responded immediately to them.
After approving a general Na’vi design, Stan Winston
Studio artists lead by John Rosengrant detailed them
in Photoshop to develop the final color and skin
texture including stripes and a bioluminescence
pattern. The crew created and presented many
variations of the Na’vi look, making note, for example,
that the color design should still believable as organic
flesh rather than artificial body markings.
Once Photoshop renderings were approved, the
(Picture - right: Tsu'tey's next step in the conceptual process involved the
(Laz Alonso) life-size bust) transference to 3D space. Stan Winston Studio
took photographs of models in key poses with a
variety of facial expressions. Scott Patton
brought those to ZBrush to resculpt them as
Na’vi characters. They were supposed to
resemble their human counterparts to make it
easier for audiences to recognize and relate to
them.
(Picture - left: Eytukan's
For the avatars, the similarity to the humans
(Wes Studi) life-size bust)
portraying them had to be evident, at least for
the face. Plaster casts and 3D scans of the actors
were made for this purpose. The artists at Stan
Winston Studio retained the mouth area and the
area around the eyes of the subject actors and
blended these features into their avatar faces.
Na’vi eyes are cat-like, large and yellow, but
(Picture - right: Moat's (CCH the area around those eyes kept the shape and
Pounder) life-size bust) proportion of the actors who who played them.
These full-size versions of the Na’vi were used
on set for lighting references for CG and to
provide useful eyelines for the actors.
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 NA’VI LANGUAGE
The Na'vi language is the constructed language of the indigenous Na'vi used in the Avatar film and
games. It was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the Marshall School of Business with a doctorate
in linguistics. He designed the language according to fit it to some of James Cameron's ideas of how the
language should sound like in the film, to be realistically learnable by the fictional human characters of
the film, and to be pronounceable by the actors, but to not closely resemble any single human language.

The Na'vi language is heavily based on the Maori

language, which is one of the three official languages of
New Zealand. There is no official Na’vi script, but Ian
James invented the script for Na’vi Language based on
the language Paul Frommer invented.

Na’vi language is a constructed language of

approximately 500 terms that follows its own set of
linguistic rules. It contains many ejectives, affricates,
fricatives, and glottal stops that, when spoken
correctly, create a rather choppy sound and make it
(Picture: Unofficial Na’vi Script by Ian James) a very difficult language in which to sing.

AVATAR MUSIC SCORE

James Horner was the film composer of the Avatar movie set. Together with Avatar producer Jon
Landau, they constructed the musical culture for the imaginary Na’vi of Pandora, the new sounds that
would represent the music culture of Cameron’s Na’vi race.

The idea was “to use music both to resonate Create an integrated and logical music culture for
traditional cinematic sensibilities but also to these creatures based on instrumentation of the
introduce a new culture and make that culture of Na’vi soundscape. They felt that it would be
the Na’vis part of our score” – Jon Landau. appropriate in this aboriginal culture to utilize
voices, idiophones and membranophones as the
Cameron recognized the importance of music in primary instruments, with ornamentation and
Na’vi culture; he named the Omaticaya the Clan atmosphere added by aerophones.
of the Blue Flute. In the film, the character Neytiri
refers to the ancient history of the people as the Also, Na’vi vocals can function as another
“time of the First Songs.” instrument and used more as authentic colours
than as actual text. the pervasive use of ethnic
The music needed to be about heart, and it instruments and voices, sometimes lending
needed to be about emotion, specifically authenticity to a film’s cultural or geographical
Horner's intent to emphasize Avatar's love story. milieu. The colors of the Na’vi are almost always
created a score which complements the beauty present in the score, sometimes vibrant and alive
of Cameron’s visuals, instills emotion and pulls in the musical foreground, partially hidden within
out the love story, and narrates this huge epic. the forest of Pandora, or sometimes nearly
But in today’s world, creating unique music that overwhelmed by the western musical
not too recognizable or too weird is challenging. representation of the Sky People.
The increasing awareness of global cultures Even with most of the Na’vi songs was rejected by
make no one musical culture would work to Cameron, Horner still wanted to represent the
become Na’vi music culture. So to make it work, Na’vi in the score. Decisions regarding Avatar’s
Horner and Landau created a library of musical score — whether about number of performers,
elements and performance techniques that instrumentation, timbre, structure, length of cues,
would eventually be melded into a global mash- volume, acoustic or electronic sources — affected
up, fusing musical elements from the numerous the overall character and tenor of the picture.
world cultures into one hybrid Na’vi style Even though we were dealing with an imaginary
without bringing to mind any specific Earth culture, the score still needed it to be a logical one.
culture, time period, or geographical location.

13
 Illustration by
Daffa Athafitra - 2301961033
 Technology that does not exist before
In 1994, James Cameron already tries to produce Avatar, by forming his own production company
Lightstrom Entertainment and cofounded Digital Domain to do a collaboration with them to make
Avatar into a film to be released in 1999. Cameron, however, felt that the digital effects technology
available at the time had considerable restraints that inevitably needed to be resolved — due to the
fact photorealistic computer-generated imagery was still a relatively new tool for filmmakers. The
director decided to postpone the creation process for the film until his idea could effectively be
convincingly brought to life.
Cameron spent much of the decade exploring the 3-D format on
the hi-def Imax documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) and
Aliens of the Deep (2005). On both of those films, he partnered
with Vince Pace of Pace HD, who adapted two optical blocks from
Sony’s F950 CineAlta HD cameras to create a 3-D camera with
controllable interocular distance and convergence.
With an eye on Avatar, Pace and Cameron refined their 3-D digital
camera system considerably over the course of their
collaborations. The result of their refinements is the Fusion 3-D
Camera System.
The technology employed on Avatar enabled Cameron to design
the film’s 3-D computer-generated environments (created by
Lightstorm’s in-house design team) straight from his imagination.
By the time Mauro Fiore joined the show, the director had been (Picture: First version of 3D Fusion
working for 18 months on motion-capture stages, shooting Camera, used at Ghosts of the Abyss
performances with actors who would be transformed into (2003) and Aliens of the Deep
entirely CG characters. Glenn Derry, Avatar’s virtual-production (2005))
supervisor, contributed several innovations that helped Cameron
achieve what he wanted. With all the locations pre-built in
Autodesk MotionBuilder and all the CG characters constructed,
Derry devised a system that would composite the motion-capture
information into the CG world in real time.

State-of-the-art animation renderings for

Avatar were done by Peter Jackson’s New
Zealand-based digital-effects studio Weta
Digital, but the designs and detail were based on
the characters generated by the Stan Winston
Studio.
Weta Digital created the most character
Motion Capture animation regarding the creatures. Industrial
Light & Magic (ILM) also collaborated in the
character rigging and in a minor number of
creature shots.
Weta still required VFX assistance and received
SimulCam great collaboration from ILM, Framestore,
Hydraulx, Pixel Liberation Front, Blur Studio, Buf
Compagne, Hybride, Prime Focus, Halon, The
Third Floor, among others.
ILM, in fact, focused on vehicle-oriented shots,
Postvis which numbered around 250. These included
the shuttle, the Samson, the Scorpion and the
Dragon helicopters and the AMP suit.

Finished Film
15
 VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
Previz or “Pre-visualization”, is a process to visualize complex scenes in a film for its filmmakers to
“preview” before they are actually shot.
A method of pre-production concept development that
generates preliminary versions of shots or sequences,
predominantly using 3D animation tools and a virtual
environment. It enables filmmakers to visually explore
creative ideas, plan technical solutions, and
communicate a shared vision for efficient production.
Allows the movie production team to experiment with
the staging, layout, look and feel of various scenes in the
movie without incurring the costs of actual production.
Previz can add music, sound effects and dialogue to
closely emulate the look of fully produced and edited
sequences.
It’s visualizing the film as the director wants it to look.
Cameron used previz tools to show him what the
computer-generated characters — who were made to
look as if they were 10 feet tall — would really look like,
inhabiting a completely artificial world, as seen from a
particular camera angle. Pre-visualized sequences of
Avatar with the corresponding scenes in the movie. The
(Picture: Previs for Avatar by Halon Entertainment)
previz was very close to the final product - a testament to
how powerful, and accurate previz can be.

Techviz or “Technical previs”, is the combination of virtual elements with real-world equipment for
the process of planning shots as well as combining already captured footage with virtual assets. It is also
the area where camera moves, camera placement, and lens choices can be validated, mitigating the risk
of physically implausible virtual choices. This also will help define production requirements, set pieces
that might affect green screen coverage and stunt coordinates.

Postvis or “Post-visualization”, Combines of digital elements and production photography to validate

footage selection, provide placeholder shots for editorial, and refine effects designs. Edits incorporating
postvis sequences are often shown to test audiences for feedback and to producers and visual effects
vendors for planning and budgeting.

16
 STEREOSCOPIC 3D FUSION CAMERA SYSTEM
Stereoscopic 3D cameras were the size of washing machines and weighed 450 pounds. The challenge
issued to production partner Vince Pace was to develop a lightweight, quiet camera capable of shooting
in both 2D and 3D. The result of over seven years of hard work was the groundbreaking new Fusion
Camera System, the world’s most advanced 3D camera.

It facilitated an almost flawless merger between live action scenes

and CG scenes. Incorporates 11 channels of motion: zoom, focus
and iris for two lenses, independent convergence between the two
cameras, interocular control, and mirror control to maintain the
balance of the rig.
The Fusion 3-D system can support a variety of cameras. For
Avatar, the production used three Sony models: the F950, the
HDC1500 (for 60-fps high-speed work) and the F23. All of the
cameras have 2/3" HD chips and record images onto HDCam-SR
tape, but on Avatar, they were also recording to Codex digital
recorders capable of synced simultaneous playback, allowing the
filmmakers to preview 3-D scenes on location.

(Picture - right: James Cameron

shoots a scene from Avatar using
3D Fusion Camera System)

VIRTUAL CAMERA / SIMULCAM

Two main tools to realize Cameron virtual cinematography:

A handheld ‘virtual camera’, which was essentially The SimulCam, a live-action camera with
a monitor with video-game-style controls on it position reflectors that could be read by mo-cap
whose position was tracked in space. Using the cameras, It superimposed the CG world and
virtual camera during the mo-cap portion of the characters into the live-action photography by
shoot, Jim could see the actors who were wearing tracking the position of the live-action camera
mo-cap suits as the characters they were playing. and creating a virtual camera in the CG world in
the same place. The two images were composited
A virtual camera operates like a regular camera, together live and sent to the monitors on the set
with the added benefit of being able to scale his [as a low-resolution image]. All of this could be
moves to lay down virtual dolly tracks and so on. seen in real time through the SimulCam’s
viewfinder and on live monitors on the set as On-
set previs, allowing the human actors to interact
directly with the CG characters and enabling
Cameron to frame up exactly what he wanted.

(Picture: a handheld
‘virtual camera’)
(Picture: Real-time low-resolution render from
SimulCam)
James Cameron on the virtual set of Avatar. With a
"virtual camera" and OMC, directors can move through a
CG scene as easily they could a real scene with a real
camera.

17
 MOTION CAPTURE / PERFORMANCE CAPTURE
Motion capture and computer-generated imagery (CGI) are not new to film. Motion capture (or green
screen technology) was first introduced by Total Recall (1990) in the scene of the x-ray scanner and the
skeletons. Then The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) was the first feature film to utilize a real-
time motion capture system. This method streamed the actions of actor Andy Serkis into the computer-
generated skin of Gollum / Smeagol as it was being performed, which convinced Cameron that there was
enough CGI technology to continue developing Avatar.
CGI is traditionally done by placing reflective markers all over an
actor’s face and body, which are then interpreted by computer
technology to create digitized expressions for the CG character.
However, the gulf between human and CG expression, referred to as
the “uncanny valley”, is often quite noticeable.
Cameron and his team developed a new “image-
based facial performance capture”, requiring the
actors to wear special headgear rig equipped with
a camera. With cameras placed just inches from
their face, actors’ every muscle contraction or
pupil dilation was captured and digitized,
creating astounding emotional authenticity to their
Na’avi avatar counterparts. The scope of clarity and
precision of the head-rig allowed for a much larger
capture environment than ever before. Cameron
call it Performance Capture.

SOFTWARE
Autodesk MotionBuilder is one of the industry standards in animation, mocap and virtual production software.
MotionBuilder has found prominent use as a mocap tool in television, games, and films – including notably in
Avatar.
Maya is an industry standard for animation workflow, since many facilities implement extensive proprietary
customization of the software to gain competitive advantage. Most of shot in Avatar are made and rendered in
Maya using Pixar RenderMan.

ZBrush used in Avatar for doing the concept designs such as create the look of the Na’vi people andPandora
Creature. ZBrush is kind of like a digital sculpting tool that works in real time with 2D and 3D effects.

Adobe Photoshop used in Avatar in the concept art and textures. Design modifications and color designs of
Pandora creatures were done in Photoshop that ended up serving as the final design scheme for the movie.

Massive used in Avatar to do things like create the ground cover. This allowed the effects team to grow plants
from digital seeds and the forest to grow in real time.

List of software used in Avatar production:

Autodesk Maya (most shots) ZBrush (creature design) Avid (video editing)
Pixar RenderMan for Maya Eyeon Fusion (image compositing) Adobe After Effects (compositing,
Autodesk SoftImage XSI The Foundry Nuke Compositor real-time visualizations)
Autodesk 3d design max (space shots, (previz image compositing) Adobe Illustrator (HUD and screens
control room screens and HUD Luxology Modo (model design, e.g. layout)
renderings) the Scorpion) Adobe Photoshop (concept art,
Autodesk MotionBuilder (for real-time Lightwave (low-res realtime textures)
3d visualisations) environments) Adobe Premiere (proofing, rough
Autodesk Smoke (color correction) Houdini (Hell’s Gate scenes, compositing with AE)
Autodesk Combustion (compositing) interiors) many tools developed in-house
PF Track (motion tracking, background Massive (vegetation simulation)
replacement) Mudbox (floating mountains)

18
Avatar achievement
The key reasons for the film’s unprecedented
success were its jaw-dropping visuals,
excellent use of 3D, and the immersive setting
of Pandora. Audiences were hyping Avatar
because it was visually spectacular thanks to
technical achievements. These aspects won
Avatar three Oscars in 2010 for
cinematography, visual effects, and art
direction.

Avatar made its way to the top of the box office

in 2009, and held the title of the highest-
grossing film for a decade before being
dethroned last weekend by Avengers: Endgame
(2019), the film itself never quite entered the
zeitgeist of pop culture the same way that Star
Wars (1997), Marvel or even Princess Bride
(1987) has.
This movie also holds the title of the biggest
domestic moneymaker if you're not
accounting for inflation. Luckily, Box Office
Mojo has an adjusted list of all-time winners.
Illustration by Selly - 2301889243
The site divides each movie's revenue by the
average ticket price of the day then multiplies
the number of tickets by our current average The movie was best appreciated in a theater,
ticket price. It's also worth noting that Avatar preferably in immersive IMAX 3-D. This was not
got an extra bump because so many people saw the kind of movie that would inspire people to say,
it in 3-D and IMAX 3-D, and those tickets are "I'll just wait till it's on Netflix." This is turn create a
significantly pricier than your average entry fee. sense of urgency which led to huge ticket sales.

(Picture: ©20th Century Fox. All rights reserved/Courtesy Everett Collection)

The best scene

“We achieved our goals in terms of
creating the ultimate alien rainforest
and the beauty and all that,” the director
said while reflecting back on the original
film a decade later.
“But I think the part that I still like the
best, and that I had to fight the hardest
for, was the flying.” He’s referring to a
sequence that comes midway through
the three-hour film, in which the film’s
heroes — human Jake Sully (Sam
Worthington) and Na’vi Neytiri (Zoe
Saldana) — take flight on the backs of
two Mountain banshees, Pandora’s
answer to our own pre-historic
pterodactyls.
 Illustration by
Selly - 2301889243
Edited by
Selly - 2301889243
List of Awards:
Empire Awards Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA)
• Best Movie (Winner) • Best Picture (Nominated)
• Best Actress (Zoe Saldana) (Winner) • Best Director (James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Winner) • Best Cinematography (Winner)
• Best Art Direction (Winner)
Academy Awards
• Best Editing (Winner)
• Art Direction (Winner)
• Best Makeup (Nominated)
• Cinematography (Winner)
• Best Visual Effects (Winner)
• Directing (James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Sound (Winner)
• Film Editing (Nominated)
• Best Action Movie (Winner)
• Music (Score) (James Horner) (Nominated)
• Best Picture (James Cameron and Jon Saturn Awards
Landau) (Nominated) • Best Science Fiction Film (Winner)
• Sound Editing (Nominated) • Best Actor (Sam Worthington) (Winner)
• Sound Mixing (Nominated) • Best Actress (Zoe Saldana) (Winner)
• Visual Effects (Winner) • Best Director (James Cameron) (Winner)
• Best Writing (James Cameron) (Winner)
British Academy Awards
• Best Supporting Actor (Stephen Lang) (Winner)
• Best Cinematography (Mauro
• Best Supporting Actress (Sigourney
Fiore) (Nominated)
Weaver) (Winner)
• Best Director (James
• Best Music (James Horner) (Winner)
Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Production Design (Winner)
• Best Editing (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua,
• Best Special Effects (Winner)
James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Film (Nominated) New York Critics Online
• Best Music (James Horner) (Nominated) • Best Picture (Winner)
• Best Production Design (Rick Carter, Robert
Producers Guild Award
Stromberg, Kim Sinclair) (Winner)
• Best Picture (Nominated)
• Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Gary
Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Director's Guild Award
Addison Teague) (Nominated) • Best Director (James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Special Visual Effects (Joe Letteri,
Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Writer's Guild Award
Andrew R. Jones) (Winner) • Best Original Screenplay (James
Cameron) (Nominated)
Golden Globes
• Best Motion Picture: Drama (Winner)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Winner)
• Best Original Score (Nominated)
• Best Original Song (Nominated)

22
 Avatar’s Legacy
In an interview between Jon Favreau and James
Cameron in DGA Quarterly the spring of 2019, Favreau
mentioned that he studied all of Cameron’s work by
watching them back to back. He stated that it was “very
insightful for him, not just the technology, but how a
career evolves.” Favreau said that you need to see one’s
entire body of work to understand the progress that has
been achieved from the first movie to the last. And
Cameron agrees to Favreau’s statement to an extent, he
himself admitted that he needed to learn from the
mistakes from his past movies, in order to create better
movies. For example, Cameron said that Titanic (1997)
wouldn’t be a good, dramatic and emotional movie if
he didn’t make The Abyss (1989).

Favreau even adapted some technology from

Cameron’s Avatar (2009), for him to create his movie
Jungle Book (2016). Favreau also recruited some of the
people who were trained by Cameron to work on his
movie, these include Visual Effects Supervisor Robert
Legato and Animation Supervisor Andy Jones.
(Picture: DGAQ Spring 2019 Feature James
Cameron and Jon Favreau Discussion)

One of the technologies was Techvis, it was used

in Avatar to help with the motion capture shots,
because Techvis is able to perform an analysis of
a shot or sequence, and then make it ready for
post-production, in which VFX can be added in
order to finalize the shot. Favreau then used the
same system to help with the motion capture in
The Jungle Book.

Another technology was the Fusion Camera

System, it was created by James Cameron himself
and Producer Vince Pace, and it was a dual-
camera 3D motion control system, that was able
to mimic human vision. Favreau used this system
in The Jungle Book to create more realistic and
cinematic shots.

(Picture: ©Disney, Jungle Book Behind the Scenes)

Cameron also talked a little more about Avatar, he

wanted the audience to believe that the made-up
world was real. He wanted to make Pandora feel
like a real place, even though most of the shots
was a computer-generated jungle. Favreau added
by saying that “most people notice bad CGI. The
best CG is CG you don’t even know you saw.”
Advancement in technology is crucial in
filmmaking because filmmakers need to make
their movies as captivating as possible, in order to
catch the audience’s eyes and hearts, making it an
unforgettable and breathtaking experience.
23 (Picture: ©Disney, Jungle Book)
 The Adventure of Tintin
(2011)

Dawn of the Planet of the

Apes (2014)

Avengers: Infinity War

(2018)

Alita: Battle Angel

(2019)
The ambitious sequels
James Cameron already had plans on the sequels to Avatar ever since 2010. He first planned on having
an Avatar trilogy, with the second and third movie coming respectively in December 2014 and
December 2015. But of course, that never happened. And, in 2015, Cameron stated that there was
going to be a fourth and fifth movie of the franchise. Which was originally going to be released in
2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively, but of course, that never happened either.
Instead, after a long period of waiting, James Cameron finally revealed that Avatar 2 will be released
in December 17, 2021. And for the rest of the 3 movies, they are planned to be released in unspecified
dates until 2027.

(Picture: Avatar Team’s official Twitter Page, @officialavatar)

But what will Avatar 2 be about? Avatar 2 is said to be set several years after the events of Avatar,
Jake Sully is now chieftain of the clan and Neytiri is their high priestess. It is revealed that the story
will involve their children and water will play a major role in the movie. It is said that Avatar 2 will
have a lot of underwater scenes, exploring the world of Pandora in another point of view. This is one
of the reasons the dates are pushed back so much, because Cameron had difficulties in having the
motion capture technology work in an underwater setting. Directly quoted from Cameron himself,

(Picture: ©20th Century Fox, Avatar Behind the Scenes)

"That moving mirror reflects all the dots and markers, and it creates a
bunch of false markers. It's a little bit like a fighter plane dumping a
bunch of chaff to confuse the radar system of a missile. It creates
thousands of false targets, so we’ve had to figure out how to get around
that problem, which we did." – James Cameron
 “It's never been done before and it's
very tricky because our motion
capture system, like most motion
capture systems, is what they call
optical base, meaning that it uses
markers that are photographed with
hundreds of cameras. The problem
with water is not the underwater part,
but the interface between the air and
the water, which forms a moving
mirror,"
– James Cameron

(Picture: Avatar Team’s official Twitter Page, @officialavatar)

It is also confirmed that Avatar 2 will be

shown in theatres in 3D, without having This ambition also bringing new Avatar logo to
to use 3D glasses. James Cameron owns a public eyes. James Cameron introduced the
production company called Lightstorm franchise’s updated monogram at CinemaCon in
Entertainment, which partnered with 2016 when he announced his intention to
Christie Digital that has started from 2011, produce four sequels. Avatar’s new emblem
to create an RGB laser-projection system, eliminates the words “James Cameron’s” above
which makes it possible to watch a 3D the title and swaps the Papyrus like typeface for
movie without using 3D glasses. a new, seemingly custom typeface. It’s a bolder,
Cameron also promised that Avatar 2 and more compact variation of the original typeface.
the other upcoming sequels will be so This font will likely be used for Avatar 2 and the
advanced, that people will not be able to three other Avatar sequels thadt Cameron has
imagine what they are going to look like. announced.

Before After

(Picture: ©Disney, Avatar Logo)

26
 Conclusion
This study concluded that with the data we have gathered, we can
utilize the knowledge to further credit the hard work put in behind-the-
scenes of movies. We conclude that Avatar has become the stepping-
stone of achieving a new era of motion capture technology, at such an
early time as well. Avatar was a movie that inspired many filmmakers to
create movies with even more sophisticated animation and visual effects.
With the later arrival of Avatar 2, we will most likely see even more
progress in their advancement in technology. Movies today are already
amazing, with breathtaking visuals and hyper photorealistic characters,
so we are very excited and looking forward to what kind of new and
improved discoveries will be made in the future of animation technology.

Credit
2301871201 Christopher Samuel
Section - James Cameron’s Avatar
Section – Avatar’s Legacy
Section - The Ambitious Sequels
Page 4 - 3D Render
2301961033 Daffa Athafitra
Section - Creativity behind the scenes
Section - Technology that does not exist before
Page 8 – Full page Illustration
Page 14 – Full page Illustration
2301914421 Denriansyah Sani Rangkuti
Editor
Cover
Section - James Cameron
Section - Creativity behind the scenes
Section - Technology that does not exist before
2301889243 Selly
Section – Abstract
Section - Introduction
Section - Technology that does not exist before
Section - Avatar Achievement
Page 19 – Illustration
Page 20 – Full page Illustration
27 Page 21 - Image Edit
Personal Task
Question:
Ada tokoh terkenal yang tidak disebut pada materi di atas, yaitu John Lasseter. Siapakah
dia & apa perannya dalam Pixar? (Quiz 1, Week 11)

Answer:
John Lasseter adalah salah satu orang yang penting dalam membuat Pixar menjadi studio
animasi 3D. Seorang direktor animasi Pixar yang memberikan jiwa kepada animasi Pixar. John
yang meyakinkan bahwa Pixar bukanlah perusahaan teknologi melainkan perusahaan yang
berkecimpung didunia entertainment animasi. Sebelumnya Pixar dikenal sebagai perusahaan
bawahan Lucasfilm yang ditujukan untuk membuat teknologi CGI yang dapat membantu
pembuatan film Lucasfilm, terutama VFX. Masa itu, John merupakan animator Disney yang
dipecat karena mempromosikan animasi 3D CGI setelah menunjukan "Tron"(1982) dan
pengajuan pengabungan terhadap animasi tradisional dengan 3D CGI dalam animasi "Where The
Wild Things Are"(1983) dan kemudian bergabung dengan Pixar pada tahun 1984. Di bawah
Lucasfilm, John Lasseter berhasil membuat animasi pendek The Adventures of André & Wally B.
(1984). Setelah teknologi CGI berhasil dikembangkan dan ketidaktarikan terhadap animasi 3D,

Lucasfilm tidak membutuhkan tim Pixal lagi dan segera menjual tim tersebut, yang mana
Steve Jobs membelinya karena melihat potensi Pixar. Disaat ini, John Lasseter menjadi direktor
animasi dan membuat "Luxo Jr." (1986) dan "Tin Toy" (1988). Meski begitu, finansial Pixar tidak
begitu baik. Steve Job pun menjual bisnis hardware Pixar karena keyakinannya terhadap potensi
animasi 3D dan John Lasseter. Disaat itu Disney pun datang dengan harapan untuk mendapatkan
John Lasseter kembali ke Disney, memberikan kesempatan untuk Pixar membuat animasi 3D
full-length dimana John Lasseter menjadi direktor animasi tersebut.

Animasi yang ingin dibuat terinspirasi dari "Tin Toy" dan berjudul "Toy Story"(1995).
Namun perkembangannya tidak berjalan dengan baik, direktor Disney tidak menyukai animasi
itu karena ceritanya dan karakternya yang terlihat kejam, John Lasseter pun menyadari ini.
Karenanya John Lasseter meyakinkan Disney bahwa dia akan mengubah skrip animasi dalam
waktu 2 minggu yang memberikan kesempatan untuk melanjutkan animasi itu. Dan menjadikan
hasil yang Steve Job yakinin menjadi suatu hal yang historikal. Keberhasilan animasi "Toy Story"
ini pun menyelamatkan Pixar dari masalah finansialnya. Setelah kerjasama Pixar dan Disney
berakhir, Disney pun membeli Pixar. Yang membuat John Lasseter menjadi Chief Creative
Officer di Pixar dan Disney Animation Studios.

2301914421 – Denriansyah Sani Rangkuti – LB33

28
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