Cameron said: "Why don't today's directors like to shoot with a green screen? In addition to not being used to it, breaking the inherent impression of the movie, shooting on a green screen will affect the texture of the film......

"Texture?"

Hearing this, Don shook his head disappreciatively.

Cinematic ...... It's a very mysterious topic.

For example, in the movie "The Da Vinci Code", the Mona Lisa painting in the Louvre was filmed. Ron Howard strongly asked Donn Pictures to contact the Louvre to shoot on site.

That's a world-class treasure!

You can't even take pictures.

Wouldn't it be over to make a fake painting and just take a picture?

It's simple, convenient, and saves money.

But Ron Howard insisted. (Because the Louvre resolutely refused, it ended up finding a replica to be auctioned.) ）

Because when shooting the real thing, there will be a "cinematic texture", and what is fake is fake, and what is shot is also fake.

This theory ...... Don couldn't understand it anyway.

On the movie screen, even the most professional antique experts can hardly tell the authenticity of the painting, and it must be physically inspected. Even experts can't see it, how can moviegoers tell the real from the fake?

This kind of thing happens a lot in Hollywood.

Bernardo Bertolucci filmed "The Last Emperor", and insisted on going to the Forbidden City to shoot, but there was a scene on fire that almost killed the Forbidden City...... In the future, I will never be able to go to the Forbidden City to film again.

Cameron smiled, didn't dwell on the topic, and said, "Of course, these are all factors outside of the movie. As far as the movie itself is concerned, shooting on a green screen will create a big obstacle to the actors' performances. ”

This time it was on point, and Don nodded approvingly.

Green screen shooting...... Lack of background, lack of atmosphere, and even the props are simple.

A shell represents a car, a wooden stick can replace a sword, and a mask can become an alien......

Without really listening, seeing, and feeling, how can an actor have a brilliant performance?

Because of the lack of background contrast and atmosphere creation, many times, it is difficult for the director to judge whether the actor's performance is good or bad. It is necessary to wait for the later stage to be synthesized by computer to judge whether the actor's performance meets the requirements.

George Lucas's "Star Wars Prequel 3" was filmed last year, and as a result, there are a lot of reshoots this year.

Why?

Because of the green screen shooting!

After a year of post-production, he found that many performances did not meet his expectations, so he naturally called the actors back to reshoot them.

"Could it be that this virtual camera of yours can solve this problem?"

"The root cause cannot be solved, but there is a benchmark for judgment. ”

"What do you mean?"

Donn raised an eyebrow.

Cameron said: "This virtual camera...... It's actually just a concept, not really a camera, but a monitor with an LCD screen. Behind it is a high-speed computer that can simultaneously preview the computer-generated CG footage while filming the actors' performances, and can view the effect at any angle and display ratio at any time. ”

A trace of excitement appeared on Don's face, and he said excitedly, "Really?"

"Of course, I've talked to Stan Weston and Kurt Ross that there's been a breakthrough in the technology so far. Give them another year and more features will be developed, such as the ability to move and rotate the monitor at will, and get a 360-degree view of the final composite CG effect. ”

Speaking of which, Cameron's face was a little strange.

Stan Weston and Cute Ross, both well-known masters of special effects, are the founders of the "digital realm".

This is the second largest special effects studio in Hollywood after "Industrial Light and Magic", and the shocking special effects of "Titanic" come from the "digital realm".

The realistic special effects of the upcoming disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow" are also done by the "digital realm".

Two years ago, at the suggestion of Tosca Musk, Donn bought the "digital field" from Cameron and became a subsidiary of Silkwood Animation, responsible for the production of animation special effects.

At the beginning of this year...... New Universal sold Sriwood Animation to Disney for a whopping $2.2 billion.

The "digital realm" naturally belongs to Disney.

Don twitched the corners of his mouth.

No wonder he didn't know that such a high-end virtual camera technology, that is, real-time preview technology, turned out that the inventor had gone to Disney......

Of course, he can't be blamed for that.

In recent years, there have been mushrooming special effects studios, with hundreds in the United States, not including cheaper special effects technology in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, South Korea, New Zealand and other places.

Although the technology in the "digital field" is good, it is a bit of a chicken rib for New Universal.

For high-end technology, you can find "Industrial Light & Magic" and "Weta Digital", and for low-end special effects, you can find special effects companies in Britain, Germany, France, South Korea and other countries for outsourcing.

This is a more commercial, lower-cost mode of operation.

The packaging is handed over to its own company to make special effects, which is very cost-effective.

But I didn't expect it...... After selling to the Srilywood animation and the "digital realm", they developed a black technology......

"It doesn't matter, Disney is our partner, this technology is kept secret from others, not from New Universal. Don is confident and excited about this.

This summer, "Iron Man", "Thor", "Ant-Man 2" and "The Avengers", will be launched at the same time.

In addition to "Iron Man" and "Ant-Man 2", which have already started filming, maybe "Thor" and "The Avengers" ...... also use this real-time preview technology of virtual photography.

It's a green screen artifact!

Cameron frowned, "I'm afraid it's difficult, the technology is not mature enough, the angle rotation is limited, and ...... The picture of the live preview is not clear enough, probably ...... It's like the game graphics of ten years ago, and it's very rough one by one. ”

Don said with a smile: "That's enough! It's better than nothing! Anyway, "Avatar" won't start filming until next year, so let's use my "Avengers" as a test field first. Practice makes sense. ”

Cameron smiled wryly.

He really didn't expect that he and his friends had finally deconstructed and created, and the real-time preview technology prepared for "Avatar" was the first beneficiary of Donn Walker!

It's so dark!

This is a protected black technology that has not yet been patented, and you can use it if you say it?

"Okay, don't look reluctant, I'll be a guinea pig for you, aren't you happy?" Don En glared at him contentedly, and said beautifully, "Let's go on, the next technical problem - the construction of a full CG character model." ”

Cameron said angrily: "Do you need me to introduce this more?

"All CG characters?oh, this!"

Tang En glanced at the document in his hand and immediately became stunned.

CG technology for computer special effects has been popular for more than 20 years. However, this CG technology is usually made by the shipwreck of "Titanic", the magic of "Harry Potter", and the superhuman action stunts of "Spider-Man......

To put it bluntly, it is a relatively simple CG special effect that lacks enough detail.

Character CG has always been a big problem.

For example, in "Star Wars Prequel 1" filmed by Donn, there is a famous character "Master Yoda" in it, which is a Jedi with a cat-like face, from the body to the face, it needs to be produced by a computer.

But after watching the movie, you will find that the effect of this "Master Yoda" is a bit fake.

It's a bit like the special effects of the characters in the game, lacking in nuanced consideration.

It's because the CG technology back then was not enough to produce so many complex and subtle movements of the human body. In "Star Wars Prequel 2" and "Star Wars Prequel 3", the character image of "Master Yoda" is much fuller.

This is the advancement of technology.

In another ten years, Paul Walker, the star of "Fast and Furious 7", died unexpectedly, and many of his shots in the movie were post-processed using CG technology, and the effect was exactly the same as that of a real person!

At this time, the character CG technology has already been completed.

"Do you want to borrow from ILM? No problem, I'll talk to George. Tang En said confidently.

Technology is a highly confidential special effects industry, and with Cameron's face, I'm afraid it's hard to convince George Lucas.

Cameron pursed his lips and said disdainfully: "Industrial Light and Magic? They can't do it! The special effects of the "Star Wars" series can be ugly! The "Avatar" I am looking forward to must surpass "Star Wars" in an all-round way!"

"Who's that for?"

"You don't know?"

Don thought slowly, "It's definitely not good in the digital realm, what they're good at is fluid effects for objects...... Is it Weta Digital?"

Cameron smiled: "That's right, I really didn't expect that a New Zealand special effects company could develop such a high-end technology! The 'Grunt' in the "Lord of the Rings" series is simply a miracle of computer CG! If it weren't for Peter Jackson, I'm afraid the "Avatar" series would have been postponed for a few more years. ”

Don said: "Yes, the image of 'Gollum'...... There is not the slightest sense of disobedience. This is very different from the 'Master Yoda' in the "Star Wars Prequels" series. The all-character CG technology, sure enough, is still one step ahead of Weta Digital. ”

If you get Weta Digital, you will definitely have to come forward with New Universal.

Don has already understood that Cameron ranked the six major technical problems of "Avatar", from high to low, the new digital photography system and digital technology, expression capture technology, motion capture technology, full CGI character model construction technology, real-time preview technology of virtual camera, and direct shooting technology of 3D camera.

3D direct shooting technology is the easiest in his opinion, because the technical implementation has been completed, the real-time preview technology of virtual camera, he and his team have also made breakthroughs, and it is also very simple, and the CG technology of the whole character is not under his control, and he needs help from others, so it is more difficult.

It is conceivable that Cameron and his team are powerless in the next few major technical problems.

It's time for Don to show off his muscles!

Sure enough, Cameron said: "Of course, the special effects strength of Industrial Light and Magic, on the whole, is still the first in the world. Their mastery of mechanical, acoustic, electromagnetic, active and passive optics is far beyond that of any other special effects company. ”

"So?"

"Therefore, the motion capture technology of ILM is an indispensable and important part of the project "Avatar"!" I want to talk about "{?$article_title?}" with more like-minded people ", WeChat pays attention to "excellent reading literature", chatting about life, looking for confidants~