Avatar 3D!!!

[Tom Clayton]

James Cameron is an absolute friggin' GENIUS!!! I'm sorry Mr. Whedon, but "Serentiy" has been trumped! It's nearly three hours long, but it felt like I was only there for about a half-hour. It would be good in 2D, but if it's in 3D anywhere close to where you are, go! Put on the oversized black plastic "BC" glasses and be amazed at how a totally alien landscape comes to life. I just hope that a 3D DVD version is somehow released - I'll be the first one in line to buy it!

[aeronca1]

Yes, I saw it earlier in the week and you're absolutely correct. It is an awesome movie in 3D. Even the Mrs. loved it which is odd considering it contains shooting and flying :applause:

When it comes out, I'll be right behind you. If there's a Shrek 3D, then I surely hope they do this movie justice!

I'm going to see it again this coming Tuesday at an IMAX theater. Now that should be even more awesome!

[Tom Clayton]

I wish we had an IMAX around here - I'd have to drive an hour and a half to get to one around here!:banghead:

[luckydog]

Saw it tonight....

Excellent !!!!

( but a little to "Political") so I think this thread should be "moved"

[OBIO]

I just read a blurb about the political and racial slant of Avatar...COME ON! What happened to going to a movie just to watch a movie without having to analyze it to death. And what happened to making a movie just to make a movie, without having to use it to shove political correctness down the viewers' throats. Was Gone with the Wind political and racial? How about It's A Wonderful Life? Lion King? The World According to Garp? Nope! Pure and simple entertainment. And that is how I will be watching Avatar, at what ever point in the space/time continuum that happens to be.

OBIO

[bushpilot]

Didn´t like it that much. Story-wise it's pretty weak, and it borrows way too much from other movies to be original. Yes it's technologically marvelous, but few years from now it will look as outdated as every other CGI movie. It was nice 3d experience though.

[Piglet]

Cameron is a genious as much as Lucas. While Cameron and Lucas came up with their stories and characters, it was the countless craftsmen who made it all happen. Lucas didn't design the X-Wing, or Death Star, Cameron didn't design the Scorpian helos, the craftsmen/designers did.
To me, the many workers on a big movie are what makes things happen, like NCO's in any modern army. I used to be one...

[Blackbird686]

I just read a blurb about the political and racial slant of Avatar...COME ON! What happened to going to a movie just to watch a movie without having to analyze it to death. And what happened to making a movie just to make a movie, without having to use it to shove political correctness down the viewers' throats. Was Gone with the Wind political and racial? How about It's A Wonderful Life? Lion King? The World According to Garp? Nope! Pure and simple entertainment. And that is how I will be watching Avatar, at what ever point in the space/time continuum that happens to be.

OBIO

I hear ya, OBIO... I usually leave my brain at home when I go to see a movie. Things get uncomfortably complicated if I take it with me. lol!!

BB686:USA-flag:

[Toastmaker]

I hear ya, OBIO... I usually leave my brain at home when I go to see a movie. Things get uncomfortably complicated if I take it with me. lol!!

BB686:USA-flag:



That's probably best with most Hollywood productions recently. Just enjoy the FX fesival in it.

[exc141ac]

In 3D Imax it is indeed awesome.


One nitpick -- the story line is a tad worn. And the 'happily ever after" pales when considering the likely response --
"We'll nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

[MCDesigns]

Well I finally got around to making it to the theatre, saw it in 3D and it was just phenomenal!!! For starters, I don't know what those that say the story is weak are talking about, I LOVED the story, it was a really neat twist on a tried and true plot and had me cheering in the end. I dragged my non sci fi/fantasy liking GF to it and even she was cheering!

I went into it expecting great special effects, but what I saw totally transported me to another world. The combo of perfect CGI, a very creative mind and the 3D experience transformed it into an otherworldly experience. I'm still in a daze and I even walked around the mall with the GF for a couple of hours after.

As posted in another thread, you really need to see this in 3D on the big screen..

If they can come out with a game (you know they will) that has the same level of graphics in the movie, I will live in that world, like so many do in world of warcraft, LOL.

[aeronca1]

.....had me cheering in the end. I dragged my non sci fi/fantasy liking GF to it and even she was cheering!

If they can come out with a game (you know they will) that has the same level of graphics in the movie, I will live in that world, like so many do in world of warcraft, LOL.

Last Tuesday, nobody cheered, but a large proportion of the crowd applauded. I can't remember that happening in a theater for a long, long time.

I believe there is a game out already. Saw one on the shelf at EBGames, but didn't investigate it as I had another game clouding my thoughts!

[MCDesigns]

I believe there is a game out already. Saw one on the shelf at EBGames, but didn't investigate it as I had another game clouding my thoughts!

Ah, so there is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%282009_video_game%29
to bad it's a thrid person shooter with mixed reviews, would love a believable 3D world to explore.

[jmig]

I saw it with my sons this afternoon. I loved it. I was transported into a world far beyond and Star Wars or Star Trek universe.

The 3D was just a prat of the experience. It enhanced the experienced and didn't try to impress you with flying objects coming at you from the screen.

You could not tell what was computer generated and what was normal movie making.

If you haven't seen it and have the imagination to be transported into another world, I recommend that you see Avatar. It is good.

[Trans_23]

I am sure this moving can't touch the Jonas Brothers in 3D that I was forced to watch with my 9 year old daughter at the theater with every other pre-teen in New Lenox. :isadizzy:

[FengZ]

yup loved it! Cameron knows how to do Sci-Fi!

It was a ton of work....can't believe they pulled it off in only 3 years. I still remember seeing the rough sketches at Lightstorm back in summer of 06....now i hope he makes the other sci-fi film as well...the one i spent nearly a year on...it's gonna be awesome!

-feng

[MCDesigns]

yup loved it! Cameron knows how to do Sci-Fi!

It was a ton of work....can't believe they pulled it off in only 3 years. I still remember seeing the rough sketches at Lightstorm back in summer of 06....now i hope he makes the other sci-fi film as well...the one i spent nearly a year on...it's gonna be awesome!

-feng

I would kill to see the rendering process in action for the 3D environments in avatar. I can only imagine the insane amount of processor power that was used to render that kind of animation. Do you have insight into what tools were used? Maya?, Max? Vue? CD4?

[FengZ]

Hey MCDesigns,

i work in the concept/pre-production side...so i'm not too familiar w/ the production side of things. However, most of the CG work was done over at WETA, and they use all types of software. Most films are not made on "off the shelf" stuff like Maya and MAX. We usually have internal software written directly for the studio. ILM, Digital Domain, WETA, etc. all use their own. However, packages such as Maya and SoftImage are pretty common for building models and such. My friend (Neville Page) used a lot of Zbrush to design the Na'vi and the various creatures of the planet. Then WETA imported those models into their own 3d package.

Avatar used some very state-of-the art motion capture. Ontop of that, it was done in 3D...which means every 3D frame has to be rendered out twice at slightly different angles....i still can't believe how fast they put this film together. Yup, the processing power is crazy. Just to give you an idea, to visit a Render Farm (a large room filled with PCs....as in thousands), you have to put on a thick winter jacket. They keep these rooms at super-cooled temperatures to prevent CPU burn out. The Render Farms rooms look sci-fi themselves! Imagine standing in a large, freezing cold room, filled from floor to ceiling with PC boxes (no monitors....they are controlled remotely)....and little green lights are flashing all around you....and all you hear are industrial fans noises...

I'm gonna go watch it again next week....once is not enough. Too much detail overload!

-feng

[Trans_23]

Hey MCDesigns,

i work in the concept/pre-production side...so i'm not too familiar w/ the production side of things. However, most of the CG work was done over at WETA, and they use all types of software. Most films are not made on "off the shelf" stuff like Maya and MAX. We usually have internal software written directly for the studio. ILM, Digital Domain, WETA, etc. all use their own. However, packages such as Maya and SoftImage are pretty common for building models and such. My friend (Neville Page) used a lot of Zbrush to design the Na'vi and the various creatures of the planet. Then WETA imported those models into their own 3d package.

Avatar used some very state-of-the art motion capture. Ontop of that, it was done in 3D...which means every 3D frame has to be rendered out twice at slightly different angles....i still can't believe how fast they put this film together. Yup, the processing power is crazy. Just to give you an idea, to visit a Render Farm (a large room filled with PCs....as in thousands), you have to put on a thick winter jacket. They keep these rooms at super-cooled temperatures to prevent CPU burn out. The Render Farms rooms look sci-fi themselves! Imagine standing in a large, freezing cold room, filled from floor to ceiling with PC boxes (no monitors....they are controlled remotely)....and little green lights are flashing all around you....and all you hear are industrial fans noises...

I'm gonna go watch it again next week....once is not enough. Too much detail overload!

-feng

So Feng, Do you thing their processors are powerful enough to run FSX without stutters? :bump:

[MCDesigns]

Thanks for the insight feng! I use Zbrush myself, and know guys that use it and modo, but haven't got past the playing stages yet. I am very familiar with renderfarms, but have always wondered what the pro studios use/look like, sounds very cool. I'd love to have that kind of power. Probably why I don't do animations, just to impatient to wait for each render. Thanks again.

[Lionheart]

Thats wild Feng. I had never heard of Render Farms.

Incredible how much work went into the scenery. All the light and shadows, tree movements, changing of angles, color, realism, resolution.... Mind blowing..



Bill

[MCDesigns]

Thats wild Feng. I had never heard of Render Farms.

Incredible how much work went into the scenery. All the light and shadows, tree movements, changing of angles, color, realism, resolution.... Mind blowing..



Bill

I got this from a story on Pixar from 2003

"Pixar's new RenderFarm, used to create the digital images for each frame of animation in its movies, will consist of 1024 Intel Xeon processors inside of eight new RackSaver BladeRack supercomputing clusters running Pixar's own RenderMan software. The RenderFarm features two terabytes of memory and 60 terabytes of disk space. Each Intel Xeon processor at 2.8 GHz is about five times faster than the older RISC-based processors in Pixar's outgoing RenderFarm. Pixar is using the system for its film, "The Incredibles," scheduled for a 2004 release."

They have probably upgraded since then, but can you imagine the power, wow!