笔者评:近日3D电影"Walking with Dinosaurs"将我们带入恐龙时代,承接该电影制作的一家公司Cameron Pace Group采用激光雷达点云获取技术来对恐龙生活区域进行建模,采用真实场景无非会增加现代人与恐龙时代的心里距离。相信将来的电影制作当中对点云数据的依赖将趋于明显,特别是自由视角3D电影。
“Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie” presented a unique creative challenge to its filmmakers, who had to project themselves back in time – 70 million years – to what is now the U.S. state of Alaska, in the Late Cretaceous Period. Then, they had to imagine the myriad adventures a lovable young dinosaur might encounter on an odyssey unlike any other.
The movie follows a dino named Patchi who hails from a family and tribe of Pachyrhinosaurus (from the Greek for “thick-nosed lizard”) dinosaurs. He is far from being the biggest or toughest guy in the herd, so he must use his wits and his heart to compete for food with his larger brothers and sisters.
Following is an exclusive Q&A with producers Mike Devlin (CEO, Evergreen Studios) and Luke Hetherington (Producer, Animal Logic) on the making of this massive and authentic experience with the dinosaurs.
Q: Why was Cameron Pace Group (CPG) chosen to shoot the live environments?
A: Cameron Pace is highly respected for its technology innovation, R&D, engineering and manufacturing. They are truly creative artists and have over eleven patents such as the Fusion 3D camera and workflow system that was used on this film. Their rigs and equipment for the 3D settings of the cameras allowed for an immersive filming environment. They have the highest standards of quality, and it was an honor to work with them.
Q: What camera was used for actual live action shots?
A: The bulk of the footage was shot with the RED Epic, with a few isolated shots captured with the Sony F23 part of the Cameron Pace 3D Fusion Camera System.
Q: Can you explain about LIDAR technology?
A: LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. Similar to radar technology that uses sound, LIDAR uses light pulses to find distance information about environmental objects. In raw form, LIDAR data consists of a large number of points captured with a laser device, representing an accurate measurement of the distance each point is from the scanner. This point cloud can be processed and converted into a polygonal surface, and when combined with survey data showing precise GPS coordinates, can give an accurate representation of the contours of an area and how objects within it relate to each other. For example, one of the main uses of the data is to help generate an accurate camera track – if we have a LIDAR scan of an area, and GPS coordinates for the camera, then we can use this data in conjunction with the footage to figure out how far and fast it was moving.On ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’, the LIDAR data was used to help integrate the CGI dinosaurs into natural, outdoor locations.
Q: What attributes of the dinosaurs were especially challenging to capture? For instance, to create more realistic skin, eyes, movements, weight, etc.
A: We created a new physically plausible shading and lighting pipeline, using high-dynamic range images from the locations to achieve a more photorealistic look in a relatively automated way, enabling the lighting team to focus more on creative ‘hero’ lighting of the characters.