Key figures in Avatar: The Way of Water's expansive visual effects team reveal the only two shots in the movie that are entirely live-action with no CGI.
The film's visual effects team used a combination of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and practical effects to create the film's stunning world. The CGI was used to create the film's digital characters and environments, while the practical effects were used to create the physical sets and props.
This is live-action filmmaking in the sense that it starts with the actor's performance and it ends up fully rendered with the actor's performance. When people say it's animated, it's not an animated film. It is a live-action film with real actors performing everything, and these actors did an amazing job."
James Cameron's Avatar James Cameron's Avatar was filmed in photo-realistic, “stereoscopic 3D,” which mixes live-action and CGI imagery in a seamless blend. Avatar utilizes 60% CGI imagery, with a majority of the CG character animation filmed with revolutionary new motion-capture techniques using live actors.
The largest VFX film Wētā FX has ever worked on has a total shot count of 4,001 (including omits / final omits). There are 3,289 shots in the final film and Wētā FX worked on 3,240 VFX shots, 2,225 of which were water shots. In fact, only two shots in the entire film do not contain any visual effects at all.
Filming Avatar, there were 120 of these cameras set up around the stage, in order to capture every intricacy of an actor's movement. In sum, Weta digital created over 800 computer-generated characters, as well as 1,800 visual effects shots which boasted detailed CG settings.
Her father is not a father, her father is another mother, Eywa, the Great Mother, the sentient life force of Pandora itself that exists in all things there, but is rarely understood. So essentially yes, Kiri was born from Eywa just like Anakin Skywalker was allegedly conceived by the Force itself and its midichlorians.
While making this story more about family and one individual's desire for vengeance than about the human race's unchecked avarice and the military's (writ large) boundless bloodlust, the movie manages to avoid the most egregious sins of wokeness which its predecessor committed.
The actors swam in performance capture wetsuits and goggles around fully submerged sets. The medium made actors' movements more fluid, allowing their characters' actions to appear far more realistic than they would have with the use of wire suspension systems.
How long did it take to render each CGI frame in Avatar?
To get the perfect shot, the company averages around 500 iterations per shot, each of which contains thousands of frames. Rendering each frame took 8,000 thread hours, or the combined power of 3,000 vCPUs in the cloud for an hour.
Dry for wet is a film technique in which smoke, colored filters, and/or lighting effects are used to simulate a character being underwater while filming on a dry stage. Fans and slow motion can be used to make hair or clothing appear to float in the current.
Only two shots in the entire film contain no visual effects. Despite all those long skin-pruning sessions in the tank and the vast quantities of water in the sequel, nearly all of the water in the film is computer-generated. Of the 3,240 visual effects shots Weta worked on, 2,225 involved water.
Physics also helps to keep CGI grounded. With motion-capture technology, for example, digital graphics are overlaid atop the facial and body movements of real people, as was used in films like Avatar, War for the Planet of the Apes, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Arranged pairings occur in certain clans, especially between heirs of the clan leader and tsahìk. Once an appropriate mate has been selected, a process that can take many years, the pair will connect queues at a sacred area such as the Tree of Voices to create an emotional bond that lasts a lifetime.
While films have traditionally shot at 24fps, Avatar 2 was shot at both a high frame rate (HFR) in addition to 3D to provide the realism needed to make the world come off the screen. Now, this isn't the first film to shoot at HFR for that ultra-realistic look.
So back to the original question: Is CGI worth it? From the standpoint of the films that are successful, like Avatar, yes. There are, nonetheless, a lot of movies that will barely break even. The artistic value of CGI in terms of classic movie criteria, like acting and directing, is another story.
It takes a team of highly skilled artists and technicians many months to create just a few minutes of high-quality CGI footage. And, of course, all that time and expertise comes at a cost. Additionally, other factors can drive up the price of CGI, such as the complexity of the project and the level of detail required.
VFX requires the use of powerful computers and software. These can be very expensive to purchase and maintain. Creating VFX requires a lot of highly skilled artist and the salary of artist is so high. The field of VFX requires a unique combination of artistic talent and technical expertise.
