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Spring 2010 Case Study: 2D in a 3D World
| Production:
Avatar |
Production Designers: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Supervising Art Directors: Todd Cherniawsky, Kevin Ishioka and Kim Sinclair |
| Art Directors: Norman Newberry and Stefan Dechant |
| Product: Custom photo backings from stock images |
For Avatar’s Pandora, JC Backings worked with the production’s art department to manipulate 2D custom photo backings for insertion in Avatar’s 3D world.
The first step was to identify jungle images from JC Backings’ stock image library. Avatar’s digital artists used these images as a base for their insertion of alien plant life, structures and other scenic elements.
Avatar’s art department benefited by:
- Resolution matching for optimal quality. The super high quality digital stock images helped establish the proper resolution for Avatar’s digital artists to work their magic.
- Immediate troubleshooting and correction. JC Backings printed full-size test images so digital artists could correct—on the fly—any digital errors such as banding, masking artifacts, etc. View CT-684 and CT-685.
- Saving time and money. Printing the custom backings and shipping them to New Zealand for use on the stage sets helped reduce the amount of blue/green screen shots required, which saved the production money.
Using Avatar’s 3D process, the 2D backings were brought to life by:
- 3D objects placed in front of the backing. In the Hell's Gate Commissary set, 3D ships were inserted in front of the backing to create the illusion of depth to what is essentially a flat image. View CT-686.
- Optimizing contained environments. The Control Center set was a contained environment. There weren’t a lot of tracking shots, so the backings needed to stand on their own. The exceptional level of detail on the photo backings helped sustain the 3D illusion. View CT-687. (CT-127 was the original backing)
- Consistency matters. The production team built a 300-foot wide alien jungle set in New Zealand to create a ‘live’ Pandora environment. Photos of the set were matched to the photo backings to ensure optimal consistency between set and backing. View CT-698. (CT-127 was the original backing)
The result showed how 2D images can help create an award-winning 3D world. |
On Location: Pierre Steele’s Portfolio
Pierre Steele, JC Backings’ principal photographer, goes wherever clients need to capture the quintessential images that help bring a production to life. Here’s some of Pierre’s more recent work.
Featured shoots
View Pierre's portfolio.
To view Pierre’s complete portfolio, click here
Credits: What’s New
With nearly 5,000 painted, photo and digital print vinyl backings, JC Backings offers the industry unparalleled choice when designing the look and feel of any production.
Here’s a sample of the most recent additions to our catalog:
To review the complete JC Backings catalog, click here.
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