WETA Digital: Bringing Smaug to Life
Tim here, WETA Digital has released a brand new two and a half minute video exclusively the The Hollywood Reporter detailing the creation of the dragon Smaug. Video is embedded below. Enjoy!
The Hollywood Reporter also spoke to Smaug VFX artist David Clayton (who is nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film) about the process of translating actor Benedict Cumberbatch's motion capture performance into the fire-breathing creature you see on the screen in The Desolation of Smaug.
David Clayton: (emphaisis mine)
"The translation of performance from Benedict to Smaug wasn't a one-to-one match like you'd get from a humanoid creature. They have very different physiologies," Clayton explains. "As animators we had to transpose the elements of Benedict's performance that were critical to the shot, such as head nuances and facial expressions. We then built up the majority of his motion with keyframe animation" –meaning that it was animated by hand.
Look out on April 8th when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits sheleves on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 3D Blu-Ray.
