Dawn of the Planet of the Apes VFX Evolution + Clips

Tim here, and there's a nice little BTS video for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes that appeared on IGN the other day. I've included it below followed by two short clips of a scenes from the film. The BTS video shows the challenges that had to be overcome with the performance capture technology and how far it has come since the last Apes film. It's very impressive to witness this kind of technological evolution combined with today's advanced native 3D - provided by 3ality Technica.

The scene that follows was shown to those in attendence at CinemaCon, and it got the most visceral reaction. For me it instantly became a favorite scene. It completely solidifies how insanely awesome the movie will be. Great tension. Enjoy.

Another clip that was released:

We're very close to the release of the movie. It lands in theaters on July 11^th.

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 8^th when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits sheleves on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 3D Blu-Ray.