One tool that Weta used to aid in compositing was their proprietary deep tool: Shadow Sling. The complex simulations were combined with live action elements The final shot Weta’s concept art team produced breathtakingly beautiful concept art for the project, (see above). Stunning concept art by Michael Pangrazio Hero simulations were created to generate dragon fire and vast heat fields for a dragon traveling at speeds of over 200 mph. He did request this, even when it was just as a guide to Weta as to the effect the creative team were after. And also because he preferred the creative team to be able to approve from takes shot on set before simulating.
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He always opted for the real fire if possible, due to its spontaneity and realism. We tried to physically match all aspects of the on set flame thrower so our simulation version would look the same as the on-set flame elements,” says Hill. We matched the fuel that was emitted by volume and the flux of propellant coming out. “We needed to adjust all our flame parameters to match the burn temperature and the amount of fuel pressure.
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The effects animation team matched the physical volumes of the real propellent, simulating its explosive properties, the type of fuel, the forces that such a volume would exert and the heat it would generate. Martin Hill wanted the digital fire and real flame elements to match as closely as possible. This meant that even shot studio elements would technically have volume, be reflected correctly in CG water and light the surrounding volumes correctly.
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Each shot element was projected into 3 space as part of the Weta deep compositing pipeline. The team would recreate the fire digitally to provide correct lighting for the rest of the shot in terms of contact lighting and reflections. Even when the fire elements were shot live action, the effects animation team would simulate them. Weta combined special 2nd unit plate photography with computer generated fire, but given the dominant visual role of the fire, the team needed to go much further than just composite using a library of fire elements. The Dragon’s fire was achieved as a combination of flame elements shot on motion control flame throwers attached to wire rigs similar to spidercams… + along with complex effects simulations. One of the most iconic aspects of GoT is the Dragons, who featured heavily in the last set of espiodes, especially in the epic battle sequences. We also sit down with Geoff Tobin, a long time Massive specialist at Weta and discuss the similarities between both of these iconic Massive crowd simulations, done over 15 years apart. We start by speaking to Weta Digital VFX Supervisor Martin Hill about the range of simulation work done at Weta that adds so much production value and richness to GoT…and if those huge battles in GoT reminded you of Weta’s original work on Lord of the Rings, then we agree.
![massive crowd simulation massive crowd simulation](https://www.massivesoftware.com/images/ratatouilleheader3.jpg)
On Game of Thrones, the Weta effects animation team used almost every tool they had. Weta has a team of experts who develop state-of-the-art simulations for visual effects such as water, fire, fluids, muscle, cloth, hair, and plants. This ranged from Massive crowds to complex Dragon fire and water simulations. These ranged from large scale environments, epic battles, dragons and destruction. Weta Digital completed over 600 shots across six of the final episodes of Game of Thrones (GoT).