PINNACLE’S COMMOTION USED ON GLADIATOR

PINNACLE Systems have announced that ‘Gladiator’, winner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ‘Best Visual Effects’ award benefited from Commotion, Pinnacle Systems’ award-winning visual effects software.
In addition, all nominees on the ballot for the ‘Best Visual Effects’ award used Commotion during the post-production process.
Mill Film, a premier post-production house based in London, selected Commotion to accomplish numerous 3D-pan shots of ‘Gladiator’s’ battle scenes in the arena. In ‘Hollow Man’ the lead actor was made invisible with Commotion’s paint capabilities.
During the production of ‘Gladiator’, Mill Film were faced with the challenge of rotoscoping ‘Maximus’ and his band of fifteen gladiators from previously shot footage of the battle scenes in order to composite them into a computer-generated background.
David Early, Digital Effects Artist at Mill Film, said: “The Gladiator actors were shot on a set that was only partially built. The background was inconsistent and sometimes parts of the actor’s bodies would be over a blue sky or rigging, rather than a constructed set. We used Commotion to lock the rotosplines to each moving object. Commotion was also responsible for preserving the motion blur of each dramatic sword swing in order to convey the realism of the battle.”
Commotion Pro 3.1 is available worldwide through select resellers. For more information visit the website at www.commotionpro.com. (CD)