Courses

This course introduces how simulations have used flesh mesh, cloth mesh, and rigid bodies in VFX movies such as "Avatar", "Terminator", "Indiana Jones", and "Transformer". The main focus is on how CG artists plan the simulation setup to achieve efficient dynamic effects.

The first section of the course describes the process of setting up a realistic tree simulation in a very heavy and complex 3D model for "Avatar". Attendees learn how to plan and prepare a simulation setup from complex and heavy geometry. The second section explains the destruction simulation that was developed for "Indiana Jones 4" and "Transformer 2". Attendees learn how to use fracture techniques to break the geometry and how to use the fragment-clustering system to control rigid simulation. In the third section, attendees learn how various dynamic constraints and deformable rigid simulation were used in car-crash simulations and the multiple-layer simulation setup on "Terminator 4".