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What softwares does Weta Digital use?

Aasmund1986
polycounter lvl 5
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Aasmund1986 polycounter lvl 5
As the title says Im wondering what softwares does Weta Digital use?
I know they did everything in Maya and ZBrush on The Lord Of The Rings films. But, do they use external tools or in-house tools as well?

I know Im not able to make the same stuff as Weta does just because I work with the same tools, if Im able to get it. I have some shots of the tools they use here, but I dont know the name of the softwares:
(Copyrights of the screens is reserved to Weta Digital and Weta Workshop)

Capture2.jpg
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  • oglu
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    oglu polycount lvl 666
    not zbrush... mudbox... :)
    they invented mudbox... but now they use both...

    and they also invented mari... and the deep workflow in nuke...

    that on the screens look like nuke...

    in the end it doesnt matter wich commercial software they use cause they costomize everything...
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  • Aasmund1986
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    Aasmund1986 polycounter lvl 5
    Ah, I thought it was the Zbrush shader I saw on one of their "Making of" blogs. Yeah, they do customize alot of things on the softwares they use. I like to re-create things that have been done before and now Im working on The Green Dragon bar. Im training myself as a VFX specialist, so thats why Im asking :)
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  • SonicBlue
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    SonicBlue polycounter lvl 10
    Yeah, that's Nuke, they are offering a non commercial version if you want to try it:

    https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/non-commercial/


    There is also Fusion, available in Free version, 7 and 8 Beta.

    They are composition software used in post production, and won't fit in every workflow, depends of what you do, essentially they are 2D software with 3D capabilities, something like After Effects but with a nodal approach.
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  • Aasmund1986
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    Aasmund1986 polycounter lvl 5
    Fusion looks interesting, it also felt easier than Nuke, when I opened it.
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  • Aasmund1986
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    Aasmund1986 polycounter lvl 5
    Wetas words about Mudbox:

    With its great, intuitive user interface and the speed with which it processes very large geometric datasets Mudbox quickly became an intrinsic part of the hero digital modeling pipeline at Weta Digital," said Matt Aitken, visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital. "Mudbox is a next generation tool for digital modeling: its support for local subdivision and hard drive streaming of data allows the artist to work in very fine detail, and the ability to isolate separate aspects of a model's surface detail into layers facilitates the design process in a production environment."


    I also found out that Mudbox is just £12 /month for a commercial subscription, which isnt very much :)
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  • oglu
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    oglu polycount lvl 666
    im a mudbox fanboy... but go with zbrush... it is the better choice at the moment... and if you are able to sculpt in z you learn mudbox in 5 minutes...

    the mudbox development is to slow...
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  • Aasmund1986
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    Aasmund1986 polycounter lvl 5
    Yeah, I know that the focus on Mudbox isnt that great. I have tried Zbrush a number of times, but I
    never get used to the interface even if I customize it to my liking. It just too heavy for me.
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  • Gheromo
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    Gheromo polycounter lvl 11
    Zbrush is the way to go these days. Wont be surprised if mudbox will be killed off soon / integrated completely into Maya over the next year or two.

    At the end of a day you should always go for the tool that helps you do the job better / faster.
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  • Aasmund1986
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    Aasmund1986 polycounter lvl 5
    Yeah, they already started to intergrate Mudbox sculpting in Maya (which dont work very well at the moment) so I prefer Mudbox as my main sculpting tool. Back to topic, I found a list of softwares they use. This was for Avatar:

    • Autodesk Maya (most shots)
    • Pixar Renderman for Maya
    • Autodesk SoftImage XSI
    • Luxology Modo (model design, e.g. the Scorpion)
    • Lightwave (low-res realtime environments)
    • Houdini (Hell’s Gate scenes, interiors)
    • ZBrush (creature design)
    • Autodesk 3d design max (space shots, control room screens and HUD renderings)
    • Autodesk MotionBuilder (for real-time 3d visualisations)
    • Eyeon Fusion (image compositing)
    • The Foundry Nuke Compositor (previz image compositing)
    • Autodesk Smoke (color correction)
    • Autodesk Combustion (compositing)
    • Massive (vegetation simulation)
    • Mudbox (floating mountains)
    • Avid(video editing)
    • Adobe After Effects (compositing, real-ime visualizations)
    • PF Track (motion tracking, background replacement)
    • Adobe Illustrator (HUD and screens layout)
    • Adobe Photoshop (concept art, textures)
    • Adobe Premiere (proofing, rough compositing with AE)
    • many tools developed in-house
    • countless plugins for each platform, some of them Ocula for Nuke, Ktakatoa for 3ds max, Sapphire for Combustion/AE.
    Source:

    http://www.media-division.com/software-used-making-of-avatar/
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