Avatar

[PascalR]

Hi guys,

Here is a thread for people to give their opinion on the movie. Personally I liked it very much but thought it was slightly too long.:p

Cheers

P.

[Josh Bare]

Hi Pascal,

I watched it yesterday on IMAX and i thought it was fantastic!
Yes it is long but I enjoyed that :)
Congats to all the guys who worked on it!
Josh

ps. anyone else watch it on IMAX and get a bad headache after?
My wife and I both did. hmm...

[MiguelAngeloCBT]

Hey! :D

Watch it yesterday in digital 3D! Damme! So good! Best movie ever to me.(I don't freak out easly) Loved the character design, VFX, general mood, and the facial animation is amazing!
I know that some of the users here in the forum worked on it (PascalR,pepe, etc), so... congratulations to all! :D Really nice work in there!

best,
-Miguel

[StephaneD]

congratulation to all people involved ! what an achievement !
4days after and 2 screenings I am still in shock, exactly as I was as a kid watching jurassic park, not a single movie gave me such a feeling since then.

As impressive as the editing is, I personnaly found the movie way too short...
especially the whole discovering of pandora, its vegetation and creatures which was the very highlight of the movie to me
I heard its been cut down to fit IMAX 160 minutes constraint, so I have high hopes the blu ray version will be longer !

bravo

[PascalR]

I didn't watch it in Imax but was feeling dizzy after the crew screening. And yeah they 've cut a lot of our work so I am hoping those sequences will be back on the extended dvd version :)
Cheers

P.

[jack_sparow]

Hi pascal,

I saw the movie past tuesday in premiere in france and it was amazing. I think this movie is a masterpiece, and CG comes from another world. congratulation to all Weta team for their work on this. modeling, lighting and animation are just awesome.

Pascal I love the model you worked on, I can't wait for the uncut version in blueray to see more and more, because I want more and more beautiful shots...

In france the success is really big, every Imax and 3d projection are sold out, I need to wait a bit to see it again. ;-p.

see ya.

julien

[PascalR]

Merci Julien! and :welcome: here :)
Please feel free to post your works here and tips on renderman, this community would really benefit from your experience in rendering and shader writing.

Cheers

P.

[Lopez]

Hi all,

Great Movie, great work for those lucky basterds that worked on it. :D

For me, with those great effects, and all the great stuff, maybe the story was the not great thing of the movie.

I mean, great characters, sound effects, animation, light, DETAILS, etc etc, and with all those top things, the story has too much cliché characters, the soldier guy that only thinks in blood and killing, the business man that only cares with money..


The 3D glasses makes me feel dizzy, so at the beginning when they are showing the world, and "explaining" the story, I felt that it was so many stuff going on, like "Oh nice leaves.. oh strange animal.. oh tree, house,tree,animal agrrrr so much!!" :D

Because after a while my eyes get used to, or, maybe because the amount of stuff going on were less, I never felt the dizzyness again.

Cheers.

[musashidan]

To me the greatest human achievement has always been a full symphonic orchestra coming together in helping to realise the beautiful artistic vision that the composer created in his mind. The sheer beaty of it can then be enjoyed outside his mind and brought to the senses of the world.......

And then Avatar was created...........:love: :notWorthy:

To everyone who worked on this film(even if their job was making the tea) i fall at your feet and thank you for being part of the orchestra. ;)

[tonytrout]

Finally got to see it yesterday in 3D in Hokitika. The film, cg work, and animation was just superb. Cant wait for it to come out on bluRay so I can study it a bit more. The 3D was pretty convincing and added a subtle depth to the whole film, just wish the viewing experience was a bit less intrusive, we all came out of the theatre with eyes like pinwheels.

The best thing about the film for me was I forgot I was watching cg animated characters. Amazingly well done and congratulations to all ye who worked on it.
:notWorthy::notWorthy::notWorthy:

[Billabong]

That music kept freaking me out. It took forever to find out where it was coming from.

Pascal you might want to give some kind of option of not playing it anymore, because whenever I go to a new page, that music starts over.

I saw it in 3D,while I do think the whole 3D thing is very cool, it gave me a headache after a while of wearing those glasses. I thought the movie was very good and to be honest, it did not feel like 3 hours to me.I kept catching myself saying out louad. How the hell did they do that.

Great job Pascal.

-B

[bneall]

I've never seen a 3d film before and it felt fine. It probably took about 15 minutes for my eyes to adjust, after that I forgot about it. I avoid IMAX, but it looks perfectly fine on a regular screen.

I enjoyed the film as a whole, and really enjoyed the lead female character the most. Sure it might be cheesy but I was never pulled out of the film during it to think that, the suspension of disbelief was on full force till the credit roll.

As an artist, my favorite art/technical aspect was the mouth blendshapes and animation, and the war paint/dirt on the skin was my favorite texture map highlight.

And I guess my only critique is the consistency of the shader/comp work for the characters. At times they look like orange-peel rubber, at other times like great skin.

Congratulations on your success Weta goons :thumbsup:

[ianucci]

I really enjoyed the film, the story was not particularly original as many have noted, but it was executed so well I could forgive that. It made me really happy that Cameron is still at the top of his game unlike some of my other heroes.

With regards to the 3d, its exciting and does add another layer of excitement. I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D but it still feels gimmicky to me and a bit difficult to watch. I've seen three IMAX 3D films now and every time the image suffered from ghosting, like the frame rate needed doubling or something. I've not seen anything in RealD (that's what the conventional cinema screen 3d technology is called right?) So I'll be interested to see something in that format. PersonallyI don't see a true 3d revolution happening till the glasses are done away with.

My biggest gripe with the film was probably the score, I cannot express how tired I am of Lisa Gerard type vocals over slow motion scenes of suffering during battle scenes... and the typical usage of african tribal style music for exotic ambience. I hope Cameron users another composer for his next film, someone who can deliver some more innovative music like Brad Fiedel did back in 84 with Terminator.

[El Burritoh]

I saw it twice here in the States. The first time in non-3D, because I thought it was a gimmick. The second time in 3D, after seeing what all the hype was about. It was better in 3D.

In fact, I'd say this is the only film I've ever seen in a theater that must be seen in a theater. All other films, no matter how grandiose, are pretty much the same on a good TV. The experience is the same, just a little smaller. But things like Avatar's 3D and sheer detail ensure that, perhaps for the first time, viewers who wait for the home release and opt completely out of a theater viewing really will miss out.

As a story critic I'd have to say that this film is almost a remake in an age of remakes. But in a strange paradox, it is also the first visually innovative film I've seen in a very long time.

Like others have said, what I find encouraging is the thought that the work of so many people could be orchestrated together to produce this. I'd really like to work in that kind of cutting-edge environment, solving new problems instead of old ones.

I didn't even know that Weta had worked on it until I saw the credits. But during the film, I kept thinking that I'd not seen that care for detail since Weta did LOTR. I remember thinking "I bet Weta did some of this."

Fantastic film!



EDIT: Here in the U.S., a few news outlets have reported on some people actually getting depressed after watching Avatar, being unable to accept the idea that they have to live in the real world and can't live on Pandora as a Na'Vi. No joke! Some people are just messed up, I guess...

[collings]

finally saw it friday night, i absolutely loved it. Not especially for the story but for the consistency of the world created. pandora and all the creatures living on it are absolutely stunning . I also very much enjoyed the 3d imax experience . Congratulation to everyone involved on that movie :)

[kesha3d]

I've watched it 8 times, and only 1 think I have.
Why!!!! Why this movie is too short? :(

I'm crying every time when I see it.

[cj3d]

Avatar is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. And if people would stop messing up this planet then they wouldn't yearn for Pandora...imo.

So when is the sequel gonna start rolling :D

CJ

[PascalR]

Thanks Richard for that great link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thsc60UTUIE

That is just great :dance:

[El Burritoh]

That's golden! clap

[Billabong]

hahaha, that was hilarious.

Im a single father of a crack user. Priceless

-B

[PascalR]

For those who would be interested in some Avatar comp layers :)

http://www-ext.wetafx.co.nz/features/avatar/

cheers

Pascal

[El Burritoh]

Thanks Pascal!

[cj3d]

Heh you guys at Weta really get stuck with the thick jungle comps :D

Thanks for the post it's always a blast to view the process.

[Intervain]

Well, I had my jaw on the floor the first time I watched it in 3d - [well and the second time to be honest]. Wonderful work to all who had the chance to work on it. Congrats guys. Can't wait for more :) [and I sure hope the DVD special features will be extensive - because the art book was disappointing :(]
So yeah the movie was great - what impressed me most I think was the lighting and animation [finally no floaty heavy-weight creatures] and the new type camera really helped give it a real camera feel. :thumbsup:

[nghia59]

I thought it was awesome but a little too sugary for me. I was actually a bigger fan of District 9 for its gritty sadness and drama. This by no means trumps the accomplishments of what you guys have achieved for Avatar. Also I was wondering where one of my favorite cg guys (Peter Syomka) disappeared to all these years.

Also I was just wondering knowing that Cameron is a huge fan of anime all these years if he was inspired by this early series from the 80's called Xabungle. A lot of the mecha and vehicle designs reminded so much of it.

- Nghia

P.S. One more thing! The function of the AMP suits was totally like the Guges armor from Appleseed!

[PascalR]

I'd have to agree about District9, I just loved the character and story of this movie :dance:

[PascalR]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o9Fod9KigU

[Porkpie Samurai]

Who made this? Its quite well done.

[El Burritoh]

That's great! Was that an internal piece done by Weta? ;)

[PascalR]

That's great! Was that an internal piece done by Weta? ;)

not that I am aware of :) Facial is not always perfect but I thought this looked pretty cool clap Not sure who did this vid though.

I like this one too ;)

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9233/19743267885371312604841.jpg

[El Burritoh]

Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) as a Na'vi!

[PascalR]

Congrats to all Weta modelers who won
VES awards yesterday for their work on Avatar :bouncy:
Well done John! ;)

Cheers

P.

[PascalR]

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.twitvid.com/player/28C4A"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.twitvid.com/player/28C4A" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" allowNetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" height="344" width="425"></object>

[El Burritoh]

Congratulations! clap

[JohnSG]

Congrats to all Weta modelers who won
VES awards yesterday for their work on Avatar :bouncy:
Well done John! ;)


Thanks Pascal.

I was lucky to be chosen to receive the award form the VES for Avatar. But it was a team effort that got us there in the end. So many talented people put a huge efford into creating Avatar. A big personal Thank You to all the guys & girls in the models dept at Weta Digital.

[tonytrout]

mmm... got my blue ray disc released here today. No prizes for guessing what Im doing tonight. Time to take a much closer look at your work :drool: