Prime Focus VFX helps elevate G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra

24 August 2009 - Prime Focus VFX - formerly Frantic Films VFX - announced that it's contributed 124 visual effects shots for the Stephen Sommers directed movie G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra from Paramount Pictures. Prime Focus' Los Angeles, Winnipeg and Vancouver visual effects studios most notably provided expertise in previz, digital environments, fluid simulation and high-volume particle rendering for the movie's action-packed finale sequence involving a complicated aerial scene. G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra starring Channing Tatum (Duke), Sienna Miller (Baroness), Marlon Wayans (Ripcord), and Rachel Nichols (Scarlett) premiered in cinemas on 7 August 2009.

Prime Focus contributed roughly 70 visual effects shots for the finale's aerial sequence, which features a plane being eaten away by Nanomites, a US developed bio-weapon usurped by evil forces that disintegrates metal on contact. Chris Bond, senior visual effects supervisor and president of Prime Focus VFX said, "This sequence was particularly challenging because we weren't relying on any aerial photography, which would be nearly impossible to shoot at these speeds, but instead created nearly everything digitally - the plane, sky, clouds and the destructive Nanomites that eat away the plane."

In addition to developing a custom toolset to generate 3D cloud and sky environments, Prime Focus built a Nanomite animation pipeline and a hybrid matte painting, environment and 3D animation pipeline. The company also dedicated extensive R&D to improving its in-house scene collaboration system that allowed its LA and Vancouver offices to work seamlessly together.

"We created a system whereby no single shot lives as a whole, but rather as a collection of project, sequence or shot assets," explained Chris Harvey, visual effects supervisor for Prime Focus VFX in Vancouver. "Assets could range from models, shaders, animations, scripts, light rigs and anything in-between. These assets would then be assembled on the fly based on the specific requirements. This facilitated a number of important aspects to our pipeline - artists would always have the latest approved assets regardless of their global location, and we could make changes en masse and have them propagate through various levels of the show, shot, sequence and even across the entire project."

In addition to providing previz for the aerial sequence, Prime Focus artists, with VFX supervision from Bond and Harvey, built a Nanomite animation pipeline using Prime Focus' proprietary volumetric particle renderer Krakatoa, along with Autodesk 3ds Max, to render out the billions upon billions of particles that make up the Nanomite cloud. Functioning as an intelligent swarm, the Nanomites are able to track their movements to avoid retracing their steps, leaving no metal untouched until whatever they're consuming crumbles and collapses. To produce this complex destruction, Prime Focus created a series of particle systems, shader networks, and procedural level set tools that would all talk to and affect each other. This created a true geometric volume with thickness and surface properties that would be eaten, rather than paper-thin transparency texture maps.

Using footage of actor Wayans shot on set in a chair with only the practical cockpit around him, Prime Focus artists digitally built the Night Raven plane, including its inner-workings and engine, which are revealed as the Nanomites eat away the metal. Ken Nakata headed up the digital matte painting department in Los Angeles to create the CG sky and clouds using a combination of fluid dynamics, matte painting, CG simulation and particle simulation. Prime Focus also created missile contrails and built the White House and Potomac River entirely in CG. In addition to the finale, Prime Focus also contributed to the opening sequence in which a tank is destroyed by Nanomites and provided interior shots and set extensions for the Cobra base. Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya were the tools-of-choice, eyeon Fusion was the compositor.

Prime Focus is one of the world's largest visual entertainment services groups, specialising in providing creative and technical services for the film, broadcast, commercials, music, gaming, internet and media industries. With a market capitalisation of $140m USD, it operates nine facilities in India, four in the UK and four in North America, offering clients access to a talent pool of over 600 visual effects artists worldwide.

Over the last 11 years, Prime Focus has played a pioneering role in embracing digital entertainment technologies, and today offers an end-to-end service deploying robust, best-in-class technology platforms to create a delivery pipeline that lets its customers effectively manage the creative process.

Prime Focus is a market leader in its field, ranked number one in India and number four in the highly competitive UK market. Part of its success has been due to the care and attention it pays to clients at a local level (running studios in London, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, Bangalore, Los Angeles, New York, Winnipeg and Vancouver) whilst leveraging the talent, resources and cost advantages of its global infrastructure.

Prime Focus is a public stock company with shares traded in the Mumbai and National Stock exchanges in India (Symbol - PRIMEFOCUS). Prime Focus also owns and operates Prime Focus London plc (Symbol - PFO), which is publicly traded in the LSE's AIM market. For more information, please visit www.primefocusworld.com.

Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, whose previous collaboration was the worldwide blockbuster TRANSFORMERS, join forces with Spyglass Entertainment for another extraordinary action-adventure, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organisation to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns).