LookingOutwards – 05 Thanos’s Creation. 3D Computer Graphics in Marvel.

Thanos, Created by Studio: Digital Domain

Over the last 12 years of MCU movies being created, Marvel worked with many VFX studios such as Weta Digital, Framestore, and industrial light and magic. Almost every 3D Computer Graphics was used in the films. They used Maya, 3ds Max Modo, in addition to Zbrush and Mudbox for sculpting. To create textured painting works, Mari and Substance Painter. Nuke is used with after effects for compositing 3D projections. 

To create Thanos, Digital Domain worked with Marvel Studios to create effects shots using Masquerade. 513 shots were created by over 340 Digital Domain artists. Masquerade is a facial capture application that is based on computer machine learning algorithms. The system was worked on for 3 to 4 months before filming to develop and test. Masquerade has the ability to capture a high resolution image of an actor’s face at a rate of 40-50 frames per second. 

The actor Josh Brolin who played Thanos. For Digital Domain, it was important for Thanos’s movements to be very organic and realistic. Thus, Mocap cameras were used. The actor Josh wore a Mocap suit and helmet with cameras that had motion capture dots to capture his movements. Digital Domain’s factual capture identified the smallest details such as wrinkles and curvatures of Josh’s face. From here, the animation team could enhance features of the face like eyes, until Josh’s face was transformed into Thanos’s purple face.

This project and artwork interests me because I had no idea that so many programs and machine learning algorithms are used in movies that contain real humans to create fake characters. Rather than going through the struggle of using prosthetics or other costumes to create a villain like Thanos, they were able to create an animated character that can be then utilized throughout the film.

Sources:

https://inspirationtuts.com/what-3d-software-does-marvel-use/