All three sets were presented, ready to go, to the compositor to use to sell the shot. As this is done during the comp and it is very advantageous, вЂњespecially when youвЂ™ve got 300 shots with atmospherics, You can move the lighting or the objects in the scene around without having to re-render the expensive volumetric passвЂќ he adds.ДЇor each shot, when it was being prepared for compositing during the Battle of Winterfell, the automated system at Weta would produce three sets of mist and fog elements, with diп¬Ђerent velocities and turbulences. You can put in the light source passed on from the 3D lighters, and add geometry or вЂblockersвЂ™ and you can generate correct shadow volumetrics within the deep compositeвЂќ. Martin Hill explains вЂњItвЂ™s part of the volume relighting setup, it essentially controls a shadow component. All of the Weta shots were produced in a deep compositing pipeline and so Shadow Sling allows for CG elements such as the dragon to be added or moved around after the volume renders correctly shadow and eп¬Ђect volumes around them during the Nuke composite. This is part of the compositing pipeline and used for relighting volumes. One tool that Weta used to aid in compositing was their proprietary deep tool: Shadow Sling. The complex simulations were combined with live action elements The final shot WetaвЂ™s concept art team produced breathtakingly beautiful concept art for the project, (see above). Stunning concept art by Michael Pangrazio Hero simulations were created to generate dragon fire and vast heat fields for a dragon traveling at speeds of over 200 mph. He did request this, even when it was just as a guide to Weta as to the eп¬Ђect the creative team were after. And also because he preferred the creative team to be able to approve from takes shot on set before simulating. He always opted for the real п¬Ѓre if possible, due to its spontaneity and realism. We tried to physically match all aspects of the on set flame thrower so our simulation version would look the same as the on-set п¬‚ame elements,вЂќ says Hill. We matched the fuel that was emitted by volume and the п¬‚ux of propellant coming out. вЂњWe needed to adjust all our п¬‚ame parameters to match the burn temperature and the amount of fuel pressure. The eп¬Ђects animation team matched the physical volumes of the real propellent, simulating its explosive properties, the type of fuel, the forces that such a volume would exert and the heat it would generate. Martin Hill wanted the digital п¬Ѓre and real п¬‚ame elements to match as closely as possible. This meant that even shot studio elements would technically have volume, be reflected correctly in CG water and light the surrounding volumes correctly. Each shot element was projected into 3 space as part of the Weta deep compositing pipeline. The team would recreate the fire digitally to provide correct lighting for the rest of the shot in terms of contact lighting and reflections.

Even when the fire elements were shot live action, the effects animation team would simulate them.

Weta combined special 2nd unit plate photography with computer generated fire, but given the dominant visual role of the fire, the team needed to go much further than just composite using a library of fire elements. The DragonвЂ™s п¬Ѓre was achieved as a combination of п¬‚ame elements shot on motion control flame throwers attached to wire rigs similar to spidercamsвЂ¦ + along with complex eп¬Ђects simulations. One of the most iconic aspects of GoT is the Dragons, who featured heavily in the last set of espiodes, especially in the epic battle sequences. We also sit down with Geoff Tobin, a long time Massive specialist at Weta and discuss the similarities between both of these iconic Massive crowd simulations, done over 15 years apart.

We start by speaking to Weta Digital VFX Supervisor Martin Hill about the range of simulation work done at Weta that adds so much production value and richness to GoTвЂ¦and if those huge battles in GoT reminded you of WetaвЂ™s original work on Lord of the Rings, then we agree. On Game of Thrones, the Weta effects animation team used almost every tool they had. Weta has a team of experts who develop state-of-the-art simulations for visual effects such as water, fire, fluids, muscle, cloth, hair, and plants. This ranged from Massive crowds to complex Dragon fire and water simulations. These ranged from large scale environments, epic battles, dragons and destruction. Weta Digital completed over 600 shots across six of the final episodes of Game of Thrones (GoT).

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