For the recent blockbuster Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the ICT Graphics Lab collaborated with Icon Imaging Studio, Lightstage LLC and House of Moves (HOM) to develop a new process of creating digital doubles for the film’s main actors – Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens and Luis Guzman.
ICT’s Light Stage 6 captured full body lighting scenarios simultaneous to the scanning of character topology by Icon Imaging. Lightstage LLC recorded the actors’ facial shapes and appearances at the level of pore detail and fine creases. HOM contributed character rigging and conducted mocap sessions. All facial and full body data, lighting and textures were captured in just a few hours resulting in the creation of high-quality digital doubles that were ready for the VFX vendors with minimal time required of the talent.
“With this process, the VFX vendors on the show were able to start at the 50-yard line, so to speak, instead of working from scratch and laboring through the tedious R&D process of building digital doubles,” said Paul Debevec, who heads up the graphics lab at ICT and developed both the Light Stage 6 and the technology behind the facial scanning Light Stage used by Lightstage LLC. “With the physical proximity of ICT, Icon and House of Moves, talent was in and out having had their body scan, texture, lighting and mocap data all captured in under three hours.”