Eyetronics Speeds 3D Model Production For MGM and EON's New James Bond Film

Business Wire, Nov 22, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech/Entertainment Writers

LEUVEN, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 2002

Deadlines are tight in the film industry, so anytime there is a way to speed production while maintaining quality, filmmakers welcome it with open arms.

Eyetronics' digital scanning services provided one such time-saving solution for MGM and EON Productions' new James Bond film, Die Another Day, which opens today. The film was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Lee Tamahori. Eyetronics used its ShapeWare system to digitally capture and model an ice dragster and a helicopter for scenes in which they could not be filmed.

The ShapeWare process starts with ShapeCam, a hand-held scanning system that consists of a digital camera and a specially designed flash device mounted on a lightweight frame. It allows users to freely move around persons or objects, capturing dimensional and texture information by simply taking pictures. ShapeCam can capture objects ranging from about four inches to eight feet in height. A face or head can be captured in about 10 minutes and a full body in approximately 15 to 30 minutes.

Scanning on Location

For Die Another Day, Eyetronics staff went on location to Pinewood Studios in London to scan scale models of the vehicles from all angles. The scans were taken back to Eyetronics' offices, where they were processed and assembled in 3D using ShapeSnatcher software. ShapeSnatcher is an integrated set of processing tools for creating realistic 3D models from ShapeCam scans.

Completed 3D models of the dragster and helicopter were output as .obj files and sent to Cinesite and Double Negative post-production houses in London, where they were rendered with Maya software and composited into the appropriate scenes. The model production took just two weeks.

"Normally we would ask a post-production house to do all the modeling and texturing," says Sharon Lark, visual effects producer for the film. "It was much more time- and cost-efficient to use Eyetronics' services. Eyetronics allowed us to dedicate our resources to finishing other work, rather than spending weeks building and texturing the model as we would normally have to do."

Peter Bebb, a 3D artist with Double Negative, says the Eyetronics scans sped up post-processing of the final 3D helicopter model. "Data derived from the scan allowed us to build and texture the final computer graphic element with good results in a relatively short time frame."

Realism Without Filming

The final product looks as if the actual vehicles were used, Lark says.

"Eyetronics provides a fully 3D object that looks photorealistic," she says. "We were able to put the 3D helicopter model into scenes in which it would have been impossible to use a real helicopter for safety reasons."

The portability of the ShapeWare system allowed MGM Europe to supervise the scanning session without leaving the filming site, which is a valuable asset to studios with a constant eye on the bottom line.

"The ShapeWare system allows us to come to the client's site, which translates into significant time and money savings," says Dirk Callaerts, Eyetronics' CEO. "In this case, it would have been expensive to ship the scale models from London. In other cases, we need to do scans of actors and actresses whose time is too valuable to be away from the set during filming."

About Eyetronics

Eyetronics (www.eyetronics.com) has corporate offices in Leuven, Belgium, and Los Angeles, Calif. The company specializes in high-quality 3D acquisition systems and services that enable faster production of 3D models, animation and special effects. Its products and services can be used for a wide range of applications, including high-end special effects for movies and TV, realistic character generation for games, consumer-oriented products (such as low-cost sculptures of people), and reverse engineering for manufacturing.

About EON Productions

Eon Productions/Danjaq LLC is owned by the Broccoli family and has produced 19 James Bond films since 1962. The Bond films make up the most successful franchise in film history and include the recent blockbuster films, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World is Not Enough, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Eon Productions and Danjaq LLC are affiliate companies and control all worldwide merchandising of the James Bond franchise.

About MGM

MGM Pictures is a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (NYSE: MGM), through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. subsidiary, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of entertainment product, including motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. Its operating units include MGM Pictures, United Artists Films, MGM Television Entertainment, MGM Networks, MGM Distribution Co., MGM Worldwide Television Distribution, MGM Home Entertainment, MGM Consumer Products, MGM Music, MGM Interactive, and MGM.com.

In addition, MGM has acquired a 20 percent ownership interest in four of Rainbow Media's successful national cable networks - American Movie Classics (AMC), Bravo, The Independent Film Channel (IFC) and WE: Women's Entertainment (formerly Romance Classics), and holds equity interests in 14 television channels internationally. For more information on MGM, visit MGM online at http://www.mgm.com.