James Cameron’s team brought Avatar to life with Adobe

The big software secret

The 3D sensation Avatar has taken the film industry by storm since its release late last year. It has been described by critics as “glorious”, “extraordinary” and that “for year to come it will define what movies can achieve”.

So what is the secret behind making this special effects masterpiece? Jon Landau, the films Producer said:

“Certain software enables you to do your job and there is certain software that enables you to do you job better. Adobe has come up with a suite of products that allows us to do our jobs better.”

After four years of production, Adobe has helped a 15 year old dream of James Cameron come alive on screen.

Which products were used?

Jon Landau spilt the beans about all the Adobe software used during film making. He said:

“Literally the first piece of software we went out and purchased was Photoshop.”

He went on to explain that Adobe Photoshop was used to create textures and details to boost the film’s photorealism.

He said that Adobe InDesign was used by the art department and production team to create easy-to-read forms and manage production. Adobe Lightroom was used to catalogue the thousands of images needed to create the film.

Adobe After Effects was used a great deal on set. It allowed the team to quickly evaluate a composite of live action and CG elements. “It was a tool we used from beginning to end,” said Landau.

The internal visual effects team also used Adobe Premiere Pro to create a sequence of shots. They were able to see how a scene they were working on would play out into a real sequence.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro was used to allow artists access to the set without actually having to be there. They were able to connect to the set and work with the crew through the shots using this software.

Why Adobe?

James Cameron clearly wanted his film to be perfect, from the glowing blue of the Avatar’s skin to each individual leaf on the trees. Adobe offers and extensive range of software that does everything from creating stunning visual effects to helping to streamline production.

It is all summed up once again by Jon Landau:

“They [Adobe] give you everything you need to complete your whole process, from concept to finish.”

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Image credit: Rego – twitter.com/w3bdes ign