What Are the Technologies Used in Avatar: Way of the Water

“Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” The Dead Poets Society, 1989 

Movies magic brings joy to millions worldwide, translating imagination into art. One of the biggest auteurs in world cinema is the director of Titanic and Terminator — James Cameron. 

With every new movie release, James Cameron has pushed the technical envelope of moving-making to the new generation.  Avatar (2009) was widely considered his magnum opus, creating the new standard of screening high-budget movies in 3-D. 

2022 saw the release of the sequel to one of the highest-grossing films in human history. Critics have praised the technical aspects of Avatar, The Way Of Water, and its storyline- a lesson on protecting our planet's natural treasures.

Avatar and Motion Capture 

Fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy would undoubtedly know of the Gollum. Fans of cinema would know of Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum.

The LOTR trilogy saw the first massive-scale implementation of the still nascent motion capture technology. In motion capture technology, performers wear markers that reflect infrared lights to cameras positioned across the studio. 

These cameras create the character's skeleton, which professionals animate. CGI technology started by simply rendering an artistic canvas onto a digital film in the late 1970s. Examples of early CGI technology are in the early works of George Lucass’ Star Wars series and James Cameron’s Terminator. This new art form came into its own with the release of the Lord of the Rings and the Fellowship of the Rings. Weta, the special effects company founded by Peter Jackson to create realistic computer animations for his movies, went on to create masterful works of art in movies like - LOTR, King Kong, Avatar, and Avatar 2: The Way of Water.  

The first Avatar movie made extensive use of motion capture suits. Proprietary software analysed the data generated from these suits, allowing artists to bring Navi's characters to life. But how were artists able to create human emotions on the faces of these characters generated by CGI technology? 

James Cameron attached small cameras to the faces of actors and captured the minute of their facial expressions. This data helped animators bring subtle changes to the faces of the characters enthralling a decade of moviegoers. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology in Avatar

James Cameron is not a stranger to Artificial Technology, the director of the Terminator is a proponent of this epoch-defining advancement in technology. Cameron has leveraged the computational power of AI to help render a realistic world of Pandora. Peter Jackon-led Weta special effects workshop utilises complex artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to create visually appealing environments to augment and drive the story forward. 

James Cameron has repeatedly talked about the evolution of movie-making and AI's role in transforming this medium. The AI algorithms allow actors to display their full emotions in a CGI-controlled environment. 

Do you want to develop essential AI skills to work in the film industry?

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Technology Used in Avatar Movie

During the production of Avatar 2: The Way of Water movie, James Cameron adopted a variety of new cinematic technologies. 

1. Swing Camera 

A camera that could render the filming location in a virtual environment allows James Cameron to direct his actors in the studio according to the set pieces he envisioned in the computer-generated scenes as he would in a live-action film. He could also design mock-ups of aerial vehicles to create a rendering of the final showpiece. Virtual reality technology allowed James Cameron to rehearse the final scenes and spot inconsistencies in the set design. 

2. Pioneering 3D technology

The Avatar 2: Way of the Water movie uses a new filming technology known as the Deep X. It was invented by Pawel Achtel and helped James Cameron film 3D images underwater. This technology significantly reduces the distortion caused by particles in the water and water movement.  The Deep X uses two UW-Nikkor submersible lenses from Nikon that are perpendicular to each other. These create a 3D image with each camera corresponding to each human eye, giving the movie-going public an unmatched depth-preception. 

3. CGI Technology and the Simulcam System

One of the fundamental parts of the Avatar movie series is the fantastical land of Pandora and its flora and fauna. To accurately represent the movement of these creatures with realistic fidelity James Cameron had to rely on Computer Generated Image technology, perfected by Peter Jackson in the LOTR trilogy. 

James Cameron filmed live-action shots with virtual reality elements to improve the visual immersion of the movie. He achieved this by placing reflective markers on the camera rigs that captured and timed live-action performances with CGI elements. This offered a new range of flexibility for directors who wanted to introduce new elements to their stories. 

Your Future In The Cinema Industry 

Today, movies are a technical battlefield that requires engineers trained in specific skill sets that can help convert the vision of dreamers like James Cameron into reality. Movies today generate vast amounts of data that need to transport from the camera to the studios, where artists work their magic adding CGI elements to the story. These require data scientists and engineers working on 5G networks to provide reliable transmission for studios. 

At Skill-Lync, industry experts curate our programs and help our students develop industry-ready skills. Our students work on industry-oriented projects similar to the problems solved by engineers in the industry. We provide on-demand expert technical support to help our students reach their dream goals. 

To learn how you can start your engineering career in the film industry and help the production of the next movie in the Avatar movie franchise, reach out to our career counsellor today.