PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Digital Domain Media Group, Inc. (NYSE:DDMG) announces its support for the open source release of OpenVDB, a powerful and innovative tool for use in volumetric effects by the visual effects and animation industry, by DreamWorks Animation SKG (NASDAQ:DWA). The companies believe this tool will enable significant technical improvements in the creation of animated and visual effects-driven feature films, offering a large step forward in the size of volumetric effects possible.
“We believe in the sharing of technology to benefit the entire industry as a whole when appropriate and are pleased to add our support to OpenVDB,” said Darin Grant, Chief Technology Officer of DDMG. “OpenVDB was developed by former Digital Domain employee Dr. Ken Museth, who made significant advancements in volumetric processing while at Digital Domain. Insights he gained from that work led to the development of OpenVDB.
“DDMG continues to be an industry leader in the development of advanced tools to create ever more spectacular computer-generated visual effects,” added Grant. “Most recently, our ground-breaking work in creating virtual humans was highlighted with the appearance of a virtual Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Music festival, and we are now applying that technology to creating a virtual Elvis Presley.”
OpenVDB utilizes a new data structure for efficient representation of sparse, time-varying volumetric data discretized on a 3D grid. The result allows digital artists and animators to make more efficient use of scalable volumetric data. In conjunction with DWA’s open source release, Digital Domain anticipates joining the industry in rapid adoption of OpenVDB.
About Digital Domain Media Group
Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG: NYSE) leverages its expertise in digital visual effects (VFX) and computer-generated (CG) animation across a group of interrelated businesses. At its foundation is Digital Domain Productions (DDPI), an award-winning digital production company founded in 1993. This leading provider of visuals has contributed to more than 90 major motion pictures, including Titanic, the Transformers series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and TRON: Legacy, hundreds of commercials, and recently created the virtual likeness of rapper Tupac Shakur for Dr. Dre’s show at the Coachella Valley Music Festival. Mothership, a DDPI subsidiary, focuses on creating advertising, entertainment and branded content from concept to completion, across multiple media platforms. DDMG, its work and its employees have been recognized with numerous awards, including seven from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The company is building on its success in VFX to participate as a co-producer in major productions and is currently co-producing the upcoming live-action sci-fi feature film Ender’s Game, as well as virtual likenesses for Elvis Presley that will be jointly owned by CORE Media Group and DDMG. DDMG also converts two-dimensional (2D) imagery to three-dimensional (3D) imagery and holds key patents in this area. The company is also applying its CG expertise to produce original, family-friendly animated feature films at its subsidiary Tradition Studios. The first movie, The Legend of Tembo, is in pre-production and two more features are in development. The company’s education subsidiary, the Digital Domain Institute, sets a new standard in digital media education through a pioneering public-private partnership with The Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts. DDMG is expanding its worldwide footprint of the highest quality visual effects and animation at the lowest possible cost through global partnerships in India and China. The company has studios in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Florida and Vancouver and is currently establishing studios in Beijing and Abu Dhabi. http://www.ddmg.co