Are ILM and Weta the only two effects houses that do good work?

[Octoberist]

I think Sony Imageworks tend to have this weird..haze with their CGI. It's never as crystal clear as it should be.

Also with their creature effects, the eyes always looks too..cartoony.

 

[JAK®]

I think Sony Imageworks tend to have this weird..haze with their CGI. It's never as crystal clear as it should be.

Also with their creature effects, the eyes always looks too..cartoony.

With Sony Imageworks every movement becomes some bizarre cartoony squash-and-stretch with excessive motion blur that makes you wonder if the characters' skeletons are made out of elastic bands.

 

[Timstuff]

There are currently 5 big vfx houses.

WETA, ILM, RYTHM & HUES, SONY IMAGE WORKS & DIGITAL DOMAIN.

there are a lot of other awesome fx houses like Hydraulx, hybride, Imagine Engine and bunch more that can also deliver fx as good the big 5 but they are not owned by huge people so they don't get the respect they deserve, which is wrong. Fans need to stop whining when those big 5 aren't working on those films. Sometimes those big 5 fx houses find things very challenging and hence drop out of the project.

Weta = Peter jackson
ILM = george lucas
Rythm & Hues has managed to make some name for themselves eventhough it is not owned by someone who is huge in hollywood
SIW = owned by sony which is big
Digital Domain = Michael Bay owns it now

Also, I agree with what a lot of people have said about Sony Imageworks. Their effects tend to have a very artificial look to them, which is kind of unfortunate since they're such a big effects studio and do so much work.

 

[dark_b]

clip from the ILM documentary
http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/11/09/movie-trailer-ilm-doc/

 

[CGHulk]

I think Framstore, ILM, and Weta are the best! Double Negative is pretty darn good too.

 

[Octoberist]

Double Negative is becoming a big company. They did basically of the CGI in most of Nolan's films (Batman films, Inception) and the upcoming John Carter of Mars.

 

[Boosted]

I think Sony Imageworks tend to have this weird..haze with their CGI. It's never as crystal clear as it should be.

Also with their creature effects, the eyes always looks too..cartoony.

why hello there green lantern.

 

[Marvin]

ILM almost always seems to have the best rendering and compositing in town and to the average person that's probably the biggest draw.
(Transformers/Pirates)

Weta seems to always have the next gen project on their hands, mainly do to the directors they work with (Cameron/jackson)... Cameron used to be ILM's poster boy, but he love digital now and so does weta.

Sony and Rythm seem to always do pretty fluid and detailed animation. It's always about the furs or the vains and just tons of detail. But golly does their stuff always seem to need a final rendering pass.
Superman Returns
Golden Coca cola Compass
Narnia
TIH

Pick your poison, ILM and WETA are safe bets but probably charge the most premium prices. It also comes down to MONEY as well as VFX director.
John Dystra is one of the best imo.

 

[dark_b]

ILM and WETA worked on Avengers.

this is from ILM

 

[mclay18]

Moving Picture Company (MPC) and Double Negative have done some really solid work over the past couple of years. Not just the Nolan movies, but they did some great work with the last two HP films.

Rhythm and Hues and Zoic Studios also did a commendable job with Serenity seven years ago.

 

[terry78]

ILM and WETA worked on Avengers.

this is from ILM

You do a closeup on that second one it's amazing how detailed that model is.

 

[redhawk23]

I would like to say that I absolutely cannot stand Rhythm and Hues, the effects company that did I am Legend and the 2008 Incredible Hulk.

Maybe they should stop doing films that require yelling.

Compare those to this

 

[dark_b]

i think the zombie is from Imageworks. but trust me the first two pics look bad because the director demanded this. there was some talk years ago on forums where some guy who worked on the movie said that the director wanted a ''streched'' look.

 

[dark_b]

in 2009 when promoting Avatar James Cameron said that the emotion capture technology could be used to bring back old or dead celebrities. like for example marilyn monroe could be in a commercial or in a movie.

in februar we got a CGI Audrey Hepburn in a commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx9eDoS76LM

in july we have Bruce Lee..........promoting alcohol. alcohol?????? WTF???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1xBQQnddwg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YptvpILiwaM

 

[Teelie]

This is no surprise. If they can cash in on a dead celebrity's reputation, they'll do it. Even better is if there is no one to collect royalties on said dead-lebrity's image.

 

[terry78]

Yeah, the Bruce one does bug me because I don't think he even drank when he was alive.

 

[Octoberist]

in 2009 when promoting Avatar James Cameron said that the emotion capture technology could be used to bring back old or dead celebrities. like for example marilyn monroe could be in a commercial or in a movie.

in februar we got a CGI Audrey Hepburn in a commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx9eDoS76LM

in july we have Bruce Lee..........promoting alcohol. alcohol?????? WTF???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1xBQQnddwg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YptvpILiwaM

It's weird to watch those because you know they're dead. But you're seeing them 'alive' in a setting. It's unsettling.

Also, you can't replicate the unpredictability of people. Like Aubrey's smile or Bruce's fast moves. You can only guess with computers. And guessing in this case ain't soulful.

 

[Lord]

Industrial Lights and Magic have a long history, and for some reason their work seems the most organic to me, many films nowadays look way too CGIed and clean, while it works for some when it comes to the aesthetic (Van Helsing? Some don't like the effects there but i don't remember them being bad), but others look way too clean for me (The Day the Earth Stood Still), i realy don't like the effects where things turn into particles, in least i'm tired of it, looks more like screensavers than anything real.

ILM and Weta seems like the best ones to me, but i don't know enough about these effects houses in general, which is a shame considering some of the smallest ones are going bankrupts, like the one that worked for Life of Pi for example, it's usualy all about the Direction, but they delived some impressive visuals.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

WETA & ILM are obviously the two best ones, but MPC (Godzilla), Framestore, Rhythm & Hues, Sony Imageworks are certainly very strong, and I'm probably forgetting other smaller entities that can do great work that will be taken for granted.

 

[Octoberist]

@tim riggins

Sony Imageworks CAN be strong when they're being pushed, but in most cases they lack the polish of their bigger brothers.

Also you completely forgot Double Negative.