Topography Data for King Arthur

London based post production house, Cinesite, recently created the five hundred visual effects for the production of the Bruckheimer / Disney film, King Arthur. The film focuses on the history and politics during the period of Arthur's rule, rather than the mystical side portrayed in other films.

One of the main sequences in the film involves a battle sequence that takes place on a frozen lake surrounded by a mountainous gorge. The action was filmed in the countryside just outside of Dublin, where land work was done to make the gorge deeper and flatter. Artificial snow was applied to the area, but this was digitally replaced at a later stage. The image below shows a shot from the gorge sequence before any digital effects were applied.

Shot from King Arthur before any digital effects.

The first process in creating the digital environment involved matte paintings to replace the background. The second process involved the creation of a 3D environment. The model was created from map data gathered from surveys of the location. This model was used by the matte painters and during the compositing stage. A bespoke 3D node for Shake separated the mattes into layers that corresponded to the landscape. The image below shows the same shot as the one above, after the digital effects were applied.

Shot from King Arthur after digital effects.

The map data was crucial not only for the 3D model, but also for providing correct distance references during compositing. In order for the 2.5D environment to work, accurate map information ensured the correct amount of parallax would occur for the camera movement.

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