Thousands of Individual Digihumans Built With a Custom Crowd Sim Tool Helped Populate a New Magical Headquarters and the Site of the Final Battle
In Warner Bros. Pictures’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the latest feature film installment in the Wizarding WorldTM created by J.K. Rowling, professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers. But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines? To bring this epic tale to life, the filmmakers brought in award-winning VFX studio, Digital Domain.
“Adding to the legacy of this franchise is a privilege as an artist, partly because the filmmakers are frequently introducing things that have never been seen before,” said Jay Barton, Digital Domain visual effects supervisor. “The pandemic presented some unique challenges, but the filmmakers responded brilliantly, and it pushed us to do things in an entirely new way that led to several custom creations and original techniques.”