Dressing a movie set can be complicated. After all, where does one get the large, intricately detailed, signature hammer - Mjolnir - wielded by the superhero Thor? Or the magnificent king's staff and richly styled horse armor for Maleficent? For years now, Propshop in London has been building one-of-a-kind objects designed to suspend belief and transport audiences into the various film worlds created by the directors and art departments, whether for a visual gag or visual intrigue.
The company - which also designs, models, and produces objects for the real world, such as a World Cup sculpture for Nike signature stores and a replica of the Hastings Knight statue for a commercial - was called upon to manufacture the Interpol car for the recent Disney Muppets movie, Muppets Most Wanted. But, this was no ordinary-looking vehicle. It had to reflect the zaniness one would expect to find in a Muppets film. Moreover, the vehicle had to be functional, as it was driven by Interpol Agent Jean Pierre Napoleon, played by Actor Ty Burrell. The waist-high car is seen zipping through various scenes as the agent attempts to track down the notorious Constantine, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kermit the Frog.
Propshop also created an oversized badge as Napoleon and CIA Agent Sam the Eagle play a game of one-upmanship when comparing credentials in the film.
Located at Pinewood Studios, Propshop specializes in the design and manufacture of hero props, set pieces, costumes, models, and miniatures using a combination of LightWave 3D and 3D printing. Here, the team at Propshop, including Jet Cooper, 3D supervisor in the Digital department, discusses how it created these unique props for the film and the role LightWave 3D played in that process.
When did you start creating props?
Propshop has been making props for more than 15 years. I started using LightWave some 20 years ago - since the days of the Amiga, back when LightWave came on 10 floppy disks, in Version 3.5. When I joined the company a few years ago, LightWave became part of the process. One of our first pieces using LightWave was Cerebro for X-Men: First Class. Since then, we have used LightWave to generate our 3D [imagery] for over 30 movies and productions.
Why did you select LightWave?
LightWave is fast, intuitive, and a no-mess' modeling package. Here at Propshop, we have built a strong and successful pipeline with LightWave as a foundation.
How is LightWave used in your prop creation?
I use LightWave to build all my 3D models before they go to print. LightWave is also used in the designing/concepting process, with its renderer being utilized for animations to explain a prop's form, function, and final look. The Modeler is fast and capable of achieving models that are organic, hard-surfaced, and extremely complex. Propshop has been able to create anything with the LightWave Modeler.
Let's talk about the car. Was the design based on an actual vehicle?
The design of the car was originally based on an old Russian car. However, this changed to a completely different hybrid over the course of the project. There were different versions that evolved as we corresponded with the movie's art department. As reference, the Muppet art department provided a few photos of Russian cars and some sketches suggesting the form they had in mind.
Which tools did you use to create the vehicle?
The car designs were modeled with LightWave 11 and polished with Pixologic's ZBrush when and where required.
What kind of challenges did you face?
The challenge is always to satisfy the vision of the director and art department while producing a model that can be manufactured in a working and practical form.
Were there many design iterations?
There were six car types including the final choice.
How was LightWave used in the car creation process?
The car was modeled using subdivision surfaces and concept artwork. The 3D car was then frozen to make a high-resolution poly mesh that could be exported to produce a water-tight,' printable STL file that is used by our 3D printers.
This is a large prop. Can you provide some details about the file and the prep work required to 3D print it?
The car was separated into pieces that were then further digitally cut to fit our large printing beds - for example, the main body of the car, bonnet, trunk, doors, headlight assembly, and so forth. The file sizes ranged between a few megabytes up to a few hundred megabytes. These file sizes are larger due to the fact that the planes in the geometry have to be small enough to look smooth when printed in 3D. The more organic or detailed the subject, the larger the file has to be in order to produce good results on Propshop's high-resolution printers.
Why do you use 3D printing as part of the manufacturing process?
3D printing allowed us to generate a design that could be adjusted and modified on the fly, whereas the traditional methods take longer and are harder to change as problems and needs arise. It also makes sense that once we have nailed the artwork, we use that signed-off model to produce the actual hero prop. That way, there is no deviation from what the art department and director have seen and approved.
Prior to 3D printing, how would this have been done?
Originally, we would have used traditional model-making methods of the past and sculpted clay body parts, then produced molds for fiberglass.
How has 3D printing evolved to enable you to create props like you do?
3D printing has become faster, and the volume is larger so that larger-size parts can be printed as a whole. Our large 3D prints can now range up to 1.6 meters (5.25 feet) per piece and print overnight! Our printers now recycle non-used material, thus reducing costs and waste.
What kind of 3D printer do you use?
We primarily used Voxeljet printers, which lay down a
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
(L-R) Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker on set
Monday 29 April 2024 Further casting is now confirmed for Bookish (6x70), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-wi...
29/04/2024
A groundbreaking initiative offering training and mentoring to 30 women journali...
29/04/2024
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff
Pub...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
April 29th, 2024 UNINTERRUPTED AND TRIBECA ENTERPRISES PARTNER FOR SECOND-ANNUA...
29/04/2024
Rebrand and refresh: SailGP talks bringing its graphics operations inhouse for a...
29/04/2024
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on ...
29/04/2024
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement fo...
29/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut i...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
Dressing a movie set can be complicated. After all, where does one get the large, intricately detailed, signature hammer - Mjolnir - wielded by the superhero Thor? Or the magnificent king's staff and richly styled horse armor for Maleficent? For years now, Propshop in London has been building one-of-a-kind objects designed to suspend belief and transport audiences into the various film worlds created by the directors and art departments, whether for a visual gag or visual intrigue. 
