
Martin Pelletier, visual effects supervisor at Rodeo FX, explains how House of the Dragon's fantastic flying beasts are able to take to the air
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: October 15, 2024 Updated: October 16, 2024
Martin Pelletier, visual effects supervisor at Rodeo FX, explains how House of the Dragon's fantastic flying beasts are able to take to the air
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Snowdonia (Eryri), a land of majestic peaks, high, silvery lakes and rich, rolling pasture could almost have been tailor made as the backdrop for HBO's House of the Dragon, prequel to the world-conquering Game of Thrones. Visiting the region, maybe finding one of its forgotten castles or hidden valleys, it's easy to imagine that fantastic creatures really do soar among the jagged mountains, great leathery wings spread wide as they flit from point to point.
Redefining possibility For the team at Rodeo FX, turning imagination into reality is all in a day's work. When three spectacular new dragons were needed for season two, they were perfectly placed to deliver. Moondancer, Vermax and Silverwing were integral characters in the continuing story. Just like their human counterparts, they, too, were shaped by their life experiences. Martin Pelletier, visual effects supervisor at Rodeo FX, oversaw their creation and gives an insight into the process behind it.
Martin Pelletier, visual effects supervisor, Rodeo FX The first step is understanding the storytelling point of each and every character, he explains. We had a meeting with the client where they presented us with concepts of their dragons basically a simplified version. They also gave us a size reference next to a human being, to give us a good understanding of the scale. From there, we dove into a personality description. Using Moondancer as an example, he continues. Moondancer is a mid-size dragon in the series. He's meant to be reckless, snappy and unpredictable. He's a bit of a punk he has the mohawk. It was a really good way of picturing how we were going to animate the character.
The team then considers the types of actions that are required, such as soaring, diving, moving in a jerky way to reflect the dragon's spiky personality. The mechanics of his movement are explored, Do we have to collapse the wings, or keep them open all these things have to be considered when we start building. A skeleton is built up with muscle groups added before surfacing is applied. This takes into account the dragon's past, how his life has been lived according to the story, all of it intended to ensure the character is plausible and convincing. All of this combined ends up in maybe a four month process to build one creature from the ground up to a final beast that is going to be renderable in a shot.
Highlighting the importance of this aspect of the work, Pelletier says that the past life of an object being created is sometimes underestimated in CGI and VFX. We need to do the exercise when we build our assets, so that they really belong within the storytelling lines and don't stand out in a bad way, he says.
Turning reality into fantasy Understanding the need for believability, the team uses as many real life reference points as possible. With dragons, we're kind of short on real life references, Pelletier laughs, so we try to figure out what does exist that would translate. The wings, for example, have membranes that flex as the skin moves. To accomplish this, the team studied footage of bats in flight. The facial movements of komodo dragons and other lizards were also examined. All these things are based on the closest things we can find in real life, he continues, that was the biggest challenge.
Rodeo FX created around 230 shots for season two. Some 160 people worked on the project which took a little over eight months. Pelletier describes the technology required to breathe life into their creations. Our two main tools for 3D creation are Maya and Houdini. Maya is used with ZBrush, to sculpt our final models. To create texture, we use Mari or Substance. Everything else is handled in Houdini: lighting effects, simulation, muscle definition is also being driven in Houdini. Final renders are done in Houdini using Arnold, and the final compositing of everything is combined and finalised in Nuke.
Although AI is very much an industry buzzword, the technology was not extensively used by Rodeo FX. AI is an interesting beast, says Pelletier, before commenting that studios are sometimes reluctant to use it, perhaps because of concerns over privacy. There are some grey zones, he says, some limitations. Studios want a heads-up on whatever AI tools or technology we are going to be using, to ensure we're going to be safe playing with their content. It's quite sensitive. We couldn't go too wild and broad with AI especially on this show.
Aside from the creative elements, some AI solutions were used to handle repetitive work, effectively freeing up the team to concentrate on higher value tasks. There's a bunch of little AI tools [that we] used across the show that are not cloud-based and very secure, such as automated rotor work in Nuke [and] automated tracking in some instances,' Pelletier explains. It's just speeding up the process of early assembly, and it gives us a bit of a head start without spending too much time and money then we can finish using real artists to do the final work.
Achieving believability has clearly been a driving force for Rodeo FX, and Pelletier is fulsome in his praise, both for the team and what they have managed to create and the actors who worked with them. I think we have achieved something quite hard, which is giving an obvious and very distinct personality to Moondancer that was recognisab
Europe Stories
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
23/05/2025
In an email to RT staff this evening, RT Director General stated as follows:
Dear colleagues,
RT 's VEP 2025 is now closed. I can confirm that we receiv...
23/05/2025
23 May 2025
VEON and Engro Corporation Advance to Closing Pioneering Infrastruc...
23/05/2025
Featuring guest writers Edel Coffey, Mike McCormack, Sin ad Moriarty, Dave Rudde...
22/05/2025
Calrec fuels young talent by backing local students in the F1 in Schools programme...
22/05/2025
Secure integrated multi-orbit network (SIMON ) delivered by SES Space & Defense ...
22/05/2025
Zurich Instruments and Rohde & Schwarz to back the National Quantum Computing Te...
22/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Day 2025: Connecting the world with New Space...
22/05/2025
Wuppertal May 22, 2025
Riedel Premieres Easy5G and RefCam Live Systems in High...
22/05/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 22, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that t...
22/05/2025
Introducing RedNet TNX We're pleased to introduce RedNet TNX, the latest addition to the RedNet range and our first Thunderbolt interface specifically de...
22/05/2025
In line with the published New Direction strategy, RT has launched a commissioning process that will see all Christian Worship content on RT 's video platf...
22/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
As a strategic partner in helping Malaysia achie...
22/05/2025
Prime Time speaks to Charleen Murphy, an influencer whose online harassment turned into a real-world attack
Tonight, Prime Time hosts a special programme focus...
22/05/2025
RT 's Today show, in conjunction with Ireland's oldest publishing house Mercier Press, have announced Ireland's newest published author. Rebecca M...
21/05/2025
When CMA Fest springs to life in Nashville each year, Spotify House is always one of the top destinations-and 2025 will be no different. For the sixth year, Spo...
21/05/2025
Marking a first, Spotify has launched the Upcoming Releases hub-a destination so...
21/05/2025
At todays Annual General Meeting, the shareholders of SGL Carbon SE discharged the Board of Management and Supervisory Board for the 2024 fiscal year and approv...
21/05/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
21/05/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
21/05/2025
Wednesday 21 May 2025
Brits call for voice notes to be capped at two minutes after research reveals the nation is suffering from VNF - Voice Note Fatigue Voice...
21/05/2025
ElastiFlow and Rohde & Schwarz collaborate to deliver unmatched network traffic ...
21/05/2025
Arvato Systems Receives Gold Award at Service Provider Award in the Category AI...
21/05/2025
RT is pleased to announce the appointment of Eleanor O'Shaughnessy as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CRCO), following a public competition. Eleanor bri...
21/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
As part of the Tawazun Economic Program, Thales ...
20/05/2025
Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solut...
20/05/2025
Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS.
Vienna, Austria. May 9th, 2025 ToolsOnAir, a leading provider of broadcast...
20/05/2025
Throughout the month of May, Spotify is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by amplifying the many artists, creators, and authors who share th...
20/05/2025
It's officially summer on Spotify and, once again, our team of best-in-class...
20/05/2025
Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in A...
20/05/2025
20 May 2025
Beeline Uzbekistan Moves its Headquarters to Tashkent's IT Park...
20/05/2025
Praise for series two:
Daily Mail - 5* It's a murder mystery masterclass
Heat - 4* Marlow's giving Midsomer a run for its murder money
Daily Tele...
20/05/2025
Tuesday 20 May 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To ...
20/05/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 19, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that C...
20/05/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 20, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that
the company will showcase breakthrough broadband innovations at ANGA COM 2025. P...
20/05/2025
Today, Apple unveiled an exciting lineup for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including the Keynote and Platforms State of the Union. Taking p...
20/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
73% are investing in AI-specific security tools ...
19/05/2025
For the past decade, Spotify's Fresh Finds playlists have served as a launchpad for emerging independent artists, helping them break through and connect wit...
19/05/2025
Experience true spectrum dominance in all domains with Rohde & Schwarz at DSEI J...
19/05/2025
RT is today publishing a statistical summary from the Register of External Activities for the fourth quarter of 2024.
The RT Register of External Activities ...
19/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
The unique, sea-proven Pathmaster solution will ...
19/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Thales, Radiall and FoxConn announce they have i...
18/05/2025
Ballyduff Drama Group from Co. Waterford Scoops Top Award in 2025 RT All-Irelan...
17/05/2025
Globally, Asian and Pacific Islander (API) artists, creators, and authors contin...
16/05/2025
Across Central and Eastern Europe, journalism is no longer the default source of information. It competes and often loses against a chaotic content stream drive...
16/05/2025
Journalists working in investigative reporting across the Western Balkans and T rkiye are encouraged to enter their published work for the 2025 edition of the E...
16/05/2025
As Beyonc s COWBOY CARTER Tour sparks excitement around the world, Spotify is helping the BeyHive get concert-ready with a limited-edition collection of playli...
16/05/2025
UKTV today announces the re-commission of Bookish (6x70') for specialist cri...
16/05/2025
Friday 16 May 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To d...
16/05/2025
Live RT Radio 1 shows with Louise Duffy, Countrywide and Mooney Goes Wild
RT ...