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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
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
