Digital Domain delivers almost 700 shots, employs machine learning cloth tool for Blue Beetle

Digital Domain delivers almost 700 shots, employs machine learning cloth tool for Blue Beetle

Brie Clayton October 3, 2023

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Known for visualizing some of the most iconic superheroes and villains, the award-winning Visual Effects studio Digital Domain was tapped by Warner Bros. to help bring DC's latest superhero, Blue Beetle (played by Xolo Maridue a), to life.

As the lead VFX partner, the Digital Domain team, led by VFX Supervisor Jay Barton, contributed to over six sequences across the film and was responsible for the creation of the Blue Beetle asset, along with the Carapax 3.0 asset, the epic final battle scene, several environments and much more.

Blue Beetle is now available on Digital and will be released on 4K UHD on October 31.

With their exceptional skills, the team at Digital Domain created the 3D asset of Blue Beetle. They started their creative journey drawing inspiration from various sources, including comic books, animated cartoons, and video games. From there, they skillfully incorporated animatable elements to enhance and embellish the costume with captivating details.

Their task was challenging to bring to life a character of unprecedented magnitude and complexity in a live-action feature film. However, the entire team at Digital Domain embraced the challenge with enthusiasm and determination, fueled by their unwavering passion for their craft.

Working closely with the director and the studio production team, the Digital Domain team created the 3D asset for the Blue Beetle character; starting with a scan and multiple photographs of the practical suit used on set, Digital Domain artists created a faithful replica. As multiple pieces on the suit needed to animate, additional elements were created that were used to enhance the practical suit as necessary or completely replace it for action that could not be filmed, such as flying and fight sequences.

The Costume & ML Cloth

To create a realistic costume for Blue Beetle, the Digital Domain team developed a cloth system, which utilizes machine learning and a custom neural network to learn how cloth should react to movement. In this case, the ML Cloth system learned how Blue Beetle's rubber-like suit should fold and wrinkle with the superhero's actions. The more traditional method is time-consuming, expensive, and would occur at a different phase in the pipeline.

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With this new tool, the team was able to see the cloth simulation in the same program their animators regularly use and have it all work in near real-time, giving the animators immediate feedback to help their decision process and allowing the supervisors to review the results quickly. The team originally planned to use the tool only on midground or distant shots, but after seeing its accuracy and speed on even close-ups, it was used in the studio's work throughout the film. While initially tested on Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Blue Beetle marks its first time on a feature film.

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