Weta Digital
Weta Digital is a digital special effects company in Wellington, New Zealand, an offshoot of the Weta Workshop physical effects company. It was founded in 1993 by director Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor and others to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures, working with just one computer on that film. It has grown immensely in size and complexity since then.Its outstanding effects for the film trilogy based on The Lord of the Rings was recognised when it won Academy Awards for visual effects for its work on The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002).
Much of the success was due to the creation of Massive, a program which allows the animation of large numbers of agents, independent characters which act according to pre-set rules. This can be seen in the prologue to The Fellowship Of The Ring, the Helm's Deep battle sequence in The Two Towers, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Return Of The King.
For digital film, see separate entry.
