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Brief
Tata Elxsi does FX for Dhoom 2
Visual Computing Labs (VCL) of Tata Elxsi, the technology arm of the Tata Group,
has created FX for Dhoom 2, the latest release from the Yash Raj Films’
stable. VCL has done the pre-visualisation for all the action scenes that appear
in the movie working out to over 40 minutes of VFX in a 147 minute feature.
The pre-visualisation includes all the action sequences, high-level compositing,
3D virtual ‘set’ creation, 3D character animation, CG (computer graphics)
model-building as well as wire and rig removal.
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VCL has done the pre-visualisation
for all the action scenes that appear in the movie
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Dhoom 2 is a thriller directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and
a sequel to the 2004 blockbuster Dhoom. The sequel stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek
Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu and Uday Chopra.
Hrithik roller-blades, skydives, sand and snow boards, and jumps off a cliff
(with Aishwarya) in the film.
Pankaj Khandpur, Creative Director, Visual Computing Labs,
Tata Elxsi, explained, “In collaboration with the director, action director,
and cinematographer, the VCL team converted traditional paper-based storyboards
into real-time, full length 3D animated sequences, which were then edited to
give the director and action director an exact sense of the action. Camera information,
angles and lenses were available to the cinematographer before he actually shot
the scenes.”
He added, “The process was spread out over a year, and no sequence was
shot until all parties signed-off on the pre-visualisation. The exact cinematic
impact and length was known before the shoot, resulting in huge production savings
for the producers.”
The Fort-Heist sequence in the first-half of the film was notable for the fact
that there was no fort at the time of the shoot. A small 16 ft x 16 ft terrace,
which was 12 ft high, was the only set that was built—VCL’s team used
CGI (computer-generated imagery) to create the palace, fort and walls that appear
in the sequence, and added them digitally to the live action.
The ‘city’ that appears far below the fort was
also created digitally. Aishwarya’s 200 ft climb up to the top of the fort
was actually a climb of 12 ft, and the final Hrithik and Aishwarya leap over
a 300 ft drop to the city far below was also a 12 ft drop.
There was no fort during the Fort-Heist sequence. The walls, palace and
fort were created using CGI and later added to live action
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The real shot in the first picture is combined with CGI to depict the
mechanical insects seen in the second picture as part of the Coin-Heist
sequence
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Aishwarya’s 200 ft climb up to the top of the fort was actually a
climb of 12 ft, and the final Hrithik and Aishwarya leap was just a 12
ft drop
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K Chandrasekhar, General Manager, Visual Computing Labs, Tata
Elxsi elaborated, “We are delighted at this opportunity to bring in techniques
and art that we have been using for our Hollywood projects to an Indian movie.”
Other interesting VFX samples in the movie were the creation in CG of gadgets
such as the robotic arm from the remote-controlled miniature car that steals
a diamond and the diamond itself.
The mechanical insects that are released to create a diversion during the Coin-Heist
in the second-half of the movie and the wire person-puller and magnetic attacher
wrist-gadgets used by Hrithik’s character are also a combination of real
and CGI.
The CGI helicopter rotor-blades on the police chopper that lands in front of
the tunnel in the climax were a last-minute addition with the helicopter being
a scale wooden dummy, with huge rotor-blades that fell off because of their
weight, just before the shoot began.
VCL created the rotor-blades for all the shots, including the one where Hrithik
and Aishwarya leap on their bike over whirling helicopter blades.
During the climax, for some shots that had a severe under-exposure problem,
VCL had to re-shoot elements of a truck, car-ramp, car and so on, build parts
of the tunnel and roadway, and re-build some shots to fit with the rest, to
keep the story-telling narrative intact.
Apart from countless sparks, gunshots, smoke, metal-eating CG ‘acid’
that helped Hrithik make a getaway via a manhole, VCL worked on over 200 wire-removal
and rig-removal shots where characters leap over cliffs, burst out of man-holes,
jump into waterfalls, perform atop moving trains, fight while parachuting, leap
on bikes across boats, cars, helicopters, and roller-blade at high speeds on
the streets of Mumbai.
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