With decades of experience in the realms of visual effects, few are better placed to discuss the advancement of AI and the effect it could have on the very real, flesh and blood creative community than Rob Bredow, and in this TED talk he delves into not only the innovations of this new technology and the work ILM has done for almost half a century, but also how vital the human touch is.
Lessons from 50 Years at ILM
But we’ve been here before. At Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), George Lucas built a culture where artists and engineers work together to solve the biggest visual storytelling challenges. Looking back over 50 years, some of the biggest leaps forward – like the digital dinosaurs in Jurassic Park – happened when new technology was blended with the experienced artists. The “dinosaur input device” from that era literally combined stop-motion animation with computer graphics, allowing artists to animate in familiar ways while harnessing the brand new digital tools.Blending Old and New: Indiana Jones and The Mandalorian
This approach continues today. For Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, our artists combined hand-tuned AI models with full CG performances to de-age Harrison Ford, blending the best of both techniques and achieving a terrific level of quality. On The Mandalorian, we used real-time virtual production and massive LED walls to bring distant worlds to life, while still relying on classic techniques like stop-motion animation for certain shots—leaning on experienced artists to drive the newest techniques.
