Fantasy gaming has been taken to a whole new level, spearheaded by Decipher’s OFFICIAL Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game – or RPG. In my humble opinion: the RPG experience is still one of the most rewarding over and above most other gaming platforms available. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE playing all types of all games – especially when it comes to Lord of the Rings. Yet, in pleasant contrast to TCG’s, video games, table-top miniatures and board games, in an RPG there are no set patterns, no rare powerful cards, no cheat codes, no rare figures, foils or holograms, no pre-programmed interactivity and best of all – no reset button. The only components you will ever need to fully enjoy the wonders of the Role Playing game system are a few books, a few friends and the one element no amount of money in the world can ever buy – your imagination!
The Lord of the Rings Role Playing system is quite simply the very best in RPG entertainment to date. The Decipher RPG Studio, led by Christian Moore, has created a simplified, yet engrossing system of play which embraces the very nature of The Lord of the Rings in the most profound way. Utilizing the breathtaking design and imagery from Peter Jackson’s extraordinary films in concert with the literary support and detail from Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings RPG is the pinnacle product of the industry; unparalleled and unmatched in its level of inspiration, production quality and artistic detail.
Honestly, I could write several pages praising the design achievements that the LOTR RPG Design Team has achieved, because every single support piece I have seen has been worthy of such accolades and more! However, I must address the details of this gaming system in later chapters of LOTR RPG 101. For now, just trust in the fact that this is the era we RPG fans have been waiting for. I am very proud and excited to embark upon what will be a very fulfilling and educational look at The Lord of the Rings and its impact upon the modern world of Role Playing and Fantasy Gaming.
But first…a little history:
Chapter 1: Introduction to Fantasy
It is a foregone conclusion that many people share a very misunderstood and ill-conceived perspective about people who are engaged in the world of role-playing games. Society perceives these “gamers” as congregations who shy away from “normal” society in order to bask in the realm of fantasy worlds filled with faeries, dragons, wizards, heroes and villains. Due to this misconception, normal society brands these people as deviants; those who choose to embrace the abnormal rather than fall in line with ‘decent’ society. How very uninformed and completely wrong society as a whole truly is.
Fantasy gaming has also traditionally been perceived as a past-time for the high-school outsider, the socially unskilled or the reclusive introvert. Would you be surprised to learn that RPG communities are frequented by doctor’s, lawyers, engineers, artists, writers, actors and scientists? Society’s perception of the Role-Playing Gamer has dissuaded many people from participating in what is probably one of the last, true forms of communication and entertainment our culture has ever known: the Oral Tradition.
Oral Tradition? What is that you may ask? In the pre-literary ancient days, and even in many pre-industrial societies today, the verbal passing of tales and legends preserved much of the lore we today call myth or fantasy. The Lord of the Rings itself is a manifestation of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien’s passion to preserve and encapsulate the grand testimony of his ideals regarding his interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon pre-history in a way that can be passed on; inherited from generation to generation.
So what does all of this have to even remotely do with role playing and fantasy gaming? Well, the core of any role playing game community is the Storyteller – or Game Master. In comparison, the preservation and passing of stories through the oral tradition is testimony to the skill of the storyteller – the original “Game Master”. From the telling of tales in ancient kingdoms to the ghost stories spun around frontier campfires – the storyteller transported audiences into far off places; distant lands full of wonder, of light, of darkness, of heroes, of great battles, of heroic sacrifices, of love, of fellowship, of pain and of joy. For a point in time, the listener could close his or her eyes and through awe-inspired imagination, become closer to a world far more interesting than the present. This was the first true form of escapist entertainment – now preserved in the form of the RPG; a more modernized form, yet no less impactful.
In the early 1970’s, this style of fantasy and escapist entertainment broke monumental ground as it took the form of one of the most influential RPG systems of all time: TSR’s (Tactical Studies Rules) Dungeons and Dragons. With its foundation firmly rooted in the modern fantasy masterpiece that is The Lord of the Rings, this bold and exciting RPG combined a new system of integrated and interactive play. D & D, as it was affectionately referred to, allowed individuals to congregate and embellish upon the very foundation of Frodo’s journey. Each member of the gaming group created a character, who in turn joined the quest as a member of a fellowship of companions in order to protect the hero and fulfill the journey – which of course was to eradicate evil and restore light in the land.
For the last 30 years, Dungeons and Dragons, and fantasy gaming ‘en masse’ has taken great strides in the continuation of the oral tradition. This success through perseverance has undeniably succeeded thanks to the Lord of the Rings – the ONE TRU SOURCE of which all modern fantasy gaming is based upon. This is due to the single fact that Tolkien’s unwavering preservation over his own, personal oral tradition – the pre-history of the Anglo-Saxon people – is so compelling and engrossing, that it is nearly unavoidable to use this material as a resource to perpetuate new stories with such fully realized races, cultures, maps, languages and mythologies – as Tolkien presented in his own works of Middle-Earth. However, as close as these realms were to Tolkien’s world – they were only BASED upon The Lord of the Rings which undeniably left the adventure longing for the next level; the ability to adventure IN MIDDLE EARTH ITSELF!
Now, we as role playing game fans, enthusiasts and fanatics alike have the unique opportunity to finally create our adventures within the context of The Lord of the Rings in a way never before attempted. The Lord of the Rings Role Playing game system in the most fully realized, detailed and structured system which has ever been offered in this industry. It has broken conformity with the standard D20 – 20 sided dice – rules systems in favor of a more engaging style of play – the Coda System; favoring greater character flexibility over the calculations of dice-induced fate. Yet I digress…and such details like this will be addressed in later chapters – so stay tuned!
If you are interested in delving into the LOTR RPG, there are several products that you may purchase right now to begin your journey.
1. The CORE Book – without a doubt, the single most important resource in the RPG library thus far. It is a beautifully designed, informational source-book full of almost every detail regarding the Third Age and more.
2. Maps of Middle Earth – Daniel Reeve, the master illustrator and map-designer who brought us many of the maps and scrolls used in Peter Jackson’s films – now has brought us 8 beautifully rendered and detailed maps – including close-ups of Gondor, Rohan, Mordor and the Shire.
3. The Mines of Moria: Adventure Game – Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to stand atop the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, defending your companions against the Balrog of Moria. What would you do? What choices would you have made? This mini-adventure is the perfect ENTRY-POINT for beginners who want to try the RPG system in an adventure that is all too familiar.
4. The Two Towers: Adventure Game – The Battle of Helm’s Deep: Take command in the role of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas and assist King Theoden in defending Helm’s Deep against the onslaught of 10,000 Uruk-Hai, bent on the destruction of men. Experience the battle which made men heroes and made heroes legends! Yet another great ENTRY POINT for beginners and fans.
To take a closer look at these products, please visit Decipher’s online store HERE
For more information on the Role Playing Game, its creators and what is on the horizon, please visit Decipher’s LOTR RPG arena HERE
And of course continue to visit Gaming Havens here on TheOneRing.net for more continuing coverage of The Lord of the Rings Role Playing game.
Be sure to tune it to the next installment of LOTR RPG 101: Breaking all the Rules!
Until then, the world of Middle Earth belongs to YOU!
[Plan 9] now start work on the music edit for the long form DVD to Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers which will include a Plan 9 song “Eowyn’s Lament” with vocal by Miranda Otto.
Plan 9 and David Long worked on ‘Cultural music’ for the trilogy, they also did several of the new songs in the FotR EE DVD, including (and most notably) the ‘Elvish Lament’ aka ‘A Elbereth Gilthoniel’ during the Passing of the Elves scene. The authorship of that song was confirmed via private corresponence, which has been posted at ‘The White Council’ ezboard forum. Additionally, there are discussions to publish all of the ‘Cultural Music’ on CD at some point, but there was not much information provided concerning that.
This weekend, Hall of Fire shifts back to the Return of the King to discuss “The Muster of Rohan”. Of all the fellowship, Merry alone remains with Theoden to witness the mustering of the Rohirrim and the arrival of the Red Arrow.
Theoden is determined that Merry should remain safe in Rohan, but “where will wants not, a way opens” and a mysterious rider sneaks him into the host.
Join us this weekend as we discuss the muster of rohan, Denethor’s seemingly over-late plea for assistance from his ancient allies and examine the mysteries of the Pukel men and the legend of the paths of the dead.
Upcoming discussions: March 21-22: RoTK Book Five, Chapter 4: The Siege of Gondor.
March 28-29: What would you like to see included or dis-included in Peter Jackson’s Return of the King? Why? What needs to be cut, and what must stay? How would you avoid creating a critical and/or popular disaster?
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Times: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don’t forget that you can check out the transcripts of previous chats at the Hall of Fire page.
Also, if you’d like to keep up to date with forthcoming Hall of Fire topics and announcements, subscribe to our mailing list here.
Cheryl writes: The Calgary Sun printed an article on Billy Boyd’s brief visit to the city’s airport yesterday. He says some tantalizing stuff about The Return of the King.
Not even a minute passes before someone recognizes Billy Boyd.
A young boy whispers excitedly to his equally thrilled friends, who in turn run off to tell their classmates. And before you can say “Treebeard,” the Lord of the Rings actor is ambushed by more than a dozen pen-wielding pre-teens.
It’s become a common occurrence for the 34-year-old Scot – who plays the fun-loving hobbit Pippin – since the blockbuster success of the first two Lord of the Rings movies, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, directed by New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson.
“The Lord of the Rings has become such a part of popular culture,” says Boyd, after taking care of his young fans’ photo and autograph requests.
“People love the movies and they just get excited when they see someone from them, no matter who it is. It’s always positive.”
Boyd was in town briefly yesterday and had the chance to check out the Calgary International Airport’s Spaceport science center, where he met his idolizing school group.
The actor is in Alberta to promote Sniper 470, a 20-minute short film in which he appears as an astronaut dealing with the loneliness and solitude of space.
The piece was screened last night at the Medicine Hat Film Festival and will be shown Saturday as part of an evening of Scottish short film at the Edmonton Film Festival.
The Glasgow-based actor hasn’t had much downtime lately and in May, he and the rest of the LOTR cast will head back to New Zealand to film pick-up shots for the trilogy’s last installment, The Return of the King.
Boyd has seen part of a rough cut of Return and says the new film is by far the best.
“I don’t think people have any idea – it’s incredible,” says Boyd, who still keeps in touch with his co-stars, including Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies.
“We’ve started with the best source material and then the script they wrote is probably the best screenplay I’ve ever read.”
“I was nearly in tears just reading the screenplay. It was so emotional.
On top of that, people already know the character and have been on journeys with all these guys. This is sort of the end of all those stories. It’s just got so much going for it before (Jackson) adds the special touches.”
Boyd was disappointed that Jackson was snubbed in the best director category at this year’s Academy Awards and says it would be a “travesty” if he is overlooked next year.
“What he has done, no director has ever done,” Boyd says emphatically.
“No one has made a trilogy like this. And not only that, to make it so successful critically and with the public. It’s a beautiful piece of art and I really do think it would be a travesty if he didn’t win an Oscar for it, as well as every other award going.”
While Boyd admits most people are only familiar with his furry-footed LOTR character, he says the film epic has opened doors in his career.
He will be seen next in director Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe in November.
As well, he and LOTR co-star Dominic Monaghan (Merry) have written a screenplay that has received some interest.
Here’s the latest in our continuing series “How to Write a Sindarin Sentence” lessons. This week’s subject was soft mutation and lenition.
*** Log file opened: 3/12/2003 6:54:18 PM
[Elostrion] Let’s begin. [jincey] please remember HOF rules [jincey] try to limit your nick changes and joins/parts [Elostrion] We’re not going to moderate tonight, so please remain quiet until the end. [jincey] no bugging barli [jincey] he has to pay attn to log [jincey] poor guy [Elostrion] I will take questions following the lesson. [jincey] lets start : ) [Elostrion] Tonight we will be covering Soft Mutation! [Elostrion] Let me first clarify what this means. [Elostrion] The Consonant Mutation are an occurance Tolkien added in an attempt to maintain the fluidity of the language. [Elostrion] These are designed to take away all the harsh sounds. [Elostrion] You will begin to recognize patterns. [Elostrion] Tonight you will need two materials. [Elostrion] You will find both of these here: [Elostrion] http://www.theonering.net/barlimans/elvish [Elostrion] Sindarin Consonant Mutation [Elostrion] Consonant Mutation Chart [Elostrion] These are both available for download as well. [Elostrion] The nature of Soft Mutation (Lenition): [Elostrion] Lenition is carried out on the first consonant in the word following certain prepositions, etc. [Elostrion] Sindarin Consonant Mutations lists the words/particles that Lenition follows. [Elostrion] Consonant Mutation Chart explains what happens to the beginning consonant. [Elostrion] Let’s do an example. [Elostrion] “Dark wood” [Elostrion] If you will remember from Lesson 1, adjectives follow their nouns. [Elostrion] “Wood dark” [Elostrion] Sindarin Consonant Mutation says that adjectives immediately following their nouns are lenited. [Elostrion] “Wood” = “Eryn” [Elostrion] “dark” = “doll” [Elostrion] We must lenit “dark”. [Elostrion] So we have: [Elostrion] “Eryn dholl” [Elostrion] Let’s do another. [Elostrion] “The elf” [Elostrion] If you will remember from Lesson 2, a singular “the” is “i”. [Elostrion] “I edhel” [Elostrion] Because there is no consonant following the “i”, we do not need to lenit anything. [Elostrion] Summing up… [Elostrion] Lenition is caused by certain words. [Elostrion] These words cause lenition on the first consonant of the following word. [Elostrion] Adjectives are lenited. [Elostrion] (Immediately following their nouns) [Elostrion] Nouns that are objects of verbs are lenited. [Elostrion] Before I take questions there is one more thing we must cover. [Elostrion] The second elements of compouns is lenited as well. [Elostrion] Here is an example: [Elostrion] “Starlight” [Elostrion] “Star” = “el” [Elostrion] “light” = “calad” [Elostrion] “Starlight” = “Elgalad” [Elostrion] There you have it. [Elostrion] I am ready to take questions. Please, take turns. [Elostrion] Are there any? coca_coola] how do you know which consonant to leniate with [Elostrion] Consonant Mutation chart tells you how you carry out lenition. [Elostrion] You can find it here: [coca_coola] like in starlight you used g but withdark wood you did h [Elostrion] http://www.theonering.net/barlimans/elvish [coca_coola] I have the chart but it is complicated ;-s [Elostrion] Ok… [Not_Maedhros] Elostrion, what is the difference between “el” and “gil”? [Elostrion] You simply find the consonant that needs to be lenited, and carry out the action the chart says. [Elostrion] They are derived from different Old Sindarin roots. [Not_Maedhros] Hmm? [Eowyn] why is there an ‘i’ in front of the letters on the charts? [Elostrion] ñgile [Elostrion] and [Elostrion] That “i” is an example of the most common occurance of lenition, following the Sindarin article “i”. [Eowyn] oh ok [Elostrion] “elen” Not_Maedhros [coca_coola] so lenition is a way to make the words flow more smoothly right? [Elostrion] Exactly coca_coola [coca_coola] so will someone understand you if you don’t use lenition or is it necessary [Eowyn] could you give an example of mutation with an object of a verb? [Not_Maedhros] Elostrion, what exactly is the difference between the two? As far as I can tell, both of them are “star”. [ILookLikeLuthien] oh my goodness, I missed the whole thing. [Elostrion] It is absolutely necessary! [Elostrion] Please e-mail me Eowyn [ILookLikeLuthien] my friend sent something that messed with my computer…I am so angry that I can’t even express it enough. [Eowyn] alright [Elostrion] “el” is considered archaic [Elostrion] “gil” can mean a bright spark/light as well as a star [Not_Maedhros] Ah. [coca_coola] perfect sense [coca_coola] elostrion are you fluent in sindarin? [ILookLikeLuthien] well, I can’t ask any questions, as I wasn’t present for most of this… [Elostrion] No coca_coola [Elostrion] I am getting there, though. [Elostrion] You will be able to read the transcript shortly ILookLikeLuthien [coca_coola] do you understand it though? Like if i talked to you [Elostrion] You may e-mail me if you have any questions. [coca_coola] (in elvish) [ILookLikeLuthien] so I shall go after one question: where can I find all of the sindarin vocab? [Elostrion] I would catch about every other word. [Elostrion] Let me get you a link ILookLikeLuthien… [ILookLikeLuthien] thank you Elostrion [Not_Maedhros] Elostrion, is there a negative verb tense in Quenya? [Not_Maedhros] That is completely unlreated to Sindarin, though. [Not_Maedhros] :p [Elostrion] http://www.jrrvf.com/~hisweloke/sindar/ [ILookLikeLuthien] thank you, Elostrion. [Elostrion] Please e-mail me for a full answer Not_Maedhros. [Elostrion] You’re welcome ILookLikeLuthien [Bullmaiden] Was this lesson just on soft mutation, or all of the mutations (nasal etc.)? [ILookLikeLuthien] well, my friend succeeded in ruining my night 🙁 but oh well, I’ll see if I can follow the Qs anyway… [Elostrion] Just Soft(Lenition) [Bullmaiden] what’s the difference between lenition and mutation? [Elostrion] Let me explain the problem with memorizing Sindarin vocabulary… [Elostrion] Soft Mutation is also referred to as Lenition [coca_coola] oh no you can’t do that? I”m in the midst of memorizing [Elostrion] Sindarin is a lot like Ancient Hebrew in this mattter. [Elostrion] There are very few words; however, each word has many multiple meanings. [ILookLikeLuthien] hmm, maybe I’ll ask my friend who speaks Hebrew… [Elostrion] Here is an example: [ILookLikeLuthien] oh…they’re called…I forget the word for a word w/ multiple meanings. [Elostrion] In Hebrew (and Sindarin) there is one word for both snow and white. [Bullmaiden] gloss? [Elostrion] You have to memorize each meaning for over 800 words. [coca_coola] ah, im screwed now aren’t i cuz i just wasted my time memorizing and learning [ILookLikeLuthien] whee. [Eowyn] lovely….lol [ILookLikeLuthien] memorization is….fun…sometimes…not…that’s the only thing that I don’t have so much fun with in French. [Elostrion] The mutations complicate things when listening, you have to have them thoroughly memorizing them. [ILookLikeLuthien] but I’ll try!! [Elostrion] Grammar, ahh! [ILookLikeLuthien] yeah, French is hard to understand in speaking sometimes too, I’m used to that complication [Eowyn] definitely [Elostrion] The mutations complicate things when listening, you have to have them thoroughly memorized to be able to understand.*** [ILookLikeLuthien] yes [ILookLikeLuthien] well, a bunch of the French words sound alike. [coca_coola] I’m fluent in french and i feel your pain i love luthien……..i live in montreal! [ILookLikeLuthien] cool [Elostrion] -a [ariannaxis] me too [Eowyn] well I suppose if you were an elf and had been living for thousands of yrs. , you’d have the time to memorise all that! [Elostrion] It would be completely different as a birth language. [coca_coola] i guess its not really memorizing is it elostrion but understanding and learning [Elostrion] Mostly [ILookLikeLuthien] yes [Eowyn] yeah [Elostrion] There is an aweful lot of memorizing, however. [Elostrion] There are so many forms of words, that’s the problem. [Not_Maedhros] Most vocabulary. [coca_coola] everyday i tryy to learn atleast 4 new sindarin words but it is so hard to improve because i have no one to practice and share my knowledge with to improve [ILookLikeLuthien] oh…forms…eep [ILookLikeLuthien] I’m good w/ conjugation. [coca_coola] lol [ILookLikeLuthien] and pronunciation…in French anyway… [Elostrion] Are you really ILookLikeLuthien?? [Elostrion] oh, LoL [ILookLikeLuthien] yes I am [Not_Maedhros] Conjuagation and pronounciation is eaqsy. [Eowyn] yeah being able to practice with someone is the best way to get a grip on the language [ILookLikeLuthien] conjugation makes sense to me [Not_Maedhros] I can pronounce anything for anyone [Not_Maedhros] :p [Elostrion] I would be happy to help you learn coca_coola [ILookLikeLuthien] oh, shush Not. [ILookLikeLuthien] lol [Not_Maedhros] Believe me. [coca_coola] really? cause i’d love some help [Not_Maedhros] I can pronounce EVERY SINGLE SOUND on the IPA [Not_Maedhros grins [Elostrion] e-mail me coca_coola [coca_coola] im only 14 so i guess i have a while to learn but i still am very eager to learn now jincey is waiting for her nick to be translated ; ) [Strakul] Not_Maedhros: how about you make recordings of the words (especially those with y) to help us pronounce them? [ILookLikeLuthien] I pick up well on pronunciation, i.e. I speak English, am learning French, and am learning 2 Italian songs right now, and their pronunciation is coming to me also. [Not_Maedhros] I’ll think about it. [ILookLikeLuthien] yeah Not! [Not_Maedhros] It all depends on whether or not I can get my brother to let me use his microphone and computer [Strakul] I don’t know how to pronounce “y” 🙁 [Not_Maedhros] :p [coca_coola] I am fluent in french and english and am now learning sindarin and i know some quenya [Not_Maedhros] He has a GOOD microphone and recording program. [ILookLikeLuthien] I don’t know how to pronounce…anything… [Not_Maedhros] Strakul, make your lips as if you were going to say “oo [ILookLikeLuthien] well, I know the dh/th thing [coca_coola] elostrion which address would i e-mail u to? [Elostrion] elostrion@hotmail.com [Not_Maedhros] Say “ee” but keep your lips the same [coca_coola] ok [Bullmaiden] LoL [coca_coola] i am fine with pronunciation, it comes sorta quick for me like french [ILookLikeLuthien] uh… [Strakul] … sounds like an “i” to me [ILookLikeLuthien] yeah, I am too, I just need to be able to learn Sindarin prons. when noone is home… [Elostrion] Oh dear coca_coola [ILookLikeLuthien] because… [[ILookLikeLuthien] the cpu is in the living room [ILookLikeLuthien] so I can’t start saying “ee” through an “oo” face… [coca_coola] lol [Strakul] doesn’t work, i think i have an accent [coca_coola] if someone had a web camera i’d think it’d be the funniest thing to watch everyone trying to see ee through an ooo face [ILookLikeLuthien] I know… [coca_coola] lmao [ILookLikeLuthien] that would be hilarity in the extreme… [Strakul makes sure he’s alone [Not_Maedhros will say it [Not_Maedhros] I will record it too [Not_Maedhros] It will sound fine. [Not_Maedhros] And look okay. [Not_Maedhros] ILookLikeLuthien, you are learning French, no? [ILookLikeLuthien] yes [ILookLikeLuthien] I can record too…but I don’t know how to pronounce 😛 [Not_Maedhros] The “u” sound in “du”, and “lune” is Sindarin “y” [coca_coola] i can help anyone in french……that im good at [ILookLikeLuthien] oh really?? [coca_coola] yeah well i hope i am cuz i live in montreal! [ILookLikeLuthien] eu…sort of… [ILookLikeLuthien] uu [Not_Maedhros] coca_coola, it’s “u” as in “du” and “lune” [ILookLikeLuthien] it’s an indescribable sound, ahhh [coca_coola] and go 2 a billingual school [coca_coola] ah [Strakul] hmm, i only know english and spanish 🙁 [Not_Maedhros] Elostrion, is there a front rounded vowel in Spanish? [[Bullmaiden] Bye peps, I have geometry [[ILookLikeLuthien] well, I’m not fluent in French yet…only in French 3 [ILookLikeLuthien] bye Bullmaiden! [Elostrion] So long Bullmaiden [Bullmaiden] Thanks for the lesson! [Elostrion] It is my pleasure [Not_Maedhros] Thanks for the lesson Elostrion [Elostrion] Absolutely! [ILookLikeLuthien] next week, I’ll ignore all my ims and not open any other pages but the charts, so ppl can’t mess up my online! [Not_Maedhros] coca_coola, you do speak French, right? [Elostrion] I’m gonna go now, if there are no objections. [Elostrion] I have work to do. [Not_Maedhros] Okay [jincey] thanks elostrion! [Not_Maedhros] Bye, Elostrion [Elostrion] Navaer! [coca_coola] elostrion will you be checking your e-mail in the next 2 weeks because i’ll be online cause im on break [coca_coola] yeah i speak fluent french not maedhros [Elostrion] You’re very welcome! ILookLikeLuthien] Navaer, Elostrion! Elostrion] LoL, yes coca_coola Elostrion has left #thehalloffire
Arowin writes: I was recently privileged enough to view a lecture by Milton Ngan. As far as IT stuff goes, Milton has a pretty good job. You see, he is the Digital Operations Manager at Weta Digital. He is basically the architect for all the technical side of things at Weta.
Last night he came and gave a 1 hour lecture at Victoria University outlining the hurdles and obstacles that needed to be overcome to produce the stunning 3D graphics lying in each of the Lord of the Rings movies. The lecture itself was full of lots of facts about Weta, the IT side of things and it also included some very cool behind the scenes shots of The Two Towers.
Weta
Well as you probably already know Weta is the Wellington based company in charge of bringing the Lord of the Rings special effects to life. It is composed of two companies – Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. Weta Workshop deal specifically with the models, props and miniatures – all the physical things. Weta Digital on the other hand, work with the virtual – all the 3D characters, Motion Capture and Special effects.
A lot of information about Weta Digitals IT structure was thrown at us some of which includes:
All the film first comes to WD and is scanned into the computer system through the use of one of two Imagica Film Scanners. These scanners can scan at 3.2 mega pixels at an amazing 64 billion colours. The speed of this is about 4.5 frames/second
The data is then fed to the storage facility along a 4 gigabit Ethernet.
From the reels alone Weta stores about ½ a petabyte of data. By the end of film three this amount is expected to reach 1 petabyte.
The workstation structure at Weta is astronomical. They have:
-125 SGI Octane systems -220 Linux systems -35 NT systems -15 Mac systems
Then there’s the rendering system…. The renderer alone is run 24 hours a day rendering out the 1000 odd shots that were required for TTT. It consists of 192 Dual Pentium 1 GHz and 448 Dual 2.2 GHz processors. A total of 1280 processors running at approximately 2,355 GHz…. Mmmmm…..
Creatures
The creatures are first sketched out on paper and then modelled with modelling clays. After Peter Jackson’s approval, these models are then scanned with a mobile hand held 3D scanner (developed in Christchurch, NZ) which scan into the computers every single bump and feature of the model. In fact so much data is scanned in that it would be next to impossible to use it all so the mesh is then converted to a NURBS model, which smoothes most of it out. The detail that was lost is still kept and the difference between the NURBS model and the original scan is uses as a displacement map (A texture that applies bumps based on a greyscale image).
Once the models have been put into the system and textured, it is up to the animators to animate the creatures. A great deal of the animation was done automatically. For example, when Gollum walks, the system automatically splays his toes as he steps down, this allows the animators to focus more on the artistic side rather than the mechanical. A good example of this was shown with a simple mock up of Gandalf standing still with Gollum jumping up onto his back and ripping off his head. Most of the actions were done by the computer.
Each animation must go through a rigorous development process. Most of the actions where Gollum is by himself can be taken from Motion Capture with Andy Serkis, but for other scenes (In particular the first scene of Gollum when he jumps on Sam and bites him) Andy wasn’t right for the situation (“He looked too much like WWF). So the animators made a few animations including Gollum ferociously attacking Sam to Gollum coming up and licking him.
The motion capture uses about 20 different cameras and can support multiple actors at the same time. Andy was used for almost all of the actions and most of the animations were done using him as the actor. A blooper that was shown was Gollum playing an electric guitar. Also a few shots were shown with Kermit the frog instead of Gollum. Even after the motion capture is done. The animators will still need to go in and clean up a few details. A few shots were shown with Gollum with his hair dyed pink and standing on end, another with his eyes floating out away from his eyes.
Andy Serkis as we know was also the basis for the facial animation of Gollum. The animators based Gollum’s actions on Andy. Side by side shots were shown with Andy and Gollum (In the split personality scene) showing exactly the same facial expressions and speech expressions.
To composite Gollum into the scene is quite a rigorous process.
1) Firstly, Andy acts out the scenes with the other actors.
2) The scene is then shot without the actors using exactly the same camera movements.
3) The Computer camera is then matched to make sure the angles will still be right
4) The lighting in the Computer environment is then matched to the camera footage
5) The compositing is done. Andy is literally painted out of the scene and Gollum placed in.
6) More painters come in and now have the arduous task of painting all the areas where Gollum is behind something or in front of.
Massive
Massive was described to us as “AI on steroids” and by all accounts it is. I’m talking about the computer software that was developed on site to do all that large battle scenes that rage in both FotR and TTT. It is a system that creates hundreds and thousands of ‘agents’ – individual 3D creatures that think for themselves and battle it out on the field. They can react, fight and make logical decisions based on inputted given data. The program is so details that agents can get dirtier as the battle progresses.
For example, in the battle of helms deep, thousands of computer generated orcs fought against the stronghold of men and elves. Each orc would react and think as an individual. A top down render was shown when the wall exploded and ripples were sent through the agents. Now, traditionally this would have been done with particle effects and a wave effect but this was made simply by the reactions of each agent.
Each agent is given a complex tree ‘brain structure’ whereby data is inputted to the agent and based on the tree an output is given. If two outputs come through then the result is mixed together. An example of this was an agent that was set so it doesn’t walk off a cliff. It walked around by staying on the flattest surface. As soon as it was ‘allowed’ to walk off the edge, its arms flew around in a very lifelike manner. Each hit against the cliff gave different results and those results were added together to form the movement of the fall.
Each agent is also given certain characteristics according to its race. Each race has its own unique fighting style (which was motion captured originally). Each individual agent is given random variables to make them shorter, taller, a larger walk almost everything. Massive then calculated every single movement based on the agent – A shorter agent will have to walk faster to keep up with all the others.
When Massive was first tested two armies were pitted against each other to fight it out. Once the scene was rendered, a bug in the program was found. Agents were actually seen running away from the battle field! This simple bug was resolved by adding the rule “If you can’t see an enemy, turn around”.
With The Return of the King, Massive is apparently being stretched to its limits. Peter Jackson is saying that the great battle must be several times larger than that of Helm’s Deep. This is not only stretching Massive to it’s limits but also the Intel 32bit processor architecture as well and Weta is looking at replacing the processors with 64bit ones. Whatever they do, RoTK is set to be pretty spectacular.
Other Random Stuff
– When Peter was working in London and the animators needed his approval on certain shots a conference was set up from New Zealand to London through a private 10 Megabit connection. Each day for 3 months, these conferences would go over about 10GB of data that was rendered during the night.
– Gollum alone has about 20GB of textures
– Gollum was completely redesigned from the ground up for TTT
– The room at Weta that stores the servers started out at about 40m2. For TTT this was made larger by about 60%. Now, it is about 4 times as big as it was at the start and work is under way to increase the size again
– Weta Digital has only now finished the extra footage for TTT DVD that will be released later this year and is now starting work for RoTK
– In TTT there were approximately 800 Computer Graphics shots. They are expecting in excess of 1000 for the third film.
– Thousands of different programs were used in the development of the special effects. Most prominently Maya was used for the modelling and animation, Pixars Renderman was used for the rendering and finally Apple’s Shake was used for compositing the film.
– The developer of Massive is under talks at the moment to release Massive commercially.
