Maxon’s CINEMA 4D powers key animation on Universal’s “Oblivion” staring Tom Cruise

Maxon News: Oblivion 3D Team Innovates with CINEMA 4D

An award-winning 3D and motion graphics team innovated with Maxon’s CINEMA 4D software on the In-Camera and On-Screen visual effects sequences defining futuristic tone for Universal Pictures’ new Oblivion film staring Tom Cruise.

Cruise stars in this original and groundbreaking cinematic event from Joseph Kosinski, the visionary director of TRON: Legacy and producers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man’s confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind.

Oblivion lead designer Bradley “GMUNK” Munkowitz (Prometheus, Iron Man 2) worked directly with Kosinski and his Crater Lake Productions team — a similar role he assumed on Kosinski’s previous film,TRON: Legacy. Munkowitz assembled a design team of veteran CINEMA 4D lead animation artists, including TRON: Legacy alum David “DLEW” Lewandowski (TRON: Legacy, Going to the Store, Tiny Tortures) and Navarro Parker (Iron Man,Transformers, The Avengers), to deliver extensive 3D graphics content central to the film’s story line.

01 - Tom Cruise stars in Universal's Oblivion. The film utilized Maxon's CINEMA 4D software for some critical elements. (image courtesy of Universal Pictures, All rights reserved.).

“MAXON is honored the Oblivion design team chose CINEMA 4D to help meet the complex 3D motion graphics design and workflow challenges in bringing Kosinski’s post-apocalyptic vision to the screen,” Paul Babb, MAXON US president/CEO, says. “The visual results are outstanding!”

Munkowitz says the speed and accuracy in CINEMA 4D enhanced the overall workflow in helping the team create Vika’s (Andrea Riseborough) light table, one of the most widely seen graphic elements in Oblivion that functions as a central briefing center providing critical information to assist the characters with their duties on Earth.

02 - The futuristic design language was developed using CINEMA 4D and this interface for a light table used in the film was one of the key elements C4D was responsible for. (image courtesy of Universal Pictures, All rights reserved.)

“CINEMA 4D was extremely helpful in the creation of a variety of audio responsive graphics and light table assets,” says Munkowitz. “Its speed and MoGraph feature set were paramount in taking Kosinski’s graphics briefs and executing them quickly with precision, and establishing a consistent graphic language rarely seen in big budget sci-fi films. No other tool is as prepared for intensive motion graphics as CINEMA 4D.”

To learn more about Maxon’s CINEMA 4D go here: http://www.maxon.net