VANCOUVER — Ziva Dynamics (https://zivadynamics.com) has launched Ziva VFX 1.5, an update to its character creation technology that makes the process of creating high-performing secondary dynamics faster, livelier and more memory efficient. Artists can now simplify one of the most challenging aspects of creature FX, using new algorithms to create characters that bend, jiggle and stretch in ways that match an audience’s expectations.
In the past, highly dynamic characters required very small time steps – essentially, subframes in an animation sequence – to achieve believable results; now, artists can get there faster. While Ziva VFX 1.5’s new dynamics will be more apparent on creatures with a lot of fat or body mass, the detailed physics of muscles firing and soft tissues jiggling will help any 3D human or creature look more natural when animated for films, TV or virtual productions.
“The pursuit of high-quality characters comes down to time,” says James Jacobs, co-CEO of Ziva Dynamics. “If you are stuck under a strict production schedule, you don’t always have the hours needed to achieve ultra-realistic results. Ziva VFX 1.5 offers an efficient way to attach secondary dynamics to an asset, so artists can push the boundaries of character realism, even within the short timelines of a television or advertising project.”
Artists can access these powerful algorithms through a drop-down menu to determine how damped the dynamics will be. Each setting is tweakable and applicable to pre-existing creatures, which will show an immediate improvement after a simple re-simulation.
Ziva VFX 1.5 is the latest release in Ziva Dynamics’ alternating development cycle, which sees a major feature release (1.4) followed by an optimization release. The latter ensures that new gains never slow down the production process, so artists can continue to make great characters quickly and efficiently.
The Ziva method, used by major studios like Sony Imageworks, Pixomondo and Mr. X, fundamentally changes the character creation process by combining the effects of real-world physics with the rapid creation of soft-tissue materials like muscles, fat and skin. By mirroring the fundamental properties of nature, users can produce CG characters that move, flex and jiggle just as they would in real life, removing difficult steps from the rigging process.
The release of Ziva VFX 1.5 follows months of new creature work from studios like Dneg (Venom) and Scanline VFX (The Meg), as well as TV and non-profit productions that are applying massive quality gains to projects with much smaller budgets.
Ziva VFX 1.5 is available now as an Autodesk Maya plug-in for Windows and Linux users. Ziva VFX 1.5 can be purchased in monthly or yearly installments, depending on user type. The company is offering a free 60-day trial.