REAL-TIME FILMMAKING
Game engines are making photoreal films like Adam a reality
W hile the last year has been overshadowed by a race to harness VR, the real revolution in interactive computer graphics has been in the systems that are enabling this dramatic turn towards VR and real-time CG. Game engines such as Unity, emboldened by ever more powerful GPUS from Nvidia and AMD, have become more popular than ever. Unity, which leads the charge for ‘free’ access to real-time render technology has 6.5 million registered users; 1.5 million active game makers a month are using Unity; and Unity developed games are downloaded 7.2 billion times a month. But the future lies outside of pure game development. Unity has now broken free from being solely made for and used by game developers as filmmakers and new entertainment studios look for new solutions. Clive Downie, CMO at Unity explains: “The Unity toolset is now becoming a lot more relevant to non-game makers who are creators in a 3D space,” he says. “What we’ve tried to do over the last two years is try to show what Unity is capable of in the hands of technical artists, 3D artists, and others creating very highquality cinematics that are rendered in real time.”
For Unity, the short film Adam is testament to the engine’s versatility. Using the new Visual Sequencer tool (formerly Director Sequencer), the team at Unity Technologies, led by director Veselin Efremov, created the impressive real-time short movie, Adam, inside of a game engine.