OMG celebrates the eight best movies of 2008

Oxford, UK (1 December, 2008) – Oxford Metrics Group plc (OMG), developer of motion capture and image understanding systems, is celebrating its involvement in eight of the best movie releases of 2008, further highlighting its position as the leading visual effects company in the world.

The eight movies from 2008 are: Sweeney Todd, Tropic Thunder, Prince Caspian, 10,000 BC, Iron Man, Meet Dave, Changeling and Hell Boy II.

The Group’s award-winning products – Vicon’s MX motion capture cameras and 2d3’s match moving software, boujou – have enabled film-makers to capture spectacular action sequences and create stunning visual effects that satisfy even the most demanding film enthusiasts. Many shots initially thought impossible because of challenging conditions were finished to the highest standards.

Meet Dave, released in July, was the latest film from director Brian Robbins. It follows the story of a desperate crew of miniature alien humanoids, with their home planet in danger and no place in the known universe to seek shelter, they board a human spacecraft (Eddie Murphy) in hopes of saving their doomed world.

Dan Kruse, head camera tracker at Hydraulx said: “We have found that without the precision and speed of boujou in our camera tracking pipeline, we probably wouldn’t be able to do the large turn around of shots that we do.”

Kruse continued: “With the ever growing extreme camera moves in film today, many shots would prove to be untrackable without boujou.”

Another of the top eight movies relied heavily on Vicon’s capabilities. Prince Caspian, released in June 2008 and out on DVD on 2nd December, needed to create a huge number of talking beasts and other strange creatures, as well as long battle sequences. The team used Vicon’s MX40+ cameras to deliver outstanding and detailed motion capture data.

Adam Valdez, animation director at MPC, said: “Prince Caspian proved to be our most complex crowd project to date. One of our big challenges was hybrid creatures which required complex motion editing. Audiomotion (The UK’s largest motion capture service provider) stepped up to the creative task, refining the solution until our client was happy with some truly exciting sequences.”

Nick Bolton, chief executive at OMG, said: “We’re very proud that OMG is associated with such fantastic films. It’s great to hear industry talent speak so enthusiastically about our products.”
He continued: “2008 was a great year for seeing the best of motion capture at the cinema and we already can’t wait for 2009’s offerings. I am especially looking forward to seeing the greatly anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. An enormous amount of work has gone into the making of this film so make sure you don’t miss it!”

In addition to its use in the movie industry, and in computer games, Vicon’s motion capture technology is also used by consultant surgeons working with movement-related ailments such as cerebral palsy, and by athletes training or working on improving their performance.

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