Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 1, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Maya had already been used to create the animated feature film of the same name, which was then playing in US cinemas.
These are Lucasfilm’s first animated projects in the Star Wars universe. They are being produced through a global production environment that uses Maya as the central platform for creating highly detailed worlds, characters and creatures, including Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jabba the Hutt.
Richard Kerris, Chief Technology Officer of Lucasfilm, said: “Star Wars: The Clone Wars gives Star Wars an entirely new appearance by taking the saga into animation. We wanted to use technologies that met Lucasfilm’s high standards, so we chose Autodesk Maya as the animation platform for both the film and the television series. Maya’s creative tools, extensibility and large user base were decisive. Maya is the backbone of our global production environment and enables us to divide work seamlessly between the creative teams based in the United States and the production studios in Asia.”
Digital artists in California, at Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and at partner studio CGCG in Taipei had already produced more than 30 episodes of the television series. Lucasfilm Animation’s California-based creative team establishes the story arc and key scenes, while animators at the Asian studios create the animation. This round-the-clock production chain completes an average of eight animated minutes per week—an unprecedented level of productivity for film and television production.
Kerris added: “Maya has become the animation platform of choice for the film industry. The software significantly reduces the complexity of global collaboration. Lucasfilm is constantly developing new tools that we then integrate into Maya. Maya is essentially the solid foundation on which we can explore new concepts and maximize productivity and creativity—without interrupting our global production pipeline.”
“Ultimately, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is about telling great stories,” said Danny Keller, Animation Supervisor at Lucasfilm. “From a technological perspective, we need to be flexible in order to realize the creative vision imagined by supervising director Dave Filoni and George Lucas. Autodesk Maya gives us those capabilities.”
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