Ed Ulbrich: How Benjamin Button got his face

[Stargirly01]

@einootspork that was all photoshoped...not a big deal :)

[einootspork]

What I really want to know is how they made him look younger than he was in the scenes near the end of the movie.

[Lucyverre]

Aha, so the aha-erlebnis did come with Mova Contour

[axegas76]

omg

[lachlunn]

this was used in the Social Network movie too..the twins are just one guy and a vague lookalike.

[DreamsCatcher101]

I hope people don't fall of this when its used against us. Like the fake alien invasion planned for 2012.

[mikegrung]

GO ONLIVE!!!

[SolarEXtract]

and now we have a digitally young Jeff Bridges. I wonder if that's the same tech.

[DontTouchMyVicodin]

@SolarEXtract

I read that they were using the exact same technology by the same people for the yyoung Bridges, yes.

[mikegrung]

@SolarEXtract

It was done by the same people.

[sidlucky2002]

this SHOKING atleast for the actors if this technology takeover....

but amazing never thought its possible yet....

[MusicBySav]

okay you have to invite Ed Ulbrich back just so that he can talk about how he made Jeff Bridges look younger in Tron 2 because it's just amazing

[chj2]

@MusicBySav Yes, I agree. You know what's funny? How at 8:36, Ed says they had to re-appropriate code from other software programs to do the technology needed for Benjamin Button. Maybe Ed is the MCP, LOL!!!!!!!!! That's pretty cool and ironic - especially how they're using this in Tron Legacy.

[322478884]

theres a mac on the podium

[MusicBySav]

u know with this new technology we might be able to see Elvis Presley or Humphrey Bogart on the silver screen again, this time in new movies AND in Real D 3D =] think about it

[phxsns1]

Cinema, matinee, I ain't got seven-fifty to pay!

[drphillshoe]

wowwooweeza! LETS DO THIS!!!

[Fantommenace23]

"Let's Do This" brought me here too! Awesome video..very interesting. This is the only time I can say "I love TED", without feeling too gay. Although Ted Danson is pretty amazing in "Bored to Death"

[jaxblade07]

I love when you post a comment "lets do this " you find a bunch of other spill fans :) - D-BO

[daynee3]

Hell YEs

[ChrisWintersTV]

Korey and Co-Host 3000 referred me also!

[jewishsquirrel]

lets do this part 2

[jaxblade07]

LETS DO THIS haha frickin amazin what they can do these days

[kukua1]

Yay for Co-host and Korey

[ResurrectionJoe]

LET'S DO THIIIISSSSS!!!!

Yes, I found this from Spill, too.

[Mekose]

@jaxblade07 And that was a year ago! Have you seen Tron: Legacy yet? Digital Jeff Bridges was so freaking incredible. Never before has a digitial effect made me question it, considering I'm trying to get into this industry was pretty insane. I usually have a really good eye for stuff like that.

[BerryJoy]

it tricked me when i first saw it.

i thought it was a real little old man until i figured it out

[justforMJJ]

I just watched this film, and was confused as I thought, yeah that looks like Brad Pitt, but how can he be so small?..lol...now I know..pretty amazing thanks for clearing this up for me..

[fordieform]

AH MAN they shouldnt av told me now it's like totally obvious

-hero

[lasse88]

Brad did not play his role all the way. Who played the baby at the end? ;)

Smartass i am..

[LillieVonVenom]

lol XD

[Boboua]

Well the movie ended up being absolutely stunning. Great job directors and everyone working on it!

[zappyhod]

What if you could video capture each nerve ending in the face firing off due to an expression and super impost that over the emotion capture...They did a great job with the eyes I reckon.

[redwizard2k6]

lol superimpose you mean. I dont think youll be able to capture nerve endings, that will require an artist to map a texture to the head probably or make the head model have a sub surface scattering quality and model the thousands of nerves in the face based on medical records and then have them lit up

[ALHAMADI2424]

How can u upload video for more than 10 min same 16 min or more ??? how tell me pleeez >>>:-)

[kickassmage]

i think u need to ask youtube, or eather be at a certain lvl of subscribers or pay some kind of fee

[brandon4brandon]

You have to have a director account.

[redwizard2k6]

You have to be contributing videos and then you ask them if you can have the status of "director". It is free but the reason you have to ask them is so they know you are going to upload responsibly and not full movies or half an hour of spam or such which (if everyone could upload huge videos) could also easily make youtube a victim to malicious attacks of hundreds and hundreds of computers in a botnet or such. Ask them; its free :)

[wiory]

IMO it took them too much time. There are really good CG artists who can make reallistic face in a _few hours_. Just look at best zbrush sculptors ;)

Animation is harder but I still think it's too much time for professional studio, 2-3 years to make realistic eye movement connected with face? omg

[bahamut1993]

The key difference between those two instances is that they basically made a completely automatic process that only needed to watch the actor's face.

[redwizard2k6]

lots of movies take years.. Sculpting a maquette or indeed a zbrush model is one thnig, but to animate it is a totally different matter. To animate it convincingly is difficult yet again, and to animate it in the same way that an actors head would move let alone look is harder again, it would take WAY more than a few hours so you are VERY sorely mistaken i'm afraid. You also clearly did not listen well enough, because only one person worked on the eyes, and it was a system, not just a sequence.

[wiory]

ROTFL. I didnt say its just a sequence. As I said, animation is harder, and I didn't say animation will take a few hours. 'you clearly did not read well' my post.

Anyway, I dont care how they animated it, IMHO it took too much time. I dont buy it.

They have good model, good surface-capture, maybe animation of older guy was hard but like I said, I dont buy it. EOT.

[redwizard2k6]

I did not say that you said the animation will take a few hours. It will have taken a lot longer to animate it by hand and it wouldnt have yielded as good results as what you see here, so if you are complaining about it taking so long now, it will have taken longer your way. if you dont care how they animated it then you probably arent equipped with the knowledge to make such bold statements. You can't call an EOT when there are unresolved matters, so I call that off.

[Fagottron]

Hmmm.

As realistic as he looks, I still think there's a certain human quality lacking in his expression. Is it just me?

[Usul573]

I really don't think so, it really reflects the personality and expressions, down to every last detail.

[HigherPlanes]

Congratulations on 3 hours of bullshit.

[SgtHydra]

Roflcopters.

I award 5 internets for such lulz.

[Locarith]

I agree Huzzah!

[SgtHydra]

Eventually these will completely replace actors. Then it'll all be voice actors.

[Chradnev]

It's too expensive and too much hassle versus hiring an actor.

If unified tools are developed and it becomes easy to make fake people without needing to rely on performance capture, then it's possible that this would work out, but the hiring fee for the 'outdated' actors would be extremely low, so eventually directors would make films the old way.

And really, why not? What's the point of using CGI to make ordinary settings and objects look completely real when you could just shoot reality?

[SgtHydra]

Expensive perhaps at the moment, but it is definately something for the future. And pretty quickly we would find that making actors is cheaper than paying for a real one's salery, food, travel, expenses, etc etc. Things will just get more and more cost effective.

For an example of something already in development, take a look at James Cameron's next film, "Avatar," which is a hybrid of live action and CGI, with the latter not being simple special effects, but whole segments of the movie.

[Chradnev]

Avatar is the most expensive film of all time (and it is, don't let Fox fool you into thinking otherwise, they're trying to save face in case it bombs).

Remember that actors must be animated by hand. Benjamin Button and Avatar still rely on performance capture, meaning the filmmakers still paid an actor for their work. This technique makes sense for fantastical characters, but not for ordinary human characters.

[Chradnev]

Animation requires a big team and takes time. Obviously the response to this is that it will be quick and cost effective in the hypothetical future, but what I was originally saying is, wouldn't the demands of an actor in terms of salary, services, ect go way down if they'd been 'super ceded' by animated characters? Might it not then be cheaper to hire one actor instead of a team of animators? So why hire more people and spend more time to achieve the exact same final result?

[SgtHydra]

Hey, I'm just saying that things are advancing pretty rapidly.

It's not like we're debating politics. XD

[Chradnev]

Things are advancing rapidly, but I think it would actually be a shame to completely lose actors, crazy and selfish and expensive as they can be, because they introduce their own personality and artistry to a film, and can add unplanned depth through their presence.

Yes, I'm attached to actors. I also don't foresee them being totally replaced though.

[DAMOCLIES]

i didnt know it was fake.its a great movie

[PinkLadyErin1]

I wish they'd done one on how they aged Cate Blanchett... her aging was amazing too.

[VisionQuest2012]

They should have used Baker to do makeup on Brad and use animation for the bodies. They got it all backwards. LOL!

[lgcaptures]

If you'd seen the movie without being told they used digital effects on Brad's face would you really have known? I doubt it.

[RMEProd]

I saw the movie a few weeks ago and just now saw this vid....damn...I thought they used real makeup on Brad..This technology is simply amazing!

[tellmewhatsahappenin]

This new technology would have made the folks animating Gollum in Lord of the Ring's lives a lot easier. This looks amazing, I want to see this movie now.

[RoboDouche]

Incredible technology. But still looks very fake. The capture of the facial movements is what's really impressive, but computer graphics are yet to catch up and be truly photo realistic, so Benjamin can't help but look sorta like a cartoon.

[JakkyMurders]

this is great butr i still love the art of makeup and prosthetics. =/

[k00kee]

Amazing !

[msLENNYsm]

they could use that for games how g would dat b

[aroneous]

The special effects ruined the movie for me. so obviously fake, I couldn't concentrate on the storyline. they won the Oscar for the concept, not the completion.

[skylerstupid]

amazing.

[performinglife]

We interviewed tajiri hansen for our show. - Video will be added soon

[pagloota]

i watched that movie....didnt know it took that amount of effort and hardwork.........just incredible!!

[zelemont]

dont check it out. it's not funny and is entirely irrelevant. spamming is lame kid

[vjelmyer]

yes but, how did they make him look so young? was that just make up?

[abbakabba321]

They probably just reversed what they did to make him look older. For example they just took off the wrinkles and softened his skin up more to give him that young look. I don't think there was make up involved.

[elpresidio]

This is truely a breakthrough. Truely seemless masterful invisible subtle digital effects.

[joellyshooshoo]

kewul!

[thatoneckid]

That was awesome good job!

[ALEXEY3107]

take care not to do that

[ult1m8jonathan]

i can't believe i watched this for 20 min...

[xenocentricism]

just purchased a Rolex. LOL

[Kanuuna]

..."Yay"?

[mensk88]

Amazing

[joesabido]

So, the guys from Final Fantasy must have shot themselves by now...

[coolsimon282]

why ?

[NewAmericanGoth]

Final Fantasy aims for a stylistic interpretation of people and their work is not matched by anyone.

[PackageSeverance]

some should have come up and dumped a bucket of shit water on him

[PackageSeverance]

completely fake, they even admit that it is staged with special effects

notice the guy in the beginning

[Epistinimically]

and your point it...

[OperationJanus]

Stop letting them clog your brains!!! Fight it! Get informed, get involved!

[jonbonz1]

for 1 hour of footage, 2 years and 155 people. Incredible.

[yaninnu]

wooooooooooooooooow

[BinkieMcFartnuggets]

That was interesting, but how was James Bonded?

[darkwiz999]

Nice, How was Brad Pitted?! Ha

BP rocks, no offence

[corriamo]

I try to make special movie effect l' m a poor director and with little little money I got some good result but what I have seen in this video is great compare to mine

[kristibrud]

hmm interesting. ive always thought being an actor was the best job...lol

[DontTouchMyTea]

I think there's way more unemployed actors than unemployed people who know how to work with computers.

[redstone1963]

Very interesting!Thanks, and congratulations on your success.

[ahd3030]

well-done guys

[GetMoneyGetMoney21]

Wow, our technology never ceases to impress me. Also, I like YouTube's new turn down the lights button!

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[DumbfoundAdog]

rolex wtf? i'll go out and buy three

[turfcoal]

yeah why was there a rolex ad?

[drzclown]

cause rolex paid money for it

[MOTIVEONER]

dont they need sponsors? to me i think this was a big waste of money, i mean if people were capable of making descent film now days this might come in handy. it will do wonders for the video game world

[skyadd]

Now, because digital domain has a full archive of Brad Pitt's face, could they then have another actor - perhaps sounding like brad - perform the emotions and dialogue so you can essentially make a Brad Pitt movie WITHOUT Brad Pitt?

I'm sure long into the future after Brad has died (as there are obviously legal complications of this), a director can say "I want Brad Pitt do a cameo in my film" and then be able to digitally add him in.

[Funasenbaer]

unreal future shit

[Chick6517]

Wow, very interesting video you made. haha It seems like you got a lot of comments on it. (= good job on that! Make more

[AskCarrieLee]

Unreal. I find this utterly fascinating...

[liVebitt3rsw33t]

incredible..

[IntelligenceFTW]

Since gaming gets you so far in life.

lol.

imbecile.

gtfo.

pc's ftl.

[OfficialDjBigB]

I was playing Halo on my mac while you were typing that.

[ttttiiiieeeessss]

huh? Halo on mac? how did you do that? TELL ME!

[OfficialDjBigB]

just search it on torrent bay or something

[StealthNinjaX2]

jeez, no wonder rolex cost so much 18:07

[zhuqi315]

yea i was thinking about taht too.

[Dollarboy1000]

fucking boring

[elchamber]

A bit dangerous if you know what I mean.

[Shonaripa]

FUCKING start talking about how you did it isntead of telling your life story damn it! Who cares! And might lame jokes. wasn't even that impressive, the guy is too proud. I still see iwhen it's cgi and when it isn't. Stupid... talking for 20 minutes about just that? pff

[lilmoomoo]

It took years for them to make the movie. I think spending 20 minutes to talk about it isn't much...

[Shonaripa]

you're right... true. Still not THAT impressive, he built it up all the way until the end and it was like " that's it?". Aint sen the movie yet though, ought to that

[kaakoo]

Stunning work. It's majestic.

[NevadaGrey2010]

That's just mind blowing! The technology is amazing beyond words, and the people working on this project - absolutely brilliant.

[XxINCHAINSxX]

It's almost retarded how hung-up on movies and entertainment Americans are. How stupid are you people? You spend that much money on a movie? When instead of wasting all this time, work, effort, and stuff on a movie, why don't you feed and educate the poor of the world, so we can finally progress? You backwards idiots. All this for 2 hours of American Entertainment. Pitiful. I am American, but VERY, VERY, ashamed to be.

[mickeyho13]

It's "art". The CGI employs people, and in turn employ people who make the movie. The movie brings out people who spend money to watch the movie paying the workers at movie theaters (through concessions). While the director and other key people get money through ticket sales. I'm sure Brad will do good things with his money. But we as Americans cannot be worrying about the world more than we have been.

[XxINCHAINSxX]

You sure would if you were the uneducated, AIDS-infected child with nothing. Think of that while you eat your last meal.

[Thorolf9]

If we're so counter productive doesn't that only get worse when you start to hate the nation you want to get better?

[sexyguy757]

wow i wonder how long they took to finish the movie

[flipflopsneeded]

doesn't this guy remind mind of the cook in foodnetwork..."Taylor" dude??? I'll put money there related some way....

[AnttiApinaPro]

Truly amazing! I didn't even know that Benjamin was CG!

[Cokemik]

Wow, I didn't know that Brad has more than 2 different face shapes. ^^

Honestly, it's a good movie, but a bit too over-rated in my opinion.

[luudancay]

gbghb

[AtheistCentre]

That bust must have fried Brads brain, I dont know if I would like to see myself at 80.

Good looking successful, got everything, but thats what you'll end up like, dunno could be a wakeup call :)

[Poofyponcho]

this video is longer than benjamin button

[chick7489]

awesome video. really kept me entertained.. normally i get kinda boted after the first few minutes or so.. but this one was just to entertaining to turn away from haha.

[5DexteL]

ponguen sub castellano para entender

[anakalai9692]

the image quality is superb!

[wh0iskarl]

so...the prettier you are the more polygons you have? lol

---the girl on the left is like a x1000 prettier than the girl on the right

[TexTK]

lol

i hate the rolex ad at the end

[rubikscubeg]

amazing the technology is very advanced

[BrotherlyFilms]

simply amazing

[obigalish]

The valley is no longer uncanny.

[gabeEPICfails]

it's amazing what is possible with technology nowadays .

[72ve17]

how can you be born old - first you have be small not tall or else you wont fit on your moms stomach ...

[Anzu101]

he was born small, but the baby had white hair ,wrinkles everywhere. he grew extremely fast into senor citizen.

[mrOOPSIE]

Wow,

This innovative creation is revolutionary in Entertainment.....in Technology. Its also impressive that it was first manufactured in America. Im sure this true breakthrough in special effects is merely the first of its kinnd, the future of American innovation looks bright as intelligent minds yield extraordinary results. Congrats and great movie!

*oopsie

[SydneyLeach]

Spectacular work, Digital Domain!

[LessonSmith]

dude that cast of ben is soooo freaky

[norem4c]

19:05 I cried.

[lakermangmx]

Go Rolex, you can do it ! Put that oscillator there !!

[livni2]

out of 300 million americans Im sure it would take you maybe 1-2 months to cast an older 60,70,80 year old who look believable enough to one another. this looks like a lot of wasted time.

[acekingie]

so going to the moon was a lot of wasted time too? wow, you are such an idiot.

[supajive]

i just ruined the perfect 5 star rating and gave it a 1 star. this could of been done just using face molds of brad pitt. bam, movie done in 1 month and with all the wasted money in technology could of just been sweet profit.

[MDUMANOVIC]

3:29

[earic23]

didnt u hear him say that makeup doesnt hold up and ultimately looks like shit in closeups.

[timg455]

Wow you are insanely ignorant.

[Guynoire11]

Too bad the movie sucks. All the special effects in the world aren't going to make the movie good if the writing is bad. This movie should have been a farce.

[slashmaster14]

how old are ya boy?

seven... but i look alot olda

[SeduireCa]

wow basicly Brad Pitt could die and continue making films for years!

[JoshandJamesM]

if Tupac can do it with music in the 90's and 00's, why not now lol?

[SethsStudio]

the audio is ridiculously good on this

[Desarollo]

so is the picture

[Meatpieandtatters]

Geek orgasm.

[NEpatriotsfanJSH]

how he get a 20 min video he isnt a partner

[Alanis333]

Wow I want a rolex, lol.

[Hupples]

that was really cool.

[SlKE]

with both hands

[hotneo7]

this technology will undoubtably be utilize in making killer cyborgs more human in appearance....getting closer to Judgement Day!