ジェームズ・キャメロンのバーチャル映画avatar

multiverseの顧問でもあるジェームズ・キャメロン監督による2009年夏公開予定のバーチャル映画avatar。普通は黒い背景で俳優の動きや顔の表情をキャプチャーした後で合成するところをこの映画はキャメロン監督とコンピュータ専門家によってデザインされたカメラで、特殊なキャプチャー技術を使い俳優が演技をすると同時にリアルタイムでデジタルで作り出した背景と合成している。また特殊効果はwetaが担当している。

Cameron is using the latest "performance-capture" technology to record the movements of actors' bodies, as well as their facial expressions. But such recordings are usually made against a blank background that's later filled with a digitally produced environment. In the case of Avatar, Cameron's next film, "The most important innovation thus far has been a camera, designed by Mr. Cameron and his computer experts, that allows the director to observe the performances of the actors-as-aliens, in the film's virtual environment, as it happens," the Times writes. [...]
The key phrase here is "as it happens." Cameron and his team have essentially created a virtual world that they view live as the performances are recorded. What they see on their screen is the motion-capture already composited into the digital environment, rather than having to wait until later to see the combination of the two streams of content.

http://www.3pointd.com/20070109/james-camerons-virtual-world-film-greenlit/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/movies/09came.html