Visual effects studio Rhythm and Hues (R&H) completed a majority of the VFX shots featured in the 3D adventure drama film Life of Pi. The studio hired Taiwanese 3D scanning service bureau LeaderTek, using Geomagic Design X 3D scanning software, to take advantage of the power of 3D data capture to make many of the movie’s amazing special effects.

 
Directed by Academy Award-winner Ang Lee, Life of Pi drew upon a large team of artists spanning R&H’s offices in Los Angeles, India, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver and Taiwan. The studio was responsible for several hundred visual effects shots that would be presented in stereo 3D. Some of the effects included the Bengal tiger, digitally recreated water and skies, Meerkat Island, lifeboat, floating raft and additional creatures.

LeaderTek used a FARO Focus 3D laser scanner to digitally capture the lifeboat and floating raft. They chose Geomagic Design X reverse engineering software to merge and optimize the massive point cloud scan data into a qualified mesh STL file.

“Geomagic Design X is the best 3D scanning software to handle huge amounts of raw data from the FARO Focus 3D scanner that we used to scan the boat for Life of Pi,” sai Edward Yao, LeaderTek Sales Engineer. ”We were very happy with the results of the scan data processing from the merged STL file that we delivered to Rhythm & Hues, the company in charge of CG for the film.”

Ang Lee, R&H and LeaderTek were all happy with the speed, efficiency and quality of the STL results delivered by Design X. The entire experience helped bring the story of Life of Pi to reality for millions of avid moviegoers around the world.