Pixomondo relies on LightWave to Bring Dinosaurs to Life in 'Terra Nova'

The two-hour premiere of Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated "Terra Nova" television series, which aired Monday September 26, 2011 on Fox Television, brings visually astounding science-fiction to prime time television once again—and NewTek LightWave software played a key role in the delivery.

In "Terra Nova," which takes place in the year 2149, scientists discover a rift in time and space that allows humans to time travel some 85 million years into the past, in an attempt to save humanity. But bringing 85 million years of history to life, in a believable world for broadcast, requires powerful vision, artistry, and computer graphics software. To make the vision a reality, the team at Burbank-based Pixomondo, which produced all the visual effects for the premiere episode of "Terra Nova," turned to LightWave to create a large number of visual effects shots and renders for the first episode.

"We found LightWave 10.1 invaluable for our custom pipeline that was developed for the ‘Terra Nova’ two-hour premiere," explains Pixomondo Supervisor, Eric Hance. "We used LightWave in nearly 200 shots, including all of the dinosaur creature renders, many of the environments, and several of the futuristic earth cityscapes. NewTek was responsive to our needs, and we look forward to working closely with them as we move into the series."

As "Terra Nova" continues to move through the space/time continuum in our living rooms, Pixomondo will continue to rely on LightWave in its pipeline to deliver impressive visual effects.