hey guys i don't post much these days but having read this thread and seen some of the questions i thought it could be cool for you guys to get a bit of insider info. I was a lead lighter on the show for 13 months.
I know Weta uses/used Maya for at least some of their work. It would be interesting to know what the rest of the pipeline looks like.
if you give me some more specifics of what you are interested I will fill you in. I would say it's 95% Maya work. Houdini is used sometimes I believe, but rarely.
I still think it looks a lot like a video game. I also still don't understand why it was all done in 3d. It seems to me that they could have done the main characters (the blue guys) with prosthetics.
prosthetics suck. 
the Navi are 10 feet tall and on a crazy jungle planet. By doing it all CG it's a lot easier to integrate and do exactly what the director wants. Also with prosthetics once you buy off on it you're stuck with it. Changes are possible with CG even up to the last few weeks of the production. (actually just saw that Jay pretty much said exactly this a bit further down). I always cringe when I see prosthetics in a movie. As far as I am concerned they always look bad, especially when they start moving. A 6 foot tall man doesn't run in the same way a 10 foot tall man does. if you stick a 6 foot tall man inside a 10 foot tall prosthetic it will look silly. for an example see Doom the movie. Watch the Baron as he runs, the feet flop about.... enough said.
Weta most times only hires from within new zeland, they do hire outside if your really really good.
Not strictly true WETA like any country by law has to hire Kiwi workers if they have the skill sets for the job. However being a small country there is a skills shortage for this kind of work so they have an easy time hiring folks from other countries. The only requirement (apart from talent) is at least 3 years industry experience.
Alan
Technical Director - Framestore
Currently working on: Your Highness
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