Thor Ragnarok WITHOUT VFX! | CGI Breakdown | Before & After |

When people watch a movie, they want to know who's playing the leading role, which actor is the hero and who's the "bad guy". Most people fail to see who has the biggest role in the movie, and that is VFX. The fact that their importance goes so unnoticed is a measure of how well they do their job! Like the music in this video?

Marvel superhero films are big-budget, Hyped-up, action-packed, and over the top. Everyone wants to see them and everyone wants to take part in them, and in Thor Ragnarok, virtually everyone did. Framestore, ILM, DNEG, Digital Domain, Image Engine, Rising Sun, Secret Lab, Rodeo FX, Method Studios, Luma Pictures, Craftyapes, Exceptional Minds, Fin Design and Effects, Iloura, Perception, Technicolor, Trixter, and Whiskeytree Studios.

Framestore
Framestore provided 459 shots including CG characters, Digidoubles, and a fully CG Asgard environment. Upgrading assets DNEG built for Thor: The Dark World, Framestore built over 9000 buildings which were mostly laid out by hand using their proprietory layout tool "Shambles", and their instancing tool "FrInstancer". Working from concept artwork and references of the Norwegian Lofoten Islands, the team sculpted mountains and created 2D Digital matte paintings.

Hulk
Working closely with ILM, Framestore attempted to create The best Hulk they possibly could, Using proprietary tools like their "Flex and Flesh" muscle and skin sliding tool, complex rigging, and keyframe animation they brought hulk to life, however, Hulk's increased dialogue in the film meant that his facial features needed much more detail. ILM built an entirely new library of Mark Ruffalo's facial expressions that they captured using Medusa and provided Framestore with 90 different facial expressions. Framestore then worked alongside Marvel's "Hulk specialist and concept artist" Ryan Meinerding to build the facial rig from scratch.

Fenris
To create Fenris, Framestore studied wolves and dog motion, reference material, and concept artwork. They were originally going to make her transform from dog to giant wolf before settling on just a giant black wolf. Although the muscle rig and flesh deformation were challenging, her groom was the most complex part.

Surtur
The brief for Surtur included references to the sun, fire, plasma, and lava, he had to be a "Planet-sized Titan of fire" but shouldn't appear to move slowly, so work on Surtur was basically all about balance. The animation team had to balance Threat, speed, and scale and the shading team had to balance Transparency and refractivity with surface complexity whilst still having a sense of scale and mass.

Digital Doubles
Framestore also created Digidoubles for Thor and Hela. For Hela, Cate Blanchett wore a mo-cap suit which was replaced with a digital version of her costume and a CG headdress inspired by the original comics. For Thor, the team modeled, groomed, and shaded a hi-res version of Chris Hemsworth that could be used for both close-ups and far away shots, and then they body-tracked Chris so they could keep his original face and facial expressions.

Industrial Light and Magic
ILM produced over 400 shots which were concentrated in three main scenes, the Thor VS Hulk battle, Hulk in the Warrior suite, and the sequence when Thor escapes to the Quinjet.
For the battle between Thor and Hulk, ILM created a massive 1300ft wide and 460ft high Arena with a seating capacity for 160,000 crowd agents.
In some shots up to 100,000 crowd agents would be visible so in order to avoid possible rendering issues, ILM sliced the Arena into 24 "Pizza-slice" pieces thus making it more manageable.

Luma Pictures
Luma worked on around 200 shots for 8 different sequences, where Korg meets Thor, Loki visits Thor, Pre-fight Staging, Parade of victors, Revolution Get Gun, Boys Go To Garage, Hulk vs Thor, and the film's end tag.
Their main work was the creation and animation of the CG characters Biff, Miek, and Korg. Biff was created entirely by Luma, while Meik and Korg were collabs with Framestore. Although Luma used their own Mo-cap room to capture reference movement for Biff and Meik, Korgs performance was actually done by the director Taika Waititi in a mo-cap suit.

Rising Sun Pictures
Rising sun produced over 170 shots including the creation of the Bifrost Bridge, the palace battle, and the "Vals Flashback" scene. For this scene, Rising Sun created photo-real horses, Valkyrie and skeleton soldiers as well as other CG characters, and, working closely with Satellite Lab and their "Dynamic light" rig created possibly the most visually stunning shot in any Marvel film.

[candyar]

If you think about it, it's harder for the actors to hold their laugh and stay focused while acting some serious moments. Good job for the professional casts!
And VFX team, hats off 👑

[joyboy]

One eyed Thor with the glowing eye was badass as ever! I think he looked more badass with one eye.

[LeoJay]

Thor Ragnarok is one of my favorite MCU movies! it's insane how many VFX studios work on it.

[angeloyanke]

I'm glad that Valkyrie scene was included because I agree, it's one of the most dramatic and visually cinematic shots out of all the MCU films so far imo. Very lowkey scene though

[patesbaroni]

Thor Ragnarok is the most rewatchable movie of MCU

[arin]

That Valkarie Fighting Flashback scene was actually My Favourite amongst all the Marvel movies scenes...Visually it was Stunning and Brilliant work of art

[thorbie_]

VX Artists and Stuntmen, the most underrated yet crucial jobs in this industry nowadays

[sammistarr]

Respect to all of them who works tremendous hours to every vfx details.. i appreciate them for making my comic heroes turn to life..👏👏👏

[murrethmedia]

There are a lot of people out there who hate on CGI but really I love it as long as it's good quality, which for the most part the MCU is.

[declanhugors]

This would have been a cool concept in Wandavision. During the final battle, they could have been wearing CGI suits but then would eventually shift back into their costumes when the hex closed again. And then when the hex reopens, Wanda's suit glitches but then stays intact, showing how her powers can now be used to the extent we've seen in the real world.

[PantsuMann]

Probably the best CGI movie to date. Good job dear artists. You should all be very proud.

[obamacka]

The arrive of the Valkyrie is one of my favorite shots ever. It looks so real. And this light movement makes ist even more epic.

[mikeflannery]

Amazing film, fantastic VFXs, and very well explained by you! 👍

[exclusiveedits]

Thats why marvel studios is my favorite

[TheRedSatan]

That 1000 flashes with phantom camera really amazed me

[CuriosityRocks]

Thank you to all the amazingly talented skilled people who created one of my favourite movies 😁🥰🥰

[philosophyfrog]

Nice to see the hard working artists that makes these movies possible getting some of the spotlight for a change.

[deadbygaylight]

rising sun did the best effects in this movie. absolutely beautiful

[Zangle]

Perhaps one of my favorite movies of all time. They did a great job.

[TRAUMATIZEDpc]

this is the kind of stuff I love to learn about! really makes me want to watch it all again!