Roadside Romeo: Autodesk Software Shapes India's First Mainstream 3D Animated Film

Roadside Romeo: Autodesk Software Shapes India's First Mainstream 3D Animated Film

Autodesk Products Employed across Digital Film Pipeline for Bollywood and Hollywood's First Co-Production

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) today announced that Indian animation and visual effects powerhouse Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of Tata Elxsi Ltd., used Autodesk Maya software as the lead 3D modeling, animation and visual effects tool on Roadside Romeo. VCL also relied on the Autodesk Flame visual effects system to create the film, while Prime Focus used the Autodesk Lustre system for the final color grade. A joint production of Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Pictures, Roadside Romeo is India's first 3D animated mainstream feature film, as well as the first Hollywood-Bollywood co-production.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081124/SF48180 )

Roadside Romeo tells the tale of a pampered puppy whose owners move, leaving him behind to fend for himself on the streets of Mumbai. In the classic Bollywood tradition, the 95-minute film comprises 1,400 shots, approximately 40 scenes, and five song-and-dance numbers. The film features the voice talents of top Indian actors, including Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javeed Jaaferi.

"Our goal with Roadside Romeo was to create a quality production that would set the standard for future 3D animated Bollywood movies," said Pankaj Khandpur, creative director at Visual Computing Labs. "The high quality we achieved with this film has much to do with the Maya software's robustness, flexibility and interoperability. Maya is the backbone of our animation pipeline and has been an integral part of our workflow since we officially opened our doors in 2002. An additional benefit is the large talent pool of Maya artists."

Involved from the project's inception, VCL was instrumental in developing the look and feel of the characters. "Our team handled all the pre-production, character and background design and storyboards," continued Khandpur. "The Maya software's advanced character rigging is one of our favorite features. We chose to design our characters in a 'squash and stretch' style; this meant a character might walk with a bounce and have more elasticity in the way its body reacts to movement. Maya lent itself beautifully to this animation style. Flame is also key to our digital film pipeline. Maya meshes seamlessly with the Flame system."

During the 21-month production schedule, VCL had approximately 120 artists working on the film at all times. Final conform was done on Autodesk Flame at VCL, and the final color grade was performed by the Prime Focus Group, using Autodesk Lustre.

"India has one of the most exciting and prolific film industries in the world," said Stig Gruman, Digital Entertainment Group vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. "We're thrilled that Autodesk tools were used across the digital film pipeline for Roadside Romeo. VCL has been a longtime Autodesk customer, and the caliber of its talent is evident in the incredible quality of this film."

Roadside Romeo was written and directed by Jugal Hansraj and released worldwide on October 24, 2008.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Flame, Lustre and Maya are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

(C) 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contacts: Rama Dunayevich, 415.547.2472 / Roohi Saeed, 514.954.7296 / Karen Raz, 310.450.1482

Email: rama.dunayevich@autodesk.com / roohi.saeed@autodesk.com / karen@razpr.com

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First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: roohi.saeed@autodesk.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081124/SF48180
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/

Source: Autodesk, Inc.

CONTACT: Rama Dunayevich, +1-415-547-2472, rama.dunayevich@autodesk.com,
or Roohi Saeed, +1-514-954-7296, roohi.saeed@autodesk.com, both of Autodesk,
Inc.; or Karen Raz, +1-310-450-1485, karen@razpr.com

Web Site: http://www.autodesk.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment