Wired's LOTR III Tech Breakdown

rjjm writes "Interesting little logistics piece in Wired about the technology WETA used for for The Return of the King." Ya know, now that the Matrix hype vanished into nowhere, I'm glad the LotR hype is gearing up. I think this one will earn it.

technoglogy

[pbrinich]

Hmm...must be one of those LOTR words

Vanished?

[swordboy]

Ya know, now that the Matrix hype vanished into nowhere,

I don't think that it just vanished... it turned into something [boxofficereport.com].

Power at your fingertips

[Max Romantschuk]

Looking at the specs for the rendering cluster... The coolest thing is the fact that power like that will be at anyone's disposal in the forseeable future.

Then all I need is an AI to make up for my lack of skill...

Nitpick

[FrostedWheat]

Temperature of equipment rooms: 76 degrees

Well that's specific ... 76C, 76F or 76K? :)

If it's farenhite, then that's quite cool. If it's celcius then holy crap that's hot.

If it's kelvin then I think we've found the new overclocking kings ...

Put it on my WETA Charge!

[PSaltyDS]

1,600 Servers............. $640,000

10GB network.............. $378,000

35 IT staffers............ $140/hr

420 Visual f/x staffers... $9,800,000.28

Seeing Gollum bite Frodo's finger off with "Photorealism"... Priceless!

Any technology distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced.

Re:technoglogy

[lithandie]

trixie technoglogy, we hates it...

Re:Power at your fingertips

[10Ghz]

The coolest thing is the fact that power like that will be at anyone's disposal in the forseeable future.

The saddest thing is that we will need that much power just to run Windows2009 and Doom5

Unless - LOTR - the Slashdot Edition

[Channard]

You could assume that they render multiple frames at a time. With all the frames they have to render, at 12 frames a day that requires a few decades to render.

That sounds like a call for distributed computing and an LOTR rendering client on each PC. One million slashdot readers willing, we *will* render the Scouring of the Shire...

Re:Will it really be good?

[Munk]

Agreed. The Two Towers was probably the most disappointing film I've seen in the last 10 years,

So...I take it you didn't see Matrix Revolutions ;)

The Mystery of Tom Bombadil Solved!

[Anonymous Coward]

Tom Bombadil and the Witch-king of Angmar are the same person.

1. We never hear of Tom at all during the whole of the First Age. The Nine Rings aren't forged until the Second Age. QED.

2. You never see the two of them together.

3. In the first part of Fellowship of the Ring, the Nazgul are sent to the Shire to look for the wandering Baggins. Interestingly, Tom says to Frodo at the dinner-table: "...I was waiting for you. We heard news of you, and learned that you were wandering... But Tom had an errand there, that he dared not hinder" (Fellowship p.137 hardback, note the fear Tom has of his master, Sauron!).

4. In Tom's questioning of the Hobbits, JRRT notes that "there was a glint in his eyes when he heard of the Riders." (Fellowship p. 144) I think he was concerned that his double-life might have been noticed. Interestingly, Tom immediately changes the subject of conversation! Furthermore, the One Ring had no effect on Tom - which seems consistent with Tolkien's observations about how the Nazgul would have handled the same priceless object (Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, #246): "They were... in no way deceived as to the real lordship of the Ring."

5. It's also interesting to note that Tom could see Frodo clearly while Frodo was wearing the Ring (Fellowship p. 144 hardback) - just as the Witch-king could see Frodo clearly while he was wearing the Ring at Weathertop! (Fellowship p. 208 hardback)

6. Perhaps most damning, however, is the incident with the Barrow-wights (Fellowship pp. 151-155), where Tom - with nothing more than a few simple words (p. 154) - commands the Barrow-wight to leave. And it does, without argument. Why would the Wight be so completely under Tom's control? Because in his alternate guise as the Witch-king of Angmar, Tom ordered the Wight to inhabit the barrow in the first place! Turning to Return of the King, Appendix A, p. 321, "evil spirits out of Angmar... entered into the deserted mounds and dwelt there." Obviously the Witch-king was reponsible for sending the wights there; just as obviously, the Witch-king (disguised as Tom) would be capable of ordering them to leave! (This is related to another passage, which has since been brought to my attention. On Fellowship page 158 hardback, Tom is guiding the Hobbits back towards the Road when he gazes towards the borders of Cardolan. "Tom said that it had once been the boundary of a kingdom, but a very long time ago. He seemed to remember something sad about it, and would not say much." Since Tom, as the Witch-king, was the one who destroyed the kingdom of Cardolan, it's little wonder that he wouldn't say much about his involvement. Perhaps his remembering "something sad" reveals some remorse at being the instrument of Cardolan's destruction...?)

...Yep: I think we have an airtight case here. :)

...It's worth noting that, after the Witch-king was dead, Gandalf said he was "going to have a long talk with Bombadil" (Return of the King, p. 275). Curiously, he never tells anyone about the meeting later... and he's right there at the Grey Havens at the end of the book, undelayed it seems by long conversation. I think we can therefore theorize that Gandalf made it to the Old Forest, but that Tom (once the so-called "Witch-king" had died) was nowhere to be found!

...Of course, all this brings up the curiosity of motive. What would make the Witch-King of Angmar sport such a double identity? I suppose that the Witch-king, once of proud Numenorean ancestry, felt trapped by the guise of evil which Sauron had tricked him into, and in the fullness of time forged this alternate identity for himself so that he could occasionally feel happy, helpful, noble, and more at one with himself and his lineage. The situation is perhaps analagous to a crossdresser who, feeling trapped in a man's body, would occasionally assume the identity of a woman. It therefore makes sense that the Witch-king's other identity would be so peculiarly enigmatic, and perhaps sheds light on JRRT's observation

Re:Will it really be good?

[bheer]

The Two Towers was probably the most disappointing film I've seen in the last 10 years

Try seeing Terminator 3 and Gigli in quick succession... you'll feel _much_ better about The Two Towers.

Huh, you call that a spoiler?

[WIAKywbfatw]

There's a series of books that were out years ago that were packed full of spoilers for all three films. They even had most of the stuff that's in the special edition DVDs and some of the stuff that didn't even get filmed. Now that's a spoiler.

That Tolkien dude sure had some sweet movie biz contacts. Harry Knowles eat your heart out.

Re:Put it on my WETA Charge!

[Zak3056]

1,600 Servers............. $640,000

10GB network.............. $378,000

35 IT staffers............ $140/hr

40 Visual f/x staffers... $9,800,000.28

Wow, looks like they outsourced the IT to India. :)

To whomever is writing these headlines

[Asprin]

When drafting your headlines, please consider that some of the older residents around here have high blood pressure and a low tolerance for extreme panic.

When I read the headline "Wired's LOTR III Tech Breakdown", my first thought was "Aw, crap! ROTK has been delayed because their servers crashed! ARRRRRRRRGH!"

Now I have to go to the restroom to clean up.

A better, LESS INFLAMMATORY headline would have been something like "Wired Breaks Down the Tech Behind ROTK".

My underwears (and my cardiologist) thank you for your consideration.

Saaarumaaan!

[Anonymous Coward]

Nazgul: Describe Sauron for me.
Saruman: Well, he's dark...
Nazgul: And?
Saruman: ...and he's tall...
Nazgul: Does he look like a bitch?
Saruman: What?
*thud* *scream*
Nazgul: DOES HE LOOK LIKE A BITCH!?
Saruman: No!
Nazgul: Then why'd ya try to fuck him like a bitch?

Wired & Slashdot

[cthlptlk]

Does anyone else smell a Wired shill on slashdot? This must be the fourth or fifth "I saw a really neat story in Wired" article in the last two weeks...

Re:Put it on my WETA Charge!

[Epistax]

Oh no the movie is ruined for me for I now know the fate of one of Frodo's digits.

I knew everyone that was going to die before the third Matrix movie and that didn't make it any worse than it already was. I don't think the knowldege of the demise of 1/793rd of Frodo will ruin this movie either.

Re: earning it's hype

[Anonymous Coward]

>>But as for dwarf-tossing, I agree. Toss it. =)

But don't tell the elf =)

Re:A plea to the moderators

[totallygeek]

Tolkein was not a holy saint. His work is not the Bible.

Thank goodness his work isn't the bible. Can you imagine every sentence or two starting with a little number? All the scenes in the beginning half would need to be more violent and include incest, rape, and mass murder. The second half would have no substance of a story, it would simply be some letters written to all the races of middle earth informing them that they all suck and everyone should love. The book would then end with a written-down dream that everyone will claim to understand completely, but everyone's interpretation will be different. To top it off, some of the elf chapters will be left out of some editions, with some of the public complaining they were added, others that they were always in. Some other chapters would be left out completely by the original publishers; information about Frodo's youth and more information about his alleged love life.

Re:technoglogy

[MORTAR_COMBAT!]

You know you've married the right girl when you're playing chess, and you make a good move, and she says: "Trick-sy!" in her best Theodore Gottlieb voice.

Re: earning it's hype

[Gilmoure]

Denethor used the Palantir in Minus Tirith and, while not captured by Sauron (like Saruman), he was driven to despair and eventually lost all the toys from his happy meal, ending with his throwing himself backwards onto a pile of salad forks.

Speaking of "Old" on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, welcome our new acceptable postings overlord.

Worn out jokes are the mainstay of this community. Haven't you figured that out, yet?

Re:Power at your fingertips

[nautical9]

The saddest thing is that we will need that much power just to run Windows2009 and Doom5

I think you meant: Windows 2009 Personal-and-Home-for-Middle-class-Income-Families Edition..... and Doom3.

Re: earning it's hype

[schussat]

Lord of the Rings is not like other books. The greatness of the book cannot be distilled into a simple plot of ring is found, ring journeys, ring is destroyed. The book is an epic tale with

Aw crap. Thanks for the spoiler.

-schussat