Professional Animation Project Review

This article reviews the amazing CGI that the animators of The Hobbit series; it focuses on The Battle of the Five Armies. The series features CGI techniques that allow light bouncing off of one object to effect the color of another object. The animators developed software that would track the invisible rays of light as they bounce and move off of computer models. The story is about a young hobbit who must journey with dwarfs to defeat a dragon and take back their home. They are followed by orcs and other darkness that tests them, including a powerful ring. Something I can apply from this project is the lighting techniques. Good lighting techniques make everything look more realistic. One technique used that I've already learned is smoke and debris techniques. This is very good work and I think it is a big part of what made the movie successful.
http://www.popsci.com/special-effects-2014-hobbit-covers-new-ground