A leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, MAXON Computer, announced that to address a myriad of complex texture painting challenges associated with the creation of central scenes and characters in the recently released Universal Pictures feature film, The Incredible Hulk (Hulk) —most notably, The Hulk’s distinctive muscle-popping green skin, one of Hollywood’s premier visual effects and animation powerhouses, Rhythm & Hues (R&H), turned to MAXON’s BodyPaint 3D.

The movie, based on the Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, tells the story of scientist Bruce Banner, who is desperate to find a cure for the radiation which poisoned him and which lets loose the rage within him that transforms him into The Hulk. To quickly create the complex and dynamic effects necessary to bring the story to life, animators at R&H leveraged MAXON BodyPaint 3D’s speed, agility and intuitive processes. Altogether, Rhythm & Hues worked on 234 shots in Hulk. MAXON BodyPaint 3D has been used by the team of eight texture artists primarily to paint and texture The Hulk and his nemesis, The Abomination, in addition to painting props and portions of buildings and environments.

Comprising a balanced mix of proprietary and off-the-shelf software, R&H features a state-of-the-art production pipeline. According to a lead texture painter at Rhythm & Hues, Sarah Kym, a 3D paint and texture package needs to be smart and adaptable, and BodyPaint 3D more than fit the bill.

When they were faced with creating a wide array of highly complex action shots, including the story’s signature physical metamorphosis of Bruce Banner into The Hulk, MAXON BodyPaint 3D’s interactive, real-time capabilities proved particularly invaluable to the R&H team. For this critical transformation sequence, MIG (Muscle Influence Group) maps were created in BodyPaint 3D, enabling lighters and animators to control the way the muscles rippled under The Hulk’s skin.

Additional key scenes developed with the help of BodyPaint 3D included The Hulk coming under heavy weapons fire and both The Hulk and The Abomination demolishing vehicles. The weapons fire scene required painting different types of “damage” onto The Hulk’s body—including wounds, dirt and scrapes.

For the past 18 months, MAXON BodyPaint 3D has been an integral part of the R&H production pipeline, and Hulk served as an important steppingstone in the artistic team’s familiarization and adoption of the product. The studio is currently using BodyPaint 3D on several forthcoming films, including, They Came from Upstairs, Mummy 3, The Fast and the Furious 4, and Land of the Lost. R&H is presently evaluating MAXON’s leading 3D animation software, CINEMA 4D and Projection Man, a tool that makes it fast and easy to create digital environments.