“Thief in the Shadows” VR Experience nominated for VES award

“Thief in the Shadows” VR Experience nominated for VES award

Weta Digital’s “Thief in the Shadows”, a real time VR experience that is based on the Hobbit Movie, has been nominated for a Visual Effects Society (VES) award. 

This VR experience was built using the Unreal Engine 4 and places the VR user in the body of a Hobbit thief, who is trapped inside the treasure chamber of Smaug, the enormous dragon from the Hobbit book and films. This VR experience offers outstanding visual effects in real time, making it a truly unique sight to behold.    

Below is a quote from Alasdair Coull, the head of R&D at Weta Digital, regarding the technical challenges when making this VR masterpiece.  

   “We needed Smaug to deliver the same level of wonder and menace as he does in the films,”

 “Adjusting our film pipeline to bring Smaug to life in Unreal Engine 4 and the Oculus Rift was a huge technical challenge but one that builds on our experience with real-time technology. The reaction has been overwhelming, and we’re proud to be nominated among some of the best examples of real-time visual effects.”

Right now the “Thief in the Shadows” VR experience has been nominated for the “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project” and is nominated alongside Halo 5: Guardians, Destiny: The Taken King, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and The Order: 1886, which are all titles which are certainly lesser visual experiences graphically speaking.

You can join the discussion on “Thief in the Shadows” being nominated for a VES award on the OC3D Forums.   

Weta Digital’s “Thief in the Shadows” has been nominated for a VES award. https://t.co/BjEcMZvOrs pic.twitter.com/sWyZ0hrooM

— OC3D (@OC3D) January 25, 2016