Creating Pandora

A fascinating view into the cameras and technology used in Avatar. The new technology included a virtual camera that lets you physically shoot a virtual scene, augmented reality that overlays live footage with CGI backgrounds, face-scanning cameras, and a combination 2D/3D camera.

Another innovation was adding imperfections (camera movements, lens flares) to make a “perfect” virtual world more believable.

Really interesting to think about what this technology might do when released to the world in a few years…

Update: i09 has a bunch of great interviews with designers who worked on Avatar: [part 1](http://io9.com/5420143/5-designers-reveal-secrets-of-james-camerons-avatar), [part 2](http://io9.com/5444960/avatars-designers-speak-floating-mountains-amp-suits-and-the-dragon), [part 3](http://io9.com/5460957/the-complete-history-of-pandora-according-to-avatars-designers)