Classics new and old.(Editorial)

After all these years, I am still amazed when it comes to the power of computer graphics. It has the ability to educate, to make our lives more efficient and safe, and much more. Above all, it has the ability to entertain. The medium can turn the pages of a book into a cultural phenomenon, as was the case with The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the popular Harry Potter series.

Indeed, Hollywood has used many a novel--some best-sellers, some obscure titles--as the basis for feature films. This summer, author Dan Brown's phenomena, The Da Vinci Code, finally made its long-awaited film debut. Some critics loved it; others did nut. And some readers expressed their disappointment, as well. Most of the less favorable comments were reserved for the actors and their dry performances. Yet, fans of this book turned out in droves to see the novel's intriguing plot unfold on the big screen.

While making the film, director Ron Howard's goal was to stay true to the book. At times, though, this was extremely difficult to do. One of the more challenging scenes took place inside the ancient Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris. As Rainmaker VFX supervisor Mark Breakspear notes, Saint-Sulpice is both atypical and well known, and as a result, no other church could have been substituted for this scene without audiences raising an eyebrow. But, the Vatican would not allow film crews into the actual church. So, under VFX super visor Angus Bickerton's guidance, Breakspear and his group of digital artists re-created this magnificent structure in 3D splendor by building on a relatively standard method of mapping photographic textures onto 3D geometry (see "On Holy Ground," pg. 62). The procedure worked so well that, according to Breakspear, audiences will think the scenes were filmed rather than created ...