DreamWorks Animation - Kung Fu Panda 2
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 8:10PM 
Po Finds the Truth – Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation
This post was written by Sarah Wise for Red Giant's Blog. See original post.
When Kung Fu Panda first hit cinemas in 2008 we fell in love with martial arts misfit Po the Panda and the Furious Five as they fought and defeated the evil Tai Lung. But this year the challenge for the teams at DreamWorks was how to create the second installment and build on the successes of the first film.
In Kung Fu Panda 2, not only have the characters developed, but the film itself has upped its game with more explosions, more chases and more visual excitement – all thanks to the dedicated VFX teams at DreamWorks.
Lead After Effects animator at DreamWorks, Daniel Hashimoto and his close-knit team of AE artists have brought amazing impact to some of the film’s most memorable sequences, using Trapcode Particular and Form.
Po Finds the Truth (2) – Image courtesy of DreamWorks AnimationDaniel told us: “One of the film’s most dramatic sequences – “Po Finds the Truth” – pulled out all the stops. In this sequence, which involves a village on fire near the snowy woods, Form and Particular were used to create snow, embers, smoke clouds, and a highly-stylized flame effect. The customization and versatility of Particular made it a very powerful tool to have at our disposal. Our Visual Development Artists painted the stylized effects which we wanted to bring to life in the 2D sequences, but not just in 2D, but also in stereoscopic 3D**. And since Particular, Form and Horizon all work within a 3D environment, they were ideal for the look we wanted to achieve.
** Check out Episode 59 of Red Giant TV to learn about using Trapcode Software to create Stereoscopic 3D effects.