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Avatar: The Way of Hair, Cloth, and Coupled Simulation
Xiao Zhai, Eston Schweickart, Nikolay Ilinov, Joel Wretborn, Alexey Stomakhin, John Homer, Jefri Haryono, Julian Butler
Production talk on cloth, hair, and coupled simulation for Avatar 2, covering solver integration and artist workflow at Weta FX.
Abstract
This talk presents CreLoki, an extension to the multi-physics framework Loki. It enables unified creatures physics, such as hair and cloth in wet, dry, and underwater contexts with predefined coupling modes. By maintaining a solver setup configuration that is general enough for every foreseeable use case, CreLoki avoids the most tedious and error-prone steps of scene configuration. CreLoki also offers users a familiar interface via an Autodesk Maya plugin without compromising quality, customizability, or extendability. We found that this tool encourages a broader adoption of unified physics among creature artists.
How to read this
- Category
- Production talk: coupled creature simulation pipeline
- Contributions
- Demonstrates CreLoki, an extension to the Loki multi-physics framework for unified creature physics across wet, dry, and underwater contexts
- Shows predefined coupling modes and a general solver setup that avoids tedious, error-prone scene configuration
- Presents a familiar Autodesk Maya plugin interface intended to broaden adoption of unified physics among creature artists
- Context
- Extends Weta's Loki unified multiphysics framework for production use on Avatar: The Way of Water, focusing on coupled hair and cloth simulation.Builds on: Loki: A Unified Multiphysics Simulation Framework for Production
- Correctness
- Studio practice, not peer-reviewed; results are production-proven on the film, and benefits like reduced setup effort and broader artist adoption are reported from internal use rather than controlled evaluation.
- Clarity
- Accessible talk-level material; a single pass conveys the workflow and motivation.
- How to read it
- Read once for the coupling modes and the artist-workflow integration via the Maya plugin; revisit only for the solver configuration ideas if you build production simulation tooling.
Built upon by
Nothing yet.
Related work
- Scriptable Character FX Solution 2019 / DigiPro
- Choreography of Hair and Cloth in Disney's Moana 2 2025 / SIGGRAPH
- Anisotropic Elastoplasticity for Cloth, Knit and Hair Frictional Contact 2017 / TOG
- Simulating Wind Effects on Cloth and Hair in Disney's Frozen 2014 / SIGGRAPH
Keywords
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