Subdivision surfaces in feature films

The creation of believable and endearing digital characters in feature films presents a number of technical challenges, including the modeling, animation and rendering of complex shapes such as heads, hands, and clothing. Traditionally, these shapes have been modeled with NURBS surfaces despite the severe topological restrictions that NURBS impose. In order to move beyond these restrictions, we have introduced subdivision surfaces into our production environment. Subdivision surfaces are not new, but their use in high-end CG production has, until recently, been limited. Here we survey a series of developments that were required in order for subdivision surfaces to meet the demands of high-end production.