Academy Award Sci-Tech Win

Framestore is honoured to be celebrating an Academy Award for the design, architecture and engineering of our proprietary layered shading system, devised and developed by Head of Lighting and Rendering Technology Josh Bainbridge and Head of Software Nathan Walster​​. The accolade recognises the system’s significant contribution to filmmaking.

Among the first systems of its kind, the innovative layered shading system enables our artists to generate realistic surfaces for characters, vehicles, and CG elements. From translucent skin to rain-covered metal, artists can ensure surfaces behave in a physically accurate way, regardless of lighting, environment, and other elements.

The layered shading system was first used during Framestore’s work on Guardians of the Galaxy, and has since helped to realise films such as Paddington, Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, Barbie, Superman, Wicked as well as Academy Award-nominated work on F1 and the BAFTA-nominated How to Train Your Dragon.

Josh Bainbridge, Head of Lighting and Rendering Technology at Framestore, said:

“Photorealistic visual effects are achieved by lots of departments using a range of tools and techniques, all coming together to create something believable. Skin, fur, and surfaces that behave like ones we see in real-life — with wetness, patina, light scattering, etc. — are a big part of that. We developed this system as a way for our artists to generate those looks and iterate on them efficiently. It’s fantastic to see it recognised.”

Nathan Walster, Head of Software at Framestore, said:

“We created this system with a modular, layerable approach that gives the user a lot of power when it comes to creating and customising realistic surfaces. Lighting and lookdev artists have used these capabilities to help create iconic characters and moments that don’t take the audience out of the film. This award is a testament to the flexibility of the system and the strength of our artist’s work.”

Mel Sullivan, Chief Executive at Framestore, said:

“This Sci-Tech award recognises a system that’s been used on over 100 of our film and TV projects over the past 15 years. Its capabilities have helped make everything from realistic Formula 1 cars to Paddington Bear more believable for audiences. Congratulations to Josh and Nathan on this well-deserved achievement.”