Creating Avatar: The Way of Water with Wētā FX

Looking forward to more from Pandora in 2025? In the meantime, dive into the Oscar-winning visual effects behind Avatar: The Way of Water with Wētā FX. We recently caught up with Sam Cole, Sequence VFX Supervisor at the New Zealand-based studio to find out how the team brought director James Cameron’s vision to life using Katana, Mari, and Nuke.

Find out how the team — which included a massive 101 Lighting TDs — grappled with 18.5 petabytes of data to light 3,200 shots, and how they tackled the enormous challenge of merging plate-based photographic water with CGI water.

“Working on Avatar: The Way of Water for such a long period of time — it's not just a film. It's like a chapter in our lives,” says Sam.

Thinking of updating your pipeline? Find out what’s new in Katana 7.0, Mari 7.0, and Nuke 15.0.

Foundry Education Showreel | 2023

Be inspired by our first-ever education showreel! We’re showcasing the fantastic work created by students and educators across the globe using Foundry software.

To find out more about our initiatives and how to get involved, head to our education site.

Take me to education

Foundry Showreel | 2022

New technologies bring new ways of telling stories. We made it our goal to help you bring inspiring stories to our screens and tell them exactly in the way you imagined. From Thor and Spider-Man to Rocketman and Encanto, Foundry’s industry-leading tools supported you in shaping your dreams in the real world. Take a look at our 2022 showreel now!

Foundry. We make the impossible, possible.

Get the latest industry news and content with our Insights Newsletter

Subscribe