Friday, August 8, 2014

Unconventional ways Supercomputers are Used: Part 2

The Lord of the Rings
"Considering this movie’s high-flying, detailed special effects, I’m not surprised the director, Peter Jackson, turned to supercomputing to help create these lifelike experiences. To make the weather, buildings and vegetation accurate enough to turn J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth into real-world sets and environments, Jackson and his team enlisted supercomputing resources from the New Zealand Supercomputing Centre. Jackson also created a special effects studio, Weta Digital, where all the magic would happen — with, of course, the help of a supercomputer.
Dr. Dan Lunt, an expert on past climate change at the University of Bristol (and also a fan of the trilogy) ran his own simulations on a supercomputer to model the famously detailed map of Middle Earth. Tolkien wrote entire mythologies detailing the creation and evolution of the land, with staggering detail. By creating a climate prediction model, Lunt was able to accurately create 70 years of climate change in the different parts of Middle Earth. He found that Mount Doom (where the evil ring of power must be destroyed) is like Los Angeles — hot and dry — while the Shire is similar to Leicestershire in the U.K." 

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