Star Wars The Mandalorian: ILM Explains New StageCraft Enhancements

The Mandalorian‘s StageCraft technology has wowed people and Industrial Light & Magic is explaining how they’re taking the tech to another level. Disney+ and Lucasfilm have released a new featurette to show off the wild soundstage. Pressing forward with their television efforts has been key for the company as things continue on without Grogu. Showrunner Jon Favreau said, “By the second season, ILM developed some software that was specific to this technology and to what the hardware was capable of.” This is truly bespoke effect work now, and the level of customization is off the charts in season two of The Mandalorian. Every set can be rotated and tweaked to the director’s exact vision. Seeing it all moving and evolving is jaw-dropping.

“We now have the capability to grab any tree in a forest… and move them around independently,” visual effects supervisor Richard Bluff explained. If you’ve seen the show, you know where this is going. Helios helped create the perfect atmosphere for one of the standout scenes in “The Jedi.”

ILM described their efforts in the featurette and teased how it could help them even more in the years to come.

“For the second season of Lucasfilm’s hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, Industrial Light & Magic reengineered their StageCraft virtual production platform rolling out version 2.0 in which ILM introduced among other things, Helios, Industrial Light & Magic’s first cinematic render engine designed for real-time visual effects,” ILM described of the featurette. “Engineered from the ground up with film and television production in mind, Helios offers incredible performance, high fidelity real-time ray tracing, the ability to rip through scenes of unparalleled complexity, all while leveraging ILM’s unrivaled color science, and was designed from the start to work seamlessly with ILM StageCraft. The purpose-built, production-hardened platform allows filmmakers to explore new ideas, communicate concepts, and execute shots in a collaborative and flexible production environment.”

How did you feel about Season 2 of The Mandalorian? Let us know in the comments!