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Need Your CG Expertise: Is This Vid Real or Fake?
By Rain Noe - Aug 17, 2012
This video has recently been making the blog rounds, and is purportedly underwater footage, shot with a GoPro in a custom rig, of a school of dolphins trailing a boat. And people seem to love it:
The Blue from Mark Peters on Vimeo.
Um...am I the only one who thinks it's fake? Something about the lighting, the motion of the dolphins, and their edges creates an impression of unreality. The lighting appears a bit too even, and when one dolphin passes over another, there is no shadow.
I know Core77's readership has a lot more direct rendering experience than I, and am curious to hear your impressions. I'm also curious if the odd lighting and edges are just a function of how GoPro cameras capture images underwater.
My apologies to the original shooter if I'm leveling a false accusation. I should point out that I really, really hope it is real.
Rain Noe
Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.
67 Comments
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Anyone who says that they are sure this is cg is an idiot and has no idea what they're talking about. Ridiculous.!Report as spam
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If looking at the footage isn't obvious enough, then surely the lack of distorsion from the fish eye lens of the GoPro proves it as fake? Notice how the footage starts off in fish eye when it's above the water and then switches when it's underwater.!Report as spam
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Fake, for sure. Anyone who says that the CGI require to do this is too complex doesn't know what they are talking about. This would be incredibly easy for a small team of artists to make, especially with GoPro secretly funding the whole thing. Think about it, some dolphin models, some low res textures (no subsurface scattering or specularity visible, so probably not even using shaders) and basically a single bone to rig and animate. The animation in this video doesn't even look like real dolphins, along with everything else that was mentioned like how the bubbles conveniently conceal key parts, how everything stays completely in crystal clear focus throughout, radiosity doesn't look right and neither do the shadows. This is viral marketing and a lot of gullible people have lapped it up. Or maybe it's just GoPro owners with a sense of buyer's remorse after having their product called out.!Report as spam
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Uhhh...Sean ... After my 13 years in the game industry, Avatar is fake because it's supposed to be. CG has yet to come close to reality. But why bother? What are we trying to sell? This scene is easy to replicate without a big budget my friend. I admire your work but you and I know that making widgets with a lot of people is hardly what this production is. Small time stuff easily replicated with off the self software. Countless films and games are ruined by the idea of replacing actors with meshes or point clouds. ( it only works in quick cuts) CG has its uses but to argue the real/unreal thing is nonsense. The best directors and dp's strive for art not reality. Personally, I find this piece amateurish. It's probably been a long time since anyone posted here but what the hell...!Report as spam
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oh come on. like some outdoorsman who uses iMovie templates is really going to take the time to fake this. did anyone calling this fake watch other videos on this dude's channel? oh, maybe the iMovie templates are just there to throw us off, and he's really a master CG animator in Hollywood. Come on, it's just some damn dolphins.!Report as spam
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Pretty sure this is fake. Moving at the speed of a boat and the animals having to accelerate, bubbles would not float in front of the camera for as long as they did. Using a fish tank with a black background and proper lighting would create awesome vertical bubbles. Actual bubbles would have laterally movement along with vertical displacement through the water thanks to the boats motion. Getting up close with my monitor you can really notice the low resolution texture for all dolphins but crisp edges, allowing for easy custom markings. The weight of the camera would not carry itself that smooth without having wings or a stabilizer, none present in image with his child. But it can still be anchored, which i didn't get the impression from the video; brings that idea of post production. Plus the constant lens flare happening on the lower right hand corner. Shouldn't be static, water has ripples. Still very awesome, amazing animation!!Report as spam
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it's fake. at the speed the boat is going, there is no way that some of the dolphins' tails are not moving at all and yet are able to keep up. there is not enough light distortion on the dolphins from the wake of the boat... they look too clean. and the movements look unnatural... and the way that they change directions, their heads are not leading and their tails are not in the opposite direction. and there is no obvious actions of accelerated swimming to warrant the dolphins speeding up to get closer to the camera.!Report as spam
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It's fake, just see this video and compare, in this video all the dolphins receive light from above and in this footage all the dolphins do not have any kind of light. I think, even in poor light conditions or a cloudy day that some light would reach yhe dolphins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD3hvpVYIA&feature=related!Report as spam
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Having done CGI creatures on more than a handful of Hollywood films in the last ten years including Avatar, Harry Potter, and others, there is no reason to believe this is fake. To fake such a thing would require a large professional crew and a huge budget. And the work they would have to do would be best in the field. I entirely doubt they could have resourced this for this piece, so from a purely logistically perspective I say this is definitely REAL.!Report as spam
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Someone spent a lot of time on this, but the physics of movement is identical for each dolphin. They spent the time to add visible details to each one but used the same physics model for each dolphin. Faker than Obama's birth certificate. Well... equally as fake.!Report as spam
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This is absolutely fake. A brilliantly done fake, but a fake nonetheless. All of the dolphins - all of them - have the *exact* same markings on their bodies. The same white on the lower lip, the same white streaks thru the grey on their foreheads and the same *symmetrical* patterns - including a sort of elliptical dark patch 2/3 the way down their backs - across all of them. Well done, but a fake.!Report as spam
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I say fake. The movement is weird (I'm no expert on that), the textures are flat and there is almost no DOF.!Report as spam
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You are discussing about whether is so good CGI, that it looks real, or if it is so good camera-work, that it looks like CGI. Either way, Go Pro wins, because it is mentioned all the time in relation to an awesome video, and no CGI software is mentioned at all. So what's the point in this discussion?!Report as spam
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To me this somehow doesn't look like real footage. It's hard to pinpoint precisely why. But the camera motion looks unnaturally smooth. Everything look far too sharp. The dolphins' skin does not ever seem to wrinkle or distort in any way. And there seems to be no turbulence in the bubbles. Perhaps I'm just not familiar enough with the look of underwater footage, but for now I'm voting hoax.!Report as spam
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Voting fake. The DOF thing is the biggest standout, but the textures of the skin (especially around the flippers) have that cg 'painted-on' look.!Report as spam
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I wouldn't be surprised if this was some form of guerrilla advertising for Go-Pro. I'm up in the air about the fake/real... but It would be a great transition for some CGI when the camera rig goes under and the cloud of bubbles trails it. It's doing it's job with this much controversy behind it, that's for sure!!Report as spam
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Everything is completely real except for the second dolphin on the left, which is CGI.!Report as spam
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It is SO fake! I am really surprised that a lot of CG savvy people on here cannot tell that? the vid is edited badly etc, to enhance the real feel. and this wasn't one guy, its a cg house doing it for publicity. I give it a week to surface as fake. C'mon designers!Report as spam
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It's real. If this had been in an episode of BBC's "Planet Earth", would you have doubted it? Seems like the sort of thing they'd shoot. Sure, the BBC has more advanced gear than a GoPro and a little fishing boat, but they also have better access to CGI. Still, I haven't heard people calling "FAKE!" on Planet Earth in quite this way. What's odd is all that discussion about markings/scars: It's one thing that some here claim all the dolphins are identical when they clearly are not, but what I really don't get is why the differences are being held up as proof that it's all real. If we're seriously considering someone spending untold hours to do this as CGI, I'd think this nefarious person would also make a few slightly different 3D models and texture sets too. So I don't see how different markings proves much either way. Regardless: It's real. I'd stake your life on it (hey, I might be sure it's real, but I know better than to stake my own life on anything)!Report as spam
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This has to be real. a) If you were that good at CG, you'd spend more time making sure the video was actually edited well, and that the titles were a bit more classier than the stock fonts and layout. It's definitely a home-edit job. b) If you were that good at CG, you'd be working at dreamworks instead of spending your weeknights and weekends making a video that doesn't make you any money. C'mon designers.!Report as spam
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I think we should look at the technical data settings of the GoPro being used, instead of guessing. I'm pretty sure that it'll be fairly easy to figure out exactly what setting was being used to film it, as they seem to have fixed focus lenses.!Report as spam
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Have a look at the raw footage on Mark Peters' Vimeo page. Unless he's doctored that as well, I'd say the video's legit. The guy's using a clever GoPro rig that holds the camera pretty steady when towed, and any "outlining" of the dolphins I think is probably a result of the MPEG4 compression on the GoPro - it tends to emphasise contrasting borders.!Report as spam
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it is real. just look at how the dolphin surfacing for air on 2:04 and how the water reacts seamlessly with every move that the dolphin makes. watch at how every time the dolphins fins come near the surface there are bubbles and ripples. It would take months and months of work from like 20 people working everyday to incorporate details of that caliber. And who the hell would do something like that for no money!!!!Report as spam
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it's real. for the people that say dolphins normally have cuts and scars, these do. it's hard to see on the white parts of their body bc of the flat light. just like when youre skiing-flat light=cant tell where anything is. look on the other parts, pause a lot. 2:11 scar on mouth. 2:12 different dolphin, different scar on mouth. 2:19 scars on top of head. 2:29 a chunk missing on side, behind fin. etc.!Report as spam
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Fake. Check our real dolphn footage shot with a go pro on a cloudy day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMCpj6EkyY!Report as spam
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what is it that makes tuna a species that makes it ok to hunt on them for fun (untill they are extinct) and that makes dolphins oh so cute ?!Report as spam
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If it is fake, they went thru the trouble of making the texture map on each of the dolphin different and very detailed. I see what you are seeing, and I think it just part of how the Go Pro records video and may be the affect of some post production color / contrast adjustments to make the image look better.!Report as spam
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Looks very fake to me. The outlines around the edges of the dolphins look so sharp and clear but everything else in the footage is fairly blurry. Also all of the dolphins appear to have the same exact texture on their bodies. even little imperfections on the same spot of each dolphin.!Report as spam
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it is definitely real. " and when one dolphin passes over another, there is no shadow." There IS a shadow for sure, it's just diffuse. There is no sharp, direct light source, here. The shadows are similar to the ones you might see on a cloudy day. Creating this in CG would make something plastic-looking at best. yes, the Gopro cameras are awesome. But it is really a stretch to think this video is fake, in my opinion.!Report as spam
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I'm not sure which shadow you are expecting but I am seeing alot of complex shadow play throughout the clip. Also small details like the poo cloud near where they first appear, that make we think it would be far too elaborate a hoax. It's not like the clip is super special, it is cute but without being a marine biologist I can't see anything particularly unique here.!Report as spam
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no, you're not the only one. The motions are very strange and also the lightining of the skin, wich, well, is the same for all the dolphins..That's a bit weird.. I seriously think that's a fake (and also not the best one you can see in internet) ;)!Report as spam
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If this isn't real, somebody went through a _lot_ of trouble to make this look authentic. Some things in favour of "real": - The chromatic abberation and other lens distortions, especially at the edges of the image. Pause the video when e.g. a fin is in the corner; you'll notice one edge of the contrast being a bit yellow/green and the other blue/purple. This is (afaik) very hard to fake. - The dirt/water on the lens (middle right) - I'm no marine biologist, but the movement seems quite real to me. - There is no simple point for a CGI handover, as, for example, in Floris Kaayk's "Human Birdwings".!Report as spam
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I think the lighting could possibly be explained by the fact that it was overcast that day, so the light, especially underwater would be very even and diffused. I've only seen bottle-nose dolphins underwater before, but assuming they move in a similar way to this species, the movement looks very realistic to me.!Report as spam
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I'm inclined to believe it's real. The scene is shot underwater beneath the wake of a boat on an overcast day. What light you can see is sure to be extremely diffuse. Besides, who would go to the trouble of introducing some subtle red fringing without taking pains to get the lighting right? The only reason the dolphins' movement might seem a bit wonky is because this was shot at a higher frame rate. We're used to seeing 24 fps video, which gives a slightly blurry, flickery texture. Up the frame rate to smooth things out, and things start to look a bit off. (It's incidentally why The Hobbit trailer got such a negative response when it was first shown.)!Report as spam
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Two issues- first, almost all wild dolphins show evidence of nicks and scratches and tears- that's how wildlife biologists identify individual pod members. These dolphins are too perfect. Also, you can watch the muscle groups ripple under the sking of real dolphins as they swim- again, these surfaces are too smooth.!Report as spam
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Yes, this looks fake to me as well, they are too sharp, all have the same lifeless look in their eyes, none of them open their mouth or blink, it's just way too consistent and bland to be real, CG all the way imo. There is something fishy about it.!Report as spam
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This could be fake, but why would someone go to all that trouble? I really don't think it looks like animation. I think its really more likely that dolphins are cool looking and do cool things and sometimes people catch them on camera.!Report as spam
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This isn't even good CG. The dolphins are the giveaway. Their skin has no sheen and the texture map used doesn't look real enough. The light in the water would indicate a sunny day, but we can see it is overcast. The index of refraction (IOR) of the water is not good. They are clearly using the bubbles to transition real to cg footage.!Report as spam
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It looks rendered to me too. Nice try though...!Report as spam
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Pretty sure it's real. Light just looks a bit odd underwater, it might be that the semi-transparent water acts a little like a softbox so the light and shadows are diffuse. Also I think the GoPro HD has a pretty wide lens, which would tend to cause distortion up close, but just enough to look a bit 'off' without being obviously bizarre. He uploaded what he claims is raw footage from the same trip that shows a similar fake-looking effect: http://vimeo.com/47531345!Report as spam
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I don't have much to say except that it passes my turning test - they look damn real to me, down to the odd body movements that no animator would bother with. More technically, though - why would there be a shadow? It's a cloudy day (no heavy shadow) and they're close to the choppy surface of the water (lots of diffuse refraction). If the edges are weird (they don't look all that weird to me, although they do pop) I might guess it was a weird DOF effect or a compression artifact. Anyway, yay dolphins.!Report as spam
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There is one way to find out: replicate the footage! While I agree there are elements (as mentioned in the article) that beg suspicion, it is also difficult to be 100% certain given the variables: underwater, bubbles, light refraction, dolphin-motion, video compression. Hope other commenters have additional insight to provide.!Report as spam
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Not real .. why, because there are no marks on any of the pod memebers. Dolphins always have distinctive markings, they also always have bits missing from tails or scars or pockmarks when in the wild plus all thr reasons you mentioned..!Report as spam
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I'm 99% sure its real. I live in Santa Cruz and it was shot not far from here.!Report as spam
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It appears to be real to me, purely because each dolphin has fairly clearly unique markings. I agree that the lighting does make it appear to be super-imposed at times and I have no explanation as to why that might be other than what has already been suggested. Either way a beautiful piece of footage. I too hope that it is genuine but either way it was a delight to watch.!Report as spam
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My first reaction upon seeing that was that it was fake. But then I thought perhaps I was just being cynical and overly critical. However, the dolphins appeared to move in a slightly artificial manner and the image despite the bubbles seemed remarkably clear. Also, I had seen this video run the rounds on sites which typically feature the usual "guerilla marketing" slop the agencies try to foist off when intentionally floating a meme and I wondered why this one video was getting such an aggressive push. I finally relented and watched it and it didn't particularly blow my mind, so that also confirmed there was something else being "sold" here. Also, now that I recall, the framing and odd motions of the fishermen getting tuna seemed oddly staged. Whatever the case, whether artificial or legit, it's pretty damn close to actual, so impressive in either case. But would not surprise me to learn that this is essentially a portfolio piece for some agency looking to shop their skills to move sugar water or laundry detergent.!Report as spam
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I applaud your skepticism and watched parts of it really closely, and I'd conclude that its real. The relative unreality of the images - lighting, edges - could be from the fact that the majority of people simply don't see camera shots like this - in clear water, rolling forward in a boat with a camera facing rearward. The sky was clearly overcast that day which wouldn't project clear shadows. Most importantly there are small differences between every animal - spots, markings, noses - which you wouldn't expect from a CGI effort. And at 2:30 the pod does a little dive to get around some bubbles - very natural looking response. If this is CGI its as absolutely good as it gets - better than Avatar, Prometheus, and anything else the big $tudios have made.!Report as spam
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I think the problem that you may be overlooking is that Dolphins are not only a playful and curious species, but also magical. Rules of light, nature and physics that apply to us have no authority over these guys.!Report as spam
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Completely fake!Report as spam
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fake. the dolphins were made in 3d. they look too much sharp. bye.!Report as spam
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First you have to look at your lighting. It's an over cast day, so you are going to get a really even light source that is diffused through the clouds then again through the water. I think that's why your lighting looks really even. I don't know what's going on with the edges, but it looks about on par with most of the footage from shark week this week. I'm no CG expert but I bet this is the real deal.!Report as spam
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Highly suspicious. More from a fluid dynamics point of view than anything. When they drop the camera in the water they have a wake that looks like they are making 8-12 knots. Similarly, the only way the motion of those dolphins relative to the camera works is if they keep moving. As someone who has filmed foils in both open water and tunnel tests here are the problems. A - able to get a purely clear video without any cavitation behind the camera as it travels through the water is a serious challenge. When using cameras in the water at velocity bubbles (cavitation) would form behind a flat surface like that. It is a problem that they magically don't have. It's why we prefer to shoot across or into the flow. B - the camera is amazingly stable. To get a towed array (like say that camera) stable you need a torpedo body and or some other well thought design. A gopro would tumble and move around very randomly. Short answer if they really did shoot video like this they have a very profitable career in Fluid Dynamics research available to them. Finally C: a nit pick - the camera goes down next to the prop but when it looks up starting at 2:03 there is no evidence of a wake pattern on the surface. There should be a distinct multiple V wake pattern visible. On the plus side dolphins really do group like that. On the down side they usually prefer to ride the pressure ridge at the bow.!Report as spam
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I'm pretty sure it's fake, based not only on the lighting but that every single dolphin is the same size and has the same colouring...!Report as spam
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This video is real... I even went and read the discussion board on Vimeo to see what people are complaining about and it becomes immediately obvious that they haven't spent any time in the water filming things. Nobody seems to consider how differently light behaves differently underwater(accounting for why some people probably think it looks fake) except the people defending the video as real. The other thing you should check out if you watch the video again are the markings on the dolphins, the all have distinct markings and scars identifying them as individuals. Not to mention the sheer amount of hours required to render something like this would be off the charts, especially with the single uncut shot...!Report as spam
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I think you are leveling a false accusation. There is nothing in the video that gives away a possible CG manipulation. The sky is overcast, and light is further diffused underwater. Hence the lack of shadows.!Report as spam
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If that's not fake, then the GoPro has a pretty bizarre look. The lighting on the mouths is weird, there's absolutely no motion blur, the dolphins appear to have identical markings, on and on.!Report as spam
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CGI for sure.!Report as spam
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Can't imagine how anyone with even half an eye for detail could say what this actually is. No rendering experience needed afaik.!Report as spam
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Real; if that's fake it's an absolutely masterful job. The lighting - it looks overcast out which would explain the evenness. There is certainly a lot of light getting down there in the first place. It's quite nice.!Report as spam
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I agree it looks fake to me too. even just the still shot gave me that impression. seeing the video it looks even faker.!Report as spam
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I would be very surprised if this was a fake. The amount of work it would take would be an epic undertaking. Each dolphin has distinctly different marks, scrapes and scars. And the occasional burst of bubbles that comes from behind the camera and through the pod interacts in such a random and organic manner that I would bet a great deal of money that this was real. The user has even posted the raw gopro footage here: http://vimeo.com/47531345!Report as spam
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I'm gonna go with real. I think if you were creating animations that realistic you would be having to argue the other way around, "trust me it's 3D." Also on an overcast day I don't think there would be shadows underwater.!Report as spam
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Wow... very well done if a rendering. The animation of the dolphin swimming and interaction would be a massively complex animation to look this natural. Here's my take: The water and bubbles look real, or at least composited from real footage. The lack of overlapping shadows is possible in real life - I scuba dive and the first 10-15 feet under clear water on a sunny day can give you that effect - think of the water as a big fiber optic element, it can refract and scatter light in all directions. The biggest red flags I see are: 1 - The edges of the dolphins appear too sharp, especially while both camera and subject are in constant motion. 2 - Apparent lack of depth-of-feild, everything appears to always be in focus, when the dolphin noses are apparently a foot away vs dolphins way off in the background, that amount of focus latitude would require a very tiny f-stop. 3 - I don't see any interaction between the bubbles and dolphins - while the lack of this doesn't prove a fake, that would be hard to fake if present.!Report as spam
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It's remarkably steady footage for a homemade rig dragged alongside a boat. I'd expect a lot more turbulence to show either in camera shake, or if the rig is held by a locked metal pole, then a lot more turbulence in the water from the drag of the pole. I'd like it to be real, and sometimes the camera gods shine on what should otherwise be a rubbish shot...maybe the poster has more footage from the same rig?!Report as spam
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Real. There aren't any CG artists out there who can do something that beautiful. Camera technology is pretty unreal these days. the resolution and clarity can sometimes make things look "unreal". Maybe the lighting looks even because it's underwater? Also, it looks like it's an overcast day so you're going to get very diffuse light and shadows anyway.!Report as spam
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In my opinion, there is almost no way that this is a fake. As the film states, it is uncut which makes things easier to spot if it were a fake. In the case of the shadows that you specifically questioned, you would need to know exactly what direction the light is being cast from. It's most definitely not mid-day so if you were expecting shadows directly below the dolphins, they won't be there. From what I can tell, the boat was holding it's course and the light appeared to be coming from the left of the frame. Watch some of the dolphins that are swimming almost side by side. When they get close to each other you can see the shadows briefly as they pass by. This leads me to assume that the light was coming in at a low angle (quite early or quite late in the day). Also keep in mind that light doesn't pass through the water as clearly as it does through the air. Therefore your shadows don't appear to cast out as far from their source (depending on the size of the object casting the shadow and the brightness of the light) which is why you don't really see the shadows in this video until the dolphins are quite close together.!Report as spam
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It seems to be real - I thought it may have been CG for a while too, but the water would diffuse the light enough to make the shading look CG. The dolphins also each have distinguishing marks if you pause the video, and the bubbles are too realistic to be generated.!Report as spam
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