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 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.

This marks Framestore’s fourth Sci-Tech Award win and highlights a long history of delivering outstanding photoreal images by bringing together technology and creative talent.  Framestore was last recognised in 2023 for the innovative FQ system, which helps producers manage the increasingly complex and demanding rendering of photo-realistic VFX.

Read more about the award on Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.