The Virtual World Top: An overhead lighting rig illuminates the sub. Bottom: A remote head angles in on the action. instead of requiring triangulation from multiple witness cameras. Visual-effects providers Weta FX leveraged cutting-edge machine learning and neural networks to derive a machine-learning tracking and compositing solution for Avatar: The Way of Water. (See AC Jan. '23 for more details on Weta's solution.) Tracking in Real Time Another recent project that leveraged AI and machine-learning techniques is the Italian World War II feature Comandante. David Stump, ASC oversaw this 62 / FEBRUARY 2023 workflow in collaboration with visual-effects designer Kevin Tod Haug on sequences for the film that are set on the deck of a submarine in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Stump sought a solution that would reliably deliver high-quality composites without requiring a greenscreen or an LED volume in the background. And because the veteran cinematographer/visual-effects supervisor loves an extra challenge, he also helped facilitate shooting the project with Cooke full-frame anamorphic lenses - which, due to their deliberately designed