And the Oscar goes to . . .

Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award). To Luca Fascione, J. P. Lewis and Iain Matthews for the design, engineering, and development of the FACETS facial performance capture and solving system at Weta Digital. FACETS was one of the first reliable systems to demonstrate accurate facial tracking from an actor-mounted camera, combined with rig-based solving, in large-scale productions. This system enables animators to bring the nuance of the original live performances to a new level of fidelity for animated characters.

Scientific and Technical Award (Technical Achievement Award). To Luca Fascione for the initial design and development of the layered materials system at Wētā FX. The Manuka renderer’s efficient and flexible system for layering materials has unlocked workflows that have allowed Wētā FX to scale to ever-larger productions while giving artists both creative freedom and physical accuracy.