Stephen Regelous is a pioneering

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

software engineer Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ''p ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He is best known as the creator of the '' Massive'' simulation system that generated the battle scenes of the

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

movie trilogy ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

''. In 2004, Regelous received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Scientific and Engineering Achievement.http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/articles/62/0C02BB62.aspx He is the founder of the company Massive Software. Prior to working on ''Lord of the Rings'', Regelous had worked as a Technical Director on Jackson's earlier movie, ''

The Frighteners ''The Frighteners'' is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, R. Lee Ermey ...

''. In 1996, Jackson asked Regelous to work on ''

The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the fiction ...

'', the first movie in the LOTR trilogy.
Massive Attack, Popular Science Magazine, Vol.261. No. 6, Dec 2002, p. 38.Retrieved 8 November 2009 Regelous was asked by Jackson to come up with a program that could create the huge battle scenes in the trilogy. Regelous wrote the software over several years and it was used in all three Lord of the Rings movies.
Digital Actors in Rings Can Think by Courtney Macavinta, Wired Magazine, 13 December 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2009 The 'revolutionary' new software generated individual 'agents' which, at the time, were the closest any program had come to artificial intelligence in digital characters.
The Rough Guide to the Lord of the Rings by Rough Guides and Paul Simpson, p.129 In 2005, Regelous opened an office in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

.
''Series about cartoons'', The Nation, 16 November 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2009

References

External links

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Wired News - Digital Actors in ''Rings'' Can ThinkMassive Software
Special effects people New Zealand animators Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Primetime Emmy Engineering Award winners {{NewZealand-film-bio-stub