According to the original plan, Duke was supposed to go on vacation to Australia with Scarlett, but the day before departure, Marvel Studios sent news that Captain America needed to shoot some additional scenes in Louisiana, many involving Natasha Romanoff, so Scarlett had to report to the crew first. Duke went alone to Wellington. He wasn’t just there to vacation; he also wanted to visit James Cameron’s crew. Earlier this year, James Cameron’s new project, code-named Project 880, officially entered pre-production. Although, with his style, filming and casting were still far off, important early preparation had already started. After landing, Duke went straight to Weta Workshop, where in the professional studio he met James Cameron. Though the two had no real friendship, Duke was a film investor holding one-third of the project’s shares, and he was credited as a producer with the right to inquire about matters. However, Duke knew how to deal with Cameron: unless it involved funding, he wouldn’t interfere with his work. Cameron received Duke and gave an introduction to the project. He also knew well that to gain more control, he needed to build strong confidence with investors and producers. Walking through the busy studio, Cameron introduced some set designs and equipment layout while explaining his plans: "The film will be shot using 3D technology, with some scenes shot on IMAX cameras. I’ve spoken with 20th Century Fox about releasing three versions in theaters: regular 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D." Duke nodded, "The number of 3D screens is increasing rapidly, and higher ticket prices guarantee the box office." Talking about other things was meaningless. Both he and Cameron knew this investment was all about making money. Stopping at a brand-new piece of filming equipment, Duke circled it. This camera was different from traditional 3D and IMAX cameras. "James, is this the new equipment you developed?" Duke asked with curiosity. "That’s right," Cameron said proudly. "This will be the main camera used for shooting." Duke only asked and didn’t say much more. Compared with all directors worldwide, Cameron was truly a pioneer of film technology. As an investor, Duke had done plenty of research. Back in 2000, Cameron and his partner Vince Pace, with support from Sony Electronics, began developing a new filming system using two Sony HDCF950 HD cameras. The goal was to create an environment with stereoscopic realism, which later became the 3-D virtual image capture system. In 2003, this technology was first applied in their IMAX documentary Ghosts of the Abyss. Afterwards, Cameron had colleagues test the system; famous director Robert Rodriguez tried it in Spy Kids 3-D and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Since then, most 3-D movies have used this method. Over the past few years, Cameron has continuously improved the technology to achieve stronger, more dynamic 3D effects without causing dizziness. Through repeated experiments and applications, the technology matured and was ultimately used in Avatar. One could say without those years of experiments and improvements, Avatar wouldn’t exist. This was also why Duke had never considered Avatar Not only that, Cameron introduced Duke to several new devices, all developed or improved by the "king of the world" for the new film. Since most of Avatar’s visuals relied on CGI, live-action and final CGI had to perfectly match. To achieve this, Cameron developed a virtual camera to preview the virtual world during live-action filming. This camera allowed the director to instantly adjust and guide every scene while watching actors interact with the virtual environment in real time. As actors performed, Cameron could see on an LCD screen the effect of a nearly 3-meter-tall blue Na’vi walking on Pandora. According to Cameron, this new technology offers more intuitive and visible rendering, letting producers instantly see the virtual backgrounds in the live shot to precisely determine if it matched the desired final image. He told Duke, "It’s like a powerful game engine. If I want to fly or change the perspective, I can do it immediately. I can also shrink the entire set into a 50:1 model to move around inside." Read complete versıon only at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥 Besides this, unlike the Lord of the Rings trilogy or Iron Man motion capture filming, Cameron innovated the motion capture technology. Besides actors wearing suits covered with tracking points during filming, the studio was equipped with a "collaborative work camera" system. This system consisted of hundreds of digital cameras installed on the ceiling, forming a capture stage. The cameras tracked near-infrared light reflected by LED lights in the studio, transmitted the data to a system, then combined the light reflections with the actor’s movements to create a 3D model of the shot. Later, this data was mapped in post-production computer processing to produce highly realistic CGI scenes. From a purely technical perspective, every director in the world had to admit Cameron was unmatched. In Duke’s eyes, this "set tyrant" was the real cinematic genius. Even if those winning Golden Lion, Golden Bear, Palme d’Or, or even Oscar directors dissented, even if critics belittled the big studio, no one could change the fact that Cameron’s contributions to the film industry far surpassed theirs. After a simple walk around the studio, Duke didn’t stay long. As he was about to leave, he said, "James, if you need anything, just call me directly." "You have a lot of confidence in me?" James Cameron blurted out. Duke shrugged, "We had a pleasant and successful collaboration on Titanic." Thinking back to how Duke fully supported him on Titanic, James Cameron sighed softly and said, "The success of Titanic was indeed very satisfying. After that, I made several documentaries and basically stepped away from the original circle. I needed to change my way of working and living. Making films like that is really grueling." He made a few gestures, saying, "I was away for nearly ten years, now I’m back. I know many people are expecting, and even more are doubting whether I can still make movies. It’s completely normal for people to think that way." Duke just looked at him. This director, who had distanced himself from the mainstream film world, seemed somewhat emotional. "The box office of Titanic? It was indeed excellent," James Cameron shook his head and said seriously, "I don’t think Avatar will break Titanic’s box office record. My purpose for making this film isn’t to break any records, and I don’t think any movie in the coming years will surpass that record. As long as Avatar can make investors like you money, I will be very happy." It seemed that even James Cameron himself wasn’t confident. Of course, if it weren’t for the rapid development of 3D and IMAX, Duke wouldn’t believe that Avatar could definitely overcome the "Titanic" hurdle. The rise in ticket prices is an unavoidable factor. News of James Cameron preparing a new film in Wellington had long been leaked by Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox. When Duke was leaving, he was surrounded by some media reporters. "Director Rosenberg..." A North American reporter pushed the microphone through the guards and Duke’s bodyguards, struggling to reach him, "It’s said that the investors, including you, offered Cameron a budget far exceeding Titanic. Cameron has been away from the mainstream film industry for so long. Are you still confident in him?" "I’m confident in James’s new project," Duke only said, "James Cameron’s artistic charm is universally recognized. I don’t think anyone doubts his commercial value for movies." After saying that, he got into the car with his bodyguards and ignored the reporters surrounding him. To the driver, he said, "Go to Victoria Hill." At the foot of Victoria Hill, he still had a vacation estate, purchased during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Occasionally, he and Ivanka Trump would come here to vacation, but after they drifted apart, Duke rarely came here and entrusted the estate to a housekeeping company for maintenance. Some time ago, Tom Cruise had called him. He and Nicole Kidman bought a large farm in Australia and invited him to take a look. If interested, he could also buy a residence nearby and become neighbors. Duke was somewhat interested in Australia’s vast and relatively inexpensive land. Many wild animals there lacked natural predators. If he established a hunting ground, he could come every year to hunt and relax. Duke came to Victoria Hill because someone had asked to meet him. They hadn’t met for several years. The other party arranged to meet him in New Zealand, the place where it all began. Perhaps it had some special meaning to remind him of those beautiful past memories and soften his heart about certain matters.