One of the true arts associated with filmmaking in the 21st century is the suspension of disbelief, the craft of making amazing things happen on screen that defy the laws of gravity, physics or human anatomy. Viewers believe what they are seeing, no matter how incredible, because they can.

One company that is making software that helps make the unreal become real is Ziva Dynamics Inc. Founded in 2015, the company specializes in human anatomy and physics templates that create lifelike characters out of bits and bytes, powered by machine learning.

“You don’t want your creatives to get hung up on trying to make your cheek look exactly as it’s supposed to over 500 frames when you want them bringing the story to life,” said Michael Smit (pictured), chief commercial officer at Ziva. “Our software basically automates a lot of the nuance of organic characters and properties.”

Smit paid a visit to the set of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and spoke with host John Furrier (@furrier). They discussed the uses of Ziva’s software in filmmaking and how robust new tools are empowering content creators. (* Disclosure below.)

Building virtual bones and soft tissue

Users of Ziva’s toolset can build virtual bones, soft tissue and muscles for each character, while controlling lifelike motion. The company’s executive team members have received high honors for their past technical excellence. In fact, Ziva’s co-Chief Executive Officer, James Jacobs, received a Scientific and Technical Academy Award in 2013 for “the development of the Tissue Physically-Based Character Simulation Framework.”

Ziva’s technology has already been used in films such as “Fantastic Beasts” and “Ghostbusters.” The ability to render lifelike character simulations was previously the domain of the top visual effects studios of the world. Ziva is changing that dynamic by providing an independent software license for $50 per month for use by new creatives, according to Smit.

“We want to provide that same functionality to small studios, big studios, game studios, independents. Anyone who wants to tell a great story,” Smit concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Sundance Film Festival. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Sundance Film Festival event. Neither Intel, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE