The Cove of the Ancestors environment features an intricate gravity-defying double helix, where water is drawn up due to intense locally-occurring magnetic fields. The magnetic fields also react with the atmosphere, producing vibrant colors of purple, cyan and teal. Because metal objects are highly attracted to the Flux Devil, during the third act many destroyed crafts are drawn into it, exploding and trapping fire and debris within the double helix vortex. Everything we set out to achieve on Avatar projects is deeply grounded in physics. When presented with the Flux Devil we knew we would have to have a mix of physical and fantastical. We started with reference artwork and templates along with drawing inspiration from various physical phenomena, such as fire and water in zero gravity, wind-induced upside-down waterfalls, and fire tornadoes in forest fires. To cater to the production requirements of several hundred shots, we had multiple Flux Devil scenarios that required different recipes and representations, ranging from being inside the flux devil, with water, plasma, fire and debris streaming past camera, to calm wide shots where you can see the ocean being drawn up into the helix far off in the distance.

Nicholas Illingworth, Alexey Stomakhin, Murali Ramachari, James Robinson, John Edholm, Sam Cole

SIGGRAPH 2026 (Talks)