fxguide.com

fxpodcast: fxg-031710-Ptex

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:46:05 +0000

Andy Hendrickson, Brent Burley and Dan Candela join us for a technical discussion about Ptex, a high quality, optimized texture format and filtering library that Disney has made Open Source.

Nuke Stereo Master Class Plus 6.1 Preview

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:30:01 +0000

The Foundry held its second Master Class in London on Friday, playing to packed house at the Vue theatre in Leicester Square. The event was standing-room only, having given away all the seats in only 24 hours when it was announced earlier this year. The event focused on stereoscopic production an...

VFX Online Townhall Meeting March 29th

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:47:07 +0000

Save the date Monday, March 29th at 7pm (Pacific) for "an open discussion of a visual effects industry in transition". This free online townhall meeting is being put together by Lee Stranahan, a former visual effects artist and writer for The Huffington Post whose Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairn...

New Moon Rising on DVD

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:59:55 +0000

New Moon, the second film in the Twilight series, is just out on DVD.Director Chris Weitz and visual effects supervisor Susan MacLeod called on Tippett Studios to bring to life a pack of large wolves. We speak to some of Tippett's key visual effects team about the creation of the wolves.

CORE is closing down

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:55:48 +0000

It appears that C.O.R.E Digital is closing down. C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, was one of Canada's leading digital visual effects and animation studios, based in Toronto, Ontario. The company is closing very abruptly, it seems. Reports on the net are circulating that this closure was so sudden empl...

Sherlock Holmes

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:12:21 +0000

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes recently received the Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture prize at the 8th annual VES Awards. Vfx supervisor Chas Jarrett led the effort behind more than 1000 effect shots to recreate Victorian London in 1891. In this article, we focus on three visual effects sequences from the film: the shipyard fight and the wharf explosion shot, both by Framestore, and the Tower Bridge shots by DNeg.

Bunny Power

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:58:08 +0000

French studio Digital District completed the animation for 'Bunny Fusion', a Duracell Ultra spot directed by Pleix via Ogilvy Paris. In the spot, hoards of Duracell bunnies launch themselves in massive numers as a waterfall then morph into a tornado, sumo wrestler, elephant and finally a steaming train.

ImageMovers Digital Closing

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:03:31 +0000

It was announced today that ImageMovers Digital in Marin County will be closing after completing Mars Needs Moms, expected to be January 2011. ImageMovers Digital was built by Robert Zemekis with Disney and is best known for producing A Christmas Carol. We first heard this news from a San Francisco...

Alice in Wonderland

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:42:18 +0000

Tim Burton's re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland features a cast of real and digital characters, plus some that are in-between. One such character is the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who appears on screen with an enormous and imposing head care of visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks. In this interview we focus on the Red Queen shots by talking to Carey Villegas, one of Imageworks' visual effects supervisors on the film.

Ok Syyn Labs Go...Adam Sadowsky

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:43:53 +0000

In the last 48 hours an amazing video has swept the net. The OK Go "This Too Shall Pass" music video - built and engineered by a creative geek group of mad scientists, art lovers, and inspired geniuses that collectively go by the name of Syyn Labs. As Adam Sadowsky, of Syyn Labs, was getting a hairc...

The Tech Behind the Tools of Avatar Part 1: Ocula

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:55:54 +0000

Ocula is at the very heart of the new post-production tools that have emerged to deal with stereo. Nuke and Ocula were used extensively on Avatar, and we explore the lessons learned with Simon Robinson, Chief Scientist of the Foundry. Ocula, in particular, is a real partnership between filmmakers on the cutting edge and the UK software developer.

Visual Effects link roundup

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:40:36 +0000

The internet has been particularly active this week with visual effects news. Here is a list of links that we found interesting, if we missed any please add to comments and if we find more this week we'll add them here. Visual Effects related links: Wall Street Journal: Working as a Visual Effe...

It's Official - 5D Mk II Update Date

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:39:34 +0000

We know many of you are waiting for the 5D MkII update to 24 P. The date is Mid-March and the features will include: The new firmware incorporates the following updates and benefits: 1) Frame rate now to include 24fps (cinema) and 25fps (PAL broadcast). Shoots a variety of frame rates, ov...

VES Award Winners

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:43:00 +0000

The 8th Annual VES Awards were held tonight, Sunday, February 28th at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. James Cameron was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award and Ed Catmull with the George Melies Award for Pioneering. Avatar took a lot of awards with...

Avatar wins BAFTA for Special Visual Effects

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:35:00 +0000

Congratulations to Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones who took home the BAFTA for Special Visual Effects for Avatar. The Orange British Academy Film Awards rewards the best work of any nationality seen on British cinema screens during the preceding year. The awards took...

fxpodcast: fxg-100219-lightstage-oscar

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:14:36 +0000

We talk with Paul Debevec who along with Tim Hawkins, John Monos and Mark Sagar were presented a Scientific and Engineering Oscar for the Light Stage.

Invictus Draws a Crowd

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:05:44 +0000

Invictus tells the story of South African President Nelson Mandela's efforts to unite his torn country under the auspices of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship. Director Clint Eastwood collaborated with visual effects supervisor Michael Owens and CIS Vancouver to create virtual stadiums and crowds, plus key digital make-up effects, for the pivotal rugby matches seen in the film.

fxpodcast: fxg-100211-letter_to_JC

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:28:10 +0000

Lee Stranahan has ignited a serious conversation about the treatment of visual effects workers with an open letter to James Cameron in the Huffington Post. We talk to him about the reaction.

Massive 4.0 Released

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:30:52 +0000

The folks at Massive Software announced today that version 4.0 of Massive is now shipping. The release contains new Terrain Nodes, V-Ray rendering, new Stadium placement tools, and other improvements. We'll have the new release available soon on the VPN over at our sister training site fxphd.com....

GenArts Buys Tinder plugins from The Foundry

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:20:02 +0000

GenArts CEO Katherine Hays received a call one day from Bill Collis of the Foundry - a call which led to GenArts buying all of the Tinder plug-ins. The move all but cements GenArts position as the dominant plugin company for high applications such as Nuke and Autodesk systems. But why did the Foundry want to drop its profitable plug-ins and how will GenArts get a return on all its recent acquisitions? Mike Seymour speaks to both companies to get the details.

How am I Supposed to Live Without Sidekicks?

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:10:35 +0000

A sad salt shaker, dejected after learning that Knorr's 'Sidekicks' contains 25 per cent less sodium, is the star of 'Salty', a David Hicks-directed commercial with visual effects by Toronto-based axyz. Lead animator Dennis Turner and Inferno artist Andres Kirejew talk to fxguide about the challenges of the spot, which included listening repeatedly to Michael Bolton's 'How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?'.

fxpodcast: fxg-100205-tag

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:41:07 +0000

Steve Hulett of The Animation Guild joins us again to discuss visual effects and labor issues.

fxpodcast: fxg-100128-avatar3

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:04:29 +0000

In part 3 of our series on Avatar we talk with Dana Batali from the Pixar Renderman team and Christian Kaestner, compositing supervisor from Framestore.

Happy Christmas Mr. Zemeckis

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:44:25 +0000

In A Christmas Carol, featuring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts that haunt him, director Robert Zemeckis relied on the newly formed ImageMovers Digital to bring this performance capture adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel to life. fxguide speaks with visual effects supervisor George Murphy and animation supervisor Jenn Emberly about making the performances possible.

le freak

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:22:26 +0000

Bringing a bunch of colourful characters to life in Paul Weitz's Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant was the job of Rhythm & Hues. Visual effects supervisor Todd Shifflett tells fxguide how his studio approached the diverse range of Freak Show performers in the film.

fxpodcast: fxg-100115-avatarilm

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:57:10 +0000

John Knoll, ILM vfx supervisor, on collaborating with Weta and stereoscopic for "Avatar".

fxpodcast: fxg-100108-avatarweta

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:17:41 +0000

Joe Letteri, senior vfx supervisor for Weta Digital, details their mocap/facial capture tech and other aspects of their work on Avatar.

fxpodcast: fxg-091218-MichaelTaylor

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:51:37 +0000

We talk with Michael Taylor about visual effects and the global marketplace as he moves from Los Angeles to Adelaide and Rising Sun Pictures.

fxpodcast: fxg-091211-ScottRoss

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:10:39 +0000

Industry pioneer Scott Ross is our guest as we talk about visual effects history and the future of the business.

fxpodcast: fxg-091204-Technicolor

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:23:58 +0000

An in-depth discussion about color management workflow with Brian Gaffney and Dan Lion from Technicolor Creative Bridge

fxpodcast: fxg-091125-sapphire5

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:25:09 +0000

We speak with GenArts' CMO Steve Bannerman and VP of Engineering/Chief Scientist Gary Oberbrunner about the upcoming release of Sapphire version 5.

fxpodcast: fxg-091113-2012

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:18:31 +0000

Alex Wuttke, Double Negative visual effects supervisor, about two main sequences from 2012.

fxpodcast: fxg-091106-AICP-Digital

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:55:34 +0000

We talk with Ed Ulbrich (Digital Domain) about the newly formed Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Digital and what it means for artists and companies.

fxpodcast: fxg-091021-previs

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:05:40 +0000

A conversation with two of the co-founders of the Previsualization Society, Colin Green and Ron Frankel.

fxpodcast: fxg-090927-linearlight

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:35:43 +0000

We geek out with 3D guru Master Zap about linear compositing workflow, separating fact from fiction.

fxpodcast: fxg-090921-interdubs

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:59:50 +0000

Jeff Heusser talks with Andreas Wacker, founder of INTERDUBS, a clip hosting company for post houses and production facilities.

fxpodcast: fxg-090911-taking-woodstock

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:31:54 +0000

We talk about creating an acid trip with VFX supervisor Brendan Taylor from Mr. X

fxpodcast: fxg-090904-Harry-Potter

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:25:39 +0000

An in-depth discussion of color science with Chief Colorist Peter Doyle

fxpodcast: fxg-090828-district9

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:27:48 +0000

A detailed discussion with The Embassy about a sequence in the film District 9

fxpodcast: fxg-090715-transformers-revenge

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:01:02 +0000

We speak with Jeff White at ILM about Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

fxpodcast: fxg-090604-terminator-salvation

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:23:19 +0000

This week we look at digital and practical effects on Terminator Salvation with ILM and Kerner Optical

fxpodcast: fxg-090529-cook

Sat, 30 May 2009 01:42:09 +0000

An interview with Rob Cook, co-architect and primary author of Pixar's RenderMan

fxpodcast: fxg-090521-okun

Thu, 21 May 2009 22:45:55 +0000

Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society, sits with us to discuss the mission and latest news from the VES.

fxpodcast: fxg-090511-trek

Mon, 11 May 2009 19:48:14 +0000

A conversation with ILM vfx supervisor Roger Guyett about the film Star Trek.

fxpodcast: fxg-090506-tmobile

Wed, 06 May 2009 06:25:51 +0000

Director Michael Gracey tells us about filming large crowds for two viral campaigns for T-Mobile.

fxpodcast: fxg-090420-nab2009

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:46:58 +0000

We talk with friends as well as fxphd post grads and professors about what they saw on the first day of the show. Recorded live at a party sponsored by The Foundry, Sohonet and da vinci.

fxpodcast: fxg-090308-kodak

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:32:22 +0000

A conversation with Gary Einhaus, CTO and General Manager of Kodak Digital Cinema, about new technology and research at Kodak.

fxpodcast: fxg-090119-valkyrie

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:15:16 +0000

Rich Hoover, visual effects supervisor on Valkyrie about the complexity of doing such a powerful historical film.

fxpodcast: fxg-090112-australia

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:41:41 +0000

Visual Effects in the movie Australia with artist Peter Webb from Iloura Pictures.

fxpodcast: fxg-090104-furnace

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 04:10:03 +0000

An interview with Simon Robinson, co-founder of The Foundry, to get the reasons behind their decision to reduce prices on Furnace, Tinder, and Keylight sparks for Autodesk.

fxpodcast: fxg-081231-the-spirit

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:23:21 +0000

Conversation with Stu Maschwitz who supervised over 1900 shots for the latest movie from a Frank Miller graphic novel.

fxpodcast: fxg-081226-findesign

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:39:31 +0000

We speak to Richard Lambert principle at Fin Design about the award winning commercial for Herringbone

fxpodcast: fxg-081203-sid

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:38:26 +0000

The Jim Henson Company Creature Shop is behind the PBS series Sid the Science Kid. We speak with Steffen M. Wild, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Supervisor at Jim Henson Co. for this week's fxpodcast.

fxpodcast: fxg-081029-xsi

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:18:07 +0000

A conversation with Bill Roberts from Softimage about version 7 of XSI, which was released earlier this year.

fxpodcast: fxg-081015-heroes

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:18:09 +0000

Mike Seymour chats with VFX Supervisor Eric Grenaudier from Stargate Digital about their work on the U.S. television series 'Heroes'.

fxpodcast: fxg-081011-brinkmann

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:28:40 +0000

Mike Seymour chats with Ron Brinkmann, author of The Art and Science of Digital Compositing.

fxpodcast: fxg-080914-johnadams

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:32:02 +0000

We talk to Jeff Goldman, a vfx supervisor at CafeFX about their emmy nominated work on John Adams

fxpodcast: fxg-080903-tropicthunder

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:16:39 +0000

We speak to Mark Breakspear of CIS Vancouver about the visual effects in Tropic Thunder and why effects for comedy can be a different challenge.

fxpodcast: fxg-080824-guild

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:58:14 +0000

We talk with Steve Hulett, Business Representative for the The Animation Guild Local 839 IATSE about the guild, the business and what every artist should know.

fxpodcast: fxg-080814-siggraph

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:47:25 +0000

Recorded on a rooftop in downtown Los Angeles at our traditional tradeshow Barcamp. We are joined by fxphd members to discuss what they have seen so far at Siggraph.

fxpodcast: fxg-080805-journey

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:50:33 +0000

We speak with stereo colorist Jeff Olm about grading and post considerations for Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.

fxpodcast: fxg-080728-unpaid-artists-rr

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:36:53 +0000

Dave Rand joins us to talk about a group of 100 artists owed a million dollars in wages from work done on Journey to the Center to the Earth.

fxpodcast: fxg-080721-dark-knight

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:09:27 +0000

We chat with Double Negative vfx supervisor Paul Franklin about their work on the latest Batman flick, including special considerations for the IMAX release.

fxpodcast: fxg-080711-motiontheory

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:17:42 +0000

We speak with Nick Losq and Matt Winkel of Venice, California based studio Motion Theory.

fxpodcast: fxg-080702-newdeal

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:31:15 +0000

We speak with co-founder of New Deal Studios Matthew Gratzner about their work and the business.

fxpodcast: fxg-080622-thirdfloor

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:50:21 +0000

We speak with Chris Edwards, CEO of Los Angeles-based Third Floor, about the pre-visualization work they do for films, commercials, and games.

fxpodcast: fxg-080613-lumapictures

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:29:38 +0000

We speak with Chris Sage of Luma Pictures about their work, their facility pipeline, and their tools.

fxpodcast: fxg-080605-Droidmaker

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:58:29 +0000

We talk to Michael Rubin about his book: DroidMAKER: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution.

fxpodcast: fxg-080519-ironman-suit

Wed, 21 May 2008 19:46:20 +0000

A conversation with ILM visual effects supervisor Ben Snow about the work behind creating Ironman's suit.

fxpodcast: fxg-080508-ironman

Fri, 09 May 2008 17:47:58 +0000

We speak with Dav Rauch from The Orphanage. Rauch is a director, designer and visual effects supervisor who led the team that conceptualized and designed Ironman's Heads Up Display.