fxguide.com

fxpodcast: Another Visit with The Animation Guild

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:55:07 +0000

Steven Hulett is the Business Representative of The Animation Guild (TAG) Local 839 IATSE, he last joined us for a podcast in August of 2008. We wanted to talk further with him about the Guild and get more of the history of previous efforts to organize visual effects. We talk about the failed effort...

Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairness For Visual Effects Artists

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:21:31 +0000

Lee Stranahan is a Filmmaker, Writer, Photographer who writes for the Huffington Post. He has crafted an Open Letter To James Cameron. This is a must read: Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairness For Visual Effects Artists...

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.

Oscar Nominations announced

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:53:39 +0000

Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards® were announced early this morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the visual effects category this means the field is now narrowed from seven to these three nominated films: Avatar Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham a...

The Halo Life

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:20:32 +0000

The Life, a live action short directed by MJZ's Rupert Sanders to promote the launch of Halo 3: ODST for the Xbox 360, features visual effects by Asylum as we follow Tarkov, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, through training and a major battle sequence. Visual effects supervisor and lead compositor Ro...

Foundry Katana Blog Post + New Tuts

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:00:44 +0000

Late last year, The Foundry announced a tech sharing agreement with Sony Pictures Imageworks which included access to SPI's Katana 3D software. Since that time, there has been some discussion (even grumbling) on the net and mailing lists about The Foundry losing focus regarding the heart of Nuke: co...

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.

Inside Rodriguez's 'Shorts'

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:00:36 +0000

In Shorts, director Robert Rodriguez delivers his trademark colourful imagery to tell the story of a young boy's wish-granting rock discovery. Working alongside the director were artists at Rodriguez's own Troublemaker Studios who, with other effects studios, delivered a bevy of fun visual treats, i...

Nuke 6/NukeX 6 Released

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:06:06 +0000

The Foundry has released two new versions of their Nuke compositing software, Nuke 6.0 and NukeX 6.0. Nuke 6.0 includes a completely new shape rotoscope and paint toolset and also bundles Keylight as a standard feature. NukeX 6.0 contains a new 3D camera tracker, lens distortion tools, depth genera...

BAFTA Film Award Nominations

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:11:04 +0000

Avatar, District 9, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hurt Locker and Star Trek have been nominated for British Academy Film Awards in the category Special Visual Effects. The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on February 21st at The Royal Opera House, London. A complete li...

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.

THR states Avatar leads VES awards

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:50:43 +0000

The VES nominations have been released a tad early it seems by the Hollywood Reporter, which is claiming James Cameron's "Avatar" led the list of nominations scoring 11 nominations. The animated "Coraline,"also released in Stereo, followed with four nominations. New Zealand-based Weta Digital,...

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".

Sony Releases Open Source Shading Language

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:00:06 +0000

At last year's SIGGRAPH in New Orleans, Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) announced their open source initiative in 5 areas. At the time, we spoke with Rob Bredow in fxguidetv episode #69 about this and other happenings at Sony. Today, SPI released the alpha version of the source code for their Open...

Goats, Hamsters and the Military

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:46:26 +0000

Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare At Goats tells the story of a former U.S. Army member claiming to be a psychic soldier who can, among other things, stop the hearts of animals using only his mind. CIS Hollywood, under the vfx supervision of Thomas J. Smith, realised shots of this so-called power in action, as well as a number of other sequences in the film. Digital fx supervisor Joe Henke talks to fxguide about how the shots were accomplished.

Dr Gilliam & Peerless Camera Company

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:34:58 +0000

Director Terry Gilliam relied on his longstanding relationship with Peerless Camera Company to delve into the hyper-real visual effects for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Visual effects supervisor John Paul Docherty and lead technical director Patrick Ledda talk to fxguide about the film.

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.

Mass Marketing of LG 'Cars'

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:03:09 +0000

Classic movie car chases are channelled in 'Cars', an LG cellphone spot directed by Filip Engstrom with visual effects by Mass Market. Lead Flame artist Nick Tanner talks to fxguide about bringing a unique miniature and old-school quality to the commercial.

The Mill Creates the World for Guinness

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:26:35 +0000

Mountains, forests and oceans come to life in 'World', a Johnny Green-directed spot for Guinness, with visual effects by The Mill. Lead 2D and Flame artist Rich Roberts gives fxguide an insight into The Mill's work for the epic commercial.

‘V’ Returns with Zoic V-FX

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:11:52 +0000

V was a popular science-fiction TV series that debuted in 1983. Audiences were drawn to its potent mixture of alien invasion and fascist allegory. The “Visitors” initially claim to be a peaceful humanoid race with advanced, space faring technology intent on helping mankind. The resistance, a small group of renegade scientists and ordinary people ultimately discover their true reptilian nature and evil plot to eradicate humanity. In 2009 V has returned.

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.

Ben 10: Alien Swarm

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:19:18 +0000

Ben 10: Alien Swarm is the second live-action film from Cartoon Network based on their popular animated series Ben 10. The film is directed and executive-produced by Alex Winter, who also directed Cartoon Network’s first Ben 10 live-action movie. We take a look behind the scenes at what it took to pull off 600 vfx shots, nearly triple the number of the first film.

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.

Entity FX Finishes Off Final Destination

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:20:21 +0000

In The Final Destination, the fourth installment of the popular horror franchise, Entity FX contributed an all CG -- and stereoscopic -- x-ray sequence for the film's dramatic surprise ending. Visual effects supervisor Mat Beck talks to fxguide about how the sequence came together. Warning: this interview contains spoilers.

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

The Spine: Style as a Storytelling Technique

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:34:35 +0000

Chris Landreth is a unique director with a unique style. His previous short films Ryan, Bingo and The End showcased complex characters using an almost surreal approach to computer animation. Landreth talks to fxguide about his latest animated short, The Spine, which focuses on the tumultuous lives of married couple Dan and Mary.

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.

fxpodcast: fxg-080417-nab3

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:51:10 +0000

Our last podcast from Las Vegas, covering finds from the show floor.

fxpodcast: fxg-080415-nab2

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:51:11 +0000

Our annual roundtable from fxphd barcamp. We cover the announcements from RED, Eyeon, and more.

fxpodcast: fxg-080414-nab1

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:38:35 +0000

Coverage of the Autodesk Usergroup Meeting. Recorded Sunday evening before the start of NAB.