fxguidetv episode 4 with your host Angie Richards

Chicago, Via China: fxguidetv episode 4 is out including a great interview with Steve Pearce and Phillippo Costanzo from Activion, covering the future of the gaming industry. Plus a great tip from Rose Draper on how to extract mattes from difficult - less than perfect - Jpeg images in Photoshop!

Don’t forget fxguidetv is on the road next week and we’ll be netcasting twice a day during Siggraph.

xRez Launches Visual Effects Studio Employing Ground-Breaking Technology

Los Angeles, CA - With more than two years of R&D under its belt, xRez Studio has launched a visual effects division based on the studio’s work employing gigapixel panoramic photography. Founded by Eric Hanson and Greg Downing, both veterans in advanced photography and motion picture visual effects, xRez has perfected the highest resolution photography currently available. Using digital techniques derived from feature film visual effects, images can be created at resolutions of up to 150,000 pixels wide, far surpassing any large format film standards used in photography and well beyond IMAX.
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Eyeon today announced features which will be part of the new Fusion version 5.2. Pricing and availability of the new version will be announced at Siggraph.

The release of Fusion 5.2 includes over one hundred updates and modifications, such as interface performance improvements in various areas that make the artist’s workflow more efficient. A new Vector Motion Blur tool calculates motion blur from vector data through motion stored in the image’s vector/velocity channels. 3D scene importing allows artists to import more 3D data and animation in FBX, 3DS, OBJ and COLLADA.dae formats 3D LUTs are now supported in real time, accelerated via GPUs.
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The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations were announced this morning at 5:40 AM PT.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be held Saturday, September 8 and the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 16, both at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The list of visual effects nominees is after the read more.

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SANTA MONICA, CA - Eight VFX continues its stellar collaborative run with director Olivier Gondry and HP with “Petra Nemcová,” the latest in a new three-spot campaign via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/SF (Eight also contributed the effects for “Vera Wang” and “Michel Gondry”).

A shop whose recent credits include projects for Pepsi, Scion, Guinness, and MS Zune - and whose collaborations with Olivier Gondry include Chevy and American Eagle - Eight enjoyed a great deal of creative freedom on “Petra.” In the spot, the supermodel is shown walking down the street as voiceover narration offers a snapshot of her busy life. The imagery onscreen matches complements the voiceover, taking us on a magical journey. (more…)

The latest episode of fxguidetv video netcast is on the air! All you need to do is click here to subscribe in iTunes>
fxguidetv episode #3 is out! This show contains a longer interview with Ken Ralston and Dennis Muren recorded at the VES Festival of Visual Effects. John Montgomery talks with them about their inspirations, the dangers of endlessly tweaking a shot, a book Dennis is working on and much more. If you are involved in visual effects you will enjoy hearing what these two industry icons have to say. Also Mike Seymour takes a look at shooting greenscreen with digital camera systems like the new Sony F23 Cine-Alta camera - part of a test shoot for fxphd.

fxpodcast wise (the audio variety) make sure you check out our Siggraph 2007 preview. fxguidetv will be at Siggraph in force bring you many updates, in this weeks fxpodcast we bring you a preview of the show including Paul Debevec’s paper picks! Also for the first time we snuck in a podcast with no feature story. This was part two covering Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer where Mike talked with VFX Supervisor for Hydraulx, Jake Morrison. One of the goals for the site redesign was to give us more flexibility and sometimes a podcast has come along where we just had little for the written story but that was the only way to get the podcast to you. If you are not a subscriber in iTunes you will always find the last two podcasts and latest fxguidetv episode in the fxpodcast + fxguidetv box on the home page.

And check out the new term course listing over at fxphd. The term has just started and there is a new orientation week video showing a look at how we bring this training to you. We have many classes including new ones on Flame, PFtrack, Nuke, and the Imagineer suite of tools like Mokey… much of the software is available to students using VPN licenses during the term. Also fxphd has its own podcast which gives you extra information about the courses and behind the scenes information, it can be found on the fxphd site and is also available in iTunes.

One of our postgrads says it best:

“fxPHD is the exact training community that I have been searching for. I say community because fxPHD is much more than just online training. With fxPHD, I get the specialized knowledge I need, feedback from industry pros, interaction with other students, content for my reel and all this from the comfort of my home. What more could you ask for? fxPHD rocks! “
Wes McDermott, United States

New York, NY - When audiences tune in to the highly anticipated Concert For Diana, they will enjoy a graphics package created in a collaborative effort between VH1 and design/branding company Bombastic. The concert is a tribute to the Princess and a fundraiser for the charities she supported during her lifetime. Accordingly, the graphics package for the special presentation embodies a symbolic image of how Diana connected with her friends, fans and those in need.

“We were looking for a respectful way of presenting the concert for Diana that would distinguish it from the usual hype surrounding our musical events,” says VH1 VP of Brand and Creative Phil Delbourgo. (more…)

SANTA MARIA, California – Feature film visual effects facility CafeFX created a scene-stealing school of computer-generated tropical fish for Universal Pictures’ EVAN ALMIGHTY. The visual effects-intensive comedy, the second in the “Almighty” series, is directed by Tom Shadyac.

In the film, Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), newly elected to Congress, leaves Buffalo behind and shepherds his family to suburban northern Virginia. Once there, his life is turned upside-down when he is summoned by God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark.

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We are really excited by the July 07 term and the courses on offer at fxphd.com. As part of our plans for this term, we have a Siggraph Special Service!

A key part of Siggraph’s appeal is the job market. To help you, if you’re going to Siggraph - we are offering to individually review your reel and offer personalized advice. We will give you our expert advice on how to adjust your reel - what we think works - what we doesn’t, - so that when you show the recruiters and companies at Siggraph you have the best chance for getting your dream job!

Contact us via the PRIVATE MESSAGE system of fxphd.com and give us a link to your reel - or we will give you an ftp to upload it to. We will then tailor a personal recommendation for you from our senior team.

This is ONLY for current paid up members of fxphd.com We hope you will use this new free service and benefit from it.

Fxguide will be doing even more with Siggraph this year - look for more here at fxguide and over at fxphd.com.

SANTA MONICA, CA - The three worlds of acclaimed film and spot director Michel Gondry are explored in this latest spot for the HP Pavilion Entertainment PC laptop via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Directed with affection and wit by his brother, Olivier Gondry, “Michel Gondry” combines film, animation, and visual effects.

Striking this delicate creative and technical balance is Eight VFX, a frequent collaborator with Olivier Gondry (Chevy, American Eagle), and a shop whose recent credits include projects for Pepsi, Scion, Guinness, and MS Zune. Eight also contributed the effects for the first spot in the new HP campaign (”Vera Wang”), and “Petra Nemcova,” breaking soon. For Eight, “Michel Gondry” presented an opportunity to demonstrate that it can employ any effects technique. (more…)