fxguide quick takes

Digital Domain loses termination suit

Jeff Heusser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:38:59 +0000

David S. Cohen in Variety is reporting that the jury was unanimous on most findings and awarded Brad Call approximately $2 million in damages in his wrongful termination suit against Digital Domain.

From the article:
The size of the award raises questions about whether Digital Domain can survive, though in a statement, DD’s VP and general counsel Joseph Gabriel, said the ruling is “absolutely not going to put the company out of business.”

Full Variety article can be read here.

Ed Catmull to Receive VES “2010 Georges Méliès Award”

Jeff Heusser — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:32:54 +0000

Dr. Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, has been selected by the VES Board of Directors as the recipient of the “2010 Georges Méliès Award.”

The award will be presented at the 8th Annual VES Awards, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on February 28, 2010.

The Georges Méliès Award honors individuals who have “pioneered a significant and lasting contribution to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry by a way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work.”

The rest of the press release from the Visual Effects Society after the jump

Dr. Catmull is the embodiment of this award as someone who not only spearheaded the creation of the technology that is used throughout the industry, but had a significant role in creating the art form itself and the standards for how we judge successful animation and storytelling for the modern entertainment industry. Dr. Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. Previously, Dr. Catmull was vice president of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he managed development in the areas of computer graphics, video editing, video games and digital audio.

“Ed Catmull has helped redefine the field of animation over the past three decades,” said VES Executive Director Eric Roth. “Ed has become one of the giants of our industry by pioneering new ways to tell animated stories in a successful studio environment. He has been at the forefront of ensuring that while the animation should always be as eye-popping as possible, the story itself always has to be first class as well,” added Roth.

Chair of the VES, Jeffrey A. Okun said, “Ed Catmull almost single-handedly created the software and hardware that is used by everyone in not only the visual effects industry, but the gaming industry and the computer animation industry as well. We all owe a great debt of thanks to his vision, dedication and creativity.”

“It is truly an honor to receive the Georges Méliès Award from the Visual Effects Society,” said Dr. Catmull. “I’ve always believed that the combination of art and technology is an important part of a creative environment where we can continue to push the limits of filmmaking.”

Dr. Catmull has been honored with five Academy Awards, including a Technical Achievement Award, two Scientific and Engineering Awards, and one Academy Award of Merit for his work. In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Dr. Catmull the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for his lifetime of technical contributions and leadership in the field of computer graphics for the motion picture industry. He also received the ACM SIGGRAPH Steven A. Coons Award for his lifetime contributions in the computer graphics field, and the animation industry’s Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancements in the art or industry of animation.

Previous recipients of the George Méliès Award were Robert Abel, Phil Tippett and Disney/Pixar colleague John Lasseter.

Academy Invites 134 to Membership

Jeff Heusser — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:38:28 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced it will invite 134 people to join as members.

Included in the Visual Effects category are:

Christopher Bond, Matthew Butler, Chris Corbould, Rob Engle, Scott Gordon, Hal Hickel, Van Ling, Shane Mahan, Steve Preeg, Tim Webber, Edson Williams

Full press release after the read more

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 134 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2009 to the Academy’s roster of voting members.

“These filmmakers have, over the course of their careers, captured the imagination of audiences around the world,” said Academy President Sid Ganis. “It’s this kind of talent and creativity that make up the Academy, and I welcome each of them to our ranks.”

The Academy’s membership would have allowed a maximum of 166 new members in 2009, but as in the previous years, the several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception at the Academy’s Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills in September.

The 2009 invitees are:

Actors
Casey Affleck
Emily Blunt
Michael Cera
Viola Davis
James Franco
Brendan Gleeson
Anne Hathaway
Taraji P. Henson
Emile Hirsch
Hugh Jackman
Melissa Leo
Jane Lynch
Eddie Marsan
James McAvoy
Seth Rogen
Paul Rudd
Amy Ryan
Michael Shannon
Michelle Williams
Jeffrey Wright

Animators
J.J. Blumenkranz
Konstantin Bronzit
Kendal Cronkhite
Rodolphe Guenoden
Byron Howard
Kunio Kato
Doug Sweetland
Chris Williams

Art Directors
Andrew Ackland-Snow

At-Large
Matthew D. Loeb
Redmond Morris

Casting Directors
John Papsidera
Bernie Telsey

Cinematographers
Russ T. Alsobrook
Anthony Dod Mantle
Henner Hofmann
Claudio Miranda
Rodney Taylor
Mandy Walker

Costume Designers
Deborah Hopper
Louise Mingenbach
Michael O’Connor
Michael Wilkinson

Directors
Rachid Bouchareb
Danny Boyle
David Frankel
Rod Lurie
Thomas McCarthy
Tyler Perry
Henry Selick

Documentary
William Gazecki
Rachel Grady
Rory Kennedy
Scott Hamilton Kennedy
James Marsh
Megan Mylan
Doug Pray

Executives
Daniel D.A. Battsek
Steve Beeks
Graham W. Burke
Joe Drake
Erik Feig
Paul Hanneman
Donald P. Harris
Claudia Lewis

Film Editors
Roger Barton
Hank Corwin
Chris Dickens
Elliot Graham
Kathryn Himoff
Leo Trombetta
Brent White
Pam Wise

Live Action Short Films
Reto Caffi
Jochen Alexander Freydank
F. Carter Pilcher

Makeup and Hairstylists
Howard Berger
Mike Elizalde
Louis Lazzara
Gerald Quist

Music
Jeff Danna
Andrew Dorfman
Peter Gabriel
Clint Mansell
A.R. Rahman

Producers
Mark Ciardi
Christian Colson
Gordon Gray
Broderick Johnson
Cathy Konrad
Andrew Kosove
James Lassiter
Russell Smith
Paula Wagner

Production Designers
Donald Graham Burt
Michael Carlin
Jane Ann Stewart
Kevin Thompson

Public Relations
Michael D. Camp
Marc Cohen
Megan Colligan
James C. Gallagher
David Kaminow
Sal Ladestro
Maria Pekurovskaya
Elizabeth Petit

Set Decorators
Rebecca Alleway
Peter Lando
Barbara Munch-Cameron

Scenic Artists
Robert Topol

Sound
Michael Barry
Derek Casari
Aaron Glascock
Ren Klyce
Peter F. Kurland
Karen Baker Landers
Hamilton Sterling
Deborah Wallach
Kim Waugh

Visual Effects
Christopher Bond
Matthew Butler
Chris Corbould
Rob Engle
Scott Gordon
Hal Hickel
Van Ling
Shane Mahan
Steve Preeg
Tim Webber
Edson Williams

Writers
John August
Dustin Lance Black
Courtney Hunt
Howard A. Rodman

Fusion 6 Now Shipping…

John Montgomery — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:20:44 +0000

…in release candidate form. The just issued eyeon newsletter serves up the fact that the long awaited Fusion 6 is now available for download to “all artists and studios with a current subscription license.” The idea behind the RC release is to get the software in the hands of artists to do final bug and compatibility checks. The new release contains many enhancements including improvments in materials and textures, rendering 3D scenes, stereoscopic tools, DOD/ROI tools, R3D support, and more.

We’ll have a full review of the new release up shortly from fxphd prof and beta tester Matt Leonard, but in the meantime visit eyeon’s website for more information.

Mike Lecturing This Week in Singapore

Mike Seymour — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:22:14 +0000

fxguide is in Singapore this week for CG Overdrive and Broadcast Asia. Mike Seymour is giving two workshops (each running over 2 days) on the Benefits and Challenges of Digital Acquisition. These are being held on the 16th/17th and then repeated on the 18th/19th at Broadcast Asia - held at the Expo centre as part of Broadcast Asia. Click here for a pdf
Mike is also giving a shorter one off lecture on Friday : A Case Study of a VFX Pipeline with Red Camera as part of the CG Overdrive conference. Date: 19 June, Time: 10am – 12pm at: Singapore Expo Hall 9.
We will also be interviewing key other speakers for fxguidetv and fxpodcast this week, starting with senior concept artist Feng Zhu, of FZD School of Design, next on fxguidetv.

iPhone Color Correction App from The Mill

Jeff Heusser — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:21:54 +0000

Yes, you read that correctly, The Mill has released a free iPhone application that allows the user to apply looks or emulate primary color grading tools found in a grading suite. The app has preset looks like “golden” and “bleached” as well as controls for lift, gain, gamma and saturation that can be applied across RGB or to individual channels.

They also have set up a “Mill Colour Image Gallery” on Flickr where you can submit images and the colourists will pick the best image every three months and award prizes.

More info from the help files, where to find the app and the Flickr group, and some screen shots after the jump.

The application has a read me file that comes up when you first launch the program, here is an excerpt:

Mill Colour has been designed by our team of Colourists to emulate primary grading within a high-end digital grading suite.

The application can be used both as a professional shoot-tool to set reference looks on location and also for fun to manipulate any photo taken on the iPhone or imported to the iPhone picture library.

You can find Mill Colour by searching in the App Store from your iPhone or here is a link that will open iTunes to the app in the store. The Flickr Group can be found by visiting this link.

I’m sure there will be a lot of chatter about this app on the various forums around the net as well as on twitter, we thought we’d show you a few quick screen grabs:

(original image was taken in the neon graveyard in Las Vegas as part of a photography course offered in a previous term at fxphd.com)

VES Announces Health Care for Members

Jeff Heusser — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:58:09 +0000

When we interviewed Jeffrey Okun from the Visual Effects Society at the end of May for a podcast he broke the news that the VES was working on getting health care options for VES members. He mentioned that this has been a top request from members. Today members were emailed with information about that plan and there is also information on the VES website. In a nutshell it is the same coverage as is available to members of the Producers Guild and Television Academy and is available for individuals and small businesses. Congratulations to all those on the Benefits Committee of VES who worked so hard to make this happen.

The Academy Dives into “The Abyss”

Jeff Heusser — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:32:19 +0000

We get a lot of press releases about screenings, many from the Academy. Talk about one that jumped out at us! A screening of a “newly struck 35mm print” of the “The Abyss”, with a panel discussion “with the film’s Oscar®-winning visual effects team, John Bruno, Dennis Skotak and Hoyt Yeatman, and nominees Mikael Salomon (Cinematography) and Lee Orloff (Sound) as well as John Knoll, the movie’s computer graphics designer who specialized in the development of the Pseudopod creature elements.”

Oh Academy, you had me at “newly struck 35mm print”. Details and full press release after the jump.

Here is the press release with details:

Beverly Hills, CA —“The Abyss,” the deep-sea epic renowned for its pioneering digital water effects and sophisticated underwater photography and sound recording, will be screened at a special 20th anniversary event by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday, June 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. This screening will premiere a newly struck 35mm print from the Academy Film Archive.

Presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the event will be hosted by film historian and author Eric Lichtenfeld and will feature an onstage panel discussion on the role motion picture science and technology played in shaping the film. Guests will include members of the film’s Oscar®-winning visual effects team, John Bruno, Dennis Skotak and Hoyt Yeatman, and nominees Mikael Salomon (Cinematography) and Lee Orloff (Sound) as well as John Knoll, the movie’s computer graphics designer who specialized in the development of the Pseudopod creature elements.

“The Abyss” stars Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and tells the story of crew members on an underwater oil rig during the Cold War who are enlisted to help rescue an American submarine, and the bizarre, mysterious force they discover living in the deep.

Established in 2003 by the Academy’s Board of Governors, the Science and Technology Council provides a forum for the exchange of information, promotes cooperation among diverse technological interests within the industry, sponsors publications, fosters educational activities and preserves the history of science and technology of motion pictures.

Tickets to “The Abyss” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open one hour prior to the event. All seating is unreserved.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

Siggraph 2009 Technical Papers Preview Video

Jeff Heusser — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:26:25 +0000

This August the fxguide crew will be in full force to cover Siggraph 2009 in New Orleans. Siggraph is always a great place to network, see what is coming in future technology or update your skills. The last time the show was in New Orleans it was an amazing combination of work and play. If you have been on the fence about attending we have observed that hotel rates are very low. Check out the Siggraph site for details, registration and housing info.

After the jump you will find a just released video previewing some of the imagery from the technical papers.

ILM Purchases Nuke Site Licence

Mike Seymour — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:45:41 +0000

Hot on the heels of its management buyout, The Foundry has completed a major deal with Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Ltd’s multiple Academy Award-winning visual effects studio. ILM has purchased a site licence for Nuke.
ILM’s visionary work has earned thirty-seven Academy Award® nominations for Best Visual Effects.

Lucasfilm’s chief technical officer, Richard Kerris, commented, “ILM has a history in providing breakthrough imagery for production, and to do that our artists need to be equipped with the best possible tools. We believe Nuke is a forerunner in the compositing field. The Foundry’s investment in research and development and its customer-focused approach have produced a flexible, artist-focused toolset. We are excited to work with The Foundry and to see where these new possibilities will take our work.”

“Nuke allows us to leverage our 3D pipeline while remaining in the compositing environment, which puts a great deal of power into the hands of the compositors,” explained Pat Tubach, ILM’s compositing department supervisor. “We work on very complex shots and the remarkable speed at which Nuke operates means our artists can focus on the art of visual effects and not have their creativity impeded by a software speed limit.”

Bill Collis, CEO of The Foundry, commented, “ILM is a huge force in the world of visual effects and we are thrilled that they have chosen to add Nuke as a key tool in their compositing workflow. We are very excited to see where our working relationship takes us.”