Canon & RED Event Live Coverage
We had an amazing response to our coverage of the Canon and RED announcements, so many people tried to access the server that we could not handle the traffic (in spite of doubling capacity). This graph illustrates the spike in traffic we saw that forced us to use a twitter account to get the word […]
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Puss in Boots: head in the clouds
We chat to the VFX supe and effects lead on Dreamworks Animation’s ‘Puss in Boots’, and go in-depth on their lighting and rendering approach for a major clouds sequence.
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The ghosts of Twixt
SPY Post executive producer Amy Wixson discusses the VFX and color grading work on Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Twixt’.
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The Thing: a matter of life and breath
With A Twist Studio breaks down its breath shots for ‘The Thing’. Includes a behind the scenes making of reel.
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The Foundry ships first version of KATANA. ILM buys in.
The Foundry released KATANA 1.0 today, their look development tool. They also announced that ILM has purchased a site license, and KATANA will be used in their San Francisco and Singapore studios. Click through for some more details about the software as well as links to articles we’ve done here at fxguide about the product.
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Mikros image: the making of the Canal+ bear
Mikros image breaks down the visual effects in the Canal+ ‘Bear Rug’ spot.
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Psyop keeps us happy
Psyop gives us the details on ‘The Great Happyfication’, its latest short for the Coca-Cola Happiness Factory series. Includes a specially made Psyop breakdown.
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Behind the scenes of Attack the Block
Joe Cornish’s suburban alien invasion flick, Attack the Block, is now available on DVD. Here’s a video we produced with our media partners at The Daily about Fido’s visual effects for the film.
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PromaxBDA creativity and that Canal+ bear
Olivier Schaack, Creative Services Director of Canal+ was one of the key speakers at the PromaxBDA conference in Sydney, the second largest Promax held outside the USA. Schaack, wearing a French rugby jersey after losing a bet on the World Cup, compared his work to that of a vampire feeding off the creative energy of his […]
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The Three Musketeers: ships will soar
‘The Three Musketeers’ visual effects supervisor Dennis Berardi tells us about Mr. X’s work on the film. Includes behind the scenes making ofs.
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Mapping out The Three Musketeers
Mr. X creative lead James Cooper discusses the miniaturized opening titles battle for ‘The Three Musketeers’.
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In print: ILM’s artistry and the design of Star Wars
We take a look at two great vfx and filmmaking books, ‘Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation’ and ‘Star Wars: The Blueprints’.
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You saw the unblur clip with the audience gasping…here is the source
You saw the video of the audience gasping as Dr. Jue Wang presented the deblurring tech demo at Adobe MAX 2011. Here is the full video, samples and the original research paper.
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CVMP: November 16/17th in London
fxguide is excited to be a partner for the 8th annual Conference on Visual Media Production, which brings together post production pros with imaging and graphics researchers. The conference has grown since its inception and again this year there are some outstanding presentations.
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Real Steel: case study in CGI / live action integration
Digital Domain produced beautifully animated and composited fighting robots for Real Steel. We examine what it takes to integrate CGI and live action.
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The Art of Roto: 2011
Updated in-depth Art of Roto (2011) covering the history of roto to the tools and best practice for production roto. New sections include stereo workflow and stereo conversion tools, including Mocha, Silhouette, Fusion, Nuke, Flame 2012 and much more.
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Bunraku: digital origami
Origami Digital breaks down its more than 1000 stylistic visual effects shots for Guy Moshe’s ‘Bunraku’, marked by constantly folding and unfolding paper-like buildings and skies.
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fxphd: the role of the optical printer
The Optical Printer was the backbone of visual effects. With the start of the new term at fxphd, we present this sample class from last term on the Optical Printer at ILM and how it works in After Effects !
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Sapphire 6: Sparks with new life
We review the new Sapphire version 6 for Autodesk Flame and Smoke. GenArts has quite an ambitious plan, one that embraces the high end rather than ignoring it. But not without a price, or rather a brassy price tag.
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Rhythm and crowds: Moneyball
We talk to Rhythm & Hues about their invisible crowd visual effects shots on ‘Moneyball’. Includes behind the scenes ‘making of’ images.
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Incredible, invisible effects
We take a look at some brilliant recent releases with invisible effects work, including Contagion, Killer Elite, Apollo 18, Drive, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Water for Elephants.
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Dino-sized effects in Terra Nova
We talk to Terra Nova visual effects supe Kevin Blank and Pixomondo’s Jason Zimmerman about the new Steven Spielberg dinosaur series. Also included are clips and images from our visit to the set in Queensland, Australia.
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HPA: The Present & Future of Reference Monitors
On Saturday October 1st the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) will present a full day session on reference monitors. Registration in advance is required.
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Disney’s genius tech talent united and publishing
We go inside the secret (or not so secret) image research labs of Disney, with the Director of Disney Research Zurich, Dr. Markus Gross, to discuss its amazing global effort, its new found love of publishing, and we look to the next conference Disney will be publishing at; SIGGRAPH Asia.
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VES Production Summit 2011
On October 1, 2011 the Visual Effects Society will present their third Production Summit in Beverly Hills with the theme “Trending the Global Marketplace: You Are Here”.
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Breaking news: Hacking, camera industry VP pleads guilty
In a development that echoes the UK phone hacking scandal, film and camera tech industry veteran Michael Bravin has pleaded guilty to hacking into the computers of Band Pro Film and Digital while he was working for ARRI.
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The Lion King 3D: in-depth with Disney
Stereographer Robert Neuman discusses his work for the 3D conversion of ‘The Lion King’, a project that involved unarchiving the original Disney CAPS files and the creation of an entire depth score for the film.
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Hamsters vs. Robots: a Method double-shot
Method visual effects supervisor Sean Faden discusses two epic TVCs featuring dancing hamsters and battling robots.
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Visual Effects Society Issues Industry Bill of Rights
The Visual Effects Society has issued an Industry Bill of Rights, approved by the board and released today.
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The rise of the previs of Planet of the Apes
We talk to Image Engine and Pixel Liberation Front, two of several studios involved in the previs behind ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’. Includes previs clips and images.
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