Trojan Horse Was a Unicorn in Troia, Portugal starts on 15th September, but it’s already completely sold out. In fact, the five day event became fully booked in March. That’s not really surprising – numbers are limited to 500 and in only its third year Trojan Hose has already hit cult status as an alternative art, VFX, game and animation event. Effects industry stalwart and Trojan Horse ‘Knight’ Scott Ross even describes it as ‘Burning Man meets TED’ – a high endorsement indeed.
But if you can’t book a ticket to be at Trojan Horse – there’s a waiting list of 200 people by the way – why would you keep reading this story? The answer is that you can attend THU: virtually.
A new innovation for 2015 is the introduction of THU TV, a mix of livestreams and on-demand streams of the event from Troia as well as dedicated post-produced content. In all, around 80 hours of content will ultimately be available and it’s being made on-site by a team of nearly 40 people.
The price: €184.50. So, is it worth it? What exactly will be on THU TV?
All the THU content for a start, from some of the most well-known names in the 2d and 3d art, visual effects, game art and animation industries. People like designer Craig Mullins, Legacy Effects’ Shane Mahan, vfx supe and fine digital artist Kevin Mack and artist Ian McCraig. Here’s the full list of THU ‘Knights’: http://trojan-unicorn.com/knights
These Knights will lead talks, fireside chats, workshops, mentoring sessions, life-drawing and art battles at THU, many of which will be available on THU TV. Plus there’ll be special speed painting and speed sculpting shows made for THU TV, portfolio reviews, studio profiles and other industry presentations. In addition, THU has signed up several partners who’ll be offering discounts on software, magazines and courses. The THU TV rundown is here: http://trojan-unicorn.com/tv.
It’s all part of the THU mandate for connecting artists and sharing knowledge during the event, something the organizers are hoping to replicate online both in streaming the events live and creating interesting shows full of content.
“The way we are making THU TV is that we will talk directly to the people at home,” says THU co-founder Andre Luis. “So in streaming normally you have a camera and it’s focused on the stage, and that’s the thing you see. Here we have live shows and post produced content. For the people at home who want to connect with THU, we are creating these shows and talking with the audience face to face.”
Amongst all of that, fxguide will also be at the event with our special coverage you’ve come to expect from many years visiting the likes of SIGGRAPH and FMX. So look out for our reporting on THU between 15 and 19 September.
Head to the THU website for the full schedule: http://trojan-unicorn.com/schedule
The THU 2015 schedule is now up: https://trojan-unicorn.com/schedule