Effect-ing the story
How VFX helped to enhance the director’s vision in War Horse, Safe House, Big Miracle and Underworld: Awakening.
Side Effects Software – 25 years on
To mark the 25th year of Side Effects Software we talk to co-founder Kim Davidson and to SideFX’s Sci-Tech Oscar winners about their work on micro-voxels.
RSP’s trees, bees and birds in Mysterious Island
In this fxinsider interview, we chat to Rising Sun dfx supe Mark Wendell about the bird and bee chase in ‘Journey 2’.
Journey 2: small is large & large is small
‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’ VFX supe Boyd Shermis and the major visual effects vendors discuss the film.
Phantom camera, Sci-Tech winner
We talk to Vision Research’s Radu Corlan and Andy Jantzen about their Sci-Tech award for the Phantom camera.
Breaking down the Super Bowl spots – Part 2
Our Super Bowl XLVI coverage continues with a look at several more of the major VFX spots airing during the game.
Red Tails: Pixomondo wrecks planes and trains
Pixomondo VFX supe Bjørn Mayer breaks down his studio’s key shots for Red Tails.
Breaking down the Super Bowl spots – Part 1
Our Super Bowl XLVI coverage starts with a post-apocalyptic Chevy spot and CG cheetah work for Hyundai.
Luma transforms Underworld: Awakening
How Luma Pictures used mo-cap, Light Stage and Arnold to bring the Underworld: Awakening Lycans to life.
New source for 3D displacement textures
Surface Mimic makes 3D scanned depth maps for digital sculpting, allowing artists to brush high-res details onto models with industry software such as ZBrush, Mudbox, Mari and 3D-Coat. We speak to founder Paul Callender.
Behind the scenes with the animated Oscar noms
fxguide takes a look at the animated features and animated shorts nominated for the 84th Academy Awards.
Alive and animated: how DD created ‘Robotarm’
We talk to DD VFX sup. Aladino Debert about the challenges of completing a Cisco spot in a tight four week schedule.
A Game of Shadows: more to the mystery
We explore the key visual effects shots from Framestore and MPC in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
Hugo garners 11 Oscar noms – here’s why
Martin Scorsese’s Hugo received the lion’s share of Oscar nominations this year – we check out Pixomondo’s breakdowns of their VFX work.
Brainstorming more VFX on Boardwalk Empire
Brainstorm Digital tells us about their VES Awards-nominated work for the second series of Boardwalk Empire.
Digital storytelling: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Blur, Method and Digital Domain explain their titles and VFX work on David Fincher’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’.
MutantLand: from the mind of Phil Tippett
Visual effects supervisor and director Phil Tippett, and his team, talk to fxguide about their short film ‘MutantLand’.
Driving the projection mapping revolution
We talk to Drive Productions CEO Ben Fender about their London Millbank Tower building projections for Nokia Lumia.
For Example: Vue and Whiskytree
Whiskytree discuss how they use Vue in their pipeline for digital environments, as part of our ‘For Example’ series.
The Mill makes Audi hum
We talk to The Mill’s visual effects team about their VES-nominated Audi A6 Avant ‘Hummingbird’ spot.
Tintin: Weta goes animated
Weta Digital vfx supe Wayne Stables tells us about the challenges of creating Steven Spielberg’s ‘Tintin’.
Melancholia: when worlds collide, beautifully
We talk to ‘Melancholia’ VFX sup. Peter Hjorth, plus Platige Image and Pixomondo, about the visual effects for Lars von Trier’s film. Includes a video breakdown of the effects work with commentary by Hjorth.
More incredible, invisible effects
We look at more seamless VFX work in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Breaking Dawn, Machine Gun Preacher, Jack and Jill, Young Adult and Dolphin Tale.
Happy Feet Two: extended interviews
fxinsider members can watch extended interviews with the VFX and mocap supes behind Happy Feet Two.
The Art of Destruction (or Art of Blowing Crap Up)
As part of our ongoing in-depth ‘Art Of’ series, we present the Art of Blowing Crap Up: destruction pipelines.
An ad for beer, with deer
Alt.vfx supervisor Colin Renshaw tells us about the Tooheys Extra Dry ‘Nocturnal Migration’ spot, featuring both real and mocap’d digital deer. Includes a behind the scenes making of vid.
Puss in Boots: color grading in stereo
Puss in Boots colorist Jeff Olm discusses working on the animated film for Dreamworks Animation, in this fxinsider podcast.
Hugo: a study of modern inventive visual effects
We delve into the extraordinary stereoscopic visual effects work in Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Hugo.
Breaking Dawn: making wolves
In this special fxinsider only podcast, we visit Tippett Studio to discuss their digital wolves for Breaking Dawn – Pt 1.
J. Edgar’s motorcades and marching bands
Method Studios discuss their invisible virtual environment and crowd effects for Clint Eastwood’s biopic ‘J. Edgar’. Updated with before and after pics.