fxpodcast with Tom Walsh, President of the Art Directors Guild
As part of our continuing labor series we sit down with Tom Walsh, President of the Art Directors Guild to discuss the role of the Guild. We talk about job categories represented by the Guild, the global business, how the Guild relates to the visual effects business and much more. Tom is also a working […]
New fxguidetv Mari @ the foundry
In the new fxguidetv episode we have an exclusive first look at the texturing and paint software Mari with The Foundry’s Bill Collis and Jack Greasley. Mari was developed at Weta as the in house tool, and is now moving to the Foundry. Mari is a remarkable paint and texturing tool able to handle very […]
New Version of Silhouette Released
Silhouette has always been an incredibly strong tool, in large part due to its dedication to a specific task: roto. This week, version 4 was released which contains major enhancements and additions to the application. The first is what is called “Power Matte”, which uses inner-outer shape algorithms to determine the edges of the object. […]
VFX Town Hall #1 Audio File
If you missed the first VFX Town Hall meeting we are helping with bandwidth by hosting the mp3 of the audio recording of the event. You can listen by using this link.
VFX Town Hall – Community Links
One of the things we have been impressed with since the town hall was announced is the grass roots growth we have seen in the community. People have been taking full advantage of tools on the internet like wiki’s and google documents to share information and help develop guidelines. After the jump you will find […]
VFX Town Hall – how did it go, what did it mean?
Last night the first in a series of online town hall meetings was held – organized by Lee Stranahan, the panelists were Chris deFaria -Vice President, Warner Bros. Pictures, Jefferey A. Okun – Visual Effects Society Chair and visual effects supervisor and Scott Ross – Co-Founder of Digital Domain & former CEO of Industrial, Light […]
Reminder – VFX Online Townhall Meeting
Monday, March 29th at 7pm (Pacific) there will be “an open discussion of a visual effects industry in transition”. This free online townhall meeting has been put together by Lee Stranahan, a former visual effects artist and writer for The Huffington Post whose Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairness For VIsual Effects Artists sparked a […]
CafeFX “Downsizing and retooling, not closing”
All week there have been rumors that CafeFX is closing. Today Jeff Barnes responded to this chatter by way of David S. Cohen at Variety who said via Twitter (@Variety_DSCohen): Jeff Barnes of CafeFX texted me they are “downsizing and retooling, not closing.” and “Barnes of CafeFX also writes “We did NOT lay everyone off. […]
Nuke Stereo Master Class Plus 6.1 Preview
The Foundry held its second Master Class in London on Friday, playing to packed house at the Vue theatre in Leicester Square. The event was standing-room only, having given away all the seats in only 24 hours when it was announced earlier this year. The event focused on stereoscopic production and post…a timely program after […]
CORE is closing down
It appears that C.O.R.E Digital is closing down. C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, was one of Canada’s leading digital visual effects and animation studios, based in Toronto, Ontario. The company is closing very abruptly, it seems. Reports on the net are circulating that this closure was so sudden employees entitlements may be in question, (we have not […]
ImageMovers Digital Closing
It was announced today that ImageMovers Digital in Marin County will be closing after completing Mars Needs Moms, expected to be January 2011. ImageMovers Digital was built by Robert Zemekis with Disney and is best known for producing A Christmas Carol. We first heard this news from a San Francisco friend’s Facebook posting, then a […]
Ok Syyn Labs Go…Adam Sadowsky
In the last 48 hours an amazing video has swept the net. The OK Go “This Too Shall Pass” music video – built and engineered by a creative geek group of mad scientists, art lovers, and inspired geniuses that collectively go by the name of Syyn Labs. As Adam Sadowsky, of Syyn Labs, was getting […]
Visual Effects link roundup
The internet has been particularly active this week with visual effects news. Here is a list of links that we found interesting, if we missed any please add to comments and if we find more this week we’ll add them here. Visual Effects related links: Wall Street Journal: Working as a Visual Effects Artist Shoot: […]
It’s Official – 5D Mk II Update Date
We know many of you are waiting for the 5D MkII update to 24 P. The date is Mid-March and the features will include: The new firmware incorporates the following updates and benefits: 1) Frame rate now to include 24fps (cinema) and 25fps (PAL broadcast). Shoots a variety of frame rates, overcomes the need for […]
VES Award Winners
The 8th Annual VES Awards were held tonight, Sunday, February 28th at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. James Cameron was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award and Ed Catmull with the George Melies Award for Pioneering. Avatar took a lot of awards with District 9 besting it in one […]
Avatar wins BAFTA for Special Visual Effects
Congratulations to Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones who took home the BAFTA for Special Visual Effects for Avatar. The Orange British Academy Film Awards rewards the best work of any nationality seen on British cinema screens during the preceding year. The awards took place on February 21, 2010 at the Royal […]
Massive 4.0 Released
The folks at Massive Software announced today that version 4.0 of Massive is now shipping. The release contains new Terrain Nodes, V-Ray rendering, new Stadium placement tools, and other improvements. We’ll have the new release available soon on the VPN over at our sister training site fxphd.com. For the full press release from Massive, click […]
Open Letter, Animation Guild Updates and Other Resources
There has been a lot of activity since our podcast about the Open Letter to James Cameron and our interview with Steven Hulett from The Animation Guild. In the interview with Lee Stranahan about the Open Letter he proposed a VFX Town Hall meeting, a webinar style event to discuss the issue of VFX Fairness. […]
Red Centre Podcast: Red Day & Shane Hurlbut
Red Centre 56 podcast out. This is our biggest show ever, with Red and Canon news, Jeff’s Heusser reports from LA on the February Red Day. And Shane Hurlbut ASC (Terminator Salvation DOP ) kicks down the door of the Red Room. Click the more button below for a portfolio of images from Shane Hurlbut, […]
fxpodcast: An Open Letter to James Cameron
A week ago Lee Stranahan wrote an article in the Huffington Post titled: Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairness For Visual Effects Artists. Lee has opened a wider dialogue for a topic we have been championing for years. We discuss what led him to write the article, the reaction, what should happen next and issue […]
fxpodcast: Another Visit with The Animation Guild
Steven Hulett is the Business Representative of The Animation Guild (TAG) Local 839 IATSE, he last joined us for a podcast in August of 2008. We wanted to talk further with him about the Guild and get more of the history of previous efforts to organize visual effects. We talk about the failed efforts a […]
Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairness For Visual Effects Artists
Lee Stranahan is a Filmmaker, Writer, Photographer who writes for the Huffington Post. He has crafted an Open Letter To James Cameron. This is a must read: Open Letter To James Cameron: Fairness For Visual Effects Artists
Oscar Nominations announced
Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards® were announced early this morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the visual effects category this means the field is now narrowed from seven to these three nominated films: Avatar Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones District 9 Dan Kaufman, Peter […]
The Halo Life
The Life, a live action short directed by MJZ’s Rupert Sanders to promote the launch of Halo 3: ODST for the Xbox 360, features visual effects by Asylum as we follow Tarkov, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, through training and a major battle sequence. Visual effects supervisor and lead compositor Rob Moggach tells fxguide how […]