Marc Petit, Autodesk M&E Senior VP with Dan Sarto.

As Senior Vice President of Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment division since 2007, Marc Petit is responsible for the development and marketing of Autodesk’s digital entertainment creation products, including Autodesk® Flame®, Smoke®, FlareTM, Lustre®, 3ds Max®, Maya®, MotionBuilder®, Softimage®, Mudbox® and FBX® software and technology.  In a career that included almost a decade at then fledgling Softimage, as well as many years at Discreet, Marc has worked closely with production studios and understands some of the unique challenges they face.  Unlike companies in other industries, such as automotive or manufacturing system design, entertainment production studios create work product judged not by industry or consumer standards, but instead, by the subjective eye of one, or a small group of individuals. The competition is intense and the “look” that producers seek in their productions is always a shifting target.

Pixar's Christophe Hery (l) and ILM's Ben Snow (r) talk lighting, shading, rendering and the wonders of Davey Jones.

As a visual effects supervisor at ILM, Ben Snow has helmed the vfx efforts on a number of high profile films, including both Iron Man films, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Terminator Salvation and King Kong.  Snow joined ILM in 1994 to work on three-dimensional computer graphics for Star Trek: Generations.

Currently Pixar’s Global Tech and Research TD, Christophe Hery joined the studio in 2010 after spending 17 years at ILM.  Hery’s most recent work involves writing new lighting models and rendering methods for yet unannounced shows.  In 2010 he received a Technical Achievement Award for the development of point-based rendering for indirect illumination and ambient occlusion. He is recognized throughout the industry as one of the leading technical innovators and researchers in areas of lighting and rendering.

This wonderful building becomes like Everest after three days.

written by Johannes Wolters

Okay, there is one minor flaw in fmx. I had to go through three days of fmx09, but then I found it. Or better it found me. The house of commerce, this big old wonderful building, where fmx is placed is a truly great place for all the things going on. But the event has now conquered four floors of the place and every floor has very high walls. So if you want to run downstairs and upstairs to catch your next meeting, to get to your next discussion, whatever, you climbed in the end all together the Everest. Or at least your legs begin to revolt. So on the last day of fmx you notice more and more people (and not only the elderly ones), who take the elevators, a little bit hidden and a little bit slow. But that’s the only flaw I have found on this years edition of fmx. I have to admit this stairs-sport is also very healthy. May be not, with all the coffee you need to drain every piece of information from this awesome conference. Again the creators of the fmx, Renata and Thomas Haegele topped the event from last year and again the numbers of attendees increased. Again more and internationally renowned speakers came to Stuttgart, again for four days the sunny town became animator’s land And that in those dark and gloomy times of worldwide economic crisis. And I did not discover one unhappy face during all those days. Must be heaven!

By Peter Plantec

Considering the lousy state of the dollar and air travel, I'd think twice about attending any European conference. It comes down to a personal cost-benefit analysis and you must weigh a lot of personal factors. There is one Euro-conference I am going to -- fmx/08, and for good reason.

fmx is by far the most important, forward looking and entertaining media conference in Europe. Heavily funded by the regional government of Baden Wittenberg, Germany, as well as significant industry sponsorships, it represents one of the best values I've seen for people who want to network, be seen, and learn cutting-edge techniques and technology. That said; fmx is also possibly the most fun I have all year.

fmx/08 is the international center for all creative people working in the visual fields. Courtesy of fmx.

By Johannes Walters

Buzzing clouds of animators, visual effects people and creative artists of videogames showed up last week in Stuttgart, Germany, at the Haus der Wirtschaft (House of Trade), where fmx/08 was held: the annual and international conference on animation, effects, realtime and content. Once again, this four-day event, the brainchild of Thomas Haegele, head of the Ludwigsburg-based Animationsinstitut, the animation school department of the Filmakademie Baden Wüerttemberg, seemed to become the international center of all creative people working in the visual fields.

If you attend fmx and are addicted to this world of creative and artistic visual development, you encounter a nightmare of decisions. At least eight wonderful panels, talks or lectures are given simultaneously. So you have to decide which programs you positively can't miss. And the one you choose, of course, will turn out to be the wrong one, as DreamWorks Animation's Shelley Page commented with her customary dry British wit.

More than 6,000 people attended fmx/08 again this year. And more than 400 speakers from 30-plus countries were invited. So this event is still growing strong both by numbers and by complexity. But this certain feeling of a big, friendly family meeting is still there, the chance to meet and speak to everyone you want to.

You may have noticed we've changed our subtitle - well, we've got to keep up with what's happening in the industry! Our program is taking shape and we'd like to share some of our interests for 2012: FMX encourages debate on topics as diverse as Virtual Production, Previs, Transmedia, Lighting and Rendering, Visual Effects in TV, Industrial CG, Character Animation in Games, Effects produced in Europe & India and Digital Worldbuilding by inviting speakers across these disciplines.

We are excited to announce the date for FMX 2012, the 17th Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia: May 8-11, 2012.

Dan Sarto with Jeff Okun at FMX 2011.

As chairman of the Visual Effects Society, Jeff Okun has the difficult and usually thankless task of balancing the wants, needs and positions of different professional groups that often sit, knuckles clenched and eyes bulging, on opposite sides of the conference table. Jeff always walks a fine line between agitator and voice of reason.  He isn’t afraid to speak his mind and does so quite frequently, possibly to his own detriment.  However, he doesn’t do so flippantly or without thought and reason.  He is not one to poke an ant hill with a stick just to see what trouble he can stir up.  He talks with passion, knowledge and conviction about pressing issues of importance affecting several thousand VES members as well as hundreds of thousands of other creative artists, producers and studio executives.   

Consequently, he is not afraid to speak honestly about subjects the make some uncomfortable, nor take positions that might rub some people the wrong way.  The bottom line is that everyone working in film and television today knows fundamental change is afoot in how shows are financed and produced and that the visual effects industry has taken a tremendous beating the last few years, especially in California.  The question is what to do about it.

This year, I had the good fortune to sit down with Jeff and talk about some of these pressing issues.  Edited down to 4 segments, these interview videos provide a frank look at the problems plaguing the industry, how the road ahead is no less rocky than the road just traveled and how the industry needs to work together to bring about the type change that will provide more respect and a better future for creative everywhere.

Happy Holidays

The New Year is just around the corner ...and so is FMX! Each year thousands of visitors descend on FMX for the same reason - a passion for animation, effects, games and transmedia; combined with the opportunity to listen to the most exciting speakers in the industry! The program for 2012 is coming together nicely, now we can let you know some of what's in store next May...

Notice anything new about the FMX homepage? We have re-launched the FMX site for 2012 featuring our fabulous new trailer motifs and heaps of information how you can get involved.

New 2012 Trailer: Globosome

The new trailer for FMX 2012 has been released - we think it's stunning! In the vastness of space, there's a small speck of rock inhabited by the most peculiar life forms: Dark little dots that start to replicate fast and begin to show signs of intelligence. Globosome tells the story of the rise and fall of these little creatures. The trailer was created by the Institute of Animation's Diploma-year student, Sascha Geddert:

"The film is inspired by the special time we're living through on our own planet. I wondered what makes humans actually different from bacteria in a petri dish. Surely we have culture, science and art but what does remain of these achievements if you look at our world from a global perspective."

The trailer is completely realised in 3ds Max in Stereoscopic 3D. A vast collection of plugins was used for rendering, atmospherics, plants and the control of thousands of jumping dots. Controlling the crowds was one of the most challenging aspects of the film all together with the sheer amount of work caused by the depiction of a world in constant transformation.

If you haven't already been mesmerized already by Globosome, go and watch it immediately...

Bill Kroyer.

I’ve known Bill Kroyer since I started AWN back in 1995.  He was one of the first industry people I was introduced to way back then.  I’ve always considered him one of the nicest, most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met in the business.  He cut his teeth years ago at Disney as one of the main animators on Tron.  He’s directed numerous commercials, feature films such as Ferngully: The Last Rainforest as well as supervised the CG on films such as Garfield, Scooby Doo, Cats & Dogs and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. He was nominated for an Oscar for his 1988 short film Technological Threat.  He’s also on the board of governors of the Motion Picture Academy and a director at the Dodge School of Film and Media at Chapman University.  In his spare time, he likes growing Orchids and taking long walks on the beach.  All kidding aside, he’s one of the true talents in our industry and one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. 

He was a guest at FMX 2011, doing a presentation on the making of the original Tron.  It’s fascinating listening to him talk in-depth about how they made the film, how they literally made things up as they went along, how they generated imagery from keypunching page after page of binary code. The list of nutty things they did to make this picture goes on and on. Bill sat for an interview and shared his thoughts on the original Tron, where it broke new ground and what impact it had on the computer animation field.  He also talks about the new digital animation program at Chapman as well as some of the political issues animation faces within the Motion Picture Academy. 

Preparations for this year‘s FMX are in full swing. The new subtitle "Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia" sums up the essence of the 17th edition of Europe’s largest conference on the creation, production and distribution of Digital Entertainment. In 2012, FMX focuses on new Animated Features, Visual Effects and Games as well as specific topics such as Virtual Production, Previs, Digital Worldbuilding, Lighting und Rendering, Cloud Computing, Industrial CG and Transmedia. While a majority of this year’s program is still being planned, FMX is delighted to announce that Transmedia pioneer Henry Jenkins has already confirmed. What’s more, FMX will offer four exciting days filled with world-class keynotes, presentations and workshops as well as excellent networking possibilities at the FMX Marketplace, School Campus and Recruiting Hub.

FMX 2012
17th Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia

May 8-11, Stuttgart, Germany