FMX 2012 Highlights Announced

Press release from FMX:

FMX 2012
17th Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia
May 8-11, Stuttgart, Germany

Four weeks before spring arrives, FMX gives an exciting glimpse of the promising line-up it has put together. This year, FMX features a great special on Martin Scorsese's 3D adventure Hugo that has been nominated for eleven Academy Awards. In addition, it offers VFX presentations covering the successful TV series Game of Thrones and Bones. Once again, FMX proves itself a unique and international meeting point for the merging of film and digital entertainment: In 2012, FMX places a heightened emphasis on innovative games such as Mass Effect 3 and The Witcher 2 as well as technical developments, financing issues and novel distribution channels.

Martin Scorsese goes 3D: Hugo

FMX dedicates two presentations to Martin Scorsese's first 3D animation feature Hugo that has been nominated for eleven Academy Awards including "Best Visual Effects." Hugo features elaborate VFX that were created primarily by Pixomondo. FMX is proud to present Hugo's leading Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato as a main speaker at this year's event. Together with Ben Grossmann (Pixomondo) he talks about the challenges involved in making Hugo.
Then, Matthew Gratzner (New Deal Studios) joins Grossmann to dissect the impressive train sequence in a second presentation. While New Deal Studios created the train as a model both in the computer and on set before the crash was filmed, Pixomondo created further visual effects, which involved, amongst others, texturing the train and turning it into a digital model.

Role Playing Game Highlights: Mass Effect 3 and The Witcher 2

In 2012, FMX places a heightened focus on the games sector that continues to gain in significance. However, FMX doesn't limit its focus on games to the artistic perspective; it also brings the producers' view to the table. This emphasis on games entails panels and presentations on the changing games industry that increasingly moves from off-the-shelf purchase to online distribution.

Meanwhile, numerous renowned, international game producers and developers have already confirmed their attendance. Bioware's Technical Artist Luis Alonso illuminates how the Mass Effect trilogy has evolved since Mass Effect came onto the market. The final installment, Mass Effect 3, is highly anticipated by fans and experts alike.

The third-person role playing game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings constitutes another gaming highlight at FMX. Lucjan Wiecek from the Polish video game publisher CD Projekt Red takes the audience on a journey into the breathtaking world of Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher.
Furthermore, the track "Games made in Germany" highlights Europe's good standing in the game industry.

Television: Game of Thrones and Bones

How can visual effects be created for TV despite tight budgets? The track "Television" pursues this question, amongst others in a presentation by VFX Supervisor Murray Barbar and Head of Production Nick Drew (both from The Mill).

In addition, two already confimed series serve as examples of successful VFX on TV: Game of Thrones and Bones. The VFX Supervisors Juri Stannosek (Pixomondo) and Rainer Gombos (HBO), who create the VFX for the medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones, reveal which visual effects await the audience in the 2nd season of the critically acclaimed show based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels.

Furthermore, Christian Cordona (Look Effects) -- one of the VFX Supervisors who work on the American crime series Bones -- imparts professional insights ranging from pre- through post-production.

SIGGRAPH & Eurographics Papers

The traditional, annual FMX presentation of "SIGGRAPH Papers" -- this year curated by Michael Goesele from the Technical University Darmstadt - is supplemented by a new series on "Eurographics Papers". "Eurographics Papers" is a scientifically oriented track in cooperation with the European Association for Computer Graphics, curated by Prof. Carsten Dachsbacher who teaches at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The following speakers have already confirmed their coming: Lars Krecklau (RWTH University Aachen), Diego Gutierrez (Universidad de Zaragoza), Kai Schröder (University of Bonn), Pascal Mueller (Esri Germany), Daniel Sykora (Czech Technical University in Prague) and Tim Reiner (University of Karlsruhe).

About FMX
FMX is an event by Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg [1], organized by the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction [2], hosting the Animation Production Day 2012 (APD [3]), a joint venture with the Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (ITFS [4]). It is an event in cooperation with Visual Effects Society (VES [5]), ACM SIGGRAPH [6], 5D Institute [7] and the Stuttgart Media University (HdM [8]), supported by Autodesk [9]. FMX is funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts [10] and the Ministry for Finance and Economic Affairs [11] of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the MFG [12] Film Funding and the FFA [13] German Federal Film Board.