The Digital Eye: Genesis. And In the Beginning…
In this months Digital Eye, Peter Plantec delves into the new Genesis digital imaging camera and how it will help vfx artists around the world.
In this months Digital Eye, Peter Plantec delves into the new Genesis digital imaging camera and how it will help vfx artists around the world.
VFXWORLD ends its new technology focus this month with Barbara Robertsons informative conversation with Lucasfilm cto Cliff Plumer and Peter Plantecs in-depth analysis of the new Genesis digital camera in his Digital Eye column.
eDIT 8. Filmmakers Festival, the art and science of the moving image (Oct. 9-11, 2005, in Frankfurt, Germany), announced that this years animation master Chris Landreth will interview festival honoree Phil Tippett on Oct. 10.
In addition, Landreth will present the making of his Academy Award-winning short, RYAN, during the panel Great Animation and Storytelling, also on Oct.10 (designated Animation Day), hosted by AWN/VFXWORLD publisher Dan Sarto. Juan Pablo Etcheverry (MINOTAUROMAQUIA) and Oury Atlan (OVERTIME) will discuss their work as well.
SEVEN SWORDS, a new epic Chinese feature film by director Tsui Hark, was realized with six of Autodesk's media and entertainment solutions. Based on Liang Yu-Shen's classic novel SEVEN SWORDSMEN FROM MOUNT TIAN, the film will be released worldwide in fall 2005.
Leading post-production boutique Post Logic Studios has added to its talent roster by hiring senior colorists Mike Cosola and Eric Alvarado for its Hollywood and New York digital studios, respectively. The additions come at a time when Post Logic is poised to implement a significant capital expansion of equipment and digital intermediate services.
Side Effects Software announced that Digital Domain employed Houdini Digital Assets technology to create the vfx for STEALTH, which immerses viewers in a photorealistic experience with jet planes flying at supersonic speeds. In order to develop this effect, Digital Domain created hyperrealistic shots that could only be created in the computer. Therefore, Digital Domain chose Side Effects Software's award-winning Houdini to create more than 650 shots ranging from heat signatures, engine effects, lift condensation and even a two-mile ring of fuel bursting into flame.
Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios has gained two new additions to its staff including director Mark Dippé and Lisa White, who is the new head of production, commercial digital.
Dippé joined George Lucas Industrial Light & Magic in 1988 and was a major part of the digital filmmaking group there. His work in photorealistic computer generated characters includes THE ABYSS, the liquid metal T-1000 in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY. He also had a principal role in creating the first living digital creatures in JURASSIC PARK.
Mark Spatny has been appointed supervising producer at Stargate Digital to manage the producers and coordinators at Stargates Los Angeles facility, and help coordinate schedules and staffing company-wide. He will also continue to work on select projects as a visual effects supervisor.
Spatnys recent work for Stargate includes supervising the effects for the pilots THE BOOK OF DANIEL and AMY COYNE, and producing for the FOX feature IDIOCRACY. He is also working with Indian director Anubhav Sinha on visual effects for the Bollywood film DUS.
Marisa Materna looks into the design work of Imaginary Forces, which has been a go to place lately when turning comicbook properties into feature films.
TiVo, the leading brand of digital video recorder (DVR), announced that five advertisers have agreed to use its new direct-response advertising solution, which lets companies insert a call to action or branded tag into their commercial spots. By clicking on the tag, more than one million TiVo Series 2 subscribers can respond directly to ads while theyre in progress.
New Lines WEDDING CRASHERS, overtook Warner Bros. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE for the top spot in the box office for the weekend ended July 31, 2005. The R-rated comedy gathered $20M for a three-week cume of $115.6M. The Tim Burton movie (with delightful vfx from MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite and Digital Domain) settled for second place with $16.3M and a total of $148M.
Massive Software announced Massive Jet, a new autonomous agent 3D animation application that enables the creation of large-scale, believable digital crowd shots "out of the box" with high quality and a low learning curve. A full-functioning package priced under $6,000, Massive Jet leverages the company's Academy Award-winning artificial life-based technology, pre-built Ready-to-Run Agent library and GPU-accelerated rendering support to allow animators and artists at any facility to quickly and easily produce highly realistic Massive scenes.
Alain Bielik speaks with Digital Domain and visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek about bringing the fast-paced action of Stealth to the big screen.
Renowned digital modeler Zack Petroc (SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW) will teach a five-week course in Digital Sculpting of the Human Form at Gnomon Workshop. This course will run on Mondays from 7:00 to 10:00 pm, beginning Aug. 8 and running through Sept. 5. Those interested can register online, in person, via fax or postal service. For more information call 323/466-6663.
We had a great time at Comic-Con in San Diego last weekend. In terms of movie sneak peeks, the highlight was certainly Bryan Singers SUPERMAN RETURNS presentation, including the marvelous reel showing off several dramatic moments and the filmic retro look (REBECCA in color, as Singer put it), courtesy of the new Genesis digital camera from Panavision. A close second was the climactic KING KONG T-Rex fight sequence, comprised mostly of animatics but exciting and promising, to be sure.
Digital Video Expo East is a core event for digital video trends or equipment for the audio, broadcasting, digital photography, independent filmmaking, lighting, visual effects, video or high definition industry. This year's conference sessions will cover technical, legal and business challenges driving change in the industry. For more information, visit www.dvexpo.com.
Tim Burtons CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (with delightful vfx from MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite and Digital Domain), which opened with a very sweet $56.1M for the weekend ended July 17, 2005, proved to be the best July opening ever for Warner Bros. It was also the best opening ever for a PG-rated movie in July as well as Johnny Depps best bow.
The Eisner Awards have introduced a new category this yearDigital Comics. Janet Hetherington explores the exciting new breed of digital comics creators and publishers.
Softimage Co. announced that leading visual effects studios Giant Killer Robots (GKR) and Stan Winston Digital used SOFTIMAGE|XSI software to create several key visual effects and environments for Foxs FANTASTIC FOUR.
Henry Turner talks to famed visual designer Syd Mead about his influential work on Blade Runner, old school vs. digital tools and the luxurious SUD.
Autodesk Inc. announced that its DCC solutions have been used by digital artists to realize their ideas for eye-catching visual effects in many of this summer's movies.
We turn our attention to digital art this month good timing with Comic-Con happening this weekend in San Diego (for those attending, please stop by our booth, #418). Ellen Wolff gets great insight from ILM concept artist Ryan Church on what it was like working on both REVENGE OF THE SITH and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Mary Ann Skweres gets a sneak peek at what we can expect at the SIGGRAPH 2005 Art Gallery next month. And Henry Turner catches up with the talented and tireless Syd Mead. Have a good show at the Con!
Bill DesowitzEditor
The idea had been swimming in the back of David Finchers mind for a number of years. On many occasions the cutting edge director discussed it with his longtime collaborators at Digital Domain.
David and I talked about a scene that takes place entirely in the confines of an executives workspace, explained Ed Ulbrich, Digital Domains svp/gm. He envisioned the objects in the office coming to life under the right circumstances. The difficulty was finding the right project.
The Digital Cinema Society will explore several new Look Management tools for both film and digital acquisition. Developers of new systems that have been invited to participate include Kodak, Gamma & Density, Iridas/Speed Grade, and the True Match Color Calibrator represented by Ron Garcia, ASC. DCS president James Mathers will moderate a panel discussion followed by a buffet lunch courtesy of host, Robert Keslow, after which we will break into smaller groups for simultaneous system demos.