The Great Divide in CG Facilities: A Metamorphosis
Tony Cristiano looks at the lightning speed advances in the visual effects industry and how it affects the big studios vs. the smaller ones.
Tony Cristiano looks at the lightning speed advances in the visual effects industry and how it affects the big studios vs. the smaller ones.
Expression College for Digital Arts has appointment Scott Tolmie as director of Industry Relations/Career Development Visual.
Before joining Expression, Tolmie was animation art director at LeapFrog, where he led the creative development of new characters for the LEAPSTER educational gaming platform. He was also exec producer with Way Out West Animation, where he developed Flash animation and interface design for medical clients, including Heartbeat Digital.
Its a busy week! E3 begins Wednesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center and REVENGE OF THE SITH opens Thursday.
Thomson will have a leading role at the 2005 Cannes International Film festival by showcasing its advanced cinema technologies and as an official partner of the Short Film Corner at the Palais des Festivals. In addition, many of the films screened at this year's Festival were created using a variety of film and post-production services from Thomson.
fmx, in Stuttgart, Germany, has emerged as the leading DCC conference in Europe. And later this week, Digital Eye columnist Peter Plantec reports on some of the latest trends from the April 05 edition, including the growing outsourcing problem and how companies are refining their tools and workflows to increase productivity and reduce costs the same theme that emerged from NAB2005.
Director Ridley Scott, whose epic about the Crusades with Orlando Bloom, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, opens today (May 6, 2005 through Twentieth Century Fox), told VFXWORLD that the hybrid of live action and CGI that predominates the industry today is very dangerous.
He recounted how Doug Trumbull advised him 25 years ago on BLADE RUNNER to shoot live whenever possible, and he only selectively goes digital to enhance reality out of necessity. It isnt easy getting 70,000 troops out there in one shot, Scott admits.
In this months Digital Eye column, Peter Plantec looks at the nomadic nature of the visual effects industry.
Planet Digital Education expands its line of prestigious 3D modeling and animation courses to include Maya training. As one of only 22 Certified Autodesk Media and Ent.Training Centers in the U.S., Planet Digital's schedule is primarily populated with Autodesk's staple courses taught by Maya experts.
Bill Desowitz looks at the reemergence of 3D with big pushes by IMAX and George Lucas, James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Robert Rodriguez and Peter Jackson.
Digital Vision announced that Industrial Light & Magic has used its AGR4 ME motion-compensated grain & noise management system to prepare the digital cinema master for George Lucas STAR WARS: EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, which hits theaters May 19, 2005.
NAB has come and gone and the buzzword was workflow. Every company large and small is looking to improve the process and performance of its pipeline. Its a leaner and meaner industry, with everyone learning how to leverage digital assets and technology for problem solving as outsourcing becomes more prevalent. No wonder both Alias and Autodesk, which have restructured and rebranded lately, are figuring out how to apply workflow solutions from their non-entertainment divisions to their entertainment divisions while expanding their consulting businesses.
Digital Vision, is showcasing, at NAB2005, the newest version of its Valhall Colour Grade system, V2.0, a complete realtime color correction system, with full primaries and secondaries, machine control and an ergonomic work surface. The Valhall control software also supports all Digital Vision DVNR options, including the new line of ME motion-compensated image processing systems.
NAB 2005 Digital Cinema Summit is two days of speakers, panels and new product announcements that explain the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) specifications, how they were arrived at and the issues faced in standardizing and implementing them. The sessions also explore digital cinema
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is hosting two panels titled The Art of Cinematography and The Rise of Hybrid Cinematography during the Beverly Hills Films Festival at the Clarity Theatre in the courtyard. The festival will run from April 13 through April 17.
Each year, thousands of forward-thinking professionals from every medium gather at NAB to discover cutting-edge tools, discuss new ideas and sharpen their competitive edge. Attending the NAB show is the best way to keep on top of the business trends and technology innovations that will affect your bottom line. NAB consists of a wide array of exhibits and educational sessions in production and post-production. Visitors will discover the latest tips and tricks in digital video production and post-production.
If youve ever wanted to digitize the High Sierras, model the Parthenon, take a panoramic photograph, discover photogrammetry and learn how to build digital sets, you cant miss this remarkable session with some of the industry
Leading visual effects studio Digital Dimension (BLADE: TRINITY, SON OF THE MASK, RACING STRIPES) is taking its production infrastructure to the next generation with 16 terabytes of clustered storage, running a new computing industry standard, InfiniBand. Backed by an Isilon IQ 1920i system, which is already online and supporting the company's busy slate of high-end feature film work, the deployment is allowing Digital Dimension to maximize the high performance, scalability and reliability of clustered storage technology to gain a competitive edge.
After announcing last month that it was adopting Massive into its production pipeline, Digital Domain is now integrating modos new subdivision surface and polygonal modeling toolset from Luxology.
Richard Cormier, former vp of the post-production studio Nice Shoes and managing director of the creative boutiques Guava and Freestyle Collective, has formed a consulting service named Richard Cormier Consultants. Cormier will provide strategic and long-term planning guidance to companies involved in digital media production, post-production and distribution. He has wide expertise in such areas as workflow, digital asset management and electronic distribution, as well as in studio management, restructuring and growth.
Digital Jesters, a videogame publisher based in England, announced that it has reached an agreement with Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. to distribute PC games in America and Canada.
Digital Jesters was formed by ex-members of CDV in September 2003 and has since published more than 12 PC titles in the U.K. and parts of Europe. The games that are part of the agreement will be the first titles Digital Jesters has published in the U.S.
Flashforward and the Flash Film Festival are the world's first and largest gathering of Flash users. The event has more than 70 confirmed speakers, which include digital and design visionaries Matthew Carter, legendary type designer; Stefan Sagmeister, renown graphic designer; Laurence Lessig, digital rights attorney; and Ze Frank, Website humorist and developer.
Robert Rodriguez SIN CITY opened last Friday and love it or hate it it represents quite a stunning and provocative achievement in photographic style and digital environments. Graphic indeed. You can read all about how Hybride, CaféFX and The Orphange divided the work on the three segments, The Hard Goodbye, The Big, Fat Kill and That Yellow Bastard, in Tara DiLullos comprehensive article for VFXWORLD.
LACDA Digital Art & Photography CompetitionLos Angeles, California, USAMay 29, 2005Deadline: May 22, 2005
Los Angeles Center For Digital Art announces its juried competition for digital art and photography. Entrants submit three JPEG files of original work. All styles of 2D artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable.