Announcing our new Effects Technical Director Program (Houdini)
Spread the Word!
Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects is excited to share the first inside peek into our new 8 month Effects TD Diploma Program.
The success of our Visual Effects Production Diploma Program has attracted the attention of a certain Senior Effects TD with over a decade of experience creating Visual Effects on numerous Hollywood blockbusters. He is a rare breed of artist who also possesses a natural instinct for instruction and tutoring. As a published writer with experience instructing Houdini to students around the world he has developed an Effects TD Curriculum that is unrivaled by any other academic offerings.
A few of our Program Leads Credits
In respect to our new Program Lead, career changes of this magnitude can be a sensitive transition so this is all the information I can announce publicly at the moment. Contact us directly to learn more details.
Program Start Dates
Spring - May 2013
Fall - September 2013
Winter - January 2014
Program Outline
We work primarily within SideFX Houdini and a small component in The Foundry’s NUKE, supplemented by other specialty software to provide more personalized exploratory options.
During each week students are provided with several lectures and demonstrations to further assist with the learning process. Scheduled courses include various FX techniques. Weekly Industry Studies classes bring us together to view current media, breakdowns and techniques from real-world industry examples. Every Friday we gather for weekly screenings, where finished and work-in-progress projects are presented and discussed. Students complete assigned projects, working both individually and in small groups. In the final term the FX students will work on a project with the VFX Production students to really experience the group dynamics of working in a studio together as a team member.
Our purpose is to train the necessary analytical, creative and technical skills to get started in the Visual Effects Industry as quickly as possible, while still upholding a high standard of excellence.
All programs are primarily focused on producing projects, modeled after real studio industry environments. Demos, lectures, courses and plenty of lab time are included in an effort to support the project-based curriculum.
All our programs are fully accredited and each student is assigned their own workstation to use during the full duration of the program. We have had a very successful 98% placement on our past program and we are looking forward to including the FX TD Program to that list.
For more information please follow this link
Term 1 (4 Months)
[list]
[*]Orientation/Basics
[*]3D & FX Generalist training:
[list]
[*]Surfaces
[*]Lighting, shading & rendering
[*]Animation
[*]Project relevant technique lectures
[/list]
[*]Project 1 - Simulated Destruction – A large proportion of feature film effects which are handled by the FX pipeline would fall into the category of destruction. This would encompass taking in environmental, structural, and other modeled assets and designing a system to destroy it in a highly realistic way. The techniques involved focus on three key areas:
[list]
[*]Procedural geometry manipulation
[*]Particle simulation
[*]Rigid body dynamics[/list]
[*]Industry Studies
[/list]
Term 2 (4 Months)
[list]
[*]3D & FX Generalist Training:
[list]
[*]Advanced FX System design & procedures
[*]Project-Relevant Technique Lectures
[/list]
[*]Project 2 - Environmental Effects – Environmental effects are extremely common in film and involve the creation and rendering of realistic natural phenomenon. Tasks could include snow, dust, rain, smoke, clouds, and terrain.
These may include:
[list]
[*]Common particles
[*]Volume fluid simulations
[*]Shader construction
[*]Advanced rendering
[/list]
[*]Project 3 – Advanced Simulation & Effects – This project will involve students with special effects tasks of higher difficulty and relying on a more complete understanding of simulation and rendering. The main element of this project will be a Pyro or Fluids Simulation. These may include:
[list]
[*]Fire
[*]Combustion
[*]Explosions
[*]Water / fluids
[/list]
[*]Project 4 – Group Project – This project will be a combination the the previous skills acquired and may include simulated destruction, environmental and advanced simulations.
[*]Industry Studies
[*]Career Prep and Demo Reel Edit
[*]Job Placement Assistance
[*]Graduation
[/list]
Supported by Side FX (Houdini)
[i]“Thank you for your consideration to offer a Houdini FX program at your school. I have read through the proposed curriculum outline for your Houdini FX program and agree with it and agree with 8 months being an acceptable duration for this program.
There is a very large demand in the VFX and gaming industry for highly skilled Houdini FX technical directors and artists. Given the fact that Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects has a very good reputation for helping build relevant, ready for production skilled talent, I am very pleased to support your efforts.â€
Aliza Sorotzkin - Global Education and Training Manager†Side Effects Software[/i]
Link to an Overview of Houdini 12 on Vimeo
About Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects
[i]Based in Vancouver Canada, Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects is North America’s top dedicated visual effects school offering an intensive ten month Visual Effects Production Diploma program. Led by award-winning VFX Supervisor/Mentor, Mark Bénard, a pioneer of Vancouver’s VFX Industry, bringing over 16 years of studio, on-set and supervisory experience from projects across the globe. Carrying the honour of being the Visual Effects Society (VES) | Vancouver Section’s Chair of Education & Technology, Bénard stands out as a leader in VFX Educational Development. As an influential contributor to the VFX Industry he holds annual responsibilities as a judge for the Visual Effects Society Awards and the Silver Screen Awards.
Boasting over a 98% placement rate, Lost Boys is the preeminent school of visual effects. For more information please visit our website at www.lostboys-studios.com, www.lostboys-vfx.com or join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/SchoolOfVFX. [/i]
Link to our Latest Student Montage on Vimeo
