fmx/05, the 10th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, commences April 27 to April 30 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Topics range from film and TV production, animation, effects and realtime to scientific applications, games and the latest software solutions. The organizers anticipate about 2,000 visitors a day, ranging from artists, technical directors, vfx supervisors and post- production companies to animators and broadcasters along with students and young professionals.
The most prominent speakers of fmx traditionally appear in fmx/conference and fmx/essentials, in which renowned representatives from the DCC industry present their work on famous movies and TV productions as well as the latest technologies and trends in the realm of animation. This years line-up includes two speakers from Academy Award-winning productions: John Kahrs (Pixar) will be talking about THE INCREDIBLES and Peter Nofz (Sony Pictures Imageworks) will discuss SPIDER-MAN 2. fmx/conference comprises five fields: fmx/animation, fmx/effects, fmx/production, fmx/technologies and fmx/games:
fmx/production
fmx/05 places special emphasis on production, in particular digital production. Top reps from film and television will be talking on the economic aspects of CGI and what possibilities the new techniques have to offer. The presentations on digital production were organized in close cooperation with the FFA German Film Board and are illustrated by detailed case studies from German and international productions.
Highlights include:* Franz Kraus, Arri "What is New in Digital Production?"* Bernd Schulze, PICTORION das werk "Digital Intermediate Workflows"* Wolfgang Oppenrieder, ProSiebenSat1 "TV-Movie Meets SFX"* Karsten Aurich, Sabotage Films THE EDUKATORS* Norbert Preuss, Fanes Film ABOUT THE LOOKING FOR AND THE FINDING OF LOVE, BLUTHOCHZEIT AND OTHERS* Tom Fährmann, DoP THE MIRACLE OF BERN* Sascha Schwingel, Teamworx & Stephan Trojansky, Scanline DIE STURMFLUT UND DRESDEN
A second series of lectures will be focusing on film financing, addressing questions such as:Film Financing through film funds. Private Equity and film funding. Models Structures Possibilities. Keynote: Future Structures of Film Financing"
fmx/animation
Questions regarding production are also an important focus in the talks on animation. The series of talks on TV animation was conceptualized by Susanne Schosser, co-ceo of EM.Ent. GmbH & Junior.TV GmbH & Co. KG.
Highlights include:* Susanne Schosser, EM.Ent. GmbH & Junior.TV GmbH & Co. KG "Trends in TV Animation: How Much Innovation Can the Audience Take?"* Tanja Reichert-Facilides, Universum Film "Animation Boom in the Movies: How do Different Markets React?"* Oliver Schablitzki & Karen Mitrega, SuperRTL "From Idea to Series From Series to Toy: DRAGON HUNTERS & HAIRY SCARY"* Kevin Geiger & Arthur Shek, Disney "CHICKEN LITTLE: Artistic and Technological Aspects of a Very Squash and Stretch-Style Animation"* Michael Coldewey, ceo Trixter; Tom Fährmann DoP & Andreas Richter, Roxy Film THE GHOST OF CANTERVILLE (TV production)* Frédéric Thonet, DURAN Group "A New Pipeline for the 3D- Animated Series UGLY DUCKLING AND ME"
fmx/effects
Good visual effects are still playing a crucial role in digital production from the effects heavy (SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW) to the invisible (the concentration camp in FATELESS).
Highlights include:* Rene Limberger, Sony Pictures Imageworks THE AVIATOR AND THE POLAR EXPRESS.* Malcolm Humphreys, Rising Sun Pictures SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW* Thomas Zauner. Stefan Trojansky, Scanline TRAUMSCHIFF SURPRISE PERIODE 1* Natascha Pfeiffer & Sven Martin, Elektrofilm FATELESS, based on the Imre Kertész novel* David McNab, director, Jim Radford, MPC VIRTUAL HISTORY THE SECRET PLOT TO KILL HITLER
fmx/games
fmx/05 examines the new trend of style-shaping in a series of talks and presentations, some of which have been organized in cooperation with the German chapter of the International Game Developers Assn. (IGDA).
Highlights include:* Viktor Antonov, Valve HALFLIFE 2* David Patch, Electronic Arts SIMS 2* Sven Liebich, Phenomic SPELLFORCE II* Noah Falstein, Game Developer "Why is Interactive Narrative so Difficult? "* Mikitaka Kurasawa, Robot Communications "The Making of ONIMUSHA 3 Opening Cinematics"* Dag Frommhold, Trinigy "Games vs. Movies: A Technical Perspective on Realtime vs. Non-Realtime Graphics"
fmx/technologies
* Daniel E. Wexler, NVIDIA "Film Rendering on GPUs"* Rene Limberger, Sony Pictures Imageworks "Color and Lighting on THE POLAR EXPRESS"* Rolf Mütze, PICTORION das werk "Lighting and Rendering for VALIANT"* Torsten Reil, ceo, NaturalMotion Ltd. "Static vs. Dynamic Animation"* Volker Helzle et al., Animationsinstitut "Developing Tools for Creating Virtual Actors"
fmx/essentials
fmx/essentials reflect groundbreaking movies that influence life and art. Highlights include:
* Keynote Richard Chuang, co-founder of PDI, today DreamWorks/PDI "A Unique Perspective on 25 Years of Animation"* David Sproxton, Aardman Animations "How Do Production Techniques Influence Content?"* Eric Roth, exec director, Visual Effects Society "The Globalization of Visual Effects Pre-and Post-TITANIC"* Mike Milne, Framestore CFC "How Do Budgets Influence Workflow? "
fmx/forum
Focal topics in fmx/forum are the latest developments of 3D animation, compositing, data nets, digital film, element replacement, color calibration, HD cutting, HD post-production, motion capturing, project management, realtime visualization, game development and further education.
Companies represented in the workshops will be:* Adobe Systems* Autodesk Media & Ent. (formerly Discreet)* NVIDIA* Alias* Hewlett-Packard* Avid Technology* Apple* Dreamwalks
fmx/05 (www.fmx.de) is organized by the Film and Media Festival Co., supported by the Institute for Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Post-production at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. fmx is funded by the Ministry of the Land Baden-Württemberg, the MFG Baden-Württemberg, as well as the German Federal Film Board FFA.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
