First week back at work and it's as if Xmas was months ago. The news certainly kept on coming this week, and here is a quick summary of what I picked up on this week.
Create Your Very Own Atomic Appliance
Ever bored at home?... Why not stick a laser pointer inside your tumble drier and create your very own "atomic" washing applicance? OK, so you'll be doing so at your own risk, but judging from the images published here, the results are pretty impressive.
Pixel Palace Artist in Residence: Kelly Richardson
Digital artist Kelly Richardson recently completed an artist’s residency at the Pixel Palace, a new digital media arts programme of the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne. During her time there, she began initial research and production into an ambitious new three projection video installation entitled ‘Mariner 9’. During her residency, the Pixel Palace commissioned a short film about the work being developed where she explains some of her processes and ideas behind the new installation.
Escapee Showcase: Hyeon Joon Kang
As some of you may know, we recently launched a new course called "Visual Effects Animation Professional". Well, our first group of students from the courses have been handing their projects in and I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase a fantastic piece of work by Hyeon Joon Kang. His work clearly shows how the VFX pipeline works and if we retrace his steps, we can take a closer look at each part of the process. Joon's project is a great illustration of what we teach in this new course and what you can achieve in just 18 weeks with us.
iNuked - Part Deux (Read & Write Nodes)
After an incredibly busy couple of months dealing with students' end of courses projects, as well as completing the first shot for my own showreel, I've found the time to work on the next episode of iNuked: my personal project to explore the possibilities of using The Foundry's professional compositing software NUKE, on my MacBook Air.
January Free Tutorial: How to Animate a Bird Flap (Part 2)
For those of you who logged into my November Free Tutorial entitled Animate a Bird and Make it Fly, you'll remember that I promised to deliver a second part to it. This tutorial uses a pre-created rig, which you can buy here and explores the mechanics of bird locomotion. It costs just $5 and trust me, it’s worth it. If you'd like a re-cap of what was in part 1, you can find all the details here.
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
There is a VFX buzz coming from Barcelona and it's due to Big Lazy Robot. Their stand out piece for the Phillips TV Parallel Lines Cinema campaign based around 'The Unicorn' was The Gift - and every time I watch, it keeps giving more.
V-Ray Renders in 3 Seconds on a New BOXX Workstation
We came across this video and just had to share it with you all. Check it out!
News Round-Up: Tuesday 3rd Jan 2012
It's been a while since my last News Round-Up... Hopefully, you will all be rested after this holiday season and rearing to go. So, to get you going, I have selected a whole bunch of news items which have been published over the last couple of weeks.
Dneg Champion ICT in Schools
It is exciting to see Double Negative lead the charge for the VFX houses, getting on board with Next Gen Skills and being extremely vocal in their support.
Video: Jobs at Double Negative
For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, here is a great video that shows life behind the scenes at Dneg. It is a really good way to get an idea of what it would be like to work for a world class Visual Effects house like Double Negative. They are one of the fastest growing Visual Effects houses in the UK and one of the top Visual Effects houses in the world.
A Great iPhone App From MPC
For anyone with an iPhone or an iPad here is a great app from our friends at MPC. If you are interested in entering the VFX industry, this is something which I would highly recommend. MPC's app shows the jobs they have available as soon as they are published, and is a great way of finding out about those entry level positions that aspiring artists are after.
The Last of Us from Naughty Dog
Winter has finally arrived at our doorstep and the Christmas holiday is just around the corner! Hurrah! That means it's time to hang up the party shoes, put on the UGG boots and embrace the world of winter hibernation.
Phoenix FD 2.0 Release
Chaos Group recently released Phoenix FD 2.0, the latest version for their grid based simulator. This latest version now comes with liquids, foam & splashes simulation capabilities, a particle shader and GPU preview improvements.
Training That Works For You
After a busy year of new course launches, we now have Visual Effects and Compositing training to suit everyone, whether that’s Classroom Training or Online Mentored study. We know what you need to learn but also understand that everyday life can sometimes make this difficult. This is why we’ve tackled this head on and ensured that our training is flexible and works for you.
The 2011 CG Whiz Reveal Event
Last Thursday, the winners of CG Whiz 2011 were announced at the much anticipated Reveal Event held at our Escape Studios headquarters in London. The room was busy with noise and champagne as Daniel Danielsson waited patiently to find out whether he had scooped first place. He needn’t have worried though as Mark Cass our General Manager and head judge Lee Danskin soon explained why Daniel deserved first place. With no professional training at all, he took it upon himself to learn all of the software that enabled him to create such a professional looking showreel. Check out the Reveal Event video, created by The Mill, to find out why Daniel was pretty much speechless when he found out.
Tweak Software Release RV 3.12.13
Tweak are working hard to develop and expand their powerful playback software, RV-image and sequence viewer. Their latest development comes in the form of RV 3.12.13. With this new version you get all the usual benefits of real time reviewing software, but now with the additional support of Python to make this version the most powerful yet. This new addition to the product has been in beta for a while now, and has benefitted from extensive feedback from customers reporting rough edges and bugs. With this valuable knowledge behind them Tweak are happy to release RV with Python, confident that the results will impress all.
A Cube Made Out of Gears
Sometimes, you just come across something which simplify defies logic and the laws of physics... Today, I did just that when I discovered this incredible piece of 3D printing. It just goes to show the magic you can create with such technology. And if you fancy trying to build something like that yourself, here is where you can find some instructions.
News Round-Up: Monday 19th Dec 2011
This will be my last Weekly Round-Up of News for this year..., hope you enjoy it. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment. I'll be sure to look at your suggestion during the Xmas break.
Fastest, Slowest Camera Ever
Have I got a treat in store for you today!... It has caused a real stir among us tutors at Escape Studios, and we could talk of nothing else yesterday morning.