The 2012 IBC Conference & Exhibition is now in full swing in the buzzing city of Amsterdam. Let’s just say, you’re not going to find a hotel room very easily right now! Jason Jenner and I from the Escape Studios technology team are here to represent our partners in the world of tech. We’re here all week, so if you want to get in touch, please drop us a line.
The Mill get musical with Terry Crews
The Old Spice ads have been tickling viewers over the last year or two, and this one for me, just takes the biscuit. With some magic from our friends at the Mill LA, this musically themed two minutes is brought to life by some intrinsically timed VFX.
If that isn’t enough, the ad is interactive! Viewers can tap their keyboard, to make Expendable and general macho man Terry Crew’s muscles move, in turn making sounds from an strange array of precariously placed instruments.
According to their site, Creative Director at the Mill LA, Phil Crowe explained… "I
The Old Spice ads have been tickling viewers over the last year or two, and this one for me, just takes the biscuit. With some magic from our friends at the Mill LA, this musically themed minute or so is brought to life by some intrinsically timed VFX.
Prime Focus Effects on 'Total Recall’... Part I
If a movie is a massive studio blockbuster, then the Prime Focus World visual effects team have most likely had some involvement in its making. Prime Focus was responsible for creating the stunning effects for titles such as Men in Black 3, Dredd 3D, Mirror Mirror and Total Recall…to name just a few! And of course, every new VFX project comes with its own challenges. Len Wiseman’s remake of Total Recall was one such project that allowed the team to flex their creative and technical muscle.
Reasons to be creative!
Today sees the launch of Reasons to be Creative, an annual festival dedicated to art, design, code and being creative. Born from its predecessor Flash on the Beach, this is a Brighton based digital media conference perfect for those who want to learn, get inspired, network, brainstorm, and collaborate. This is where leading minds in the business are brought together to share their knowledge, experience and above all inspire.
V-Ray Demo Reels
Our friends over at Chaos Group have recently released their 2012 showreels for their render software V-Ray.
Do you dream of becoming a VFX artist?
Ever found yourself pondering over a possible career in VFX? We’ve all had those moments when we’ve seen some awesome CG visuals and thought ‘how did they do that?’ The people who created these effects all started out somewhere, and that starting point is usually the time they started learning the tools they needed to get the job done.
Selby's App of the Week: Postagram - the new age of postcards!
In this modern age of gadgetry we've got tablets, suri and GPS coming out of every oraphis, but sometimes it's nice to remember the past, the things that people used to do before all the technological world took over, like writing a letter - with an actual pen and paper, using real stamps from a post office?! That's quite a retro step too far but if there was some way to combine the old and the new worlds...some sort of post card sending app maybe?? But if only you could use your own picture - not the generic touristy crap you can get every, something more personal...Everyone LOVES taking photos on their phone - it's fast and it's easy but what do you do with them after that - sure you can whack them on twitter, upload them to facebook and wait for the likes but what about posting it...as a postcard?!
BOOM! Hello Postagram! This super cool app puts a perfectly digital spin on the dying art of postcards allowing you to take any picture you've captured on the hot photo-sharing service Instagram (anyone who's anyone is using Instagram!), convert them into a postcard, add your own 140-character message and click send! Postagram allows you to look at your Instagrams while on the go and then send any picture - new or old - to anyone all from your iPhone! All you need is a recipient's name and address and a credit card - details will all be remembered after the first entry.There are a couple of photo-postcard-sending-apps on the market at the moment, including Touchnote, but Postagram is super user-friendly, quick and convenient and allows a direct connection with Instagram - which is great for editing and jazzing up pictures.
So if you too would like to send the personal touch of a postcard, without the old skool hassle of finding those fiddly stamps and a pesky old mailbox you can download the Postagram app for FREE! Each postcard costs just £1.49 to send - if you think that's pricey, have you been into a card shop recently?! You can thank me later. You're welcome.
In this modern age of gadgetry we've got tablets, Siri and GPS coming out of every orifice, but sometimes it's nice to remember the past, the things that people used to do before the technological world took over, like writing a letter—with an actual pen and paper, using real stamps from a post office?! That's perhaps a retro step too far, but if there was some way to combine the old and the new worlds...some sort of postcard sending app, maybe? But if only you could use your own picture—not the generic touristy crap you can get everywhere, something more personal...Everyone LOVES taking photos on their phone—it's fast and it's easy. But what do you do with them after that? Sure you can whack them on twitter, upload them to facebook and wait for the likes but what about posting it...as a postcard?
Everything is just Vine...
Over the past six months we have been working with Michael Illingworth, founder of Vine Post Production to expand his studio. Michael has worked at The Mill and Cinesite and has been involved in post-production, compositing and visual effects supervision on some of the biggest film names in the industry including the Harry Potter franchise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.
Get Involved with Thinkbox
Thinkbox Software will be in London on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of September and will be working alongside Escape Studios to organise meetings and demos of their product line up.
Autodesk Scaleform
A one day VFX taster session!
“Big things have small beginnings”, was an idea acknowledged in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, released earlier this year. And for us, this statement couldn’t be more true. Taking the art of visual effects as a prime example, the spectacular CG you see on screens today was born from the most basic of concepts, and the people who created those effects invested significant time and energy to become the talented artists they are today. Every creative talent has to start out somewhere, and with the right levels of care and determination, it can evolve into something magnificent.
The Decisive Moment Winners Announced
We announced back in May that the Chaos Group in association with CG Society, NVidia, MAXON and BOXX would be running the “Decisive Moment” competition. The challenge was to create a single image, using any application and V-Ray to render, that tells a decisive moment in time.
MARI: the best thing since sliced bread for texturing
The latest version of 3D digital paint tool MARI is being harnessed by LucasArts to help power the impressive visuals seen in its hotly-anticipated title Star Wars 1313.
Selby's App of the Week: Get 360-Degree Snap Happy with Photosynth
It's a well known fact that the iPhone camera is pretty cool but there's always been a certain je ne sais quoi missing from its camera interface. Granted it does make taking a quick pic a breeze but there isn't much on offer in terms of customisation or creativity. That's where Microsoft's Photosynth app comes in. This versatile panorama app automatically stitches vistas out of your iOS device camera's images.
Assimilate BBQ Date Change...
We are sad to have to tell you that due to our demand for such a massive amount of beef for our BBQ, Argentina has told us that they don’t have enough cows.
SimCity Is Back on a Global Scale!
Some of you may remember the incredibly addictive Maxis game, SimCity. If anything, you’ll remember the awesome tunes that accompanied your construction of cityscapes, with endless building potential. And for those of you with fond memories of this game, you’ll rejoice in knowing that the creators are taking it to a whole new level of development. SimCity is now global!
SIGGRAPH Round Up...
Another year another SIGGRAPH and what a packed in week it was. This year, LA didn't just give us earthquakes, heat waves and the biggest burritos known to man but also a full week of presentations from some of the biggest and newest studios plus an exhibition hall packed with the latest technology from around the world.
Here is a quick summary and a few favourites from last week. These are just some of the things to check out:
Selby's App of the Week: Fancy that!
Forget looking at silly pictures of cupcakes and sunsets on Pinterest, why not collect and organise images of stuff that you actually intend to eat, see, do or buy? Say bonjourno to Fancy, an app that lets you collect images of stuff you like, tag it, organise it, share it, buy it...BOOM! From the creators of Fancy.com, the Fancy app is available on iPad, iPhone and android and is completely FREE. Users can browse, shop and sell items they, well...fancy! You can flick through all things weird and wonderful from out-of-your-price-range sports cars and fancy gifts for your loved ones to vampire slayer kits, prosthetics limb covers and hot tub boats (no lie, it's a hot tub-boat!). This doesn't have to be an entirely self-indulgent experience either, share all those little discoveries on all the usual social media suspects to make sure everyone knows just how cool you are.
The FREE tutorial for August!
August’s free tutorial goes out to all the Compositors. Take this opportunity to breathe a little life into your projects, using some NUKE trickery. Based on a technique applied while working on Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Compositing tutor and Head of 2D at Escape, Davi Stein looks at how to enhance basic elements within your scene for a more filmic look.