The Visual Effects Society (VES) are holding their 10th annual awards ceremony very soon, set to define the greatest VFX moments from 2011. Earlier in the week VES released their nominations for this year’s awards, a list that recognises the outstanding VFX achievements across film, animation, television, commercials and games. Regularly referred to as the “Oscars” for the visual effects world, this is a highly prestigious event for VFX professionals internationally. Receiving an award from any of the 23 categories is a great honour.
News Round-Up: Monday 9th Jan 2012
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Escapee Showcase: Alaric Holberton
It's been a while since we featured any escapee work on our blog so I wanted to show you a recent reel which has really impressed us.
December's Free Tutorial: Mastering Maya's Transfer Maps
I created this month’s free tutorial with one thing in mind: How can I help improve artists’ workflow’s? This tutorial explores Maya’s ‘Transfer maps’ tool and is designed to do just that. I’ve made sure that we cover this tool in great detail, providing valuable insight into how it works, and how you can avoid common problems. It’s a very practical, hands-on demonstration of the ‘Transfer maps’ tool and with it, you will learn how to bake a diffuse texture from multiple pieces of geometry to one individual model.
Revealed: The CG Whiz 2011 winners!
CG Whiz is over for another year, and it’s been a brilliant competition, with an incredible level of talent on show in both categories. It's now time for what you have all been waiting for, the announcement of the winners. But before I do so, I wanted to take time to give you some information on what our judges were looking for.
WAKOMPENSKI - The Road to London 2012
I thought I would let you guys into something special... A look at the truly fantastic Christmas video from The Mill's 2D department. In between working on some of the world's best VFX for commercial spots, The Mill still finds time to make a departmental Christmas video to compete at their Christmas party.
News Round-Up: Monday 12th Dec 2011
Here is my usual Weekly Round-Up of News, with stories that I have picked up over the past week. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment.
The Votes Have Been Cast And The Results Are In…
The judging is done, and the votes are in – the winners for CG Whiz 2011 have been decided upon, but you’ll have to wait until the 14th December to find out who the winner are. I know, it's a bit cruel, but we like to make a big deal of our Reveal Event. It's only fair considering how much work all our entrants have put in to their reels.
What’s in Your TV 'Must Watch List' This Xmas?
It’s about this time of year when I actually start getting quite excited about watching TV. I know it sounds quite sad, but I don’t get that much spare time to watch the box normally. Xmas is THE time when I indulge my secret passion for children’s tales and magical stories. The child in me is reawakened every year during that time, when I barely move out of the house – or off the sofa!