We said it was going to be tough to judge and we were right. The entries for this year’s CG Whiz competition blew us away (quite literally!) and the quality of the reels overall impressed each and every judge.
Yo Mo' Bro - Movember Results
With Movember now over, I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for being so sporting and not taking themselves too seriously with their Mo'. We have raised £2,076 (currently) which leaves us ranked 468 Nationally, which we think is pretty good form. I thought I’d share our leaderboard with you:
Empire Strikes Back Director Irvin Kershner Dies
Irvin Kershner, director of 'The Empire Strikes Back' died on Saturday in Los Angeles, aged 87. 'Kersh'', as he was affectionately known on the set of the 1980 sequel, deserves credit for directing easily the finest of all the Star Wars films, and for a diverse and varied career in which the inter-galactic blockbuster was something of an anomaly.
Marvelous Designer - A New Tool To Solve CG Cloth Issues
Here is a very interesting new bit af kit to address the problem of CG cloth. It's called Marvelous Designer.
Kettling, the new video game...
Sometime, I just come across stories that make me laugh out loud. This one is just one of them.
Attend our ZBrush Short Course and Get 3 Months Free Access to our ZBrush Online Course
Our next ZBrush short course is starting on December 13th and we only have a few places left - so you need to hurry if you want to have a chance to take part.
The Amazing Flying Festo Manta Ray
Have any of you been watching Wallace and Gromit’s new program on BBC1? It’s basically like a new version of Tomorrow’s World with Wallace acting as the presenter and Gromit taking the role of the funny side-kick.
The Foundry’s STORM: Soon on Beta
The Foundry’s new RED camera production hub, STORM, will soon be available for beta evaluations.
MediaCity UK - Salford Quays, Manchester
I was invited up to take a look around MediaCityUK UK last week. I didn't really know what to expect, I had heard quite a bit about the developments over the past few years but it had always been 'up North' and at the back of my mind.
Taking The Foundry Products On the Road
Last night, Escape Studios and The Foundry kicked off The Foundry Live Tour with an evening presentation at Aardman Animations' private screening room before a packed audience of CG specialists from the Bristol area.
Weird and Beautiful Effects with Acrylic on Flesh
Dom – our CEO – sent me a link to Alexa Meade’s website some time ago and I have been meaning to write about it ever since.
Last few places available for January 2011 Courses
As the end of 2010 approaches we're filling up fast for our next round of courses in January 2011. The last spot on our Compositing course has just gone, so the next seats available for that are now in April. We have also just filled our Character Animation course with Alex Williams so we now only have a few seats left on the two Visual Effects Production courses, taught by Mark Spevick and Dan Shutt.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
I went to see HP7 at the weekend. We are all different but I really miss the magical events of the early Potter, I guess I just didn't want him to grow up!
The VFX work was amazing, as always, well done to everyone involved. Would the film have been enhanced if it was in 3D? I think possibly so, but as we all now know, 3D as an afterthought is not the way to go.
I do worry about having a 'two parter' personally, you are going to the cinema knowing that there will not be a resolution. But that said, the cinema was full and that has to be a good thing for the industry. Count down to the final film... or will it be?
To be academic or not, that is the question...
Here's a great piece of animation which illustrates something I care deeply about, the education system.
CG Whiz 2010: A tough task to judge
As this year’s CG Whiz competition finally closes, we’re delighted to announce we had 170 entries through the door (smashing last year’s entry tally) and the quality of reels blew us away. There’s definitely a lot of talented CG artists out there and we know just how much this competition can help up and coming artists get their foot in the door.
More VFX Wizardry from Framestore with Harry Potter
Here I am, sat in the airport with some time to kill – so I start reading the papers and the front pages are all covered with reviews of last night’s premiere of Harry Potter (The Deathly Hallows Part 1) in London. That’s lucky, because I really like Harry Potter and I am quite looking forward to seeing the film.
Top 5 Reasons to Use CityEngine
It's not often I see new technology come along with the potential to really make a difference in a pipeline. CityEngine is one such product that is gaining momentum in the industry and worthy of a closer look.
Pixar's RenderMan amazing 40% price reduction!
Yesterday, Pixar announced an unprecedented price drop in their flagship product RenderMan® Pro Server. The 40% reduction will allow studios and freelancers that were previously unable to buy into the technology, to get a slice of the Film / VFX industry standard renderer. With the global CG expansion, Pixar appreciate that the growth of renderfarms is real and happening now, this move allows existing customers to ramp up their rendering capabilities in a more cost effective manner whilst allowing smaller shops and freelancers access to the toolset.
IKinema: New Animation Plug-in for Maya
If you use Autodesk Maya for animating characters and models, then you may want to check out this cool new animation plug-in called IKinema.
RealtimeUK Complete Work on Kinectimals
I caught up with the guys at RealtimeUK to check out a project they've completed for Microsoft’s new Kinect console, and was really impressed with what I saw.