After a busy day on reception yesterday with the Academy Tour I was certainly looking forward to a more tranquil start to my morning…
'Beauty is Embarrassing' serves to Inspire.
When you're just having one of those days in front of your computer, it's always good to take a step back, and gain some perspective. Get some inspiration!
Zombie Proof House
A colleague sent me this fascinating and informative article earlier today, after a discussion about architecture. Upon opening it, I realised there was a whole branch of the discipline I had overlooked: Zombie Proof Architecture.
VIEW Conference: The Creative Power of Technology
October is certainly bursting with exciting events for the digital geeks among us. One to mention is our very own VFX Festival, the other is the VIEW Conference, a premiere international event in Italy for computer graphics, interactive techniques, digital cinema, 2D/3D animation, gaming and VFX. Running from 16th to 19th October in Torino, this 4-day event is overflowing with lectures, meetings, tributes, exhibits, screenings, workshops and demo presentations. And better still, our very own Daniel Shutt is among the exciting line-up for this year’s launching event.
V-Ray Demo Reels
Our friends over at Chaos Group have recently released their 2012 showreels for their render software V-Ray.
Gold Medal VFX
In case you hadn’t heard, the Olympics is on at the moment, and amidst the gold medals, world records, union jacks and jovial sports fans, there have been a number of VFX delights that have caught our eye here at Escape, and we thought we’d share a couple with you!
The first video comes from Piranha bar, who have teamed up with Pubilicis Dublin to create a visual treat of an advertisement, on behalf of Cadburys. Watch this Olympic themed, motion capture animation and read about the project here. It truly is a delight for the eyes.
A very close silver medal is awarded to Crystal CG, who’ve teamed up with electronic music duo the Chemical Brothers, to create a VFX driven intro sequence for the big screens in the Velodrome. The objective of said video - to get the crowd roused before the sessions begin.
Watch the Tron inspired project here, and let us know if it’d get you in the mood for some lightning paced cycling.
My answer is a conclusive yes!
In case you hadn’t heard, the Olympics is on at the moment, and amidst the gold medals, world records, union jacks and jovial sports fans, there have been a number of VFX delights that have caught our eye here at Escape, and we thought we’d share a couple with you!
From Basement to Bat-Cave
Enthralled about the latest instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy? Fancy yourself as a bit of a Bat-fan? Well prepare to eat your words, as this mega (rich) fan eclipses all others, and prepares to embark on a $2 million renovation of his basement, transforming it into a ‘Bat-cave’ themed, home theatre.
Maxon Cinema 4D
It has been announced this week that MAXON will be releasing CINEMA 4D R14 in September this year. MAXON have almost 20 years of programming innovation under their belts and CINEMA 4D is one of the best known and most successful 3D motion graphics, painting and rendering software applications around.
Introducing the BOXX renderPRO
BOXX Technologies present the BOXX renderPRO, the first personal, dedicated, rendering solution for animation, VFX, engineering and architectural visualisation. The renderPRO is designed for desk-side rendering with easy configuring and a compact design for professional performance in minimal space.
The Grass is Greener...
Next Limit has now released the newest version of Maxwell Render Version 2.7 with some new added benefits. New features like the Grass Generator, anamorphic bohek and support for blending materials with Maxwell Mesher mean that the grass can actually be greener!
The Museum/Maxwell Render Challenge
For the 2nd year Next Limit, ronenbekerman (the architectural visualisation blog) and Designconnected have collaborated for the Museum/Maxwell Render Challenge.
Making Magic With modo
San Jose University, California came up trumps at the recent Interior Design Association of Northern California (IIDA) Student Design Awards and have their 3D visualisation toolkit to thank for their success.
Trimble Invests in Google SketchUp
Back in 2006 Google acquired SketchUp, the 3D modeling program commonly used by architectural, civil and mechanical engineers. Google SketchUp was released as a free downloadable version that excluded some of the functionality of SketchUp Pro, but included tools for uploading content to Google Earth. Since that time Google SketchUp has been deemed very popular worldwide and can boast 30 million activations over 2011 alone.
The Architectural 3D Awards 2012 – Last Call for Entries!
The 9th annual Architectural 3D Awards, hosted by CGarchitect.com, are taking place on July 4th 2012 and a last call for entries has just been sent out, with only three weeks remaining. The competition is open to everyone in the Architectural Visualisation industry, and looks to award the best imagery, animation and real-time projects created over 2011 and 2012. This year there are five categories for the award, and only five entrants will be shortlisted for each category - Image (Commissioned), Image (Non Commisioned), Film/Animation (Commissioned), Film/Animation (Non Commissioned) and Real-Time.
Michael Hansmeyer: Computational Architecture
Here is an amazing chap called Michael Hansmeyer. Michael studied as an architect and programmer. He explores the use of algorithms and computation to generate architectural forms for artistic and commercial purposes.
The images of the forms that he creates are very intricate and beautiful...check them out.
Rendering a Pre-Visualisation for the World Trade Centre
Responsible for producing a visually captivating film that unfolds the story of the re-construction of the World Trade Centre, VFX house Piranha were faced with the monstrous task of rendering data of epic proportions. For Piranha the solution came in the form of a BOXX workstation.
Great 3D Visualisation Event at the Barbican
Last night, Thursday 29th March, was the Art of 3D Visualisation event at the Barbican Centre, and we’re delighted to report it was a great success. To start with, the setting was spectacular. The Barbican is an inspiring setting for architectural design. The event kicked off in the conservatory terrace, a hidden treasure in the heart of the Barbican and a lavish space with a back drop of decorative tropical plants. This time was spent wisely, arming ourselves with a cold drink the proceedings moved to Cinema 3 where we and our guests were treated to four presentations from five fantastic speakers.
An Exclusive Event on 3D Visualisation
On Thursday 29th March, Escape Studios are hosting an event at the Barbican Centre that will discuss the art of 3d visualisation. Joined by four industry speakers this is an opportunity to discover how professionals in film and other media create stunning as well as captivating animated visuals. The event is aimed at anyone working in the business of 3d visualisation, whether that’s in architecture, design, engineering or media and entertainment. We would like to invite you all to this exclusive event as we expose the creative side of this visual form.