It has been well known that The Chaos Group would be releasing Phoenix FD, their grid based fluid dynamics simulation tool for 3ds Max, for Autodesk Maya.
ISOTROPIX: Clarisse iFX
High end graphics company ISOTROPIX released a new product last month called Clarisse iFX, a piece of software which it claims, bridges the gap between 2D and 3D in production.
Scalability, Stability & Simplicity with Qube! 6.4
PipelineFX, makers of Qube! have announced the release of render farm management tool Qube! 6.4. With additional features including new tools for smart farming, MobileView access for supervisors via a free smartphone app, the ability to set priorities limits and control of how much of your workstation is available to the render farm with QBLocker, all with a single click of a mouse.
September’s Free Tutorial: "Hellboy" Inspired Maya Animation
For those of you looking to get more adventurous in Maya, September’s free tutorial is a must see. This is the perfect opportunity to spice up your showreel with something a little different, while learning a diverse range of new skills in the process.
Taking the next step into VFX wizardry!
Before becoming a mighty VFX warrior, you need to become a master of Maya. That is why our VFX courses are designed so you dedicate significant time to mastering the tools inside Maya before taking the next step into more advanced visual effects. And of course, it’s only when you know the limitations of any creative tool, that you know how far to push it.
Total Recall, Terrific Reception?
This year’s remake of cult classic ‘Total Recall’ has sparked some serious controversy in the world of film. Here at Escape Studios we are PUMPED for its release, given the fact that a number of our graduates have been hard at work over the last year, on the VFX side of things.
A total of 1600 digitally enhanced shots are used in the film, the vast majority of which were worked on by our pals over at Double Negative in Soho – pretty damn cool right?
The hugely complex cityscape of a futuristic London was some challenge for the artists, and it required some high detail rendering, luckily these digital wizards called upon previous lessons learnt from their work on the ground breaking, Oscar winning, Inception.
Total Recall is yet to be released in the UK, so we can’t join the squabbling masses just yet. But if you do spend your bank holiday weekend watching this high action sci-fi flick, we want to know - Does this contemporary version do the original justice?
Twitter is telling me a number of different things, from…“WARNING: Total Recall remake is unbelievably boring.” To “Total Recall - Amazing cinematography, perfect execution. More exciting than Avengers. 9/10”
I just don’t know what to think!
This year’s remake of cult classic ‘Total Recall’ has sparked some serious controversy in the world of film. Here at Escape Studios we are PUMPED for its release, given the fact that a number of our graduates have worked on it over the last year, on the VFX side of things.
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.
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:
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.
Pipeline In Your Pocket
Fed up of being tied to your computer in case your rendering fails? PipelineFX and Qube! have found a solution to that problem.
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.
RenderMan proves Brave enough!
Happy 10th Birthday V-Ray!
Some of you may, or may not, know that V-ray is currently celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary. So, to mark the occasion, what could they be doing? Are they throwing a week long wild party? A massive shopping spree for all employees? Or maybe a month's extra holiday time to all...
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!
Ready For RenderMan 4.0?
As of today RenderMan Studio on our Tech Store will be changing to make way for RenderMan Studio 4.0 with the beta version due for release soon.
GTC 2012 NUKE spotlight
The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) took place in San Jose California from May 14th to May 17th. The conference is the brainchild of GPU giant NVidia and looks to celebrate global awareness of GPU computing and visualisation as well as the importance of the future of science and innovation.
Transforming Theme Parks
A month ago I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky few to preview the newest attraction at Universal Studios, Transformers the Ride.
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.
Built by Self-Confessed Industry Nerds
With the divide between 2D and 3D becoming increasingly indistinguishable, I thought I'd share some information about an interesting alternative to Nuke’s default scanline render node and indeed much of Nuke’s current 3D shading tool set.
Real-Time Path Tracing Bunny
Want to see a demo of how computer games will look in the not too distant future? You are in luck. Here is a big breakdancing bunny courtesy of Samuel Lapere. Forgive us, the quality isn't great but it's still pretty phenomenal.