Available via all authorized RealFlow Resellers or the Next Limit customer gateway.
Offer ends on July 1st. For more information, please contact the Next Limit sales team: http://www.nextlimit.com/support_gen_enq.php
An Open Letter To VFX Artists And The Entertainment Industry At Large Visual Effects Society: 2.0
As an Honorary Society, VES has led the way in promoting the incredible work of VFX artists but so far no one has stood up to lead the way on the business side of our business. No one has been able to speak out for unrepresented artists and facilities or the craft as a whole in any meaningful way.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the state of the visual effects industry is unsettled. Artists and visual effects companies are working longer hours for less income, delivering more amazing VFX under ever diminishing schedules, carrying larger financial burdens while others are profiting greatly from our work. As a result, there has been a lot of discussion recently about visual effects and its role in the entertainment industry. Many feel VFX artists are being taken advantage of and many others feel that VFX facilities are operating under unsustainable competitive restraints and profit margins. There have been calls for the creation of a VFX union to represent artists interests while others have pushed to create a trade organization for VFX facilities to better navigate todays economic complexities.
As globalization intensifies, the process of creating visual effects is becoming more and more commoditized. Many wonder if the current business model for our industry is sustainable over the long term. Indeed, multiplying blogs are questioning why artists are forced to work crazy overtime hours for weeks or months on end without health benefits and VFX facilities are forced to take on shows at a loss just to keep their pipelines going and their doors open (they hope).
As good as we are at creating and manipulating amazing and ground breaking images, VFX professionals have done a terrible job of marketing ourselves to the business side of the industry. In short, no one has been able to harness the collective power of our efforts, talents, and passions into a strong, unified voice representing the industry as a whole.
VES may not have the power of collective bargaining, but we do have the power of a voice thats 2,400 artists strong in 23 countries — and the VES Board of Directors has decided that now is the time to use it. We are the only viable organization that can speak to the needs and concerns of everyone involved in VFX to meet the challenges of a changing global industry and our place within it.
The work we do helps a lot of people make a lot of money, but its not being shared on an equal basis, nor is the respect thats due us, especially considering that 44 of the top 50 films of all time are visual effects driven(http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross).
For VFX ARTISTS (NOT computer geeks, NOT nerds), we do not receive the kind of respect that measures up to the role visual effects plays in the bottom line. And thats expressed in a number of very obvious ways:
Credits we are frequently listed incompletely and below where we should be in the crawl.
Benefits in the US, you likely do not have ready access to health care. Or a vision plan. Or a pension plan. Outside the US, unless youre a citizen of a country with national health care, you likely do not have health care coverage either. Or have the ability to build hours for your pension. Or are eligible to receive residuals. On a UNION show we are the ONLY department that is not union and therefore not receiving the same benefits as everyone else on the set.
Working conditions if you are a freelancer (its generally agreed that almost half of all visual effects workers are freelancers), because you are not covered by collective bargaining, you may be forced to work 70 100 hour weeks for months on end in order to meet a delivery date. And for that privilege (in the U.S.) you will also likely be considered an Independent Contractor and have to file a 1099 and then pay the employers share of the tax contribution.
Many small to medium-sized VFX companies around the world are struggling to survive (or have gone out of business (RIP Café FX, Asylum, Illusion Arts and many others). By now almost everyone in the industry is familiar with the quote from a few years ago by an unidentified studio executive that if he didnt put at least one VFX company out of business on a show, he wasnt doing his job.
The concern exists at every level of the VFX chain — artist, facility and studio how the impact of a Fix would affect the industry. Would it drive work elsewhere? Would it cut into the dwindling profit margins of VFX companies and put them out of business? Would it make VFX artists unhireable?
No matter ones perspective, the interests of VFX artists can no longer be ignored.
In the coming weeks and months, VES will shine a spotlight on the issues facing the artists, facilities and studios by way of editorial pieces in the trades and VFX blogs, virtual Town Hall meetings, a VFX Artists Bill of Rights and a VFX CEOs Forum (for the companies that actually provide the jobs that everyone is working so hard to safeguard).
There are solutions and we will find them.
We want the studios to make a respectable profit. We want facilities to survive and thrive in this ever changing fiscal environment. And we want artists to have high quality jobs with the commensurate amount of respect for the work they do on a daily basis. Therefore, VES will take the lead by organizing meetings with all participants in our industry in which we will make sure that all the issues discussed above are put on the table.
We are the VES and the time to step up has arrived. VES 2.0 is here and ready to lead.
If youd like to share a comment with us you can contact us at eitherleadership@visualeffectssociety.com or through the leadership forum on the VES website at: http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/…adership-forum.
Stay tuned!
Eric Roth
VES Executive Director
As an Honorary Society, VES has led the way in promoting the incredible work of VFX artists but so far no one has stood up to lead the way on the business side of our business. No one has been able to speak out for unrepresented artists and facilities or the craft as a whole in any meaningful way.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the state of the visual effects industry is unsettled. Artists and visual effects companies are working longer hours for less income, delivering more amazing VFX under ever diminishing schedules, carrying larger financial burdens while others are profiting greatly from our work. As a result, there has been a lot of discussion recently about visual effects and its role in the entertainment industry. Many feel VFX artists are being taken advantage of and many others feel that VFX facilities are operating under unsustainable competitive restraints and profit margins. There have been calls for the creation of a VFX union to represent artists interests while others have pushed to create a trade organization for VFX facilities to better navigate todays economic complexities.
As globalization intensifies, the process of creating visual effects is becoming more and more commoditized. Many wonder if the current business model for our industry is sustainable over the long term. Indeed, multiplying blogs are questioning why artists are forced to work crazy overtime hours for weeks or months on end without health benefits and VFX facilities are forced to take on shows at a loss just to keep their pipelines going and their doors open (they hope).
As good as we are at creating and manipulating amazing and ground breaking images, VFX professionals have done a terrible job of marketing ourselves to the business side of the industry. In short, no one has been able to harness the collective power of our efforts, talents, and passions into a strong, unified voice representing the industry as a whole.
VES may not have the power of collective bargaining, but we do have the power of a voice thats 2,400 artists strong in 23 countries — and the VES Board of Directors has decided that now is the time to use it. We are the only viable organization that can speak to the needs and concerns of everyone involved in VFX to meet the challenges of a changing global industry and our place within it.
The work we do helps a lot of people make a lot of money, but its not being shared on an equal basis, nor is the respect thats due us, especially considering that 44 of the top 50 films of all time are visual effects driven(http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross).
For VFX ARTISTS (NOT computer geeks, NOT nerds), we do not receive the kind of respect that measures up to the role visual effects plays in the bottom line. And thats expressed in a number of very obvious ways:
Credits we are frequently listed incompletely and below where we should be in the crawl.
Benefits in the US, you likely do not have ready access to health care. Or a vision plan. Or a pension plan. Outside the US, unless youre a citizen of a country with national health care, you likely do not have health care coverage either. Or have the ability to build hours for your pension. Or are eligible to receive residuals. On a UNION show we are the ONLY department that is not union and therefore not receiving the same benefits as everyone else on the set.
Working conditions if you are a freelancer (its generally agreed that almost half of all visual effects workers are freelancers), because you are not covered by collective bargaining, you may be forced to work 70 100 hour weeks for months on end in order to meet a delivery date. And for that privilege (in the U.S.) you will also likely be considered an Independent Contractor and have to file a 1099 and then pay the employers share of the tax contribution.
Many small to medium-sized VFX companies around the world are struggling to survive (or have gone out of business (RIP Café FX, Asylum, Illusion Arts and many others). By now almost everyone in the industry is familiar with the quote from a few years ago by an unidentified studio executive that if he didnt put at least one VFX company out of business on a show, he wasnt doing his job.
The concern exists at every level of the VFX chain — artist, facility and studio how the impact of a Fix would affect the industry. Would it drive work elsewhere? Would it cut into the dwindling profit margins of VFX companies and put them out of business? Would it make VFX artists unhireable?
No matter ones perspective, the interests of VFX artists can no longer be ignored.
In the coming weeks and months, VES will shine a spotlight on the issues facing the artists, facilities and studios by way of editorial pieces in the trades and VFX blogs, virtual Town Hall meetings, a VFX Artists Bill of Rights and a VFX CEOs Forum (for the companies that actually provide the jobs that everyone is working so hard to safeguard).
There are solutions and we will find them.
We want the studios to make a respectable profit. We want facilities to survive and thrive in this ever changing fiscal environment. And we want artists to have high quality jobs with the commensurate amount of respect for the work they do on a daily basis. Therefore, VES will take the lead by organizing meetings with all participants in our industry in which we will make sure that all the issues discussed above are put on the table.
We are the VES and the time to step up has arrived. VES 2.0 is here and ready to lead.
If youd like to share a comment with us you can contact us at eitherleadership@visualeffectssociety.com or through the leadership forum on the VES website at: http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/…adership-forum.
Stay tuned!
Eric Roth
VES Executive Director
Customers currently on subscription can download version 6.2 immediately from the PipelineFX ftp site. Contact support@pipelinefx.com to request a 6.2 license. Download "What’s New in Qube! 6.2" fromwww.pipelinefx.com.
"This release extends Qube!s scalability and fine-grained control of render farms," said Richard Lewis, CEO of PipelineFX. "Qube! 6.2 delivers some amazing performance metrics in real world visual effects production environments, but I am most excited about helping customers save money with the new host-based licensing feature. Combined with our extensive reporting this is really what Smart Farming is all about, getting away from just brute force effort during the render crunch. Do you really need more servers? More rendering licenses? With Qube! you know.
About Qube! and Smart Farming:
Qube! is an intelligent, mature and highly scalable render management solution that can be quickly integrated into any production workflow, and is backed by world-class technical support. Smart Farming delivers intelligence to production pipelines by providing business-critical insight into render pipelines, maximizing investment in rendering infrastructure and automating manual processes. Qube! works out of the box with all leading content creation applications and is truly cross-platform with all software components available on Windows®, Linux®, and Mac OS®X operating systems.
About PipelineFX:
As the leading provider of intelligent render farm management solutions for digital content creation, PipelineFX provides software, support, consulting and training services worldwide. Over 500 customers across film and visual effects, post production, broadcast, design, games and education include BaseFX, BBC, Cinesite (Europe), Digital Domain, Electronic Arts, General Motors, Herman Miller, L.M.U., Laika Studios, Lockheed Martin, Method Studios, NBC, NHK, Pratt University, Procter & Gamble, Rainmaker Entertainment Inc., Reel FX, Smoke & Mirrors, South Park Studios, Starz Entertainment, Technicolor and Telemundo. PipelineFX is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, and has offices in Honolulu, Portland, Austin, Las Vegas and Vancouver.
For more information, please contact Richard Lewis, CEO of PipelineFX: richard@pipelinefx.com, Ph: 808-685-7823, 1000 Bishop Street, Suite 509, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96813, USA
Spin VFX Toronto is accepting applications for:
VFX Editor
This is a full time position to start immediately.
Requirements include:
– expert knowledge of Final Cut Pro
– familiarity using Tweak RV and framecycler
– familiarity using Cinesync
– be able to convert between key numbers / timecode and frames
Responsibilities:
– maintain sequence edits and inserting visual effect shots into the timeline
– ensure the production database is maintained with shot counts and lineup
– ensure that shots cut into the sequence are correct in terms of counts and lineup
– preparing sequence edits for client approval when required
– organize and run the dailies session and/or client reviews/cinesyncs
– perform shot specific color corrections to match avid telecine when required
Spin VFX Toronto is located at:
620 King Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1M6
To apply for this position, please submit a cover letter and resume with a link to your online website to:
If you are submitting by mail, please send info and DVD to:
Spin VFX Toronto
620 King Street West
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5V 1M6
www.spinpro.com
Demo reels must include a shot breakdown that indicates exactly what aspects of the shot were your responsibility.
Canadian residency applicants only please.
Due to the number of anticipated responses, only qualified applicants will be contacted.
No phone calls or drop-ins please.
– a substantial industry contact and client base, and a proven track record in attracting and retaining VFX projects from studios in Canada and internationally;
– senior level experience in visual effects production and post-production supervision/management, including:
– on-set supervision for television, features and commercials;
– budgeting for television and feature film projects;
– resource scheduling;
– managing feature films, television and commercial projects;
– negotiation of visual effects contracts;
– supervision of visual effects productions; and
– advanced skills in compositing, including experience working with Nuke.
The successful candidate will have superior communication, creative and technical skills, the ability to work in a team environment, and a proven capacity to bring in projects on time and on budget
If you meet the above qualifications, please submit your resume and sample reel to jobs@leviathan-studios.com
Please include Senior VFX Supervisor in the subject line
This position is responsible for designing, developing and maintaining core render pipeline infrastructure used throughout the company, including review and dailies pipeline as well as asset tracking.
He/She will apply principles of computer science, engineering and mathematics to maintain and troubleshoot the hardware and software systems and work with various media production team members to identify technology solutions and define workflows and interfaces.
Requirements:
· Proficiency in at least one scripting language (Python or Perl).
· Exposure to Linux/KDE and corresponding open source tools.
· Bachelor’s degree required (Computer Science, Computer
Engineering, or related preferred) plus one year of experience as a
Software Engineer or related occupation.
· Experience with computer graphics tools preferred.
· Experience with database systems preferred.
· Some experience with C++ is recommended
· Overall CG Pipeline, editorial, operating system, and/or networking
experience helpful.
Software Knowledge:
· Maya
· Vray or 3Delight
· Shotgun
About Peregrine Pixels, LLC
Peregrine Pixels was formed to develop media for one-of-a-kind special venue films and technically complex attractions. Our company is currently expanding its core team to include a Render Pipeline TD located in Orlando, Florida.
Contact Us:
Please submit your resume to contact@peregrinepixels.com
Director ‘Chopsy‘ (Darren Robbie of Aardman Animation) assembled a creative team to help raise awareness for MS week in the UK to produce MS – You’re Fired!. The team included Diana Tansey (copywriter) & Echolab (music & sound design) working with Tobias Norberg (composer). For further information and to help Put MS on the […]
Germany based Polynoid, who are also taking part in the Resonance project listed below, have recently launched their latest short film Loom, and absolutely beautiful, dark and almost tactile visual story of struggle; A moth being caught in a spiders web. Struggling for an escape, the moths panic movements only result in less chance of […]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A. during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
