Hasta La Motion!

Feb 24

MPC LA promotes Michael Gregory as the VFX creative director

Michael Gregory

MPC Los Angeles has announced that Michael Gregory has been promoted to VFX creative director. Gregory will work alongside VFX creative director Rob Hodgson to lead the studio’s advertising VFX division.

Gregory joined the Los Angeles studio in March 2016 as head of 2D after 13 years of experience at MPC London, where he became one of the industry’s most sought out and well-liked VFX supervisors and lead artists. His most recent work via MPC LA includes commercials for Nike, Samsung, State Farm and Atari | The Witcher, as well as the latest music video from the Rolling Stones – “Ride ‘Em On Down” – with industry leading directors Mark Romanek, Adam Berg, Wayne McClammy, Johnny Hardstaff and François Rousselet.

“Michael is a proven leader and one of MPC’s most talented and accomplished artists,” said MPC USA, managing director, Justin Brukman. “We’re pleased to recognise his efforts over the past 14 years with the pivotal leadership role of VFX creative director. Working with Rob Hodgson in a formidable partnership, Michael will lead MPC’s talented team of artists, giving them the freedom to excel in craft and storytelling, while collaborating with our clients on innovative and effective content. We look forward to the road ahead which will see the release of some of the studio’s most exciting work to date.”

In the role of VFX creative director, Gregory joins Hodgson, whose credits span films such as Inception, X-Men: First Class, American Beauty and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and commercials for Visa, BMW, Apple, Guinness, Nike, DirecTV, GE and many more.

“I’m fortunate to have learned the art of visual effects and come into my own as an artist amongst the wonderful craft of the UK ad industry,” said Gregory. “The move to the USA earlier this year enabled me to begin the next chapter of my career in the renowned American ad market, tapping into endless opportunity with continued support from MPC. I enjoy building and working within successful teams, and look forward to being part of the studio’s growth and continued success in Los Angeles.”

Gregory’s work includes many of the industry’s most acclaimed commercials such as Channel 4’s Cannes Film Craft Grand Prix-winner “Meet the Superhumans” for the Paralympics Games. He brings an exemplary aesthetic sensibility, expertise leading teams on large-scale projects and long-standing relationships with top directors to his role as head of 2D.

A graduate of Central St. Martins School of Art, Michael joined MPC in 2003 and worked his way up from runner to lead artist. He has since collaborated with top-tier directors such as Traktor, Dom and Nic, Jonathan Glazer, Nick Gordon, Noam Murro, Mark Romanek, Tom Tagholm and Neil Gorringe, to note only a few. Michael’s work has been honoured with a VES Award for Outstanding Animated Commercial for Cadbury “Spots v Stripes” and a D&AD Pencil and British Arrow for Channel 4’s “Street Summer” campaign, for which he helped develop an innovative new filming technique.

The post MPC LA promotes Michael Gregory as the VFX creative director appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Feb 24

‘Overwatch’, ‘Uncharted: 4: A Thief’s End’ win multiple accolades at Dice Awards 2017

Posted in: Animation

The recent instalment of industry awards was conferred yesterday, at Las Vegas. The 20^th edition of the DICE Awards concluded by awarding accolades in 24 categories.

The nominations were dominated by Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which was nominated in 10 categories including Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, design and even in the ‘Game of the Year’ category.

Other games which picked multiple nominations included Playdead’s Inside, which picked up nine nominations, followed by Battlefield 1 with eight nominations, The Last Guardian with seven, Overwatch with six and Titanfall 2 with four.

Overwatch

Blizzard’s multiplayer shooter, Overwatch took home the bragging rights with the ‘Game of the Year’ award. Overwatch and Uncharted 4 have been the shining beacons of last year, bagging awards at almost every event. Even at the prestigious ‘Game Awards’ 2017 edition, both of these games took home multiple titles. Overwatch won ‘Game of the Year’ award at that ceremony as well. Playdead’s Inside has been a commendable competitor as well.

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners:

Game of the Year

Battlefield 1
Inside
Overwatch (Winner)
Pokemon Go
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

1979 Revolution: Black Friday
Battlefield 1
Inside (Winner)
The Last Guardian
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

I Expect You to Die
Inside
Overwatch (Winner)
Owlboy
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay

Battlefield 1
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Overwatch (Winner)
Titanfall 2
The Division

Handheld Game of the Year

Dragon Quest Builders
Fire Emblem Fates
Kirby: Planet Robobot
Pokemon Sun and Moon (Winner)
Severed

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

The Banner Saga 2
Deus Ex Go
Fire Emblem Fates
Civilization VI (Winner)
XCOM 2

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA 17
Madden NFL 17
MLB The Show 16
NBA 2K17
Steep (Winner)

RPG/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

Dark Souls III (Winner)
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Hyper Light Drifter
The Division
World of Warcraft: Legion

Racing Game of the Year

Forza Horizon 3 (Winner)
Driveclub VR

Fighting Game of the Year

EA Sports UFC 2
Guilty Gear Xrd – Revelator
Killer Instinct Season 3
Pokken Tournament
Street Fighter V (Winner)

Family Game of the Year

Dragon Quest Builders
Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens
Ratchet & Clank (Winner)
Rock Band Rivals
Super Mario Maker 3DS

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

SUPERHOT VR (Winner)
Eagle Flight
I Expect You To Die
The Lab
Job Simulator

Outstanding Technical Achievement

Battlefield 1
No Man’s Sky
Overwatch
Titanfall 2
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Winner)

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Outstanding Achievement in Story

Firewatch
Inside
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Winner)
Oxenfree
That Dragon, Cancer

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

Battlefield 1 (Winner)
Inside
The Last Guardian
Quantum Break
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Doom (Winner)
Abzu
Battlefield 1
The Last Guardian
Titanfall 2

Outstanding Achievement in Character

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – Reyes
Firewatch – Delilah
Firewatch – Henry
The Last Guardian – Trico (Winner)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – Nathan Drake

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Battlefield 1
Firewatch
Inside (Winner)
The Last Guardian
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Inside
The Last Guardian
Overwatch
Street Fighter V
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Winner)

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award

1979 Revolution: Black Friday
Firewatch
Inside (Winner)
Superhot
That Dragon, Cancer

Adventure Game of the Year

Firewatch
Inside
King’s Quest: The Complete Collection
The Last Guardian
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Winner)

Action Game of the Year

Battlefield 1
Doom
Gears of War 4
Overwatch (Winner)
Titanfall 2

Mobile Game of the Year

Clash Royale
Crashlands
Gardenscapes – New Acres
Pokemon Go (Winner)
Reigns

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

Eagle Flight (Winner)
I Expect You To Die
Job Simulator
Tilt Brush
SUPERHOT VR

The post ‘Overwatch’, ‘Uncharted: 4: A Thief’s End’ win multiple accolades at Dice Awards 2017 appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Feb 24

Informative sessions by industry gurus conclude “The Art of Post-Production”

Posted in: Animation

The biggest challenge in this ever-evolving technology space – where we witness new software and tools being launched every other day – is how can video editors, artists and graphic designers remain up-to-date, upgrade their skill sets and deliver high quality content quickly. And it’s something most studio heads and supervisors would like to see being done in real time keeping pace with technology leaps.

This is where AnimationXpress and Adobe’s workshop ‘The Art of Post-Production’ came in. AnimationXpress in association with the renowned and widely-used multinational computer software company Adobe had organised the event on “The Art of Post-Production” on 22 February, 2017 at Raheja Classique, with prominent speakers lined up: Gaurav Rungta, Harry Hingorani and Guru Vaidya.

The event commenced with introduction of the speakers and a speech by AnimationXpress, founder and CEO, Anil Wanvari. Wanvari addressed the audience saying that post-production takes up more time than production itself, sharing his own experience of working with his team on the same. “Learning the art of post-production from our partner Adobe is a great opportunity for you all to engage with each other and learn the best practices,” he said.

Gaurav Rungta on ‘Tricks and tips of post-production while working with web and digital media platforms’

He then invited TVF post-production manager, Gaurav Rungta on stage to give a talk on the topic ‘Tricks and tips of post-production while working with web and digital media platforms.” Before working for TVF, Rungta was a freelance editor who managed post-production pipeline for various TV shows and commercials. He later joined as an editor at TVF and worked on some of their major shows like Permanent Roommates, Pitchers and Tripling. As the number of shows increased, there was a need to develop a proper pipeline to manage everything.

“I managed the post-production because I was very familiar with the Adobe pipeline,” young Rungta said. After experimenting on the initial episodes of Permanent Roommates and its instant connection with the masses and resulting success, they realised that web series was the future. Pitchers was entirely laid out on Premier Pro, Audition, Photoshop and After Effects, and Rungta was assisting in editing and managing the pipeline. TVF had adopted a small pipeline of one show at a time initially which has now extended to five at a time. For one episode which is about 10 minutes long, they have three days of edit schedule and seven days of post-production schedule, “which makes post a very integral part of the entire production.”

He explained that post-production pipeline for their team involved getting the data, doing the dubbing and sound sync, editing, adding graphic elements and VFX, colour grading and corrections, sound designing and the final delivery. The team gets only three days to edit a 10 minute video and thus have to pull off a 12 hour work-shift on all three days. Training the editors – who previously worked on another software – to work on Adobe’s video-editing software is another challenge that they face. He went on to demonstrat the functions of some of the key features of Premier Pro which were – Tracker, Lumetri Colour, Proxy, Native Support and Closed Caption. When asked how he kept his team updated, he answered, “We have sessions every month where we discuss the new tools.” They teach one another and that is how everyone gets acquainted with the latest additions. “Keep yourself updated at all times; that is how we are able to do projects,” he advised.

Harry Hingorani on ‘How VFX enables content creators to become innovative storytellers’

Next up was a seminar by Redchillies.VFX, chief creative officer, Harry Hingorani on “How VFX enables content creators to become innovative storytellers.” Redchillies.VFX has worked on 35 films of various productions including their own. Hingorani screened the show-reel of the VFX work carried out by his team for the movies My Name is Khan, Krrish 3, Ra.One, Fan, Chennai Express, Om Shanti Om, Dostana, Don 2, What’s Your Raashee? and Krazzy 4 title track. He shared his experience of working at Redchillies.VFX and described the journey of the company from the film Paheli to Raees.

He explained the various challenges they faced during each movie, and how the team of artists have to bring to life the director’s vision through visual effects. Some of the tough sequences were those of fighting, chasing and destruction of property. Some of the software which they have made use of in their earlier projects are Maya, Nuke, Houdini for 3D animation, modelling, compositing.

Guru Vaidya on ‘Fast-pacing the editing workflow with the help of Adobe Creative Cloud’

Followed by the two enlightening sessions on post-production, Adobe India’s senior solutions consultant, Guru Vaidya conducted an informative session on “Fast-pacing the editing workflow with the help of Adobe Creative Cloud.” Vaidya demonstrated the Liquify Tool of Photoshop using which one can make someone smile more, make adjustments to jawline, enlarge the forehead, enlarge eyes and play around with the features of the face. This can also be done on cell-phones with the help of the applications like Adobe Fix and Adobe Mix which are freely available on Android and iOS platforms.

The Adobe Character Animator of Adobe After Effects helps to create live animation. There are keyboard triggers to help create cycles of animation. “We want to give you tools that will help you work by yourself without going to animation schools,” Vaidya said. He also revealed that they had bought a stock photo company called Photolia which will now enable the Lightroom users to submit their photographic work to Adobe on Photolia. Adobe Audition has features to unify and repair sound. “Editors who do not come from a sound background find it difficult to fix audio. Through Premier you can export your entire timeline to Audition where we have made your work easier by not using audio jargons.” The tool Remix in Audition is “like a little DJ sitting inside your machine,” which will analyse the sound, identify vocals and instruments, and adjust the duration of audio according to the video without any glitches. The final tool that he explained was Media Encoder, which helps to work on multiple projects simultaneously by keeping the finished ones for rendering.

After three heavy sessions on post production, a lucky winner out of the audience was declared, who got a free annual subscription of Adobe Creative Cloud. The audience, which were from video-editing background, interacted with the professionals over the networking dinner.

The post Informative sessions by industry gurus conclude “The Art of Post-Production” appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Feb 24

DB Export launches Beer Bottle Sand

Posted in: Animation

DB Breweries has launched “Beer Bottle Sand”, an environmentally friendly campaign designed to encourage the recycling of glass beer bottles. In New Zealand, three out of every twelve beers sold end up in landfill. The Beer Bottle Sand project aims to keep recyclable glass out of landfill and sand on New Zealand’s beaches. The brewery has built a fleet of machines that let their drinkers instantly turn their empty bottles into sand substitute. DB Export Beer Bottle Sand will then be supplied to construction companies and commercial partners, reducing the country’s dependence on beach-derived sand. To do their bit, New Zealanders simply have to empty a bottle of DB Export. The Beer Bottle Sand campaign follows on from the ongoing DB Export Brewtroleum campaign.

http://www.dbexportbeer.co.nz/db-beer-bottle-sand
http://www.dbexportbeer.co.nz/sand-machine

The Beer Bottle Sand Machines reduce an empty bottle of DB Export into sand substitute in just 5 seconds. As the bottle is inserted, a laser triggers a wheel of small steel hammers spinning at 2800rpm. As the bottle is pulverised a vacuum system removes silica dust and plastic labels, leaving behind 200 grams of sand substitute. The brewery is in the process of finalising a two year deal to supply DB Export Beer Bottle Sand to Drymix – New Zealand’s biggest producer of bagged concrete. Beer Bottle Sand will also be supplied to national roading projects, commercial and residential construction, right through to golf bunkers.

Says Colenso BBDO Creative Chairman Nick Worthington: “Brewtroleum’s success came through finding partners who could make the idea more than advertising. We’re thrilled to partner with the country’s biggest construction companies to make DB Export Beer Bottle Sand a viable alternative to beach sand. And we’re excited to work with DB Export drinkers to ensure a reliable supply of empty bottles.”

Says Sean O’Donnell, Marketing Director at DB Breweries: “We can’t solve the problem alone but we knew we could do more to help. Our ambition is to help drive more recycling whilst looking out for the beaches which are an integral part of our Kiwi DNA. We’re proud to launch an initiative that can help us do our bit to protect our beaches for future generations.”

Beer Bottle Sand Credits

The Beer Bottle Sand campaign was developed at Colenso BBDO.

Filming was produced at Finch.

Media was handled at PHD.

PR was handled at Spark PR & Activate.

Shopper marketing work was done at Raydar.

Digital work was produced at Union Digital.

Feb 23

Create Mylar Balloons Using Cloth in Cinema 4D

Posted in: Animation

In this tutorial by EJ from Eyedesyn you’ll learn how to quickly and easily create and texture mylar balloons using Cloth & Vertex Maps in Cinema 4D!

New to 3D? Watch my FREE Cinema 4D Lite for the 2D Animator series

What will I Learn?

In this video we’ll talk about Cloth settings, Material Editing, and Vertex Maps and how you can use both to make cool balloon seams! By the end of this tutorial, you’ll know how you can utilize Cloth and Vertex Maps in many useful ways in your own workflow!

Where can I learn more about soft bodies?

I created another tutorial covering how you can loop Cloth simulations! Check it out here.

Visit eyedesyn.com for more from EJ

Feb 23

SHY LUV “SHOCK HORROR”

Posted in: Animation

Feb 23

Colour-changing hair dye reacts to the world around you

Posted in: Animation

The FIRE hair dye, from The Unseen, is designed to be responsive to temperature fluctuations and is available in multiple colour ranges from bright red to subtle pastels.

The data used to create the dye stems from the process of thermoregulation in the human skin and the colour change chemical reaction occurs in response to a certain stimuli – in this case, changes in the environment. When the temperature drops or rises, the carbon-based molecules at the core of the FIRE dye undergo a reversible reaction.

You're Not Hallucinating. That's Just Squid Skin. | Deep Look

Posted in: Animation

Octopuses and cuttlefish are masters of underwater camouflage, blending in seamlessly against a rock or coral. But squid have to hide in the open ocean, mimicking the subtle interplay of light, water, and waves. How do they do it?

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

— How do squid change color?

For an animal with such a humble name, market squid have a spectacularly hypnotic appearance. Streaks and waves of color flicker and radiate across their skin. Other creatures may posses the ability to change color, but squid and their relatives are without equal when it comes to controlling their appearance and new research may illuminate how they do it.

To control the color of their skin, cephalopods use tiny organs in their skin called chromatophores. Each tiny chromatophore is basically a sac filled with pigment. Minute muscles tug on the sac, spreading it wide and exposing the colored pigment to any light hitting the skin. When the muscles relax, the colored areas shrink back into tiny spots.

— Why do squid change color?

Octopuses, cuttlefish and squid belong to a class of animals referred to as cephalopods. These animals, widely regarded as the most intelligent of the invertebrates, use their color change abilities for both camouflage and communication. Their ability to hide is critical to their survival since, with the exception of the nautiluses, these squishy and often delicious animals live without the protection of protective external shells.

But squid often live in the open ocean. How do you blend in when there’s nothing — except water — to blend into? They do it by changing the way light bounces off their their skin — actually adjust how iridescent their skin is using light reflecting cells called iridophores. They can mimic the way sunlight filters down from the surface. Hide in plain sight.

Iridophores make structural color, which means they reflect certain wavelengths of light because of their shape. Most familiar instances of structural color in nature (peacock feathers, mother of pearl) are constant–they may shimmer when you change your viewing angle, but they don’t shift from pink to blue.

— Read the article for this video on KQED Science:
http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/09/08/youre-not-hallucinating-thats-just-squid-skin/

— More great DEEP LOOK episodes:

What Gives the Morpho Butterfly Its Magnificent Blue?

Nature’s Mood Rings: How Chameleons Really Change Color

Pygmy Seahorses: Masters of Camouflage

— Related videos from the PBS Digital Studios Network!

Cuttlefish: Tentacles In Disguise – It’s Okay to Be Smart

Why Neuroscientists Love Kinky Sea Slugs – Gross Science

The Psychology of Colour, Emotion and Online Shopping – YouTube

— More KQED SCIENCE:

Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
KQED Science: http://ww2.kqed.org/science

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.

Feb 23

Symphony of Light – Kauai

Posted in: Animation

From the towering green spires to the pristine beaches, the stunning island of Kauai offers an incredible range of unique landscapes to explore. “Symphony of Light” aims to take a close look at the shapes and forms of the island, showcased through the relationship between light and shadow. Directed by: Michael Shainblum http://www.shainblumphoto.com/ Music: Ryan Taubert – Declaration Special Thanks to Dynamic Perception https://www.dynamicperception.com/ Emotimo http://emotimo.com/ Andrew Studer Matthew Feeser Patrycja Podgorski Monika Podgorski Andrea Pendergast Michael Matti

Feb 23

RUBEN LEAVES

Posted in: Animation

On his way to work, Ruben is haunted by obsessive-compulsive thoughts; is the front door locked? Is the stove really turned off? As Ruben’s creative mind is invaded by increasingly absurd scenarios, reality and imagination begin to merge… “Ruben Leaves” is this week’s Staff Pick Premiere! Here’s an interview with the film’s director, Frederic Siegel: https://vimeo.com/blog/post/staff-pick-premiere-ruben-leaves *2016 Swiss Film Award, Best Graduation Film *2016 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Official Selection *2016 Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival Bristol, Official Selection *2016 Pictoplasma Conference Berlin, Official Selection *2015 Dok Leipzig, Official Selection *2015 Fantoche International Animation Film Festival Baden, Official Selection (Premiere) Full Awards-, and Festivallist: http://fredericsiegel.ch/rubenleaves Ruben Leaves on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rubenleaves/ Project page, Making Of: https://www.teamtumult.ch/ruben-leaves 5’00” | Short Fiction | 2D Digital Animation | Switzerland | 2015 Created, Directed & Animated by: Frederic Siegel Production: Hochschule Luzern – Design & Kunst / Studienrichtung Animation, Jürgen Haas Co-Produced by: SRF, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen Promotion: SWISSFILMS Music: Nico Kast Recordings, Sounddesign & Soundmix: Thomas Gassmann Soundediting & Sounddesign: Kilian Vilim Foley Artist: Dieter Hebben Additional 2D Animation: Martin Hofer, Zéa Schaad, Christelle Serrano, Viviane Tanner Additional 3D Animation: Ramon Arango, Michael Zünd Mentor: François Chalet © 2015 / Frederic Siegel, Hochschule Luzern – Design & Kunst

MPC LA promotes Michael Gregory as the VFX creative director

‘Overwatch’, ‘Uncharted: 4: A Thief’s End’ win multiple accolades at Dice Awards 2017

Informative sessions by industry gurus conclude “The Art of Post-Production”

DB Export launches Beer Bottle Sand

Beer Bottle Sand Credits

Create Mylar Balloons Using Cloth in Cinema 4D

What will I Learn?

Where can I learn more about soft bodies?

Visit eyedesyn.com for more from EJ

SHY LUV “SHOCK HORROR”

Colour-changing hair dye reacts to the world around you

You're Not Hallucinating. That's Just Squid Skin. | Deep Look

Symphony of Light – Kauai

RUBEN LEAVES

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