Nimble Collective announces partnerships with Pixar and Lytro at Siggraph 2017

Virtual studio service platform Nimble Collective has announced a new collaboration with Pixar’s RenderMan, a partnership that will explore extending the delivery of RenderMan training to new and existing users via Nimble Collective’s collaborative, cloud-based workspace for creating animation.

In addition, Nimble also announced a strategic partnership with Lytro to collaborate on an animated Virtual Reality project using the new advances in platform framework.

The Nimble Collective Virtual Studio Platform is up-ending the animation industry by giving business clients and creators the advanced tools they need to produce animated projects without requiring the backing of a multimillion dollar studio setting.

While at Siggraph 2017 (from 30 July to 3 August), Nimble Collective will be offering demos of its animated films created as part of Nimble Collective’s Pilot Program to show experts and clients elements of the highly anticipated Nimble Collective platform.

Nimble is revolutionising the animation industry by crafting one of the first cloud native animation platforms, which allows creators and corporate clients to leverage experience and guidance by Academy award-winning industry innovators.

“Our Pilot Program is an incubation of directors and outside talent assembled in the cloud to make the creators’ dreams and their client’s vision a reality,” said Nimble co-founder and head of content Jason Schleifer. “We are thrilled to be working with some of the world’s most creative talent at Pixar to bring developments to the Nimble Platform that corporate clients like Lytro can utilise to meet their creative needs and to empower them to produce high-quality animation.”

Schleifer spoke at Siggraph’s Blender Spotlight on 30 July and will feature a talk on Online Collaboration with Virtual Studio Production on 2 August. Nimble Collective’s senior production manager Corban Gossett will participate in the ASIFA Education Forum – Birds of a Feather Siggraph Panel on 1 August. The talk is aimed at encouraging the next generation of industry talent.

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‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ review: All sizzle but no steak

Replete with eye-popping visual effects which only amplifies the viewing experience when watched in 3D, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets sadly offers little else. French Director Luc Besson returns to his resplendently grandiose graphical representation roots here but is let down by a wafer-thin plot and an uncompelling performance by the cast.

Based on the novel Valerian and Laureline, the movie is an outer space adventure that is aimed to tug at your ocular nerves with visual effects of the highest order. It gets to feel a tad overdone as it limps towards the finale and your eyes start to ache.

Although the film opens to the spellbinding landscape of Alpha, a spacial metropolis is soon invaded by the dark forces. The unpretentious way in which our lead pair – Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are introduced, tells us where this is heading. Not soon after they are sent on a mission to retrieve a diamond-pooping reptile “the convertor”, Valerian pops the question to his partner, to which she prevaricates for now.

The rest of the movie revolves around all the crests and troughs that our space agents have to surmount to save the planet of Alpha from disintegrating. It is an adventure that is largely underwhelming given the scatterbrained plot that it is woven on.

To bring out an effective outer world feeling, Valerian is bustling with a multitude of extra-terrestrial creatures, so much that there are times when you feel like watching an animated movie based on aliens. Some of the creatures shown do not even contribute an iota, but are regardlessly stuffed into the frame to add more gloss.

Among the lead pair, Cara carries most of the burden as she makes a good case for herself with a decent show, also occasionally flaunting her slim, sultry body clad in bikini and also in alluring gown. Dane on the other hand, cuts a forlorn figure as if he’s just woken up from a long coma and asked to head down to the studios right away. The less we speak about the supporting cast the better because their exploits are almost trivial.

With a whooping $250 million invested in his most ambitious project, Besson manages to manufacture a product that looks attractive by appearance but offers far little else. Its like eating a junk food; it may titillate your taste buds but brings no nutritive value with it. As for the man who has delivered gems like The Fifth Element in the past, Valerian pales in comparison and how.

At two hours and twenty minutes, it’s excruciatingly long and harrowing. The stunning visual effects are sadly the only saving grace of this inter galaxy shamble.

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9 Story Media announces production on ‘Luna Around The World’ animated series for PBS Kids

9 Story Media Group has announced the production of the new animated series Luna Around The World for PBS Kids.

Created by Emmy Award-winning animator, writer and artist Joe Murray (Rocko’s Modern LifeCamp Lazlo), this new multiplatform series will debut nationwide in fall 2018 on PBS stations, the new 24/7 PBS Kids channel and PBS Kids digital platforms.

With a social studies curriculum, Luna Around The World will encourage kids from age four to seven to explore and appreciate cultures from all over the world, build global citizenship and social skills, integrating concepts of anthropology, history, ecology, geography, sociology and economics. Each episode will include two 11-minute stories as well as interstitial content – including live-action segments about arts and cultures and animated folktales and songs. The series is currently in production of 38 half-hour episodes and a one-hour special.

“Our approach with Luna Around The World is to offer engaging stories and adventures that are fun, developmentally appropriate and align with our whole-child approach to content,” said PBS Kids vice president of children’s programming Linda Simensky. “Luna is a trusted guide who will encourage children to learn about the world beyond their own neighbourhoods. The series seeks to foster an appreciation for cultural diversity, developing social and civic skills and promoting global stewardship.”

The show follows the adventures of three friends – Leo, a wombat from Australia; Carmen, a butterfly from Mexico; and Andy, a frog from the U.S. – as they traverse the globe with their parents’ travelling performance troupe, “Circo Fabuloso.” At each of the Circo’s stops, Luna the moon guides the trio as they experience the local language, music and daily life. The gang’s adventures take them across continents where they explore the food, architecture and other features that make each region unique.

Luna Around The World is designed to ignite kids’ curiosity about the world and inspire them to learn about the many different cultures that call it home,” said series creator Murray. “Through this show, my goal is to give all children the opportunity to explore cultures other than their own, and to learn about the similarities that unite all of us – through challenges that kids can relate to, with the universal language of laughter woven into each story.”

“We are thrilled to be working with PBS Kids and the incredibly talented Joe Murray to bring Luna Around The World to life,” said 9 Story Media Group CEO and president Vince Commisso.

Along with the television series, Luna Around The World will offer digital content for kids, parents and teachers, debuting in fall 2018 on PBS Kids website and on the free PBS Kids Video App. A Luna Around the World app will also launch after the series’ debut.

9 Story Distribution International manages distribution and merchandising rights for the series worldwide, excluding Canada.

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Maya Digital Studios

Maya Digital StudiosAsia & India’s leading animation studio and also the producer of some of the most successful animation TV series across Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network, & Discovery Kids India.

Maya is one of the leading Animation studio in India offering competence in high-quality 3D Animation, 2D Animation as well as Stereoscopic 3D Conversion of content. Maya Digital Studio today is the largest original content creator of animation in India.

Maya Digital Studios animated television series like The Adventures of Motu Patlu, VIR -The Robot Boy, EenaMeenaDeeka and Kisna are major draws on prime kids channels like Nickelodeon, Discovery Kids and Hungama, drawing high TRPs in the Indian children’s TV space.

Following are the requirements:

  1. 2D & 3D Concept (No.of requirements 10)
  • Experience Required: 2 to 10 years
  • Software Skills: Photoshop
  1. 2D & 3D Storyboard (No.of requirements 10)
  • Experience Required: 2 to 10 years
  • Software Skills: Photoshop
  1. 3D Modeling & Texturing Artist (No. of Requirements 10)
  • Experience Required: 1 to 5 years
  • Software Skills: Maya, Mudbox, ZBrush
  1. Rigging (No. of requirements 5)
  • Experience Required: 3 to 6 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. 3D Production (No. of Requirements 10)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 12 years
  • Software Skills: Excel, Good Communication
  1. 3D Animation (No. of Requirements 20)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 7 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. 2D Animation (No. of Requirements 5)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 7 years
  • Software Skills: Flash
  1. Dynamics (No.of requirements 5)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 5 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. 3D Effects (No. of requirements 5)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 5 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. 2D Effects (No. of requirements 4)
  • Experience Required: 3 to 8 years
  • Software Skills: Flash, After Effects
  1. Lighting (No. of Requirements 15)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 12 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. SF (No. of Requirements 5)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 5 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. Technical (No. of Requirements 3)
  • Experience Required: 0 to 5 years
  • Software Skills: Maya
  1. 2D Layout (No. of Requirements 7)
  • Experience Required: 1 to 10years
  • Software Skills: Photoshop, Excellent Drawing Skills
  • Whoever had applied before should reapply as we select artist on their current skills.
  • Our salary structure is highly competitive and commensurate with experience.
  • For any queries contact us at 022-39236292

Candidates can mail their CV with their show reel to hr@mayadigitalstudios.com.

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Keitan and Haresh : The dazzling duo of Red Chillies VFX speak about their ‘Fan’tastic IIFA win and much more!

The VFX wizards Keitan Yadav and Haresh Hingorani from Red Chillies VFX are on cloud nine! They recently bagged the award for the best visual effects category at IIFA 2017 in Los Angeles for Shah Rukh Khan starrer Fan.

Undoubtedly the dazzling duo had made tremendous efforts for SRK’s double portrayal as the superstar and also the obsessed fan. Hence, it garnered a lot of plaudits from all quarters.The makers have always been vocal about the difficulty they faced in making SRK look 20 years younger. Shah Rukh Khan look was made younger, leaner and smaller in built besides changing his facial features like the size of his nose. The VFX team also did some pretty extensive visual effects on some of the chase and action sequences in the film.But now, all efforts have finally come to fruition.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was absent from the scene when the award was being distributed but was not late to congratulate his team as he delivered his best wishes through his Twitter handle. AnimationXpress spoke to Red Chillies Chief Operation Officer and VFX producer Keitan Yadav and Chief Creative Officer and VFX supervisor Haresh Hingorani as they share their jubilation, dreams, future projects of Red Chillies VFX and the state of our VFX industry.

How do you feel after seeing your efforts being rewarded, especially on a platform like IIFA?

Haresh: We feel very happy and elated about winning this award. We are also very proud and happy that IIFA recognised our efforts and our hard work has paid off.

Keitan: A lot of people are not aware that the efforts put in Fan is very unique as you won’t find another VFX project of this nature, not only in India but internationally too. So, we were extremely happy that IIFA recognised our efforts.

Any fond memories while working for the movie?

Keitan: For me personally, it was more during the research and development phase. We were given a 11 months deadline to achieve the targets, else the production house was ready to put the project on hold. We invented a combination of techniques and technology; show the audience something which could get them excited.

How confident you were about winning this? How did you celebrate?

Keitan: To be honest, this year’s VFX award has been shared between us and another production studio, so we were keeping our fingers crossed.

Haresh: Celebrate? We have just come back from the trip and we are busy with the delivery of Jab Harry Met Sejal. Once the movie is released, then we shall definitely celebrate this win.

SRK congratulated you on Twitter. How was his reaction?

Haresh and Keitan: Shah Rukh Khan has always supported us and believed in our capability which encourages us to work that extra mile and deliver the impossible. He was of course ecstatic with the win and wants us to achieve the impossible with the next project.

Any valuable VFX lesson learnt while working on Fan?

Keitan: We learn something new in every project, but the core issue is, if you put your mind and dedication to something, you can achieve it.

How big were the budgets and the team? Do you think the VFX budgets will increase in the coming days with the success of VFX heavy films like Fan, Baahubali?

Keitan: FAN in fact was the second big budgeted film after Ra.One though I’m not really at liberty to discuss numbers. Answering the latter half of your question, the regular budgets, I feel will be decreasing as the efficiency and time taken will be less compared to the earlier work done with the help of new techniques and technologies. As for niche Bollywood projects, the budgets will surely be increasing.

How do you see the VFX industry in India now and in the next 10 years?

Keitan: I think if I compare the last 10 years of film making, we have progressed very significantly, in terms of genre, complexity, turnover, usage and awareness of VFX in the industry. It has boomed! The next 10 years, I feel it will progress at a rapid rate with the advent of films like Baahubali (major success) and experimental films like Fan and our upcoming film directed by Anand L. Rai where Shah Rukh Khan is playing a “dwarf”.

Haresh: Also, there is a big lineup of VFX films like Robot 2 which will open the road for a lot of production houses, directors and producers. I think we have a bright future. It will be an era of biopics, mythological, historical films and with the likes of Netflix and Amazon the scale and requirement of VFX is going up. It will be the golden years of the VFX industry.

Just like Red Chillies did the VFX for Phillauri, do we see it doing for more of films from different production houses rather than just in-house?

Keitan: I think it is a big misconception the industry has that we do only in-house movies. If you do look at our history of the 50 odd films we have done, 70 per cent are from outside production houses.

Any plans of Red Chillies to do outsourced VFX work from Hollywood?

Keitan: After shifting to our new office, we did announce we have opened our international division besides the local division along with Red Chillies Color, which is our color grading department. We have just finished an international film The Good Shepherd by an independent director and are also currently working on other international projects.

As a supervisor, how do you handle your team, with love and care or with strictness and discipline?

Haresh: I believe in my team and as you can see the output, they are brilliant at their job. Yes, sometimes I am strict, but in the end, it’s a team effort which reflects in the movie.

What advise or message would you give to VFX artists, studios?

Keitan: My message to studios is our infrastructure and hardware which is at your disposal is at par with international studios across the world. The only thing we might lack is experience and opportunity but with the current trend, we have so many opportunities to portray our talent and show the world that we can deliver the same quality as international studios.

Haresh: My advice for artists in our field is there are developments taking place every day. We learn every day from the different projects we work on and the people we work with. I feel artists should keep updated with new developments, new techniques and advancement in the software that they use. Basically, know every trick in the trade to be able to deliver higher quality.

Whom do you consider your idol? Any recent VFX work of Hollywood films which you really admired?

Haresh: I am a big fan of Robert Legato’s work. Right from Interview with the Vampire, Apollo 13 to his recent works like Titanic, Avatar in which photorealistic computer-generated characters, created using new motion capture animation was used for the first time and the more recent work of his film, The Jungle Book.

In India, V. Srinivas Mohan is someone whose work I admire. Baahubali wouldn’t have been possible without his vision and guidance.As for any Hollywood movie I enjoyed the VFX of, would be The Jungle Book and Doctor Who. They were fantastic!

We wish the unstoppable and dazzling duo of Keitan and Haresh from Red Chillies VFX all the best for their future endeavours!

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Words

Comrade Detective Season 1 – Official Trailer Feat. Channing Tatum | Amazon Video


In the 1980s, millions of Romanians tuned in to Comrade Detective, a gritty and sleek buddy cop show that not only entertained its citizens but also promoted Communist ideals and inspired a deep nationalism. It has now been digitally remastered and dubbed into English for the first time by a cast featuring Channing Tatum, and Joseph Gordon Levitt.
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Comrade Detective Season 1: Channing Tatum Extended Trailer | Amazon Video

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Baby Driver's opening car chase, mapped


On location in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Director Edgar Wright choreographed scenes in Baby Driver to specific songs, with carefully-timed stunts to match. This dance played out on the streets on downtown Atlanta, Georgia, with very little CGI added.

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Steve Carey – ''Don't Fight It'' (1970)


Steve Carey lip-syncs his cover of “Don’t Fight It” in this clip from “Brian Henderson’s Bandstand”. Yes, Australian TV was still black-and-white in 1970, and yes, they were still making kinescopes.

''If you've won the only one in all the world you want to win'' – Manuel Romain


A popular song, issued April 1909 as an Edison Amberol cylinder record. Yes, a lot of song titles were rather long back then. I initially disliked Romain’s voice, but it grew on me. Now I rather like it. Audio from UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive:
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder1616