Apr
04
Only the finest with Nicolas Ménard
Posted in: AnimationStop motion, miniatures, Nicolas Ménard, Jack Cunningham, and Gael García Bernal… What more could you as for!?
Apr
03
Acclaimed VFX supervisor Lindy De Quattro has joined MPC Film’s roster of world-renowned talent.
Over the last two and a half decades, which included 21 years at ILM, Lindy De Quattro has worked with some of the best-known directors including Guillermo Del Toro, Alexander Payne and Brad Bird. She also currently serves on the Executive Committee for the VFX Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
De Quattro’s VFX credits include Iron Man 2, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Downsizing and Pacific Rim, for which she won a VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects. In addition to supervising Visual effects teams, she also covered on set supervision for major feature films.
“I was attracted to MPC because of their long history of exceptional high-quality visual effects, but I made the decision to come on board because of their global commitment to inclusion and diversity in the VFX industry.I want to be an active part of the change that I see beginning to happen all around me, and MPC is giving me the opportunity to do just that. They say ‘if you can see it, you can be it’. Girls need role models, and women and other underrepresented groups in the industry need mentors. In my new role at MPC I will strive to be both while contributing to MPC’s legacy of outstanding visual effects,”said De Quattro. “
Executive producer Joanna Capitano who represents MPC Film’s VFX supervisors said “we are thrilled to have Lindy join our Company. Her creative leadership is outstanding and in her role as a Production-Side VFX Supervisor she is paving the way for greater inclusion and diversity in film production.”
The studio’s experienced Overall VFX Supervisors includes Richard Stammers (Dumbo, The Martian, X-Men Days of Future Past), Erik Nash (Avengers Assemble, Titanic), Nick Davis (The Dark Knight, Edge of Tomorrow) and Adam Valdez (The Lion King, Maleficent, The Jungle Book)
MPC Film is currently working on movies including The Lion King, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Call of the Wild and Detective Pikachu.
The post VFX supervisor Lindy De Quattro joins MPC Film appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Apr
03
VES’ ‘The Making of’ marks the convergence of VFX veterans from around the world.
Posted in: AnimationVES in partnership with AMD concluded the event titled “The Making of” at Fun Republic Cinema (Zee Preview Theatre) on 30 March 2019.
It ushered a platform for international speakers and local partners to discuss various aspects of technology and VFX industry with regards to how some of the most awe-inspiring imagery was created on celluloid.
The event started off with a welcome address and a brief introduction to the VES (Visual effects society) which has played a catalysing role in replenishing the VFX scenario all over the world.
Left to Right VES Representatives Tim McGovern and Anish Husainali Mulani
AMD showcased their top-notch technologies, products and services for the VFX and 3D animation industry.
AMD Business Development Manager (Firepro Graphics) Manmit Desai
The presentation put the limelight on some of the latest technologies of the market-leading toolsets and the state-of-the-art hardware being developed to overcome future technological challenges.
Highlights being how AMD Radeon™ Pro graphics cards are designed for creative professionals and optimised for open source software, media and entertainment which is gearing up to expedite the industry processes and setting new benchmarks in the way processing and rendering is done.
Enlightening the attendees with the technological nuances that went into the deployment of the best imagery created on celluloid across the world, the event saw an unprecedented convergence of some of the top industry veterans, artists and VFX technicians of some the most groundbreaking VFX projects including the Oscar-winning movie First Man.
Students from VFX institutes as well as working professionals from VFX and animation studios thronged the venue.
NYVFXWAALA
NY VFX owner and VFX supervisor Prasad Suthar
Demonstrating the VFX breakdown of the Padmaavat, NY VFXWAALA VFX supervisor Prasad Sutar explained, “The standard has risen over the years to a point that I don’t get asked if it’s going to be ‘Hollywood-like’. People have come around to the fact that India can deliver the shots. We keep on improving the way we can deliver and the way we can help the script to be executed in a better way. We keep on improving the way in which films can be made within the limited budget. What’s changed is that things that VFX supervisors are involved in the process now right from the beginning. I get to read the scripts.”
He chuckled over the shift in the scenario of location-shooting almost becoming erased with the advancements of chroma screen techniques.
Having shared his insights about the process starting from previz (Pre-visualisation) to rendering, he answered the pressing question of the limited budgets, “I am more a part of the production side than the VFX side despite owning a VFX studio and struggling with the 31st March budgets and balance sheets. The reality is that a Hindi movie will never get a Hollywood-budget. You have to accept it. Purely because of the audience size. The day the audience goes up, the budget will definitely go up. Till then you need to work your way around these limitations”
Double Negative
(DNEG) Oscar-winning VFX Supervisor Tim McGovern
Shedding light on the techniques ingeniously employed to recreate mankind’s giant leap and the Apollo Space mission in the Oscar-winning movie First Man, DNEG Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Tim McGovern shared, “Part of our process was to ramp up the slow-motion archival footage, clean it up, remove scratches, take out all the additional grain as you can see the footage is old, and make it as screen-worthy as possible. Once we passed that particular stage, we would bring it down so that it fits with the 16 millimetre and 35-millimetre footage of everything else surrounding it.”
Alluding to the inventive method of bucking the green-screen-trend, Mcgovern shared that they actually created it with an intersection of miniatures, archival footage, traditional digital effects, and giant ‘LED screens to recreate the Apollo 11 mission.
Prana Studios
Prana Studio Producer CGI & Tech Suhit Saha and VFX Supervisor B.R Rajeev
Enlarging on the VFX complexities of Beautiful Hunan (also nominated for the VES award), Prana Studios Veterans Suhit Saha and BR Rajeev discussed their approach as to how they created the immersive experience. The veterans took the viewers through the process of how they created the exhilarating journey across Hunan, showcasing the wondrous and historical locations.
Redchillies.vfx
redchillies.vfx senior VFX supervisor Harry Hingorani
Highlighting the techniques deployed to create the groundbreaking imagery ranging from how they shrank the superstar into a dwarf to colour grading the sequences, redchillies.vfx VFX veteran and senior supervisor Harry Hingorani shared, “we didn’t want to go down the path of face replacement as the audiences are very smart these days and they would’ve figured it out. Having been in the industry for over 25 years, everyone recognizes SRK’s mannerism and behaviour. Thus, we decided to shoot every scene with SRK though, we had a body double, strictly for reference. We had 1600 artists working on this movie, 600 being only from our studio. The reason we had a body double was for reference to give the outsourced studios. Every shot was taken five times: First was the master take, second then the pit shots. The third plate was the cover the background /foreground with people, and the final shot was a clean plate in case we missed something and required replacement/cleanup. And finally the chrome ball, which captures 360 degrees of lighting set up and post-production. we could re-simulate the lighting effects to ensure it all looks believable and real. How we made it all look real. In the last plate (regeneration plate) SRK would act keeping his arms stretched out”
He also highlighted the importance of Technodolly that helped ease the filming process a whole lot more.
Double Negative
Double Negative VFX supervisor Jaykar Arudra
With a scene by scene VFX breakdown of some of the most bafflingly complex imagery delivered in the movie Venom, DNEG’s (Double Negative) VFX supervisor Jaykar Arudra also spilled the beans on the approaches and the techniques, “We were told that we have to be ready to use a lot of goo effects. Released in October 2018, Venom had a count of approximately 1000 shots to be delivered between London, Montreal, Vancouver and Mumbai along with Chennai. So when the film came to us, the first question was how to work around with the look of Venom, Venom as a character is inspired by a Gorilla. India itself was responsible for delivering approximately 200 shots. It has to look very human and organic. Expressions had to be animated with the help of the link between mouth, teeth and eyes. So the anatomy of a human being had to be incorporated to make it more relatable and emotive.”
With a resounding vote of thanks by media veteran and CEO of AnimationXpress Anil Wanwari to all the speakers and students present in the audience, the event ended on a jubilant and promissory note.
The post VES’ ‘The Making of’ marks the convergence of VFX veterans from around the world. appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Apr
03
It is cricket season with IPL for spring followed by ODI world cup in the summer. Following the trend, each season brings about cricket fantasy leagues in various forms and prizes, Nippon Paint has taken initiatives to bring in sporting events, with a fantasy league of their own: Nippon Fantasy League.
This league was incepted and developed by Skyesports, sister concern of Skytou studios. Skytou studios and Nippon Paint go hand in hand when it comes to hosting events and running sports-related campaigns online and offline. Their recent venture into the esports industry created quite a buzz with Skyesports championship in Chennai.
Further about NFL, it is providing a unique opportunity to the top 10 managers of the league a chance to meet Team CSK!
The whole commercialisation of every other fantasy league of any sport, wherein the rewards for the winners are cash and goodies is not a part of the Nippon Fantasy League. The top ten leaders at the end of the league will meet superstars of CSK in a meet and greet.
The post Nippon Paint brings in its very own fantasy league for IPL appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Apr
03
POGO seems to have made great arrangements for kids to make their summer unforgettable. The kids channel is launching a new adventurous show Kalari Kids on 15 April.
Kalari Kids, from the house of Green Gold Animation, combines the old-world charm and warmth of India with new-age sassiness and fun! Learning the ancient martial art form – Kalaripayattu – the Kalari Kids reside in the enchanted jungle of Kalaripuram – thick jungle full of magic and secrets, thrilling stunts, action, exciting adventures and full of magical powers.
The Kalari kids are trained in two schools, one led by Guru Palan and the other by Guru Veta. Team Guru Palan’s Beenu, Meena, Shyam, Unni and Ami who are often pitted against Team Guru Veta’s Raaka, Dhaana, Mani, Lekha, Langot and Monster. While Guru Palan believes in bringing the best out of his students with light hearted methods, valuing their age and innocence, Guru Veta believes in a rigid military form of training. After their training sessions in Kalaripayattu are over, the kids go back to their regular life and enjoy playing pranks on each other.
Speaking about the television premiere on POGO, Turner India managing director Siddharth Jain commented, “We constantly aim to offer kid friendly content to create a deeper connect with our audience, through homegrown and localised shows play a critical role in POGO’s programming strategy. We are certain that Kalari Kids will strengthen our engagement with our little fans.”
The show’s visual direction is inspired by and brings to life the beauty of traditional Indian paintings. The dynamic paneling and high-contrast style promise an exciting experience for young fans. The Kalari theme song that is fun-filled and infuses Indian classical music with modern catchy tunes, is expected to be a hit with fans.
POGO also aims to engage with fans with a range of fun and exciting activities, which will immerse them into the magical world of Kalari Kids. The high-impact, 360-degree campaign consists of on-ground and digital experiences in multiple cities. This includes an exciting association with Junglee, a family adventure film, featuring action-hero and star Vidyut Jammwal.
But this is not all! Stacking up the excitement quotient, little fans can experience the fantastic world of Kalari Kids themselves at an augmented reality booth at Infinity Mall, Malad, Mumbai in the first weekend of the show launch. This digital innovation is yet another endeavour by POGO to engage with fans in newer and more immersive ways than ever before.
Additionally, this May, kids’ superhero Chhota Bheem too has some surprises up his sleeve for his fans as he introduces them to the world of Kalari Kids across the country. Kids can also watch their favorite cartoon characters and celebrate Bheem’s birthday with Kalari Kids by participating in a special on-air contest.
The show is available on POGO for fans in Tamil, Hindi and English.
The post Make way for ‘Kalari Kids’ – the new kids on the block, on POGO! appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Apr
03
MPC magically restored 1970’s period with almost invisible VFX work for Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Roma’
Posted in: Animation“Roma is a visual effects film. It would have been impossible to create Roma without visual effects.” -Alfonso Cuarón
The most personal project to date from Academy Award-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien) is Roma. The movie shares the chronicles of a turbulent year in the lives of a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City. Cuarón, inspired by the women from his childhood, delivers an artful ode to the matriarchy that shaped his world. The movie is a semi-autobiographical take by the director starring Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira .
M PC Film overall VFX Supervisor David Griffiths and VFX Producer Bryce Nielson led the team to create the photoreal visual effects of Roma. Stepping back from the complex blockbuster VFX the studio is known for putting talent and technology to craft stunning invisible effects for the movie.
To deliver Cuarón’s vision, MPC had to work around variety of sequences, with the main focus on compositing. Other work included animation, set extensions and restoring 1970’s Mexico City.
The director worked with MPC from the early stages of preproduction, to plan how to seamlessly integrate VFX into the movie and discussing the detail required to build the universe that the movie portrays. Here are some of the invisible VFX integration in the movie as per Cuaron :
- Cuaron required a photorealistic workflow based on reference photography, concept art provided by the production’s art department and a match graded to the 4K plate workflow. His vision was to recreate 1970’s Mexico City and to both replace and replicate the original reference photography and style of the street scenes, characters, vehicles and lighting set ups.
- Due to the time period that Roma is set in, MPC’s team were required to clean up modern features captured in the original photography by removing or replacing them with CG period features, using artwork provided by the client and recreated at MPC. This included set and street extensions, blue screen comps, DMP replacement artworks, day for night composites and a whole range of inserts ranging from entire cityscape backdrops, to simple street furniture.
- Almost every shot in Roma was touched in some way by compositing and many had multiple types of compositing tasks required. From adding elements, earthquake movements and effects including fire, smoke, embers and water elements, to building environment extensions both as environment builds in 3D and 2.5D projections and finally the compositing of DMP elements.
- There were also a number of shots where multiple plates from different takes were combined. This required the seamless blending of different lighting scenarios into one final look. Replacing the sky in the original photography was another of MPC’s tasks. All of the original plates were shot at 6k and 4K, so the VFX work was extremely detailed and time consuming.
- Finally there were day for night shots required a lot of plate re-grading, light manipulation, feature rebalancing and adding / removing features as well as adding DMP elements into the final shots.
Netflix had acquired publication rights of the movie, however, it did not publicly disclose box-office figures for Roma, according to some reports the film made $90,000–120,000 from three theatres in its opening weekend, 23 to 25 November, and a total of $200,000 over the five-day. Overall the movie’s magical portrayal of the waking of colourful world towards glorious day with exciting, spontaneous possibilities has made it stand out of the lot.
The post MPC magically restored 1970’s period with almost invisible VFX work for Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Roma’ appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Apr
03
A comic fan? Grown up reading Amar Chitra Katha? How about experiencing the fun all over again in a live setting?
Amar Chitra Katha’s new creative centre inspires creativity and gratifies fans. Opened in an expansive space of 10,000 sq. ft. in Hyderabad on 31 March, ACK Alive has areas designated for art and design, life skills, performing arts, Vedic sciences and more.
A dream brought to reality by actor, producer and entrepreneur Rana Daggubati, and Future Groups founder and CEO and Kishore Biyani, the centre extends Anant Pai’s vision to teach India about its cultural roots.
ACK Alive is a space created to revitalise the ethos of Amar Chitra Katha – to engage India in the glorious culture and legacy of the land. The centre will be a platform for categories ranging from storytelling to painting, music, pottery, tailoring, and yoga.
Every room at ACK Alive is named to spark creativity. There is a section called Anant Pai Room for a theatre workshop or stage play, Amrapali Studio for Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Bollywood Dance and acrobatic yoga, Chitralekha to learn folk arts from skilled rural artisans, Shantala art room is for the older audience to gain painting skills, while the section Tansen inspire music lessons. Under the parijata tree, children and older age groups can learn pottery and woodwork. ACK Alive has also created a storytelling corner for story listeners and storytellers.
The prime reason for selecting Hyderabad as the first location was the cultural richness of the city. The building that hosts the centre had housed the visual effects division of the Ramanaidu Studio previously, where Daggubati worked, and for him it is like coming back home, expressed the Leadership Team.
Going forward, ACK Alive aims to create one master centre in each city and smaller centres. While the master centre will cover a long list of courses, the smaller centres will have a lesser number of courses.
ACK Alive is also conducting a series of free fun-filled sessions till 14 April 2019. There are over 45 courses being offered for the summer vacations, including storytelling, classical dance, acro yoga, Indian classical music, Kalaripayattu, puppetry, yoga and much more. For three to six-year-old there is an assisted early learning fun zone.
Daggubati’s vision behind the learning centre was about creating a space where stories literally come to life as values, and as life skills. “Art is at the heart of ACK Alive,” says he.
From left to right: -RanaDaggubati, VidishaBagree, AnuraagAgarwal
Unveiling the vision, he added, “I discovered Amar Chitra Katha like the rest of India. These comics were my favourite story-tellers in childhood. Soon enough, I realised that these weren’t just stories or comic books; these were carriers of our ethos and values. They were also a route for me to discover a lot more about the multidimensional culture this land has nurtured over the decades. Call it extension of Uncle Pai’s vision, ACK Alive promises to become a tool in carrying forward the Indian legacy – not just through stories, but with art, sciences and life skills entrenched in our roots.”
Beginning this holiday season, ACK Alive Learning Centre offers lot of fun ideas and resources for broadening young minds. “ACK Alive is a route to your roots,’ concludes Daggubati.
The post Amar Chitra Katha comes to life with ACK Alive learning centre appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Apr
03
The new X-Particles gives you control of shattering, squishing, and exploding down to the particle level. Learn more about this big update.
INSYDIUM has released details on stellar new X-Particles features like xpShatter, xpDynamics, and xpQuickTools. These new features are available now with the Early Access Programme.
What’s New in X-Particles
The first big update is xpShatter, a particle based shattering system. The new object-breaking engine was designed to work seamlessly with the new xpDynamics.
Here’s a great overview from Bob Walmsley.
As mentioned above, xpDynamics is the other big new feature. This is a particle based dynamics solver for Rigid and Soft Body Dynamics. Check out the overview.
The last big new feature is xpQuickTools. These are 25 scene presets ready to help speed up your workflow.
More New Features and Updates
- xpDisplayRender – Render generator allows you to render particle shapes you see in the Editor (circles, cubes, pyramids etc) and FlowField and Modifier Field Vectors.
- xpMetaGroup – Powerful type of particle group.
- xpSplineGrowth – Deformer to grow spline objects, Trails and Elektrix.
Spline Dynamics via INSYDIUM.
- xpTrailTip Tag – Tag to add an object to tip of trail splines.
- xpParticleSampleShader – Shader to colour objects from particle parameters.
- Emission from Object – Rotation mode Tangential to Normal.
Explosia Shatter via INSYDIUM.
- Colour Modifier – Colour from vertex tag, change particle shape.
- Inherit Modifier – More options to inherit and control when inherited.
- Spawn Modifier – Inherit UV emission data from source.
- xpVertexMap – Vertex colour from particles.
- Drag Modifier – Use Scene units and new Shatter mode.
Cloth Grains via INSYDIUM.
- Scale Modifier – Percentage option for scale, and shader mapping.
- Infectio Modifier – More colour control with groups.
- Physical Modifier – Use Shaders to control options.
- Cover Modifier – Two new modes ‘Nearest Surface Point’ and ‘Nearest Vertex’ added for more control over material channels.
- Attractor Modifier – New Viewport icon to show where particles will be attracted to.
Fluid Dynamics via INSYDIUM.
- Vortex Modifier – New Helix mode.
- Custom Data – New variation field.
- xpTrail New object mode.
- Network Modifier – New distance mode.
- Emitter display – New cylinder mode.
The Early Access Update is available now. Don’t have X-Particles? Grab it today.
New to X-Particles? We have tons of XP tutorials ready for you to follow along with now.
Looking for an even bigger in-depth training series? Check out the Greyscalegorilla Guide to X-Particles, which features over 20 hours of professionally guided training from XP master Jon Bosley.
The post The Killer New Tools and Features in X-Particles appeared first on Greyscalegorilla.
Apr
03
Get the latest on the new version of After Effects, learn about GPU render updates from GTC, and find about about the new features in X-Particles.
Image via Adobe.
Tons of news and updates as we head into NAB 2019. Are you headed to the 2019 NAB Show? Be sure to join us at the many events like the MoGraph Meetup and Maxon Booth presentations. Swing by for some GSG Swag.
Let’s dive into what’s new.
New in Adobe CC and After Effects
Adobe seems to be on a tear lately. After their acquisition of Allegorithic, makers of Substance, the company has now made big updates to the Creative Cloud. Adobe has just added support for Substance materials in Adobe Dimension.
Image via Adobe.
Tons of new features were just released in the latest version of After Effects. You’ve likely seen headlines for Content-Aware fill for video, which many thought was just an April Fool’s Day prank. Jokes on them, the feature is available now.
New After Effects Features:
- Content-Aware Fill for video
- Expressions Editor
- Performance improvements
- Save guides to share with Premiere Pro editors
- Automatic font syncing
- Expanded format support
- Automatically enable frame blending and motion blur
- Update legacy expressions to the new JavaScript expressions engine
Here’s a great overview about the new After Effects 16.1 features from Joey at School of Motion.
As for Content Aware, here’s another piece worth checking out from the Adobe team.
There were even updates to the Expression editor, which you can get a glimpse of in the video from Jason Boone.
Looking for some tips on working with 3D or motion design in After Effects? Check out these posts:
- Create 3D Glossy Metal Text in After Effects
- Make 3D Text in After Effects Witout Any Plugins
- The Fantastic Motion Design Work of Jr.canest
Rendering News
At the 2019 NVIDIA GTC (GPU Technology Conference), we heard about updates to Redshift, Octane, and Arnold. Below you can check out the presentations and slides.
Redshift
This presentation takes you through the recently added features in Redshift, and gives a glimpse at the future of Redshift. (Link in case of player issues)
More about Redshift:
- Quick Tips for Better and Faster Redshift Renders in Cinema 4D
- Getting Started with Redshift
- Designing Can Labels and Product Renders in Redshift as seen in TIME Magazine
- Guide to Redshift Training
Octane
The team at OTOY has shared their presentation materials from GTC in this quick video.
New Features:
- RTX Brigade kernel
- Random Walk SSS
- Spectral hair
- Denoiser improvements
- Complex Layered Materials
- OSL and Vector Displacement
- OSL Volume Shaders
- Rounded Edges
- New light and GEO primitives
- AI Supersampling
- RNDR SDK: Headless Octane on MacOS and iOS
- Unreal Engine plug-in
More about Octane:
- A Bountiful Harvest Rendered in Octane
- 5 Octane Quick Tips for Cinema 4D
- Quick Tip: Octane Random Color Node
Bringing Arnold to the GPU
We’ve been all about this for a while now, Arnold is now on CPU and GPU. In the Arnold GTC presentation, lead engineer for Arnold GPU, Adrien Herubel, talks all about the rebuild of Arnold.
Greyscalegorilla’s Chad Ashley also dived into all the new features and gives you an insider point-of-view from his beta tests and where the public beta of Arnold GPU stands today.
More on Arnold:
- Everything You Need to Know about Arnold GPU
- Arnold GPU: What to Expect from the Arnold 5.3 Beta
- Using Volume Displacement in Cinema 4D and Arnold
- Making a Spider-Verse Shader in Arnold
New in X-Particles
Image via INSYDIUM.
We just covered all the new features in the latest X-Particles update. If your maintenance plan is up to date, you can now access the latest build in the Early Access Programme.
New features include xpShatter, xpDynamics, xpQuickTools, and more.
You can find out more about the latest new features in X-Particles here.
The post MoGraph News: Updates to After Effects, Redshift, Octane, Arnold, and More appeared first on Greyscalegorilla.
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