Hasta La Motion!

Scholarships for twelve aspiring Visual Effects artists have been put up for grabs by computer graphics academy Escape Studios for its visual effects (VFX) course. Thanks to new funding from the Skillset Film Skills Fund, twelve individuals will receive 100 per cent subsidised places on the prestigious course. At the end of the course the attendees will go on a four-week industry placement, also funded by the investment.

Dominic Davenport, CEO at Escape Studios said “This is a fantastic opportunity for twelve talented and enthusiastic individuals to take their first steps to securing a place in the computer graphics industry. It can take years to develop the skills these lucky students will be taught in a matter of months, and we are looking for those with a passion for computer graphics and a desire to succeed.”

Neil Peplow, Director of Film at Skillset, the training body for the UK creative industries, said: “Our research shows that the industry needs more highly trained new entrants in the crucial field of visual effects. The UK attracts high levels of international productions choosing to do their post-production here because of the exceptional quality of our workforce. Schemes like this will help ensure that this continues."

The Skillset Visual Effects course will offer a combination of practical training and industry work experience, providing participants not only with an education but with the skills and confidence to secure future employment. Participants will receive training in the use of Maya and Nuke and learn all of the camera tracking, lighting and compositing skills needed to create fully integrated visual effects shots to a professional standard.

Davenport continues, “It’s critical that people who attend Escape Studios not only learn key skills but know how to turn these skills into a professional career. Too often education is simply an accumulation of knowledge, with little indication of how skills can be transferred into the real world of work. That’s why attendees on the Skillset course receive eighteen weeks of solid contact time with Escape’s industry experienced tutors, and also get out into the world of work afterwards with a four week placement. This allows graduates to see what’s required by post production houses, and build useful contacts in the industry.”

Stephen Tew took part in last year’s Skillset VFX course, and now works at Framestore. “Getting on the Escape Studios’ course really helped accelerate my career. It gave me a host of skills that could take years to learn otherwise, and helped me secure my current employment.”

The course starts on 28th September and runs for 18 weeks followed by the month long placement, with a three week break over Christmas and New Year. Potential applicants should visit the Skillset page on Escape Studios’ website: www.escapestudios.com/skillset

cmiVFX Launches ZBrush Artist In Focus Series (Beyond Digital Sculpting)
Watch High Definition Training Videos For The Visual Effects Industry Instantly From Anywhere In The World.

Fort Lauderdale, FL., August 17th, 2009 — cmiVFX | cmiStudios launches a brand new video for Advanced Digital Scuplting. This new video is a part of a new style of training that will allow viewers to learn more then just software and clicking buttons. In the Artist In Focus Series, artists from all over the world will be sharing their knowledge and achievements in a very exciting way. Sharing their techniques and workflows that evolved trough time and production experiences.cmiVFX is concerned on bringing real life projects for real artists. Understanding how these great artists create their art is what makes this series so precious.
This video is available today at the cmiVFX store. cmiVFX Video Player Online Store

Product Announcements — ZBrush "Beyond Digital Sculpting"
Find Out More!

Beyond Digital Sculpting
This video will talk through the process of creating a high-detailed character model in ZBrush. We will have a look at how to adjust the ZBrush interface, how to work with brushes and how to adjust them. You will learn some useful tricks about how to use reference material and how to focus on the main shapes of the figure.

Brushing it!
Using six different types of brushes: the standard brush for adjustments on a low and medium mesh resolution level, the clay brush for adding mass or material to the model, the move brush for moving parts of the model, the flatten brush for flattening out certain areas, the pinch brush for sharpening folds, creases and wrinkles and of course the smooth brush for creating a smooth surface. An important aspect is that you can change the brush behavior by tweaking the brush curve, the Z intensity, the alpha and last but not least, the brush mode.

Poly-Groups
In this section the user will learn how to use Poly-groups properly as an art of its own. Understanding the principles of them and how to use them to speed up detailing. General sculpting will be the difference from a "Great" model and a "Just Ok" model.

Preserving Core Details
Smoothing out your model preserving the details you recently added is a powerful method of high resolution object creation. Learn some interesting sculpting techniques to preserve details and characterize your model to be presented. Production proven workflow techniques have been applied in a totally intuitive way to make sure all details are preserved.

Curls, Beard and Pores!
Learning how to use ZBrush layers to unleash powerful detailing techniques. While witnessing this outstanding workflow you will learn how to use this tool in your favor to enrich your models.

Hands
Since the beginning of time, artists struggle with creating Hands and feet! No doubt it is one of the most detailed areas of the human body. We will have a look on how to create hands with ZBrush intuitively. You will see that you don’t need many polygons and special edge-flows to get the nails right.

Feet
Finding the right workflow when modeling body parts is the best thing that can happen to an artist. Revealed in this section, a proven workflow to achieve great quality with feet modeling. These techniques will be a staple for all of your models to come.

Shoes
Conceptualizing shoes is an exciting and challenging task. Sculpting a concept of a shoe directly in ZBrush is not only possible but completely rewarding specially if you are not sure yet what style fits best to your character. Use this shoe design instruction with characters or product design for advertising. We begin our models from the very start so that you don’t miss a minute of action.

Clothing
Creating believable clothing can be one of the final tasks for an artist to figure out. The shapes can sometimes stray from the contours of its host. learn how to interpret that natural collection of folds and creases to help sell the look of your model.

About Benjamin Leitgeb:
Benjamin Leitgeb is a young Italian 3D-artist and digital sculptor who is working as a freelancer for a few years. He is specialized in high-poly modeling and sculpting of human characters. He discovered his interest in computer graphics as a teenager and never stopped producing CG art since then. He constantly try to improve my skills and workflow. For Benjamin, making drawings, paintings and sculptures is a simple and direct process of giving emotions form.

About cmiVFX
cmiVFX is the leader in High Definition Video Training for the Visual Effects Community. To test drive the new cmiVFX TVOD © system, visit http://www.cmivfx.com/cmi_vod.html For additional information about cmiVFX, visit www.cmivfx.com.
© 2009 cmiVFX | cmiStudios. *All rights reserved.

Prime Focus brings Hollywood VFX veteran to India

Michael Fink, Hollywood visual effects veteran and Academy Award winner, has directed his first Indian TV commercial for Lotte Coffy Bite candy. Fink is president, VFX Worldwide at Prime Focus, India’s leading visual entertainment services company. The Mumbai-based company was appointed by Rediffusion-Y&R and MAD Entertainment for the toffee brand’s latest TV commercial.

The commercial shows that the Coffee-Toffee argument propagated by the Coffy Bite brand has moved beyond humankind and into the realm of the animal kingdom. The ad shows two frogs – Leo and Dino – vying for a Coffy Bite. Because the frogs needed to emote and converse, they had to be completely created using CGI and visual effects, with each frog having its own unique and distinct characteristics.

Commenting on his first time experience directing a commercial in India, Michael Fink, president VFX Worldwide, Prime Focus said, “It was a delightful experience to be working on an Indian TV commercial. This is a tipping point for Indian advertising with increased exposure and involvement of global specialists in Indian advertising projects. I hope to be associated with many more challenging projects like the Coffy Bite commercial in the future.”

Fink’s direction of the Coffy Bite commercial follows his involvement on the recent McDonald’s “No Fry Left Behind” campaign for DDB Chicago, which was shortlisted at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June. Fink consulted on the McDonald’s spot, which was posted by Prime Focus in London. The global cascading of skills and talent from feature films to commercials is a key part of the Prime Focus “Worldsourcing” business model.

Merzin Tavaria, lead visual effects supervisor, Prime Focus commented, “The success of this commercial is attributed to the brilliant teamwork between Rediffusion-Y&R and Prime Focus. The creative idea developed by Rediffusion was well structured, which allowed us to execute it so realistically. In the process, we are happy to be playing a role in catapulting India into the global VFX arena.”

“The Coffy Bite commercial marks the globalization of Indian advertising,” said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus. “We’re proud to be at the leading edge of this trend and hope to see more of this confluence of the West with Indian advertising. This process was made possible due to our Global Digital Pipeline business model, which allows us to leverage our resources and technology from across our global locations with spectacular results that were delivered on time and on budget.”

Minakshi Achan, EVP and executive creative director, Rediffusion-Y&R, South said, “It’s a pleasure to work with a team that supports and executes an idea this effectively. The idea of taking the Coffee-Toffee argument beyond our own world was interesting to begin with, and we’re pleased with the level of detailing and realization put in by the Prime Focus team.”

“Everyone loves the coffee-toffee argument but we wanted to take the story to a magical argument. This commercial captures the story most charmingly. The animation is truly world-class and brings the concept alive through a level of execution unseen so far,” says Kishore Karumbiah, creative head, Rediffusion-Y&R, Chennai.

Michael Fink received an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Visual Effects for “The Golden Compass.” His volume of work includes prestigious Hollywood projects such as “Tropic Thunder,” “X-Men,” “X2,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Constantine” and “Mars Attacks!”

About Prime Focus Limited (PFL)

Prime Focus Limited is India’s leading integrated end-to-end post production and visual effects services house. It offers a comprehensive spectrum of services ranging from visual effects, digital film lab (digital intermediate, high-resolution film scanning and film recording), telecine, editing, motion control and High Definition production.

Currently PFL employs nearly 1800 people and operates out of facilities in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, London, New York, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Los Angeles. PFL’s full service capabilities empower filmmakers, ad filmmakers and television producers with the latest tools and techniques to refine their work in the post production & production environment.

For more information on Prime Focus Limited please visit: www.primefocus.co.in

Disclaimer: Except for the historical information contained herein, statements in this release, which contain words or phrases such as "will", "would", "expect", "believe", and similar expressions or variations of such expressions may constitute "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the performance of the Indian economy and of the economies of our principal international markets, the performance of the industry sectors in which our clients are based, the performance of the media and entertainment industry sector world-wide, competition, our ability to obtain statutory and regulatory approvals and to successfully implement our strategy, future levels of our growth and expansion in business, technological, changes, advancements, and redundancies, the actual demand for post production and visual effects services, or the future potential or feasibility thereof, changes in revenue, income or cash flows, our market preferences and our exposure to market risks, as well as other risks. Prime Focus undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date thereof.

Production Credits:
Brand – Coffy Bite
Creative agency – Rediffusion-Y & R, Chennai
Production House – MAD Entertainment
Producer – Sunil Manchanda
Director – Michael Fink, President Visual Effects Worldwide, Prime Focus
Post production House – Prime Focus
VFX supervisor – Merzin Tavaria, Chief Creative Director, Prime Focus

Attached Thumbnails

 
 

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/30/…ntinues-shake/

Crazy times. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to pick up a copy still. If it is it will be a lot harder for new coming freelancers to save up the pennies for nuke.

It’s still listed here in the UK store though. So be interesting to see how this turns out.

Nice little article, nothing amazing. Just bigging up nuke. :p

http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/dl_file….4-1D75C5546AFB