VFXhack

This may look like a map of the human genome but it’s actually a screen grab of an After Effects comp for a Timex commercial. I remember back in the earlier days of CG when we used to laugh at Flame Artists (at that time referred to as “Flame Operators”) who would brag about using over 20 nodes in their comps. My how things have changed. Here’s another gem of node based abstraction from a Battlestar Galactica shot.

Got a giant mess of a file you want to share? Send your screen grabs and I’ll be happy to share your misery.

LINK to more info on the timex spot

Thanks to L.J. for the BSG pic

Kerner Optical posted this incredible behind the scenes footage of the miniature tank work they did for Pirates 3. I got the opportunity to blow up some models for the a TV a couple of month ago and nothing in VFX compares to the rush of exploding something for real. Beats being chained to a monitor that’s for sure.

via VFXPlanet

AWN has posted an article revealing the results of an animation survey filled out by over 300 readers. It’s not surprising that most of the surveyed are guys who have a boner for hand drawn animation. It seems that they are particularly disturbed about the direction the winds of change are blowing in regards regards to mocap. Mark Simon sums up the issue thusly.

Sony Imageworks and Beowulf director Robert Zemeckis spent over $150 million producing a motion-capture CG animation movie. Want to know what scored the lowest in the survey of favorite animation styles? Motion-capture CG animation. Barely 2% of the survey-takers prefer this style of animation. It would seem that this is not a good investment.

I do have to agree that the Citizen Kane of mo-cap movies has yet to be made. And It looks like the movie biz has a long way to go in convincing the animators of the world that scaling the cliffs of the uncanny valley is worthy a pursuit.

LINK to full survey results (via VFXPlanet)

You may have seen the Boing Boing post a few days ago about a group of super fans who made there own version of Star Wars : Episode 4 with cardboard props, KFC helmets and a Bobby McFerrin inspired soundtrack. The film makers have also posted a Visual Dictionary of props storyboards and designs that really adds to the whole experience. Click on the picture above to see more.

LINK to the original video

So a buddy of mine showed me this Mad TV sketch 12 hours into a 16 hour greenscreen shoot I was directing over the weekend. After screaming ridiculous things like “You look up, you see a huge dinosaur!” and “There is magic all around you, and you like it!” until I literally lost my voice, the accuracy of this clip had me showing it to everyone who got within a 4 foot radius of my iPhone.

Favorite line:

“Do I look fat in this?” “Yes, very much so, but we’ll CGI it out.”

LINK to a related unitard post

I recently got a chance to get a tour of the ILM facility at the Presidio in San Francisco. The place is just dripping with VFX history. Sure you’ve got the obvious awesomeness like Han Solo in Carbonite but there are lots of hidden gems too like the original door to Kerner Optical and the Optical Printer used on the original Star Wars film. One thing that caught my eye was a poster from the 7th Voyage of Sinbad that was signed multiple times by Ray Harryhausen himself. I asked my tour guide what the deal was with the poster and he was clueless. It just so happens the San Francisco Chronicle did a little piece about the poster last week. Here’s a snippet

But there’s one piece of art on the wall that few in the building take for granted: A giant print of the Cyclops from “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” with a signature scrawled on it once for every visit by the monster’s creator. It was displayed prominently in the lobby of the old ILM offices in San Rafael, and now gets a place of honor near the cast photos from each of the company’s productions.

“Every time I walk by that and see those signatures, I think, ‘This has got to be the coolest place in the world,’ ” says Tim Harrington, an animator in his mid-30s who is working on the new Indiana Jones movie. “Ray Harryhausen has been here five times.”

LINK to the full story on SF Gate (via VFXblog)

This commercial for VW is a stop-motion masterpiece. The detail in the character is amazing, check out the flailing arms on the Fay Ray when it’s in Kong’s hand.

LINK to Nova interview with David Allen about the inner workings of the Big Ape

special thanks to Nyarlathotep for the tip

An art student threw together this mash-up “just for fun. Not as a serious artistic endeavor” I don’t know, something like this my have added some interest to the prequels.

thanks to Motiongrapher for the link