VFXhack

A terra cotta bunny, a playboy centerfold and a Mandril. What do these things have in common you ask? If your answer was the cast list to the greatest YouTube video of all time you’d be wrong (that would be cool though). The correct answer is that these are all images used and re-used in the testing process of creating digital imagery. The folks over the unfortunately named Art Fag City have put together a post of 20 CG Image Archetypes for your browsing pleasure. Lots of good history and links here. Take a look.

[LINK] (http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/07/28/img-mgmt-20-archetypes/) to the original post (marginally NSFW because it has a naked teapot in it)

Thanks to Azathoth for the link

Check out this snapshot of a billboard in Studio City, Ca. It seems that all the Jericho fans that have so kindly responded to my post detailing the effects I did for the Season 2 finally have saved up there pennies to buy some public ad-space to further there cause. Seem crazy? Well, it might if the rabid fans hadn’t already brought the show back from the dead once already with a well coordinated write-in campaign. Who knows if this works out I could be on the call sheet for Season 3.

LINK to my previous post on Jericho VFX

The video proves once and for all that CGI and Radiohead are two great tastes that taste great together. The basic idea is this, screw the cameras 86 the lights scan everything and make the whole piece out of realtime streaming data. The result is imagery so deep in the uncanny valley that it’s cool. This behind the scenes gives a great overview of the technical and creative issues involved. I love the image of Lidar scanner on a dolly. The only problem, “Ready, and, SCAN!” just doesn’t have the right ring to it.

LINK to the full video thanks to JC for the link

Ever wanted to use a really expensive super-fast modern computer to create a logo design that looks like it was airbrushed on the front of a 70’s T-shirt? Well you’re in luck! Freelance designer Harry J. Frank has posted a nice little tutorial that’s all about the chrome logo and glowing grid that floats in space for no reason (don’t forget the cheesy star filters). All you need is a couple hours of spare time a copy After Effects and an unhealthy nostalgia for electric pink and blue.

LINK to the full tutorial on graymachine.com

I always wondered were that stuff came from.

Thanks to Nyarlathotep for the link

Hitler goes bananas after hearing that the film came back from the lab with a scratch on the neg that will have to be fixed in post. Classic.

Thanks to Aaron Z. for the link

What is “Nuking The Fridge”, you ask? Well, according to Urban Dictionary it’s…

A colloquialism used to delineate the precise moment at which a cinematic franchise has crossed over from remote plausibility to self parodying absurdity, usually indicating a low point in the series from which it is unlikely to recover.

Guy 1: “Wow. Did you see the new Indy movie? What the hell was that? It was like I was having some kind of flu induced absurdist nightmare.”

Guy 2: “Yep… did or did not that series permanently Nuke the Fridge?”

“Nuke The Fridge” has official replaced “Jump The Shark” as the term du jour on many Blogs and websites as well as IN the vernaculars of many VFX professionals. Does it trouble anyone else out there that a phrase previously used to conjure nostalgic memories of 70’s era schmaltz and lameness (c’mon Fonz, who wears a leather jacket while they are water skiing?) is now linked to an overwrought effects sequence? I’ve been bemoaning the fact that the modern VFX world is a lot more coulda’ and not enough shoulda’ on this blog for almost a year now and there are signs that things are coming to a head. Are Indy’s CG gophers and the technicolor dragon vomit that made up Speed Racer eliciting a collective cry of “Enough with the CGI already!” from the general public?

A case that a shift in popular opinion might be made based on the recent spat of blog posts and movie reviews based on the subject of a public grown desensitized and weary of movie magic. Scott Nye postED this tidbit on chud.com not to long ago.

But much as I support CGI, I do acknowledge it’s also an overused, lazy way to create what could have been an amazing sequence if done practically

And it’s not just the Matrix Generation thats bent out of shape about the state of visual effects. Johanna Schneller, movie critic at globeandmail.com observes…

I realize that CGI is a thrilling toy, a technology that seems to advance by the minute, that gets more fun the more you play with it. And I realize that in Hollywood, it’s become a tautology: Blockbusters have CGI, so if you want your film to be a bigger blockbuster, it must have ever-more-massive chunks of CGI. But I’m not sure that filmmakers realize what a yawn it is to sit through

This simmering animosity towards VFX has also jumped from film critics and nerds to the video game community. In a post on PTD magazine, William Stapleton asks these tough questions after taking his son to see the new Hulk flick.

what happens when the ‘gee-whiz’ wears off? My grandchildren will take CGI technology for granted, because they’ll grow up in a time when it’s the norm, instead of something that’s new and exciting. I’ll admit, I’ve gone to a few films where the only redeeming quality was the power of its special effects. But what will happen when special effects aren’t ’special’ anymore?

I realize that three fairly obscure blog posts do mot a backlash make, but I have to ask. Is this the begging of the end?. Visual Effects films, like any other cinematic style, have always been subject to cycles of popularity. The cold war fueled sci-fi boom of the 50’s eventually trailed off and didn’t pick back up again until the 70’s. It could be argued that we are on the downside of peak in interest in science fiction (the key driver of the VFX film) that was spurred on by the rise of the Internet. On top of that, we are quickly coming to a point where we are simply going to run out of comic books and sci-fi classics to “re-invent”. What’s next Power Pack:The Movie? Last Starfighter 2: Electric Boogaloo??

We all need to face up to the fact that the current trend of CGI blockbusters may come to an end some day. Heck even the sun will run out of fuel and burn itself out at some point. To survive VFX has to move past the gimmick phase and become a truly integral tool in production. Some films already do a great job of this (Children of Men comes to mind) while most use the technology as a crutch to prop up aging action heros or a way to create asinine comic relief for bad screenplays. Don’t get me wrong the computer artistry that goes into a lot of these films is astounding. Too bad it’s often wasted on a disappointing, or worse yet forgettable, piece of entertainment. Let’s hope that the entire VFX industry hasn’t collectively jumped the shark, I mean, nuked the fridge.

Thanks to VFXPlanet for the links to the stories used in this post

The Animation Guild Local 839 has published a survey of salaries in the animation industry and I’ve broken out some of the data that pertains to VFX folks. The numbers in the survey are median weekly rates based on union jobs but the numbers are still interesting.

In other words modelers are at the low end of the scale bringing in about $82k per year and supes are hovering close to $130k per year down about 20% from ‘07. The string of blockbuster VFX flicks seems to be keeping demand for artists high enough to meet supply. Just remember this is a boom and bust biz folks so fill up those 401ks while ya can.

LINK to the full survey

I’ve been working opn a show that requires tons of futuristic housing so I’ve scouring the inter-webs for reference over the last few weeks. I came across this photo gallery of the San-Zhr Pod Village, a futuristic collection of abandoned building in Taiwan. The coolest thing is that they are also supposedly haunted.

LINKto the gallery at File Magazine (via io9)

These nuggets of godly wisdom from the book of Exodus have inspired many imitations from The Ten Commandments of the Mafia to The Ten Commandments of Couch Crashing here’s my entry into the fray

The Ten Commandments of Visual Effects

1. Thou shalt not covet thy cubicle buddy’s action figures.

2. Thou shalt not put thy greasy goddam fingers all over my monitor.

3. Thou shalt always use headphones.

4. Thou shalt not ship until first thou hast blurred and glowed.

5. Thou shalt not get overly excited about the latest Hollywood blockbuster based on a comic book or 80’s toy.

6. Thou shalt always pad thy hours.

7. Thou shalt not torture thy interns (they could be your boss some day).

8. Thou shalt not become too bitter too quickly.

9. Thou shalt not wear free t-shirts from Siggraph on the Sabbath.

10. If thou cannot do… thou shalt blog.