The Bravia bunnies Mockup

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Splice Here Edits, Finishes Epic 3D Digital Cinema Theatrical Release - 3D SUN

+ You are going to see a star; an astrophysical object; in three dimensions, with great resolution; for the very first time! So begins 3D Sun, a fascinating new look at something each of us sees every day. Featuring extensive offline/online 3D editing, visual effects, color-correction and finishing by Splice Here, 3D SUN envisions and explains the “how and why” behind images that will be captured by STEREO, a still unfolding two-year NASA mission that relies on two nearly identical space-based observatories to provide the first-ever, high definition 3D stereoscopic images of the Sun.
“I was looking for a Minneapolis post facility with the technical capacity and artistic talent to handle a job of this size,” says Melissa Butts, Executive Producer of Melrae Pictures, Minneapolis, MN. “From the outset, 3D Sun promised to require a lot of rendering and other complex work -- 3D digital cinema is definitely not for the faint-of-heart. Splice Here already had a great reputation for being very technologically adept. The company, and editor Carl Jacobs in particular, has an almost innate need to problem solve. There were a lot of stones to turn over on this project and Splice Here just never gave up.”
The project marks the first time Splice and Jacobs ever worked on 3D project, and for Jacobs the project was a challenging as it was rewarding.3D Sun enables audiences to experience a 3D rocket launch of STEREO in appropriately seat-shaking 5.1 stereo sound. Together with 3D representations of the Sun, Earth, and several CMEs, 3D animation of the floating and separating spacecrafts will follow, with 3D Sun images usually only seen by NASA scientists.
“We edited the whole thing in DV 25,” Jacobs says. “We only went to high definition when we absolutely had to. A big reason for that was the fact that, for 3D, we were editing one ‘eye’ at a time, and only bring them together at the end. Handling two HD streams simultaneously would have been a slower process, so we performed all our testing at DV 25.” All of which did not completely prepare Jacobs for the full 3D experience he was about to discover. “We edited one eye at a time, but when we brought everything together it was like going from black and white to color; the experience was just an amazing thing to see. It was a big surprise, and a fascinating phenomenon to discover.”
Using the new version of Apple Final Cut Pro, Jacobs also contributed cinematic animations of the Earth’s magnetic field to complement more photorealistic representations of the spacecraft that were provided by NASA. “We broke the unwritten rule that you don’t change software going into a project,” admits Jacobs. “It was worth it, however, for Final Cut 6. The new version came with ProRes, a new codec that allowed us to store HD imagery at much smaller file sizes. We were able to deal with huge uncompressed images in a much more economical manner, which saved us a huge amount of work.” “3D SUN” had its North American premiere at the prestigious New Jersey Liberty Science Center in July of 2007 followed by Boston Museum of Science. Produced in cooperation with NASA, “3D SUN” is currently in worldwide distribution to digital 3D and 4D theaters in museums, zoos, aquariums and other digitally equipped venues.
To watch trailer and clips from 3D Sun: Click Here

For more info on Splice : Click here

Labels: Animation - Vfx

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Arsenal Launches; Completes Six-Spot Animated Promo Campaign for FX Network’s Season Two of Dirt

LOS ANGELES, CA – Executive producer Michele Maples has launched Arsenal, a new live -action and design oriented production company, and has completed its first assignment -- a new six-spot promo campaign for season two of FX Network’s hit show Dirt, starring Courtney Cox. The promos, directed and designed by Emmy-award winner designer/director Vonetta Taylor, feature 2D, 3D animation and a captivating rotoscoping technique applied to the live action footage that gives the campaign a colorful, pop art /comic book look.
“Arsenal represents an array of top-notch directors, designers and creative talent from around the world and matches their skills to the specific needs of the project,” explained Maples. “These days our clients are looking for more than the one-size-fits-all approach you find at many design studios and production companies. Because we have a ready ‘arsenal’ of directors as part of our talent network, we were able to respond quickly to our clients needs. The
Dirt project for FX Network is great example of the kind of diverse creative resource we can be for our clients.”
The inspiration for the Dirt promo campaign was FX’s print campaign projecting actress Courtney Cox, who plays the editor of Dirt Now, a Hollywood gossip magazine, as a wonder woman/super hero presiding over Hollywood. The challenge for Arsenal was to bring these single print frames to life without compromising the spirit of the style.
“The reason we called Michele is that she has a proven and extensive track record as a visual effects producer, coupled with her associations with top directorial talent,” said Stephanie Gibbons, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Promotions for FX Networks in Los Angeles. “We worked as a team with Arsenal and did a lot of brainstorming upfront, and then they took it from there, handling the live action direction, design, and post production of the spots.”
Taylor, who previously won an Emmy award for her work on the design of the show open to Carnivale, the highly rated HBO original series, explained that developing the stylized look of these promos, which was influenced in part by the art of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, the Richard Linkletter film A Scanner Darkly and comic book illustration, was a collaborative process between Arsenal and FX Networks and that the challenge was not to mimic any one look but rather establish a fresh, unique style of its own. Taylor’s recent work includes the title sequence for the 2007 movie Shoot ‘em Up and a montage sequence in the movie Alvin and the Chipmonks.
“I define myself as a designer who is very much a problem solver so that when a client comes to me with a need, I design specifically to those needs,” said Taylor. “In developing this animation style, we had to move in a sure-footed way because time didn’t permit missteps or trial and error.”
The six promos show vignettes of Hollywood stars and celebutants caught in the act of wild, unbecoming behavior, punctuated by a clever comment from Dirt’s editor. In one spot, entitled “Lights, Camera, Mugshot!” we see a carload of partying female celebrities speeding down a California highway. A police siren quickly ends the party as we quickly see the disheveled starlet posing for a mug shot and going to jail. The spot ends with an animated Cox looking at the camera and asking sarcastically “where’s a stylist when you need one?”
“Since the target audience is Women 18-34, we wanted to be certain that our pop art comic book style was not mistaken as a throwback to the 1960’s or any other decade, but rather a contemporary look that is decidedly 2008,” said Julie Graham, Director of Production for FX Networks.
Adds Taylor, “This technique involved taking live action footage shot in front of a green screen and then creating 2D and 3D CG-animated backgrounds to compliment the illustrative style we developed for the rotoscoped live action characters. The challenge was the schedule. We were delivering six fully animated spots in five weeks, so there wasn’t a lot of time for trial and error. We had to nail it the first time around.”
Flatblack Films, Austin, TX, who have developed proprietary software and workflow to automate the rotoscoping animation process quickly and efficiently contributed to the campaign. To watch the Arsenal produced spots for FX Network’s Dirt : Click Here

Labels: Animation - Vfx

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SWAY Drives Effects for Multi-Spot Toyota Corolla Campaign

+ SWAY studio recently added liveliness, detail and a touch of whimsy to the 2009 Toyota Corolla campaign entitled “Through the Roof” for Saatchi & Saatchi LA. With their renowned image-based lighting and animation techniques, SWAY’s team of artists delivered over five minutes of moving live action, 2D matte painting and full 3D shots, contributing to multiple customized regional :30 second commercials as part of this modular-based national campaign.
“Through the Roof” began airing in local markets across the country on Feb. 9. It features the Corolla sweeping through a striking environment of green countryside and urban landscapes on a mission to absorb available features typically found only in luxury cars: satellite radio, leather trimmed seats, an MP3 jack, Bluetooth® capability, traffic control and navigation, and more. SWAY’s computer graphics and matte painting techniques were combined with a live miniature set to create the extraordinary backdrop. “The challenge of this project was to create a balance between real and surreal,” said Chris Nichols, VFX supervisor at SWAY studio. “The directors at Buck were inspired by a miniature set, but we needed to make it appear believable on a real-world scale. SWAY’s advanced compositing, image-based lighting and animation methods were able to bring this feeling to life and further proved our ability to work with any type – or size – of environment.”
Working with the miniature set, SWAY meticulously collected tracking and lighting data to ensure that each car was correctly integrated into the shot, allowing the final product to appear believable on a real-world scale. SWAY’s team then utilized their data to exactly match the camera, geometry and lighting to make certain that each car’s movements, lighting and shadows matched precisely. SWAY employed their proprietary Drive-A-Tron™ driving simulator to create the exact movements made by the Corolla. Instead of using traditional animation techniques, Drive-A-Tron allows SWAY artists to literally get behind the wheel and drive the car on even the most challenging CG terrain, creating the desired performance without compromising the reality of the driving. “The Drive-A-Tron provides SWAY a large advantage over other studios, allowing us to complete the most precise and detailed animation available,” said Mark Glaser, owner and creative director of SWAY. “Using this proprietary tool over the past three years has allowed us to perfect these difficult animation techniques making SWAY the studio to call upon for automobile animation.”
>> Watch da Spot - Click here

Labels: Animation - Vfx, visual effects studio

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BAFTA announced VFX and Animation Nominees

+ The Visual Effects and Animated films nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards were announced today at Academy headquarters by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This year Pixar/Disneys RATATOUILLE, Dreamwork's SHREK THE THIRD and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE made into the list of nominees under Animated Film category. The 2008 nominees in the Short Animation category include; THE PEARCE SISTERS directed by Jo Allen and Luis Cook, HEAD OVER HEELS directed by Osbert Parker, Fiona Pitkin and Ian Gouldstone, And THE CRUMBLEGIANT directed by the duo Pearse Moore and John McCloskey.

The Nominees list for Achivement in Special Visual Effects are;

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM – Peter Chiang/Charlie Noble/Mattias Lindahl/Joss Williams

THE GOLDEN COMPASS – Michael Fink/Bill Westenhofer/Ben Morris/Trevor WoodsHARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX – Tim Burke/John Richardson/Emma Norton/Chris Shaw

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END – John Knoll/Charles Gibson/Hal Hickel/John Frazier

SPIDER-MAN 3 – Scott Stokdyk/Peter Nofz/Kee-Suk Ken Hahn/Spencer Cook

The Orange British Academy Film Awards will be held on Sunday 10 February at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden. The event, hosted by Jonathan Ross, promises to be bigger and better than ever and the ceremony will be broadcast around the world and on the BBC in the UK. Voting for the Film Awards began in December and the nominations were announced at the Academy’s headquarters on Wednesday 16 January. For full list of nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2008 - Click Here

Labels: Animation - Vfx, Awards and Events

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The Mill & Psyop Get Juicy with Orangina

+ After a two-day, highly detailed and choreographed motion-capture shoot involving professional dancers performing the moves and acting out the central story, , a basic edit was completed, to be replaced later on with the 3D animated characters. The Mill’s 3d team led by CGI & Animation supervisor Juan Brockhaus then took all the motion-capture data in to ‘motion builder’ where it was mapped to the rough 3D models to establish the timings of the edit. It was then brought into XSI, where hand animation of details such as fingers and facial expressions was carried out including some major re-animation of the characters. It was one thing motion capturing a dancer and quite another translating human motion to that of a ten foot high giraffe! Meanwhile, the Mill’s environment team were busy collaborating on the look and feel of the scenery, mixing 3D elements such as grass, shrubs, trees and the stage with matte paintings for the landscape. In-house tools gave the Mill artists the opportunity to .........Read more!!

Labels: Animation - Vfx, visual effects studio

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Thinking Animation: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and CG

+ Thinking Animation: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and CG, is an interesting new book by Angie Jones and Jamie Oliff, which offers a fresh perspective on the subject of animation and computer graphics. Learn how to think before you animate. Thinking Animation is a one-of-a-kind book that emphasizes how artists can use traditional animation techniques and principles with the computer generated animation technology of today. Written by seasoned animators with experience in both 2D and CG, Thinking Animation is an exquisite guide aimed at experienced animators; however, the skills taught within are still accessible and valuable to the novice animator. This full-color book includes numerous interviews with experienced contributing authors from a wide range of backgrounds, including stop-motion, visual effects, traditional animation, and CG. Thinking Animation is non-software specific. It contains a history of the field of animation as well as insight into how CG studios operate. It embraces the future of animating with the computer while still retaining the core values that traditional animators use as formulas and principles.

>> Find more about book

Labels: Animation - Vfx

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Diesel and Flaunt Magazine Team With New Creative Design Studio Royale For Three-Minute Branded Short Film

Experimental Branded Short Blends 2D, 3D, Stop Motion and Still Photos Into Immersive Visual Experience

+ Rarely does a single project offer a design studio a chance to flex all of its creative muscles at one time, especially for their first assignment as a company, but that was the exhilarating challenge presented to newly-launched design/animation/production studio Royale -- the new creative hub led by creative directors Jayson Whitmore, Brien Holman and executive producer Jen Lucero -- when they tackled the new Diesel sponsored three-minute experimental branded short included on a DVD in the ninth anniversary issue of Flaunt Magazine currently on newsstands.

Flaunt and Diesel gave us full support to speak to their brands and still make the project our own," said Whitmore. "Working with branded entertainment gave us the freedom to make a relevant piece for Flaunt and Diesel while showing our own capabilities. We were also able to collaborate with some amazing people that helped this project stand out and give our new company a creative voice.

"Taking inspiration from Diesel's current "Human After All" campaign and outer space in general, the Royale film expertly fuses traditional cell animation and stop motion with 2D/3D animation and compositing. The result is an immersive experience that is also experimental in nature.

"The basic concept was to connect all of these different worlds where Diesel exists through the pages of Flaunt," adds Holman. "We wanted to take viewers on a voyage through this hyper-stylized version of outer space while limiting the design of this world to the medium of paper from the magazine. All elements, including buildings, spaceships, Robots and planets were made out of scanned images from Flaunt.""We had a great time mixing multiple animation techniques to create this environment," said Whitmore. "Everyone in the studio at some point literally touched the project, whether it was helping to shoot stop motion paper elements or creating textures for the world.

"For Holman, the biggest challenge was creating a sense of fluid motion using only still images. "Using the pages of Flaunt as the medium, we used torn pages to create a world that the Diesel models live in," said Holman. "Also, knowing the potential for still images to look out of place, we came up with a stylistic solution of mixing stop motion with 2D and 3D animation to help the static images feel more integrated into the world. When all of it blends to the point where you can't discern the technique you know it's working." In addition to the branded short, Royale designed the packaging for the DVD page and are profiled in the issue. Lucero states, "This was the first time Flaunt had ever included a DVD with branded content in the magazine and we had a great experience being involved with such creative brands."
>> watch the film

>> Visit Royale website

Labels: Animation - Vfx

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SWAY Uncorks Animated Dancers for Chandon Sparkling Wine Spot

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yU+co Creates Buzz for Bee Movie Main Titles

+ On the heels of their acclaimed main title sequence work for the Warner Bros. summer blockbuster 300, yU+co, the three-time Emmy nominated creative design studio founded by Creative Director Garson Yu, has created another blockbuster movie main title sequence for DreamWorks Animation's latest release, Bee Movie. yU+co's work on the film actually marks the first time DreamWorks Animation has ever worked with an outside company on a main title sequence. Released on November 2nd, the highly touted animated film stars a high profile cast led by Jerry Seinfeld and Renée Zellweger.
"The goal for us is always to engage the audience and give them a reason to stay in their seats and watch the titles," Yu says. "The fact that DreamWorks Animation came to us to create something that will keep theater-goers watching is a testament to both their desire to acknowledge the craftspeople who worked on the film and in our ability to deliver something special each time."
David Garber, yU+co's Executive Producer, noted that one of the reasons DreamWorks Animation awarded main title sequence duties for Bee Movie to yU+co was because they wanted something special that didn't look like anything else in the film.
"Everyone involved wanted a different look at the end of the film," Garber says. "Since the film features a highly-detailed 3D animation look, our approach for the title sequence was to create a 2D painterly look as a counterpoint to the 3D look of the movie."
yU+co also rounded out the visuals with a story line that the filmmakers loved. "We pitched against several other companies for this and what the client responded to in our pitch was the concept of a day in the life of a bee," Yu explains. "We wanted to follow the bee on the little adventures that he likely goes through every day."
The title sequence begins with gold and orange hued environment inside a beehive where we see a bee's journey from inside the hive into the world outside where he encounters one danger after another, including pesticide spray, the windshield of a speeding taxi and a fast-moving spider. Eventually he returns back to the hive and flies into a stylized honey-producing factory, all the while playfully interacting with the letters and names in the credits. The end result is just over eight minutes of brilliant 2D animation with a clever narrative that will keep audiences watching till the last frame. For yU+co, Bee Movie is the culmination of a busy few months that also included creating main title sequences for several new films in genres ranging from Ridley Scott's new crime drama American Gangster (Universal Pictures), Ang Lee's award-winning drama Lust, Caution (Focus Features) and the romantic comedies Dan In Real Life (Touchstone Pictures) and Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? (Lions Gate). Additionally, yU+co has created the main title sequence for Disney's highly anticipated comedy-fantasy-musical, Enchanted, and the drama August Rush (Warner Bros.), which both open on November 21st.
>> Watch title sequence

Labels: Animation - Vfx

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Framestore CFC : The Age Of Aquariums

+ With almost two million You Tube hits in just a couple of months, the promo for The Salmon Dance is The Chemical Brothers most successful video yet. Its digital fish were bred at Framestore CFC, Visual Effects Studio. Framestore CFC has recently completed work on a trippy, fishy little promotional video for The Salmon Dance, a new single by The Chemical Brothers, featuring vocals by ex-Pharcyde rapper, Fatlip. With a cast of over 300 piscine performers, the video is the latest collaboration between directing team Dom & Nic and Framestore CFC. Drawn from the Brothers' latest album, We Are the Night, the video was produced by John Madsen for Factory Films.
>> Read more!

Labels: Animation - Vfx, visual effects studio

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CGI Animation Movie Ministers to Children of Katrina & the World

+ HOLLYWOOD, Calif. –- Family Friendly Films, LLC announces that the popular e-book, “Zea Zoo and the Land of Boo: An Urban Fairy Tale,” has entered into movie production stage after making its presence known online. Based on a popular children’s poem, “Zea Zoo and the Land of Boo” was so successful as an e-book that it is now being made into a computer-generated illustration (CGI) short animated movie. Targeting the vastly under-served urban youth/family markets, “Zea Zoo and the Land of Boo” has nurtured an international, online audience that has created branding as a positive youth/family-friendly favorite.
“The film is refreshingly new and much anticipated in the animation film industry,” P.D. Blackmon of Family Films, said. Blackmon has recently returned to study at the UCLA Film School after 20+ years in the media industry as a writer/director and producer.Post-production VIP screenings of the film are being sponsored by Women in Films (Beverly Hills) and Universal Studios. Equity partnership and distribution deals are currently being shopped. CGI animation has eclipsed other animation forms and has emerged as one of the most successful film-art forms. Through state-of-the art CGI animation, coupled with traditional artistry, Family Friendly Films has achieved a new level of storytelling that still pays homage to Walt Disney and other great past animators. The film’s characters are reality and fantasy based, giving the animation studio extreme longitude to tell a story while exploring creative boundaries. At the center of the story is a young, disenchanted boy from Bay Village, a town near the Gulf Coast of Mexico. He gets caught in Hurricane Katrina, nearly drowns, and awakens in the “Land of Boo,” a magical wonderland under the sea. While there, he befriends unique characters who help him to return home to save his family and friends.
The boy’s efforts are fraught with challenge and he must continue to stay one step ahead of King Nino, Queen Elvia and their evil followers the “SeaWeeds” who seek revenge and, ultimately, his death.The film is being produced by Family Friendly Films, LLC, Family Film Animations Studio and Blackmon Entertainment.
To learn more, visit: www.landofboo.com

Labels: Animation - Vfx, animation short

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"Hurt" Great CG music video by LRR

+ Some great inspirational stuff coming your way;... Have a look at this stunning all-CG Music video "Hurt", created by San Francisco based motion graphics and visual effects studio "Little Red Robot" (LRR). The Little Red Robot studio is hired by Capitol Records for creating music video of song "Forever" by their new recording artist "Hurt"....Really Awesome enviroments and you may say; Who need superficial reality when you can create such incredibly unbelievable all-CG visual effects and environments for a music video? (superficial thought :)...The LRR Studio rendered the Music video entirely using NVIDIA Gelato rendering software. You can also check-out the "making of music video", which includes; 3d animation, character development and visual effect techniques used by the Studio.

Little Red Robot studio is run by the directing duo of Hasraf “HaZ” Dulull and Seth Shukovsky with a team of top Visual effects artists, animators and film professionals. For more information and LRR demo reel, please visit www.littleredrobot.com
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