VFX

Making of Life of Pi

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Check out the awesome visual effects that went into the making of Life of Pi…and also follow along Pi’s epic journey through the film.

http://journey.lifeofpimovie.com

It’s unfortunate that Rhythm & Hues (primary effects house for the film) filed for bankruptcy even after doing all the amazing visual effects, especially with the Tiger. But such is the state of VFX industry at the moment in Los Angeles. I am hopeful that things will turn around in the near future.

Also of note, the website is a great example of responsive design using HTML5.

The Orphanage is shutting down

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I just learned today that the VFX house, The Orphanage, in San Francisco is officially closing its doors. It was a real surprise considering the amazing work they’ve done, like in Iron Man. Seems the economic downturn is hitting everyone hard this year. There are  several instructors at our school who work at the Orphanage, so it is really sad news.

Read more about it here at co-founder Stu Maschwitz’s blog.

Fall Semester 2008

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It’s amazing how quickly the summer went by. Classes officially begin today at the Academy of Art University. I have a full schedule with 3 classes (believe it or not). They are:

  1. Pre-Production for VFX
  2. Collaborative Texture and Lighting
  3. Production Lighting Principles (VFX 1)

The pre-production class here at the academy is where you develop your masters thesis ideas, along with the story, storyboards, concept art, animatics, etc.

The collaborative Texture and Lighting class is essentially a production class where we colloborate as a class to work on outside projects. We actually had to sign a non disclosure agreement on the first day. I wish I could give more details, but you’ll just have to wait until my reel gets updated after the semester.

The last class is Visual Effects 1 consisting of five projects, some group, some individual, beginning with character replacement in a film. This is probably going to be a ton of work, but I’m not too worried about that right now.

Luckily, my classes are all on either Tuesday or Thursday so technically school starts on the 9th for me. It should be another exciting semester. I’ll update the site with project work as I chug along.

Summer Classes 2008

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My classes begin today. I’m taking the following:

  1. Conceptual Physics
  2. Advanced Texture and Lighting

I’m really looking forward to both of these. I haven’t taken physics since undergrad, but I’m not too worried. The class is going to cover the underlying physics in relation to the field of Visual Effects and Animation which will help me understand the fundamentals of science. We’ll be covering waves, particles, light, color, refraction, diffraction, motion, and much more.

The advanced texture and lighting class will no doubt help me tremendously. I’m familiar with the basics of texturing and not so much about lighting. Later this fall, I’m planning to take a lighting production class that will cover the rules for lighting during a green screen shoot, among other things. I’ll post updates on my work in the class. Stay tuned.