Midweek Motivation: X-Particles Challenge Winners
The X-Particles Challenge is a competition designed to inspire creativity using MAXON’s Cinema 4D and Insydium’s X-Particles a particle and VFX system developed by Insydium for Cinema 4D. See the winners.
Midweek Motivation: Tennyson – L’oiseau qui danse from Jean-Marie Marbach
This gorgeous animation features the music of Tennyson and was directed by Jean-Marie Marbach. Jean-Marie used particle effects and environments created with Trapcode Suite. He also elaborated on his use of Trapcode Suite for us. We shared this one last year but we’re sharing it again because it is a winner at 2018 SIGGRAPH Asia, taking place during the first week of December in Tokyo, Japan! Félicitations à vous, Jean-Marie!
Big Screen Effects: Behind the Scenes: VFX in The Nun and Conjuring Series
Yesterday we posted an article about how to make some of the effects in The Nun and Conjuring series from Film Riot, as well as Ghostbusters, and horror film effects in general. Today, go behind the scenes to see how they were done in production and post-production.
Midweek Motivation: Age Reduction VFX – NUKE, Mocha Pro
Digital Compositor and Beauty artist Rousselos Aravantinos is at it again with another amazing age reduction visual effects demo, created with NUKE and Mocha Pro.
Midweek Motivations: The Starry Night 360, an immersive experience
I’m a big fan of Van Gogh and this is a great use of 360° video. This an incredibly beautiful 360° experience by 3D Motion Magic Shanghai. I want to jump into this world and experience it for real! Make sure you watch it full screen. There are several other videos here that are modern artworks also inspired by the work of Van Gogh.
Midweek Motivations: Historical Dramas
I love those historical dramas about the monarchies like The Crown, Victoria, The Tudors, and so on. Besides the great acting and storylines, the visual effects and matte paintings make these shows that immerse you in the rich history. Here is some of the great VFX work that went into these programs.
Big Screen Effects: Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit is a hybrid CG/Live-Action feature from Sony and Animal Logic starring Domhnall Gleeson, as the young Mr. MacGregor, and the voice of James Corden as Peter Rabbit.
This film has it all: the voice talent is phenomenal, the writing is funny, the soundtrack is great, and the CGI is adorable. My daughter was a huge fan of the Beatrix Potter books when she was little so we’ve been longtime fans of Peter Rabbit, and the film did not disappoint. It was fun to watch, even for adults, with some creative use of animated sketches. Here are some behind the scenes videos and information about what went into this film.
Midweek Motivations: Lost in Space
Several VFX companies are working on the rebooted Lost in Space series on Netflix. Here are some VFX breakdowns to give you a taste of their work!
Midweek Motivation: Co-nundrum Title Sequence
Designer and art director Tiber Ergür created the Co-nundrum title sequence as a self-practice project. The stunning visuals in this piece, along with the beautiful music, made me think it was for a real film. Too bad it isn’t, because this is amazing work. Software used: Cinema 4D, Octane Render, X-particles, and After Effects.
Big Screen Effects: The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water is my personal pick for Best Picture for the Academy Awards, and I’ve seen all of the nominated films. It’s so beautifully shot and the story is compelling. Without giving away any spoilers, The Shape of Water is the story of a mute woman who works in custodial services at a lab in 1962’s Baltimore during the Cold War. Scientists bring in an amphibious creature and love happens. Of course, the evil lab manager has other ideas. This is a roundup of the visual effects in the film, created by Mr. X and others.
Big Screen Effects: The Magic Behind Coco
Coco was possibly my favorite film of 2017, and that is saying a lot because I saw a lot of movies! It’s visually stunning and gorgeously animated and tells a compelling story of a boy named Miguel who visits the world of the dead. Coco won Best Edited Animated at the American Cinema Editors’ Eddie Awards, and won Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature. Coco; Hèctor the VES Awards.
Coco has been nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song by the 2018 Academy Awards.
Midweek Motivations: Sam Khorshid Interview, Mojin: The Lost Legend Trailer + VFX Breakdown
We’re packing a lot into this post. First, Edwin Braun of Cebas interviews VFX artist Sam Khorshid about his career, from Hollywood LA to Beijing, China, and from stereoscopic to procedural. He worked as VFX Supervisor on Mojin: The Lost Legend, a Chinese action film that looks awesome. We’re sharing the trailer for the film and VFX breakdowns too.
Podcast: Digital Production Buzz 2018 Industry Trends with Michele from Toolfarm
Each year, Larry Jordan does a show in early January to forecast trends in the industry over the next 12 months. This past week Larry talked with Ned Soltz, Randi Altman, Jonathan Handel, Michele Yamazaki, Philip Hodgetts, Michael Kammes, and James DeRuvo.
Big Screen Effects: Loving Vincent with Making Of + Behind the Scenes
Loving Vincent, written and directed by filmmakers by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, is the world’s first fully painted feature film. I saw it over the weekend and it is a gorgeous film which takes place the year after Vincent Van Gogh died and explores what happened to him in his last days. Loving Vincent is up for Best Motion Picture – Animated and also a likely contender for an Oscar nomination, announced later this month.
Big Screen Effects: Super Hero Edition with Thor: Ragnarok and Logan
There were several super hero films that came out in 2017 but Logan and Thor: Ragnarok were two of the best. We have some curated content about the making of these visual effects. While I’ll be the first to admit that I rarely see super hero films because I don’t care for them, the visual effects breakdowns and behind the scenes interviews are fascinating.