By Mike Seymour:
As a compositor, I am often asked to shoot elements to match existing footage or stills. Unlike shooting all original elements where camera placement, lens, tilt angle, etc. can be logged and reset in multiple locations. Existing footage and stills most often do not come with camera data. Using a few perspective tools to deconstruct footage can provide a close approximation of camera placement, framing and focal length on set.
By Scott Beggs:
Of course he still has the canon to contend with, but there’s something inspired about starting from the drawing board. In the rest of the interview, he lays out how Lucas has stepped to the side to let J.J. Abrams and others come to the forefront with their visions. In a way, that’s what happened when Lucas hired Kasdan to write what would become the final draft of Empire Strikes Back with Irvin Kershner at the helm, and the result was an amazing sequel that’s surpassed its predecessor in popularity.
We all saw the storyboards for Epo. 1, Right?
I hope to be proven wrong.
By Brent Lang:
Within 24 hours, Rhythm & Hues Studios went from accepting a BAFTA award for its arresting visual-effects work on "Life of Pi" to filing for Chapter 11 protection.
Scott Squires:
The visual effects industry is still having problems and they’re getting worse. R&H looks like their filling for Chapter 11. Why do companies have to underbid and close? Why are artists losing jobs without notice? If visual effects is helping to create most of the successful films of all time, why do we have so little leverage? Why do companies and artists have so little control over what’s happening?
Who's next is the question we all should be asking. This can happen to any of us at anytime. No matter how good you are at your job. Sometimes being good is not enough.
theatlantic.com:
The Sony World Photography Awards, an annual competition hosted by the World Photography Organisation, has recently announced its shortlist of winners. This year's contest attracted more than 122,000 entries from 170 countries. The photographs are being judged in six different competition categories, including Professional, Open, and Student Focus. The organizers have been kind enough to share some of their shortlisted images with In Focus, gathered below. Winners are scheduled to be announced in March and April.
Another sad day. http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/oscar-nominated-vfx-rhythm-and-hues-filing-bankruptcy/ … When LIFE OF PI wins the VFX Oscar, there’ll be a mic, an audience, and a unique opportunity.
By Mike Seymour:
Fxguide believes that around 9pm Pacific, R&H did call a group of people to tell them that they were being laid off because the company was going to be seeking Chapter 11 protection. The Deadline article may make it seem to some readers that all employees were let go. This is definitely not the case from what we understand.
By Amid Amidi:
Animation studio Rhythm & Hues began informing its employees tonight that they will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday morning. According to a report on Deadline, the studio can no longer pay its employees and they are being asked not to come into work on Monday at the studio’s West LA headquarters.
Sorry to hear this. Make sure to have a look in the comments.
Here is a link to there demo reel
DL Cade:
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is a bit of a space celebrity. Some of his hobbies include tweeting back and forth with William Shatner, posting recordings from space on SoudCloud, and even beaming down the occasional video of himself playing the guitar.
I'm always a sucker for images from space.
By Ian Failes:
This week in fxphd, we take a look at what fxphd profs Matt Leonard and Ben Greasley have been teaching recently in our NUKE 7 and modo workflow course – NUK221. The course delves into modo’s modeling, animation, dynamics, shading, lighting and rendering abilities, and explores over two dozen new NUKE 7 features.