Animation Imagination
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B?42eXTf_TaUB?42eXTf_TaUaU ! '0SeP]RTS CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C July 2008 • Volume 31 • Number 7 INNOVATIONS IN VISUAL COMPUTING FOR THE GLOBAL DCC COMMUNITY Also see www.cgw.com for computer graphics news, special surveys and reports, and the online gallery. » Director Peter Berg turns Computer WORLD to Technicolor for his WORLD Post Hancock DI. » Journey to the Center of the Earth’s water effects. » Key to shooting/com- See it in www.postmagazine.com ______positing greenscreen. Departments Editor’s Note 2 A Man of ‘Character’ Remembering pioneer makeup artist, visual effects artist, director, producer, costume designer, and writer Stan Winston. Features Do you have a fond memory of Stan or one of his projects? Share them at Cover story www.cgw.com. Rampant Risk-Taking 10 CGI | Disney/Pixar devises new lighting Spotlight 4 10 and photographic tools for the just- Products released CG feature Wall-e. Frantic Films’ Awake By Barbara Robertson Imagineer’s Mogul Animazoo’s IGS-190H mocap system Heavy-Handed 18 Duiker Research’s Color Symmetry 1.5 CHARACTER MODELING | The Hulk is Iconix’s Studio2K camera back, and he is in the best shape of his life, thanks to new CG techniques. User Focus By Barbara Robertson Animation studio Titmouse dives into the high-def waters using Blackmagic Multibridge products. Dimensional Art 26 HOLOGRAPHY | Digital technology 18 Viewpoint: Art 8 sparks a renewed interest in Gergely Vass discusses the importance of holographic art. color temperature. By Linda Law Portfolio 38 SIGGRAPH Art Gallery Hollywood North 32 TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY | Ontario is Knowledge & Career 40 growing a digital content creation Screen Test community, offering many incentives The iCinema Research Centre of for those willing to set up shop in Australia’s University of New South the area. Wales is evolving panoramic projection. By Martin McEachern 26 Job Skills 101 Internships provide valuable lessons. Back Products 46 On the cover: Disney/Pixar’s latest character, Wall-e, is a non-speaking robot, yet CG artists have made him quite expressive—so much so that he has no trouble stirring up human emotion from audiences, pg. 10. 32 ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World |1 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Karen Moltenbrey Chief Editor note KAREN MOLTENBREY: Chief Editor [email protected] A Man of ‘Character’ 36 East Nashua Road Windham, NH 03087 (603) 432-7568 His creatures are legendary. And so was he. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Courtney Howard, Jenny Donelan, Sadly, the industry last month lost one of its pioneers and innovators: Audrey Doyle, Evan Marc Hirsch, George Maestri, Kathleen Maher, Martin McEachern, famed makeup artist, visual effects artist, director, producer, costume design- Stephen Porter, Barbara Robertson editor’s er, and writer Stan Winston, who succumbed to cancer at the age of 62. WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE Winston’s career spanned four decades, though his mark on the indus- Publisher President and CEO, COP Communications try will last for generations. In 1972, Winston, a struggling actor-turned-makeup artist, realized his true Hollywood calling, and established Stan Winston Studio. SALES It didn’t take long for the Emmy and Oscar nominations and awards to pile up for LISA BLACK: National Sales Manager Winston’s makeup and effects work. First, he established himself in the broadcast Classifieds • Education • Recruitment world with the tele-film Gargoyles. Later, he placed his stamp in the burgeoning field [email protected] (877) CGW-POST [249-7678] fax: (214) 260-1127 of music videos with Styx’s Mr. Roboto. Soon thereafter, he made a name for himself in Hollywood. Working alongside famed directors Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and Editorial Office / LA Sales Office: Tim Burton, he crafted such timeless monsters as the metallic Terminator, the slime- 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204 (800) 280-6446 coated Alien, and its bloodthirsty counterpart, Predator. He brought dinosaurs to life for Jurassic Park. He made the deformed Edward Scissorhands interesting and likable. PRODUCTION He gave the grotesquely misshapen Penguin screen presence next to the sleek super- KATH CUNNINGHAM: Production Director hero Batman. His creations were more than just bits and pieces of plastic and metal [email protected] molded together in an interesting way; his creatures had character. (818) 291-1113 As a true visionary, Winston, along with Cameron and Scott Ross, founded VFX MICHAEL VIGGIANO: Art Director [email protected] facility Digital Domain. After a short period, Winston and Cameron left the studio, CHRIS SALCIDO: Account Representative though not before releasing the top-grossing film of all time, Titanic. [email protected] While Winston’s name is associated with a number of huge effects films, a good (818) 291-1144 deal of his work was in animatronics and puppetry, not digital work, where he pushed the essence of non-living characters to a new level. Nevertheless, he was a master at merging practical effects with CG effects, as was the case in AI: Artificial Intelligence, Jurassic Park, and more. Today, his creations live on in films and at theme parks, includ- ing the 3D Terminator production—a mix of live action, animatronics, and effects— at Universal Studios. At the time of his death, Winston was working on Terminator Computer Graphics World Magazine Salvation: The Future Begins and the highly anticipated Avatar, and was said to be look- is published by Computer Graphics World, a COP Communications company. ing ahead to Jurassic Park 4. Computer Graphics World does not verify any claims or Winston was a true artist, able to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. other information appearing in any of the advertisements contained in the publication, and cannot take any His work transcends time and place, bringing the past and future into the present. responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content. He made jaws drop. Audiences scream in terror. Men, women, and youngsters shud- Computer Graphics World cannot be held responsible for der and shiver in fear—and laugh in delight. With four Oscar wins and six Oscar the safekeeping or return of unsolicited articles, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations or other materials. nominations, his work can be found in many notable films from the 1980s to the Address all subscription correspondence to: Computer present, including the current hit Iron Man, for which Winston designed the super- Graphics World, 620 West Elk Ave, Glendale, CA 91204. Subscriptions are available free to qualified individuals hero’s metal suit. within the United States. Non-qualified subscription rates: USA—$72 for 1 year, $98 for 2 years; Canadian Even though Winston never found fame as an actor, he indeed became a true film subscriptions —$98 for 1 year and $136 for 2 years; all other countries—$150 for 1 year and $208 for 2 years. star, even a legend. While he never received accolades for acting, it was the perfor- Digital subscriptions are available for $27 per year. Subscribers can also contact customer service by calling mances by his own creations that won over audiences. And for all his work, his vision, (800) 280 6446, opt 2 (publishing), opt 1 (subscriptions) or sending an email to [email protected]. Change of address can and his innovation, Winston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. be made online at http://www.omeda.com/cgw/ and click The introduction on his studio’s Web site provides a snapshot of how this larger- on customer service assistance. than-life person viewed his work: “We think of the work we do as art and the people Postmaster: Send Address Changes to Computer Graphics World, P.O. Box 3551, who work here as artists. Our goal is to create images that are forever etched into your Northbrook, IL 60065-3551 Please send customer service inquiries to imagination.” And they will continue to live in our memory, just as he will. 620 W. Elk Ave., Glendale, CA 91204 2 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 www.cgw.com______ CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C ______ ______ CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C spotlight Your resource for products, user applications, news, and market research PLUG-INS Frantic Films Software Offers Awake Frantic Films Software, the software development divi- ed for just that purpose,” says Isaac Guenard, senior prod- sion of Frantic Films VFX and a division of Prime Focus uct manager at Eyeon. Seamlessly integrated into Fusion 5, PRODUCTS Group, has made its Awake plug-in pack for Eyeon Fusion the Awake suite boosts Fusion’s feature set to unlock a host 5 commercially available. The collection, which features 10 of tools that take advantage of Fusion’s speed and interac- plug-ins that streamline stereo 3D compositing and visu- tivity. The tools simplify common compositing processes essential to working on a ste- reo 3D VFX film. The Awake Toolkit now includes support for depth blur and frequency blur, a ste- reo image stacking/unstack- ing capability, an edge-aware filter, content-aware resizing support, digital camera noise al effects workflows for artists using Fusion 5, were devel- integration, lens distortion correction, a grid calibration oped by Frantic Films during production on Journey to the tool, and support for spherical distortion when converting Center of the Earth 3D. between various cameras. “Stereoscopic filmmaking is on everyone’s lips this year, Awake, priced at $299, is available through the Frantic and the Awake plug-ins were created and production-test- Films Software Division. POSTPRODUCTION Imagineer Introduces Mogul Imagineer Systems unveiled Mogul, a new open, collabora- ishing system with I/O, 3D compositing, editing, and grading tive VFX architecture supporting a suite of tightly integrat- tools; and Mogul/Traffic, a dedicated I/O system with cap- PRODUCTS ed, modular VFX systems, all built on Mogul’s 3D engine. ture, encoding, layback, and job duplication. Also, Imagineer Mogul unites common design-facility tasks, such as editing, offers applications for rotoscoping (Mogul/Roto), 2D and 3D compositing, 3D design, and modeling, and provides design- tracking (Mogul/Track), paint (Mogul/Paint), and node-based ers with a new VFX workflow that fits the way artists work. compositing (Mogul/Comp), which are compatible with Mogul comprises integrated system-level and desktop appli- Mogul/Master. cation-level components, including: Mogul/Serve, a collabora- Imagineer is offering subscription-based pricing, mak- tive shared storage management system; Mogul/Browse, a file ing Mogul accessible for all facilities. The Mogul systems browser application for media and metadata; Mogul/Review, and application modules will be available in a phased roll- a disk-based playback and review system with tools for qual- out throughout the year, beginning with Mogul/Review, ity control and annotation; Mogul/Master, an interactive fin- available now. 4 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C MOTION CAPTURE Animazoo Launches IGS-190H Mocap System Mocap company Animazoo is offering the IGS- 190H (Hybrid), its new hybrid mocap offering for PRODUCTS optical-quality data from an inertial, gyroscopic system. The IGS-190H combines the features of the existing IGS-190M (Mobile) with a new ultra- sonic tracking system, ExacTrax, and Animazoo Jump Injector, editing and auto-cleaning tools. These editing tools accomplish 80 percent of post- processing within a point-and-click cleaning mechanism. What sets the IGS-190H apart from usual motion-cap- ExacTrax, developed to work with the IGS-190M and the ture technology is the five SPUs, each controlling four micro- company’s GypsyGyro-18 systems, includes a scalable con- phones. The synchronized ultrasonic ExacTrax hardware col- figuration of one Sonar Processing Unit (SPU) per four sonar lects root position data for the IGS-190M. The sonar emitter sensors (up to 96 sensors per standard PC). The basic system fits onto the back of the suit, sending an ultrasonic pulse to comes with a 20-sensor/five-SPU configuration. The hybrid the sensor microphones, triangulating its position. The SPU system can accommodate as many as four IGS-190 systems receiver modules process the data for the PC. without needing additional sonar gear. The package is available now for $98,000. PLUG-IN STEREOSCOPY Duiker Research Rolls Iconix Introduces Out Color Symmetry 1.5 Studio2K Camera PRODUCTS PRODUCTS Duiker Research released Version 1.5 of its Color Symmetry Iconix Video announced Studio2K, the next generation plug-in suite, now with Universal Look Authoring. A sin- of its HD-RH1F camera. Compatible with the current gle-package solution, the suite is used for emulating film line of Iconix camera products, the POV Studio2K pro- looks and handling color consistently across applications vides 2K capability for digital cinema and stereo. and platforms. Users can create custom looks and view The Studio2K is well suited for shooting scenarios them across a number of industry-standard animation, that require very small, lightweight cameras. It offers graphics, effects, and postproduction packages, there- 45 format and frame-rate conversions, and captures and by allowing artists to create and render shots to see the outputs video for 2K digital cinema format, including images as they would appear on film. 2048x1080p and 2048x1080PsF at rates of 23.98, 24, 25, Version 1.5 supports a growing number of post work- 29.97, and 30 frames per second, as well as HD resolu- flows and formats, as well as today’s increasingly cre- tions of 720p, 1080i, and 1080p at rates of 24, 25, 30, ative look development demands. Two new nodes in the 50, and 60 fps, plus NTSC and PAL. 2K data is output plug-in suite allow custom looks to be authored with- via the camera’s dual-link HD-SDI ports at 4:4:4 RGB. in one Color Symmetry-supported application and then All the formats can be accessed directly through the used instantly within any other supported application. front panel of the CCU, which also features a redesigned In this way, looks can be developed by a director or DP recessed power switch for increased protection. in a Color Symmetry-supported application and ensure This offering is part of Iconix’s strategy as it moves those looks are used correctly by their collaborators. from camera company to integrated service provider, Furthermore, the company has expanded the prod- though the firm will continue to develop technology for uct’s Look Up Table (LUT) support for new formats, digital cinema and stereoscopic 3D production and post. with tools to convert between the various formats. The Studio2K system is lightweight though it com- Color Symmetry Version 1.5 with Universal Look prises a robust camera head, a processing control- Authoring is available now. Pricing varies according ler unit, power supply, and cables. Available now, the to project. Studio2K sells for $16,000. CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C BROADCAST Animated Details Animation studio Titmouse dives into the high-def waters USER FOCUS HD. It’s awesome. Just ask anyone The Move to HD low price, it was a no-brainer to put who has been mesmerized by sporting As far as new equipment was con- these Intensity cards in every system events in HD, or has grown to love a cerned, the group was already sold on on the SAN that didn’t need to connect favorite television sitcom in high-def- Blackmagic: The studio’s animators to the machine room,” Prynoski adds. inition detail. But what about richly and editors had been using Blackmagic Because working in HD requires colored CG “cartoons”? products already, so when they were more bandwidth than the existing Thanks to Titmouse, viewers soon ready to make the jump to HD, it made infrastructure could provide, Titmouse will enjoy Metalocalypse, an animat- sense to stay within the Blackmagic installed the Facilis Terrablock 24D ed series on Cartoon Network’s Adult family, says Prynoski. For the main shared storage system. The group has Swim, in high def, too. edit systems, Titmouse chose the allocated partitions to different epi- Recently, Titmouse, a full-service Multibridge line due to their 4:4:4 capa- sodes or projects to facilitate manage- animation studio founded in 2004 by bility and connectivity. ment of video material. Chris Prynoski and his wife, Shannon, Network. Cartoon ©2008 installed a new HD workflow for a seamless transition to the new HD formats of the (very near) future. As a result, the facility will be produc- ing film and television works—creat- ed using traditional animation crafted with the latest digital techniques, as well as traditional non-digital media— in high definition. Titmouse’s first series gig was Metalocalypse, seen on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. The first sea- son of the show, comprising eleven- Soon to begin its third season, Cartoon Network’s Metalocalypse will be created in minute episodes on the exploits of a high definition, thanks to the efforts of Titmouse. fictitious death-metal band known as Dethklok, has a large audience world- Prynoski then turned to Nathan The crew also connected additional wide. The crew composited the series’ Adams of The DR Group to manage edit bays to its new HD machine room material in HD, but posted in stan- the transition to HD, having worked with the addition of HD-SDI video, dard def, partly due to budgetary con- successfully with The DR Group in digital audio, and RS-422 deck con- straints and partly because the net- the past. trol, while new fiber runs throughout work didn’t require HD. Going into “Multibridge products are the only the facility, giving all editors access to season two, Adult Swim decided to turnkey capture system for Final Cut the machine room for capture and lay- begin looking forward to future plat- Pro that allows easy connection to leg- back via the Multibridge Extremes. For forms so that content would transition acy analog SD equipment, HDV decks the most part, the main edit rooms are seamlessly to the new high-definition over HDMI, and all the way up to dual- tied into the decks in the rack, and the formats, including HD and Blu-ray. link, 10-bit uncompressed HD at 4:4:4 sound booth is tied into the decks so “Most important, they wanted to be RGB,” explains Adams. the team can capture or monitor mate- able to fit as many pixels of blood and Animation stations and produc- rial for ADR. guts and gore into each frame as pos- ers’ systems were equipped with inex- “We have been using Blackmagic’s sible, so naturally we began upgrading pensive Blackmagic Intensity cards for cards for several years, so we were our facility to handle a full-HD work- accurate monitoring of projects in HD comfortable going with the Multibridge flow,” says Prynoski. on LCD and plasma displays. “At their Extreme in our two new edit bays, 6 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C this past January, is concentrating on bringing the company’s vision and animation style to both 2D animated commercial spots and mixed-media spots, integrating animation with live action. For this, the Multibridge Pro is used as a video breakout box, and the studio uses it to lay off to its HDCAM SR, DigiBeta, and other The move to HD meant installing new equipment. Titmouse, which had been using broadcast decks. Blackmagic’s products, decided to stay with the vendor, installing its Multibridge line. According to Prynoski, the rest of which gave us flexibility with 4:4:4 psyched with the results,” he says. the year promises to be similarly pro- HD in and out, as well as analog in Other new shows Titmouse is work- ductive and innovative as the stu- and out. Plus, our producers and ing on include 3Star, an action/animat- dio continues to expand its HD proj- compositors were able to add inex- ed series that features an intergalactic ects. “We have great confidence in the pensive Intensity cards to their sta- championship ping-pong team, and an reliability of our new HD workflow. It tions,” says Prynoski. This allows the adult comedy series called Goldbutt. gives us new freedom to create car- group to monitor the production on a Additionally, it will be starting the toons that will inebriate your help- larger screen, like a plasma or LCD, third season of Metalocalypse this fall. less eyeballs with their juicy pleasure right in their office and without slow- Titmouse Commercials, a new lasers,” he says. “And you can put that ing down production. “We are super department that the facility opened in the bank.” ______ ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 7 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Art point Color Temperature By Gergely Vass What is white? At first physical or perceptual definition of “white.” glance, this question Human perception and many digital imaging devices adapt to the current white— seems rather easy to answer. essentially the color of the dominant light source—so we may not even have to care None of us would have about it. We face problems, however, when trying to reproduce images on computer any problem pointing at displays. Sending equal red, green, and blue components to monitors may result in something that is considered a color that looks tinted, and we typically get different colors for different monitors. view to be white. However, com- It should not be a surprise that one of the most important steps in the calibration of ing up with a proper technical defini- monitors or projectors is the setting of the “white point.” tion is hard. Even looking at Wikipedia But why would we Easterday. Tim by Photo would not help us: “White is the combi- bother calibrating our nation of all the colors of the visible light monitors? If our work only spectrum.” In fact, combining all spec- involves character rig- tral colors equally will ging, scripting, or subdi- not necessarily produce vision modeling, we do white. Furthermore, it is not necessarily have to possible to create white do this. However, making by combining only three critical decisions regarding (or even two) spectral the lighting of our virtual colors. As always, we scene or picking textures need to be careful with or material colors is only such sources of infor- possible using a calibrated Digital cameras may get confused what white is, if there is a mation. display device. This is Gergely Vass is mix of incandescent, halogen, and natural lighting. a software developer in So, what is white particularly important for the Image Science Team then? In the case of architectural or design visualization: We do not want our clients to look at false col- of Autodesk Media and paints or pigments, the ors when presenting the rendered images of their future product or building. Entertainment. answer is simple: A Even if there is no universal stimulus that appears white, we should at least be white surface reflects able to describe it quantitatively. Without this, color calibration would be impossi- It’s hard to (almost) all incident ble. The most complete description of a light source—and its color—is the spectral determine light. Can we come power distribution (SPD), a curve indicating the exact “composition” of spectral col- what is up with the same sort ors. The SPD is a function of wavelength, so we need at least 30 samples (numerical of definition for light values) to store it digitally. But do we really need all this data to describe a specific white, so we sources? The answer is color? Not necessarily. While there are commonly used standards describing the face prob- no; there is no universal SPD of the illumination (for instance, the CIE D65 standard illuminant, which cor- white color. responds roughly to a midday sun), we often use a single number to describe white: lems when On a sunny day, the color temperature. trying to inside an artificially To understand this number, let’s take a look at the sources of illumination. Most reproduce lit room, or under the natural and man-made light sources have some heated object at their core as the pri- cloudy sky, the stimu- mary source of illumination. Just think of a candle, lightbulbs, or the sun itself. This images on lus—the physical rays kind of illumination is called incandescence. Why is this important? As we will read computer of light—we consider later in this article, the color—and the complete SPD, too—of a perfect “hot” light white is very differ- source can be described by a single number. It is true that most natural illuminants, displays. ent. Technically speak- like the sun or fire, are not perfect in the sense that other physical/chemical/elec- ing, there is no unique trical effects alter the SPD. Also, the much more efficient compact fluorescent lights, 8 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Photo by Greg Smith. LEDs, or gas discharge lamps work differently, but manufacturers do try to match their color to incandescent sources to make it look and feel more natural. Even though a given light source may not fall on the “black body locus,” one can still project its chromaticity onto this curve in order to have a single number that describes how yel- low or blue it is. In the 19th century, physicists studied electromagnetism and thermodynamics very actively. With quantum mechanics not invented yet, researchers tried to explain the results of all experi- ments using the classical theories of the Newtonian mechanics— something that eventually turned out to be impossible. One, if not The temperature of hot lava may be estimated by measuring the, most important experiment was the heating of objects and mea- its color. suring the emitted electromagnetic radiation. To describe this thermal radiation, the concept of black body was introduced the molten stone, even from safe distance, in 1860 by Gustav Kirchhoff: an object that absorbs all light—that is, all electro- the temperature can be easily estimated. magnetic radiation—that falls on it, thus nothing is reflected from the surface. Describing the emission of heated Unfortunately, if we simply paint an object black, it will not necessarily be a “black objects—using the formula of Max body.” There is a great chance (it is certain) that the object still will be visible using Planck—is handy for us to describe the an infrared camera. white color, but in the early 20th century, The spectrum of the detected black-body radiation depends solely on the temper- it gave birth to quantum mechanics, as ature of the object. While it is impossible to construct perfect black-body radiators, well. In Planck’s formula—which was due to unavoidable electric and chemical reactions altering the spectrum, we can fitted to experimental results and not always find the nearest one that matches the chromaticity in question. For incandes- derived theoretically—a universal con- cent lights, this match is going to be almost perfect. And why is this important for stant popped up that seemed to suggest us? The concept of black-body radiation allows us to describe white color with a sin- electromagnetic energy could be emitted gle temperature value: the correlated color temperature. only in small pockets, in quantized form. The temperature of 6500 degrees K (Kelvin) correlates with the average daylight; Note that this time, photons were not regular lightbulbs boast approximately 3000 K degrees and appear more yellow com- known yet. Planck did not really think pared to daylight. The “coldest”—1700 K to 1800 K (2600 to 2800 degrees Fahrenheit, much about this, but rather, took it as or 1400 to 1500 degrees Celsius)—visible incandescent light source is the flame of purely a formal assumption. He strove a candle, turning into orange and red. We can see that there is a great range of stim- hard to keep his theory on the solid ulus our eyes can adapt to, resulting in the same “white” sensation. ground of classical physics and rejected The curious reader may now wonder: How should we interpret, for instance, for many years the revolutionary idea the color temperature of 310 K? That happens to be the temperature of our own of photons, which seemed to contradict body (36 C, 97 F). Well, we can compute the electromagnetic radiation emit- contemporary wave theories of light. ted by ourselves, but the resulting spectrum will not fall into the visible range of It was a couple years later that Albert wavelengths. However, it should be clear: All objects above absolute zero Kelvin do Einstein laid the foundation for the emit electromagnetic waves. Speaking of absolute zero Kelvin (-273 C, or -460 F), photon theory, and eventually man- objects at that temperature do not emit radiation, and it is not possible to make any aged to reconcile mechanics with object colder than that. electromagnetism. And it all started by The sensors of thermal- and some night-vision cameras, and even some observing heated black bodies. animals, can detect portions of the invisible radiations emitted by objects below 1700 K. Such special devices are often seen in Hollywood movies, used for sur- Gergely Vass started his career in the com- veillance and for military personnel to “see in the dark,” but there are much puter graphics industry as a Maya TD and more humane applications. A good example is veterinary. Horses have evolved soon became a Maya instructor in Budapest, with an ingrained tendency to mask pain to protect themselves in the wild. This Hungary. Having moved to the “dark side,” makes the veterinarian’s task of detecting, diagnosing, and treating a problem he is currently a software developer in the with a horse extremely challenging. With thermal cameras, it is very easy to “see” Image Science Team of Autodesk Media and inflammations, and there is no need to even touch the animal. This is essentially mea- Entertainment. His research areas include suring temperature by looking at color. Is that possible only in the infrared range image processing and computer vision. of electromagnetic spectrum? No. Another practical application related to black-body Gergely can be reached at gergely.vass@ radiation is measuring the temperature of hot lava. By simply observing the color of autodesk.com. ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 9 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . CGI Images ©2008 Disney/Pixar. 10 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CGI. . . . hat if everyone had to leave Earth and no one remembered to turn off the last robot? That kernel of a story idea from Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, who won an Oscar for directing Finding Nemo, grew to become Wall-e—a love story, a science-fi ction fi lm, and the latest feature animation in Disney/Pixar’s mega-successful series of CG hits. It’s also the most unusual fi lm Pixar has pro- duced, and arguably the studio’s biggest creative risk. “Andrew pitched the idea to me when I met him,” says producer Jim Morris, who left LucasFilm to join the Wall-e team. “It had an almost haunting quality, like a Robinson Crusoe story. Why would everyone leave Earth and for- get to turn the robot off? Where does this lead? What might cause him not to be lonely? The more we got into the story, the more it appealed to me. I’m a sci-fi fan, and after being on the business side for years, I was hankering to get back into production.” The robot left behind is named Wall-e, of course, an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifters–Earth Class. He’s a rusty little machine that rolls around the dusty planet on triangular tank treads. When the humans’ rampant consum- erism trashed Earth, they all moved to a giant spaceship, the Axiom, leaving him behind with the junk. It made sense: Wall-e’s job was to compact all that stuff into cubes, and his program didn’t change. He still motors along and stuffs detritus into his metal belly. When he’s full, out pops a cube that he stacks to create ever-growing towers of trash. And here’s the risk. Wall-e has no mouth, no nose, and no head. He’s a real robot; he doesn’t talk—in English, anyway. He only makes machine sounds. His expressions come entirely from his body language and his eyes, which are a pair of binoculars that sit atop a long “neck.” And that means Stanton built an entire feature fi lm around a character who doesn’t speak one line of dialog. It doesn’t mean the fi lm is entirely silent, however, although the fi rst third largely is. And, it doesn’t mean that Wall-e hasn’t changed since the people left Earth. He has. ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 11 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . CGI Meet Wall-e action elements as the billboards and the The new virtual camera imitates the The fi rst third of the feature takes place movie into the animated world give it a anamorphic lenses used to fi lm such sci- on Earth’s dusty, debris-fi lled environ- cinematic feeling. Axiom, where most of fi epics as Close Encounters of the Third ment, where billboards on abandoned the second third of the fi lm takes place, Kind and the fi rst Star Wars. These lenses buildings still broadcast messages from is closer in style to previous Pixar fi lms: squeeze an image horizontally to occupy Axiom’s CEO and, conveniently, help set a colorful, clean, bright space fi lled with the full height of 35mm fi lm, and then the stage for the audience. But the bill- thousands of people and robots. Creating during projection, a second lens expands boards are in the background. Our atten- that detail was one problem. Focusing the image to fi ll a wide screen. “The dif- tion is on Wall-e. As he rumbles around attention on Wall-e was another. ference in quality is almost subliminal,” compacting junk, we see him picking “Because there is no traditional dialog says Hardwidge. out favorite bits and bobs—a Rubik’s in the fi rst third of the movie and not a In addition, Pixar added such com- cube, an iPod, bubble wrap—and stash- lot of dialog in the second two-thirds, it mon lens aberrations as barrel distortion, ing them in a Styrofoam container. As he put more pressure on the camera and the fl ares, oval-shaped circles of confusion, does so, we see his personality develop. lighting than before to tell you what to pay and lens “breathing” (the way the fi eld He fl icks open a cigarette lighter, and the attention to in the world,” says Danielle of view changes during a rack focus), to fl ame surprises him. He covers his eyes Feinberg, DP for lighting. For that reason, help give the computer images the look of with a bra. He’s a character. And, he has and because Stanton wanted to create an photographed fi lm. a friend of sorts: a cockroach. animation with a cinematic feel, many of Director of photography Jeremy Lasky At the end of his day, Wall-e rolls the technical innovations for Wall-e cen- supervised the 12 layout artists at Pixar inside a maintenance truck, his little tered on photography and lighting. who used the new camera and lenses to home, and adds his new treasures to his design camera moves for the fi lm. The collection. The detail in Wall-e’s rubbish- Photography artists worked in Pixar’s 3D animation fi lled world outside and inside his main- “The thing that was aesthetically so entic- software, Marionette, from 2D story- tenance truck is amazing. We can iden- ing about [Wall-e] was that Andrew boards. “It’s similar to live action in a tify household items, electronic gear, car wanted to create the feeling that it was way,” Lasky says. “We shot coverage for parts, all manner of stuff in the trash fi lmed, not recorded in the computer,” the sequences. Then, as the shots get towers and in Wall-e’s personal collec- says Morris. “I had spent much time in assembled in editing and the sequence tion—and it’s all CG. the live-action universe, worked with a lot gets polished, one idea wins out.” Inside the truck, the musical Hello, of DPs, and was a camera operator myself. For example, once the artists started Dolly! plays on Wall-e’s TV set, and we So we got a Panavision camera similar to working with Wall-e in the 3D world, watch him discover how two people the one used for the original Star Wars, they might offer Stanton such choices as in love interact. He taps his “fi ngers” shot fi lm, and analyzed it.” They realized an over-the-shoulder shot, a wide shot, together in front of him like a nervous that most tools they had created to imitate and a close-up with the foreground out little man, and we sympathize with the the aberrations in live-action photography of focus. “The layout artists could plug in lonely robot. weren’t correct. the lenses and see the view change right Stanton’s mandate was to give his ani- “We ran a battery of tests with a crude in front of their eyes,” Lasky says. A lim- mated feature a different look from Pixar’s model of Wall-e and propagated the data ited set of lenses helped maintain consis- previous fi lms, and he succeeded. The back into our existing camera,” says tency through the fi lm. blown-out, gritty, garbage-fi lled Earth is Nigel Hardwidge, supervising TD. “A lot On Earth, the camera is always mov- about as far from Finding Nemo as you of things were off, so we redesigned how ing, panning, tilting, and sometimes act- could imagine, and integrating such live- we wanted our camera model to work.” ing as if it is on a camera operator’s shoul- A shallow depth of fi eld helps focus the audience’s attention on the sunbathing Wall-e within his vast CG world. 12 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C The new DeckLink HD Extreme has SDI, HDMI and analog connections for editing in SD, HD and 2K! The new DeckLink HD Extreme is the world’s most Advanced Performance advanced capture card! 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CGI Then, as they composed shots, they could see light, for the appropriate time of day, with colors and shadows. And, as they moved the camera, the shadows and the light falloff changed. “It was literally like we had been work- ing in the dark,” Lasky says. “It opened so many options.” An example: During a sequence in which Eve tries to resuscitate Wall-e, he’s in shadow. She sings to him a little, and lifts his face into the light for a second. Wall-e and Eve run away from the robots chasing them on Axiom. In this world, the camera He falls back into the shadow. When he captures chaos to reinforce the feeling that Wall-e is out of his element. revives, he steps forward into the light, der. Often, the camera watches the little when she leaves Earth is one in which and it changes the dynamic of the scene. robot wander through the frame. “We’d the layout artists added drama with cam- “We discovered that setup during lay- deliberately put him on one side of the era moves. out and showed it to Andrew,” Lasky says. frame and something else on the other “It was boarded with Wall-e working, Stanton approved the shot. Before, they side to give a bigger sense of the world a cut to the ship, and then Wall-e at the would have created the sequence without around him,” Lasky explains. On Earth, top of the ramp telling the cockroach considering the interplay between light Wall-e is always in his element. to stay,” explains Lasky. “We thought it and shadow. The artists used different techniques would be really cool if the camera raced for the spaceship Axiom, where thou- behind him as he ran to the ship and you Lighting sands of refugee humans, tended by thou- could see Eve moving inside.” To help give the film a more cinematic sands of robots, float through the scenes To help the layout artists design live- look, Pixar also rewrote the illumi- on motorized hover chairs. The humans action camera moves, Pixar brought in nation model used for lighting the 3D can’t leave their chairs; a constant diet of seven-time Oscar nominee Roger Deakins, world. “We wanted the materials to feel inaction has turned their bones to mush. a DP for such films as No Country for Old more realistic in the way they reacted to Here, reflecting the ship’s orderliness, Men, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, light, and the lights to be more physically the camera moves on virtual dolly tracks and The Shawshank Redemption. “He’s driven,” says Feinberg. “We’d had the and on cranes, not on a camera operator’s very good at helping you take an idea and same illumination model since A Bug’s shoulder. “Anytime the camera moves in simplify it down,” Lasky says. Life. Ratatouille even used the same code a more handheld way, we replicated a For example, Deakins worked with but with big pieces added to change the steadicam look,” Lasky says. “We took Lasky on scenes in which Wall-e and Eve color space.” the rough edges off everything.” are together in the maintenance truck. The new code builds energy conserva- To reinforce the notion that Wall-e “We talked about how you’d coordinate tion into the lighting and shading model. is out of his element on Axiom, the lay- camera moves in that tight space,” Lasky “We have one knob that takes the mate- out artists framed those shots to include says. “Too many cuts would take you out rials from rough and diffuse at one end chaos. “We were always trying to cap- of the moment, so rather than cutting, we and, at the other, highly reflective metal,” ture something else going on in frame,” adjusted the camera to keep things mov- Feinberg says. “Before, we tuned diffuse, Lasky says. ing. It allowed us to stay with the actors.” specular, and reflection separately. Now, Wall-e lands on Axiom by following a Deakins also contributed an idea that they’re all on a continuum.” beautiful robot, Eve, and this is the love- radically altered how the layout artists Pixar modelers work in Autodesk’s story part of the film. When Eve arrives worked. Lasky explains: “We were look- Maya, with all the shading happening on Earth in a spaceship, it’s love at first ing at a layout on the computer for half a through the Slim interface to RenderMan sight for Wall-e. The sleek, white, egg- sequence. It had basic models, no shad- within Maya. “Our old shading set relied shaped ’bot with the sparkling blue eyes ing yet. He said, ‘I don’t see many lights.’ on a TD or an artist to make explicit and the ability to fly is his Dolly. He shares I said, ‘Right. Lighting comes later.’ He choices about materials,” Hardwidge says. his treasures with her even though she looked at me and said, ‘It would drive me “For this film, we wanted the degraded is not very interested in him. When the nuts. Lighting is half my job.’ ” pieces of metal and plastic to respond as spaceship returns, she flies onboard, and After that, Feinberg provided the lay- accurately as possible.” lovesick Wall-e stows away. The scene out artists with a simple lighting setup. The shading coefficients now incorpo- 14 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Finally, converters that auto switch SD and HD and include AES/EBU and analog audio! Build your studio with the world’s most advanced New 3 Gb/s SDI Technology converters. 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The detail is astounding. “Clearly, we couldn’t dress the sets with geometry, but you can go only so far with displacement, so we needed to balance the two,” Hardwidge says. Early tests on 50- foot piles of junk helped them determine how to blend the different techniques. Hardwidge explains: “We built pieces of trash as geometry and turned some of that trash into displacement shaders we controlled with paint and procedural tech- niques. Then, we put geometric trash on Pixar developed a new illumination model for Wall-e to cause all the materials, from highly top, depending on the angle of the shot.” reflective plastic to rusty iron, to respond realistically to lights that are more physically driven. Adding the geometric debris on top of rate judgments about how much various Epic Scale the displacement shaders gave the final materials preserve the energy of light hit- In addition to lighting and photography, piles of junk some nooks and crannies so ting the surface. In addition, because the the other significant challenge for the art- lighters could add shadows, depth, and new lighting and shading model made ists at Pixar was the scale of the film. On occlusion. “The displacement shader was manual tweaking to produce high-qual- planet Earth, the first act, which extends awesome,” Feinberg says. “The set dress- ity materials less necessary, it helped for the first 25 minutes of the film, takes ers piled up the right amount of big, little, maintain consistency. place in a large cityscape. “We needed five and medium pieces so the towers don’t look “Any prop, whether hastily built for the or six square miles of set,” says Hardwidge. like buildings or rock pillars; they look like background or a hero prop, still has the “And, when we were planning it, the story they’re made from cubes of trash.” same level of quality in its response to wasn’t defined enough to know where To scatter rubbish with varying den- light,” Hardwidge says. “We wanted to specific locations would be.” sities, the set dressers used procedural build this integration and believability So rather than build the Earth only paint tools, and on the shading side, pro- through the whole image.” from camera view, the studio modeled a cedural shaders intelligently lit the litter In addition, new lights with a built- huge set, into which the director and lay- depending on surface angles and on how in reflection component and a falloff set out artists could place the camera where much dirt or dust had collected. to mimic reality helped the lighting art- they wanted. ists do their jobs. To keep render costs Because the set extends for miles, disap- Effective Details within reason, they avoided raytraced pearing eventually into the horizon, matte The effects department also helped dress reflections, relying on environment maps paintings sometimes added subtleties in the sets. The wind sends bits of paper and instead. “We used some RenderMan point- the distance, but the sets were largely 3D. plastic swirling in the dusty air. Within the based occlusion,” Feinberg says. “If we Within these sets, tall towers built from trash cubes, small bits of stuff move slightly had done raytraced occlusions, we would trash cubes rise from the dusty ground, and catch glints of light. Everything keeps have been in a world of hurt.” and huge piles of litter collect against changing in the junkyard landscape. As a result, on Earth, the junk looks real; on Axiom, the environment reflects light accurately, including the light from the colorful, animated billboards that advertise the latest drink to consume and things to buy. “Axiom is a more reflective and clini- cal environment, and the shading model allowed us to leverage that,” Hardwidge says. “Rather than a round, white high- light on white plastic, we see the light from the billboards reflecting and stretching, and the way the light falls off and diffuses is much closer to what you Wall-e, seen here with his cockroach friend, doesn’t have real eyes; he sees through binocu- would expect.” lars. Pixar lit the gray aperture rings in the binoculars to help give the impression of eyes. 16 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CGI. . . . “We knew we had a big effects job on says. In addition, a unified shader helped mation department to the characters. this show,” Hardwidge says. “We had keep the designs consistent. “We’d bake the simulation and pass it dust storms, steam coming off the space- For the lazy, fat humans, who have into Massive to choose files of animation ship when it lands, dirt, paper caught in lost bone mass, Pixar created a rig based on what the poses from the simu- the wind—and a lot of these effects were with varying thicknesses of skin that lation were doing,” Hardwidge says. “The full-screen. We re-engineered the effects responded to a simulation system. “We nice thing about MODE is that you can pipeline for more flexibility and to have needed to have the body deform if it fell scale up the number of elements in the more powerful tool sets for using our vol- on the floor,” Hardwidge says. “So we lev- simulation in a linear fashion, so the sim- ume shader.” eraged the Physbam system developed at ulation times don’t become excessive and A new nodal-based tool set named Stanford to create a volumetric system. If you still get good behaviors.” Dynamo acted as the interface between you pushed one area of the human’s skin, All of this—the new cameras and such software applications as Side you’d see an appropriate response based lighting models, the simulation, the Effects’ Houdini, Maya, RenderMan, and on the thickness of the skin in that area.” attention to details—helped Stanton real- Marionette. “We could feed into Dynamo any kind of particle through plug-ins— blobbies, spheres, points, sprites, or curves,” Hardwidge says. “It became the framework the effects TDs used to insert particle data into the scene and decide how to output it.” The particles ranged from hard pieces of dirt thrown off Wall-e’s tire treads, to large-scale nebulas in space, to the low- lying dust that constantly blows across the Earth’s surface. The effects TDs gen- erated 90 percent of these effects and oth- ers using various types of particles. They Wall-e stores his collection of interesting stuff in hundreds of bins inside a maintenance truck. turned to fluid simulations for only a few To manage the detail, Pixar used a system of displacement shaders topped with geometry. shots—when Wall-e travels through oily sludge, for instance, and when the space- To animate the crowds, the effects team ize his dream of creating an animated ship lands. used a combination of systems. For the film unlike any other Pixar feature; in The detail increased render times, robots on Axiom, particularly those in the fact, unlike any other feature animation. of course, and one of Hardwidge’s jobs mechanical areas rather than the human The haunting images of the gritty but fas- was managing the computational load in areas, Pixar used Massive to apply vari- cinating debris-filled planet Earth will Pixar’s 2600-processor renderfarm. “You ous motion cycles created in the anima- stay with audiences long after they leave always run into strange things in some tion department. Similarly, Massive moved the theater. The futuristic spaceship will shots, and we had a few that took 30 to the 10,000 flaccid humans on their hover delight them. They’ll laugh at the fat peo- 40 hours per frame, but we also rendered chairs. “We had a complex network of ple on their silly hover chairs. They’ll complex imagery in three to four hours,” lines on the floor,” describes Hardwidge. cheer little Wall-e in his attempts to woo he says. “Our goal was to keep it down to But, when the ship tilts and the roly- the cool Eve, and applaud his heroism. eight hours. We achieved an average ren- poly people tumble onto the floor, Pixar And, they’ll do all this without hearing der time of seven hours per processor for pulled in a simulation based on the one complete line of dialog from Wall-e a film-resolution frame with all the ele- open-source Open Dynamics Engine or Eve, and without, for the most part, ments in there.” implemented in Maya, called MODE, to having any idea of the risks Pixar took in On Axiom, which is approximately two add physics-based motion. “We gener- making this remarkable film or the tech- miles from head to tail, the detail is largely ated the rigid-body simulation for the nology that made it possible. And that’s in the huge numbers of people and robots 10,000 people as they hit the chairs the Pixar magic. that populate the spaceship. To build and kept kerplunking along the deck,” the enormous variety of robots that con- Hardwidge points out. Then, based on Barbara Robertson is an award-winning stantly serve the people, a team of model- the motion and the speed generated writer and a contributing editor for Com- ers used component parts. “The articula- from the simulation, Massive’s fuzzy- puter Graphics World. She can be reached tion belonged with the part,” Hardwidge logic brain applied cycles from the ani- at [email protected]. ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 17 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Character Modeling )VML¤TBHPPETVQFSIFSP CVUGPSUIFGPMMPXPOUPUIF QSFWJPVTªMN UISFFFGGFDUTTUVEJPTIFMQHJWFUIF HSFFOHJBOUBNPSFCSVUBMTUZMF#Z#BSCBSB3PCFSUTPO Rhythm & Hues developed a new animator-controlled, volume-preserving muscle system to give Hulk his “zero percent body fat” physique. Images ©2008 Universal Studios and Marvel Studios. Courtesy Hues. Rhythm & 18 | Com- puter Graph- CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Character Modeling. . . . he biggest thing about this year’s big-screen “[The production unit] gave us a rough model that interpretation of Marvel Comics’ Hulk char- conceptual artist Aaron Sims did,” Roberts says. “Of acter is not the size of the CG superhero. It is course, we re-modeled and re-rigged it. And, in three how much Hulk has changed since his fea- days, we had motion tests on the rig to show the execu- ture-fi lm debut in Ang Lee’s 2003 fi lm. From tives. Winning this fi lm was a big coup for us.” all appearances, the uncomfortably green Character rigging supervisor Matt Derksen master- fi ghting machine spent the past fi ve years minded the rig development for the test and the evo- working out in the gym. He’s beyond toned; his mus- lution of that rig for the fi lm. It was, Paterson believes, cles strain against his taut skin. a state-of-the-art breakthrough. Hulk needed to have Directed by Louis Leterrier, Universal Studios’ zero body fat, pulsing veins, and straining muscles, Incredible Hulk stars Edward Norton as Bruce and move through scenes in full daylight. And the Banner (Hulk) and Tim Roth as his nemesis, Emil crew had to transform Bruce Banner into this huge Blonsky (Abomination). Three studios—Rhythm & monster in close-ups under laboratory lighting, and Hues, Soho VFX, and Hydraulx—created the digi- then back into his human form. tal characters and surrounding environments, with Rhythm & Hues taking the lead on character design Zero Percent Body Fat and modeling, and in creating the bulk of the digital Rhythm & Hues uses Autodesk’s Maya for modeling behemoths’ close-up shots. Rhythm & Hues’ Betsy and Side Effects’ Houdini for effects, but rigging, ani- Paterson supervised a crew of approximately 250 art- mation, lighting, and rendering happen within the stu- ists working in Los Angeles and Mumbai, India, who dio’s proprietary software. “The major thing we had to gave Hulk his new, buff body and Abomination his develop was a new skin-slide system,” says Derksen. grotesque shape, and sent the two battling through “We had to slide Hulk’s skin tightly over his muscles the streets of New York City. without using a simulation approach. It was important. Universal Studios, Leterrier, Marvel, and overall Without it, he would look unbelievable.” VFX supervisor Kurt Williams knew from the begin- The new system uses two geometries acting differ- ning how they wanted this rendition of Hulk to differ ently within the same space; that is, two skin “binds,” from the previous fi lm’s cartoonier giant. “They had one sliding over the other. The riggers started with a done their research,” says Keith Roberts, animation pre-existing system. “We build the character as if it director at Rhythm & Hues. “They knew what people is a real person, defi ning each muscle using volumes,” liked and didn’t like. They wanted Hulk to be much Derksen explains. “Then we bind across all of those more of a street brawler. Nasty. Rough. Edgy. muscles based on the skeletal structure.” If Hulk bends, When people saw him, they wouldn’t immedi- the muscles squish up and hold their volume, and the ately know that he was a good guy.” skin moves across his body appropriately. Rhythm & Hues, though, is famous for its “If he lifted an arm, you’d see the skin pull and tug award-winning furry animals, not edgy across his ribs,” Derksen says. It’s a very organic bind.” monsters: The studio won Oscars for That might have been enough for some creatures, but Babe and The Golden Compass, not for Hulk. The riggers added a second, newer bind. and an Oscar nomination for The second bind was simpler, less distributed, The Chronicles of Narnia: more rigid. It doesn’t slide; it bends only at the joints. The Lion, the Witch “We take that rigidly bound skin, relax it, and suck it and the Wardrobe. against the initial bind per frame,” Derksen says. The This is the fi rst fi lm second skin bind becomes smooth and shrink-wrapped for which the artists against the original bind, but still somewhat rigid. at Rhythm & Hues “The major benefi t of sucking the one skin against have created a digital the muscles was to make the Hulk look like he has humanoid. zero percent body fat,” Derksen says, “which was an “We pushed ourselves to the limit technically and important part of the character’s redesign.” creatively,” Paterson says. “We pushed everything we As a result, when Hulk moves, the fl exible bind could already do to 11. Maybe 15.” crawls under the more rigid skin. When he roars, you The push started even before they had a contract: see tense muscles push against his skin from his huge Strong animation tests helped the studio secure the job. neck to his feet. “[The rigging system] gives you the ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 19 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Character Modeling Becoming Hulk The ability for the animators to control Hulk’s muscles and skin was especially important for the transformations, the most obvious of which happens during a scene in which Banner is on an operat- ing table in a laboratory, taking what he hopes is a cure. “The idea [of the transformation] is that the gamma radiation that turns Banner into Hulk is stored in the back of his brain, and when he transforms, every- thing radiates out from there,” Paterson Actor Edward Norton fights against the inevitable transformation into Hulk. His eyes and his says. “You see it first in his eyes. Then as veins turn green, his bones lengthen and stretch his skin, and his muscles expand beneath. the green blood moves through his veins, sense of tight skin, as if you pushed your it feel as if the bones moved.” the skin changes color, his muscles stri- fist against a sheet of rubber and moved it For reference, the riggers and anima- ate, the bones enlarge, and the muscles around underneath,” describes Derksen. tors used data captured from Edward catch up to the bones. It happens in a “You can see the muscles and inner struc- Norton during motion-capture sessions non-symmetrical way, so it feels organic.” ture moving beneath.” using Mova’s facial-capture system. “It The rig made it possible for animators to Because the riggers built this move- was like having a cyber scan for every achieve an art-directed transformation, ment into the rig, rather than creating frame,” says Roberts. “We had 24 incredi- even in close-ups. the skin sliding through a simulation, bly detailed models per second. We could One rig handled both the bipedal per- animators could control the entire pro- see subtleties—micro-movements in the formance and the transformation. To cess. Working with the director, the ani- cheeks and under the eye—because we accomplish this, the team created mod- mators set key poses and determined the could study his face in detail. That was a els for Hulk and Banner that precisely bind for those poses—that is, the amount great thing that Mova gave us.” matched, vertex for vertex. “We pro- of striation we see across Hulk’s chest, for The animators, however, ended up cedurally generated the Bruce Banner example, and the amount of muscle vol- hand-keying Hulk’s face to give him model based on Hulk’s geometry by ume preserved. comic-book expressions, using the Mova relaxing the geometry in the Hulk model For animating Hulk and Abomination, data primarily to help with timing. “Hulk and then sucking it up against a 3D scan the studio started with motion captured doesn’t have Edward Norton’s expres- of Edward Norton,” Derksen explains. from stunt actors by Giant Studios (see sions, but the two are eerily similar in “Once we had that, we took Hulk’s bind- “Maximum Motion,” pg. 25). But in addi- facial timing,” Roberts says. ing and re-proportioned it into Bruce tion, animators could control every mus- The Mova data also helped Derksen Banner. And, once we did that, we could cle in the creatures’ bodies by hand and design the skin deformations. “We could morph locally around a given joint.” see them take shape. see how Edward Norton’s face moved in The animators had two sets of con- “Usually, we set up a fast bind for the 3D,” Derksen says. “We could see how trols for the rig: one for the bipedal per- animators to see in real time while they his skin slides over his face, so we inter- formance and one for the transformation. work,” Derksen says, “but the final bind preted that and put it into Hulk. It helped With these controls, the animators could is fast enough that they could see in their us determine what controls we needed.” transform any part of Bruce Banner’s file exactly what shape the muscle made, The animators moved individual mus- body—even one finger—into the Hulk which is beneficial.” cles to make final expressions using a at any time. Because they could control A similar approach using layers of master control, but they could also exert selected body parts, they could offset and volume-preserving muscles and slid- a finer level of control for any part of propagate the transformation through his ing skin worked for Hulk’s facial ani- Hulk’s face, down to 10 vertices. A new body and limbs. mation as well. “We slid the tight skin user interface allowed them to pick any Some controls affected bone length; over his skull,” Derksen explains. “The part of the face, click on that part, and the animators could elongate a bone they most important parts of his face were drag it to move it. “We wanted to give were animating. When they did, the skin his giant Neanderthal eyebrows and them more of a sculptural approach,” around the bone tightened and created an cheeks, so we needed to get the skin to Derksen says. “They could pick a part emaciated look around the bone because, slide over those bones without making and scrub it.” for a short time, the character had Bruce 20 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C HP recommends Windows Vista® Business. When DreamWorks decided to turn a 260-pound panda into a kung fu warrior, there was only one computer up to the task: the HP Workstation. Not only do HP Workstations have the memory, processors and graphics power required for DreamWorks’ visual storytelling, they’re available with HP’s performance-tuning software so all your applications, operating systems and hardware work together efficiently. Put that kind of power to work on your next big idea. HP Workstations, starting at $639.* Learn more at hp.com/go/workstationspeed *See hp.com for pricing on the xw8600 model shown above; reseller price may vary. Certain Windows Vista product features require advanced or additional hardware. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/hardwarereqs.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx for details. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help you determine which features of Windows Vista will run on your computer. To download the tool, visit www.windowsvista.com/upgradeadvisor. Kung Fu Panda™ & © 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved. © Copyright 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Simulated images. Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Character Modeling Banner muscles and Hulk bones. “The concept is that he grew so fast, until a helicopter crashes on the roof. Using a separate control, animators he exploded out of his human skin and (Rhythm & Hues took the “Hulk fighting determined when the muscles grew and has remnants still on him,” Derksen says. Abomination” shots from the crash to the filled in under the tight skin. “That was “So he has an outer layer of skin.” Also, climax.) In addition, Soho VFX gave Roth an aesthetic choice,” Derksen says. “The his bones protrude—he has a lizard-like a muscular body during a locker-room director wanted the transformation to spine. To snug his skin up against the shower scene. feel painful.” protrusions, the team used areas of influ- In the bottling plant sequence, which Point attributes in the rig drove ani- ence that caused the skin to compress as begins in the nearby Brazilian slum, mated color maps and vein displace- it moved up against the bone. Banner tries to control his excitement ments. As the animators caused an area For facial animation, the team while thugs and soldiers chase him. to flex and transform, the rig sent infor- returned to Mova for a facial-capture ses- Eventually, though, his inner Hulk bursts mation, in effect, to lighters who could sion with Tim Roth. “Roth had acted with out. “It’s dark, and we try not to show too animate the color change for that area a mask for Planet of the Apes,” Derksen much at first, but by the end, we see him and the vein displacement. says, “so he was great at exaggerating entirely, chasing through the bottling “The animators knew if they were facial motion that translated well into plant,” says Allan Magled, Soho VFX transforming a hand into a Hulk hand, it Abomination. We used a lot of that data visual effects supervisor. Anything Hulk would turn green and the displacement to develop Abomination’s facial structure interacts with in the plant is CG, and maps would change the detail and stri- and poses.” he interacts with tons of stuff—literally. ation in the render,” Derksen says, “But, At one point, he tosses a CG water tank they didn’t see that detail until we ren- Action that’s six feet in diameter and nine feet dered it.” Though when Banner’s bone When Hulk appears in a shot, it’s usu- long, and near the end of the sequence, pops out of joint in a close-up, the crew ally an action sequence; the monstrous throws a CG forklift. used the studio’s proprietary cloth engine superhero is angry. He fights an army Starting with the Rhythm & Hues to simulate the skin shrink-wrapping battalion, tanks, soldiers, cannons, and model and textures, Soho VFX assem- over the shoulder and muscles crawling ray guns on a college campus, and fights bled Hulk in their pipeline, adding their over the clavicle. Abomination in Harlem. Soho VFX and own hair and eyes. “We had a basic static OBJ file of the model and a bunch of Open EXR files, each with a thousand texture maps or more, for displacement, textures, and subsurface scattering.” The same was true for Abomination, although that creature didn’t need hair or cloth. Because Soho had shared assets with Rhythm & Hues for Narnia, they had a system in place to handle the differences in the studios’ pipelines. “The hardest part was making their maps work with our rendering technology,” says Berj Bannayan, co-visual effects supervisor. Rhythm & Hues uses proprietary render- Rhythm & Hues used Hulk’s muscle and skin tools and techniques to create a more ing software; Soho VFX uses 3Delight, grotesque body for Abomination. a RenderMan-compliant program from Abomination Hydraulx helped with the action scenes DNA Research. Once the rigging team had developed and some other shots, working with mod- “We animate and light in Maya, and Hulk, they moved his muscle and skin els (meshes) and textures from Rhythm then use our own tools to bridge between tools and techniques to Abomination for & Hues for both characters. Maya and 3Delight,” Bannayan says. For that creature’s scenes. Abomination rep- Soho VFX handled the “first reveal” cloth and hair, we have custom software resents the result when an overachieving of Hulk in a bottling plant early in the extensions in Maya. Everything starts fighter forces a scientist to quickly turn film and a complex scene with the char- with Maya as a base, but we have cus- him into a Hulk-like human weapon. The acters fighting on a Harlem rooftop from tom geometry tools and our own ways experiment goes horribly wrong. the time they climb up the buildings of deforming.” 22 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Animation Imagination The Programs All Animation & Visual Effects programs at Vancouver Film School focus on telling a great story through movement. Choose your discipline: 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Classical Animation and Digital Character Animation. The Leader The Animation & Visual Effects programs at VFS are led by industry veteran Larry Bafia, who was Animation Supervisor at PDI/Dreamworks and worked on hits like Antz and Mission Impossible II. The Process Under the guidance of industry pioneers, you will work and learn in a studio setting, and create a demo reel or film of your own. When you graduate, you’re ready to work in a production team. The Results VFS animation is all around you. Every year our graduates start careers at the world’s best production studios. You’ve seen their work in Transformers, The Golden Compass, Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix, Happy Feet, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Lost, Family Guy and Battlestar Galactica. The Next Step Visit vfs.com/animationvfx to learn more about our programs, or vfs.com to speak to an advisor now. VFS student work by Zheng Tang CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Character Modeling Maya—they could use to precisely control what part would transform.” Modelers also created details with Autodesk’s Mud- box and with Pixologic’s Zbrush displace- ments baked into the model. “We had a second layer of deforma- tion on top when the skin was growing and the monster beneath was pushing it aside,” says Chris Wells, visual effects supervisor, describing how the group created the “snake shedding its skin” effect. “We had multiple ways to push Rhythm & Hues shared shots in the film with Hydraulx and Soho VFX. For example, Hydraulx things around with the deformer. Once built the city for the fight between Hulk and Abomination (above). Soho VFX took the fight we applied a deformer, it would tear the to the rooftop, and then Rhythm & Hues brought it to a climax. model open without doing horrible dam- Rooftop Rage about seeing how the creatures’ veins age to the UVs.” Animated textures that All told, Soho VFX’s crew of approxi- and tendons pop, and how the muscles coincided with the deformers affected mately 100 artists created 150 shots, with interact with the skin.” the geometry according to color; the tex- most taking place during the nighttime Animators could work with tradi- ture maps animated off as the green skin battle between Hulk and Abomination on tional weighted skin to get coarse anima- pushed through. Animators keyframed Harlem rooftops that extends for nearly tion and then activate the muscle rigging his boots tearing apart, used a rigging two minutes of screen time. For those to see the muscles jiggle and deform. In trick to pop off the threads, and Syflex shots, Soho VFX built highly detailed CG addition, localized displacement maps cloth simulation to tear his pants. rooftops and streets seen below. “We had linked to muscle movement added wrin- Perhaps most important for this work, to be able to shoot everything close up,” kles, veins, and fine details. A lightweight though, was a new photometric lighting Magled says. “Every water tank, ledge, shader set provided quick renders for ver- system that Hydraulx installed in time for and brick. The previs kept changing; we ification during the process. And, a new this film. “In the past, we’d cheat the light had to be prepared for anything.” system of blendshapes accelerated char- fall-off values,” Strauss says. “What was A crew of approximately 35 mod- acter cleanup. in the fill light would be a cheat. Now, it’s elers and texture painters spent five “Before, character cleanup was physically accurate. We match the true months constructing the environments, tedious,” Bannayan says. “We now have light, the energy level of the true lights.” working from Lidar scans and 19GB of a system of cleanup shapes that we can Much of that work happens with lens photographs. use to fix any part of a character with- shaders and output shaders in Mental When they finished, the entire asset— out affecting other parts.” The crew also Images’ Mental Ray (now owned by the texture maps, models, shaders, and rebuilt the lighting rigs to smooth the Nvidia). Hydraulx changed the color so forth—totaled 750GB, but animators process and reuse lights set up for simi- space for calculations at the end of the could work with only the sections they lar environments. Mental Ray pipeline to a photometric needed for particular shots. They could color space. But the studio also imple- also select whether they wanted to put On the Edge mented final gathering, in which the color the characters into low-, medium-, or Hydraulx, on the other hand, had only from every object in a scene influences its high-resolution backgrounds as they three months to create its 300 shots, surrounding environment. worked. “We had only one shot with the which included an Abomination transfor- “Final gathering is particularly impor- entire rooftop,” Magled says. “In that mation, CG environments, and multiple tant on daytime exteriors because of shot, Abomination runs from end to end, effects. In Abomination’s transformation, the fill light in the Earth’s atmosphere,” with the helicopter firing at him.” we see him change part by part, starting Strauss says. “We thought it was too time- For the creatures’ musculature, Soho with his boots. intensive in the past, but the tables have VFX worked with Autodesk on a custom “We had a surface model and texture turned. Now, it takes too long to fake it. build of the muscle technology in Maya, maps, but not shaders,” says Greg Strauss, We turn on final gathering and all of a and then spent months creating addi- who shared the job as visual effects sudden, things look photoreal. Even our tional tools. “We spent as much time designer with Colin Strauss. “We rigged less-experienced artists can make stuff on Hulk’s muscles as we spent on build- the model, giving animators spheres look good.” ing the rooftop,” says Bannayan. “It’s all of influence—proprietary plug-ins for Hydraulx’s lighting TDs work on 24 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Character Modeling. . . . eight-processor machines equipped with 16GB of RAM. “In the old days, when we were working out of our apartments, that Rhythm & Hues animation director Keith Roberts has performed animal characters in Babe, Harry Potter, was our entire renderfarm,” Strauss says. The Chronicles of Narnia, and Garfield, but until The Incredible Hulk, he had never animated a human “Now, that’s one kid’s workstation.” character, nor had he worked with motion capture. Perhaps as a result, he approached this project with In addition to the creature work, his eyes wide open. Hydraulx worked on the university battle Giant Studios managed the equipment and sessions, providing real-time playback that allowed the scenes. An OBJ model of Rhythm & Hues’ performers to see their avatars on stage in Toronto and in Los Angeles. final Hulk acted as a proxy to hold out “I had three performers with their own different styles of motion,” Roberts says. “I cast the performers the dirt, dust, explosions, and the illu- per-character and also per-action. Some people don’t have a body type suited to certain actions—it’s a sion of rays created with Maya fluid sims. subtle thing, but I picked up on it straight away.” Hydraulx also crashed and exploded the For example, one performer could run and walk like Hulk, but couldn’t roll in the way Roberts imag- CG Apache helicopters. For a grotto shot, ined Hulk would roll. Another performer had a particularly good stance for Hulk when the giant roared. Hydraulx added a waterfall created using “Motion from motion capture is as pure as it gets, so once you see the differences, you want to start Next Limit’s RealFlow. And for the fight with something right,” Roberts says. “If you give an animator data from a performer who moves his arms between Abomination and Hulk in the too much, or looks too bowlegged, your chances of success are diminished.” streets of New York City, Hydraulx built the city. “We matched Soho’s aesthetic because they had final shots for what the city needed to look like,” explains Strauss. Using textures from their library and painted textures, the group quickly mod- eled five blocks close up and a larger area for midground shots. “The sequence is at night with a fast camera, so the midground buildings didn’t have to be so detailed,” Strauss says. The CG team worked 18-hour days, and two shifts of Roberts worked primarily with two performers in Toronto: Terry Notary, a former gymnast, Cirque du compositors worked on Autodesk Inferno Soleil performer, and choreographer; and Cyril Raffaelli, a martial arts expert, acrobat, and Parkour practi- systems to complete the shots. “The night tioner (moving quickly while efficiently overcoming obstacles in an urban or rural environment). Although crew left as the morning crew showed up,” they had suits for both actors playing Hulk and Abomination, Edward Norton (Hulk) didn’t wear the suit, Strauss says. But, together, they pumped and Tim Roth’s (Abomination) motion wasn’t right. “Cyril was faster and could do Abomination better,” out a remarkable 300 complex shots in Roberts says. “So, that left Terry more of the Hulk work to do.” He estimates that the motion-capture data three months. landed in scenes without tweaking from animators in only about four of the 240 shots. It’s easy when you watch a film like “If we wanted the characters to look like guys in suits, we could have plugged in the data and gone Incredible Hulk to focus on the action ahead,” Roberts notes. “But they’re larger than life, heavier, stronger, and faster, so we had to speed up and forget that CG artists created every some parts, slow down other parts, and reconstruct the motion to give the characters more weight.” bit of muscle and tendon straining Hulk’s Roberts also discovered that they lost flexibility in the characters’ upper torso when they applied the skin. That they touched every chunk of motion-capture data to the rig. “I think that’s because you don’t put the targets directly on the skin,” he says. concrete ripped from the roof of a build- “So, it’s difficult to get the enormous amount of compression and extension happening in that area.” ing, every chain about Abomination’s Giant Studios provided Rhythm & Hues with only a rough track; Roberts wanted raw data. “We neck, every propeller blade on a helicop- never asked them to clean it up,” he says. “I always wanted my best animators to make those decisions. I ter, and every metal fragment that lands wanted raw materials coming into my ‘kitchen,’ not premixed sauces.” on the ground. And, they created the sad All in all, Roberts found his first experience with motion capture educational. look on Hulk’s face. That it’s all digital. “They teach you the principles in animation school,” says Roberts. “But it’s only when you study the But that’s the point, of course. motion capture, the way the body twists and torques, the way all the action comes from the hip, that you can see what they’re talking about. It was an epiphany.” Barbara Robertson is an award-winning But, it didn’t make the job easier. “This is the hardest show I’ve done,” Roberts says. “With a cartoon writer and a contributing editor for Com- character, you can get away with an enormous amount of dodgy animation. But with a human, my God. puter Graphics World. She can be reached It’s so much more specific, so much more difficult.” –Barbara Robertson at [email protected].______ ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 25 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Holography Part 2 of a two-part feature Last month, we explored the technology However, the promise of the creative behind digital holography (see “Digital exploration of this medium has always Holograms,” pg. 28). This month, we look been limited by the diffi culty in actually at the artists who are venturing into the brave new world of 3D imaging and the facilities where digital holography can be making holographic imagery. Stringent studied. requirements for no vibrations make it necessary to record these images with here are numerous places around either huge vibration isolation tables in the world where non-digital holog- dark basements or the use of an expen- raphy has been taught for many sive and powerful pulsed laser (the holo- years—it was invented in 1948, graphic equivalent of a fl ash in photog- and with the development of the raphy). Then there is the need for very laser, the fi rst holograms were actually high resolution, fi ne-grain emulsions for made in the early ’60s. But the medium recording them (commercial manufactur- has been languishing for some time. ers have been steadily dropping out, as the The magic of holography—the ability predicted market has not manifested). to capture light dimensionally, the possi- As a result of those challenges, only bility of showing interpenetrating dimen- the most stalwart artists have managed sions, the ability to encapsulate time, the to continue working in this realm. There capacity to show fully 3D images project- An image by Dieter Jung (made by Pro- is a hard core of dedicated and talented ing out into space—has, from the begin- nova in Germany) from the exhibition “The artists out there who are still working, ning, enchanted all who have laid eyes on Garden of Light” in 2005 at the Kaohsiung but very little new talent has been enter- even the most simplistic of these images. Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan. ing the fi eld. 26 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C This piece, titled “Holopublikum” from the artist Mioon, measures 3x2x1.7m and shows computer-generated stereo- grams of 400 clapping people. The hologram was made at KHM in Germany. With the development of 3D animation where artists can apply for residencies so a golden age in holography.” and the evolution of digital video and dig- they can create new work. So, with that in mind, let’s look at ital photography, it was apparent by the Indeed, there is a current inter- where these new directions are origi- 1980s that a digital form of holography est surge in everything three-dimen- nating and the multiple dimensions that was needed to open the creative potential sional, and many hints at what might be these artists are exploring. Last month’s that was clearly held within the virtual developing in the growing digital holo- article delved into considerable detail depths of this new medium. It took quite graphic realm. It is apparent that digi- about the commercial facilities through- some time for holographic technology to tal holography is approaching a tipping out the world that have hologram pro- mature to the point where this creative point, and we are at a time when the duction capabilities. Alongside the evolu- fusion could manifest. There needed to door has cracked open and interest in tion of these companies, there have been be a groundswell of artists with skills digital holography is starting to push it a few far-thinking educational facilities in these areas ready to jump to another wide. Without question, there is much that have been opening the door to art- level, and an audience hungry for 3D. promise for what is to come. To quote ists to learn about digital holography. Today, we are at that point. There are holographic artist Melissa Crenshaw, Providing non-commercial digital holog- a number of commercial systems—holo- who will be curating an exhibition of raphy systems for experimental work, graphic printers—available to output 3D holography (which will include digital these facilities exist because of their affil- imagery. There are also several educa- holography) for the eighth International iations with commercial companies that tional facilities worldwide that are teach- Symposium on Display Holography in have built entry-level holographic sys- ing digital holography, and a few places China next July, “We are at the dawn of tems with which artists can work. ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 27 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Holography Measuring 50x60cm, this hologram, titled “Beat,” was created by artist Waldemar a numerous artists to create images that Mattis-Teutsch and produced at Dutch Holographic Laboratories in Holland. continue to evolve the medium. Other artists working with DHL or KHM (Academy of Media Arts) themselves reflect light onto the surfaces KHM, or both, include New York City Dutch Holographic Laboratories (DHL), around them, as well as shift color as the artists Sam Moree and Doris Vila, both headed by Walter Spierings, a man who viewer moves. He utilizes both of KHM’s with long histories in holography and has always been sympathetic and sup- recent systems to create dimensional who have stepped into the realm of digi- portive of holographic artists, devel- images as well as flat color-field images tal imaging; another New York City art- oped a digital holographic system for with an illusion of depth from the clever ist, Ikuo Nakamura; Pepe Buitrago from the Academy of Media Arts, also known design and placement of the colors. Spain, whose work straddles both analog as Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln Recently retired from KHM, Jung has and digital holography; and Waldemar (KHM) in Cologne, Germany. Thanks to been showing his work extensively, with Mattis-Teutsch from Bucharest, Romania, efforts spearheaded by holographic artist solo shows at such locales as the Museum who has been working extensively with and university professor Dieter Jung, this of Modern Art in Shanghai, China, the the dot-matrix process at KHM as well facility has acquired three holography Beijing Imperial City Art Museum in as CG-originated holograms at DHL. systems over the years from DHL. the Forbidden City, China, the Today Art “In my opinion, digital stereography is The first, installed in 1991, used photo- Museum in Beijing, China, and a major the best, the vastest, and the most beau- graphic slides in sequences of 200 images retrospective at the Taipei Fine Arts tiful form of expression that an artist to create images from either 3D anima- Museum in Taiwan. can have from holography,” says Mattis- tion or photographic sources. These holo- At KHM, holography is now available Teutsch. “This kind of holography is in grams were produced in a two-step pro- to all the media students regardless of constant development and change.” cess to make single-color, white-light department. The presentation and accep- reflection holograms. The second system, tance of a proposal defining the proj- a dot-matrix printer, was installed around ect gives them access to the digital holo- 2002 and makes holograms through a graphic printers. Working with content simpler process whereby images are from digital stills, video, 3D animation, or not dimensional but have the shifting other potentially innovative sources, stu- and brilliant color properties of rainbow dents can mix and match data from many holograms. A third and more sophisti- sources to produce holographic images. cated system was installed a year later; A technical staff headed by hologra- it uses a DLP projector to transfer digital pher Urs Fries oversees the holographic sequences of images and employs three printers. Many students have utilized different laser wavelengths to make full- this facility, and some of their work can color, white-light reflection holograms. be seen at www.holonet.khm.de/khm/ Jung’s holograms have always been ______index.html, along with work by many of focused on color. Using the shifting color the visiting artists who, over the years, qualities of the rainbow hologram to good have made holograms at this facility. effect, he has made images that contain DHL has been an invaluable entry point dimensional fields of light, with colors for many artists who otherwise had no Paula Dawson’s “Luminous Presence” was contrasting or blending to give a glow- access to these facilities. It also serves as shown at SIGGRAPH last year. Measuring ing ethereal quality to his holograms. a place where artists have frequented to 1.5x1.0m, it was made at Geola uab in Jung has incorporated his latest images commission pieces. Providing a willing- Lithuania and funded by a grant from the into mobiles, wherein the holograms ness to work outside the box, DHL enabled Australian Research Council. 28 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Holography. . . . University of New South Wales have been creating digital holograms tal holographic printer at the Holocenter Australian artist Paula Dawson has always with Geola uab. Most recently, the univer- in Korea. pushed the limits of holography. Having sity acquired a motorized digital camera Another Australian artist, David Warren, worked for many years in the more tra- and track system from Geola uab, which has been seeking access to holographic sys- ditional approaches (making some of the allows students to create holograms tems and has had numerous residencies in largest holograms in the world at that from sequences of digital images. These optics facilities at various university engi- time), she has moved very firmly into sequences can be manipulated in post- neering and physics departments to do digital holography. Traveling around the processing and combined with 3D anima- non-digital holographic work. However, world in order to create her images, she tion to create complex animated images. he has turned to John Perry, owner of has worked with DHL to explore some The data created by the camera and Holographics North, in order to execute his experimental ideas, with Geola uab in the track system can be used to create len- ideas that require digital output. Lithuania to create the large-scale holo- ticular photographs as well as holograms. “My current concerns and theme is gram that was exhibited at SIGGRAPH in To make a hologram, the final data is sent the exploration of the use of personal 2007, and an earlier work that was cre- to Geola uab for processing. The finished technologies: cell phones, laptops, dig- ated with Zebra Imaging in Texas. hologram (or Synfogram, as Geola has ital cameras, iPods, blog sites such as Future projects are in the works branded them) is mailed back to the art- YouTube and MySpace, computer gaming, for later this year: creating a digital ists usually in a week or so. hologram with Holographics North These students also have the (Burlington, Vermont), an experimen- option of creating holograms tal holographic video project at the MIT completely with CG. Media Lab (Boston) that uses SensAble’s Richardson, who has a Phantom haptic device to create 3D draw- doctorate in holography from ings in real-time holographic space, and a the Royal College of Art in pulsed hologram project at the Center for London, has had a long career the Holographic Arts (New York City). in holography. His work has Dawson has received two grants encompassed a large body from the Australian government for her of portraiture in pulsed laser research into holographic art, resulting in holography and includes mak- the digital holograms produced by Zebra ing holograms for David Bowie. In Martin Richardson’s piece, made at Geola uab, is a Imaging and Geola uab. As an associate With the facilities available to scene from the movie Vertigo that was dropped into the professor at the University of New South him, he has switched over holographic space using Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. Wales’s College of Art, she has also been to working 100 percent with developing an online course in hologra- digital holography. “We are heading into and virtual environments,” says Warren. phy. Using a small kit from Intergraf LLC, uncharted waters, and a paradigm shift is “I’m fascinated by the almost fetish and students will be able to make small holo- inevitable where holography is in the hands addictive need to communicate orally grams using the earlier analog approach of many rather than just a few,” he says. and visually; witness the decline in the to holography, and by creating anima- Martina Mrongovius, a young Austra- quality of communication in favor of tions in Autodesk’s Maya, they will make lian artist who also has a background in quantity. In all these cases, the use of a digital hologram for their final project physics, has been traveling the world in this type of related imagery and the rel- by sending data to Geola uab and have order to study and create her art. Working evance in using digital imagery compo- their holograms mailed back to them. in London with Richardson before he took nents becomes obvious.” up his position at De Montfort University, De Montfort University Mrongovius has been moving from lab to The Holocenter Korea Other holographic teaching facilities are lab. She has made holograms with Geola The Far East has its own wave of activity coming online as well. At De Montfort uab in Lithuania, at KHM in Germany, in digital holography. Juyong Lee teaches University (Leicester, UK), Dr. Martin and at the Center for the Holographic Arts courses in Light and Holography as well Richardson, a senior research fellow in in the US, where she is currently assist- as Space and Holography to third-year the Faculty of Art and Design, is teach- ing in rebuilding a holographic printer students enrolled in the School of Visual ing digital holography as a part of the pro- originally built by holographic artist Art at the Korean National University of gram for his master’s degree and doctor- Ikuo Nakamura. Mrongovius brings with Art in Seoul, Korea. He has a class of 20 ate students in digital art. For the past her the experience she gained by work- students with backgrounds in architec- four years, Richardson and his students ing with Juyong Lee and using his digi- ture, sculpture, painting, ceramics, com- ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 29 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Holography where she was charged with establish- to do with grief; in particular, a moth- ing a holography teaching facility. After er’s grief at the loss of a child due to war, much exploration and with some help urban violence or any type of violence, from Jung and Richardson, she has really,” she explains. “The reason why worked with Walter Spierings of DHL to I chose holograms for this installation first obtain a dot-matrix system and, later, is that they suggest other worldliness, a a more advanced DLP system. Working spirituality not encased in religion, and within the school’s graphic arts program, of a quality that transcends the mate- she has been gradually expanding the rial world. A hologram is there and it scope of her facility and the range of proj- is not; spirituality is there and it is not. ects that her students can undertake. She They are both there for human beings will also be expanding her skills through to experience in their own way and by the residency she has been awarded in their own choice.” Korea at the Holocenter. Sam Saunders, an artist interested in Mike Finegan, a photographer, has architecture who also works in video, has been exploring holography for some time created two pieces with Perry and plans and has established a working relation- to continue working with him. A large ship with Yves Gentet in France. As dis- installation piece featuring his first holo- cussed in part one of this article, Gentet gram with Perry in an environment of has his own digital holography system large projected video works was shown and produces his own full-color holo- in a gallery in Chelsea, New York. graphic plates—with stunning results. He has been shooting sequences of still …And More In the 30x30-inch “Cath,” made at Holo- images and running tests with Gentet’s The Ontario College of Arts and Design graphics North in Vermont, Christine Remy system, and will also be going to Korea (OCAD), the University of Toronto, the shows portraits of a woman grieving. this year to participate in the residency Photon League, and Photonix Imaging, all puter graphics, video, and holography. In he has been awarded. located in Toronto, are intimately linked this facility, they are well equipped with Here in the US, no academic facil- together through the work of Michael two large labs containing large, continu- ities are teaching digital holography Page, a holographic artist who has been ous wave lasers capable of making very or offering residency facilities to art- immersed in holography since the early large analog holograms. ists. However, The Holocenter in New 1970s and who is committed to providing Lee’s other laboratory is at the York City (which predates the Korean artists with access to digital holography. Holocenter, where he has a pulsed laser Holocenter by many years) is develop- Page has been teaching holography at system and a newly constructed digital ing an entry-level system with the help OCAD since he ventured into the field, and holography system. He recently launched of Mrongovius. has been collaborating on projects with a new artist-in-residence program at the As discussed in part one, John Perry scientists at the University of Toronto since Holocenter, where Mrongovius will be at Holographics North has worked with 1974. In the early 1980s, graduates from returning later in the year for her resi- many artists and continues to be a valued his program at OCAD founded the Photon dency, as will New York City artist Mike resource for this community. His flexibil- League, an artist-run center for holography. Finegan, Guillermo Federico Heinze from ity and support for artists with little back- A decade later, when OCAD sold the build- Germany, Geumhyung Jung from Korea, ground in the technology has made him ing, the two facilities began sharing space, Setsuko Ishii from Japan, and Ya-Ling popular with a new wave of artists enter- and the OCAD equipment was moved into Huang from Taiwan. ing this medium. Most prominent among the Photon League building. Lee’s personal work encompasses a them is well-known light sculptor James In 2000, Page, along with many others, broad spectrum of hologram types, but Turrell, but some promising artists are formed Photonix Imaging as a research his most recent work is in digital hologra- stepping into this realm and experiment- group, with the goal of accessing funding phy, which will be exhibited in July at the ing with a wide range of approaches with for projects through the Ontario Centers for Metropolitan Museum of Art in Seoul. his support. Excellence. Now, OCAD, the University of Christine Remy, from San Francisco, Toronto, the Photon League, and Photonix Kun Shan University has produced a series of large portraits Imaging are intimately linked: gradu- Ya-Ling Huang is the dean of the College that are planned as part of an installa- ates from Page’s courses at OCAD have of Creative Media at Kun Shan University, tion. “The concept of this installation has become members of the Photon League; 30 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Holography. . . . Photon League members are research- is occurring in digital holography. In his mental interiors, environmental exteri- ing projects and creating their own art; pre-holographic work, English has been ors, and character animation. research results are shared with OCAD teasing and taunting his audience, pro- students; scientists from the University of voking them with controversial images Opening Doors Toronto assist in research projects and co- and slogans. That aspect of his work has Holography is not just a medium to teach a course with Page that includes stu- been enhanced by his move into digital explore 3D space. We now have a medium dents from both institutions. holography. Experimenting with animat- in which it is possible to explore our per- In 2000, a collaboration between sci- ing his controversial characters, he has ceptions, the subtleties of human aware- entists at the University of Toronto and created “Kathy Cowgirl” and a series of ness. The potential for a deeper level of workers from OCAD, along with Michael holograms from videos that encapsulate understanding of our relationship to the Page acting as principal investigator, built his in-your-face poster series. many dimensions of space has been hov- a digital holography system using a light Meier, a leading 3D animator with ering around holography since the first valve, which was discussed in part one of amazing skills in Pixologic’s Zbrush, has holograms appeared. the article. also been developing a series of holo- Quantum physicist David Bohm pro- Page is also on the advisory board grams. (We will be exploring his work— posed theories that explored the idea of the of RabbitHoles Media and has support in particular, the hologram he has cre- universe being holographic in nature, and from the Ontario Centers for Excellence ated with RabbitHoles for SIGGRAPH renowned neuroscientist Karl Pribram has to build a digital camera and rail system 2008, in the August issue.) talked extensively about the holographic of the same type that has been devel- Desbiens is a digital artist working nature of the brain. They both have intu- oped by Geola uab. The association with on his PhD at the University of Quebec ited the importance of holography as a RabbitHoles aids his students on another in Montreal. Originally a part of the tool to help us to more fully perceive the level in that RabbitHoles has agreed to team at xyz Imaging (Montreal), which, underlying nature of our existence. take the best project from each class at the along with Geola uab, created the sys- With the earlier forms of holography, a University of Toronto and create a holo- tems used now by RabbitHoles and small group of holographic artists strug- gram (a RabbitHole) from the data. These Geola, he possesses a wealth of experi- gled to express these ideas in a difficult groups all share the same facility with a ence with these sophisticated systems. medium. With digital holography, we are time-sharing arrangement. Page points In his time at xyz, he created a number opening the doorway to a flood of differ- out that the overlap creates a rich envi- of holograms, and most recently has cre- ent perceptions, a rich tapestry of images ronment of creative exchange that serves ated one that compares the portrayal of expressing ideas that have the potential to them all well. perspective in Chinese scroll painting change how we perceive our world. with the exploration of perspective in digital holograms. Desbiens’ extensive Linda Law is a digital/holographic artist who experience with the medium has given has been working in holography since 1975. him a sophisticated view of the poten- She is a fine artist who has also worked in tial and largely unexplored creative pos- holographic research, education, as cura- sibilities of digital holography. tor for the Museum of Holography, as a RabbitHoles Media is also commis- 3D animator for digital holograms, and as sioning 12 new limited-edition holo- a writer about 3D technology. She will be grams by a group of respected 3D enter- co-chairing the Digital Holography sessions tainment artists. These pieces will be at the eighth International Symposium on shown in the Gallery of the Gnomon Display Holography in China in July 2009. School of Visual Effects in Los Angeles, She can be reached at [email protected]; for where the opening of the show will be more about Linda Law and her work, visit “The Broken Window” is a 140x47cm image timed to coincide with SIGGRAPH 2008 www.greenwomanart.com. created by Jacques Desbiens and made at and will remain open for the following RabbitHoles Media in Canada. month. RabbitHoles Media has formed a Three artists—Ron English, Meats collaborative relationship with Gnomon Visit ______cgw.com... Meier, and Jacques Desbiens—have and is sponsoring a student contest in ...for the URLs of the holographic artists been working with RabbitHoles Media which winners will be able to make a mentioned in this piece and for the Web in Ottawa, Ontario, to create limited edi- hologram. The awards will be given in addresses of the educational facilities teach- tions of their work, and are pushing the the following categories: character mod- ing digital holography and AIR programs. envelope in the creative expansion that eling, hard-surface modeling, environ- ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 31 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Trends & Technology Ontario is set on becoming the digital media capital of the world By Martin McEachern Image courtesy Starz. 32 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Trends & Technology. . . ince winning their last World Series in 1993, it’s been a slow and steady decline for the Toronto Blue Jays, and with the Toronto Maple Leafs— or “Laughs,” as some Torontonians would say—still searching for their first Stanley Cup in more than 40 years, the beloved Canadian team has taken its cursed place as the Boston Red Sox of hockey (well, at least prior to 2004). But if the Ontario government has its way, the citizens of Ontario may have a new team to cheer for—its ever-growing digital content creation commu- nity. That’s because the newly established Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), an agency of the Ministry of Culture, has set its sights on world domination in the computer animation industry. The Ministry is open about its ambitious battle plan, and is giving game developers and effects houses powerful financial incentives to set up shop in the province. Having long ago earned the moniker Hollywood North, Ontario’s thriving film pro- duction industry has helmed some of the biggest productions in recent history, includ- ing last year’s Hairspray and the 2003 Oscar winner for Best Picture, Chicago. Several months back, The Hulk wrapped shooting at the Toronto Film Studios. Walking across the studio lot, the names that have graced the doors are impressive indeed: Ed Norton, William Hurt, and legendary producers Walter F. Parkes and Gale Anne Hurd. Unfortunately, while practical photography of these large-scale productions occurs frequently in Toronto, the visual effects work usually is delegated to heavyweight ven- dors down south, such as ILM or Sony Pictures Imageworks. The irony of this is that some of the talent at these houses came from Ontario, where they were educated at its world-renowned animation schools, including Sheridan College in Oakville (alma mater of Steve “Spaz” Williams, former lead animator at ILM and director of Disney and CORE Digital Pictures’ The Wild) and Seneca College, whose students helped animator Chris Landreth with his Oscar-winning short Ryan. In addition, Rob Coleman, ILM’s animation team lead for the Star Wars prequel trilogy, is also Ontario born and educated. Not only is Ontario a breeding ground for animators, but is a hotbed for software development experts, as well. Autodesk and Side Effects, both headquartered in Toronto, routinely scout for technical wizards from the acclaimed Computer Science programs at the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. Unfortunately, in the past, most of these graduates have joined Ontario’s rich talent pool of film and game talent that’s been siphoned by companies abroad, in the US, or even to other Canadian institutions, such as Electronic Arts in Vancouver and Ubisoft in Quebec. Needless to say, the OMDC is determined to stop the brain drain through direct funding of digital content creation and the administra- tion of a variety of generous tax credits. And by early accounts, the handouts are working. Premier developers, such as Capcom and Koei, have recently chosen to open North American offices in Ontario. Meanwhile, last September, US entertainment conglomerate Starz Media—which includes Film Roman (The Simpsons, King of the Hill) and Anchor Bay Entertainment—opened its state-of- the-art animation studio in Toronto. One of Canada’s largest studios with more than 150 employees, Starz is now hard at work on the Tim Burton- produced animated feature 9, based on the award-winning short by Shane Acker (see “Short and Sweet,” February 2006). “In the past, Ontario would lose a lot of its talent to studios in California, but what we’re seeing now is a steady repatriation of that Canadian studios have been churning out hit projects, such as Every- one’s Hero (opposite page) and This is Emily Yeung (left). Image coursey Marblehead. ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 33 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Trends & Technology talent,” says Starz executive vice presi- dent David Steinberg. Also thriving on the generous funding and tax credits of the OMDC are homegrown companies like Silicon Knights (developers of Metal Gear Solid and the upcoming Nordic- themed next-gen title Too Human for publisher Microsoft), Artech Studios, and Marblemedia, which makes the hugely successful preschool series This is Daniel Cook and This is Emily Yeung. CORE Digital Pictures has crafted the cartoon Chop Sockey Chooks, a co-production “Without the Ontario government’s between Decode Entertainment and Aardman Animations. financial support, especially on the pot with six tax credits. The Ontario Ontario as he cut the ribbon on a 45,000- development side, we would never have Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit square-foot Toronto studio. “If you’re achieved the level of success we have refunds 30 percent of the costs of labor, going to do CGI, the dollar has no bear- now,” points out Mark Bishop, president marketing, and distribution for games ing. Toronto is where the talent pool is,” of Marblemedia. Marblemedia exports created in Ontario—without any per- he says, pointing to such famous anima- the two series across multiple platforms, project or annual corporate limit on the tion schools as Sheridan College and the including television and the Web. Another amount that can be claimed. On top Ontario College of Arts. huge Ontario success story has been of that credit, The Ontario Computer Leveraged by the benefits of the Ontario Groove Media, which allows players to Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit Computer Animation and Special Effects download retail-quality skill games, such will refund 20 percent of the labor costs tax credit, Clasen anticipates that the facil- as uTour Golf, and play online against for computer animation and special ity will grow from about 150 animators to competitors for fun or real money. effects work incurred by foreign produc- 300 by 2009. In addition, Steinberg notes ers on local CG productions. The Sound that the proximity to Autodesk allows The Programs Recording Tax Credit refunds 20 percent Starz animators to write their own pro- So what is Ontario offering? Well, for of production and marketing costs of prietary software code for significant cost starters, several funding programs for sound recording. savings. Starz has already spent about video game developers. The OMDC And that’s not all: If a developer works $150 million on animation production in Video Game Prototype Initiative provides with an Ontario university or college— Toronto. Completed CG features include as much as $500,000 to help develop- such as Sheridan or Seneca College—in Universal’s The Pirates Who Don’t Do ers create a prototype for a market-ready the making of a game, it’s eligible for Anything and Fox’s Everyone’s Hero. game—an incredibly risky undertak- another 20 percent tax credit. The gov- ing since such “prototypes” are created ernment also encourages developers to Building for the Future under speculation of a sale to a publisher. hire, train, and evaluate Ontario’s ani- Already the third largest television, film, The OMDC Interactive Digital Media mation students by providing cash-back and digital media cluster in North America, Fund provides up to $100,000 to create an incentives or tax refunds for student Ontario’s digital media industry generates interactive digital media content project, salaries. In addition, the combined fed- more than $1 billion in annual revenue. such as a Web, console, or casual game. eral and provincial tax incentives could Nevertheless, the province is hell-bent on The OMDC Export Fund offers $10,000 cut the costs of $100 in R&D to less than ruling the future of both the film and game to qualifying companies to fund busi- $44. Through the Ontario Innovation Tax industry by investing in new, state-of-the- ness development trips and participate Credit program, software and hardware art production facilities. The crown jewel in major industry events, such as GDC, developers such as Autodesk, Side Effects in this plan is FilmPort, a new studio com- DICE, or the Tokyo Game Show. Software, and AMD are all eligible for a plex being developed in partnership with Furthermore, the Entertainment and 10 percent tax credit for the cost of R&D Pinewood Studios in London and film Creative Cluster Partnership Fund sup- for their yearly software updates. director Ridley Scott. Scheduled to open ports strategic partnerships that forge The only drawback to Ontario right in 2010, FilmPort will offer 550,000 square fresh solutions to the needs of the indus- now may be the surging Canadian dol- feet of film, television, and game produc- try. Application deadlines for each pro- lar, which recently touched parity with tion facilities, including 14 state-of-the-art gram can be found at www.omdc.on.ca. the American greenback, then roared soundstages, one of which will be 45,000 In addition to the funding programs, past it. Regardless, Starz Entertainment square feet—making it the largest sound- the OMDC also sweetens the digital CEO Robert Clasen remains bullish about stage in North America. 34 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C To support the growing need for Toronto and the University of Waterloo motion capture in game cinematics and churn out some of the top computer sci- real-time play, Toronto’s Seneca College, entists in the world, students at Algoma in partnership with Fast Motion Studios, University College in St. Sault Marie recently opened a new state-of-the-art can get a master’s level degree in com- facility encompassing 8000 square feet, puter games technology. The program, with a capture studio occupying 2500 developed by the University of Abertay square feet. With a 20-camera Vicon Dundee in Scotland in 1997, runs for The list of system reaching two stories high and three semesters over 12 months. Fusion houses continues, capable of single and multiple body and Students also flock to Seneca to name a few... facial capture, it is the largest indepen- College’s Animation Arts Center and dent mocap studio in eastern Canada, most famously to Sheridan College in Aardman Animations Ltd. Animal Logic and can easily accommodate Crouching Oakville. Called the best in animation Atmosphere Visual Effects Battlestar Galactica VFX Tiger, Hidden Dragon-style wire work. training by DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Blur Studio Inc BSkyB C.I.S. London/Vancouver Unfortunately, thus far, beating Katzenberg, Sheridan was also cited C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures CAFEFX out industry giants such as ILM or by Jack Lew, director of International Charlex Clear Imageworks as the primary effects ven- University Outreach at Electronic Arts, Custom Film Effects D.A.M.N. FX dor for a major blockbuster such as The as EA’s number one choice when look- Def2Shoot Digi-Guys Hulk (see “Heavy-Handed,” pg. 18) has ing for the next crop of game designers. Digital Dimension Digital Pictures Iloura been an elusive goal for Ontario effects Sheridan Spark, Oakville’s digital media Disney Toon Studios Django Animation Ltd houses, although one of Toronto’s big- incubator, supports aspiring developers Eden FX Electronic Arts gest and best houses, CORE Digital and digital media content producers Enigma Studios Inc Envy Post Production Pictures, single-handedly produced The with a variety of digital media products Fake Graphics Ltd. Flash Film Works Wild, a visually stunning film that was and services. Ford Motor Company Inc. Framestore CFC unfortunately hurt critically and com- Walking through Sheridan’s 80,000- Frantic Films Ghost A/S mercially by parallel development with square-foot facility, meeting the staff IMAX Corporation Intelligent Creatures DreamWorks’ Madagascar. CORE also and students—potentially the best in Janimation LLP Digital Inc. delivered stunning CG animation for the next generation of animators—I ask M2 Television Magna Mana Production Guillermo del Toro’s Blade II and, most what skills recruiters from the big stu- Matte World Digital Mechanism Digital recently, for Showtime’s The Tudors. dios are looking for in a prospective Mercedes-Benz USA LLC Motion FX According to CORE managing direc- animator. Almost unanimously, I am Origami Digital LLC Peerless Camera Company tor Ron Esty, the key to competing with told that the big companies are look- Pendulum Prime Focus London giants like ILM and WETA is to consoli- ing for storytelling ability. “They want Rhino FX Rhythm & Hues Studios R!OT date and coordinate the resources of the a student who can produce the next big Rocket Science VFX Rushes various boutique effects across Ontario idea,” says Michael Collins, Dean of Sanctuary Post Screaming Death Monkey to deliver large-scale effects. That’s pre- School of Animation. Acting and draw- Stargate Atlantis Starz Media Canada Co cisely the goal of a newly formed asso- ing ability are obviously indispensable, The Boeing Company The Orphanage ciation called the Computer Animation which Sheridan emphasizes. However, The Syndicate Tigar Hare Studios of Ontario. “Those two devel- many students I spoke to also cited the Toon City Animation Inc. Toy Box Entertainment opments could have a profound effect Internet as still an important part of Troublemaker Studios Turner Broadcast on the digital animation industry in their education. TV2 / Denmark TV-Asahi Toronto,” says Esty. As one fourth-year animation stu- Ubisoft Walt Disney Television Animation dent told me: “For networking, career Education services, and developing classical ani- To great artists. Animation has been part of the cultural mation skills, Sheridan and Ontario To a great team. fabric of Ontario since the inception of have been incredible. But I cannot over- To the future. the Canadian National Film Board, and emphasize the importance of the ’Net in eyeon this identity has been woven into the the learning process. Sites like ____http:// province’s many colleges and univer- ______www.animationmentor.com (run by sities through a variety of animation, former Pixar animators) have been an game development, and computer-sci- essential part of my education, as well.” ence programs. While the University of In my random survey of the students, ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 35 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . Trends & Technology Image courtesy Starz. courtesy Image other sites paving the way for aspiring animators include gnomon3d.com and highend3d.com. Immigration and Health care Besides access to one of the best techni- cal and artistic talent pools in the world, Ontario offers relocating companies half the health-care costs of the US (thanks to a publicly funded health-care sys- The crew at Starz recently finished work on the 3D animated Veggie Tales movie The tem); payroll taxes that are 40 to 60 per- Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. cent lower than in the US; and salaries for 3D animators that are approximately experience, and language ability. Highly of Bungie after a favorable viewing of an $10,000 less than their average American skilled digital media workers generally early build of Too Human; and on another counterpart in New York or California. do well under this system. A job offer wall hangs a work of art; below it, his Canada’s immigration policies also help from a Canadian employer is not man- degrees from Ontario’s Brock University; streamline the transplantation of a large datory, but it can positively contribute to and below that, two samurai swords. foreign work force to Ontario. “Transferring an application. “Those are the three keys to success: art, key staff from Japan proved to be easy,” Moreover, unlike in the US, once a education, and warfare,” he says. says Hidenori Taniguichi, senior vice pres- skilled worker arrives in Canada on a As I’m led through the halls of Starz ident of worldwide game developer Koei. work permit, the person not only receives Animation by Steinberg (a former Disney For Koei, Ontario’s strategic location in the health-care coverage, but the worker’s producer whose credits include Meet the heart of the North American market (just residency is not tied to his or her job, Robinsons, Mulan, and Hercules), I ask hours from Boston and New York), as well which means that if the person loses him how such a massive studio sprung as its easy access to the European markets, the job before the length of the permit up so suddenly on the industry land- proved to be other strong lures. Capcom expires, he or she is not deported. Rather, scape. “Actually, Starz began after pur- president Midori Yuasa concurs. “Toronto the person is allowed to remain in the chasing a small studio in Toronto called is the center for the North American indus- country, seek employment, and, if suc- DKP Effects, founded by Dan Krech in try; it gives us access to a seemingly end- cessful, apply for permanent residency. 1985,” he says. less supply of talented, entertainment- “Oh, my God,” I respond in shock. savvy people, thanks to its colleges and The Great White North “DKP was the first effects house I inter- universities,” he says. “Ontario also offers Also thriving in Ontario’s new developer- viewed as a journalist covering the DCC low business costs, exceptional R&D tax friendly climate is Tira Wireless, maker industry way back in 2001.” credits that you can’t find anywhere else of a widely used porting technology for At the time, DKP was a comparatively in the world, and helpful economic devel- transferring software and games (such tiny outfit doing digital cars for Ford and opment people to facilitate all aspects of as EA’s NHL hockey titles) across myr- working on the short-lived digitally ani- business startup.” iad operating systems of mobile phone mated TV Series Game Over. It’s hard to Several provisions in Canada’s immi- carriers. The company’s clients include believe what’s become of such a tiny studio, gration program can expedite the relo- Disney Mobile, Sega Mobile, Sony transformed almost overnight into a fea- cation of qualified talent. Work per- Pictures Mobile, Warner Brothers, and ture animation powerhouse with a seem- mits from the Information Technology Capcom. Tony de Lama, Tira’s senior ingly endless sprawl of animators hard at Workers allow qualifying applicants in vice president of product management, work—with Tim Burton, no less, peering seven software developer occupations emphasizes Ontario’s strong venture cap- over their shoulders as they animate to the to work in Canada on a temporary basis. ital community as a critical component voices of Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Company staff, including managers in the firm’s success. Jennifer Connelly, and Elijah Wood. and employees with specialized knowl- Symbols of his own company’s suc- My, how times are changing in edge, may transfer to Canada under the cess adorn the office of Silicon Knights’ Ontario. Intra-company Work Permit category. vice president Rob DePetris. On one wall Meanwhile, Canada’s Skilled Worker hangs a congratulatory letter from Metal Martin McEachern is an award-winning immigration category selects permanent Gear creator Hideo Kojima for the Metal writer and contributing editor for Com- residents based on a point system using Gear Solid games; on his desk sits a Master puter Graphics World. He can be reached selection criteria including education, Chief helmet signed by the entire crew at [email protected]. 36 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C • • • SPONSORED EDITORIAL • • • Awe-inspiringAnimation Vancouver Filmproduce School impressive students and award-winning animation andez, and Choom Lam. lfo Collado Hern ded by Jon Brown, Tammy Dubinsky, Rodo Images (left to right) provi - - VFS submits its students’ animated shorts to a wealth of animation fes tivals in North America and abroad. Castelli Animati, the international At Vancouver Film School (VFS), Canada’s largest pri “Results matter.” festival of animation in Italy, recently showcased two VFS student works, vate post-secondary entertainment arts institution, it is not just a motto; for example. “Student films coming out of VFS are standing up to profes- it’s a mantra, for students and instructors alike. This principle guides sional work and gaining international exposure,” says Bafia, noting that teachers and students in the VFS Classical Animation program, and they - very few schools were included in event. give the industry the very best of themselves—with stellar results. VFS has been named as the top animation’s first school global in Canada Ivy League and therank- 3D World Magazine The VFS Classical Animation program is an intensive, one-year cur fifth best worldwide in riculum designed to turn out professional animators in just one year. In - ing. In fact, VFS’s Animation & Visual Effects department is the only one- 3D World’s top five—a recognition Bafia attributes to those 12 months, students learn and experience the entire animation year program in - process, from concept development to finished product. All the corner the dedication of the students and staff at VFS. “To rank so high among stones of animation technique—drawing, storyboarding, layout, back- schools with much longer programs speaks to the hard work and atten ground, and character design—combine to deliver a comprehensive, tion to detail,” he says. well-rounded education in classical animation. “It is a privileged person who gets to do their art, their craft for a living,” - “Students in Classical Animation are living, breathing animation for a Bafia admits. “I consider myself fortunate because I do get to do that.” year,” explains Larry Bafia, Head of Animation & Visual Effects at VFS and For this and other reasons, he and his colleagues take their responsibil a former Commercial Animation Director and Sequence Lead Animator ity very seriously. A majority of the staff not only teach, but also actively at PDI/DreamWorks. work in the industry; many are former VFS graduates who wish to give Over the course of six months, students learn technique and theory, back to the school and their field. The school’s faculty feels a responsi- as well as how to present their work and benefit from critiques. Woven bility, to the student body and to the greater industry, to deliver well- throughout is a nuts-and-bolts technical education, ensuring that future - educated, well-rounded professionals—ensuring that animators, the art, animators have the technical experience and know-how to produce and the market continue to thrive. professional-looking results. The sixth month ushers in the develop In the end, results really do matter, and matter most—in education, ment phase, in which students “take an original idea, boil it down to and in life. When the students and faculty of Vancouver Film School its essence, and determine how to put it into film language,” continues look back on their life’s work, the results will speak for them and their Bafia. Of the curriculum, says Bafia,the “We occasion.” set the Andstandards rise they high. do. If they creativity, hard work, and education. work hard enough, they will rise to It’s easy to see what VFS and its staff, alumni, and students bring to - To gauge the quality of VFS student and alumni work, one needn’t the industry: imaginative, eye-catching, and awe-inspiring animated look far: VFS student works are part of noteworthy entertainment-art characters, shorts, and full-length films. To begin your life’s work in ani showcases, including YouTube.com, where hundreds of impressive VFS mation, visit Vancouver Film School online at www.vfs.com. student pieces reside (http://youtube.com/user/VancouverFilmSchool). ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 37 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Portfolio SIGGRAPH Art Gallery Image ©Jing Zhou. ©Jing Image Clockwise from top: Ask any digital artist, and he or she will say that one of the big advantages to using CG over Fragment.1207.0304.3 Created by Tim Borgmann, an inde- traditional media is speed—in particular, the ability to create iterations and changes in a flash. pendent artist from Wuppertal, Germany. So it seems rather ironic that the theme of this year’s SIGGRAPH Art Gallery is Slow Art. That Purity Created by Jing Zhou from Monmouth University in is, until the meaning of the title is revealed. “ ‘Slow’ refers to the Slow movement. It advocates the US. being more thoughtful about what you eat and how food is prepared. The movement encour- Kashikokimono Created by Takahiro Hayakawa from Kyushu University in Japan. ages community and taking the time to enjoy something fundamental and good from a very broad perspective,” explains Stanford University’s Lina Yamaguchi, this year’s Art Gallery chair. Since we commonly think of computers as speed enhancers and art as a platform for contemplation and commentary, Yamaguchi concluded that this concept would make an intriguing call for participation in which the Art Gallery is considered a venue for new media 38 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C work. Furthermore, the title parallels with SIGGRAPH’s other conference themes, including From left, top to bottom, and then right: Global Responsibility, Impact on Society, and Future History. Dark Days–New York Created by Gabriele Peters from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund in Germany. The committee received more than 400 submissions, with 64 accepted for the Slow Water Planet Created by Anna Ursyn from the University of Art and the Design & Computation exhibits. The works will be shown in one of four areas: Northern Colorado in the US. Erosion, Hybrids, Rhythms, and Traversal. Yamaguchi describes these segments: “Erosion is Smoke Water Fire Created by Mark Stock from Mark Stock a grouping that speaks to time, repetition, and natural processes, such as disintegration and Studio in Newton Center, Massachusetts. entropy. Works in the Hybrid section contain objects that uniquely combine the old and new. Fragment.0140.02b Created by Tim Borgmann, an independent Rhythms refer to patterns of time and the often-forgotten idea of play. Traversal inspires artist from Wuppertal, Germany. thoughts about journeys and our surroundings.” Some images from this year’s gallery appear on these pages. —Karen Moltenbrey JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 39 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . . Knowledge&Career Career & hile its technology can be found in numerous com- projectors. The iDome utilizes a three- or four-meter diam- mercial applications, Norwegian projector man- eter fiberglass dome for 360x180-degree projection utilizing ufacturer ProjectionDesign also plays a key role one projector and a spherical mirror as a reflection surface. Knowledge in advancing academic research through a num- The size and shape of this vertically mounted hemispher- ber of initiatives. In particular, the company’s ical projection setup covers the entire peripheral vision of relationship with the iCinema Research Centre of the user standing directly in front of it, resulting in a truly Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) has led immersive and interactive experience. directly to the development of new panoramic screen experi- iCinema’s panoramic production resources include a ences that are having a major impact on the way we use and custom-built 24-megapixel digital video camera, called the perceive audiovisual media. Spherecam. With this ultra-high-resolution system, the camera- The relationship between ProjectionDesign and iCinema person does not have to frame the shot; instead, the person began in 2003, when professor Jeffrey Shaw, iCinema’s direc- captures the whole world and then lets the viewer choose tor, contacted ProjectionDesign’s Thierry Ollivier to examine what to look at when it is all projected in the round. the suitability of the manufacturer’s projectors for his 360- The original AVIE and iDome systems are installed at degree applications. Shaw, an international media art pio- Shaw. Jeffrey courtesy Photo neer, had begun researching the potential of panoramic pro- jection in 1995, when he was founding director of the ZKM Institute for Visual Media in Karlsruhe, Germany. Shaw’s initial use of ProjectionDesign products was for iCinema’s Advanced Visualization and Interaction Environment (AVIE) system—the world’s first 360-degree stereoscopic panoramic projection environment, which was launched in 2004 using 12 F1+ projectors. AVIE comprises a cylindrical, silvered screen measuring four meters high by 10 meters in diameter; on the internal surface, 360-degree 3D panoramic multimedia content can be projected. The setup uses a cluster of seven PCs and 12 The Australian mining industry recently signed contracts for mul- projectors, arranged in stereoscopic pairs fitted with polariza- tiple AVIE and iDome systems for the purpose of safety training. tion filters. The total resolution is approximately 8000x1000 pixels. The iCinema team also has developed custom warp- iCinema’s Scientia facility at UNSW in Sydney, and they have ing and edge-blending software for a seamless, fully immer- since been the basis for a number of installations throughout sive experience. the world, in a mixture of scientific and artistic visualization Visitors to the AVIE environment can be tracked by infra- and training applications. red cameras as well as by real-time position and gesture-anal- “As a result of our experiences, ProjectionDesign was ysis software. This enables audience participation and inter- chosen by the ZKM Centre for Art and Media in Karlsruhe play between real people and projected characters or avatars, to equip the recently built PanoramaScreens with F20 and, in a training application, precise analysis of audience sx+ projectors,” Shaw explains. “This was also the case reactions and behavior. for the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre at Subsequent to AVIE, the iCinema team developed the Rensselaer Polytechnic University in New York—another hemispherical iDome, using ProjectionDesign’s F30 1080p iCinema partner, which has recently purchased our AVIE 40 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C Knowledge&Career. . . . Photo courtesy Jeffrey Shaw. Jeffrey courtesy Photo Meanwhile, the Australian mining industry recently signed contracts for multiple AVIE and iDome systems for the purpose of safety training with New South Innovations, the technology commercialization division of UNSW. The agreement will have iCinema supply four AVIE theatres and 12 iDomes to four purpose-built VR training sites across New South Wales. Among them, the systems will use more than 80 of ProjectionDesign’s F20 sx+ and F30 1080p projectors. “Our groundbreaking research, in cooperation with ProjectionDesign, has brought about unique advances in panoramic visualization and simulation,” says Shaw. “Interactive digital media systems offer extraordinary new Working with ProjectionDesign, iCinema Research Centre has developed new panoramic screen experiences. opportunities, and our research is focused on the way these can be used to create new methods of living in the contem- system equipped with ProjectionDesign F3+ projectors.” porary world, redefining how we seek recreation and learn- One of the latest applications for AVIE is T Visionarium, ing, and how we work and do business.” which premiered in January 2008 at the International Sydney Anders Løkke, marketing and communications manager at Festival and will be shown in Shanghai, China, later in the ProjectionDesign, concludes: “Our relationship with institutions year. Offering an all-surrounding 3D spectacle of hundreds of like iCinema is part of what makes us different as a manufac- video clips that the viewers can interactively sort and edit, T turer. We are happy to support academic and artistic research Visionarium is a unique interactive cinema experience that into the use of AV and cinema technology because we know it lets the user remix more than 20,000 video clips derived from will bring about specialist commercial benefits—for us, for our Australian broadcast television. end customers, and for the industry as a whole.” ______ ______www.cgw.com JULY 2008 Computer Graphics World | 41 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . . Knowledge&Career Career & Kpc!Tljmmt!212 Joufsotijqt!qspwjef!bo!jefbm!mfbsojoh!fowjsponfou Cz!Nbsd!Mpguvt or those aspiring to break into the computer graphics, more about the tools. “We try to get them involved in proj- production, or post industries, an internship can play ects, like reorganizing the music library, just to give them an Knowledge an important role. Not only does it provide a foot in the idea of the type of stuff we do.” door, it’s also a way to see how a studio operates from The staff at Company X and Sugarbox later report to Way the inside, as well as an opportunity to ask questions on an intern’s progress. “If an intern has been really help- and learn from veteran talent. ful, they let me know that. And when it comes time to fill an Many facilities are opening their doors to students, giv- entry-level position, we think of our interns first.” ing them hands-on experience that goes beyond what can be learned in a classroom. And those who show aptitude and Imageworks desire are often rewarded with paid positions down the road, Sony Pictures Imageworks in Culver City, California, has an when openings become available. Here’s a look at a cross sec- internship program that runs throughout the year, says Sande tion of facilities that host internships—not just in the sum- Scoredos, executive director of training and artist develop- mer, but all year round. ment. The company’s IPAX program connects teaching fac- ulty at 18 educational institutions with industry pros who Company X/Sugarbox According to Rachelle Way, executive producer at Manhattan edit house Company X and its sister company, Sugarbox, which provides original music, supervision, searches, and recording services, the two studios utilize interns through- out the year. With the facility located in New York City, Way says the group is able to tap the local colleges as well as post opportunities on Web sites such as mandy.com. “We get a big variety of students, post-college people, and even a little older people looking for a career change,” Way says. Company X and Sugarbox have been hosting their intern program for approximately three years and structure it Brian Lee (right), USC School of Cinematic Arts, receives a certifi- around the semesters of the school year. At any time, there cate from Suzanne Labrie (left), Imageworks’ executive director might be four or five interns working at the locales. of production management. “They don’t come in every day,” Way explains, “they come can offer direction in animation and VFX trends. This can be in a couple of days a week. We have a schedule.” Candidates passed on at the classroom level to help develop future talent. range in skill level and experience. Teachers involved in fellowships can recommend students Depending on the person’s skill level, the time at the for an internship, and those who are selected—as many as 15 studio could entail helping composers and engineers with in the summer—begin the eight-week program by taking an mixes or recordings. Those with editing experience can help in-house training course that details the technology, vocabu- with digitizing and creating QuickTimes. “They are able lary, and positions at the studio. to get hands-on experience if they have some experience,” “They do a week of that,” Scoredos explains. “They get says Way. If they don’t have experience, they will be given a assigned a work space, e-mail address, and computer, so they chance to sit with editors, composers, and engineers to learn are pretty immersed. We are looking at their skills, and we 42 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CGW, Vancouver Film School (VFS) and HP have joined forces to offer full scholarships to a number of VFS’s acclaimed production-oriented programs. For this exclusive partnership, we are pleased to announce a unique scholarship opportunity for the one-year Animation & Visual Effects program at VFS. So put your talent to work. Study with pros, develop your idea, invent your character, and produce your animation. The application deadline is October 31, 2008. Visit vfs.com/cgw to apply. VFS student work by Zack Mathew CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C . . . . . Knowledge&Career have classes during the whole eight weeks opening becomes available, because once that they can take—whether it’s in anima- they’re in, they will gravitate towards the tion, effects, or different areas. Some come right specialty or even discover an area in and don’t know the particular software they hadn’t even known about that might we use, and some do know, so they have be more appealing.” different levels [of knowledge].” All the interns are active students Ravenswork who are enrolled and registered to return Robert Feist is the owner of Venice, to school. Imageworks is not looking for California-based audio post house graduates, says Scoredos. “We’re looking Ravenswork and co-chair of the Venice for people who will benefit the most from Media District, a local collective that an internship experience and take that shares and promotes its community back to the classroom, and those who will resources. The Venice Media District learn more—and, hopefully, we will hire has a relationship with Venice Arts, a them. We have been successful in doing local nonprofit organization that works that. We’ve hired a lot of interns, but they PostWorks’ Bill Ivie: Make a good impres- with at-risk youths in the area, offering have to finish school.” sion and secure a position at the studio. them instruction through programs that The program also provides a chance include photography and digital film- for participants to get exposure to different disciplines. “They making. These participants have a chance to intern at some of may have come in thinking they want to be an animator, but the District’s member studios. did not know there was matte painting, or texture painting, or “Until now, there hasn’t been any way for them to move for- Inferno work,” Scoredos notes. “They get the chance to take ward,” says Feist of the kids in the Venice Arts program. “So by a class with an actual artist, who explains what they do and starting this internship program, we are able to take these kids how they got into it, and also show their work. It can be very and keep them moving forward.” enlightening, and they might go back to school with a bit of a Ravenswork regularly has one or two interns working at the different focus.” studio at any time during the year. Interns have a chance to learn the workflow of the facility, see how the machine room PostWorks operates, and obtain an understanding of the in-house post Because of its Midtown location, PostWorks prefers to select tools. “We don’t have anyone sweeping up,” says Feist. “They candidates who are ready to embrace postproduction as their get some hands-on experience. They hang out with other work- career, rather than those on college break. According to Bill ers and assistants, and pretty much learn what the assistants Ivie, VP of PostWorks’ Sound Group, the studio often receives do. It gives them more of a direct hands-on experience in a real resumes from graduates of The School of Audio Engineering working environment.” (SAE), the Institute of Audio Research (IAR), and Full Sail Ravenswork also works with local colleges. Those seeking University. Clients and friends also make recommendations. internship opportunities have to show more than just a casual The studio interviews a half dozen candidates every three interest, though. “[When] I take students who just want to months or so, and has two or three interns on hand at any time. learn, it just doesn’t work out. They have to show they are inter- “The intern’s primary responsibilities are to run packages ested,” says Feist. “It takes a certain amount of work for a com- between the Midtown office and clients, and especially to our pany to [support] these interns. It takes effort to manage them, main facility in SoHo,” Ivie explains. “They also need to be give them experience, and train them.” able to answer phones, cover the reception desk, run errands, Feist says he has a few simple rules interns need to follow change an occasional lightbulb, and be sure the studios are in order to be a success: “They have to treat it like a job. They well stocked. They don’t clean bathrooms or mop floors, nor are have to be on time. If they are going to be late, they have to call, asked to keep long hours.” and if they don’t, I’ll let them go. I want them to have a feel for In addition to their regular duties, interns have a chance to what it’s like to have a real job.” learn the basics of duplication, signal flow, and patch bays, and Internships can last three or four months, and one recent how to operate the numerous SD and HD equipment. They are participant showed real desire—staying after hours and asking also encouraged to observe sessions and ask questions. lots of questions. His reward? He received a paid, entry-level “If our intern survives three months of scrutiny and he position. or she displays plenty of potential, we do our best to find an entry-level position somewhere in the company,” says Ivie. Marc Loftus is a senior editor at Post, CGW’s sister publication. He “We advise them to put aside preferences and accept whatever can be reached at [email protected]. 44 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C ______ CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C products For additional product news and information, visit ______www.cgw.com SOFTWARE tion with live settings. The settings are saved ing audio files in any language or personal- to a USB memory stick as ASC CDL (American ized speech files created with Mimic’s record- RIGGING Society of Cinematographers Color Decision ing studio. Mimic Pro for Carrara is available List) XML files and then transferred to the in Macintosh and Windows formats for $199. TFM from Anzovin Resolve suite for finishing. Mimic Pro for Carrara is compatible with Carrara Win • Mac • Linux Anzovin Studio has Gamma & Density Co.; Version 6.2. released The Face Machine (TFM) for Maya, www.gammaanddensity.com Daz 3D; www.daz3d.com a software tool for rigging faces quickly and Da Vinci Systems; www.davsys.com easily. TFM performs intelligent point weight- 3D in Stereo ing, supports box controls and direct controls, PLUG-INS Win • Mac • Linux The Foundry has and is based on direct deformation, rather announced Ocula, a collection of plug-ins for than pre-defined blendshapes. TFM enables 3D stereo postproduction. Ocula automatically animators to deform the face into virtually any replicates processes on left and right chan- expression. It includes Anzovin Rig Nodes, a nels, and provides tools with which to polish free plug-in that allows rigs generated in TFM and refine 3D stereo material. Ocula plug-ins to be used in Maya. TFM users can easily com- employ new disparity-mapping algorithms to pile a facial-pose library, saving it locally or on track and correlate differences in positional a server for use by an entire team of anima- space and movement between correspond- tors. The Face Machine for Windows, Mac OS, ing pixels in the left and right cameras. The and Linux is priced at $199. The Face Machine tools apply corrections by warping, stretching, and The Setup Machine can be purchased as a and squeezing areas of an image that require bundle for $249. Daz 3D News treatment. Artists also gain pixel-level control Anzovin Studio; www.anzovin.com, Win • Mac Daz 3D has unveiled two new over images. Corrections can be made to the www.thefacemachine.com plug-ins: Daz Studio 3D Bridge for Photoshop left- and right-eye channels together or sep- and Mimic Pro for Carrara. With the 3D Bridge arately, helping minimize discomfort during COLOR CORRECTION plug-in for Photoshop, Daz Studio users can the 3D viewing experience. Ocula’s Interocular automatically apply 3D imagery to Photoshop Distance Shifter corrects horizontal alignment Collaborating on Color projects. The Daz Studio 3D Bridge plug-in issues, whereas its Vertical Aligner automati- Win Da Vinci Systems recently revealed enables users to view 3D scenes as Photoshop cally attempts to vertically align correspond- that Gamma & Density Co.’s 3cP (Cinematog- layers, render directly into Photoshop, com- rapher’s Color Correction Process) is interop- posite 2D and 3D content, and import, export, erable with its Resolve and 2K Plus systems, and modify image maps and textures onto 3D delivering on-set color correction and calibra- models in Photoshop. Priced at $199, the plug- tion. The 3cP laptop-based system enables in is available as a free 30-day trial install, and the cinematographer or director of photog- requires Daz Studio Version 2.1 or later, which raphy to make color-grading decisions on set, is offered free of charge. after which settings can be passed directly to The Mimic Pro for Carrara plug-in enables the dailies timer and the colorist in postpro- seamless lip-synching, sound analysis, and ing image features in each view. Ocula plug- duction. 3cP is being used by cinematogra- speech animation simulations within Carrara ins are designed to increase productivity and phers on major motion pictures, including 6.2. Mimic Pro for Carrara aids users in add- reduce the labor involved in rotoscoping work, The Tudors and The Kite Runner. The system, ing greater expression to 3D characters by paint effects, and other operations. Ocula a laptop computer loaded with 3cP software, creating facial animation sequences, such plug-ins will be available for the release of works with film, DI, video (NTSC/PAL), and HD as winks, nods, and smiles. Mimic Pro for Nuke Version 5.1, expected this month. productions to perform on-set color correc- Carrara animates 3D figures using exist- The Foundry; www.thefoundry.co.uk 46 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C ______ ______ ______ CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C products CG Connection ant, rigged human characters that Win pmG Worldwide has released its can be modified and redistributed plug-in connections as open source, enabling as new content. Poser Pro is priced users to maintain a real-time data connection at $500. Registered users of Poser from MessiahStudio’s animation to Autodesk’s 6 and Poser 7 can side-grade to Maya or 3ds Max, NewTek’s LightWave, Poser Pro for $200 until the end of Maxon’s Cinema 4D, or a studio’s own propri- the month. etary CG program. The resulting open-source Smith Micro Software; connection enables users to rig and animate www.smithmicro.com in Messiah, and then use that animation in another program over a real-time connec- Google Earth, and add Antics characters and MODELING tion. The animation is instantly available and animation effects to them. Version 3.1 also can be edited, without any manual importing, boasts improved walk sequences for char- Photo-Based Modeler exporting, and reconverting scene files. In this acters and a new tab in the Antics Resource Win Eos Systems unveiled PhotoModeler way, MessiahStudio can serve as a front end Centre, providing direct access to the Antics Scanner, able to generate high-quality, realis- to virtually any CG package. The source code Content Warehouse. tic 3D models from two photographs taken for each connection is available for down- Antics Technologies; www.antics3d.com from a typical camera. With PhotoModeler load from pmG’s Web site by clicking the SDK Scanner, users can quickly reproduce objects menu item. The code can be modified or used Poser Pro as detailed 3D representations for use in ani- as a template to create a connection to any Win • Mac Smith Micro Software recently mation, reverse engineering, or the recording other software that allows the use of point or announced Poser Pro for professional content of scientific or legal evidence. The new soft- motion data. Pricing for MessiahStudio, now creators in studio and production environ- ware delivers all the capabilities of the com- in Version 3, starts at $399. ments. Poser Pro boasts scene-hosting plug- pany’s PhotoModeler, plus its new Dense pmG Worldwide; www.projectmessiah.com ins for popular 3D environments, a 64-bit ren- Surface Modeling (DSM) technology. DSM der engine, Collada support, and advanced technology scans photo pairs to generate a ANIMATION network rendering. Poser Pro delivers 3D char- large number of measurement points, auto- acter design and animation tools, distribut- matically creating a point cloud similar to the Animation Antics able 3D characters, and utilities for fine-tuning output of laser scanning equipment. Built-in Win Antics Technologies has upgraded its light, shadow, color, and detail on figures. It tools translate the data into a mesh surface, Antics real-time animation software to Version includes PoserFusion plug-ins, enabling the use which can then be used in popular 3D CAD 3.1, adding the ability to import models and of animated and static Poser scenes in Maxon’s or design applications. The DSM scan also reg- images from the Google 3D Warehouse and Cinema 4D and Autodesk’s 3ds Max and isters photographic color information pixel Google Earth. The software includes intelli- Maya. Additional features include a distributed by pixel onto the resulting 3D model surface. gent props and characters, enabling users to Network Render Queue and Queue Manager, Colors can display as a point cloud or be fully point and click to move a character from one background rendering, the updated 64-bit rendered to create realistic solid models. The location to another. Users can import mod- Firefly Render Engine, Gamma Correction, and PhotoModeler Scanner software package is els, including scaled buildings and textured Normal Mapping support. Poser Pro ships with now shipping for $2695. landmarks, from Google 3D Warehouse and four medium-resolution, face room compli- Eos Systems; www.photomodeler.com July 2008, Volume 31, Number 7: COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD (USPS 665-250) (ISSN-0271-4159) is published monthly (12 issues) by COP Communications, Inc. Corporate offices: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204, Tel: 818-291-1100; FAX: 818-291-1190; Web Address: [email protected]. Periodicals post- age paid at Glendale, CA, 91205 & additional mailing offices. COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD is distributed worldwide. Annual subscription prices are $72, USA; $98, Canada & Mexico; $150 International airfreight. To order subscriptions, call 847-559-7310. © 2008 CGW by COP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without permission. 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Box 3296, Northbrook, IL 60065-3296. 48 | Computer Graphics World JULY 2008 ______www.cgw.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C INTRODUCING THE ARCHIVE™ If you work hard to deliver 3D graphics on short timeframes and tight budgets, you need The Archive; the world’s largest collection of premier 3D content. The Archive features 16,504 production-proven 3D models including more than a thousand fully digitized vehicles, high-res human anatomy, famous landmarks, accurate military models, animals, 3D geography, and much, much more. Each model has been carefully crafted in industry-standard OBJ format for compatibility with virtually every 3D package. And we’ve saved the best for last—The Archive is available for only $4,995. Now, maybe those deadlines won’t seem quite so ridiculous. Free sample models and a demo of The Archive are available on our website. www.digimation.com CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C A view from your edit suite. Imagine true broadcast-level HD editing in places you never thought possible. Io HD, paired up with Apple’s MacBook Pro and Final Cut Studio 2, gets you a no-compromises HD editing suite wherever you want to work. One FireWire cable to the Mac is all you need to work with full-resolution 10-bit 4:2:2 HD and SD video, using the powerful new ProRes 422 codec from Apple, uniquely integrated directly into Io HD’s hardware. Add in Io HD’s 10-bit up/down/cross conversion and unmatched video and audio connectivity, and you’re seamlessly working in any format you want, anywhere you need it... in a portable, professional package. Check out Io HD at our website, or give us a call to find an authorized AJA Desktop Dealer near you. www.aja.com ® 800.251.4224 CW Previous Page Contents Zoom In Zoom Out Front Cover Search Issue Next Page C