VFXWorld Magazine
DPS and the Global Animation Studio
Joe Strike ventures into the Newark, New Jersey home of DPS to discover how their global animation studio philosophy has helped them become a major player in such a short period of time.
SIGGRAPH 2003: Less Wow, More Refinement
VFXWorlds Bill Desowitz found SIGGRAPH 2003 less wow inducing than other years, but he gained a wider appreciation for the future of 3D visualization than ever before.
Times Have Changed, Right?!
Special effects producer Rick Baumgartner traveled to San Diego to check out the new wonders on display at SIGGRAPHs Electronic Theater, and he reports back with what he discovered.
Stay Safe, But Don’t Stay Out of Trouble
Greg Singer takes a look at how director Robert Rodriguez pulls off the fancy fun of his latest family film, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.
'Inspired 3D Character Setup': Basic Building Blocks of Effective Character Creation
Michael Ford and Alan Lehman take us through the step-by-step process of planning the setup of a 3D character. While these steps may sound time consuming the authors assure us it will pay off in the end! The second of several excerpts from the book, Inspired 3D Character Setup.
A Traditional Animator’s First Foray into Computer Animation
Academy Award-winning claypainting animator Joan Gratz ventured into strange territory when she took a Combustion course at Oregon3D. Find out how she handled the change from clay to computers.
VES Festival: A Convergence of Technology and Creativity
VFXWorld editor Bill Desowitz and Animation World Network editor Sarah Baisley venture to this year's VES Festival and report back about the convergence of technology and creativity.
'Sinbad' Sets Sail on a New Journey into Water Surfaces
VFXWorlds Bill Desowitz journeys into Sinbad, which represents a culmination of DreamWorks' fascination with water, building on techniques used in most of its previous animated features.
ILM and Disney Make Pirate Perfection
Gerard Raiti sits down with Pirates of the Caribbean animation supervisor Hal Hickel to chat about how ILM helped bring the dead back to life and were not just talking about the pirate film genre here.
'Terminator 3': Rise of the Explosions
Here's how ILM used fluid dynamics to achieve three of the most exciting CG explosions in recent movie memory.
Career Coach: SIGGRAPH 2003
This month the Career Coach Pamela Kleibrink Thompson suggests what you need to get the most out of SIGGRAPH 2003, what to take and what attitudes to leave home.
'Inspired 3D: Lighting and Compositing': An Interview with Dennis Muren
Oscar-winning VFX wiz Dennis Muren discusses lighting tricks, prioritizing elements in a shot and the importance of using real objects for reference.
ILM Taps Little Boy Lost in Animating CG 'Hulk'
VFXWorld's Bill Desowitz speaks with Hulk animation supervisor Colin Brady to find out how ILM tackled the giant task of bringing the big green superhero from the comic book page to the theater screens.
Houdini's Magical, Innovative Touch
VFX supervisors from three top houses explain why they depend on Houdini for modeling, rendering and animation.
Finding the Right CG Water and Fish in 'Nemo'
For Pixar's fifth feature, they digitally conquered the complex look and feel of the underwater world, with its undulating water and beautiful fish and plant life.
'Inspired 3D:' Subdivision Modeling Techniques
How to create a high-res model through polygonal smoothing and other techniques are discussed in this third excerpt from the series, Inspired 3D.
The Mill: Europe's First Fully Digital VFX House
From cutting-edge TV commercials to blockbuster movies and back again, The Mill has become one of the top five VFX studios in the world.
Disney/Dali's Completed 'Destino' Kicks Off Annecy Fest
At long last, the animated short, Destino, surfaces. Bill Desowitz talks to Roy Disney about his personal quest to finish the artistic collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali.
'Inspired 3D:' Speaking with Sean Mullen
Kyle Clark interviews award-winning Stuart Little animator Sean Mullen about character animation in this second of several excerpts from the series, Inspired 3D.