<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW119.t_trans.opener.jpg" rel="lightbox[35093]"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35098" height="348" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW119.t_trans.opener.jpg" title="TDW119.t_trans.opener" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Transformers week draws to a close with this video training from Dan DeEntremont. Master key animation skills in this Transformer-style tutorial as you rig a robot to animate its transformation from train to humanoid</p> <p>To celebrate <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/digital-tutors-releases-new-transforming-robot-tutorials/">Digital-Tutors&#8217; new Transformation training</a>, we thought we&#8217;d make an event of it and post online all things Transformery!</p> <p>We&#8217;ve already posted up two making-of Transformers articles:<br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/the-making-of-transformers/">The making of Transformers</a><br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/08/the-making-of-transformers-2/">The making of Transformers 2</a></p> <p>And you can also read a making-of article on the cult Transformers-style advert for Citroën &#8211; <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/13/the-embassy-the-art-of-robotics/">The Embassy: The art of Robotics</a></p> <p>To complete the Transformers roundup, here&#8217;s the train-transforming video tutorial from <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2009/07/02/3d_world_119_now_on_sale_in_the_uk/">issue 119 of 3D World magazine</a>.</p> <h3>Rig your own Transformer in LightWave</h3> <p>This article demonstrates the workflow for creating a transforming robot, similar to the designs in the live-action Transformers movies.</p> <p>The films’ director, Michael Bay, is well known for taking the level of special and visual effects over the top in his films. These Transformers are not the simple ones everyone has seen in the cartoon show, but a gigantic mass of moving metal that somehow manages to form a human-like (or sometimes animal-like) robot. The transforming train that you’ll rig and animate has about 300 moving parts.</p> <p>There are three videos available to show in detail the techniques described here. The first two videos focus on setting up the upper arms of the robot: you can take the principles you learn and apply them to the remaining parts of the figure. The first video will focus on rigging the upper arms. In this section, you will also be setting up the rig in a way that helps to cut the animation time nearly in half, using the useful Follower modifier. Bones will be used for moving the parts instead of separate layers.</p> <p>In Video 2, we will continue with the animation of the rigged upper arms. Here, I will demonstrate how to bring each piece to its destination position without causing geometry to intersect. I will also demonstrate a number of key techniques to help the movement of the different sections to be more realistic.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35099" style="width: 590px;"><p class="wp-caption-text">Discover how you can rig this robot to animate its transformation from train to humanoid</p></div> <p>Video 3 has a completely rigged transforming train. This video focuses on animating the transformation from a train to a robot, ending in a cool pose. A proxy version of the train will be used in this video. IK/FK Blending will also be implemented to allow smoothness in the transformation. If you get stuck at any point, the CD includes completed scene files you can study.</p> <p><em>Click Next to begin the train-transforming video tutorial</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d821264/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Video+tutorial%3A+Rig+your+own+Transformer+in+LightWave&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Video+tutorial%3A+Rig+your+own+Transformer+in+LightWave&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200441230/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d821264/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200441230/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d821264/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200441230/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d821264/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/VscwAZ8sOVc" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr.jpg" rel="lightbox[35136]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35137" height="243" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr.jpg" title="ftr" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Find out how this atmospheric, painterly animated short was created using Maya, Photoshop and After Effects. Watch the film here too</p> <p>For the Remainder depicts the last moments of a house cat who bids farewell to its home before leaving to perish. The short was a graduation project created by Omer Ben David while studying at the <a href="http://www.bezalel.ac.il/en/">Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design</a> in Jerusalem, Israel. Ben David first began working on the plot in November last year. </p> <p>“I was dwelling on a concept of a cat that leaves his house and searches for his final resting place for some time before then,” he says. “I pondered on that notion since hearing the rumour that old cats sometime leave their home to die somewhere else unseen by their beloved ones or enemies. I felt that this essence of a story is very poetic and thus should be treated as a song rather than a narrative.”</p> <h4>First impressions</h4> <p>After developing the main plot, the director carefully considered the importance of the film&#8217;s characters and what role each would play. </p> <p>“From the beginning, the story was about a cat and a house,” Ben David explains. “The cat&#8217;s owner was also a main character but I wasn&#8217;t sure if he would be performing or his presence just suggested. The spider came somewhat in the middle of the storyboarding stage, when I was searching for a death motif to allow the cat to deal with.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;I was greatly inspired by sketches and calligraphy, and some colour blocking when searching for the look of the characters. I figured the house, as a character, should be mostly colour blocked while the cat should be wired so they were in contrast.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35136]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35138" height="243" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr1.jpg" title="ftr1" width="580" /></a></p> <h4>Creating perfect brush strokes</h4> <p>The film’s unique style was inspired by a number of sources. “I was very moved by a series of paintings by <a href="http://lukpazera.blogspot.com/">Lukasz Pazera</a> called <a href="http://postcardsfromthezone.com/">Postcards from the Zone</a> and his brilliant <a href="http://lukpazera.blogspot.com/2011/06/dog-of-zone-animation-sample.html">Dog of Zone</a>, which I figured would be awesome animated,” Ben David says.</p> <p>While researching, the director also watched Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Stalker. “I thought it to be the exact poem-like atmosphere I was searching for both visually and musically. I love the ambiance and slow rhythm,” he says. &#8220;I was also greatly inspired by color block paintings such as <a href="http://www.gerhardmozsi.com/">Gerhard Mozsi&#8217;s</a>, and the dreamy feel and pace in animated films such as Tekkonkinkreet or Ghost in the Shell which I adore.&#8221;</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35159" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/remainder_infl.jpg" rel="lightbox[35136]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35159" height="389" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/remainder_infl.jpg" title="remainder_infl" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">One of the film’s main influences was a series of paintings by Lukasz Pazera called Postcards from the Zone. You can see similarities in tone and style between them and For the Remainder</p></div> <p>Ben David’s extensive research and inspirations helped him to develop the unique painterly style of the film. In order to achieve this in 3D, he turned to the powerful tools of Maya. </p> <p>“This software was vital to production,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;It was an inherent rendering method that got the look for my characters and objects, combined with the overlapping textures on the sets. Photoshop was of course crucial for painting the textures, but Maya allowed me to rig and control almost everything I needed.”</p> <p>The film’s style, however, also presented some technical challenges. “The whole sketchiness and painterly look was the biggest technical issue,&#8221; says Ben David. &#8220;I did a lot of research about NPR (non photo realistic) rendering before developing the technique for creating it, and it was pretty much an experiment throughout the entire process. I didn&#8217;t have a clear point of reference on a technical level on how to achieve this look, and so I did a lot of testing until I reached a certain point where I knew that the composited render would satisfy me.&#8221;</p> <p>Despite extensive research and testing, Ben David managed to complete the film within a fairly short time period. &#8220;It took me around nine months to finish the short,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I did some touch-ups, on and off, for a few months afterwards as I was not completely happy with some renders and I&#8217;ve worked some more on mastering the soundtrack with <a href="http://onili.com/">Onili</a>. I&#8217;m very pleased with the final result. Both on the aesthetics and the feel of it.&#8221;</p> <p></p> <h3>Like this film?</h3> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/">Check out the selection of other awesome animations on our shorts page</a></p> <p><em>Make sure you visit next week for more Friday Animation Fun!</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d81a18a/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+For+the+Remainder&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Ffriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+For+the+Remainder&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Ffriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200396320/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d81a18a/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200396320/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d81a18a/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200396320/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d81a18a/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/W9nf4RJbbCw" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_desert_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="Disney&#039;s John Carter movie still" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35150" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_desert_cinesite.jpg" title="Disney&#039;s John Carter movie still - opener" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Cinesite has completed 831 VFX shots and converted 87 minutes of film into stereoscopic 3D for Disney’s John Carter, which hit cinemas last week</p> <p>The 3D work in John Carter &#8211; Andrew Stanton’s first live-action feature film, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs &#8216;Mars&#8217; series of novels &#8211; was split between three leading London FX houses: Cinesite, Double Negative and The Moving Picture Company. </p> <p>Cinesite, renowned for its photoreal environment work, was responsible for creating and populating the majority of environments for John Carter. The team of 310-strong completed 831 visual effects shots, which included creating and populating the majority of environments for the film. They also converted 87 minutes of the film into stereo 3D.</p> <p>Cinesite’s VFX supervisor Sue Rowe spent several months on set in the UK and Utah. Due to the scale of the project, Rowe divided the work between four other VFX supervisors.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35151" style="width: 590px;"></p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_wireframe_helium_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter VFX shots" class="size-full wp-image-35151" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_wireframe_helium_cinesite.jpg" title="johncarter_wireframe_helium_cinesite" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Helium is shown from different angles throughout the film, and is used as the backdrop for the final battle sequence</p></div> <p>Christian Irles supervised work on Princess Dejah’s city, Helium. The city presented a challenge as it had to match the art department concept stills. While this was easy enough to do in matte painting, it was very time-consuming and render heavy to get actual full 3D renders. Projections were created for the terrain and these were worked up in matte painting to achieve the level of detail required. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35152" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_helium_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter Helium city" class="size-full wp-image-35152" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_helium_cinesite.jpg" title="John Carter Helium city" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Cinesite created a matte painting of the outside of the city of Helium and, using projections, built up the terrain using high-res stills taken on location in Utah</p></div> <p>The shots presented the city as a whole with both Helium Major and Helium Minor visible, resulting in a huge amount of texture maps and shaders. Render time was very high for these shots and all layers, such as crowds, terrain, etc were rendered separately. </p> <p>Helium stats:</p> <ul> <li>346 models in the city structure</li> <li>74 individual props created</li> </ul> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35153" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Zodanga_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35153" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Zodanga_cinesite.jpg" title="Zodanga_cinesite" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The mobile city of Zodanga crawls like a myriapod across the surface of Mars: giving the city a sense of scale and animating the digital legs was challenging</p></div> <p>Jonathan Neill supervised Cinesite’s work on the mobile city of Zodanga, a mile-long rusty metal tanker that crawls like a myriapod across the surface of Mars. The city was heavily textured using a combination of Photoshop, Mari and Mudbox in tandem with bespoke shaders and lighting development, to give an industrial look and feel.</p> <p>A handful of sets were built which were locations within the city, but these needed considerable extension work to make the depth and scale of the city believable. Cinesite modelled thousands of pieces of geometry for the city buildings, and created hundreds of CG props to dress the sets.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35154" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_city_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter VFX. Interior of city" class="size-full wp-image-35154" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_city_cinesite.jpg" title="John Carter VFX. Interior of city" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Cinesite filled the city with warships and troops, before dressing it with hundreds of CG props</p></div> <p>With 674 legs, the mobile city was technically challenging to animate: Timed animation caches were used to ensure the digital legs moved in a random fashion. &#8220;Variations in movement and secondary animation such as cogs and cabling were used to create interest in the leg movement,&#8221; says Cinesite.</p> <p>Zodanga City Model stats: </p> <ul> <li>291 structural element models</li> <li>Up to 20,000 objects in a single shot</li> <li>1-2 billion polygons, dependent on camera position and detail required</li> <li>242 CG props created to populate the city</li> </ul> <p>Zodanga City Legs stats:</p> <ul> <li>674 legs </li> <li>44 claws</li> </ul> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35155" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_airship_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter" class="size-full wp-image-35155" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_airship_cinesite.jpg" title="johncarter_airship_cinesite" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The texturing and detailing of the giant airships had to be spot on since they feature in many close up shots</p></div> <p>Ben Shepherd oversaw the huge aerial battle between Zodanga and Helium. His team created each side’s airships which use solar wings to travel on light, as well as explosions, fire, people and set extensions.</p> <p>The giant airships needed to be finely detailed for close-up shots. A challenge for look development was that they were required to be more like a 19th-Century sailing ship, than the type of spaceship which a modern-day audience might expect. </p> <p>For Sab’s flagship corsair, a partial set was created for the bridge/cockpit and one deck of a single ship. This was scanned and photographed for reference and recreated. The remaining areas were created as full CG models. </p> <p>Dejah’s ship and the flagship Helium ship, the Xavarian, were created in 3D also. Each ship had a full set of wings which were sized and laid out specifically for each ship. These were controlled by pulleys and ratchet-type controls to give a sailing look. Each of the wings was covered in hundreds of individual solar tiles which needed to be able to be controlled in animation. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35156" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_Final-Comp.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter movie" class="size-full wp-image-35156" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_Final-Comp.jpg" title="John Carter movie" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The entire Thern effect system was designed and built from scratch using a combination of Maya, Houdini and custom software developed in house</p></div> <p>Simon Stanley-Clamp directed work on the Thern sanctuary, a huge underground cave that forms around Carter and Dejah as self-illuminating blue branches as the characters walk through it. </p> <p>The entire Thern effect system was designed and built from scratch using a combination of Maya, Houdini and custom software developed in house. Based on the principles of nanotechnology, the system provided a semi-automated way to ‘grow’ Thern into any environment and geometry. It took a full year of development time to evolve and bring to the big screen.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35157" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_3_Final-comp.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35157" height="247" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_3_Final-comp.jpg" title="Thern-Sanctuary_3_Final-comp" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">These ‘growing Thern’ shots were some of the most complex VFX shots Cinesite undertook, and can be seen to great effect in 3D</p></div> <p>In the sequence, as the tunnel itself ends, the main Thern Sanctuary room is seen to build itself, opening out within the Thern matrix of the pyramid interior. This shot required extensive Thern simulation and growing effects, blending multiple elements together in Nuke to build the shot up.</p> <p><em>John Carter is in cinemas now. We&#8217;ve not seen the film yet, and reviews so far seem to be fairly mixed, so if you do go, let us know what you think of it via the comments box below, or on Facebook or Twitter </em></p> <h3>The making of John Carter</h3> <p>This article focuses on Cinesite&#8217;s contribution to the film, but the 3D work was split between three leading London FX houses: Cinesite, Double Negative and The Moving Picture Company. </p> <p>Read the making-of John Carter article in issue 155 of 3D World magazine, where Renee Dunlop takes us behind the scenes of all three VFX facilities.</p> <p><strong>Issue 155 of 3D World goes on sale on 27th March</strong></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d801946/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Disney%E2%80%99s+John+Carter%3A+The+VFX+of+Cinesite&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fdisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Ddisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Disney%E2%80%99s+John+Carter%3A+The+VFX+of+Cinesite&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fdisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Ddisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200459259/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d801946/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200459259/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d801946/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200459259/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d801946/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/SAa9hvj4MmU" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin17_998034v28.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35134" height="247" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin17_998034v28.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin17_998034v28" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Weta Digital embarked on a new quest with The Adventures of Tintin, complete with crashing waves, pirate battles and an extremely stylish wardrobe. Renee Dunlop takes us behind the scenes</p> <p>As the Blu-ray of The Adventures of Tintin goes on sale, we thought we&#8217;d share this article from <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/01/07/3d-world-152-create-fire-water-and-more/">issue 152 of 3D World magazine</a>. </p> <p>If you haven&#8217;t watched the film already, we suggest you do &#8211; The Adventures of Tintin looks like a mix of live-action and CG, which adds up to something unique on screen. It&#8217;s possible that The Adventures of Tintin missed out at the Oscars this year because of this very thing, which is a real shame as we think the film has some of the best CG we&#8217;ve ever seen. </p> <h3>Weta&#8217;s Adventures of Tintin</h3> <p>Weta Digital is delving into a new world – that of the journalist. Enter Tintin, a popular post-World War One comic strip hero who travels about with his dog, Snowy, cracking cases with a little help from his friends. Created in 1929 by the artist and writer best known as Hergé, the stellar artists of Weta, led by director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson, have brought the story to 3D animated life on the big screen. </p> <p>It took some of Weta’s best to tackle the wide array of arduous effects required to complete the film. Keith Miller, one of five VFX supervisors, was among those appointed to the task. He was in charge of roughly 340 shots.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35113" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.opener_ships1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35113" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.opener_ships1.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.opener_ships1" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">An epic sea battle required Weta Digital’s team to simulate stormy ocean waves</p></div> <p>For Miller, the big challenge was the pirate battle. “It’s such a dynamic sequence,” he says. “There are nearly 60 pirates running about, two ships that are sailing in 60-metre seas complete with lightning storms, rain, hurricane winds, fire, explosions – you name it, it’s all there.” The most difficult challenge was the water, with 60-metre waves interacting with the ships that needed to compositionally match the representations provided by the pre-viz team.</p> <p>Miller’s team approached the work from a few different angles. “First, we updated our FFT [fast Fourier transform] library, a system of generating waves using measurements collected in oceanic research,” says Miller. They also completely rewrote their library using a more up-to-date spectrum that provided the ability to incorporate the ideas of the depth of the ocean and the fetch, or the distance that wind stays at a constant velocity. “We added those new variables into the system and we were able to generate much more realistic wave scenarios for the high wind systems,” he adds. </p> <p>Weta’s FX team did quite a bit of work approximating the surface velocity from the newly generated ocean surfaces and applied those to Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) particle simulations, much of which was used for the white water simulation, breaking waves that rode on top of the ocean surface. These were pushed through Weta’s in-house 3D effects solution, Synapse, a node-based system that’s a container for solvers. In some cases, Naiad data was also incorporated into Synapse for the initial bounded simulation elements.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35116" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.pirate1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35116" height="245" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.pirate1.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.pirate1" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The battle sequence combines water, fire, wind and lightning, and featured as many as 60 pirates in combat</p></div> <p>In addition to reworking the FFT system, senior water TD Chris Horvath updated Weta’s shading model for raytraced water, using an improved model for participating media for underwater light extinction and scattering. He also made improvements to the procedural texture foam system. </p> <h4>Creating the hands</h4> <p>While Miller and his team battled with the pirate ships, Weta’s digital creature supervisor Simon Clutterbuck focused on some of the smallest of details through his modelling department. “We build the animation puppets, the deformation rigs, we do all the cloth and hair simulations, muscle dynamics, flesh dynamics – anything that has to do with the monster or character,” he says. “We interact with all the departments in the studio to produce stuff for them to use, like the puppets or the baked light, and we work closely with shots and animation.” </p> <p>The creature department work includes providing all the puppets for the animators. “Our animation puppet isn’t the thing that gets cached and ends up in the shot,” says Clutterbuck. “The animation puppets are kind of an interactive, almost real-time version of the character. They don’t have to see amazing hand deformations to pose the hand correctly, so they’re just posing [and] animating this thing that’s much lower resolution.” Clutterbuck’s Creature Department provides the animators with approximations of clothes and low-res hands and bodies that allow for faster animation. “Then the animation data is cached off of that puppet and plugged into a high-resolution creature rig, which gets cached and given to lighting,” he says. “This way there’s no requirement for interactivity in our actual deformation models.” </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35111" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_013025261.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35111" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_013025261.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.new_013025261" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A single complex rig was used as the basis for all characters’ hands</p></div> <p>It’s hardly all low-res work, though. “There’s a big focus on faces and hands in the show, so a good deal of time was focused on building a detailed hand rig,” says Clutterbuck. “We had all these incredibly close shots of Tintin’s hands. It’s a treasure hunt, so there are all these clues that lead to the treasure, and there are lots of shots where he’s inspecting things. The shots are incredibly long, so you’ll have minutes focused on their face or hands. The stability of the cloth solve, the fidelity of the hands [and] the deformation all had to be very high. It was pretty unforgiving.”</p> <p>Weta Digital’s workflow uses a generic model called Gen Man as a baseline for building humanoid characters. This starting point is used for reference, scanning and motion capturing, tailoring clothes, and even cross-referencing MRI data. Clutterbuck explains: “We produced a whole bunch of life casts in all different poses that were used to build support moulds, 36 in all, that went into the MRI machine, so the character could put his hand into a similar pose and hold it there. Then we could derive the meshes of his joints from the MRIs.” The result was a series of high-resolution joint meshes of his actual skeleton in the selected poses. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35110" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_00402825.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="The story requires characters to grip and manipulate objects" class="size-full wp-image-35110" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_00402825.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.new_00402825" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The story is a treasure hunt, so there are lots of shots where the characters have to pick things up and be able to manipulate them</p></div> <p>“The metacarpals in the wrist do all these crazy rolling motions – it’s really complex,” Clutterbuck says. “We couldn’t build that complexity into the animation puppets because it would have been prohibitive to animate with, but we also needed the correct degrees of freedom in the wrist and joints to give us the right deformations of the hand.” It took nearly five months to get the hands working the way they wanted.</p> <p>“The hand rig looks pretty amazing,” says Clutterbuck. “The hand model propagates out into the show, procedurally warped into new shapes, so we built one hand rig and it was fitted to all the characters’ hands. We have a process that was developed on Avatar to transfer the rig and deformation data onto other models.” </p> <p>Weta Digital’s model supervisor Marco Revelant was responsible for all the assets created in the model department and was involved with grooming and developing the fur system from the user side for the dog, Snowy. However, it was the clothing that both Clutterbuck and Revelant found the most challenging. The multiple layers and the way the different fabrics fell and moved presented a daunting task. </p> <h4>Folding the clothes</h4> <p>Weta Digital set up a Tintin-specific costume department that helped define the design of the clothing, offering insight into how the fabric would drape and move over a character. “The problem is,” says Revelant, “when you do digital clothing and give it to a modeller, the modeller will try to put in features like wrinkles and folds, but won’t necessarily take into account the quantity of fabric.”</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35114" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.other1_04800542SS_dist.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35114" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.other1_04800542SS_dist.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.other1_04800542SS_dist" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Care was taken with getting clothing folds to animate correctly</p></div> <p>To manage this issue, the Creature Department worked closely with modelling, providing tools that helped drape the character as they were modelling so that they could see how the fabric was behaving, rather than waiting until the Creature Department ran their simulations. Weta used NCloth in Maya, but spent a huge amount of time up-front shooting parameters and getting the topology in the models and construction correct, especially in cross-sections such as sleeves. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35124" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin8_020003215SS.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35124" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin8_020003215SS.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin8_020003215SS" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">There are eight principal characters, and several have multiple costumes. In all, there were 551 individual costumes to build for the film</p></div> <p>Several characters had multiple layers of clothing, requiring layers of geometry to simulate friction. There were eight principal characters, and several – including Tintin, Captain Haddock and Sakharine – have multiple costumes. In all, there were 551 individual costumes to build for the film. “Take the Captain,” Clutterbuck says. “He had a big woollen jacket, a woollen jumper, trousers, and socks and shoes.” Again, proper reference was key. Weta filmed a man running on a treadmill wearing a tailored suit they provided, and gathered reference on how cloth breaks across the seams, collecting data on details such as the effects of double versus single stitching. </p> <p>Weta first tried just solving the visible clothing, but found that it didn’t quite look correct. “We ended up going for full coupled solutions where everything was solved,” says Clutterbuck. “Tintin might enter with his trench coat on, then take it off and toss it onto the back of a chair, and continue the scene wearing the rest of his costume,” says Clutterbuck. “We had to handle this level of complexity where we had all these variations of costume elements and they had to solve coupled. We hadn’t really done anything that complicated before in terms of clothes.” </p> <p>Coupling affects even supporting characters such as Silk, who dresses in a formal jacket, a waistcoat and a shirt. “We didn’t solve the shirt, then put the waistcoat on, then the jacket,” says Clutterbuck. “We solved everything at the same time, so the solutions were all fully coupled. All the costume elements are plugged into one solver. Since they’re all plugged in, they all interact.”</p> <p>Weta defers everything to its render wall. The costumes were assembled as a master file that contained a costume description. During the baked simulation step that file would assemble the costume, plug it into all the solvers, bring it in, attach it to the character, then do the simulation. The result was a final sim and a series of files generated to show what Weta calls pre-files, which are pre-simulation. The individual costume assets are iterated in parallel as an ensemble of costume elements. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35130" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin14_03802770SS.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35130" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin14_03802770SS.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin14_03802770SS" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text"> “There’s a big focus on faces and hands in the show, so a good deal of time was focused on building a detailed hand rig,” says Clutterbuck</p></div> <p>The costumes took several minutes a frame to simulate, but there was no interactivity requirement because that’s all happening on the render wall and animation was working with real-time puppet versions. “So we have these two parts of every character, with the puppet which goes to animation and the creature deformation model that’s the thing the animation curves get plugged into that simulates on the wall,” says Clutterbuck. </p> <p>Weta’s flexible pipeline paid off, according to Miller. “I know a lot of facilities tend to lock down their technology, branch it off and continue developing it outside of current shows, but that’s very different from how Weta works,” he says. “It’s got pros and cons for sure, but it’s one of those things that helps us to stay at the leading edge of technology. We’re constantly throwing in new technology and updating and developing new aspects, and trying to get it pushed into production all the way through the course of the show.” </p> <h4>Setting the scene </h4> <p>The entire Tintin project was done in-house at Weta Digital, including the artwork for the environment and character studies. The translation of the environments from 2D to 3D was left to Weta’s modelling department under modelling supervisor Marco Revelant’s guidance. An internal art department was assembled to research information about the time when the film takes place. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35133" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin16_08900835.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35133" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin16_08900835.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin16_08900835" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">“Every element that was drawn in the book, we tried to find the respective real element from that period that could have been the inspiration for the Hergé drawing," explains Revelant. "Everything was checked against real period data.” </p></div> <p>“One important thing is [creator] Hergé was very careful in depicting a kind of reality that was around the 1940s,” explains Revelant. “Every element that was drawn in the book, we tried to find the respective real element from that period that could have been the inspiration for the Hergé drawing. Everything was checked against real period data.” </p> <h4>Creating the hair </h4> <p>Weta was working on Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Tintin at the same time. While the requirements for hair on Tintin weren’t anything near what they were for Apes, some of the aspects translated over. Tintin required wind effects, wet hair and a lot of development to get the hair to work coupled with the clothes. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35125" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin9_030016v405.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35125" height="246" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin9_030016v405.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin9_030016v405" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Character hair in The Adventures of Tintin has to interact with objects and the environment</p></div> <p>With the hat on, the Captain has a groom, styled so his hair doesn’t stick through the hat. When the hat is off, the hair is groomed appropriately. Sometimes the Captain put his hat on or took it off, so transitional shots with appropriate grooms were needed. The Captain’s hair ended up having a very dense particle set on the hair and collision objects with the hat, and his hair would spring up a bit during the transition. </p> <p><a href="http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/design/3dworld-magazine-back-issues/3d-world-feb-12/">Buy issue 152 of 3D World magazine to read the full article</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Tintin-Two-Disc-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B0034G4P4Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&#38;qid=1331150699&#38;sr=8-3">Buy the Blu-ray of The Adventures of Tintin via Amazon</a></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d77d052/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Weta+Digital+on+the+making+of+The+Adventures+of+Tintin&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F15%2Fweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Weta+Digital+on+the+making+of+The+Adventures+of+Tintin&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F15%2Fweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200327135/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d77d052/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200327135/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d77d052/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200327135/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d77d052/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/D4s7vJZZjr8" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/19.jpg" rel="lightbox[35032]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35091" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/19.jpg" title="19" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Find out how this ultra photorealistic film was pieced together using 3ds Max and V-Ray. Watch the animated short here too</p> <p><span id="more-35032"></span></p> <p>The Accuracy of Time is a depiction of part of the process of building a watch, more specifically the ceramic crown. Created by art director Javi Martinez, the short was made as a case study for his upcoming <a href="http://lightrendergroup.com/">CGI training roadshow TAOT2012</a>.</p> <p>The idea was to replicate a real advertisement and the entire production process behind it. The film will be used as part of the roadshow training to highlight some of specific challenges currently facing digital artists.</p> <p>The project was created using a 3ds Max and V-Ray pipeline. &#8220;The decision to use this software was simply to make a technical demonstration of the many capabilities offered by the two working together,&#8221; explains Martinez. </p> <h4>3ds Max and V-Ray: an ideal combo</h4> <p>&#8220;3ds Max allowed us to develop the short very easily using the new MASSFX to perform physical dynamics and the ceramic particles and at the same time offered great performance in the modelling and animation of objects and cameras. The reason we chose V-Ray was the quality of representation of light, versatility, simplicity to recreate materials and the optimisation of production times.&#8221;</p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/14.jpg" rel="lightbox[35032]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35092" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/14.jpg" title="14" width="580" /></a></p> <h4>More-than-reasonable render times</h4> <p>Rather amazingly, The Accuracy of Time was created using only one workstation! It just goes to show what can be achieved if you&#8217;ve got the right amount of dedication: &#8220;The short includes the processing of raw materials [to create the watch], the material injection to obtain the piece itself, then it passes through the baking stage and ends with the exposure of the product with elegance and quality,&#8221; says Martinez. &#8220;But the whole film was in fact a very simple macro CG production playing with a basic geometric model, a virtual light and virtual camera. Given that the piece was produced using a single workstation, the render times were very manageable, ranging from five to 35 minutes per frame.&#8221;</p> <h4>Playing with the look</h4> <p>It wasn&#8217;t all plain sailing, however. Due to the style and close-up nature of the short, Martinez had to work out solutions in order to achieve the correct look. &#8220;The animation treatment and lens blurs were resolved by ZD channels and working on it in post,&#8221; Martinex explains. &#8220;The animation of the camera lens can easily change the meaning of a sequence so experimenting with this technique was very attractive to me.&#8221;</p> <p>Overall, the short took Martinez approximately just under a year to complete from start to finish. &#8220;The 10-month production time was an amazing experience,&#8221; Martinez says. &#8220;But it led to a lot of sacrifice and [it was a] joy to finally get my work out to reach the community of artists in an industry which is so difficult and exquisite.&#8221;</p> <h4>Watch the new animation short:</h4> </p> <p></p> <h4>Watch The Accuracy of Time making of video:</h4> <p> <p> </p> <h4>Want more animated shorts of the same calibre?</h4> <p>If you liked this film, check out a selection of other awesome animations on our <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/">Shorts page</a></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d6f8c5d/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=New+animation+short%3A+The+Accuracy+of+Time&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F14%2Fnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=New+animation+short%3A+The+Accuracy+of+Time&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F14%2Fnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200299806/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d6f8c5d/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200299806/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d6f8c5d/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200299806/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d6f8c5d/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/HB_RZPTmu4k" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.ad_seq3.jpg" rel="lightbox[35067]"><img alt="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-35088" height="348" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.ad_seq3.jpg" title="TDW94.t_trade.ad_seq3" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Do you remember the original Transformers-style Citroën C4 spot? Five years ago it became a worldwide cult hit and we asked The Embassy’s CG team to reveal some of the ad’s technical secrets. Catch up as Transformers week continues&#8230;</p> <p>To celebrate <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/digital-tutors-releases-new-transforming-robot-tutorials/">Digital-Tutors&#8217; new Transformation training</a>, we thought we&#8217;d make an event of it and post online all things Transformery!</p> <p>We&#8217;ve already posted up two making of Transformers articles:<br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/the-making-of-transformers/">The making of Transformers</a><br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/08/the-making-of-transformers-2/">The making of Transformers 2</a></p> <p>We plan to post up a <strong>train-transforming walkthrough tutorial</strong> this week too, so remember to check back.</p> <h3>Here&#8217;s the Embassy&#8217;s making of the Citroën ‘Runner’ spot</h3> <h4>ABOUT THE ORIGINAL AD</h4> <p>Created for the launch of Citroën’s C4 range, The Embassy Visual Effects’s original 2004 ad, ‘Alive with Technology’, opens with a hand-held camera shot of a car that transforms into a robot, performs an?impromptu series of dance moves and then reverts back to vehicular form.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35068" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.orig_ad.jpg" rel="lightbox[35067]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35068" height="320" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.orig_ad.jpg" title="TDW94.t_trade.orig_ad" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The Embassy Visual Effects’s original 2004 ad, ‘Alive with Technology’, opens with a hand-held camera shot of a car that transforms into a robot, performs an?impromptu series of dance moves and then reverts back to vehicular form</p></div> <p>As well as making other VFX teams green with envy, the spot proved to have unexpected longevity. A full two years on, it was regularly appearing on TV, picking up fresh awards, and inspiring numerous spoofs and tributes, including a memorable parody replacing the C4 with a rather less glamorous Citroën 2CV and a viral for Danish bacon. The Mill even got a shot at producing a follow-up, before The Embassy itself jumped back on board for a third in the series.</p> <p>“It’s hard to say what it was about that original ad that hit people,” says studio president Winston Helgason. “Technically we did a good job, but something else struck a chord with them. While the ad has that geek factor, it’s just really fun to watch.”</p> <p>Television audiences got their first taste of vehicular dancefloor magic back in 2004. A?relative newcomer to the field of CG, Vancouver-based VFX studio The Embassy Visual Effects had already turned heads with its viral short film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1zGLx6H3f4&#38;feature=related">Tetra Vaal</a> and some impressively photoreal ads for the likes of Nike.</p> <p>But it was the Citroën ‘Alive with Technology’ ad that really put the studio on the map – and a spring in the step of CG?based car ads. Fusing perfectly believable virtual visuals, directorial flair, and some seriously cool dance moves, The Embassy created what is now regarded as a?genuine classic.</p> <h3>Watch the Citroën ‘Alive with Technology&#8217; spot</h3> <p></p> <p>Now the studio is back on board for the third spot in what is becoming an increasingly long-running campaign, and has been working hard to push the concept of a car that transforms into a robot to even greater heights.</p> <p>In contrast to the original spot, for which director Neill Blomkamp utilised a virtual camera and 3D environment constructed from photographs, the new ad’s director, Trevor Cawood, chose to undertake a live shoot in South Africa – a location chosen principally for its favourable lighting conditions. A new transforming CG vehicle was then integrated into the plates with the help of elements rebuilt in?3D to aid the creation of shadows and reflections.</p> <p>“The brief was pretty open,” says The Embassy president Winston Helgason. “The idea was to have the robot running, but other than that, it was simply ‘make it look cool’. The client did come back and ask if we could find something else for the robot to do, though, so we came up with the rail slide [which the bot performs along the restraining barrier by the side of the road].”</p> <p>Here, the studio’s 3D and compositing staff reveal just how their cybernetic star was rigged and animated to perform such a stunt. They also explore some of the shading and lighting techniques used to generate the photorealistic renders of the modified car necessary to composite it seamlessly into the background plate.</p> <p>Helgason reveals that the studio’s preferred tool for this kind of work is LightWave 3D’s own renderer, its raytracing proving particularly well suited to hard surface lighting. Dropping HDRI set data into the program and adding additional lights, the studio is able to get a scene fully lit in a matter of minutes. But ultimately, he says that the real secret of photorealism in the Citroën ads is simply attention to detail.</p> <p>“The most important thing is to understand how lighting really works, and then learn to match the way it reacts to metallic surfaces,” he says. “That, and then adding loads of extra model detail is what makes the results so effective.”</p> <h3>Watch the Citroën ‘Runner’ spot</h3> <p></p> <p><em>Click Next to read about how ILM had to rip apart the original robot design</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d689117/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=The+Embassy%3A+The+art+of+robotics&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F13%2Fthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=The+Embassy%3A+The+art+of+robotics&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F13%2Fthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200298402/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d689117/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200298402/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d689117/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200298402/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d689117/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/z_DGLpUWdbI" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" class="alignright size-full wp-image-35062" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" title="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Real-time 3D animation tool, iClone, has everything you need to set up your directorial ?debut. But is it too limited, asks Paul Champion?</p> <p>PRICE?: $200.? Upgrade from $120. ??Other editions: Standard, $80??<br /> PLATFORM?: Windows??<br /> MAIN FEATURES: <ul> <li>Real-time animation?</li> <li>In-screen motion editing and puppeteering?</li> <li>Advanced timeline editing with transition curve?</li> <li>Animate in real-time with motion-capture device??</li> </ul> <p>DEVELOPER: <a href="http://www.reallusion.com">Reallusion</a></p> <p>Converting your finished story idea into a pre-viz or polished animation often presents some daunting challenges, and selecting the right software applications to use can be a key factor in the time (and cost) spent completing it. </p> <p>iClone5 Pro offers a happy medium between high-end applications that have seemingly endless options to tweak, and frustratingly feeble, user-unfriendly low-end software. The latest version of iClone has new animation tools, is still a breeze to use and remains competitively priced.?</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35063" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.assets.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35063" height="463" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.assets.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Now you can create your own version of Pixar’s The Incredibles, in a park and on a merry-go-round!</p></div> <p>If you’re unfamiliar with iClone, it’s primarily a template-based hassle-free solution for real-time animation with plenty of bells and whistles. In terms of workflow, you’re limited to working with the rudimentary content supplied with the application, unless you’re prepared to buy additional assets via Reallusion’s Content Marketplace (which always seems to have some sort of deal on offer). </p> <p>Getting your own assets into iClone5 Pro is quick and easy, but it requires Reallusion’s 3DXchange4, which converts files from applications such as ZBrush, Photoshop, Blender, Poser, Daz Studio, Vue and Maya, and costs $80 for the Standard version. You’ll need 3DXchange4 Pro ($120) to use assets in FBX, 3DS, OBJ and SKP formats. ?</p> <p>Pre-viz users or anyone presenting a concept pitch to clients should find that the content provided is more than adequate for demonstration, where the actual look of assets is less relevant. End users, who will no doubt grow tired of the limited content provided, will be disappointed that they have to shell out for 3DXchange to import more material.?<br /> With the assets in place, it’s time to animate, and there are many new tools to help you with this.??</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35064" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.market.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35064" height="402" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.market.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Whether it’s sexy girls, gym kits or vampires you’re after, the marketplace has plenty of assets for you to buy</p></div> <h4>New features</h4> <p>?<br /> Direct Puppet lets you record your actor’s animation in real time, and if necessary lock body parts to locations. MixMoves enables seamless blending between motions. Body Motion Puppeteering enables the user to control the animation speed and direction. ?</p> <p>Simple floor contact is taken care of with Human IK Motion Editing for Actors, and allows props (which can now be animated in real time) to be held onto realistically. The Timeline has been updated so that animation curves can be varied in playback by adding curve adjustments such as Ease In and Ease Out. For physics animation there are Rigid and Soft Body options for simulation, and other uses such as game prototyping.?</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35065" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.effects.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35065" height="464" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.effects.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Effects can help to enhance your movies, but they are limited to a maximum of five within a project</p></div> <p>The premium new animation tool being touted for use with iClone5 Pro is the Mocap Device plug-in. With this you can act out your animations in real-time – the recorded mocap data is then applied to actors. </p> <p>At $140, this is a lot cheaper than buying your own professional mocap studio, although it requires you to have an Xbox 360 with Kinect. It’s also only compatible with the Pro edition. </p> <p>The plug-in is a significant add-on that falls outside the remit of this review. Judging by forum responses, however, it’s a successful product and great for anyone who wants to physically generate their own movement.</p> <p>?Other notable tools and settings, with which Reallusion is catching up with market competitors rather than introducing groundbreaking innovations, include Ambient Occlusion, which improves the quality of visual output with barely any impact on render times; post-FX tools for colour and blur, which are easy to apply; and cartoon rendering, which can be achieved with just a few clicks and some minor texture corrections. ?</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35066" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.rigid_.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35066" height="371" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.rigid_.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Rigid body simulations can pep up high-speed chases. In iClone5 Pro they are easy to deploy</p></div> <p>There’s still plenty of room for improvement in the renderer. The options are minimal and simplistic – which is part of the general charm of iClone, but it doesn’t always do justice to the end result. Multiple cameras and Picture-In-Picture features offer greater control between shots. Much-requested duplication settings enable you to instance objects with ease, and adjustable pivots, snapping and aligning tools are now possible for objects.?</p> <p>More resource-hungry improvements include higher poly counts for actors, with notable increases to head meshes, which enable more natural deformations. In practice this works far better than before, and since faces are areas that most viewers’ eyes are naturally drawn to, it’s a clearly visible improvement. However, it can still be difficult and time-consuming to tweak. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35062" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" class="size-full wp-image-35062" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" title="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The new Toon Shader is found in the Atmosphere section of the Stage tab, and can be adjusted for your project needs</p></div> <p>Cartoon character facial controls have been advanced to include exaggeration. Height Map Terrains now allow bigger landscapes, but they are limited to just five. Smart iProps have been updated for game-like interaction.</p> <p>?During testing, these new tools all worked admirably, yet iClone crashed a number of times for no apparent reason. When pushed to reasonable extremes for any shot – such as 20 actors set up with different parameters and animations applied – iClone responded well. But other times it would crash with, for example, a fairly empty scene during terrain set-up. Ordinarily, this would only be a minor annoyance, but since there’s no autosave option in the program, it becomes more ?of a frustration. </p> <p>?Hardware-wise, iClone doesn’t require an overly demanding system. Rather misleadingly, it’s listed as being 32-bit and 64-bit Windows compatible, but it’s not actually a native 64-bit release, so it won’t take advantage of any extra memory installed over 32-bit limitations. It’s rumoured that a 64-bit update will be released, although this was unconfirmed as we went to press.?</p> <p>Overall, iClone5 Pro remains an easy-to-use application, and it can be a real time-saver for pre-viz work and presentations. The learning curve isn’t too steep, and setting up shots is intuitive. For existing iClone users, it should be a no-brainer to upgrade because content from previous versions is compatible, the upgrade price is good, and the new tools (and mocap plug-in, if you choose to buy it) will enhance its usability. New users will need to assess whether they have the funds for additional content and a copy of 3DXchange. </p> <h3>VERDICT</h3> <h4>PROS</h4> <ul> <li>Simple for novices without previous animation experience?</li> <li>Easily modifiable preset models?</li> <li>Ready-made animation categories?</li> <li>Intuitive editing?</li> <li>Options for advanced animators</li> </ul> <h4>??CONS</h4> <ul> <li>Facial profiles are difficult to tweak?</li> <li>Additional content incurs extra costs</li> <li>Rendering options still limited?</li> <li>Not a true 64-bit application??</li> </ul> <p><strong>A speedy solution for pre-viz but hampered by limited content options, basic render settings, and lack of true 64-bit support</strong></p> <h4>About the author</h4> <p>?Paul Champion is the demonstrator for undergraduate and postgraduate 3D and VFX courses at the National Centre for Computer Animation, Bournemouth</p> <h3><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/02/06/win-a-copy-of-reallusions-iclone5-pro/">Win a copy of Reallusion’s iClone5 Pro</a></h3> <p>Enter our <a href="http://http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/02/06/win-a-copy-of-reallusions-iclone5-pro/">iClone5 Pro prize draw</a> for your chance to win one of four packages featuring Reallusion’s real-time animation suite, <strong>worth $1,352 in total</strong></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d5d1225/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Software+review%3A+iClone5+Pro&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F12%2Fsoftware-review-iclone5-pro%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dsoftware-review-iclone5-pro" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Software+review%3A+iClone5+Pro&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F12%2Fsoftware-review-iclone5-pro%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dsoftware-review-iclone5-pro" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129168239143/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d5d1225/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129168239143/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d5d1225/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129168239143/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d5d1225/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/FfSl8XDXlLw" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Mass_effect_3_trailer.jpg" rel="lightbox[35052]"><img alt="Mass Effect 3 trailer" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35053" height="325" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Mass_effect_3_trailer.jpg" title="Mass Effect 3 trailer" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Remember the phenomenal CG trailer that Bioware released a few weeks ago? Don&#8217;t worry if you missed it: as Mass Effect 3 goes on sale in the UK, we take a look at Bioware&#8217;s cinematic for the final installment of the massively popular RPG</p> <p>We&#8217;re so lucky that big budget games can&#8217;t be released without an accompanying cinematic teaser to go alongside the standard gameplay trailer, as the animations produced are truly stunning. </p> <p>Bioware&#8217;s Mass Effect 3 trailer is a fine example &#8211; the teaser features children, aliens and devastating lasers. The cinematic action really gets your adrenaline pumping. </p> <p>One YouTube user commented that if the video keeps going like it does, [the character you play] Shepard has only got about 30-35 minutes to take back Earth, tops, before it&#8217;s completely annihilated!</p> <h3>Watch Bioware&#8217;s Mass Effect 3 trailer online</h3> <p></p> <h3>Want to learn how Bioware created the cinematic?</h3> <p>So do we, that&#8217;s why we&#8217;ve asked Bioware to contribute a &#8216;making of&#8217; article for 3D World magazine. So look out for that in the next issue!</p> <h3>Want more like this?</h4> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/09/platige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video/">Watch Platige Image’s Witcher 2 trailer and making of video</a></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d4c5888/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Bioware%E2%80%99s+Mass+Effect+3%3A+Take+Earth+Back+trailer&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Bioware%E2%80%99s+Mass+Effect+3%3A+Take+Earth+Back+trailer&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698767040/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4c5888/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698767040/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4c5888/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698767040/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4c5888/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/NvLT8p93M8g" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-2.jpg" rel="lightbox[35045]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35047" height="244" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-2.jpg" title="Scene-2" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Find out how this new short about a fascinating sensory condition was created using a combination of Maya, After Effects and Photoshop. Watch the film here too</p> <p>Synaesthesia tells the life experience of a synaesthete; a person with a condition where two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together. Synaesthetes can experience sounds, tastes, smells, shapes, or touches in almost any combination. Synaesthesia features a character as a small boy, an adult worker and a retired man, who can see and feel shapes and depicts his different reactions to the phenomenon.</p> <p>The short was a final year project created by four students &#8211; Tien Hee, Kasumi Saito, Leo Chida and Nikko Hull &#8211; of <a href="http://www.massey.ac.nz">Massey University</a>, New Zealand. The quartet had to think of an idea to suit the brief of the school, which had a self-driven component as well as a pre-defined part. &#8220;This was basically to pick a topic and find a need or something that needs changing etc,&#8221; says Hull. &#8220;We chose Synaesthesia.&#8221;</p> <h4>Things shaped up nicely</h4> <p>In order to tackle such a complicated condition, the team spent a lot of time researching Synaesthesia and how it was going to affect their characters and set designs. &#8220;We decided during the research stage what we were going to do,&#8221; says Chida. &#8220;Each character was associated with a shape as were the environments. These were contrasting, for example, the first scene the kid was a circle, round and innocent and the environment was a triangle, sharp, scary and alert.&#8221;</p> <p>The team also used many sources of inspiration to achieve the look and style they were after. &#8220;For the environments, I looked at lots of animations, <a href="http://www.studio4c.co.jp/english/">Studio 4°C</a>, <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2825043">Team Cerf</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831888/">Tekkonkintreet</a> etc and mixed them all together to get the end result,&#8221; says Saito. &#8220;It was hard to simplify the forms to get it right. We ended up mixing all of these with our own ideas to get the style we came up with.&#8221;</p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35045]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35046" height="247" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-1.jpg" title="Scene-1" width="580" /></a></p> <h4>Added Layers</h4> <p>With set and character designs completed, the team began creating the film&#8217;s assets in Maya and UV layout tool, <a href="http://www.uvlayout.com/">Headus</a>. &#8220;This software is pretty awesome, I was really happy with how Headus sped things up,&#8221; says Chida. They also adopted a rendering technique which helped with production times.</p> <p>&#8220;The process was quite simple, which also helped in a way,&#8221; says Hull. &#8220;Each layer was kind of easy, it was just a matter of putting it all together in After Effects. We found the technique demonstrated (kind of) on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">Deviant Art</a>, I can&#8217;t remember the specific artist, but then we tried to figure it out in Maya and it worked quite well. But we didn&#8217;t choose that because of its ease, we chose it because of the style.&#8221;</p> <p>The scenes were separated to make the whole process more manageable. &#8220;The old man walking down the hall is a good example,&#8221; says Hull. &#8220;We had the walls, which were all on different render layers. The background and walls were a single layer and frame. Then anything which was moving, so the phone and the character, were on their own layers and were the only sequences. There also had to be a sequence for the shadows so they could cast on the walls. Then we had diffuse, shadows, highlight, AO and particle layers. This all went into After Effects with some lights and colour correction.&#8221;</p> <p>After two semesters worth of work, the student team completed the film and are pleased with the final result considering their prior experience in animation. &#8220;Up until the end, you have no idea what it’s going to turn out like,&#8221; says Chida. &#8220;But it was so rewarding finding out that all the effort wasn&#8217;t wasted and the film actually looked OK. I mean, some was wasted but we&#8217;re learning so it’s all good. Our degree consisted of lots of general design and even fine art so we&#8217;ve only really had about a year of animation training (in total). With this in mind, I&#8217;m pretty happy with how it turned out.&#8221;</p> <p></p> <p>Like this film? <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/">Check out the selection of other awesome animations in our shorts section</a></p> <p><em>Make sure you visit next week for more Friday Animation Fun!</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d4bec67/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+Synaesthesia&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Ffriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+Synaesthesia&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Ffriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698680485/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4bec67/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698680485/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4bec67/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698680485/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4bec67/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/_jN_z2Gm7AM" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/witcher2_09032012.jpg" rel="lightbox[35048]"><img alt="Witcher 2" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35049" height="317" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/witcher2_09032012.jpg" title="Witcher 2" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Watch the jaw-dropping animation in the trailer for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Then catch Platige Image&#8217;s &#8216;making of&#8217; video too&#8230; </p> <p>In January, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and CD Projekt RED released the epic and impactful CG intro trailer for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, produced by the award-winning animation studio, Platige Image. </p> <p>We were simply blown away when we watched this four-minute cinematic online at the start of the year. Directed by Tomek Bagi?ski and produced by Platige Image, this trailer is packed with stunning animation and effects. Watch it below.</p> <p>Now Platige Image has produced a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the trailer, from the early renders and mocap sessions to the final clip. You can also watch this three-minute video below.</p> <h4>Behind the scenes of Witcher 2</h4> <p>&#8220;The idea of the script came from CD Projekt couple years ago, right after the premiere of &#8216;The Witcher&#8217;. It was so called &#8216;soft&#8217; version and we used it as basis for the work. In spite of vast changes we made, the project went on hold for almost two years until it was brought back to life in Xbox 360 version.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;As it turned out these two years gave both parties necessary perspective. Once we started working on the script again we were able to create new, better and richer version very fast.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;What was left from the original is the ship and main characters. All the rest has been changed. For example in the first version a hornet&#8217;s nest was used in the attack. The ship was turned into chaos &#8211; all crew started running around. They looked like a group of crazy or electrocuted people. Well… we got rid of this &#8216;dance&#8217; but left the chaos and add a lot of steroids. It helped,” says director Tomek Bagi?ski.</p> <p>&#8220;It was one of the most demanding projects in Platige Image history. The script set up very high standards. As for such a short movie there were a lot of main, detailed characters, difficult face close-ups, very dynamic action full of special effects: cloth and particles simulation and hard slowmotion shots.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;The ship also became one of the main characters. First our graphic artists created a fantastic scenery and most of all great, very detailed sailing ship. Then the particles simulation team went rough with it. They created a vast interaction system covering the whole construction with milions of ice crystals and they smashed the whole thing,” adds CG Supervisor Maciek Jackiewicz.</p> <p>The team of 40 graphic designers and animators was involved in the project for couple moths.</p> <p>The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is due on on Xbox 360 on 17 April. The Windows version is shipping now.</p> <h3>Watch the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings trailer:</h3> <p></p> <h3> Watch the making-of video for the cinematic:</h3> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/the_witcher_2_cinematic">Read a longer interview with CG supervisor Maciej Jackiewicz on CGSociety</a></p> <h4>If you liked this, look out for our &#8216;making of&#8217; Mass Effect 3 cinematic, due in the next issue of 3D World</h4> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d4b9af0/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Platige+Image%E2%80%99s+Witcher+2+trailer+and+making+of+video&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Platige+Image%E2%80%99s+Witcher+2+trailer+and+making+of+video&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698762514/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4b9af0/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698762514/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4b9af0/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698762514/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4b9af0/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/b7YwnVrsgeA" width="1" />

Debra Kaufman started her high school's Tolkien Club when she was a big fan of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Though she hasn't celebrated Frodo's birthday in many years, she did get out to see The Hobbit in 48 fps. Here are her thoughts on The Hobbit in 48 fps and HFR Cinema in general.

AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 60: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis shows how to create preset groups and how to modify and save a custom preset.

With five edit suites currently running at Biscardi Creative Media, and four more on standby, Walter Biscardi and crew need the best possible performance our of their workflow and machines. Here, Walter describes the power (yes, power) of the iMac, the workhorse Adobe Premiere Pro, and some never sa

In the last part of this three part advanced text animation tutorial, Andrew Devis concludes by showing how to select the already selected text and animate each word separately such that they can be moved into any order and position to create a coherent sentence from the original body of paragraph t

In the second part of this three part advanced text animation tutorial, Andrew Devis shows how once the 'Dictionary' preset has been applied we can then create a separate 'exclusion' group to fade the remaining unselected paragraph text such that the focus remains on the selected text only - all on

In the first part of this three part advanced text animation tutorial, Andrew Devis shows how to apply and use the 'Dictionary' preset to a paragraph of text and then customise the word selection to match the words we want to use. Andrew shows how to select the words, modify the original text, chang

In this second tutorial in his occasional series on audio basics, Andrew Devis explains what bit depth is and how the right choice of bit depth can effect the accuracy of your recording. Although Andrew uses Adobe Audition CS6 the information given in this tutorial is valid for any digital audio rec

In this occasional series on audio basics by Andrew Devis, Andrew explains what audio samples are and how they can effect the accuracy of you recording. Although Andrew uses Adobe Audition CS6, the information given in this tutorial is valid for any digital audio recording software packed. Andrew al

The technology wizards of the film/TV industry have been talking about High Frame Rate cinema for a long time; indeed, Douglas Trumbull's Showscan at 60 fps presaged the current interest over 30 years ago. But it took director Peter Jackson to take the plunge for mainstream cinema, declaring he woul

Waiting for Lightning is the tragic and triumphant story of legendary skateboarder Danny Way, following him from his chaotic childhood to his early talent with a skateboard through to his many professional successes. With a combination of archival footage, interviews and skateboard action, Waiting f

<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5004" height="455" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/c4d-ps.jpg" title="c4d-ps" width="612" /></p> <p>Our Pro Shaders for Cinema 4D is now available to New and Current owners of the Pro Shaders pack.  We rebuilt each shader to work natively in Cinema 4D as a free upgrade to those who would like to use them.  Just sign in to your customer account to download, we even created an easy installer!  Enjoy.</p> <p>Previous customers will see the Cinema 4D installer under the Pro Shaders product.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ae_fr.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4989" height="180" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ae_fr.jpg" title="ae_fr" width="612" /></a></p> <p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Make your features come true, <a href="https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform" target="_blank">File a Feature Request with ADOBE!</a><br /> <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ae_fr.jpg"><br /> </a>Our buddy Todd Kopriva at Adobe just posted an <a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2012/12/top-feature-requests-for-after-effects-in-2012.html" target="_blank">article</a> outlining top feature requests from the After Effects community in 2012 and while you browse the<a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2012/12/top-feature-requests-for-after-effects-in-2012.html" target="_blank"> comprehensive list,</a> do you see your top features there?</p> <p><strong>Here are a few of my top features that should be on that list!</strong></p> <p><strong>Improve Expressions Speed:<br /> </strong>As I outlined in <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2010/08/should-adobe-improve-expressions/" target="_blank">2010</a>, expression run-time should be much faster! This feature is still high on my list because expressions are very powerful but can weigh down a project if they get too complex. I notice major speed hits when using complex expression like those generated from using Sure Target 2! <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/sure_target_2/" target="_blank">http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/sure_target_2/</a></p> <p>POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Red Bull!</p> <p><strong>Duplicate Layer Instances:<br /> </strong>The option to make a copy of a layer with effects like Particular or Element 3D and have the effects sync throughout the project when edited. So if you change one instance, they will all change, but at anytime you can disconnect it from the group and customize individually. Basically when you repeat certain effects it can be cumbersome to go through the entire project and update the effects for each copy. This would save time and avoid forgetting about a rogue copy.</p> <p>POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Copy option called &#8220;Copy as Instance&#8221; then when you paste it, the parameters have a highlight color so that you know it is connected to other parameters. Then maybe an icon next to the effect name that can be clicked to disconnect an instance and make it independent.</p> <p><strong>Must we pre-compose everything!?<br /> </strong>It would be great if pre-composing wasn&#8217;t required every time you want to reference a layer from a plug-in.  We all have been there, you want a plug-in to use a layer but it won&#8217;t work until you pre-compose or flatten that layers effects. So you pre-compose it even though you really don&#8217;t want to! This problem is even worse when you have 3D layers, because then you need to copy the camera into the pre-comp as well and keep updating it every time you want to change the camera.</p> <p>POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Have a layer switch like the 3d or motion blur switch on the layer that is called &#8220;Render First&#8221; or &#8220;mimic precomposing&#8221;. This way you can mimic pre-composing when you need to.</p> <p><strong>Render Output in folder:<br /> </strong>Having just completed graphics for a trailer that needed to be translated into 8 languages, it would be nice if I didn&#8217;t have to create a folder for every single output sequence.  It would be nice if there was an output setting to &#8220;Place in Folder&#8221; that could be saved into a template. Then whatever you name the files will be the name of the folder. Saving precious minutes!!!</p> <p>POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Output option check-box &#8221;Place in folder&#8221;. I know there are scripts for this but C&#8217;mon!</p> <p><strong>Improved Light options:<br /> </strong>AE lights could use some upgrading now that 3D is becoming more common. Here are a few suggestions:</p> <p>- Controllable Light range. Not just falloff but cutoff.<br /> - Ambient Light with distance range. Instead of ambient light everywhere, it would be cool to have a radial range for things to illuminate objects evenly without the specularity from a point light.<br /> - Better Light icons and representation in the viewer<br /> - Exclude specific layers from Lights. Maybe.</p> <p><strong>Bonus Feature:</strong> Kill shape layers! Well at least disconnect them from the mask tool.</p> <p>What are your top feature requests for After Effects?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/presets_top_secret.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-4981" height="300" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/of_133.jpg" title="of_133" width="612" /></a></p> <p>Optical Flares 1.3.3 has been released along with a free bonus pack of presets.  As some of you may know we are in development on Optical Flare 2.0 and we were able to fix some bugs and we wanted to make these fixes available now!</p> <p>The bug fixes include OpenGL fixes, Quadro Crashses on OSX and speed improvements.</p> <p><a href="https://www.videocopilot.net/products/opticalflares/update/" target="_blank">Download Optical Flares Update</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Conspiracy_Presets.zip" target="_blank">Download Free Conspiracy Presets</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/presets_top_secret.jpg" target="_blank">View Screen Shots of new Presets</a></p> <p><strong>LIMITED TIME CYBER SALE:</strong><br /> Remember we are currently having a sale for 25% off all Video Copilot Products, don&#8217;t miss it!<br /> <a href="https://www.videocopilot.net/sales/cybersale2012/" target="_blank">See Coupon information</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/pov_scopes_web1.mov" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4969" height="1018" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/scopes.jpg" title="scopes" width="612" /></a></p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4970" height="502" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/lens_textures.jpg" title="lens_textures" width="612" /></p> <p>Wow, this post is long! In this new tutorial we&#8217;ll take a look at creating various simulated scenes such as a Camera POV, sniper scope and even night vision. The tutorial also includes a project with 13 templates ready to mix and match plus 9 REAL lens textures to build your own.</p> <p>And yes some of the templates include chromatic aberration using the channel blur.</p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/scopes/" target="_blank">Watch Tutorial</a><br /> <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/pov_scopes_web1.mov" target="_blank">See Sample FX</a></p> <p><a href="http://video9.videocopilot.net/efc5e19e65fe9ca2cbd9818d45ac92a1/videotutorials/projects/135.zip" target="_blank">Download Project Files</a></p>

<p></p> <p>After a little bit of work, I discovered an experimental technique for generating Image Based Lighting with Element 3D!</p> <p>So what is image Based Lighting? Basically is when you use an environment map (or HDRI) to simulate the lighting in a 3D scene without adding any individual lights. The specular highlights and overall illumination is generated from the environment automatically. This is a common technique for dedicated 3D programs for high-end Visual Effects work so they can match the practical lighting as accurately as possible.</p> <p>This technique uses 2 additional copies of the Element 3D plug-in stacked on top of each other to generate the lighting but you can also add additional lights to your scene as well.</p> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/53402935" target="_blank">Watch Tutorial on Vimeo</a><br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7CawxPjDbI&amp;feature=channel&amp;list=UL" target="_blank">Watch Tutorial on Youtube</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/help/element/tutorial/basic/image_based_lighting/">Watch on Video Copilot</a></p> <p>Apologies for the raspy voice, getting over a lingering cold&#8230;</p> <p>TIP: You can import the environment maps from Element too!<br /> Documents\VideoCopilot\Materials\Environment</p>

<p></p> <p></p> <p>Who doesn&#8217;t love a good VFX reel? I sure do. Being able to see what went into some of these amazing shots makes me appreciate the long hours of every vfx artist and gives some insight as to how the shots were conceived.</p> <p>And for those who aspire to do amazing shots like these just remember these shots were not created overnight.  One layer at a time&#8230;</p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/skull_fire_web.mov" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4914" height="679" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/hw.jpg" title="hw" width="612" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/coming_soon_lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="326" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/halloween_sm.jpg" title="halloween_sm" width="612" /></a></p> <p>We may not be changing our name to Video Kill-Pilot but today we are releasing a free Halloween Model pack with 13 spook-tastic models! &#8220;Spook-tastic&#8221;? &#8230;  What am I talking about?</p> <p>These models are ready to use with <a href="https://www.videocopilot.net/products/element/" target="_blank">Element 3D</a> inside of After Effects or import the OBJ files into your favorite 3D program, the texture files are universal too.</p> <p><strong>UPDATED:</strong> Fixed Skull model bug and UV&#8217;s in C4D.</p> <p><a href="http://videocopilot.s3.amazonaws.com/Halloween_Pack1.1.zip" target="_blank">Download Halloween Pack and Experiment now!</a></p> <p>Now&#8230; why are we doing a lot of 3D stuff? Is Video Copilot Changing? Should I investigate that strange sound outside near that trail of blood?</p> <p>I would say that Video Copilot is evolving along with the industry to keep pace with the ambitious demands of modern advertising and film.  More and more we see movies and commercials that use elaborate 3D animation that require a dedicated 3D application.</p> <p>So we came up with a plug-in called <a href="https://www.videocopilot.net/products/element/" target="_blank">Element 3D</a> that bridges that gap between After Effects and a full 3D program. It offers many great capabilities of a traditional 3D program and majorly expands the capability of your favorite software After Effects.  This way the skills that you have learned over the past few years can continue to grow with the plug-in&#8217;s new capabilities.</p> <p>YES we earn money by selling our Plug-ins and that is the main source for keeping the website running and our 10+ employees. But Element 3D truly offers capabilities that were simply not available before. Like realtime 3D models in After Effects with all of the advanced features like Depth of Field and Ambient Occlusion to name a few. I can&#8217;t even count how many tutorials I&#8217;ve created in the past dedicated to making things LOOK 3D-ish&#8230;</p> <p>We also get people telling us that we could have charged much more for the plug-in but we wanted to make it as affordable as possible.  Of course, we will continue to do traditional compositing tutorials like before but we also want to add more 3D stuff to the candy bowl.</p> <p>Stuff like the Airplane from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc_yO28NHtk&amp;feature=plcp" target="_blank">Mid-Air Emergency video</a> is actually easy to do with Element 3D but might otherwise be difficult with a dedicated 3D program. I even used Element 3D to create the recent <a href="https://vimeo.com/40926575" target="_blank">Fringe Intro</a> for FOX and the animated vegetation in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJiabcpLvJM" target="_blank">REVOLUTION</a> intro on NBC. So when you think about all the small things that are possible with Element 3D, it&#8217;s actually kinda SCARY.</p> <p>Happy Halloween and enjoy that Candy Corn!</p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/coming_soon_lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4907" height="326" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/halloween_sm.jpg" title="halloween_sm" width="612" /></a></p> <p>Something we&#8217;ve been working on&#8230; A Free Halloween 3D model Pack that works with most popular 3D programs and <a href="https://www.videocopilot.net/products/element/">Element 3D</a>!  Stay Tuned or Die!</p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/coming_soon_lg.jpg" target="_blank">Larger Sample Image rendered with 3D max!</a></p>

<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3922" height="575" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/matte.jpg" title="matte" width="612" /></p> <p>The <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2012/05/matte-painting-challenge-alien-landscape/">matte painting challenge</a> is going well. Today I&#8217;m going to start looking through all of the matte paintings and find a few to use for the different shots in the sequence. Once we have a few that work, I&#8217;ll start comping in the background and finishing the rest of the shots. Keep up the great work, I think we&#8217;ll definitely do more of these in the future! Maybe the next one will be a matte painting in the future&#8230; Yes!!</p> <p>Keep going, the challenge ends June 15th!</p>

<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3914" height="515" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/vs.jpg" title="vs" width="612" /></p> <p>Today we updated our website with a slightly new look and layout. Our goal was to focus the content of the site and make it easy to see the stuff you want. We are also releasing a few products this year and we spent some time rebuilding our customer download system to make downloading products faster and easier. The new account system keeps track of your products so you can download anytime, anywhere. News about those products will be forthcoming soon but we need to get all the systems in place first. Stand by as we tweak the site and get the bugs out.</p> <p>My favorite change is probably the wider blog space so the images and video can really stand out!</p>