motion+mini1 : Scott Valentine: Using Repousse and 3D in Photoshop CS5 Extended

Join author Scott Valentine as he demonstrates how to create a realistic 3D theater marquee using the new Repousse and 3D tools in Photoshop CS5 Extended. Learn how to convert text into a 3D object and composite it into an image using lighting and cameras.

Scott Valentine is an award-winning experimental photographer and Photoshop finger-painter. Recently, he has been adding 3D to his experiments, hoping to get other photographers interested in the amazing flexibility this tool offers.

Join us for motion+connect!

Concept Vehicle Design in 2D and 3D Using Sketchbook, Maya and Mudbox

Marcel de Jong is a visionary when it comes to his concept vehicle designs. His inspired designs simply state, ‘what if?’ and ‘why not?’ From his ‘Maasai’ motorcycle that Batman would drool over, to his ‘futuristic’ bomber that looks like…well, not like any plane we’ve ever seen, you’ll have the opportunity to take a peak at how Marcel creates his magic.

In this motion+connect session, he’ll walk you through a simplified version of his workflow process in creating these amazing concept vehicles – from sketch to matte painting to render – using Sketchbook, Maya and Mudbox.

Beginning with Sketchbook, we’ll take a look at its functionality that accommodates storyboarding as well as the initial design process when laying out early vehicle concepts.

Next, Marcel will demo some basic exercises he uses to build and lay out the base model in Maya that then gets exported for detailing and texture paint in Mudbox.

Finally, all data will end up in Maya for animation setup or final rendering.

Along the way, we’ll get a healthy dose of inspiration from witnessing Marcel’s genius.

Marcel is an award-winning concept designer, a highly regarded digital effects consultant for clients like DreamWorks, Digital Domain, Pixar, and Sony Pictures Imageworks, and a favorite speaker at motion events. His feature film credits and production experience include Inspector Gadget, Sphere, Mortal Kombat, Armageddon, and Batman Returns. His work has been widely published in an array of publications including, ID Magazine, Popular Mechanics, CGW and Innovation. He is co-founder of Gnomon School of Visual Effects and is currently a Senior Solution Engineer at Autodesk Media and Entertainment Division.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

online:
time: 7:30 – 9:00 PM {MST | UTC-7}
url: http://experts.na3.acrobat.com/motionconnect/
user name: your real name (i.e., anna mae). This is required to be eligible to win prizes.
password: not required

in ABQ:
time: 7:00 – 9:00 PM

UNM ARTS Lab

131 Pine St NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106

overview:
7:30-8:20 PM: Concept Vehicle Design in 2D and 3D
8:20-8:30 PM: Q&A
8:30-8:40 PM: Managing Fonts for Motion Graphics
8:40-8:50 PM: Beauty Box: Skin Retouching in After Effects and FCP
8:50-8:55 PM: reels@motion
8:55-9:00 PM: software giveaways
*all times are MST | UTC-7

RSVP to be eligible for software giveaways. Must be present (in person OR online) to win.

Fans of film title design are sure to have seen many of the projects Peng has worked on. Recent work includes Warner Bros.’ Watchmen, Disney’s Race to Witch Mountain and DreamWorks’ The Soloist.

Peng is the Art Director for yU+co. Established by Garson Yu in 1998, yU+co. has designed film titles for more than 100 feature films distributed by Hollywood motion picture studios, working with directors such as Ang Lee, Zack Snyder, Steven Spielberg, Tony and Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone and Spike Lee.

Peng has also designed television movie titles and show opens for the major networks such as ABC, HBO, and Showtime. For the fourth year in a row, yU+co. received an Emmy nomination for Main Title Design for HBO’s TV movie, Bernard and Doris. Other nominations include ABC’s Ugly Betty, Syfy Channel’s The Triangle and ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

In 2005, yU+co. formed a Hong Kong office for motion graphics work and launched yU+co.[lab] to focus on multimedia interactive design. Recent projects include an interactive trade show exhibit for China Mobile, a technology demo center for Intel, and work for the upcoming 2010 World’s Fair in Shanghai.

“There’s been a lot of change at yU+co. over the past ten years,” said Peng. “A lot of expansion. We’ve evolved into being a full-service motion graphics and digital media design production company. But we’re not a ‘traditional’ motion graphics studio. We serve as a visual design and effects production company for feature films and video games.”

yU+co.’s venture into the video game arena has quickly taken off, designing and producing projects for 3 of the top 5 game developers. For Capcom’s recently released Resident Evil 5, yU+co. designed and directed over 60 minutes of cinematics for this highly successful game franchise. Other recent gaming work includes trailers for the Ubisoft games Tom Clancy’s EndWar, Tom Clancy’s HAWX and Vivendi’s Spyro.

A graduate of Art Center College of Design, with a BFA in Illustration, Peng went on to get her Masters in Design from CalArts. She is a board member of LACE – Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, and is a member of AIGA, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Most recently, Peng and the team at yU+co. have taken center stage for their work on Lakeshore Entertainment/Lionsgate’s futuristic thriller Gamer, in theaters September 4th. Gamer is a high-concept action thriller set in a near future when gaming and entertainment have evolved into a terrifying new hybrid. yU+co. designed story-driven motion graphics applied as visual effects to create the visual look of the entire film.

motion09 welcomes Synderela Peng to the stage!

speaking at motion09
Synderela Peng will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

Brad currently works as the lead animator and technical director of the Motion and Graphics Department at Boeing-SVS where he leads a team of animators to create fully 3D scenario based animations as well as still rendered product visualizations.

Was there anything in particular that sparked your imagination as a kid?

Most of my creative spark came from the normal influences on a late 20th century male child; cartoons, movies and video games. I used to love squiggles and art lessons in grade school because I was able to draw, color and actually make something artistic. I can remember sitting down with a friend to come up with our own Mega Man game villain designs and drawing sports logos, power rangers and ninja turtles to no end. It was a lot of fun.

For a lot of kids, they obsessively draw a particular thing over and over – from horses to robots…and everything in between. Was this true for you?

I don’t know if there was any one thing I obsessively drew like characters or environments or anything. I mostly just drew something when I felt inspired or when there was a contest among friends or classmates. I did seem to have a weird obsession for a season with football helmets. I remember drawing every team’s helmet and their logo a few times. Might have been a bit of a young graphic designer in me there.

What was your impetus for getting into 3D and motion graphics?

As a child I always loved movies and animated cartoon shows. Even more then watching them I always thought it would be the best possible job in the world to become an animator for Disney or work in visual effects for a living. I can remember defiantly staying up far to late at night to catch re-runs of Movie Magic on the Discovery Channel completely glued to the TV as they described things that happen behind the scenes. Even now I am often more excited to see the “Making of” features of a movie then the actual movie itself. The shear amount of times I have watched every appendix disc of the extended Lord of the Rings Trilogy DVD’s is embarrassing really. It was only natural that I end up finding a love for 3D and motion graphics and am lucky enough to actually be doing it for a living.

Did you have any formal training?

My first foray into the world of 3D graphics was with Bryce 3D when I was in 9th grade. A delightfully painful program that allowed me to create landscapes and reflective spheres to wet my appetite for graphics. While being a limiting program for animation and modeling it gave me a brief but exciting introduction to 3D. As a freshmen at UNM I stumbled across the CGI and Animation course they offered. At the time I did not know there were any classes like that available. I was so excited about it I instantly switched my major to computer science and enrolled in the class the next semester because I heard it was an upper division computer science course. It was in that class that I was introduced to Maya and began my 5 semesters of that course utilizing the machines and software to learn and explore the vast world of 3D. It turned out that I didn’t have to be a CS student to do the class so I switched to Studio Art in my sophomore year and finally found my grounding as an art student. I owe a lot of my training to my internship with Boeing while I was an undergrad. At the time I worked under the supervision of Jim Van Allen who currently works for Industrial Light and Magic. He is really one of the most innovative, creative and driven CG artists I know. Working with him on projects and learning the nuances of CG production whether it is 2D or 3D really propelled me beyond where I could bring myself at the time. Lastly I cannot forget the wonderful community of CG artists across the world that are so eager to share their knowledge and assistance to even the most introductory students. The amount of knowledge I have gained through online articles, forums, tutorials and critique sessions has been a priceless entity to my education. Thanks everyone! You rock!

Do you find that your training as a studio artist influences your work?

I have to admit, there were times I was frustrated taking studio art and art history courses during my undergrad because all I wanted to do was play in Maya. However, my drive to earn a degree and understanding that even though I didn’t see a direct connection between courses like “Early 20th Century African American Art” and visual effects, it’s influence on me and my experiences would be an overall benefit to my career. Looking back on my education now I am really thankful for all of the courses I took in traditional art creation and art history. They have helped me to see more possibilities of depth and meaning in art today and have elevated the quality of my work more than anything else could. There is so much more to film making, animation, motion graphics and graphic design than simply hitting the record button on the camera or slapping some shaders on a model and rendering it. I consider myself a life-long learner and find that I have more of an interest in learning traditional methods and history even now that I am working in the industry.

Are there any individuals or companies that influence your work?

That is a very hard question to answer in too specific a manner as I consider everything I see and hear as something that influences my work. I have always been inspired by the genius storytellers and production teams at Pixar. The way they meticulously dissect every minute detail in order to ensure that nothing is done without purpose really inspires me to do the same for myself. In terms of visual effects I love to see the innovation that comes out of ILM, Weta, Sony, Digital Domain, Framestore, etc. I am always fascinated to see how they do the things they do. Some of my favorite commercial spots have been created or assisted by The MILL and the Digital Kitchen. I am also highly inspired by great film directors and DPs like Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, M. Knight Shyamalan. As you can see I find inspiration in a lot of places which I think is the way to do it because there is so much creativity to be found all over the place. You simply have to look and listen to find it.

You do both 3D and motion graphics. Do you prefer one over the other?

I have a bit of ADD going on when it comes to graphics. I definitely have a strong tendency toward 3D, but I find a lot of enjoyment and passion from extending myself to the motion graphics, graphic design and web design arenas. I find if I spend too much time on one specific thing I have a strong pull to learn something new, or work on something completely different. My interest in motion graphics really stems as an extension of my 3D knowledge rather than it as something different. It started as I became more comfortable with the concept of compositing using After Effects. The more I learned After Effects, the more I saw it as an extension of 3D. Some of the most inspiring 3D pieces I have seen involve a great amount of motion graphics and almost all of the motion graphics I enjoy involves 3D or at least 2.5D. I find that my knowledge in all of these fields in computer graphics expands my envelope in the others. This includes computer programming and computer networking.

You currently work for Boeing. What’s it like working on military scenario work?

Much of the work I do on the scenario based animations is not that different than any other 3D production. It still involves a planning of the story and mood as well as the usual modeling, animation, lighting rendering, editing processes. One of the interesting things about some of the work I do for Boeing is that at times a piece of hardware or an engineer’s design becomes the “star” of the show rather than a character. I have found it really extends my understanding of cinematography, timing and framing to create shots that are interesting even though there is no character mood or development to back it. Another thing that is interesting is that I often work with and for people that are more technically minded then artistically. While this creates some problems and challenges I have found that it makes me really understand exactly what it is that I am doing in order to explain it very clearly and concisely. Throughout that process I not only learn far more about what’s going on, but I have a much greater understanding of how to control what I do in order to get the exact look and effect I am going for.

Do you find that you are able to push yourself creatively in that environment?

Most of the direction of how to tell the story we are trying to tell is given to me. While this seems like the biggest blank canvas one could be offered, the projects tend to have some repetitive limitations. Since each project’s story can be told much like the others it is a creative challenge to present similar ideas in completely different ways. Much like a painter will depict the same person in different poses, environments and lighting to change the result of the piece. An interesting affect of working in aerospace is that my customers and audience often do not have a clue as to what or how I do what I do. As such the only thing they have to compare the work I do to is the productions they see on TV and at the movies. As you can imagine this puts some pressure on our small group to produce work that is on par with the top studios in the world within budgets and timelines that are even less realistic for us. A lot of the creativity for our productions is in creating processes, workflows and solutions that are fast and quick to implement, but still produce results that are competitive.

What kind of creative projects do you work on outside of work?

When it comes to 3D, a lot of my personal work usually involves R&D tests for things I would like to learn to enhance my work or some effect that will be needed for the next project. I like to create mock scenarios where I would need to produce some effect or look and then work to solve that problem so that when it becomes required it will be a lot easier to implement. Through my company, Swardson Studios, I also do a number of contract based projects. Whether they are in graphic design, web design, motion graphics or 3D animation really just depends on what comes up. I enjoy working in all of these fields and find that the knowledge and time I put into one will often push my abilities in the others just the same. Could be called the DaVinci effect I guess.

You also teach 3D animation at the University of New Mexico. What is the number one thing you teach your students to prepare for the ‘real world’?

If I could instill one thing in my students to prepare them for the real world is to NEVER STOP LEARNING. In this industry constant learning is something that is not only advantageous but is required to stay competitive and employable. Faster computers are constantly being developed and software is being designed to utilize those computers to the limit almost as fast. With this new software and their processes and abilities comes an ever increasing learning curve that fresh young minds are picking up faster and earlier than ever. If I were to be able to instill two things, the second would be to NEVER SETTLE. You may not get to where you want to be immediately but persistence and drive is the key to get there. Always push yourself farther than you think is possible, faster than you think is needed and more than you think is required.

Do you have plans for where you want to take your creative skills in the future?

I have been working a lot more with traditional filming techniques recently and think it would be great to try and push my abilities within this medium to produce some live action short films. There is a simple beauty to shooting something in real life and not having to worry about the technical hurdles of 3D animation. Working in both production and education simultaneously has given me the unique insight into the inseparable link between the two. Finding new and innovative ways to bring education to production artists and production experience to students is something I hope to explore and implement over the coming years.

speaking at motion09
Brad Swardson will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

Rod Basham is the VFX supervisor at the Los Angeles offices of Imaginary Forces – an award winning visual effects firm with a reel that includes some of film’s most impressive work including Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Pink Panther 2, Ray, Definitely Maybe and Charlotte’s Web to name a few.

Rod has worked on numerous feature film main title sequences including Spiderman, My Sister’s Keeper, The Pink Panther 2, In the Bedroom, The Mummy 2 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. His commercial work includes spots for Microsoft, Pontiac, Nike, Lexus, Spike, and Infiniti.

As a lead Flame artist and designer, he’s contributed feature film content for an impressive list of titles, including Terminator Salvation, Blade 3, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Titus, and Steve Spielberg’s Minority Report. He was also the lead flame artist on live theatrical content for the Wynn Hotel and Casino’s Lake of Dreams in Las Vegas and Julie Taymor’s Grendel Opera.

One of Rod’s recent projects was for Terminator Salvation (view motion.tv article). The piece was entitled “Machine Vision”. In this project, their challenge was to conceptualize how the Terminator robots would see the world. Imaginary Forces broke down the visual spectrum to design Machine Vision, developing the language of these special effects sequences. Using new tools for IF, such as depth cameras that breaks down footage into data point 3-D imaging, Machine Vision creates a terrifying new take on these killer robots.

“We had to figure out how to take this depth information and map these interesting point clouds under there and supplement these with the interface graphics. I think Jeremy Cox (lead animator/designer) approached it very cleanly and in a fresh way but drawing upon what was in the other films. The red wash is pretty much a trademark of machine vision type shots, but we took it in a slightly different direction so it wasn’t the expected optical red wash that people have seen. We made it different for different machines too,” said Basham.

Imaginary Forces also created the main titles for Terminator Salvation.

“A lot of the inspiration for the titles came from the machine vision work and from what we were already working on. The titles themselves are big, iconic, heavy pieces that fit into the score that Danny Elfman did. We did our best to work in pixel crawls and glitches to match the other stuff we were doing,” explained Basham.

Rod has also been involved in a number of architectural and experience design projects including Design and the Elastic Mind featured at MOMA . Independently, Rod directed his first music video, which was featured in Resfest in 2004.

Basham will be presenting several sessions this year at motion09, and is one of the selected panelists for The Art of VFX Supervision.

motion09 welcomes Rod Basham to the stage!

speaking at motion09
Rod Basham will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

motion

the show

From J.J. Abrams (”Lost“), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the team behind “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible III” and “Alias,” comes the new hit series Fringe. First premiered in the United States on September 9, 2008 on FOX, Fringe explores the blurring line between the possible and the impossible – providing viewers with a thrilling and terrifying ride.

The series follows an FBI Fringe Division team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox “fringe” science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate “the Pattern”, a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences which are happening all over the world. The show has been described as a cross between The X-Files, Altered States, The Twilight Zone, and Dark Angel.

the project

Fringe has been one of Zoic’s best projects this season, and happens to be one of Orloff’s favorites. “It’s been a good one for us this season, we got to do a lot of different types of stuff,” said Orloff. “The pilot was really successful – and  won the VES (Visual Effects Society) award.

Orloff and his team played a key role on the VFX for the season pilot. From creature work to what Zoic terms ‘digital prosthetics’ – the art of enhancing what would normally be done with prosthetic makeup. “We did a parasite in a human body, we did old age, teeth replacement, a lot of tracking of highly integrated 3D elements with real people and real makeup effects, which is what we did in the pilot for the invisible John stuff, which was really challenging.,” said Orloff in an interview with SciFi Scoop.

the payoff

Zoic’s efforts on Fringe have paid off. The 7th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards were held February 21st, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program went to Andrew Orloff, Kevin Blank, Jay Worth, and Barbara Genicoff.

Then on July 16, 2009 it was more good news for Zoic. The 2009 Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced. Fringe was nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects.

Fringe fans are hooked. Fortunately for us, FOX knows it. The series has been renewed for a second season. Season 2 will premiere Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 9:00 PM.

kudos!

motion congratulates Andrew Orloff and the Zoic team on their Emmy award nomination!

speaking at motion09
Andrew Orloff will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

motion{u} welcomes Alex Lindsay, founder of the Pixel Corps. Alex has been involved in computer graphics and computer animation for nearly 20 years. He spent several years on the production of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (at JAK Films and then at Industrial Light and Magic). Alex also hosts and produces This Week in Media, a weekly podcast produced by Pixel Corps and is a regular guest on the This Week in Tech podcast. He also produces MacBreak, a video podcast shot in 1080p using a Sony CineAlta.

Those of you who have participated in one of Alex’s hands-on sessions in the past, know that they are simply…amazing. Take advantage of this opportunity to improve your skills at this year’s motion{u}.

motion{u} takes place Saturday, October 10, 2009 – the day before the motion09 kickoff. Alex’s full-day, hands-on session is limited to 15 people – which means if you are even thinking about improving your greenscreen and digital sets skills – you should sign up quickly!

The cost for this training is only $249. Groups of three or more from the same organization can attend for $229 each (please contact us at for details). In September, motion{u} attendees will receive a list of suggested equipment and software to bring to this class.

It’s time! Starting this week on motionupdate we will be introducing the rock-stars of motion09. In addition to your favorite motion speakers, we will be announcing this year’s special guests.

First, let’s introduce the motion favorites:

- the authorities on After Effects, Chris and Trish Meyer motion.tv article 1
– the extremely talented director, Jamie Caliri {title design: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, United States of Tara, Heart} motion.tv article 1 | motion.tv article 2 | motion.tv article 3
– visionary screen designer, Mark Coleran {The Bourne Ultimatum, Mission Impossible 3, Mr. and Mrs. Smith} motion.tv article 1
- VFX mastermind, Alex Lindsay {Pixel Corps, ILM}
– animator extraordinaire, Dan Haskett {Disney}
– the human drawing machine – animator/director Phil Nibbelink {The Fox and the Hound, Casper, Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss}
– motion graphics expert Tony Romain {The Apprentice, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, Don’t Forget the Lyrics}
– animation actor and choreographer, Barbara Geary
– and last but not least, the amazing animator Stanton Cruse {Cartoon Network, ABC Family, Nicktoons}

Each week, we will be announcing a new motion09 special guest. We’re very excited about the amazing talent that’s going to be part of motion this year. We believe you’ll be amazed as well. Now, to announce this week’s rock-star of motion09… drum roll please…

07.30 – Andrew Orloff, Creative Director and VFX Supervisor at Zoic Studios. Check it out >

08.06 – Patrick McDonough, Creative Director and Founder of  PMcD Design. Check it out >

motion

Sci-Fi and VFX fans instantly recognize Orloff’s name as the genius who does his creative magic each week on J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi series, Fringe. From the translucent John Scott, to the jaw-dropping pilot, the butterfly attack, or Porciman – it’s Orloff’s creative mind at work.

Orloff is the Creative Director and Visual Effects Supervisor for Zoic Studios – an award winning visual effects firm with a reel that includes some of television’s most impressive series including Fringe, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica, Jericho, and Firefly to name a few. Andrew’s television credits include HBO’s True Blood, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and the highly anticipated new series “V”.

Orloff established Zoic’s stage and has directed hundreds of motion control shots and other specialty sequences. He also launched the company’s successful animation division and contributed to such high-end projects as the design and creation of a 360-degree experience for EA, the innovative Fox Bot campaign for Fox Sports and the Sprint Heroes: Destiny web series.

A graduate of UCLA’s school of Theatre, Film and Television, Orloff is also on the Advisory Board at Gnomon School of Visual Effects and has been a featured speaker at various conferences and industry events.

Most recently, Orloff and Zoic have taken center stage for their work on Fringe – winning a VES (Visual Effects Society) award for ‘Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program’. And it even gets better. Last week, the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced, and the Fringe has been nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects.

motion09 welcomes Andrew Orloff to the stage!

speaking at motion09
Andrew Orloff will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv