Tippett Studio: Hogsqueal Development Reel (The Spiderwick Chronicles)

Making of CANAL Plus “L’EXPÉRIENCE CUBE S” by Mathematic

Very nice commercial from Paris based studio Mathematic

Making of CANAL Plus “L’EXPÉRIENCE CUBE S”


CANAL Plus 60s “L’EXPÉRIENCE CUBE S”

Edge of Tomorrow - Creating the Mimics

The Mimic was a beast to animate. Toughest creature I have ever animated. Every shot was unique and presented its own set of challenges. The tentacles had an impressive about of dexterity and detail. The vid shows some examples of the scaling, twisting, growing flexibility of the rig. Doesn't mention the 'hair' tentacles on the head though. We had a combination of animation and animation simulation controls for those.

Interview with Framestore Animation Supervisor Max Solomon (FMX 2014)

Great interview with Max Solomon who was one of my animation supervisors on Gravity. I miss that Framestore crew!

How To Walk Like an Ape: Motion Capture and Animation

// Andy Serkis interview: 'Audiences are moved by acting, not effects'

“Two things have to be understood: the authorship of a performance happens on set with a director and other actors in a very conventional live action sense. The animation process is what happens afterwards, and the skill and artistry and the brilliant work the animators do in interpolating that performance and manifesting it on screen is an art form which is unparalleled.” Then, almost defiantly, he adds: “Acting is acting and visual effects are visual effects and it’s a marriage, but the authorship of performance - everything you watch on screen that you feel and think about a character - comes from the actor.”



// Andy Serkis Vs. Visual Effects Animators: The Wrong Fight For Both Sides

"And one more thing for vfx artists: You too should stop bickering over who is the author of the performance and work with Andy Serkis — or Zoe Saldana or Jamie Bell or Ray Winstone — to get awards, even if it’s a special achievement award made up for the occasion, for a performance capture role. Because people like winning awards, and helping an actor win an award will make you more desirable for the next film that puts a big actor in a performance capture suit.

 So what if nobody says your name from the podium? At least you’ll have have a great story for bartenders and reporters."


// Where Does Andy Serkis End & Animation Begin?

“It’s a tough question, because obviously Andy gives you the heart and soul of the performance, but we also come at it with creating what you see on top of it. So there’s this hybrid and I think that the Academy… is not quite clear how to honor that combination, because this a new thing where you can take the performance and separate it from the visual image of what you see, but then it all has to come back together again as though they were one and the same to start with.”


// Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: how to act like an ape

"However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers doesn’t cover motion-capture acting in Screen Actors Guild contracts, classifying it rather as “lower-paying background work”, according to Variety. All that motion capture does, the association says, is assist animators, who ultimately produce the final performance – and there’s no way of telling how closely the final performance matches the actor’s movements. Steven Spielberg wanted his 2011 motion-capture movie The Adventures of Tintin to be considered an animated feature, but equally, when the 2006 movie Happy Feet won the Oscar for best animated feature, having employed motion capture, many animators felt the technique either disempowering or, at worst, a cheat or shortcut."


// Andy Serkis, Star of a Movie Medium That Doesn't Need Stars
'Motion capture has a long history of second-tier kind of acting—or worse, a mere variety of animation'

Alvise Avati: How to be an animator

 Check out Alvise's website and find him on twitter here








Beans

EDGE OF TOMORROW - Official Extended Featurette (2014)

I have a couple of shots in this featurette. Also there are a ton of spoilers.

Making of The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Animation Breakdown

Making of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Animation by CGMeetup

Behind the Scenes // B-Roll Footage

Interviews with ILM Animation Supervisor Steve "Spaz" Williams: Wizard of Awe

Here's a fantastic short documentary by Lauren Millar featuring animator and VFX supervisor Steve 'Spaz' Williams. There's also some great footage from the old ILM studio location in San Rafael, CA. Funny enough I was actually in 'The Pit' room a year or so ago when I visited Creature Art & Mechanics Digital. All that's left in the room is a polaroid picture of Steve's studio space complete with Canadian flag. 









// Steve Williams' Reel

// The real origin of the jurassic dinosaurs





















// T. Rex

The Mask- Carrey Vs CGI 











Mike Savage Interviews Steve Williams on the radio show The Savage Nation










Also check out this great interview with Steve over at AREA Autodesk

// CG Evolution/Film Revolution: A Q+A with Steve "Spaz" Williams

'Gravity' Show And Tell VFX Reel

Here's a look at how we created the visual effects for Gravity 


More behind the scenes interview and footage here:

// Gravity Interviews 

'GRAVITY' Featurettes and Interviews

Also check out:

// GRAVITY: Alfonso Cuaron Sandra Bullock Comic Con 2013

// 'Gravity' Premiere Q&A (TIFF 2013)

Pacific Rim - Interview with ILM Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel

More great behind the scenes footage and info here:
// fxguide: Monster mayhem Pacific Rim

//fxguidetv: Pacific Rim Pipeline Special

Interview with Hal Hickel via 'Animation Fascination' (interview starts at 1:01:00)
// Pacific Rim: Hal Hickel Interview

FACEWARE: Free Face Rig Library

FACEWARE is a markerless face capture software for previs, live performance and video games. Check out some of their free face rigs.





// FACEWARE: Free Face Rig Library

// FACEWARE YouTube Channel

WETA Animation/VFX 'Tuesday Classic Podcast'

// Tuesday Classic Podcast


Tuesday Classic is an hour long weekly podcast featuring filmmakers based in Wellington, New Zealand who work on both large scale Hollywood productions and independently funded projects. 

Guests from other creatives industries will be featured in future programs. 

Hosted by: Randy Link and Victor Huang with Christian Rivers, Chris Moss & Greg Lewis

[OBLIVION] Interview With Animation Supervisor Steve Preeg

 Simon Preeg, Supervising Animator at Digital Domain, talks to ART of VFX about the animation in OBLIVION. An Academy Award-winner for best visual effects in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Preeg’s work can also be seen in Tron: Legacy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Flags of Our Fathers, I, Robot, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and King Kong.




Also check out // Behind The Scenes of OBLIVION
 

Concepts by Daniel Simon

Finally the first trailer for GRAVITY

First trailer for Gravity is out! It's been a longtime coming! Pumped for all the Framestore artists that worked on the film! Proud to have been apart of the super talented animation team! You all rock!

'The Hobbit' VFX Breakdowns

There are some really nice VFX breakdown clips of The Hobbit over on the LA Times website. I enjoyed The Hobbit! I saw it twice - once in London and once in Houston, TX. I thought the story and pacing of the film was a bit lackluster but the character performances were amazing!

Kon-Tiki / VFX Breakdown Reel

I don't post many vfx reels but this one is jaw dropping! ILP's (Important Looking Pirates) work on the upcoming Norwegian film Kon-Tiki is just stunning! The animation on the parrot and sharks is also top notch! The film looks like quite an adventure! Looking forward to seeing it!

Check our more of ILP's work here:

fxguide : Character Animation inside ILM

// Interview with Animator Maia Kayser via fxphd 

VFX of 'Immortals' from Tippett and Image Engine

 There's a great article over on fxguide featuring the VFX work of Tippett Studios. Check out the vfx/anim breakdown vid from their work on 'Immortals'.


// Immortals VFX breakdown via fxguide

// More footage of  the VFX work from Image Engine