In nuce: In less than six weeks, FMX 2022 will inspire its visitors with international speakers from the VFX industry. This year, the event will take place in hybrid form, both on site in Stuttgart and online.
Learning from the best, Tekkie Talk and “The Mitchells versus the machines”: this year, several masterclasses will take place on site in Stuttgart, including on the topics of “Story Development” and “Story Structure”. Storytelling: tailored to the needs of animators.
In addition, the latest research results from the technology sector will be presented as part of the “Tech Talks” track. For example, it will be about how it is possible to combine face-to-face events with mixed reality. Incidentally, one of the feature-length entertainment highlights will be the Annie Award-winning, Oscar-nominated animated film “The Mitchells versus the Machines”.
Other highly sought-after animated films that will cross your path at FMX 2022 include “The Bad Guys” by Dreamworks Animation, “Sing – The Show of Your Life” by Illumination Entertainment and “Encanto” by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines: Physically Based Rendering: Kurt Judson (Sony Pictures Imageworks) and Christos Obretenov (Lollipop Shaders) will provide insights into the concept art and show how they adapted the final look of the film exactly to the concept designs. The Sony Pictures Imageworks team used their in-house Physically Based Renderer and combined it with specially developed look development and animation tools, as well as the Open Shading Language.
Masterclass with Victor Perez: Mind mapping for the conceptualisation of light: A core component of VFX work is the harmonious use of light. This should always harmonise with the other image components so that afterwards – to use a well-worn expression – everything “looks like it was cast from a single mould”. Visual Effects Supervisor Victor Perez uses an analysis structure based on mind mapping to achieve this. He uses photography to translate light and optics into mathematical formulae. It sounds complicated, but is highly interesting for VFXers.
Storytelling for animators: Storytelling is a much-maligned buzzword, even beyond the creative industry – but it’s still as relevant as ever. This year, Craig Caldwell, professor at the University of Utah, will once again be represented – with two of his masterclasses. The first masterclass, called Story Structure, will cover the basic story elements and various plot structures. The second masterclass is called Story Development. In it, participants will learn how the development of a story evokes emotions in the audience and enables them to identify not only with the protagonist, but also with the antagonist.
Technology location FMX: The Techtalks are curated by Prof Volker Helzle from the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. Perhaps the two most interesting programme items are those entitled “How to create real presence in mixed reality” and “Machine learning in the VFX industry”.
How to Create Real Presence in Mixed Reality looks at the challenge of creating compelling interactive experiences and the expertise required to deliver the necessary graphics, AI and technology. Darren Cosker from Microsoft will be lecturing on this topic.
On the other hand, the Machine Learning in the VFX Industry session will focus on machine learning in the visual effects industry and how this technology could enable more efficient ways of working. Mairéad Grogan, research engineer at Foundry, will talk about how she researches artificial intelligence and what CopyCat Nodes are all about.
Click further: For the complete list of animated films to be found at FMX 2022, click over to fmx.de . You can also find an overview of the masterclasses on offer at fmx.de.
