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Longform for subscribers: deep dives into VFX and post workflows, tool and pipeline analysis, real-world constraints, integration notes, licensing and performance realities, and what actually holds up in production. Less hype, more usable detail you can bookmark and share internally.
Notebook Razer Blade 15 in test
The Razer Blade is the second gaming notebook in the test that we analysed for its suitability as a potential workstation. Of all the workstations in the test field, the Razer Blade has the CPU with the lowest performance reserves, but can compensate for this with other qualities.
FMX 2019: Real-time ray tracing for final frame rendering
It's Wednesday afternoon in the König Karl Halle in the Haus der Wirtschaft. The hall is darkened and filled with people eagerly awaiting the lecture "Troll: Real Time Raytracing and The VFX Pipeline" - and the DP is there too.
Weltenbauer RK50 in the test
The company Weltenbauer from Wiesbaden has been a specialised dealer for 2D and 3D software for over 15 years and, in addition to Hewlett Packard computers, also offers workstations and render servers from its own production. We had the entry-level model RK50 sent to us for testing and took a closer look at it.
CityEngine 2019!
With CityEngine 2019.0, one of the biggest CityEngine versions in recent years has been released. Our CityEngine team, which now consists of 17 people at the ESRI R&D Centre in Zurich, has been hard at work programming every nook and cranny, so that with this version we can really offer you many new features as well as a solid revision of old functionality.
Challenge Yourself: A project analysis
After several years of film editing and constant discussions about film dramaturgy and visual language, what is needed, what is not, even more intensively, but differently, much more clearly, I decided to invest this knowledge in my first directorial work.
Making-of: Spring
Blender is a beacon project in the field of open source computer graphics. One of the reasons for its success is the open movies, in which the realisation of a specific project goes hand in hand with the development of the software. This concept can be traced back to the time when Blender was still an in-house solution from the Dutch studio NeoGeo. Back then, it was quite normal for artists and developers to work together in one place. Ultimately, it was the experience gained back then that led us to continue working on animation projects - even after Blender became open source. However, with a different sign.
Syslink Elements Media Storage – Climbing mountains of data?
In addition to cloud storage (cloud = other people's computers), you also need local assets - and since networks are always faster than the Internet connection, it makes sense to keep the lion's share locally available...
A haven of peace in the zombie storm – Making-of “Grant” cinematic trailer
Goodbye Kansas Studios created a series of cinematic trailers for the game "Overkill's The Walking Dead" in which the four main game characters are introduced in various scenes. With "Grant", the team won the animago AWARD in the "Best Game Cinematic" category last year.
Portrait of a genius – 3D portrait still
Portraits of very well-known personalities are always a great challenge because everyone knows the face of the person portrayed and mistakes quickly become apparent. Alexander Beim impressed with his 3D portrait still of Albert Einstein and won the public vote in the "Best Still" category and thus an animago AWARD. Here, the 3D artist explains how the image was created.
Does Alex make Toni unemployed?
A look back: How does audio AI work in practice? "Alex Audio Butler" consists of VST plug-ins that are designed to handle the sound mixing independently. The big players in the VST game: DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition.
Lovecraft in Köln – Making-of „The Colour“
The ifs internationale filmschule köln is an artistically and academically orientated training and further education institution for media professionals. On the initiative of the NRW state government and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, it was founded in 2000 as a non-profit limited company whose sole shareholder is the Film- und Medienstiftung. Its reputation as one of the best film schools in Germany is based in particular on the support it provides to students, its teaching and project work and not least on numerous awards, including a student Oscar. One project we found great is "The Colour", based on a Lovecraftian short story - and we ask the students how they came up with it and what it's like to study at the ifs.
More pixels in your pocket – Blackmagic Pocket 4K in test
Many loved the inconspicuous Blackmagic Pocket HD despite all its weaknesses. The film images were simply too beautiful for a camera of this price range and size. As soon as 4K became an issue, many people wanted a new successor to the classic 16 mm camera with better resolution. Does the new camera have that much magic?
Video Copilot live on Tour – Talking with Andrew Kramer
„Hey what’s up, Andrew Kramer here with another very exiting tutorial“ – you have heard this, if you are somewhere in the sphere of VFX, especially within the Adobe and After Effects ecosystem. This intro has been around for 15 years – and it took 15 years for Andrew Kramer to finally make it to London, Paris, Barcelona and Berlin. And we took the chance to meet him on the last and biggest event at the Estrel Congress Center in Berlin – which was sold out, just like the rest of the tour.
Into space with the Film Academy
With their diploma project "Asperity", the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg team, in collaboration with a total of 3O students, transformed a visit to FMX 2O18 into an interactive space journey.
Cloudy to fiery – Volumetric effects in Cinema 4D (Part 1)
In this two-part series of articles, we will provide the experienced Cinema 4D user with in-depth insights into the creation of volumetric effects with the onboard tools of Cinema 4D - without any plug-ins, particles or Pyro Cluster. The first part of the series is dedicated to visible lights and their texturing with volumetric shaders.
InstaLOD: Time is money
There are some things in a 3D artist's workflow that are probably considered rather unpopular. (cough ... unwrapping, retopo ... cough) And even if a kind soul takes pity on them, it still remains time-consuming. InstaLOD from Stuttgart is trying to help all companies from the entire 3D sector (film, games, automotive, etc.) with its software of the same name, and in doing so is speeding up and cleaning up much more than just the two black sheep mentioned.
Tangent Wave 2 Control Panel
So one decision is that people need to straighten something. We take a closer look at the new edition of the wave panel and analyse the advantages and disadvantages compared to its predecessor and the alternatives.
Who needs a workstation these days?
At FMX 2O18, The Foundry launched Athera.io, a connection between The Foundry’s tools (among others, like Houdini, Blender, and many more to come), Google Cloud Services and artists. Via a browser – and really, any browser and machine will do – users
can get virtual workstations and rendering performance. That sounds nice – but let’s not get too excited and ask some questions first.
Zombies & 3D Scanner
They are also currently stepping on the gas with their development and possibilities: 3D scanners have always been a part of visual effects production
Effects production, many examples are now showing how they can make working on set much easier.
The virtual glue press:CineXtools from Cinedeck
Non-linear video editing with computers (NLE for short) has given us enormous freedom. Not only the fiddling with adhesive presses and cotton gloves, synchronised tape machines or even toxic carbon tetrachloride in magnetic magnifiers from the early days of videotape are a thing of the past. today, "cuts" are non-destructive and can be altered at will (sometimes all too often). But the whole thing has one disadvantage .....
Shading, Lighting & Rendering with Cinema 4D R19 (Part 2)
In the last part of our series, we took a thorough look at the basis of shading, lighting and rendering, namely methods for geometry smoothing and various lighting models / BRDFs. In this part, we will build on this foundation and take an in-depth look at C4D's material system to provide a basis for later work with textures, shaders, lighting and shadows.
What‘s next in Blender?
At FMX 2O18 we caught up with Ton Roosendaal – head of the Blender Foundation and the guy who turned the package into an open-source tool. And when you are already in Stuttgart, why not ask a few questions?
Grading on the Orient Express
When you look for an All-Star-Cast, you can’t top Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley and all the others who travelled this year’s “Murder on the Orient Express”. But what you might not have known is that for the Dailies Grading, DaVinci Resolve came into play. We wanted to know how the rich, saturated look was accomplished.
Bforartists – a fork for Blender
Bforartists is a complete 3D suite - namely a Blender fork based on the current version 2.79b. Just like Blender, the free and open source 3D suite, Bforartists can be used for the entire 3D pipeline: Modelling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking - even for video editing and game creation.
IMF – and what it’s all about
IMF - Interoperable Mastering Format - has been around for a few years now. After a somewhat slow start, however, IMF experienced a boom at the beginning of 2O16 at the latest, when Netflix made it its main delivery format. What IMF is and what it is supposed to be good for, however, is still largely unknown to the broad masses of the media industry. This article is intended to provide a brief introduction to the format, shedding some light on its peculiarities and advantages as well as the costs involved. As the cover image suggests, this article will not be a colourful creative experience - but have fun anyway.
The open libraries of Hollywood
At this year’s FMX there was a talk „Open Source Software in the Motion Picture Industry – An Investigation by the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”. In a full room David Morin presented the
results of a survey about Open Source libraries in use in the Motion Picture Industry right now, from a survey done with big studios, software vendors, developers and CTOs – including a live Q&A with the FMX audience.
Filmakademie VR film “Sonar” now on Google Daydream
We have already presented the interesting sci-fi horror experience "Sonar" in our VR focus in DP 02 : 17. Here is an extract from the interview with Philipp Maas and all the new information.
One for all? The Ursa Mini 4.6K Pro from Blackmagic
At NAB 2O17, the new version of the Ursa Mini 4.6K Pro (UM Pro for short) received a lot of attention, with Videomaker even honouring it as the "Best camera of NAB". But what does the "Pro" in the name mean? For whom is the new camera more professional than its predecessor with the same sensor? Can it satisfy in documentary and nature film or even in reportage?
So much cattle stuff!
Review: In DP 03 : 2017, Warner Brothers reached for "Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them", because J.K. Rowling was finished with Harry Potter after volume seven. Off we went to the beasts (wherever they are to be found)!
Meet the Graphorns
Image Engine worked on 88 VFX shots for "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them", with the Canadian studio responsible for the three-headed Graphorn family and Swooping Evil as well as several other sequences. Due to the high complexity of the tasks, Image Engine worked on the project for around a year with a team of 1OO people, despite the relatively small number of shots.
Music of the future at BMW
A robot walks towards a black-painted grand piano. Orchestral music begins and transforms the road tunnel into a…
BaseGrade and the evolution of colour grading
At NAB 2O16, colour grading specialist Filmlight caused quite a stir in the colourist scene. BaseGrade - a completely newly developed grading operator for Baselight - was presented, which is intended to replace classic tools such as Lift, Gamma and Gain. That sounds like a small revolution. Filmlight promises more consistent results and a more natural way of working. Reason enough not only for Baselight colourists to take a detailed look at it.
On-Set Tools
Review: In DP 06 : 2016 we introduced four helpers that will help you to find out the exact position of the light emitter sun, preview LUTs in the browser, and always have a collection of knowledge with you.
Sensitivity for sensitive topics
Looking back: In DP 03 : 2016, we faced up to mortality. The "Young Heroes" organisation is committed to making informed decisions about organ donation. A related short film from Berlin impressed the animago judges with its pop-up 3D environment. All organic, right?
Cosmos Laundromat
Review: In DP 01:2016, the Blender Institute produced the comedic short film "Kosmos Waschsalon". Did the film win the animago AWARD 2015?
First Cycle
Review: In DP 01 : 2016, we spoke to Mathieu Auvray - a French director with ten years of professional experience. What tools does the artist très français work with?
Dark Awakening
Review: In DP 05 : 2010, the Finns from Remedy Entertainment moved to the north-west of America - research for Alan Wake. Could the new game concept match its predecessor Max Payne: The Fall of Pax Payne?
Making-of Krautscape
Review: In DP 04 : 2014, we let the engines roar in the racing game Krautscape by developers Mario von Rickenbach and Michael Burgdorfer - including procedurally generated racetracks. A game project from the Zurich University of the Arts.
Cloudy with a view of Houdini
Review: In DP 03 : 2014, we climbed into the opening scene of the bestselling film adaptation of The Book Thief. Rise Visual Effects Studios realised a long cloud sequence including a 3D tracking shot with Houdini. How do artists create the perfect cumulus cloud?
Love in times of global warming
Review: In DP 03 : 2014, we found out what happens when arctic pink creatures get involved with tropical fruit - and design students from HBK Braunschweig make 3D animation.
The CG monkeys are loose
Review: In DP 06 : 2014, Weta Digital set to work on the second instalment of Planet of the Apes. A conversation with VFX supervisor Dan Lemmon about primates, performance capturing and premium VFX.
When the Lucy gets the LIDAR…
Review: In DP 07 : 2014, "Lucy", together with director Luc Besson, tapped into the full brain power - and the VFX power of ILM, Rodeo FX and 4DMax. How did the sci-fi action film with Scarlett Johansson come about?
Spider webs vs. electric flashes
Review: In DP 07 : 2014, the most popular spider-man in film history was electrostatically charged. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro" was one of the most elaborate projects for Sony Pictures Imageworks in 2014. We caught up with digital effects supervisor David A. Smith.
Steampunk Panther
Review: In DP 02 : 2014, a steampunk panther caught the readers' eye - with emerald green eyes and filigree decorations. An animago submission by 3D artist Anna Huber.
Put in the right light
Review: In DP 04 : 2014, Depeche Mode went on a major tour - and Cologne-based post-production house the editors cgn was responsible for the high-quality post-production of the concert events. How do post-pros make the performers look as good as possible? Head editor Tobias Berbuer explains in an interview!
Historical Decay
Review: In DP 01 : 2014 game developer Naughty Dog threw its heroes into a post-pandemic scenario with The Last of Us - but how were the lighting, texturing and motion capturing created?
Korda database
Looking back: In DP 01 : 2013, we threw ourselves into the arms of film funding - and with that we went into the Korda database, which promises to clear up the film funding jungle.
Rubinrote VFX
Review: DP 03 : 2013 took a closer look at the film adaptation of the young adult novel Ruby Red. We spoke to Professor Jürgen Schopper, Supervisor Mortimer Warlimont and VFX Producer Katja Müller about particle effects, the filmability of Spiegel bestsellers and the magic of VFX shots.
Bioshock Infinite
Review: In DP 03 : 2013, we asked Design Director and User Experience Specialist Billd Gardner why Bioshock Infinite had to be delayed. What happened behind the company gates at Irrational Games?
Of “Jaegers” and monsters
Review: In DP 06 : 2013, the VFX cracker Pacific Rim grilled the cinema summer. Compositing artist Michael Ralla tells us how Industrial Light & Magic tamed the Kaiju giants.
Monster Uni
Review: In DP 05 : 2013, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios brought the prequel "Monsters University" to cinemas. Could the hair and cloth simulation keep up with its predecessor film "Monsters Inc."? Animation is a hairy business!
Happy endings are inappropriate | Retro article
Review: In DP 06 : 2012, Luis Alonso, Senior Technical Artist at BioWare, spoke at FMX (Film & Media Exchange) about the video game Mass Effect 3. DP grabbed Alonso to ask him a few questions.
On the hunt for facial expressions
Review: In DP 05 : 2019, we realised that elaborately produced cutscenes in video games are no longer a rarity. In Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake, MoCap specialist metricminds took care of the characters' facial expressions.
From another star | Retro article
Review: In DP 01 : 2010, Weta Digital created a wacky planet, alien life forms and humanoid screen heroes. For what? For James Cameron's Avatar!
Spider-Man | Retro article
Review: In DP 03 : 2002 came "With great power, great responsibility", as Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film became a huge success. We spoke to the visual effects designers about the tension of latex suits - and of course VFXs.
