Digital production at the IBC – quality control, pipeline revolution and video telephony: For our autumn and winter issue, DP 06 : 2022, we were at the International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam! There we took a look at some great new tools – three of which we have brought along in interview form for this issue. In print, it reads like this: we spoke to Dan Tatut from Marquise Technologies about ICE Prime, a new player for quality control (“Three elements of quality control” on page 32), we talked to Jeremy Smith from Jellyfish Pictures about Hammerspace and how Hammerspace has the potential to overturn pipelines globally (“Jellyfish in the Hammerspace” on page 126), and with Gil Shefler from Riverside.fm about the perfect tool for video telephony recording: Riverside (“The better way to do an interview…” on page 82).

ACES – Academy Colour Encoding System: For our ACES focus area, nib-slash-ACES guru Christoph Zapletal has written the definitive “must-know” article on the Academy Colour Encoding System (“Putting the Ace in ACES” on page 20). In addition, Adobe – to put it casually – is thematically updating the colour workflow at SWR (and hopefully soon the other public broadcasters) with ACES in After Effects – read about it in “Modern Post in SWR” on page 38.

Hardware & software tests and project reports: Also vying for your attention: hardware tests on image stabilisation in Sony and Blackmagic cameras, inexpensive grading panels and the webcam recommendation Obsbot Tiny 4K (“Gyroscopes for image stabilisation” on page 86, “Grading panels from the midi world” on page 93, and “Follower!” on page 49). There are project reports on top, because how did the zombie episode from Love, Death and Robots, the new Disney animated film Strange World or the Netflix blockbuster Arcane: League of Legends (“Apocalypse of the mini-zombies” on page 12, “Welcome to the Strange World!” on page 54, and “Totally Jinxed: Serial Sisterhood” on page 132) actually come about? In addition, Uli Plank and Manuel Kotulla take a critical expert look at Cinema 4D 2023 and Renderman 25.

Digital Production as print and e-paper: With the publication of our previous issue, Digital Production 05 : 2022, we are also publishing digitally as an e-paper. If you would like to familiarise yourself with the e-paper version, we recommend clicking on the corresponding sample copy. In the current issue, Patrick Poti explains on page 44 how to register for the e-paper – and the advantages of paperless digital production.

Click and scroll further: the range of topics covered in Digital Production 06 : 2022 is far from exhausted – but discover for yourself (for example on pages 62 and 68, where Ralf Gliffe explains how artificial intelligence is currently revolutionising image processing). By the way: Readers can find the astronaut on the cover on page 112, where Ralf Drechsler runs his virtual production studio Hyperbowl, more precisely in the Bavarian municipality of Penzing (“Man on the Moon – Production in Penzing”). So: Click on DIGITAL PRODUCTION 06 : 2022 todiscover the entire world of topics. We hope you enjoy browsing and finding out more!

The post And here comes the new DP! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

First of all, an apology to our readers. We start this issue with a big-hearted “Mea culpa!” because, as our subscribers will have realised: DP 22:02 should have arrived in your letterboxes a fortnight ago. Why the delay? Well, an unplanned and sudden change of printer threw the proverbial spanner in the works. But now everything is back up to operating temperature, and by the time you read this, the hot-off-the-press DP will have already slipped into its envelopes to smile at you from the mail slot – this week or next week at the latest.

What highlights await you in the new issue?

• Two asset management features: the super-practical “Dropbox Replay” and the newly launched “das element”
• New programme versions: Renderman 24, Blender 3.0, ZBrush 2022, Rebelle 5, Krita 5, Look Designer 2 and Vegas Post 365
• Film, workshop and project reports: Neoshin (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg), Matrix: Resurrections (Rotor Film, Volucap), A Speed Racer’s Journey (Mondlicht Studios), Codename: Julia (with VFX supervisor Paul Dreisen), The Edge (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts) or even running shoes in high-resolution action (by The Marmelade)
• And what else? Architectural visualisation from the Klee Collection, an unusual advertising campaign for BMW from Vienna, an interview with the creators behind the successful infotainment format “Kurzgesagt” on YouTube and, and, and…

And here comes the new DP! So, welcome to the first DP of the new year (ignoring the winter edition)!

This time we’re looking at asset management – or to be more precise, two super tools that have flown a little under the radar until now: the super-practical Dropbox Replay and the recently launched das element, which is being developed here in Munich and finally offers a grown-up solution for asset management in VFX studios.

Renderman is becoming more and more popular, isn’t it? We think so! With the release of version 24, we think the time is ripe to take a serious look at Renderman.

The next release, which is already eagerly awaited in many places, is of course Blender 3.0, according to our author Gottfried Hofmann : “Blender 3.0 marks the start of a new release cycle! The highlights include the Asset Manager and the rewrite of the path tracing render engine Cycles as CyclesX, which finally allows RTX cards from Nvidia to be utilised to their full potential.”

Once again, it ‘s Ralf who takes Rebelle 5 into the test lab for you to take a critical look at whether the fifth version of the hyper-realistic painting tool can impress with new functions, such as physical colour mixing based on traditional pigments, realistic watercolours with granulation, or a recorder for time-lapse recordings of the painting process.

In the detailed test report on the open-source drawing programme Krita, our reviewer Ralf Gliffe looks back on more than three years of development. In the foreword, Ralf says that Krita is currently the most popular, free graphics application, and that the release of version 5 offers many attractive features.

In his article Look Designer 2 – In search of the sacred colour film, DP veteran Uli Plank goes in search of the pros and cons. Is the plug-in for DaVinci Resolve and Adobe’s video programmes convincing? And can you achieve the much-vaunted “film look” with Look Designer 2, or is this a hackneyed phrase for hobbyists anyway?

And what has changed with the Vegas editing tool? Well, it’s best to ask Nils Calles, because he has, as Nils describes it, taken a look at “Wundertüte” to find out what has happened to the editing programme since it was taken over by Magix. So what does the eternal underdog in the editing carousel have to offer? Nils takes a look for you to see whether Vegas Pro really is Pro!

Cyberpunk, study projects and simulations: What the team of just four students from the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg have created with their graduation project Neoshin is at least stylistically confident, transmedial, and also a bit cool.

One of the film series that undoubtedly set the style for a sci-fi project like “Neoshin” is, of course, the Matrix film series by the Wachowski siblings. Far from the question of whether Matrix: Resurrections is a fully-fledged sequel or just a metafictional follow-up, we got in touch with the image and sound post-production experts at Rotor Film, as well as the volumetric recording service provider Volucap, to find out how a mega-production like Matrix can be managed in the midst of a global pandemic.

If, on the other hand, you are more interested in the topic of mobility in all its facets, we have four workshop reports worth reading…

… One is the interview entitled Medicine v Mercedes: A Speed Racer’s Journey, in which Dmitriy Glazyrin, co-founder of Mondlicht Studios, fulfils the heart’s desire of many car enthusiasts by throwing the classic racing car onto the racetrack (and the pipeline) that already provided roaring exhaust pipes in the gaming classic “Mafia”: the Mercedes-Benz W125.

The article Codename: Julia, in which VFX supervisor Paul Dreisen illustrates the charging process of an electric car, is all about horsepower, tyre tread and speedometers.

Fans of stylish animated films with clear lines will enjoy the student project Last und Kraft und Wagen, created at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. The Edge is the name of the animated short film, which was created in 2020 as part of the Master’s programme and tells the story of a somewhat introverted (but nonetheless lovable) lorry driver who sets off on an involuntary journey into the multiverse. A workshop report that is absolutely worth reading and driving!

If you’re less interested in two- or four-wheel drive and prefer to put on running shoes, head to Hamburg and Frankfurt, where the creatives from The Marmelade use highly detailed shots to show how patented sole technology works (and runs) – always on board: camera robots and CGI pipelines.

And what else? For all other topics, including an article on architectural visualisation from the Klee Collection, or an unusual advertising campaign from Vienna for BMW (Born Electric in Vienna), you should plough through the new issue. It’s worth it… at least we hope so! And if you still doubt whether DP 22:02 has anything worth reading in black and white, we invite you to browse through the table of contents .

Oh, we almost forgot: We almost forgot to tell you about an absolute highlight: our in-depth interview In a nutshell : This is our pipeline, with Philip Laibacher (Chief Creative Officer) and Daniela Görzen (Head of Motion) from “in a nutshell – kurzgesagt”, in which we talk about the successful YouTube format Kurzgesagt.

So: We hope you all enjoy ploughing, grazing – and of course browsing through the new DP!

The post And here comes the new DP! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

New DP! Today is Friday – and a double reason to be happy! Not only is it the start of the weekend, but the new print issue of Digital Production is clogging up… uhhh… beautifying subscribers’ letterboxes! So, look forward to our autumn issue(DP 06 : 2021) with over 150 packed pages of topics that will have all VFXers, CGers and digital content creatives running hot!

A look inside the magazine: DP 21 : 06 looks over the shoulders of a few creators – including RiseFX on their work for “Reminiscence”, the UberEcks on the TocaMe trailer, RodeoFX on “Lovecraft County”, Digital Domain on “Loki”, Mikros Image on “SpongeBob”, and Thomas Berg on “Olav”, as well as Raphael Rau on his “Loveletter” to the Gameboy. From the FMX we’ll pass on to you: Conversations with Pinscreen on Digital Humans and Respeecher on the speech-to-speech process.

More in the magazine: And if you already know what’s coming up next, you can take a look at the new tools: Cinema4D R25, Houdini 19 and Adobe Substance Stager in terms of software. But the hardware tests are also tough: Uli Plank tests the Ursa Mini Pro 12K and the Blackmagic Speed Editor for you.

Even more topics: In addition, our volunteer Patrick ventures on an excursion into film law: He has pulled through the entire film law handbook from Beck Verlag for you and picked out the VFX-relevant stuff for you. But remember: this is only a review of the book and cannot replace a visit to the lawyer in the event of a dispute.

And what else? As we are gradually approaching the pre-Christmas period (at least the shelves of our supermarkets are already filled with gingerbread, speculoos and chocolate figures), let’s put it this way: we are sure there is a (reading) treat for everyone in DP 21:06 ! But why don’t you convince yourself of our high-quality magazine contents!

The post And here comes the new DP! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.