Barbarian Hordes and Brooding Suburban Vampires

As the summer movie season winds down, VFS alumni involvement is only heating up. Today sees the release of two films featuring the work of 3D Animation & Visual Effects and Digital Design grads.

Conan the Barbarian

Giancarlo D’erchie – Lead Compositor
Giacomo Cavalletti – Environment Modeler
Mei Chu – Rotoscope Artist
Kaelen Cohen – Stereo Conversion/Compositor
Felipe Verdugo – Assistant Rotomation Lead
Tim Chou – Stereo Conversion/Compositor
Laurie Powers – Lead Compositor

Fright Night

Patrick Vidal - Visual Effects Artist
Tom Piedmont – Roto/Paint Artist
Michael Stewart – Nuke Compositor

Well done!

Update: Digital Character Animation grad Esteban Ortega, whom we’ve written about earlier this year, also worked on Conan the Barbarian as a 2D to 3D Stereoscopic Supervisor.

Compendium Volume III is Here!

We’re happy to announce the next volume of Entertainment Business Management‘s Compendium project is now being unveiled on the VFS YouTube channel. Featuring talents from students and staff across VFS, the “Steampunk Neverland” edition takes a new look at author J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of Peter Pan.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be uploading student-produced short films and behind-the-scenes featurettes that highlight the entire process of creating a volume of Compendium. (You can also follow in-the-moment developments on the student-run blog at compendium.vfs.com.)

We kicked things off yesterday with an inside look at how student teams pitch their vision for an entire volume of this cross-program collaboration. You’ll see that video here, along with the first short film, Hook.

Discover what you will achieve in one year inside EBM — and stay tuned for more from Steampunk Neverland!

More VFS Blog posts on Compendium Vol. III:

Casting Compendium and a New Take on Tinkerbell

Inside the Production of Compendium Vol. III

Anemona Takes the Lead with Racing Puffs

After completing their year at VFS, many Digital Character Animation grads will often go straight to the best studios and show off their reels and demos, hoping for the first gig that will launch their careers.

Others, like Henedy Macias Avendaño, choose a different route that can be extremely tough – but even more rewarding. She and fellow Digital Character Animation grad Dieter Magallan have created their own animation and visual effects company in Mexico: Anemona Studio.

For Henedy, the motivation to run an indie company came out of her desire to “create our own projects, and be able to create jobs and made a difference in our country.”

Anemona’s newest project is a game for mobile devices called Racing Puffs.

“We had one year as an established company working for TV and film projects,” says Henedy, “then we decided to grow into the app world, creating our first game, Snail Trails.”

After 5,000 downloads in two months, Snail Trails convinced the team that Racing Puffs would be worth the effort. It is due to be released this November.

For now, you can “like” Anemona Studio on Facebook and catch a trailer for Racing Puffs.

VFS Welcomes Back Ryan Honey, Creative Director at Buck

It’s been about 12 years since Ryan Honey walked the halls of VFS as a Digital Design student (then known as the Multimedia program). After graduating, he made a big splash as the Creative Director at Heavy.com before founding Buck, a production-based creative agency, where he now serves as a Creative Director in their Los Angeles office. You’ve seen his work in commercials, network promos, and experimental motion graphics for companies like Burger King, Coke, Google, Nike, and the NBA.

Ryan is in the midst of a three-day visit with current students, sharing his experience, advice, and thoughts on their work through one-on-one chats, presentations, and a keynote speaking appearance at tonight’s Appetizers event. (Check out the video here to learn more about Appetizers.)

On Monday, Ryan wowed a crowd of Digital Design students with Buck’s incredibly inventive campaigns and projects. At Buck, they “put the concept first, and find out how to do it later.” He demonstrated this by showing a diverse array of work, from clips of a rock opera they produced to promote milk to animated basketball players for Nike, from the 175 projects they completed in 2010.

Buck’s process often involves mocking scenes in CG, then creating the animated or filmed elements painstakingly by hand. When asked why they don’t simply work on the CG until it looks handmade, Ryan responded, “To the finer trained eye, you can tell it [the computer work] isn’t handcrafted. It’s more about the process.”

A big part of Buck’s operating strategy is to keep its 60-70 employees engaged and creative. They accomplish this in part by choosing two projects a year based on the creative process alone; having clients means timelines that ensure the work actually gets done. One such project, and the hit of the night, was the videos they made for F5, a motionographers conference, announcing the key speakers. Buck used a mixture of profanity-uttering puppets, spandex-clad musicians, and a whale animated entirely by actual paintings shot through glass to create a thoroughly memorable opening for the conference. “We get simple work that pays very well,” Ryan said, “because we do complicated work on the other side.

Thanks for your time and insight, Ryan!

The Future of Digital Media: SIGGRAPH 2011 Wrap-Up

SIGGRAPH 2011 brought some amazing speakers and thousands of industry members to Vancouver for one of the city’s largest conferences ever!

From August 7-11, we had a rare opportunity to reconnect with our massive alumni community, while also hosting an impressive list of experts at VFS for exclusive presentations.

Here’s a look back at the stories we captured during an intense week of learning, networking, and sharing for VFS students and the industry alike:

VFS Welcomes SIGGRAPH 2011 to Vancouver!
For the first time ever, SIGGRAPH is taking place outside of the US — right here in Vancouver. Here’s a schedule of VFS-related events.

Celebrating Student Work with Cupcakes
A group of VFSers kicked off the SIGGRAPH celebrations a bit early with free cupcakes on the Cambie Street bridge.

The SIGGRAPH Fun Begins!
The Animation & Visual Effects campus hosted three high-profile industry guests from Prime Focus and Digital Domain.

ZBrush to the Danger Zone
Paul Gaboury of Pixologic previewed some new features in the next version of ZBrush for VFS Animation & Visual Effects students.

Guest Post: Zoic Studios at VFS
Digital Character Animation grad Caroline Jarvis recounts a visit from Zoic Studios.

Ali Aboud’s Soviet Fantasy
3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Ali Aboud presented on his student final project, Red Phantoms, which is currently being developed as a feature film.

VFS Alumni & Instructors Throwdown at SIGGRAPH
A quick recap of SIGGRAPH events from Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

Lino DiSalvo on Acting & Animation
3D grad Lino DiSalvo shares some advice he’s gained working as a Supervising Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios on such films as Tangled and Bolt.

Animal Logic Makes Sense of Breaking In
Recruiter Krista Jordan of Animal Logic dropped by VFS to share some advice on how to get an amazing gig straight out of school.

Guest Post: SIGGRAPH Student Diary
Vancouver SIGGRAPH 2011 through the eyes of current 3D student Phil Planta.

Disney and Weta Visit VFS
Alumnus and Disney Supervising Animator Lino DiSalvo reviews VFS student reels, and Chris White of Weta Digital presented on Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Disney and Weta Visit VFS

Although SIGGRAPH officially ended last Thursday, its reach continued into Friday when 3D Animation & Visual Effects alumnus Lino DiSalvo, Disney Supervising Animator and voice of Vinnie the pigeon in Bolt, visited with students to review their reels. DiSalvo, who had already treated students to a wildly entertaining presentation the day before, provided valuable feedback from his years of experience at the world’s largest animation studio.

One beneficiary was 3D student Bob Wijgman, who provided us with this account of the day.

Guest Post by Bob Wijgman

I remember about three and a half years ago I started working in 3D. The first two years were quite hard. I was working in my parents attic for days and nights, learning how to work with these insanely complicated 3D programs. I’m from a rural place in the Netherlands so nobody understands what you’re going through. These years were quite lonely. But stubborn as I am, I stepped up and kept learning and learning. Because I had my own important deadline — I had to finish this shot, or I had a major problem which I hadn’t solved yet.

At SIGGRAPH, I’ve met to so many big people from the industry. It’s funny if you think about it. This lonely, locked-up boy in the attic, from a small town in the Netherlands, talking to all the big animators who work on amazing movies. But the best part was yet to come — Animation Supervisor Lino DiSalvo, who worked on Chicken Little, Tangled, Bolt, Meet the Robinsons, and the upcoming Prep & Landing, came by to check out our stuff. I don’t think I’ve been that nervous since I came to Vancouver for the first time. He gave me some really nice feedback about my animation, which I will be sure to apply in the future. I think he was talking for half an hour straight about poses, animation, and how he approaches problems. It’s so nice when people speak your “language”.

What I want to say with this story is that no matter where you’re from and which computer you are using, you’re not going through this alone. You will meet people who speak your “language” and understand your artistic input. And if you’re lucky and keep working hard, maybe, just maybe you will meet someone who can give you amazing feedback on your work, which will help you to become better at what you love to do most. And for me, thats animating.

Thanks, Bob!

Update: 3D student Andrew McCartney shares his experience with Lino DiSalvo.

Last Friday, just as we thought all the wonderful and crazy events from SIGGRAPH were over, we were visited by a team from Disney including none other than Lino DiSalvo himself. It was obvious that all the students were really looking forward to the presentation, since everyone had jammed themselves into the first few rows, eager to have a good seat.

The presentation was, as far as we know, the first time Walt Disney Animation Studios have visited VFS and it was amazing to hear from their own recruiters exactly what the studio is looking for from new graduates. We were shown some examples of student reels that resulted in students being accepted into their training programs. What really surprised me about it was how much thought and effort they put into selecting applicants. Each member of the team seemed to have really connected with the students who applied, and it was obvious that they spent a lot of time reviewing the reels that they considered for the positions.

What was even more inspiring was having Lino DiSalvo visit the the Antfarm, and watch a few of my classmates reels. Hearing advice and tips from a Supervising Animator at Disney is really an amazing opportunity which most students around the world would never get. All in all, it was an amazing day to wrap up an awesome week.

Thanks, Andrew!

Also on Friday was the presentation by Weta Digital Visual Effects Supervisor, Chris White. White, who started at Weta on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and spent three years working on Avatar, wowed the audience with the detailed CG animals Weta created for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

While his talk sparked a flurry of highly technical questions, White stressed the importance of research, describing their trips to the Wellington Zoo to observe captive monkeys and apes. Small details, such as the fact captive chimps tend to overgroom, leading to patchy fur, allowed the Weta team to model characters that would “read as real chimps” on the screen. To give some sense of the project’s scope, 30 modelers at Weta worked on grooming the chimps’ fur alone, while the characters’ eyes were under a continual process of refinement that took between six to eight months.

Asked what he likes most about his job, White said, apart from seeing final shots on the screen, that it’s the people on his teams that make his work worthwhile. “The longer you’re in the industry, the more it becomes about the people.” He also stressed the importance of taking time to go outside. “Go out and look at the world. How can you be good at your job, recreating the real world, if you don’t take the time to look at it?”

Thanks, Chris, and the crew from Weta Digital!

Guest Post: SIGGRAPH Student Diary

You can only learn so much about the SIGGRAPH experience from reading descriptions of presentations, which is why we’re thrilled to have current 3D Animation & Visual Effects student Phil Planta’s week-long take on the conference.

Guest post by Phil Planta

Day 1 – Sunday

We went to the Autodesk Student Experience and learned about techniques for their product line. The preview of Project PhotoFly was really exciting, as you can upload images of any object and turn it into a rough 3D object. Can’t beat a free lunch, too.

Picked up our passes at the conference hall and checked out the studio – a lot of demos and workshops, from 3D printing to art displays. This is going to be big, with so many international attendees as well.

Day 2 – Monday

Started the day with “Spirit of Rango: Animation and Rigging”. It was standing room only but well worth it.

Watched “Visual Effects for Live Action” with some animator friends from Term 5. The breakdowns were quite awe-inspiring.

Headed to VFS to see Paul Gaboury of Pixologic demo the new ZBrush. The new Dynamesh blew our minds – my modeling classmate Hokyung said, “It’s like cheating”.

The dessert buffet reception was pretty fun — cheese, ice cream, chocolate fondue, cakes — and at least 3000 people were in the foyer with the beautiful backdrop of the North Shore. Ran into Sergei from another 3D class, and he said the French animation almost made him cry.

Stopped by the local SIGGRAPH chapter party at the 560 Club, and that was pretty rocking as well. Time for bed!
 
Day 3 – Tuesday

Started the day at VFS with Zoic Studios and co-founder Loni Peristere. He had some great anecdotes about his mentor, the infamous Joss Whedon. I talked to the Vancouver Head of Production, Chris Roff, about cameras and General Manager Patrick Mooney about breaking into the industry as an FX artist or rigger.

My classmate Sathya and I then hustled over to the Convention Centre to see the opening of the Exhibition floor. We ran into our classmates who were still drooling over the Pixar premiere of La Luna. Watched the Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, and Megamind presentations.

Met my friends Lester from Method Studios and Arlyn from Nitrogen. They introduced me to some people from Rainmaker and also the Director of Operations of SIGGRAPH 2011!

Stopped by the VFS booth and Marianne introduced me to a top guy from Look Studios (Black Swan).

Back to VFS for a great presentation by ILM. What a day!

Day 4 – Wednesday

So many classes to choose from. Opted for “Cinematography – The Visuals & the Story” with Bruce Block. My head exploded from all the information, and the books for the autograph signing sold out in minutes. Stopped by the Sucker Punch and Tangled technical presentations.

Back to the floor. Still haven’t got my Renderman Teapot, a free collectible toy from Pixar. The lineup was around the whole conference room!

Ran into Dan, our resident ZBrush class expert, who had been sitting all day at the Pixologic booth learning all the latest time-saving techniques. The rest of my class were comparing notes we got from recruiters and seeing who scored the most swag.

To say SIGGRAPH has been mind-blowing is an understatement. Looking forward to the closing day, then on to the Animal Logic and Weta presentations at VFS!

 
Day 5 – Thursday

Arrived at SIGGRAPH at 9am to catch the Best of Show for the Computer Animation Festival. If you haven’t seen The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by Moonbot Studios, the short film on iTunes and the accompanying iPad app, I highly recommend you purchase them just to see the convergence.

Met fellow 3D student Kristina at the SIGGRAPH bookstore, then headed to the ILM presentation featuring the alien designs from Cowboys and Aliens, the mermaids from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and the Transformers: Dark of the Moon breakdowns. Out of this world.

Ran into my classmates Ethan and Vishnu and talked about the Disney presentation at VFS, which was apparently incredible, and compared notes on the Dynamics’ talk with my VFS buddy Azhar – he actually went home to study more simulation physics last night to better understand what the speakers were talking about.

After a quick bite, headed over to the PNY booth to check out discount prices on the Quadro Series video cards, and then my schoolmate Gal (who was sporting his new 343 t-shirt from the recruiter) purchased a Wacom tablet on special from local reseller Annex Pro – screaming deals.

We stopped by the MPC booth for some recruiting information, and then watched some interesting Mental Ray and ZBrush demos.

Rushed back to school to do some work then made it just in time for the Animal Logic presentation. I can’t thank Marianne and the VFS team enough for what turned out to be my favourite presentation of this whole SIGGRAPH experience. Recruiter Krista Jordan, a former top compositor at Animal Logic (The Matrix!), gave us a new twist on preparing our reels for the real world. She gave us list of things recruiters hate and that hurt your chances of being noticed, and guidelines for proper presentation.

I also caught up with Senior Recruiter Patricia Kung, who gave the students tips on breaking into the industry and an idea of entry level positions, from rotoscoping to technical animators to modeling cleanup.

Did some more swag comparisons and heard quite a few students showed their reels at the job fair and got interviewed already! Exciting times.

Well, that’s a wrap for my first SIGGRAPH experience. Will definitely be attending again in LA 2012, hope to see everyone there next year!

Thanks, Phil!

Check out more images from SIGGRAPH 2011 on the VFS Flickr collection.

A Promising Beginning in Final Destination 5

“It was a painful shot. It was pretty intense.”

It took 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Michael Miller three months to complete his work on the eye-zoom premonition shot (you’ll know it) in Final Destination 5, which hits theatres today.

On his first feature credit, Michael did everything from previs to camera work to animation. In total, he put in a year on FD5 as a 3D Generalist. No wonder he’s looking forward to seeing it up on the big screen!

We also know of a few more 3D grads whose talents are on display in the newest installment of the most famous “how will they die?” franchise:

Biren Venkatraman (3D Modeler)
Chung-Ping Chao (Digital Compositor)
Louis Cox (Roto/Paint Artist)
Jesus L. Yapor (Compositor)
Oded Granot (Stereoscopic Nuke Compositor)
Anthony Di Ninno (Previs Artist)

Classical Animation grad Frank Akrong also contributed as a Compositor.

Be sure to look for the destruction of Vancouver’s Lion’s Gate Bridge (see it here in the trailer)!

Also coming out today is 30 Minutes or Less, featuring the work of Film Production grad Casey McClurken (Electrician) and 3D grad Christine Petersen (Digital Compositor).

Animal Logic Makes Sense of Breaking In

SIGGRAPH 2011 officially wrapped up yesterday — but with so many industry pros still in town, the fun will keep going throughout today.

Four days of amazing speakers finished last night with a presentation from Krista Jordan, a recruiter from Australia’s Animal Logic. You’ve seen their work in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Happy Feet, and 300.

With 15 years of experience at Animal Logic, Krista shared with current students in 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Classical Animation, and Digital Character Animation what it’s like to work at the company.

“We’re very passionate about growing the artist and growing the industry,” she said. As someone who’s seen countless applications, she offered some solid advice on how students can best present themselves not only to Animal Logic, but to any potential employer after graduation.

Some tips from Krista:

- Create a nice, clean website that clearly identifies who you are and what you can do
- Research the companies you’re applying to and check out their recent work
- Be specific in what your career goals are
- Keep your reel brief and focus it on your best skills — but show some variety as well

She also offered some advice about where to go looking for international working visas, as it’s extremely rare that an international company will sponsor someone applying for an entry-level position. There are ways to do it, but you have to be tenacious.

Thanks for the advice, Krista!

Lino DiSalvo on Acting & Animation

The buzz of yesterday’s activity continued into the evening with a VFS-hosted, student-only presentation from Lino DiSalvo — a 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad who now works as a Supervising Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios on such features as Tangled and Bolt.

Lino began by having a little fun and played a clip from Bolt, where his New Yorker accent is on display as “Vinnie” the pigeon. He then jumped into a presentation heavily focused on how solid acting instincts help animators create better work.

The Workflow

For a studio animator, it all starts with the storyboards: “To me, storyboards are the soul of the film.”

At Walt Disney Animation Studios, animators are issued a chunk of work and have a tight time frame to turn everything around. But Lino still gives himself a day to explore his creative choices and consider the best approach to animating his assigned scene.

Whenever he animates a character, he always tries to act it out first – relying heavily on the advice from his wife (a professional actor). He screened some clips of these “home recordings” he makes in his office, mouthing out the dialogue and flailing his arms. It may sound funny – and it is – but when Lino takes this footage to the film’s director, everyone has a much clearer idea of what will be on the screen, and Lino’s first passes at blocking his character’s actions will be even closer to what he’s being asked for.

Play it Cool

From there, he’ll get a ton of critical notes and keep plugging away at his scene. Understanding how to take notes and not get too defensive is key to being successful, he explained to the audience:

“When you guys get gigs at studios, you’re going to get your stuff ripped apart… Do not fall in love with anything you do.”

Instead, he suggests you find unique ways to surprise others with fresh choices while staying close to the intent of the original storyboards. Subtext, he says, is everything: What is a character thinking? Where are they going? How might their body language complement or contradict what they’re saying? Lino loves seeing this quality in student reels.

Sneak Peek

Lino wrapped up by giving students a very special look at his newest work on ABC’s Prep & Landing, which you won’t be able to see until Christmas. He mentioned that it was likely the first time this footage was screened anywhere in the world outside of Disney. All we can say is that it was awesome!

Many thanks to Lino for his time — and to all the Animation & Visual Effects students for their great questions!