Phoenix FD for Maya Official Release

Phoenix FD™ for Autodesk® Maya® empowers VFX artists to simulate fire, smoke, explosions, liquids, foam and splashes, while offering exceptional flexibility and speed. It is a hybrid simulation system including grids and particles, enabling you to get the best of both worlds. Fully integrated with V-Ray, it harnesses the power of Chaos Group’s rendering engine including proper GI from the generated fluid. V-Ray RT supports all Phoenix FD fluids, including liquids with proper refraction. Phoenix FD for Maya is optimized for huge amounts of particles allowing VFX artists to work on complex simulations.

Phoenix FD GPU preview for Maya



Phoenix FD for Maya Overview

Want To Learn The Arnold Renderer ?

 Fxphd has been creating classes and tutorials for the high-end VFX crowd for years now. Now they are teaching an introduction to the Arnold renderer. Below is the info. HERE is the site to get more information and to sign up.

ARN101: Introduction to Arnold

Professor: Ulf Lundgren
Software Version:
Original Run Date: October 2012

This course is targeted at anyone who may already be familiar

with rendering and lighting but who wants to move over to 

Arnold; or just wants to know how Arnold can help in production.

Taught by Ulf Lundgren, the goal of the course is to get you up

 to speed in Arnold and help you understand the differences 

when using Arnold compared to other Render engines. Prior

experiences of rendering and lighting is a plus but not necessary

since this course should still help you get on your way to

amazing renders.

Workflow, rendering optimization, basic shaders, usefull 

lighting riggs, sss, volumetrics, linare workflow, Aov and 

practical work-flow tools might not sound all that sexy 

but you’ll come to love the results. Furthermore this course

is designed to mix more theoretical classes with in-depth

case studies of Arnold working on real projects, giving a 

better understanding of how to use Arnold in production. 

This course gives you a very good understanding of how 

to do both full CG projects as well as taking you through 

all the steps of a production for using Arnold to integrate 

CG into a live action plate.

Even though the course is using Softimage as it’s main 

application all the classes are kept generic and should 

be as relevant for any implementation of Arnold; be it 

Maya, Softimage or feature implementations in Houdini 

or Light Wave. No knowledge of Softimage should be

 needed. Course members will be able to have access 

to the the Arnold renderer software, thanks to a 

partnership with Solid Angle.

Ulf Lundgren is a VFX supervisor and director at Lost 

Liner Productions in Stockholm Sweden. He’s worked 

on a number of international feature films and well 

known commercials like Harry Potter 1 and 2, Golden

 Compass, James Bond Die another day and Xbox 

Mosquito before starting his own studio and tackling

the Swedish movie scene of ghosts and Zombies.

class syllabus

Class 1: A brief history of Arnold and how it integrates

into a production workflow and the good vs bad when

comparing Arnold with other renderers.

Class 2: How to setup and render with a linear workflow 

using color managment in Arnold, followed by and an in 

depth look at all the types of lights Arnold has to offer.

Class 3: An in depth look at shading with Arnold and 

how to use the different types of shaders in production.

Class 4: An in depth look at render effects and settings

and learn how to export ASS files to do batch rendering 

of sequences using kick.

Class 5: Shading for production, a case study of how 

to create shaders for all objects in a scene.

Class 6: Working efficiently with Arnold, optimizing 

renders and setting up a good workflow.

Class 7: Case studies of how to do lighting and shading 

in a full CG productions.

Class 8: A case study of how to do lighting and shading 

for live action integration. Part 1. Using lightprobes and 

other on-set data to better integrate the CG elements

into the plate.

Class 9: A case study of how to do lighting and 

shading for live action integration. Part 2. Rendering 

with AOV’s and how to best use them in compositing.

Class 10: Wrap up any questions from the forums.

SIGGRAPH Asia Is Soon Upon Us

 SIGGRAPH Asia is just around the corner. 28 days and counting to be exact. Have you registered online yet. Trust me when I say, If you never have attended SIGGRAPH before, you definitely want to pre-register. You'll be in a world of hurt if you have to do it there. #LONGLINES. Here is the info to get you to the right place. You have 20 days left to register before Online Registration closes.

SIGGRAPH ASIA 2012 REGISTRATION

Here's the Electronic Theater preview to get you revved up!

October 30, 2012

DISNEY TO ACQUIRE LUCASFILM LTD.

Well the news has spread like a viral video of a cute kitten sleeping. Disney has bought Lucasfilm for 4 BILLION dollars. You can take this one of two ways . HAPPY There will be more Star Wars films. SAD Disney will be at the helm of  new Star Wars films. This acquisition includes visual fx powerhouse Industrial Light and Magic ! 

Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015

 Below is the entire press release. Fingers crossed for the best.

 

An investor conference call will take place at approximately 4:30 p.m. EDT / 1:30 p.m. PDT today, October 30, 2012. Details for the call are listed in the release.

Global leader in high-quality family entertainment agrees to acquire world-renowned Lucasfilm Ltd, including legendary STAR WARS franchise.

Acquisition continues Disney's strategic focus on creating and monetizing the world's best branded content, innovative technology and global growth to drive long-term shareholder value.

Lucasfilm to join company's global portfolio of world class brands including Disney, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and ABC.

STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 feature film targeted for release in 2015.

Burbank, CA and San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2012 – Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.
Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet adjustments.
"Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas," said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney's unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value."
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney's reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products."
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and "evergreen" Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.
Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney's global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.
The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship between them that already includes successful integration of Star Wars content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.
Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm's legendary Star Wars franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. Star Wars feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars one of the world's top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney's strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.
The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney's very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company's unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney's portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company's ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world's highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.
The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.
Note: Additional information and comments from Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company, and Jay Rasulo, senior executive vice president and CFO, The Walt Disney Company, regarding Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, are attached.
Investor Conference Call:
An investor conference call will take place at approximately 4:30 p.m. EDT / 1:30 p.m. PDT today, October 30, 2012. To listen to the Webcast, turn your browser to /investors/events or dial in domestically at (888) 771-4371 or internationally at (847) 585-4405. For both dial-in numbers, the participant pass code is 33674546.
The discussion will be available via replay on the Disney Investor Relations website through November 13, 2012 at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST.
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, interactive media, and consumer products. Disney is a Dow 30 company with revenues of over $40 billion in its Fiscal Year 2011.
About Lucasfilm Ltd.
Founded by George Lucas in 1971, Lucasfilm is a privately held, fully-integrated entertainment company. In addition to its motion-picture and television production operations, the company's global activities include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual-effects and audio post-production; LucasArts, a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide; Lucas Licensing, which manages the global merchandising activities for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties; Lucasfilm Animation; and Lucas Online creates Internet-based content for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties and businesses. Additionally, Lucasfilm Singapore, produces digital animated content for film and television, as well as visual effects for feature films and multi-platform games. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Ironman3 Trailer Hits Theatres

The Ironman 3 trailer has hit the theatres. I was not wholly impressed with it. Teaser trailers are often times less than stellar so it's not really a reflection on the movie as I see it. Judge for yourself.

E-on Releases Specs Of Vue 11

VUE 11 PRE RELEASE AVAILABLE FOR USERS UNDER MAINTENANCE
October 23, 2012. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, the leader in 3D Digital Nature technologies, today announced the formal unveiling of its upcoming Vue 11 product line - scheduled for release November, 2012.
Concurrently, the company is offering its professional users under maintenance a pre-release version of Vue 11 xStream and Infinite, the latest production-driven version of its professional solutions for the creation, animation and rendering of natural 3D environments.

New features of Vue 11
Key features of Vue 11 include faster rendering, illumination caching, terrain and EcoPainter improvements, 360° population, interactive EcoSystem population, as well as EcoParticles, e-on software's revolutionary approach to particles:
With EcoParticles, users can do all the standard stuff that particles are good at, but they can also do a lot more. Rather than creating simple emitters, and having particles grow out of them, e-on software designed a new way of handling particles that is specifically well suited for Digital Nature.
The Vue 11 Particle system is a direct extension of the production proven EcoSystem™ technology that is a key player in Vue’s success for the film, television, architecture, game, science, educational and entertainment industries.
Here is a shortlist of some of the important new features included in Release 11 of Vue:

• EcoParticles: This new technology is ideal for the creation of animated rain, snow, waterfalls, explosions, fire, smoke, tornadoes, falling leaves, swarm of insects and more. Any object can be set as a particle source (emitter).
• EcoParticles as EcoSystems: EcoParticles are added to any material like a regular EcoSystem material layer. But with EcoParticles, users get in depth control over the way the particles will evolve over time. Users can define the speed, direction, collision properties and duration of life of the particles, as well as subject them to external influences. On top of these new physical settings, all of the classic EcoSystem configuration parameters are used for particle instance population.
• EcoParticles Effectors: Effectors are special objects that will influence the EcoParticles in the scene. Effects like tornadoes, jittering, attraction, etc. are easily created this way.
• Automatic Weather Effects - Rain and Snow: These new atmospheric effects enable artists to create anything from gentle spring rain to a tropical storm, a gentle falling snow to a blizzard, with just a few simple clicks. The heaviness, shape, drop size, speed and falling angle of the precipitation is user controllable. Motion blur can be added if desired too. Weather Effects are available for all types of atmospheres.
• EcoPainter Improvements: The EcoSystem Painter is completely redesigned to allow even more control and flexibility. Users can now create their own brushes using a combination of effectors. For instance, brushes that will resize and align instances at the same time. There are a number of new brush effects to boot, including the ability to lean or rotate instances, raise or lower them, move them around, etc.
• Customizable EcoPainter Brushes: Like the brushes in the Terrain Editor, each EcoPainter brush now has its own dialog that displays all of the parameters that can be adjusted. If users want to display a specific brush parameter directly in the main EcoPainter dialog, they can do so with a click on the corresponding Publish icon. The EcoSystem Selection function is now part of the EcoPainter. This way, users can use the select function to define the instances to work with, directly in the EcoSystem Painter dialog. EcoSystem Instance Selection is now also available in xStream for 3ds Max, Cinema4D and Softimage.
• EcoSystem Fast Population: Thanks to a special population mode, Vue can now refresh the EcoSystem population interactively, without the need of any re-population action
• EcoSystem 360° Population: Vue can now automatically populate EcoSystems from all directions including below objects. This feature works on any kind of object from basic spheres to complex geometry such as rocks, cars, houses... and all applicable EcoSystem settings are supported.
• Faster Rendering Speed: Significant internal optimizations made to Vue 11’s rendering engine will result in dramatically accelerated rendering especially on very dense EcoSystem scenes.
• Illumination Caching: This technology lets the user re-use GI information over the course of an entire animation thus eliminating the need to re-render the GI pre-pass for every frame. This will dramatically reduce the rendering times of Architectural animations, for instance.
• Many other improvements such as Shared Material layers, Nitrous accelerated graphics core support in 3ds Max, support for latest releases of the Autodesk 2013 products and Cinema4D R14, and more...

A complete and detailed list of features will be made available at the time of final release.

Release Schedule and Product Lineup
E-on software expects to release the entire Vue 11 product line November 2012*.
The Vue 11 product line is built around the same three-tiered structure:

This Caught My Eye #1

 Sehsucht with Markenfilm have produced this new commercial for the Dodge Ram 1500. I saw it first watching football the other day. It's nice to see that the auto industry is back and they have the kind of budgets to produce something like this. It caught my eye. Very impressive. Wait a second for video embed to load.