Dan Curry on the practical and digital revolutions made in ‘Star Trek’ TV VFX

scanhq0280

Visual effects producer and supervisor Dan Curry is synonymous with the Star Trek television series from the 1980s through the mid-2000s. It was a time in which VFX progressed from practical builds, miniatures and optical effects through to all things digital (although practical solutions certainly remained a key part of the way the show’s effects would be brought to life).

With Star Trek: Discovery about to hit the small screen, I caught up with Dan for an article at SYFY WIRE. You can find that here, but Dan and I were lucky to have a much longer conversation than the piece could allow, so I thought I’d publish the whole chat on vfxblog. Dan provided a bunch of images, as did visual effects supervisor Eric Alba, who got his start on those past Trek series. Continue reading Dan Curry on the practical and digital revolutions made in ‘Star Trek’ TV VFX

Here’s a way to be part of Trojan Horse even if you’re not in Portugal

Screen Shot 2017-09-16 at 2.00.06 PM

Trojan Horse was a Unicorn or THU is about to kick off in Portugal. If you’re a regular reader then you might know I’ve been the last two years to this design, animation, concept art and VFX event (although listing those things doesn’t really fully cover what THU is all about – I think of it as the BEST motivational event for creative people I know about).

Not everyone can go to THU, partly because it always sells out ridiculously quickly. But one innovation they’ve been bringing for the past 2 years is THU TV, a mix of livestreaming interviews and coverage, and catch-up shows, direct from the event in Troia.

Screen Shot 2017-09-16 at 1.59.50 PM

This year, I’m going to be hosting some of those interviews. They’ll be a mix of casual chats and conversations with people from design, animation and VFX (I’ll post the schedule when I can). Some other fantastic presenters, Christopher Nichols from Chaos Group, and Haje Jan Kamps of Techcrunch LifeFolder fame, will also be hosting sessions. And you can watch them by signing up to a THU TV ticket right here: http://trojan-unicorn.com/tickets.

It’s 59.90 Euros for live coverage of 5 days of THU Talks and Masterclasses, live talkshows (that’s the thing I’m part of), and VoD on Vimeo after the event.

I think THU TV is a pretty great way to stay in touch with what’s happening in the creative industries, learn some new things, be inspired, and feel like you’re there at THU in spirit even if you can’t be in person.

VIEW Conference preview: Making a digital Hugh Jackman

build_logan_lookDev_v283_0028

Between the 23rd and 27th of October, the city of Turin in Italy will be host to the VIEW Conference. Now in its 18th year, VIEW offers an intimate setting with a wide-ranging set of speakers from the visual effects, animation, games and interactive media industries.

One of those speakers is Image Engine visual effects supervisor Martyn Culpitt, who worked on director James Mangold’s Logan, one of the biggest films of the year. It’s also a film that surprised many with a seamless use of digital doubles for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and X-24 characters, and the digital double for the character of Lara, played by Dafne Keen.

At VIEW, Culpitt will be exploring Image Engine’s CG digi-doubles work and other visual effects in Logan, in detail. I caught up with the visual effects supervisor for a preview of his VIEW talk and a discussion about his thoughts on the state of digital human performances. Continue reading VIEW Conference preview: Making a digital Hugh Jackman