Category: Uncategorized

  • Doug Chiang’s 4 principles of Star Wars design

    Doug Chiang didn’t go to art school. But as many readers would know, he worked his way up at places like Rhythm & Hues, Robert Abel and Associates and ILM, landing the role as the head of the Lucasfilm art department on the Star Wars prequels starting in 1995. Here he worked with George Lucas on…

  • Wolf pack wonderment

    For Storks, Sony Pictures Imageworks had some fun scenes to make including those involving the shape-shifting wolf pack. I wrote about the work for Cartoon Brew.

  • Review: Inside VFX

    I reviewed Inside VFX for Cartoon Brew. This is a book written by a vfx artist who opens up on his view of the problems in the industry. It’s a good read, and surprises with a number of economics details.

  • Big directors and VR

    Here’s a look at Jon Favreau’s VR experience Gnomes & Goblins made with Wevr, for Cartoon Brew.

  • Spike gets it

    The best commercials are more art projects, right?  I think most of what Spike Jonze makes is exactly that, which is why his latest perfume spot for KENZO is so watchable. And it also happens to have a bunch of seamless vfx from Digital Domain, which I wrote about at Inverse.

  • Latest 3D Artist mag pieces

    Check out the new issue #98 of 3D Artist – I wrote two features on ZBrush and on MPC’s digital assets team.

  • How good is VFX on TV right now?

    Here’s a preview of the nominees for VFX Emmys this year, which I wrote about on Inverse.

  • Fractals and XBox mocap

    That’s just some of the work Imageworks had to tackle for Suicide Squad, which I looked into for One Perfect Shot.

  • Storytelling details

    For SideFX, I wrote about Disney Animation’s use of Houdini for Zootopia – everything from hair to water fountains. The film is great, but the detail is sometimes what makes it so re-watchable.

  • When you want to know, ‘How was it made?’

    UPDATE: Russell Earl from ILM is now attending VIEW, to break down his studio’s huge vfx work in Captain America: Civil War (remember that airport sequence?). And the directors of Dreamworks Animation’s Trolls, Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn, will both be there too.   Last week I wrote about Turin, Italy. The city has had a big…