Category: Uncategorized

  • Pixar previews their real-time graphics talk at SIGGRAPH Asia

    One of the featured sessions at SIGGRAPH Asia in Bangkok (27-30 November) is How Real-Time Graphics Helps Pixar Make Feature Films, being presented by senior graphics software engineers David Yu and Pol Jeremias-Vila. I got the chance to ask them a few quick questions about what real-time graphics and effects initiatives are in use at…

  • A visual journey through the screen graphics of ‘Blade Runner 2049’

    Territory Studio is behind some of the coolest UI and screen graphics you’ve seen in recent films, from Prometheus to Ghost in the Shell and now Blade Runner 2049. What better way to see what they did for the Denis Villeneuve film than just let them show off their visuals. Here’s a look at designs…

  • In every age, there is a cause worth fighting for…

    That line begins the 1997 trailer for Starship Troopers. When I first saw that trailer I was spellbound. When I first saw the film, and realised there was A LOT more going on in the Paul Verhoeven film than people realised, I was hooked. It’s got to be one of the best satires made, and…

  • The new bullet time?

    A flashback to Valkyrie’s battle against Hela in Thor: Ragnarok is shown in deep slow-mo – it’s one of the coolest scenes in the film, and new in-camera lighting tech on a rig reminiscent of bullet time from Satellite Lab and VFX by Rising Sun Pictures helped make it possible. Find out more at SYFY…

  • Crafting the insane action behind ‘Thor: Ragnorak’s’ end battle

    WARNING: Contains some plot spoilers. Amongst the many and complex visual effects sequences in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, the final battle on Asgard is perhaps the most epic. Here, the evil Hela (Cate Blanchett), her d-guards and massive dog Fenris take on Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and…

  • Ian Spriggs on CG portraits and designing characters for Neill Blomkamp

    Ian Spriggs is a character artist with experience at several visual effects studios and most recently at Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios. Here, he has taken on some of the most elaborate modelling and texturing tasks of his career. Spriggs is also well-known for his CG portraits and self-portraits, including one of Blomkamp himself. I sat…

  • Thor vs. Hulk

    During the filming of this cool scene in Thor: Ragnarok, vfx supe Jake Morrison mixed up the scales of the stunt doubles. And ILM did a stellar job helping to re-imagine CG Hulk. Find out more at SYFY WIRESYFY WIRE.

  • Reflecting on ‘Valerian’: concept artist Ben Mauro

    At Trojan Horse was a Unicorn in Portugal recently, I got to sit down with Ben Mauro, an art director, concept artist, creature designer and illustrator whose work has appeared in such films as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Lucy, Elysium, Chappie and the Hobbit films, plus several games and other places.…

  • vfxblog readers get a discount to SIGGRAPH Asia

    One of the reasons I try and get to different conferences is that there often ends up being presentations on VFX and animation that you get early access to or don’t get shown anywhere else. That’s exactly what looks set to be shown soon at SIGGRAPH Asia in Bangkok, taken place between 27 and 30…

  • Behind the scenes with anim and rigging tool Akeytsu

    Check out the Akeytsu tool from Nukeygara, a new release that’s been in the works for a while but approaches animation and rigging in a new way. Story at Cartoon Brew.