Fahrenheit Digital

I did not have much on my schedule today. I woke up a bit late (finally got a full night of sleep!) then went to the convention center, which is a few steps away since the hotel is connected by a short pedestrian bridge. Hooked up with a few friends then headed out for lunch. We didn’t really know where we were going but ended up at a really good sea food restaurant.

After walking back I went to the Autodesk User Group gathering. Ran into another old friend from my days in the Bay Area at ILM. Actually, I met Bryan at my first industry job working for a game company called Rocket Science Games! This year is the first combined 3D Studio Max/Maya gathering. The demos tended to be pretty short since there were several products that needed to be covered. But I had to miss the Duncan Show at the end! :0(

But there was an impressive demo of the tentacle rig used on Davey Jones in “Pirates of the Caribbean 2″ by my old coworker Tim Naylor at ILM. Quite impressive! The work ILM did on this show is a new high water mark for our industry! There was also a London-based architectural firm that has mapped (in 3DS Max) a huge portion of the city of London! The model they showed was over 12 million polygons with great interactive feedback. They were using this model to help planners visualize what new buildings would look like in the context of their city. Another studio showcased the work they did on “Superman,” including a crystal creation system and a very impressive fluid cynamics & rendering system.

It is interesting being introduced to a new community in seeing all of the work being done in 3DS Max.

Ducked out of this event a bit early so that I could make my Electronic Theater time. Lots of fun and interesting pieces were showcased. “Monster Samurai” by Sprite Animation was pretty cool. Of course ILM and Imageworks had cool stuff to show. The CG short by Charlex titled “One Rat Short” was also quite good. A touching story. All in all, there was a lot of great work from all over the world.

Returned to the hotel lobby and ran into some coworkers who were heading out for dinner, so I tagged along. We grabbed a taxi to the North End of the city, ate some great pizza (recommended by one of the city denizens), walked around for a bit (got a picture of Paul Revere’s house as well as a monument to one of the first women killed during the Salem Witch Hunt!), grabbed some gelato then headed back to the hotel via the subway. I did not realize there was such a large Itilian population here… lotsa great food!

Tomorrow I have an all-day RenderMan class that I will be attending, so I have to get up early enough to make it there by 8:30AM. Good thing my hotel is only 5 minutes away fro mthe convention center!!!

Arrived in Boston late last night… jetlagged of course.

This morning I attended an all-day discussion covering the recent work of Imageworks and Rhythm & Hues. Imageworks started the morning with a discussion of their work on the upcoming movie “Open Season.” This is their first feature animated movie and it was interesting seeing how a visual effects studio approaches the rigging challenges of this medium.

The end goals are the same as most other animation studios; replicating the techniques and control of 2D animation using 3D tools. They showed some really interesting ideas and the look of the movie is great. Technically, hats off to Imageworks!

Next was a presentation by R&H showcasing their work on “Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.” Of course the work was great and stands as the greatest accomplishment of this studio. Because R&H is a completely proprietary pipeline, the solutions the employed for deformations and cloth and hair and rendering was interesting to see.

Although I set out on a walk to find what I could find in Boston I returned to the hotel once it became apparent that just about everything was closed in the downtown area, near where I am staying. makes sense… it IS Sunday.

Tomorrow I will have the morning to explore the city then a Digital Taxonomy course taught by my old boss at ILM. So stay tuned for more tomorrow!

This could be a fun one!

A new trailer for the all-CG “TMNT” movie is available on the Apple Quicktime site. This could be a fun one!

Aside from a potentially fun & entertaining animated movie, this could also be interesting because it might become the first asian production that does VERY well in the box office. Personally, I hope the movie is great and makes a gazillion dollars; the more the merrier.

My personal thoughts notwithstanding, this trailer is definitely worth a look!

TNMT Trailer

Yes… it is that time of the year once again. The annual San Diego Comic-Con is almost upon us! This year as usual, will be packed with the latest toys, collectibles and comics. There will also be numerous talks and sneak previews of upcoming motion pictures.

Besides, where else are you going to get the skinny on “Snakes on a Plane?!”

Hope to see you all there!

San Diego Comic-Con 2006

Hajime Emoto is the “curator” of a virtual gallery of fantastic creatures. Everything from dragons to demons to prehistoric fish… but they are all made of paper and glue and bamboo!

This collection of artwork is incredibly creative and shows quite a bit of technical sculptural & anatomical skill to bring the artists unique visions to life. I think you’ll find his creations to be quite imaginative & impressive.

Original link found on the Pink Tentacle web site.

If you can read Japanese, here is the direct link to the Museum of Fantastic Specimens.

You can also see Emoto’s work in person along with 27 other artists at the “Augen 2006″ exhibit at Aoki Gallery between July 10-22 in Tokyo.

I found this web site of amazing artwork created by George Vlosich III on BoingBoing. The crazy thing is that he creates his art using an Etch A Sketch!

I, for one, have barely been able to draw a diagonal line with those things, let along elaborate, intricate portraiture. Check it out!

Etched In Time