Search Results for: film
VFX House DNEG Acquires Exclusive License to Ziva Technologies From Unity
“Unity has also entered into an agreement with DNEG, a leading technology-enabled visual effects (VFX) and animation company for the creation of feature film, television, and multiplatform content, for an exclusive perpetual license of the Ziva IP. Unity will continue to retain ownership of all the technology acquired from Ziva Dynamics, and we will continue to evaluate the best way to enhance our core offerings with it over time.”
DreamWorks Animation to Release MoonRay as Open Source
https://www.awn.com/news/dreamworks-animation-release-moonray-open-source
MoonRay is DreamWorks’ open-source, award-winning, state-of-the-art production MCRT renderer, which has been used on feature films such as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Trolls World Tour, The Bad Guys, the upcoming Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, as well as future titles. MoonRay was developed at DreamWorks and is in continuous active development and includes an extensive library of production-tested, physically based materials, a USD Hydra render delegate, multi-machine and cloud rendering via the Arras distributed computation framework.
Note: it does not support osl and usd handling is limited. Cycles may still be a fair alternative.
The Hollywood VFX Jobs Most At-Risk From AI
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/ai-hollywood-workers-job-cuts-1235811009/
Over the next three years, it estimates that nearly 204,000 positions will be adversely affected.
In November, former Dreamworks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg said the tech will replace 90 percent of jobs on animated films.
Roughly a third of respondents surveyed predicted that AI will displace sound editors, 3D modelers, re-recording mixers and audio and video technicians within three years, while a quarter said that sound designers, compositors and graphic designers are likely to be affected.
Roughly a third of respondents surveyed predicted that AI will displace sound editors, 3D modelers, re-recording mixers and audio and video technicians within three years, while a quarter said that sound designers, compositors and graphic designers are likely to be affected.
AI tools may increasingly be used to help create images that can streamline character design and storyboarding process, lowering demand for concept artists, illustrators and animators.
According to the study, the job tasks most likely to be impacted by AI in the film and TV industry are 3-D modeling, character and environment design, voice generation and cloning and compositing, followed by sound design, tools programming, script writing, animation and rigging, concept art/visual development and light/texture generation.
L.A. Production Slow to Rebound After WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes
https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/tv-film-production-strike-wga-sag-aftra-1235874059
https://labusinessjournal.com/featured/film-production/
https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/strikes-drop-la-filmtv-production-to-near-record-lows
“Things that have never happened before happen all the time.”
– Prof. Scott Sagan, Stanford University
“We have months to go before we can describe what the new normal looks like for filming in Los Angeles.”
Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in ‘company reset’ mostly affecting WetaFX
https://www.reuters.com/technology/unity-software-cut-38-staff-company-reset-2023-11-28/
Tuesday’s announcement includes termination of the professional services piece of an agreement Unity struck with movie director Peter Jackson’s visual effects company Weta FX in 2021 after Unity purchased the technology and engineering division of Weta FX. As a result, 265 employees whose jobs are related to the agreement will be laid off, the company said.
UPDATE Statement from WētāFX
On November 25, 2023, Unity and Wētā FX mutually agreed to terminate Unity’s service agreement with Wētā FX effective December 10, 2023. This decision comes as Unity refocus their efforts on their core business. The termination of the agreement will see the reduction of 265 Unity roles. Wētā FX will be extending offers to as many of the team as possible as it looks to expand its research, development and support functions. Unity will retain ownership of the technology it acquired from Wētā in December 2021 and will be evaluating the best way to enhance its offerings with it over time. The technology will also remain fully available to Wētā FX. Wētā FX will continue to build and extend the IP, and develop its own tools and techniques, to continue its evolution as a leader in visual effects.
Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra Review – ACF Resin 3D printer
NOTE: You can use Anycubic water washable 8k resin with this printer.
What is ACF film (Advanced Composite Film) for resin printing?
The ACF Film features a bottom, frosted layer film that creates a softer and less suction force during printing. This remarkable attribute significantly enhances the success rate when printing challenging resins with high viscosity, ensuring exceptional results.
https://www.elegoo.com/en-ca/products/elegoo-saturn-3-ultra-resin-3d-printer-12k
Washing and curing
LasVegas’ Sphere and the Big Sky Camera
https://theasc.com/articles/sphere-and-the-big-sky-camera
Sphere is a 516′-wide, 366′-tall geodesic dome that houses the world’s highest-resolution screen: a 160,000-square-foot LED wraparound that fills the peripheral vision for 17,600 spectators (20,000 if standing-room areas are included). The curved screen is a 9mm-pixel-pitch, sonically transparent surface of LED panels with 500-nit brightness that produce a high-dynamic-range experience. The audience sits 160′ to 400′ from the screen in theatrical seating, and the screen provides a 155-degree diagonal field of view and a more-than-140-degree vertical field of view.
The image on the screen is 16K (16,384x16,384) driven by 25 synchronized 4K video servers.
https://nofilmschool.com/darren-aronofsky-sphere-camera
Cross section:
Tom Hanks on his debut novel “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece”: Nothing comes easy if you learnt all through mistakes…
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-50-q/clip/16014382-tom-hanks
Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, A League of Their Own) on his debut novel “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” the insecurities he’s felt throughout his career, and what drives his passion for filmmaking when it feels like “the odds are stacked against you.”
Nothing comes easy if you learnt all through mistakes…
Epic is changing Unreal Engine’s pricing for non-game developers
The change will happen sometime next year and will charge some users on a per-seat model, similar to Photoshop pricing.
Game developers using Unreal Engine won’t be affected and will continue to pay for a license based on a royalty model. However, users in industries like film or automotive will be moved to per-seat pricing, meaning they’ll be charged for the subscription the same way someone might pay for Photoshop.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/5/23905082/epic-unreal-engine-pricing-change-film-automotive
Australia’s NSW Government reverses 60M cuts to Made in NSW fund, PDV and games rebates
The NSW government has responded to mounting pressure from the film sector, reversing cuts and restoring funding to develop new screen projects.
Former news
https://if.com.au/nsw-government-flags-cuts-to-made-in-nsw-fund-pdv-rebate/
https://if.com.au/dneg-slams-proposed-cuts-to-nsw-screen-funding
The NSW Government has signalled it will make cuts to screen funding in next week’s state budget, including the Made in NSW fund, the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) rebate and the Digital Games Development Rebate Program.
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has called the proposed changes “devastating”, and argued they will put jobs, revenue and investment growth at risk for years to come. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) similarly said the cuts would damage the state’s credibility and competitiveness as a global film and television “powerhouse”.
GretagMacbeth Color Checker Numeric Values and Middle Gray
The human eye perceives half scene brightness not as the linear 50% of the present energy (linear nature values) but as 18% of the overall brightness. We are biased to perceive more information in the dark and contrast areas. A Macbeth chart helps with calibrating back into a photographic capture into this “human perspective” of the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_gray
In photography, painting, and other visual arts, middle gray or middle grey is a tone that is perceptually about halfway between black and white on a lightness scale in photography and printing, it is typically defined as 18% reflectance in visible light
Light meters, cameras, and pictures are often calibrated using an 18% gray card[4][5][6] or a color reference card such as a ColorChecker. On the assumption that 18% is similar to the average reflectance of a scene, a grey card can be used to estimate the required exposure of the film.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ColorChecker
The exposure meter in the camera does not know whether the subject itself is bright or not. It simply measures the amount of light that comes in, and makes a guess based on that. The camera will aim for 18% gray independently, meaning if you take a photo of an entirely white surface, and an entirely black surface you should get two identical images which both are gray (at least in theory). Thus enters the Macbeth chart.
Note that Chroma Key Green is reasonably close to an 18% gray reflectance.
http://www.rags-int-inc.com/PhotoTechStuff/MacbethTarget/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/CIE1931xy_ColorChecker_SMIL.svg
RGB coordinates of the Macbeth ColorChecker
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0e03/251ad1e6d3c3fb9cb0b1f9754351a959e065.pdf
Marvel VFX Artists Vote to Unionize
https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/marvel-vfx-artists-unionize-1235690272/
BREAKING: Visual Effects (VFX) crews at Marvel Studios have filed for a unionization election with the National Labor Relations Board, Monday. The move signals a major shift in an industry that has largely remained non-union since VFX was pioneered during production of the first Star Wars films in the 1970s. A supermajority of Marvel’s more than 50-worker crew had signed authorization cards indicating they wished to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
This marks the first time VFX professionals have joined together to demand the same rights and protections as their unionized colleagues in the film industry. Mark Patch, VFX Organizer for IATSE, highlighted the significance of this moment: “For almost half a century, workers in the visual effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry. This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for the work we do.”
While positions like Production Designers/Art Directors, Camera Operators, Sound, Editors, Hair and Makeup Artists, Costumes / Wardrobe, Script Supervisors, Grips, Lighting, Props, and Paint, among others, have historically been represented by IATSE in motion picture and television, workers in VFX classifications historically have not.
Bella Huffman, VFX Coordinator, highlighted the challenging nature of the industry: “Turnaround times don’t apply to us, protected hours don’t apply to us, and pay equity doesn’t apply to us. Visual Effects must become a sustainable and safe department for everyone who’s suffered far too long and for all newcomers who need to know they won’t be exploited.”
The Marvel VFX workers’ filing for a union election comes at a pivotal moment in the film and television industry, amidst ongoing strikes by both the Actors and Writers guilds as both seek fair contracts with the studios and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb put it in plain terms, “We are witnessing an unprecedented wave of solidarity that’s breaking down old barriers in the industry and proving we’re all in this fight together. That doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Entertainment workers everywhere are sticking up for each other’s rights, that’s what our movement is all about. I congratulate these workers on taking this important step and using their collective voice.”
FX Artists Are Tired of Fixing It in Post
https://www.vulture.com/2023/06/vfx-artists-in-hollywood-push-for-union-amidst-wga-strike.html
The CGI in The Little Mermaid was criticized for having an uncanny and soulless look. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was called out for lackluster visual effects. So much of what we see onscreen relies on computer-generated imagery, and it costs a lot of money to make. So why does it often look so bad?
Vulture’s Chris Lee explains there is a long list of reasons: a lack of qualified workers, directors with limited visual-effects experience, and studios such as Marvel overworking and underpaying. “It’s an unsustainable business model,” he tells Into It, “and I’m told over and over again by not knowing what they want, and by overworking these employees, it’s basically a race to the bottom. The films decline in quality, and the fans revolt.”
Disney aims for more profits at Disney+ with more ads, less content, higher fees
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/10/business/disney-earnings/index.html
“Disney+ and its other two services, ESPN+ and Hulu, together trimmed losses by $228 million, or 13%, from a year earlier to $659 million. The improvement from the previous quarter was even greater, as it trimmed losses by nearly $400 million from $1.1 billion.
Disney did it with a 2% drop in subscribers for Disney+ to 157.8 million, and a 1% drop in subscribers overall, when including ESPN+ and Hulu in subscription totals. It was able to trim losses with fewer subscribers through higher subscription revenue and a decrease in marketing costs, partially offset by higher programming and production costs. “
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65553932
“Disney has announced plans to combine content from its Disney+ and Hulu streaming services in the US.
The move comes after Disney+ lost four million subscribers in the first three months of the year, and the firm is under pressure to make its streaming business profitable
It now has a total of more than 231 million subscriptions across its three streaming platforms, which also include the sports-focused ESPN+ and wider entertainment site Hulu. Disney+ has close to 158m subscribers around the world, although that is still behind rival Netflix’s 232.5m subscribers.
The latest announcement comes after thousands of Hollywood TV and movie screenwriters held their first strike in 15 years last week. They are calling for better pay and working conditions as the transition to streaming has upended the traditional television and film industry. The last writers’ strike was in 2007. It lasted 100 days and cost the industry an estimated $2bn.”
CGI Looked Better 10 Years Ago
https://www.cbr.com/why-old-cgi-better-than-new-movies/
“The visual effects (VFX) industry is a rapidly growing field that plays a significant role in the entertainment industry, particularly in film and television. However, the industry also faces several challenges that can affect the quality and accessibility of visual effects in productions. One major issue facing the VFX industry is the high cost of producing visual effects. The process of creating visual effects can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the use of expensive software and hardware can drive up costs. This can make it difficult for smaller productions and independent filmmakers to afford to use visual effects in their projects.”
Zibra VDB Compression – a new solution, bringing groundbreaking OpenVDB format to game development
Zibra VDB Compression is the newest ZibraAI solution, being developed to bring film-quality VFX into games with GPU-powered compressed VDB effects.
Born from a custom AI-based technology, it makes it possible to:
- Compress huge VFXs, created in different tools and stored in OpenVDB format, up to 20 times, and add more high-quality volumetric VFX to the game, filling it with lifelike visuals, all without increasing the build size;
- Render volumetric effects in game engines in real-time;
- Reuse a volumetric effect in multiple use cases, optimizing memory consumption;
- Change the way the effect looks in different parts of the project with shaders, regulating color, density, and playback speed, all according to your needs.
Our VDB compression solution also opens new possibilities for realistic scene lighting. With our tech, you can use light data from VFX to light up a scene, add reflections, etc, making your game much more immersive and true to life.
