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MAYA
Iron Man 3: The Trixters Behind Tony Stark's Shiny New Armor
Seventy artists from Trixter worked an entire year to create a formidable 208 VFX shots for Marvel's Iron Man 3. Each new episode in the Iron Man saga details a slick new technology created by the ingenious Tony Stark, and the new installment does not disappoint! Combining the hard surface geometry of the Iron Man suit auto-assembly with the flexibility of the human body was one of the challenges that Trixter brought from previs to believable screen reality.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Alessandro Cioffi |
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NAB Expo
NAB 2013: Autodesk Expands Its Reach
This year, Autodesk comes to NAB 2013 not simply as a successful company in the professional content creation space, but a player in the consumer market as well. SketchBook alone has 15+ million users and the use of Smoke has also now reached thousands of new customers. On the professional side, the newly debuted Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite 2014 includes updated versions of Maya, 3ds Max, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Softimage and Sketchbook Designer. Autodesk has also announced partnerships with Blackmagic Design and Technicolor.
Editorial, Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo
NAB 2013: Day Four With Ryan Salazar
Only Ryan's own words suffice, "WOW! Has this been a SPECTACULAR Show or what?!?! It was intense... I interviewed Vince Pace of the Cameron | Pace Group and Marc Hamaker of Autodesk, among many others during the Show! I feasted my eyes upon so many wonderful innovations that I can't wait for them to be released throughout the coming year! I had my own TV Crew, courtesy of NAB LIVE! 2013, and I came face-to-face with a shark! It was all I had hoped for and definitely MORE!"
Editorial, Feature
Ryan Salazar |
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NAB Expo
NAB 2013: Day Two With Ryan Salazar
Ryan Salazar fills Day Two of NAB Show with interviews. Ryan spoke with Marc Hamaker, Senior Product Marketing Manager of Creative Finishing at Autodesk, with Vince Pace, co-founder of the Cameron | Pace Group, and stopped by the Panasonic, Canon, GoPro and Camera Corps booths.
Editorial, Feature
Ryan Salazar |
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NAB Expo
Tips for Attending NAB 2013 From A Convention Veteran
Walter Biscardi tells us, "Once again, springtime is upon us, so of course, it's time for the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention. Last year y'all seemed to like the before you go tips, so may I present the 2013 edition of 'Tips from an NAB Veteran to make the best use of your time'."
Editorial, Feature
Walter Biscardi |
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Art of the Edit
Unique VFX Challenges for Live One-take Shooting on Les Miz
Les Misérables, based on Victor Hugo's novel of crime and redemption in 19th Century France, has been a huge hit in theatres. Though it's gained acclaim for director Tom Hooper's technique of one-take shots of actors singing the songs, digital visual effects have provided many key elements. Les Miz represents a unique combination of in-camera effects, 2D and 3D compositing, adding elements, removing elements -- and not a single green screen shot.
Editorial, Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
The Hobbit & The Dawn of High Frame Rate Cinema
The technology wizards of the film/TV industry have been talking about High Frame Rate cinema for a long time; indeed, Douglas Trumbull's Showscan at 60 fps presaged the current interest over 30 years ago. But it took director Peter Jackson to take the plunge for mainstream cinema, declaring he would shoot The Hobbit in 48 fps to get momentum going. In about a year's time, manufacturers made the gear, theater exhibitors updated their movie theaters, and the studios prepared for one of the most audacious technology debuts that cinema has seen. Creative COW goes behind the scenes to see what it took for you to see The Hobbit in 48 fps.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Debra Kaufman |
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Autodesk Smoke
IBC 2012: Autodesk
Autodesk is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Flame by launching Flame 2013, a totally re-architected and re-designed version of the groundbreaking platform. What's new? A new Creative Work Space, full timeline integration and a GPU/CPU model for improved performance. Autodesk is also showing its latest iteration of Smoke for Mac, which has been part of a massive public trial.
Editorial, Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
Behind the Lens: Paul Cameron ASC on Total Recall
Paul Cameron, ASC, just finished work on the remake of Total Recall, directed by Len Wiseman and starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel with Bill Nighy, Bryan Cranston, and John Cho. Cameron was last featured in Creative COW for his work on Henry's Crime. His previous credits include director Michael Mann's Collateral and Tony Scott's Man on Fire.
Feature
Paul Cameron, ASC |
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NAB Expo
NAB 2012 is in the books, final thoughts...
Walter Biscardi went to NAB 2012 with every intention of documenting each day and sharing the vast (and often overwhelming) wealth of information he would glean from the NAB SHOW floor. Well, day one left him needing tons of caffeine, and a lot more sleep - so we're wrapping up now, after a flight home and some time for Walter to catch his breath.
Feature
Walter Biscardi |
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NAB Expo
Walter Biscardi: NAB 2012, Day One
Sometimes, our first impressions are the most powerful, and as Walter Biscardi walked the NAB floor on Day One, he had some definite strong first impressions. Read about what he saw, and reap vicariously the wealth of new information on sparkly new product releases from NAB 2012.
Feature
Walter Biscardi |
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Autodesk Smoke
Walter Biscardi: Yes, Autodesk Smoke 2013 Changes Everything
"From the moment I saw Autodesk Smoke 2013, I knew the entire post production world as we knew it had changed." So says Creative COW Contributing Editor Walter Biscardi in an overview that covers Smoke's new editor-centered (and Mac-friendly) interface, ease of use, support for FCP 7 and Avid projects and keyboard mapping, and advanced, integrated effects and color tools -- including several that had previously been available in Autodesk Flame. Oh yeah, a price drop to $3495. See why Walter says, "For the traditional editor, this is completely game-changing."
Feature
Walter Biscardi |
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Autodesk Smoke
NAB 2012: Autodesk Unveils a New Smoke
Autodesk introduced a new Smoke that features an editor-friendly user interface, connected editing and effects, lower system requirements and a much lower price. Aimed at the multi-tasking editor, the new Smoke allows editors to handle all kinds of visual effects tasks on the editing timeline.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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IBC Expo
IBC: Autodesk's Smoke on Mac Gains Momentum
Autodesk Smoke on Mac is gaining momentum with adventurous designers and IBC 2011 did not disappoint. The variety of ways that customers are using it has made it an all-in-one solution. Creative COW's Debra Kaufman takes a few moments with Marc Hamaker, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Creative Finishing, Media & Entertainment at Autodesk to bring us the details.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Debra Kaufman |
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RE:Vision Effects
Twixtor In Smoke
Play Video
This tutorial shows how to use Twixtor in Smoke. It covers the basic re-timing concepts as well as some advanced features, such as Marking edit points, re-timing Alpha mattes and using the Motion Blur feature.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
Lori Freitag |
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HD High-End
Band Pro One World 2010 Trade Show
These days, many video-oriented trade shows are struggling with declining attendance, reduced scopes and the nagging fear of irrelevance when customers can get so much information online. So how has the Band Pro One World managed to attract big-name vendors and over 500 attendees? Helmut Kobler attends and shares with COW members his experience at what felt like more of a "friendly mixer" where you can easily talk to vendors and friends, and see great products close up.
Review, Editorial, Project
Helmut Kobler |
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