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Avatar visual effects workers vote to unionize
A group of "influential" visual effects artists who work on the Avatar movies have voted to unionize.
Marvel Studios VFX workers have unanimously voted to unionize
Visual effects workers at Marvel Studios have unanimously voted to unionize in a held by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). All 32 people who participated voted in favor of the union.
Recommended Reading: The soccer insider who dominates the internet
Recommended Reading highlights the week's best long-form writing on technology and more.
ILM explains how it used Stagecraft 2.0 for season two of 'The Mandalorian'
ILM made StageCraft better and easier to use.
Farewell Cinefex, you unlocked the magic of VFX for everyone
Cinefex, the legendary VFX magazine, is shutting down
Epic's MetaHuman Creator generates realistic virtual people
With Hollywood clamoring for virtual production tools after the success of Disney’s The Mandalorian, bleeding-edge digital effects are in high demand. At the forefront of the medium lies Unreal, Fortnite maker Epic Games’ proprietary game engine that sits at the intersection of gaming and big-budget Hollywood entertainment. After working on the digital sets used in the Star Wars spinoff, Unreal is now offering a glimpse at its latest virtual production tech: A realistic digital character creator that takes the grunt work out of crafting virtual humans at scale.
How The Handmaid's Tale defaced the Lincoln Memorial
Watch how 'The Handmaid's Tale' VFX artists defaced the Lincoln memorial.
Watch VFX bring Westworld's dystopian LA to life
Watch how VFX team DNEG created the dystopian land of 'Westworld.'
See how VFX artists included Carrie Fisher in 'The Rise of Skywalker'
Whatever your opinion on Rise of Skywalker, we can probably all agree that its effects were pretty impressive -- not least because of the seamless inclusion of Carrie Fisher's scenes. The iconic Leia actress had only recorded a small amount of footage before she passed away. Now, the studio behind the film's VFX, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), has released a short video showcasing exactly they did it, as well as the work that went into other major scenes, such as the final space battle and Rey's jump over the TIE Silencer. Take a look below, although if you've somehow avoided seeing the movie yet, be aware that the video contains minor spoilers.
Watch how VFX artists crafted Disney's 'The Lion King' remake
Nothing in Disney's divisive Lion King remake was real. Simba, Scar and the sprawling Pride Lands -- all of it was created digitally. To convey this gargantuan effort, visual effects studio MPC Film -- the same company behind The Jungle Book and countless other Hollywood blockbusters including Blade Runner 2049 -- has released a short breakdown on YouTube. It shows the various steps required to build young Simba, adult Nala, and some of the film's iconic scenes including The Circle of Life. If you want to know more about how the movie was made, including its VR-assisted cinematography, read our 'making of' feature from last year.
'Stranger Things' VFX artists show how imploding rats came to life
Stranger Things 3 packed plenty of punch, not least because of the horrifying monsters that terrorized the residents of Hawkins. A great deal of work went into the creatures and the rest of the season's visuals, and VFX house Rodeo FX has released a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the effects came into shape. The videos spoil some of the season's more impressive shots, so you might want to hold off if you haven't finished Stranger Things 3 yet.
Watch and listen to THX's new Deep Note trailer with spatial 3D audio
THX has unveiled a new trailer for its famous "Deep Note" audio logo that lets audiences know that a theater is THX certified and also how loud it's likely to be (usually very loud). The trailer, which will be deployed in theaters around the world, shows off the company's 7.1 surround sound and other audio tricks. However, it's also a 4K visual tour de force meant to highlight the THX Ultimate Cinema premium theater experience with "increased brightness, contrast, clarity and rich brilliant colors," THX wrote in a press release.
Inside the virtual production of ‘The Lion King’
The new Lion King movie is visually spectacular. A two-hour remake that frequently defies belief. Pride Rock is, of course, a fictional place but in director Jon Favreau's film it feels eerily real. The creatures, too, move just like they would on the plains of Africa. They're utterly believable until they talk and sing to one another about family, responsibility and the circle of life. Disney has been remaking its animated classics for some time now. But The Lion King, which hit theaters on July 19th, sets a new benchmark for what's possible with computer-generated animation. The secret behind it all? An experimental form of filmmaking that, through VR, allows studios to shoot virtual sets with old-fashioned direction and analog camerawork.
How ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ triumphed over the uncanny valley
When the first trailer for the live action Alita: Battle Angel dropped in late December 2017, the internet was abuzz about the eponymous character's large CG eyes. Heck, even we called them "creepy" and "weird." Now that the film's finally here and I've had a chance to check out this long-awaited comic adaptation, I can safely say our fears were overblown. In fact, Alita might be one of the most realistic humans I've ever seen on-screen -- huge manga eyes and all.
The 'Nightflyers' TV show has some killer user interfaces
The latest adaptation of Nightflyers, a novella and short story collection written by George R. R. Martin in the 1980s, premiered on Syfy last weekend. If you're following the nightly episodes, you'll know how integral the titular spaceship, with its gloomy corridors and breathtaking habitat domes, is to the plot and mood of the show. Syfy and Universal Cable Productions paid Territory Studio, a specialist in on-set motion graphics, to shape the vessel's visual language. (The show will be coming to Netflix at a later date.) The team produced over 1,200 'screens' -- fictional interfaces that actors could see while performing -- across a broad range of sets, including medical labs, cabins and cargo bays.
DaVinci Resolve 15 is a free, Hollywood-grade video editor
With the latest release of DaVinci Resolve 15, Blackmagic Design has radically made over its editing suite to create one of the best video-editing systems at any price -- even against mainstream options like Premiere Pro CC and Apple's Final Cut Pro X. It now comes with Fusion, a powerful visual effects (VFX) app used in Hollywood films, along with an excellent color corrector and audio editor. Despite doing more than most editors will ever need, the full studio release costs just $300, and you can get a stripped-down version with most features for a grand total of zero dollars. I use Adobe's Premiere Pro CC as part of its Creative Cloud suite, which costs more than $50 a month, so Resolve 15 is certainly a cheaper option. After trying it out for a week, would I be willing to switch? That would be tough, because I also do photo editing, and Creative Cloud includes Photoshop and Lightroom. If you're looking strictly for video and audio editing, color correction and effects, however, Resolve is well worth a look. It is surprisingly easy to learn and use and has more speed and power than you'll probably ever need.
After Math: 'Musked' opportunities
It was a week of near misses and closer hits than the tech industry probably would have wanted. Amazon's Alexa "accidentally" recorded more than a few customers' private conversations, Apple's iPhones turned out to be bendier than anticipated, and that PUBG chicken dinner of yours wound up being harder fought than anybody had previously thought.
'Black Panther' is amazing. Why are its CG models so terrible?
Black Panther is a refreshing answer to the increasingly stale world of superhero cinema. But there's one glaring flaw throughout the film: its use of CG models to replace humans during action sequences. They're weightless, ugly and, worst of all, incredibly distracting. You'd think that in the year 2018, following the recent glut of comic book films, visual effects (VFX) studios would have perfected the art of creating realistic CG humans. Instead, we appear to have peaked at Avatar in 2010. What gives?
‘Blade Runner 2049’ VFX reel breaks down that unexpected reveal
Despite the insane stakes, this year's Blade Runner 2049 lived up to (and in some ways surpassed) the paradigm-shifting original film. The sequel created its gritty futuristic look with the help of plenty of visual effects, but building settings isn't all the film pulled off with digital wizardry. A shocking moment comes with the kinda-return of (*spoilers*) Sean Young's replicant Rachel, who looks like she hasn't aged a day. The company behind that VFX trick just released a trailer giving a peek at exactly how they did it.
'Blade Runner 2049' VFX reel shows CG tricks behind bleak landscapes
There's no question that Blade Runner 2049 revolves around computer-generated effects, whether it's the retro-futuristic technology or its holographic AI personas. However, the CG is more pervasive than you might think. Rodeo FX has released a visual effects reel for Denis Villeneuve's bleak sci-fi movie, and it's evident that even the seemingly mundane shots were draped in digital artwork. Caution: there are mild spoilers ahead.
