A word of caution from Sydney-based VFX Supervisor Scott Geersen that reminds us that technology can negatively affect people's happiness, and is in fact doing so for many people around the world who display symptoms of addiction to social networks and being connected to the net. "Signal/Void is about a darker view of the networks we belong to and take part in every day: some voluntary, some unseen. The mechanisms of these networks are designed to keep us plugged in by delivering stories, information and images - hopes and dreams - that directly feed our own desires and version of reality.
But the cold truth is that the ultimate goal is often the collection, quantification, analysis and storage of our very selves, and so these networks are carefully maintained to best keep us blindly acquiescent. The system is addictive and hard to escape. It sucks up time, closes our eyes to the world around us, and blinds us to true human connection." Created for Pause Fest 2017 using Cinema 4D, Octane Render and After Effects. Watch it on Vimeo.

Stanford professor Ron Fedkiw has updated his website with videos of his team's research on real-time interactive tree simulations. More on Stanford.edu.

Jeff Patton has posted an article that compares the workflows of various renders for incorporating CG elements into a backplate in one render, along with their pros and cons. More on Jeff Patton's website.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made available the video recording of the presentation of the Scientific and Engineering Awards to Marcos Fajardo for the creative vision and original implementation of the Arnold Renderer, and to Christopher Kulla, Alan King, Thiago Ize and Clifford Stein for their highly optimized geometry engine and novel ray-tracing algorithms which unify the rendering of curves, surfaces, volumetrics and subsurface scattering as developed at Sony Pictures Imageworks and Solid Angle SL. Watch it on YouTube.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made available the video recording of the acceptance speeches of Luca Fascione, J.P. Lewis and Iain Matthews for the award presented for the design, engineering, and development of the FACETS facial performance capture and solving system at Weta Digital. Watch it on YouTube.

Anton Woll Söder has released REACTION, a motion graphics piece he created with CypherAudio. Watch it on Vimeo.

The latest version of ABSoft's noise reduction software for editing and compositing applications brings new tools and functions that help create more accurate noise profiles. New features include: (more...)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made available the video recording of Vladimir Koylazov's acceptance speech for the award presented for the original concept, design and implementation of V-Ray. Watch it on YouTube.