Post-Production
Latest
MARZ is ready to accelerate the quality of CG plastic surgery with the release of Vanity AI
Vanity AI is MARZ’s new end-to-end automated AI solution for Hollywood VFX. MARZ describes Vanity AI as 300x faster than any traditional VFX pipeline, developed to specifically execute high volumes of high-end 2D aging, de-aging, wig, cosmetic, and prosthetic alterations.
VFX
Latest
The ‘Shadow and Bone’ VFX: Pure nerd speculation on what viewers can look for in Season Two
You don’t have to be someone who writes Shadow and Bone fan fiction to appreciate a well-built fantasy playground, and here’s what we might appreciate from the Shadow and Bone VFX in Season Two.
Film Production
Latest
Nicolas Cage Western utilizes Louisiana composer Andrew Morgan Smith to score a good ole’ badass revenge tale with ‘The Old Way’
Louisiana composer Andrew Morgan Smith was tasked with crafting a score that could anchor Nicolas Cage’s role in a good old-fashioned Montana revenge adventure 'The Old Way'.
Virtual Production and XR
Latest
If Comic-Con and SIGGRAPH had a baby: What to expect at Epic’s Unreal Fest 2022
Epic Games is bringing their annual Unreal Fest back to a live audience this year. The festival will make camp in New Orleans from October 17th to the 20th for three full days of speakers, presentations, and industry innovations in XR and virtual production.
Music Videos
Latest
Young Thug’s “Take It To Trial” Video is Three Minutes of Lush Cinema Produced by Kyle Dutton
In entertainment prestige, they’ve got the EGOT. That’s when a performer wins an Emmy, a Grammy,...
Marketing
Latest
Movie Marketing Basics: Throw shade at peers just before theatrical release
It’s winter 2022 and actors and directors seemed to be throwing public punches at an increased rate. It could be an anomaly in the publicity ether, or for the sake of discussion - maybe productions are returning to their hallowed movie forefathers, employing more primitive marketing tactics. The fun question to ask is: does it work?
OTHER POSTS
‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ VFX supes Kolby Kember and Davy Nethercutt talk about the effects behind chasing a pan-American treasure
We talked with Crafty Apes VFX Supervisors Kolby Kember and Davy Nethercutt about developing the visual effects for National Treasure: Edge of History and where they went creatively to get there.
Read More
The continuing debate about the ‘Nope’ VFX: brilliantly understated sky chemistry or just another CGI cloud?
Nope made the Oscar shortlist for “Best VFX”, was snubbed for any VES nominations, but people continue to write and talk about the behind-the-scenes elements of Nope a full seven months after it’s been released.
Read More
Visual Effects Society announces 2023 VES Awards nominees: ‘Avatar 2’ leads pack and ‘Nope’ VFX surprisingly absent
The Visual Effects Society announced the 2023 VES Awards nominees Tuesday morning and released a list that both exceeded expectations and tossed out a couple of noteworthy snubs.
Read More
Visual Effects Society to announce nominations this weekend for 2023 VES Awards
The Visual Effects Society’s 2023 Awards schedule starts on Saturday, January 14th when the nominating panels will hold their vote on the best VFX sequences of 2022.
Read More
The atmosphere of snow: two movies and a show that subtly blended nature with effects to portray an environment of beautiful cold murder
A talented director will take a beautiful bleak landscape and make the desolate feel lush and the emptiness feel alive. A talented VFX artist will make it seem like the director did it all on their own.
The two snow movies and a show we’re using as role models for natural snow blended with VFX are Wind River, The Revenant, and the television series Fargo.
The deep-dive speculation supporting why the VFX of ‘Avatar 2: The Way of Water’ is dramatically improved over its predecessor
The innovative talent at Weta Digital, the invention of the Deep X 3D underwater rig, or just because James Cameron said so – here’s some evidence why Avatar 2 has dramatically improved on the technology of the 2009 blockbuster.
Read More
First looks at Harrison Ford de-aged in ‘Dial of Destiny’ and why this send-off will not disappoint
For Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, ILM has blended the young-Harrison-Ford CGI into current Harrison with the supreme skill that you would expect from Industrial Light & Magic…and de-aged Harrison Ford looks great.
Read More
Unreal Engine releases Faceware Retargeter and Analyzer courses for beginners who wish to master facial animation faster than a Batman training montage
Epic’s newly released courses for using MetaHuman with Faceware Retargeter and Analyzer can help you become an earthly god of character emotional expression in a few hours.
Read More
Jason Momoa’s ‘Slumberland’ stingingly proves dreamlike CGI doesn’t always translate to positive critical opinion but can still be adored
Jason Momoa’s Slumberland was released in select theaters and became available Friday the 18th for streaming on Netflix, but despite Jason Momoa riding the giant goose with the help of CGI, the film didn’t get the audience appreciation.
Read More
Rise of the studio of the apes: Crafty Apes expands to appoint first-time CEO and new Technology officer
Crafty Apes, the full-service visual effects studio has been rapidly expanding since post-Covid productions picked back up, especially the Baton Rouge office, which serves as a primary stop for post-production magic in Louisiana and is well-known for its talented pool of VFX artists and supervisors.
Read More
The wonderfully developed blend of digital and prosthetic creatures defining the decadent terror of ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities aired on Netflix as a four-night Halloween event and has gotten a lot of deserved hype, combining art in motion and digital VFX technology.
Read More
A virtual production blockbuster: Sony Pictures Entertainment buys out 100% of Pixomondo
Sony Pictures acquired Pixomondo from Mayfair Equity Partners. Pixomondo is an elite titan of virtual production and their talent will give Sony Pictures an even more formidable presence in the XR arena.
Read More
From ‘Sinbad’ to ‘House of the Dragon’: Marking VFX eras by the aesthetic evolution of the CGI dragon
For all the gloss of big-budget spectacles, the CGI roots of cinematic dragons have an old-world creative genealogy – every increasingly lifelike dragon that climbs onscreen was built on the influences of a previous imagination.
Read More
The question of future artistic integrity in Post: The pros and cons of Bruce Willis selling his likeness to be used with deepfake technology
Bruce Willis selling his likeness to be used with deepfake technology? Let’s look at all the pros, cons, and facts with this kind of deals.
Read More
An intro to visual effects: ‘The Rough Cut’ post-production podcast hosts Crafty Apes to discuss “The art and business of VFX”
Kolby Kember and Sarah McCulley teamed up to represent the Crafty Apes Baton Rouge visual effects team this week for an episode of The Rough Cut podcast with Matt Feury.
Read More
The Unreal Engine vs. Unity PR prize fight: Who won the summer for news that matters to VFX artists
Here’s the timeline for some of the most notable happenings this summer by two of the biggest platforms empowering VFX creators, Unreal Engine and Unity.
Read More
“F*** yeah, let’s do it.” The creators of ‘Shapes’ banter about creative chemistry, good horror, and crafting brain gore from a grape
John Kellar, Noel Savoy, and Kevin Conlon sat down (or laid in bed) to reflect on ‘Shapes’, a short horror film about a shapeshifting entity that has a habit of preying on the flesh of its roommates.
Read More
Nuke Codex: Nodes Within Nodes – The Book on Nuke Compositing
Nuke Codex: Nodes within Nodes is a dynamic book by Daniel Smith (Compositing Supervisor at FuseFX) that will help you learn Nuke quickly and get you up and running using this powerful tool in a few days.
Read More