VFXWorld Magazine

Meet the SIGGRAPH 2009 Chair: Ronen Barzel

As a graduate of Caltech (specializing in physically-based modeling) and former Pixar animation scientist (building the Slinky Dog model for Toy Story, developing lighting technology and working on other software R&D), Ronen Barzel is tailor-made for chairing this year's SIGGRAPH. The 36th annual show will take place in New Orleans (conference: Aug. 3-7; exhibition: Aug. 4-6) at The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Barzel spoke to VFXWorld about what's new this year (including more emphasis on music and audio), the challenges of coping with the economic downturn and what technological advancements are of particular interest.

In People, Reviews | VFXWorld

Work VFXWorld

'Battlestar' Prequel 'Caprica' Keeps the Cylons Coming

A mere month after the end of Battlestar Galactica, Universal offers the unrated pilot to prequel Caprica on DVD, and Tara Bennett gets the scoop from VFX Supervisor Gary Hutzel.

In Production | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

Pumping up the Wattage with 'Crank: High Voltage'

Alain Bielik gets amped up with Crank: High Voltage VFX Supervisor James McQuaide to talk about the work Duran Duboi and LOOK Effects contributed to the film.

In Production | VFXWorld

Work VFXWorld

'Dragonball Evolution': Ripe for VFX Film Picking

Tara Bennett talks to Hybride, Frantic Films and CafeFX about helping evolve Dragonball to the big screen.

In Production | VFXWorld

Work VFXWorld

MPC LA: Growing the Core VFX Business

Mark Tobin divulges how MPC's new commercial-focused boutique is faring in Santa Monica during the economic downturn.

In Production, AWN Profiles | VFXWorld

Game VFXWorld

'The Godfather II': Through the Eyes of a Don

Peter Rizkalla goes undercover with the creators of mob masterpiece follow-up The Godfather II from Electronic Arts.

In Games | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

The HP Z800 Workstation Review: A First Look

Bryan Hoff tests the new HP Z800 to see if it offers enough of an increase in efficiency and productivity to justify the expense in this economic downturn.

In Reviews, Technology, CG, Technology | VFXWorld

Games VFXWorld

OnLive: What Does it Mean for CG?

OnLive may have been introduced at GDC, but Rearden founder and CEO Steve Perlman tells Bill Desowitz how the new cloud-based game service ties into his Contour Reality Capture system.

In Games | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

'Fast & Furious': 4x the Cars & Explosions

Tara Bennett looks under the hood of the fourth Fast & Furious car movie to find out what Rhythm & Hues and Double Negative tricked out.

In Production | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

'Maya Plugin Power': Shave and a Haircut

In the latest excerpt from Maya Plugin Power, author Mark Jennings Smith shows us how to use the Shave and a Haircut plugin to create a stylish hairy look for a bird.

In Technology, Tutorials | VFXWorld

Effects VFXWorld

Furious FX Races to 'Witch Mountain'

Burbank-based Furious FX took on their largest project to date with Disney's re-imagined Race to Witch Mountain, creating UFOs, SUV collisions and eerie blue alien lights along the way.

In Production | VFXWorld

Game VFXWorld

'Killzone 2': War is Helghan

Pete Rizkalla chats with the Killzone 2 team at Guerrilla Games about how they created the game under fire from media and fanboys after the 2005 trailer was shown.

In Games | VFXWorld

Show VFXWorld

'Battlestar Galactica' Finale: The End of an Era

Feverishly working round-the-clock as usual to finish the series, Battlestar Galactica's vfx supervisor reviews its achievement along with creator Ron Moore.

In Production | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

'Knowing' the Future: Planes, Trains and Walls of Fire

For Knowing, Animal Logic created realistic disasters, particularly a spectacular plane crash and subway collision along with… the end of the world?

In Production | VFXWorld

Work VFXWorld

Rough Times for VFX: But is it the Recession?

Vfx vet Jenny Fulle reports on how the global economic slowdown will affect the industry and force innovation and reinvention.

In People | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

'Maya Plugin Power': Cloth Simulation and Modeling

In the first excerpt from Maya Plugin Power, author Mark Jennings Smith shows how to get started simulating cloth in Maya using plugin Syflex.

In Technology, Tutorials | VFXWorld

Movie VFXWorld

Zack Snyder Talks 'Watchmen'

After our in-depth making of coverage, the Watchmen director discusses bringing the landmark graphic novel to the screen.

In People, Production | VFXWorld

Animation VFXWorld

Deconstructing 'Watchmen' -- Part 2

Sony Pictures Imageworks, Intelligent Creatures, MPC Vancouver, CIS Hollywood and Rising Sun Pictures discuss their contributions to Watchmen in the final part of our coverage.

In Production | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

Deconstructing 'Watchmen' -- Part 1

In the first part of our in-depth Watchmen coverage, we get an overview from Alex McDowell, the production designer, and John DJ DesJardin, the overall visual effects supervisor.

In Production | VFXWorld

Work VFXWorld

Scott Lukowski Talks Conceptualizing 'Watchmen'

Concept Illustrator Scott Lukowski discusses his experiences on Watchmen and some other high profile movies.

In People, Production | VFXWorld

Color VFXWorld

HP EliteBook 8730w Review: Not Your Grandmother's Laptop

Andrew Farago interviews the directors of the five animated shorts nominees for the 2008 Academy Awards.

In Reviews, Technology | VFXWorld

Movie VFXWorld

Who Rates the Comicbook Movies?

A panel of industry experts offers VFXWorld its comicbook movie faves.

In People | VFXWorld

VFXWorld

Hitting the Streets with 'Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li'

VFX Supervisor Marc Kolbe gives a blow by blow account of the CG work in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

In Games | VFXWorld

Digital VFXWorld

The Digital Eye: Stereoscopic 3-D and the Future of Visual Storytelling

In VFXWorld's final "The Digital Eye" column, Autodesk's Sebastian Sylwan discusses how stereo 3-D can flourish if it becomes part of the toolset and not just a gimmick.

In Production | VFXWorld

Effects VFXWorld