Professor DeNigris' Sabbatical Vlog

Some of you may know that Professor Paul DeNigris, Program Champion for Digital Video at University of Advancing Technology, has taken a sabbatical this Spring semester to get some additional industry experience working in visual effects in Hollywood. Paul is keeping a daily vlog of his experiences in LA, which he calls "Hollywood at 45." Check it out here:

fxguide: The Art of Destruction

The fine folks over at fxguide.com have compiled a stellar and comprehensive run-down of the state of the art when it comes to "blowing crap up" Hollywood-style.

Destruction pipelines today are key aspects of any major visual effects pipeline. Many current pipelines are based on Rigid Body Simulations (RBS) or otherwise referred to as Rigid Body Dynamics (RBD), but a new solution – Finite Element Analysis (FEA) – is beginning to emerge. In this ‘Art Of’ article, we talk to some of the major visual effects studios – ILM, Imageworks, MPC, Double Negative and Framestore – about how they approach their destruction toolsets.

Read the whole article - featuring looks at Harry Potter, X-Men: First Class, 2012, and more - here!

AE Tuts+: 'A Look At Hollywood’s Biggest VFX – Part 1'

After Effects tutorials portal AE Tuts+ has begun branching out to take an in-depth look at Hollywood visual effects with this article on 2012, Avatar, Lord of the Rings, and Alice in Wonderland.

Here's their Avatar VFX breakdown video:


Read the entire article here!

FX Guide: 'Pan Am: Retro Greenscreen World'

FX Guide has published a pretty comprehensive look at how ABC's new 1960's-set "Pan Am" is making use of Stargate Studios' "Virtual Set" technology to recreate a bygone era.

Check it out here! Definitely worth a look for our students considering a career in VFX.

From The Script Lab: Breaking "Free" Into Hollywood

The folks over at TheScriptLab.com have published a very insightful article that all film students need to read.

The irony is that if you graduate from med-school, you're a doctor, but when you graduate from film school, you're just a dweeb – qualified to brew coffee or make movies. But nobody hires a recent grad to make a movie. That's why so many film grads are so good at brewing a killer cup of Joe.

Read the full article here.

Editor of LOST and Mad Men shares his insights for students looking towards Hollywood