30+ High Quality Metallic Texture, Pattern, Brushes and Photoshop Tutorials

This one is for you 3D modelers, texture artists, and Photoshop fanatics. Hongkiat.com has published this list of textures, brushes, and tutorials all having to do with metal.

VFX artists might also find it of use, particularly for elements such as bullet holes and the various metallic grunge textures.

Check it out here.

Inspiration: Rugby

A student just recently showed me this one and I was blown away. (Thanks J.D.!) CG Society put together this great article on a VFX-intensive Snickers commercial produced by BBDO Moscow, Sky Films in Toronto, and a German post facility called Unexpected. The article includes some great info about how they produced the spot, including fantastic breakdowns of the various elements - live action, CG layers, particle systems - that went into each shot.

Read the full story here.

ATLAS/CERN Multimedia Contest

CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, birthplace of the World Wide Web and home of the famous Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has a great opportunity for DV students! The ATLAS/CERN Multimedia Contest features great prizes, including Adobe Production software, a trip to the LHC, and an internship at CERN. The deadline is July 31, 2009 - so don't delay.

Check it out NOW!

Featured Project: Pirate Booty

This week's featured project is a "two-fer" - a short film AND its "making of" documentary.

"Pirate Booty" was created by Team UAT for the Phoenix Film Foundation's annual 48-Hour Film Challenge during the summer of 2006, and it went on to be an Official Selection of the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival.



"48 Hour Film Challenge Documentary" chronicles the team's efforts from Friday night's kick-off, through 48 hectic hours, and finally to a last-minute by the skin of the teeth delivery on Sunday - and features great interviews with a crew of students who have since gone on to graduate and take jobs in the film and video industry.

Build a Car Racing Scene from Photographs

In another great tutorial, Greyscale Gorilla (aka Nick Campbell) teaches you how to create a stylized 3D car racing scene from a simple 2D photograph using After Effects' 3D compositing tools. This one is long, so it's presented in 2 parts: Part 1 and Part 2

After Effects Tutorial - Build a Car Racing scene from Photographs Part 1 from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

After Effects Tutorial - Build a Car Racing scene from Photographs Part 2 from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Science of the Movies

Science Channel has begun airing a cool new series called "Science of the Movies" that every DV student should check out. Recent segments have included a trip to Panavision for a look inside cameras and lenses and a discussion of film vs. digital with Oscar-winning DP Dean Semler. While it's really made for people who know little to nothing about filmmaking, it still manages to include some really interesting facts for the seasoned DV enthusiast.

"Science of the Movies" airs at 10 pm on Thursdays.

Or, you can check out some video segments on Science Channel's website.

From CNET: 3D means new rules for directors

CNET's Rafe Needleman has posted an insightful blog post about 3D stereoscopic imaging and its impact on current and future entertainment trends in film, TV, and videogames. Like it or not, it seems 3D is here to stay for the immediate future and will continue to be a growth area in both content creation and emerging technologies.

3D is still seen as gimmick by most consumers, but it's becoming more mainstream. That means content producers and artists will be thinking about 3D content more in the near future: Not just how to have it call attention to itself, but rather how to have 3D fade, as it were, into the background of the storytelling.

Read the rest here.

Featured Project: I'm Not Crying

This week's Featured Project comes from last semester's DVA274 Digital Video Editing class. "I'm Not Crying" is another take-off from the "Flight of the Conchords" TV series from students Hido Harada, Luke DeSalvo, and Chris Erickson.



YouTube Link

How To Use Simple Shapes and Masks to Make an Entire Animation

Greyscale Gorilla has published a great tutorial on how to make complex-looking animations very simply, just by building them up from simple animated elements. It takes some planning and a bit of thought, but it results in some cool-looking stuff. All Motion Graphics students need to watch this now!

Using Simple Shapes and Masks to Make an Entire Animation - How I made ConformNonConform from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Top VFX Twitter-ers to Follow

Topher Welsh at Inside The Hive (the "blog of all things in motion") has published a cool list of the top visual effects innovators currently sharing information via the ubiquitous social-trending site Twitter. Included on the list is VFX artist / filmmaker / technologist Stu Maschwitz (@5tu), author of our old familiar friend The DV Rebel's Guide.

Check out the complete list here.