mchristiansen

How the Hackintosh Suddenly Caught Fire

2013-04-03T19:00:00+00:00

Yes, it literally caught fire.

This is the story of one man’s experience assembling and running a Hackintosh. For anyone unaware of this illicit, but not yet forbidden alternative to the Mac Pro and alterative systems from Apple, it is a custom-built computer - one which would...

VFX Workers Next Steps: Pi Day

2013-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

After a dramatic few weeks that have seen Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for VFX Oscar winner Rhythm & Hues, VFX protests at the ceremony, along with a sea of green avatars on Twitter and Facebook, what had been proposed as walk-out for "Pi Day" is now a town hall meeting that will take...

Lessons from the Southern Wild

2013-02-19T15:37:00+00:00

The text came in late one evening - who could be in New Orleans immediately for VFX supervision? The call was going around San Francisco, apparently because the film had received SF Film Commission backing which stipulated hiring local artisans, despite shooting along the Gulf of Mexico. The...

Shotgun production management software deals lower-cost subscription model

2013-02-12T08:25:00+00:00

Chances are that you have no first-hand experience with Shotgun, Tank or Revolver (although if you live in Texas you will no doubt initially claim to be familiar). With 400 customers worldwise, Shotgun may count as a runaway success in the VFX business while hundreds, thousands (even billions)...

Why is the VFX business failing? Questions for Scott Ross

2013-02-07T16:05:00+00:00

Q. Let’s begin with the questions I posed earlier this week. Is what is happening in VFX in 2013 any different than what is happening to any number of industries in western economies as a whole?

One big difference is that visual effects facilities providing shots for Hollywood...

Why is the VFX business failing at its moment of greatest success?

2013-02-05T08:47:00+00:00

In less than 3 weeks, something like a billion viewers worldwide will look on as Life of Pi wins the award for Best Visual Effects at the 85th edition of the Academy Awards. I don't mean to ruin the surprise for you, but you don't need The Predictanator to tell you this award is a...

3D HFR and the Immersive Experience

2013-01-04T18:00:00+00:00

There seems little doubt that display technology and the way we experience media today won't necessarily look the same throughout the 21st century, any more than Downton Abbey looks like Enter the Void, or a zoetrope resembles Call of Duty. There are, for example,...

Is After Effects for Editors?

2012-12-14T02:08:00+00:00

An article published last month on the Adobe Press site has sparked much discussion and a little controversy, so I think it's worth following up, starting with a clarification.

The topic clearly strikes a nerve; the article became the site's most popular for the...

rd: Studio Techniques available free at AEscripts.com

2012-12-07T18:14:00+00:00

This week, Jeff Almasol (redefinery) released the set of After Effects Scripts that were previously available only as part of the content that ships with After Effects Studio Techniques. This was done not only with the author's blessing, but at my explicit suggestion. If theses scripts are...

After Effects CS6 Studio Techniques: latest edition for aspiring and existing VFX professionals

2012-11-26T23:00:00+00:00

After Effects Studio Techniques is unique from other books on After Effects in a couple of specific ways.It is a VFX compositing book, designed to teach you the art of making a single shot believable although it is made up of disparate elements. It is also uniquely focused on intermediate and advanced usage; from Chapter 1 it is assumed that you don't need to learn the fundamentals of working in video or in After Effects that are best left to other resources, of which there are many. Professional peers have remarked that they learned useful new information right from the first chapter, and throughout the book.