SWDFX News | Nuke6 Workshops, Lynda.com, Mocha & Topaz Labs

SWDFX Newsletter August 2010

OP ED: 3D TV IN THE HOME...Not so fast!

The entertainment community is all a-twitter over stereo 3D movies and are in a head long rush to crank out as many as they can. So what about the 3D TV in the home? How soon will it be here? What will be the technology? How much will it cost? Will you have to wear those silly glasses? Read more of 3D TV in the Home!

NUKE WORKSHOPS IN MAINE

This fall Steve will be presenting two week long location-based Nuke workshops at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. This will be a rare opportunity for compositing artists on the East coast to attend an in-person Nuke class with Steve.

There will be a one week Intro to Nuke Compositing Workshop (September 19-25) followed by a one week Advanced Nuke Compositing Workshop (September 26-October 2). 2k film scans and HD plates will be provided for all attendees. Class size is limited!

Members of the VES, SIGGRAPH, DMALA and the DCS along with our loyal readers will receive a 10% discount! To receive your discount code, please send an email to diane@swdfx.com with your membership affiliation for verification. Once verified, you will be emailed the discount code!

STEVE DOES MORE MOCHA

In our last newsletter, we had a story about Steve developing a Mocha roto training program for a 3D stereo conversion company. In a recent development, Imagineer Systems, the makers of Mocha, have now retained Steve to develop their product tutorials for the new version of Mocha. The tutorials will start appearing on the Imagineer Systems’ website starting later this month.

TOPAZ TRULY TITILLATES!

At the July Siggraph we were so impressed with Topaz, a collection of image processing plugins for Photoshop and related apps, that we purchased it on the floor! Using floating point math and powerful algorithms, it can dig picture detail out of badly exposed photographs, remove noise and jpeg artifacts, and create mattes with an uber-magic wand tool. It also offers a variety of artistic treatments to make photos look like pencil sketches, oil paintings, and other fine looks. Check it out at Topaz Labs.

COMPOSITING VISUAL EFFECTS - 2nd Edition

Steve will be publishing the 2nd edition of his popular intro to compositing book “Compositing Visual Effects: Essentials for Aspiring Artists”. It will be updated with new sections on planar tracking and motion capture, plus two entirely new chapters - RED and digital capture images, plus tracking an entire VFX project from start to finish. The release date is scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.

REMOTE LEARNING WITH STEVE!

You can now get unique one-on-one or group personal training from Steve anywhere in the world utilizing the latest desktop sharing technology. If you have a high-speed internet connection you can sit virtually side-by-side with Steve as he demonstrates visual effects compositing techniques on your workstation.

He has conducted such personal training in Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, India, China and across the United States on whatever topics the artist requested - compositing with log images, Nuke’s unique color management, exotic 3D compositing techniques and stereoscopic compositing, or powerful bluescreen and greenscreen keying techniques. Steve has even conducted “virtual lectures” at colleges and universities such as Syracuse University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Visit vfxio.com to contact Steve if you would like to arrange some personal training.

STEVE WRIGHT'S VFXIO.COM: WHO WE ARE

Master Trainer, Steve Wright, delivers visual effects compositing, Nuke and Shake training to the VFX industry around the world. With curricula developed by this senior visual effects artist with over 20 years of production experience and excellent teaching skills, these programs are designed to be very accessible and cost effective.

Steve not only teaches online and in the classroom, but he also travels to VFX facilities around the world to train the studio's VFX staff in skills & compositing techniques gleaned from those years of production experience as well as to improve the facility's 2D/3D production pipeline productivity. Visit vfxio.com today to learn about our VFX compositing training opportunities!

3RD EDITION NOW AVAILABLE!

We are just pleased a punch to announce the availability of the third edition of Steve’s very popular “Digital Compositing for Film and Video”. Reflecting important new trends in the visual effects compositing industry, major new sections have been added on stereo compositing, multi-pass cgi compositing, and 3D compositing. Since many compositors are strictly 2D folks, there is also a primer on 3D animation to help with key terms and concepts. Order your copy today at Amazon.com.

NUKE WEBINAR ARCHIVE

If you missed the “What’s So Hot About Nuke?” webinar because it was sold out then you can still get the hot info by accessing the recorded archive. Learn why Nuke is the compositing program of choice at ILM, Weta Digital, Framestore and others. Bonus - get the FAQ podcast too! The "What's So Hot About Nuke?" webinar archive is now available at New Media Webinars.

GREENSCREEN WEBINAR ARCHIVE

If you missed the Greenscreen webinar you can now access the recorded archive. Steve gave an overview of best practices for lighting, shooting, and compositing greenscreen shots. Bonus - get Steve’s “Greenscreen Tips” FAQ. The "Working with Greenscreen Shots" webinar archive is available at New Media Webinars.