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Live & Stage Events | NAB 2012: Snell
At NAB 2012, Snell unveiled several new products: Kahuna 360 Compact, a smaller-frame version of the company's Kahuna 360 video switcher that is targeted at the live production market; KudosPro, a format-flexible and cost-effective next-generation image-processing platform; Momentum, an asset management (MAM), workflow automation, and resource planning solution; and a 4-RU version of its Vega routing platform. The company also showcased enhancements to its ICE channel-in-a-box and Morpheus automation systems.
05/02/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Boris FX | NAB 2012: Boris FX
Boris FX came to NAB 2012 with new versions, each of which expanded the capabilities of the company's toolset of visual effects, compositing, titling, and workflow tools: Version 8 of its flagship Boris Continuum Complete, Version 2 of Soundbite and Version 6 of Boris Graffiti. The company also announced support for Adobe Creative Suite 6 and Avid DS.
05/01/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Genarts Sapphire Edge | NAB 2012: GenArts
At NAB 2012, GenArts showcased its newest products: Sapphire version 6 and Monsters GT version 7, both of which offer visual effects artists a wide variety of effects available on numerous platforms. The company also announced the imminent release of Sapphire Edge 2.
04/27/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Autodesk Smoke | Walter Biscardi: Yes, Autodesk Smoke 2013 Changes Everything
"From the moment I saw Autodesk Smoke 2013, I knew the entire post production world as we knew it had changed." So says Creative COW Contributing Editor Walter Biscardi in an overview that covers Smoke's new editor-centered (and Mac-friendly) interface, ease of use, support for FCP 7 and Avid projects and keyboard mapping, and advanced, integrated effects and color tools -- including several that had previously been available in Autodesk Flame. Oh yeah, a price drop to $3495. See why Walter says, "For the traditional editor, this is completely game-changing."
04/15/2012
Author: Walter Biscardi |
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Autodesk Smoke | NAB 2012: Autodesk Unveils a New Smoke
Autodesk introduced a new Smoke that features an editor-friendly user interface, connected editing and effects, lower system requirements and a much lower price. Aimed at the multi-tasking editor, the new Smoke allows editors to handle all kinds of visual effects tasks on the editing timeline.
04/15/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo | NAB 2012: Dolby Calibrates the Future with PRM-4200 monitor
At NAB 2012, Dolby will sweeten the deal for professionals who already own the PRM-4200 or are interested in it by adding support for content shot in 48 fps and three levels of customized calibration service for the monitor. Also to be seen at both the Dolby and ARRI booths, a short film - in partnership with ARRI - directed, shot, produced and graded by Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Rob Legato.
04/13/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Adobe After Effects | John Carter VFX
Cinesite Visual Effects Supervisor Sue Rowe approached the mammoth job of creating 831 visual effects for John Carter -- which marks the live-action debut of noted animation director Andrew Stanton -- with a lot of experience under her belt.
03/12/2012
Author: Sue Rowe |
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Cinematography | Hugo and The Joy of Filmmaking
In this expanded version of the article from Creative COW Magazine, VFX Supervisor and 2nd Unit Director Rob Legato shares some of the secrets of a tribute to the love of making and watching movies, and insights into two filmmaking masters. All of us at Creative COW congratulate Rob on his Academy Award nomination for his visual effects work on Hugo.
01/26/2012
Author: Rob Legato |
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Film History & Appreciation
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COW: The Community Speaks | SOPA Initiative
If you are a USA citizen, help us protect the internet from the control and regulation that legislators are trying to implement under two ill-conceived bills that would effectively destroy the internet as we have known it. These bills are being referred to as SOPA and PIPA.
01/18/2012
Author: Ronald & Kathlyn Lindeboom |
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Cinematography | LOOK Effects meets The Muppets
Anthony 'Max' Ivins, Visual Effects Supervisor and Co-Owner, LOOK Effects, was responsible for on-set supervision as well as overseeing LOOK Effects' 3D animation and compositing on The Muppets. Take a look with Creative COW at what was at stake working with the Muppet legacy, using bluescreen because your main actor is green, working on a merry-go-round, and planning complicated VFX shots.
01/02/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Sony Vegas | Vegas Pro 11 Powers Up!
Sony Creative Software brought a significant improvement in processing power to its latest upgrade of Vegas editing technology. Vegas Pro 11 takes full advantage of OpenCL - the first Windows-based nonlinear editing system to do so - supporting the open standard for core video editing operations, video effects and rendering.
12/05/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | Douglas Trumbull Sees a Better Filmgoing Future
Douglas Trumbull first won acclaim with the visual effects for such groundbreaking features as "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and his own "Silent Running," but with the invention of Showscan in the late 1970s, he became the godfather of high-frame rate cinema. This pioneering innovator sees a better filmgoing future.
11/29/2011
Author: Douglas Trumbull |
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RE:Vision Effects | RE:Vision Effects Releases Twixtor 5 for Avid
Software developer RE:Vision Effects just released Twixtor 5 plug-in for Avid Media Compser, Symphony and NewsCutter, including 64-bit support for Media Composer 6, Symphony 6 and NewsCutter 10. That will make Twixtor's slow motion shots - achieved quickly and at a high image quality - available to Avid editors.
11/25/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Adobe After Effects | Adobe Creative Cloud Offers Applications, Services, Community
With Creative Cloud, Adobe is switching from a model of software as a product to Software as a Service (SaS). By early 2012, Adobe Creative Cloud is expected to include such applications as After Effects, Premiere and Photoshop. Creative Cloud includes a hub for viewing, sharing and syncing of files, and a subscription with 20GB of cloud storage.
11/15/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Art of the Edit | Giant Dinosaurs, Tiny Budgets
Spielberg? Dinosaurs? Every effects house wanted in -- until they saw the budget. Terra Nova VFX Supervisor Kevin Blank takes us back in time, to the laying of their VFX plans.
11/08/2011
Author: Kevin Blank |
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Cinematography | Douglas Trumbull Honored by SMPTE
With over 45 years of pioneering work in visual effects photography and innovative motion picture technology advances, it's easy to see why Douglas Trumbull was honored with the 2011 SMPTE Presidential Proclamation. Over the years, he's graced the industry with inventions such as Showscan, breathtaking artwork for multi-plane and fisheye photography, and so much more. Read on for more about this stunning list of achievements driven by a creative force of unparalleled talent.
11/02/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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IBC Expo | High-speed cameras roll at IBC 2011
IBC boasted hot new high-speed cameras, with P+S Technik introducing a "time effect" or digital cinematography synch sound camera with a 35mm-sized CMOS imager and global shutter that offers slow motion, fast motion, ramped motion and time-lapse motion.
09/23/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Film History & Appreciation | Behind the Lens: Captain America: The First Avenger
Join Debra Kaufman as she goes behind the lens in the latest installment of her film vfx series, as Captain America: The First Avenger is brought from the realm of comic book imagination and 2D art, to the 3D world with stunning visual effects. Get the inside story of how thirteen VFX houses contributed to this new Marvel super-hero franchise as they share their stories with Debra Kaufman.
07/22/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Film History & Appreciation | Behind the Lens: Cinesite's magic touch with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
More from our exciting series, Behind the Lens: Creative COW's Debra Kaufman had an opportunity to speak with Cinesite 2D supervisor Andy Robinson and 3D supervisor Holger Voss about their facility's work on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. One thing is clear to anyone who's followed the Harry Potter franchise: the movies, which began in 2001, are a visual representation of the increasing maturity of visual effects artists and their technology. It's more than just Voldemort's nose, too, that Cinesite has created. Look behind the lens and unveil the magic.
07/22/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | Behind the Lens: A look at VFX in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
If you've been captivated by the dashing Jack Sparrow ripping through the streets of 18th Century London on a flaming coal cart, you have Cinesite London to thank for that rollicking and truly convincing ride, as they nail a 200-shot blue-screen carriage chase. Debra Kaufman goes "Behind the Lens" and interviews Cinesite Visual Effects Supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp for the details about how Cinesite rose to the challenge.
06/29/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | Silverdraft Mobileviz rolls out
Previz and VFX to go offers new options for filmmakers. Debra Kaufman visited the new Mobileviz trailer Hollywood and experienced the "first super-computer-powered digital and visual effects (VFX) studios-on-wheels."
03/18/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Field Production - NEW ! | Shooting True First-Person Interviews
Tom Miller, a 20 year cinematographer, shares some of his interview secrets with Creative COW members. In the Academy Award®-winning documentary film "Fog of War", Robert McNamara looks directly into the lens as he talks about the trials and tribulations of the Vietnam War. The effect is unnerving and powerful. Draw from Tom's vast expertise to communicate with your audience in a memorable experience.
09/21/2010
Author: Thomas Miller |
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Art of the Edit | Worldsourcing: A Prime Focus on Global VFX Collaboration
After winning an Academy Award® for his VFX work on The Golden Compass, Mike Fink's next direction could have taken him literally anywhere in the world. Here is the story of how a man who helped invent the concept of freelance visual effects supervisor found himself part of a company that is helping invent new kinds of global collaboration. It's not outsourcing. It's WORLD-sourcing.
03/30/2010
Author: Mike Fink |
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Art of the Edit | Molecule Fueled Imagination
Film? Television? Production? Post? Visual effects? Animation? Stereoscopic 3D? Interactive design? By answering Yes, all of the above, The Molecule keeps its eyes beyond the horizon.
10/15/2009
Author: Chris Healer |
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Cinematography | Pushing the Limits on Pushing Daisies
Visual Effects Supervisor William Powloski helped create one of the most eye-popping worlds ever seen on TV, as part of a feature film aesthetic on a TV budget and schedule. Although it was canceled after only two seasons, it remains one of the most beautiful and innovative programs to ever air on US television. In an extended version of the original article in The Visual Effects Issue of Creative COW Magazine, here is an exclusive look at how he and his team helped pull it off.
7/21/2009
Author: William Powloski |
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Cinematography | Focus on Controlling Depth of Field with Depth of Field Converters
Cinematographer and Creative Cow leader Todd Terry has shot countless television commercials and industrials using both 35mm film and depth-of-field converted video. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, from The Visual Effects Issue, learn how depth of field converters allow you to attach 35mm lenses even to video cameras with fixed lenses, how they work, and which one might be right for you.
02/10/2009
Author: Todd Terry |
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Nuke | Nuke - An Introduction for After Effects Users
Nuke, the new compositing tool from The Foundry, is rapidly becoming a favorite in high-end film production. Its price also offers an easy entry for indie producers who want to create better work, faster and more powerfully. This guided tour of Nuke for AE users, along with tips for leveraging your AE experience in the brave Nuke world of VFX creation will help you discover Nuke.
01/20/2009
Author: Pete O'Connell |
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Art of the Edit | Metadata & The Future of Filmmaking
Dave Stump, ASC has worked as a DP, effects cinematographer and VFX supervisor on dozens of films including Quantum of Solace, X-men and X-men 2, The Bourne Identity, Army of Darkness, Star Trek: First Contact, Batman Forever and many more. He chairs the American Society of Cinemtagraphers subcommittees on Cameras, and Metadata. In this expanded version of an interview first published in Creative Cow Magazine, Dave describes a possible future for filmmaking -- faster, less expensive, and more creative -- as cameras and metadata come together.
12/16/2008
Author: Dave Stump |
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Broadcast Video | Improvising Visual Effects
On-set circumstances changing fast? Improvise! In this Creative COW Magazine article Mark Allen discusses how he overcame the complications in a recent short film production by improvising the visual effects.
12/03/2008
Author: Mark Allen |
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RE:Vision Effects | The Art and Science of Optical Flow
Creative COW leaders Pete Litwinowicz and Pierre Jasmin won an Academy Award® for the design and development of the RE: Vision Effects family of optical flow-based image manipulation plug-ins. For RE:Vision's tenth anniverary, we asked Pierre to talk to us about what optical flow is - and isn't - and how it works in their products.
12/03/2008
Author: Pierre Jasmin |
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Lighting Design Pros | Lighting with Shadows
In this extended version of his article in the Creative Cow Visual Effects Issue, lighting expert and instructor Rick Wise draws on his decades of experience to illustrate how shadows can be the most important part of how a scene is lit. Learn how to control the direction and quality of your lighting design to add texture, dimension, and force to your images.
12/02/2008
Author: Rick Wise |
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Art of the Edit | The Importance of Invisible Effects
Steve is a Senior Compositor and 2D Technical Director with over 20 years of production experience. His credits include over 60 films including as Traffic, Blade: Trinity,Ray, Batman & Robin, U-571, Air Force One, TV shows including Deadwood, and over 70 commercial spots. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra from the Visual Effects issue, Steve talks about invisible effects in projects he has worked on, with ideas you can use for your own projects.
11/18/2008
Author: Steve Wright |
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Adobe After Effects | Behind the Scenes from Behind Oasis
When one of the worlds biggest rock and roll bands, Oasis, celebrated a careers worth of achievement, the film playing behind Rock-n-Roll Star was created by Creative Cow author Nel Johnson and the team at Studio Skylab. Learn the After Effects techniques that helped them complete the project under a ridiculous deadline, while wowing Oasis and a worldwide audience. As Nel puts it, We locked ourselves away, cranked up the music, and went nuts. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, we take a closer look at the story, starting with the creation of the films unique look.
08/12/2008
Author: Nel Johnson |
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Adobe After Effects | Cineon Files: What They Are, and How To Work With Them
Expert film compositor Pete OConnell takes you through the world of Cineon files, including exactly what they are, how they work, and how to work with them in Adobe After Effects. If you work with film files or want to, you need to read this article.
High Bandwidth/Large File Warning: Due to the fact that this article deals with film images, the image sizes are large and this article contains 32MB of images in the HTML file.
12/27/2007
Author: Pete O'Connell |
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Adobe After Effects | Building a 3D World in After Effects
When a project requires a photo-realistic 3D world, After Effects isnt usually the first program that comes to mind. Typically a 3D modeling/animation program is necessary to create virtual 3D worlds, but in this article CreativeCOW contributing editor Bill ONeil demonstrates creating a 3D world for a TV spot he was hired to direct and post for the Big Ten Basketball Conference.
08/10/2007
Author: Bill O'Neil |
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Adobe After Effects Techniques | Building a Professional Machine Room
You bought a new Final Cut Pro system to go with your Avid Media Composer or your other Final Cut Pro systems. You have an After Effects system with an AJA, Blackmagic or other card in it, so you can capture video and audio on this station as well. Your neighbor in the next office has a ProTools or a Logic system, and he wants to tie into some of your machines. You're on your way to becoming exactly what you didn't want to be - a facility. Oh no!
04/06/2007
Author: Bob Zelin |
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Adobe After Effects | Designing Content for a Multi-Screen Video Display
Matt Hall reveals an easy method for creating multi-screen display video presentations for use in trade shows, concerts and other events and situations.
By following Matt Hall's instructions in this article - and cross-checking your own settings in Adobe After Effects against Matt's settings - you can learn the secret of multi-screen display presentations.
04/06/2007
Author: Matt Hall |
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Adobe After Effects Expressions
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Business & Marketing | Finding the Way to Real Money - Full Time
Industry pros reveal how they got ahead and ways to stay there... Tim Wilson reveals some professional business secrets video and effects artists have shared with him over the years of how they have come to make money doing the work they love to do.
01/16/2007
Author: Tim Wilson |
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Adobe After Effects | Fox Classics Spot: A Lesson In 3D Layers, Roto and Expressions
In this After Effects tutorial from The Creative COW Magazine, John Dickinson walks you through his creation of a completed design and animation of a spot for Fox Classics in Australia. John shares the settings, effects and filters he used in this real world After Effects video production walk-through.
05/13/2006
Author: John Dickinson |
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Podcasting | Creating Tutorial Podcasts
With all the tutorials that I produce for the Creative Cow After Effects Podcast, the question I get emailed everyday isn't even related to AE, it's: ''How do you make your podcasts?'' In this podcasting tutorial from The Creative COW Magazine you will learn the long awaited answer to that question.
05/04/2006
Author: Aharon Rabinowitz |
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