• Like the new linear workflow in Layout that allows artists to create consistent images with reliable gamma for their compositing workflows.

• Plus, the added ability to easily set the exact size of an OpenGL preview in Layout, giving artists a reliable way to deliver test shots to editorial pipelines with a consistent resolution and aspect ratio.

all images courtesy of  Digital Mind.
all images courtesy of  Digital Mind.
all images courtesy of  Digital Mind.

This month’s image comes to you from Khalid Al-Muharraqi, who recently posted it in the NewTek discussion forums. We asked him what inspired the image, and this is what he had to say:

"I created this image for a few reasons, actually. First of all, I had a project that I was commissioned for—a big private job for a VIP client here, relating to wildlife in the desert. Essentially, I had to create creatures from my back yard. The camel was one of many animals that will be scattered about in the environments that I am designing and manufacturing. The project is still under development and very confidential.

"The second reason for creating this image is that by the end of this year, I plan to have a moving gallery or road show with my Dad. The presentation will feature our work, as father and son, with traditional paint and digital art.  There will be images relating to the Middle East, as well as some of my old artwork. I am working hard to get a good number of art pieces ready,  so I can travel with the gallery, in and out of the GCC. This is the goal I am aiming for this year.

"I would like to thank  William Vaughan, Ben Vost and for sure, Jay Roth for always supporting me and giving me great feedback.  I would also like to thank all of the users out there that have been supporting me all this time."

For many years, Urs looked after his aging mother in a town that has long since seen better days. Determined to find a better life for the both of them, he embarks on a perilous journey up a mountain, carrying his mother on his back. But is it all worth it?

Still making the rounds at film festivals all over the world, ”Urs”, a visually striking, emotionally-charged short film by Moritz Mayerhofer, had its humble beginnings as an ambitious thesis project.

"Since this was a thesis project, I had several limitations, time-wise and content-wise. I used that to my advantage. Identifying and working within your limitations actually helps you find out what's really important in telling your story. The technical limitations of a particular software can usually be supplemented with different tools in the pipeline. There's always a way to work around something, as long as you are open-minded and most of all, patient,” says Mayerhofer. “To be honest, I was surprised at how smoothly everything worked together in the end. It encourages my belief that there is no need for a dogmatic use of one tool over the other. I found that if you just use what's better for you and the project, you'll get better results."

This open-minded approach to executing his ideas came from the formative nature of his film school training, "At the Filmakademie in Baden-Württemberg, I had the freedom to experiment with many techniques, trying to find out which would be my favorite. While searching for a method that would be interesting to focus on in a professional career, I moved from visual effects to stylization, then eventually to character animation, and finally animation directing. It was here that I was able to utilize all of the skills I had learned over the years to make this film."

The film has a very distinct look, like a painting come to life. Achieving such a look in a student animation film is no easy task, yet the results speak for themselves. Moritz describes the workflow and how LightWave 3D played nicely with the other tools in his pipeline:

"All objects were built and shaded in LightWave 3D. Texturing was done in Bodypaint and Photoshop. For rigging and animation, we used Project Messiah Studio, where we could start animating, even before the models and the rigs were completely finished. Based on 2D-layout drawings, my team and I created over 50 Matte Paintings. They were then put into the backgrounds of the 3D scenes for reference, and later used for compositing. It became a bit tricky when I needed 3-dimensional camera movements that had to be ported to all of the different tools. Thanks to the Point Oven plug-ins, we were able to exchange the camera motion and the baked character animation from Messiah to create camera projections in Maya and LightWave, as well as the FX animation in Houdini and Maya."

Moritz started using LightWave 3D in 1996, inspired by its use in Babylon 5, and its affordability to a student with limited financial resources. "It took me a while to get familiar with the intricacies of the software, but one thing I really loved from the get-go, was the non-Windows user interface. LightWave 3D also won me over with its powerful modeling tools and really fast navigation. I love to do camerawork in it, since it is incredibly intuitive and fun to work with. LightWave's shading system and rendering possibilities are absolutely fantastic, making it the most reliable tool in my pipeline."

Even after 14 years of using the program, Moritz feels there's always more to learn. He considers the LightWave community a resource that is available to everyone who uses LightWave for their creative needs. "When it comes to highly advanced techniques that are over my head, I feel lucky knowing that I have many amazing artists at my disposal, who are part of the LightWave community, offering their guidance and support."

        Urs begins his perilous journey. Image courtesy of Moritz Mayerhofer.


Learn more about this amazing short and where you can see it by clicking HERE.

Studio Spotlight: Gosu Design

Using insight, creativity and LightWave 3D, Norway-based Gosu Design delivers strategic design competence to TV stations, production houses and other businesses in the digital industry. Their highly specialized team works with all aspects of design for interactive media, ranging from animation and post-production, to branding, GUI design, and more. With 10+ years of broadcast and Web design experience, Gosu has worked with some of the most exciting and attractive vendors in the industry today. Images from their recent projects have been making the rounds in the forums, creating quite a stir, due to the high level of artistry displayed. We spoke to Edvin Torgersen, partner at Gosu Design, and head of 3D and post-production, to have a closer look at their production process, and how LightWave 3D fits into the mix. 
 

        Image courtesy of Gosu Design.

NewTek: Why does your studio use LightWave 3D?

Edvin Torgersen: The most important reason, of course, is that I had been using LightWave for many years before we started this company. As we hired more people, the natural choice was not to fix something that isn’t broken. It was quite easy for new employees to learn the Modeler and Layout aspects, getting them to a level where they were ready for production. One of the biggest selling points is the ability to use FPrime. Most of the new artists we bring in, come from a Maya or Max background, where the smallest tweaking costs a lot of render time to make it look right. With LightWave and FPrime, any tweaking or changes, no matter how big or small, are adjustments we can see in real time. This alone is a huge timesaver. Another reason we continue using LightWave 3D for our work, is that it’s a great program to use for projects of every size. The high quality of the renderings, the ease and speed of modeling, and the use of FPrime, makes for quick turnarounds in every production we tackle.  

        Image courtesy of Gosu Design.

NT: What is the makeup of your clientele?

ET: We have two separate departments here at Gosu: At one branch we focus on broadcast design, which entails brand design, motion graphics, 3D, post-production and animation. At the other branch, we focus on interface design for interactive TV and other applications. This combination gives us an opportunity to work with broadcasters, film producers, TV production houses, commercial agencies, and telecom operators who aim to increase their service offerings, such as IPT.  
 

        Image courtesy of Gosu Design.

NT: Does your team specialize in any particular area when it comes to your work?

ET: Not really, but we do have to be able to tackle just about anything. We feel that the more challenging the project is, the better it can be, as long as it can match the budget and resources we have available. Having said that, I think our strongest asset, and what makes Gosu Design stand out from the more traditional post-production agencies, is the focus that we have on coming up with the best concepts for the projects, from the ground up. This is something we truly enjoy doing, and it also makes our productions more durable, interesting and exciting to work with at every stage. This is yet another reason LightWave's use at our studio is a perfect fit. It is a very adaptable program, which suits everything from the most complicated project, to simple 2D motion graphics that need spicing up with additional 3D objects. The possibilities are endless.

NT: Are there any other programs you use to get the work done?

ET: We use eyeon´s Fusion for the majority of compositing work, and some After Effects for lower budget projects. For sculpting, we use Zbrush, and for editing and final color correction - Final Cut.  We also use the Adobe design package for some of our design, such as texture making, painting and retouching needs.

NT: Could you briefly describe your production process?

ET: The first step is always the initial conceptual work that we go over with the client. After the concept development stage, we begin designing, followed by animatics and previz. We try to do all our previz scenes in a tidy manner so they are usable in the production stage. When all this is approved, it’s off to full production. We have two offices, one in Oslo and one in Bergen, and the offices have synchronized rendering disks. This means that both offices can work on the same projects at once. We are also connected with two iMacs and a continuous iChat stream, which makes it really easy for us to work together and communicate on projects. Since deadlines always play a big part in any project, we have 13 render nodes which run LightWave screamernet and Fusion render nodes, all controlled by the Deadline render system. We try to push ourselves to finish every project about a week before the deadline, and then use that last week for important final touches.

For more information about Gosu Design and news about their upcoming projects, visit their website. 
 

 

Artist Spotlight: Nicolas Crombez

        All images courtesy of Nicolas Crombez.

Image courtesy of Nicolas Crombez.
Image courtesy of Nicolas Crombez
Image courtesy of Nicolas Crombez
Image courtesy of Nicolas Crombez.
Image courtesy of Nicolas Crombez
Image courtesy of Nicolas Crombez