Visual effects is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live action footage and other live action footage or CG elements to create realistic imagery is called VFX.
Houdini is a 3D animation software application developed by Toronto-based SideFX, who adapted it from the PRISMS suite of procedural generation software tools. The procedural tools are used to produce different effects such as complex reflections, animations and particles system. Some of its procedural features have been in existence since 1987.
Rhythm & Hues Studios is an American visual effects and animation company that received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1995 for Babe, in 2008 for The Golden Compass, and in 2013 for Life of Pi. It also received four Scientific and Technical Academy Awards.
Dennis Muren, A.S.C is an American film visual effects artist and supervisor. He has worked on the films of Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and George Lucas, among others, and won nine Oscars in total: eight for Best Visual Effects and a Technical Achievement Academy Award.
Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American computer animation production company Based In Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000 It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation.
Previsualization is the visualizing of complex scenes in a movie before filming. It is also a concept in still photography. Previsualization is used to describe techniques such as storyboarding, either in the form of charcoal sketches or in digital technology, in the planning and conceptualization of movie scenes.
John Andrew Berton Jr. is an American computer graphics animator and visual effects supervisor. His most recent completed project is Bedtime Stories. He also recently worked in India, supervising effects on the film Krrish 3. In the fall of 2013, he joined the faculty of Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Marc Weigert is a film producer and film/TV visual effects supervisor and 2nd unit director.
Michael Arias is an American-born filmmaker active primarily in Japan.
VisionArt Design & Animation was a motion picture and television visual effects company, founded in the 1980s by David Rose and Todd Hess. Though originally a small Orange County company working primarily on cable TV advertisements and flying logos, VisionArt moved to Santa Monica in 1992, winning its first major effects work with "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." The studio originated in Santa Ana, California, later moved to Santa Monica, California, and closed its doors in 2000.
A graphics coordinator, GC, or font assist is an individual who works, usually on a television show, as a producer of on-air still and motion graphics. The graphics coordinator decides what content should be displayed on-air - such as on a fullpage or a lower third. The GC should not be confused with the Operator, who usually operates a character generator (CG) and is part of a television crew, or a broadcast designer who physically creates the graphics.
Craig Barron is an American visual effects artist, currently Creative Director at Magnopus, a Los Angeles media company that produces augmented and virtual-reality experiences.
CafeFX was an award-winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects production and supervision, CG character creation, and 3D animation. Founded in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner, CafeFX was located in a 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) studio on an eight-acre campus in Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County. Its commercial and music video division, Santa Monica-based The Syndicate, was a creative design, branding services, and digital production studio, specializing in live action direction, visual effects, animation, motion graphics, and telecine. CafeFX and The Syndicate were held by umbrella corporation ComputerCafe Group, which has also established Sententia Entertainment, a long form production company.
Matte World Digital was a visual effects company based in Novato, California that specialized in realistic matte painting effects and digital environments for feature films, television, electronic games and IMAX large-format productions. The company closed in 2012 after 24 years of service in the entertainment industry.
The VFX creative director is a position common in films, television programs, and computer games using a large amount of visual effects (VFX).
Method Studios is a visual effects company launched in 1999 in Los Angeles, California with facilities in New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, San Francisco, Melbourne, Montreal, and Pune. The company provides production and post-production services including conceptual design, look development, on-set supervision, 3D animation/CGI, matte painting, AR/VR, compositing and finishing.
The history of computer animation began as early as the 1940s and 1950s, when people began to experiment with computer graphics - most notably by John Whitney. It was only by the early 1960s when digital computers had become widely established, that new avenues for innovative computer graphics blossomed. Initially, uses were mainly for scientific, engineering and other research purposes, but artistic experimentation began to make its appearance by the mid-1960s- most notably by Dr Thomas Calvert. By the mid-1970s, many such efforts were beginning to enter into public media. Much computer graphics at this time involved 2-dimensional imagery, though increasingly as computer power improved, efforts to achieve 3-dimensional realism became the emphasis. By the late 1980s, photo-realistic 3D was beginning to appear in film movies, and by mid-1990s had developed to the point where 3D animation could be used for entire feature film production.
Dan Lemmon is a New Zealand visual effects supervisor. In 2012, he was nominated for an Academy Award for the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This was in the category of Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, his nomination was shared with Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and R. Christopher White.
Tom Wood is an English visual effects supervisor.
Allan McKay is a Los-Angeles based visual effects supervisor and technical director. He is responsible for visual effects sequences in projects including Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Blade, The Last Airbender, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Flight, The Equalizer, and other films. He has also worked on several video games including Halo, Destiny, Call of Duty, Bioshock, Prototype, Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, and others.
