DVXuser Visual Effects Fest/Challenge

arges03 said:
I'm in!

As for ideas? Hmmmm....

Perhaps we could supply everyone with the same 3 short video clips shot on a green screen. Then you can create your own plates/effects/etc and create a scene.
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That's a hell of an idea. For some challenges we will definately all have the same base footage to start with. That will even out the playing field and see who excells where.

Great idea.


We have two ideas so far, keep them coming guys. We will go for one more day and if we don't have a definate, I will pick something straightforeward.
 
Howboot we give everyone a few pics, and have them do a set extension with them? Like they can use whatever footage they want, but the pics have to be used to extend the set like a matte painting would be?

or maybe the other way around? I can go take some 10 second clips of the sand dunes right outside my back door and then everyone can use there own pics to do a DSE?

that might be kinda fun...
 
dory_breaux said:
Howboot we give everyone a few pics, and have them do a set extension with them? Like they can use whatever footage they want, but the pics have to be used to extend the set like a matte painting would be?

or maybe the other way around? I can go take some 10 second clips of the sand dunes right outside my back door and then everyone can use there own pics to do a DSE?

that might be kinda fun...
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Add that to suggstion number three. Someone keep count and a list. I can't do it now, i'vd got a migrane coming on.
 
Today is Thursday. By Sunday, I want a concept locked and people ready to go. If you need footage, say flames, snow, or whatnot, go ahead and ask. You may get it, and at the same time, you may not. Not all of the elements we need are handed to us. I would encourage everyone to go here:

http://www.wondertouch.com/

And get the demo version of the software. It has the easiest learning curve of anything I have ever used, provides masssive amounts of particle effects, and as stated in the initial post, demo software is fine to use, and will be treated the same as registered versions.
 
And now for my idea for the first contest:

Find a picture online, make it look like winter with snow and ice (if there is a lake) and add particle snow to finish.

This will test you Photoshop skills, you compositing skills, and you particle generation skills.

Remember please, is does not have to be perfect. Have fun trying, and submit something. The main goal is to learn and share.

If you like this idea for the challenge, say so. if you like the other three, say aye to them.

We now have four possibles, and I say we choose one.

Think about it, and then weigh in.
 
I suck at photoshop. But I'll give it a shot whatever gets voted.

I won't be using particles for detailed snow because of render times but maybe polygon ground snow with particle 'flakes'.

If you take that route I think we should all use the same picture. And will it be animated or just a still?

Also, here's a photoshop tutorial for snow matte painting I found a while back.
About half way down the page...

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/advanced.html

//I'd also prefer a monthly challenge. 2 weeks feels a little rushed.
 
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Raptor365 said:
I suck at photoshop. But I'll give it a shot whatever gets voted.

I won't be using particles for detailed snow because of render times but maybe polygon ground snow with particle 'flakes'.

If you take that route I think we should all use the same picture. And will it be animated or just a still?

Also, here's a photoshop tutorial for snow matte painting I found a while back.
About half way down the page...

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/advanced.html

//I'd also prefer a monthly challenge. 2 weeks feels a little rushed.
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It does't matter. Do what you can. Remember, this is more a learning experience than a real Fest. So do what you can, If you have a better idea for the first Challenge, let me know. We may change it.
 
dory_breaux said:
three weeks.

matt thats a great idea! i dunno aboot the same pic tho, could get a little borring.
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Come up with a better and more exciting idea. This is not like regular fests, where the rules and conditions are set.

Please contribute with ideas. I am always open to possibility.


We now have two days to decide. So keep the ideas coming, and if it comes down to it, we will put it to a vote.


But please weigh in and contribute. I really want this to work and to be a fun, challenging and learning experience for us all.
 
Oh, this is exciting.

Two weeks is really rushed though. Considering we have other fests to work on. And I have some paying visual effects projects on the slate right now. I mean, it's doable. If needed, I can do 2 weeks.

As for the idea of winterfying a place. That's pretty cool. Or a full weather replacement would be interesting as well.

And to Dory - one picture can be changed so many ways. From 3D camera projections, to full on 3D VFX. I would say we do something with pyro...since I am working on a nuclear explosion for a short right now...but render times will be crazy and particles are a pain.

Anything with fluids and dynamics would be fun too.

Thats just me,

Can't wait to start working
 
Tehically the first challenege would start tomorrow. But I am still working with the nice guy who is going to set us up a place to upload to. So this particular challenge may be a few days late in starting as all the kinks are worked out.

In the meantime, we can still come up with ideas for it. We will need to pick something, so anything you guys can think of, if it seems mundane, is something else to consider.

We are not going to be going ILM here. We wont have the time, many have said they will be rushed as is. But we can pick interesting topics and make some really kick ass work.
 
Plus, it may help if we begin to put together a list of everyone involved, and what their particular strong points are. I'll have to think of a way to do that, gut as an example:

Matt Grunau
Photoshop - Photo manipularion/enhancement
After Effects - Visual effect, motion graphics, color grading, compositing
Particle Illustion - 2d based particle effects of juust about every sort, used man=inly in AE
Sound Forge - Sound design and sweetening
Lightwave - very basic modeling, decent animation and texturing, used mostly for visual effect use for video.

Something like that would help.
 
Cool, I'm game for anything. Mine may suck, but I'm up for a challenge and always love to learn something new.

Jeff Anderson
Photoshop - photo enhancement, some manipulation
After Effects - Motion Graphics, Color Grading, just starting to do some compositing
Cinema 4D - Just starting out playing with some 3d stuff. Mainly in flying logos and such as thats whats paying bills.
 
Matt Grunau said:
So this particular challenge may be a few days late in starting as all the kinks are worked out.

In the meantime, we can still come up with ideas for it. We will need to pick something, so anything you guys can think of, if it seems mundane, is something else to consider.
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I suspect that I'm like a lot of people here who are looking forward to entering but are on tight schedules. All I care about is 1) what's the challenge; and, 2) when does it start and end.

My understanding is that the topic of the film fests has always been chosen by fiat (by Barry) after he receives suggestions from other mods. Matt, I think you need to just step up and choose the topic and the deadlines for this first one. We could all throw more suggestions out but I don't think that is going to get us very far if we seriously are hoping to start the first one in the next few days.

However, for what it is worth, I'll throw these suggestions that came to my head when I first saw this thread:

1) Do a theme based challenge like the CGTalk challenges. We don't have to be as elaborate but doing a theme gives people room to experiment and work as they prefer. For instance, the "Machine Flesh Challenge" required entrants to create an image depicting a mechanically altered or enhanced organic lifeform. The challenge was divided between 2D and 3D entries and people could build their scene however they chose.

2) Give us a photo and ask people to use it in a set extension project. People could cut out figures or foreground images and set it in a whole new world or they could simply extend the photo to make a seamless set extension.

3) Do an urban decay challenge. Give us a downtown scene and have people convert it to an uninhabited future decayed condition (like LEGEND or the Discovery Channel series "After People."

4) Give us a wide landscape and let people choose whatever natural elements they wish - tornados,thunderstorms/lightning, day to night conversions, snow, rain etc. would all be acceptable. People could use particle effects, hand-painting, compositing, cut-and-paste etc.

5) sci-fi challenge - anything sci-fi goes.

***

If we keep this up we'll have lots of ideas but no consensus. I'd suggest that you just pick something and I'm sure during the first fest you'll continue to get many ideas for the next one (as is the case in the film fests).

For me, though, I really would like for you to choose a definite date to start and end so I can plan accordingly. You originally indicated the fest would start today but now it appears there will be more delay as you sift through new ideas. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me its a bit discouraging and makes this seem a bit disorganized and less worth getting excited over. Take ScriptFest, for instance. One day it just showed up. Bang. There was the thread with the rules and the deadlines. Cool. I think you need to follow that approach and do whatever YOU need to do to get comfortable with the guidelines and then announce them. Hell, PM people if you want to make this a decision by committee. Otherwise you'll just keep getting people (like me) throwing random ideas out without any sense of how the decision is being made or whose ideas are being considered. Since this isn't a prize-based fest and is merely to get people active I don't see what kinks need to be worked out. Just throw it up, Matt. If you build it we will come.
 
Mark Johnson said:
I suspect that I'm like a lot of people here who are looking forward to entering but are on tight schedules. All I care about is 1) what's the challenge; and, 2) when does it start and end.

My understanding is that the topic of the film fests has always been chosen by fiat (by Barry) after he receives suggestions from other mods. Matt, I think you need to just step up and choose the topic and the deadlines for this first one. We could all throw more suggestions out but I don't think that is going to get us very far if we seriously are hoping to start the first one in the next few days.
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This is not like other fests in that I wanted people to have input on the subject matter. I'm not Barry Green, I've never done a festival like this. So I would appreciate a little more slack and little less what seems to be an irritated post.

Like I said, we don't even have the place to upload set up yet. So I go ahead and start the fest, it ends, and boom, no place to put the entries. So since I said it would officially start tomorrow, then it will. If by the end of the week we have no place to put the entries, we will have to figure that out.

Fest Entry #1

take this picture:
1206313671.jpg




And winterize it. Since it is only a picture, technically you could submit simply an altered one of this picture. Don't. Submit a 2-5 second of Animation please. Blowing snow, drifting snow, volumetics to simulate an overcast atphoshpere, things like that. Since it is an off frame size, just submit the animation in the frame size it is now. I'de like you to add sound effects for realism as well.

If there are portions you think you can't do, collaborate with people here and do a team effort. If you have question in a not too specific "How do I do this" kind of way, more related to the contest, ask them.

Good luck all, Due date is 6:00 pm March 31st.
 
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Cool!!! Great start Matt. I really appreciate what you're doing here and I apologize if I came off irritated .... I only wanted to be helpful. Toward that end, I'm willing to help you with the uploads. We can use one of our servers if you like. I'll PM you and see what else I can do to assist.
 
Mark Johnson said:
Cool!!! Great start Matt. I really appreciate what you're doing here and I apologize if I came off irritated .... I only wanted to be helpful. Toward that end, I'm willing to help you with the uploads. We can use one of our servers if you like. I'll PM you and see what else I can do to assist.
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Forgiven now get to work. If you do better than me I will hunt you down.

I won't actually, I'll simply ask your workflow and learn. AND THAT'S THE POINT OF ALL THIS.

Buck up poeple, I think there are some out there who are going to shock the hell out of with the quality of their work.

Clock is ticken dude . ..
 
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