Next VFX fest?
- Thread starter Mattykins
- Start date
Mark Johnson
The Dude Abides
We expect to start a new fest by next weekend!
Simon Höfer
Veteran
Cool, I hope I have some time 
Mattykins
Cute Member
go digital environments!
And I am glad to see this is still running. I can't wait. As long as my schedule stays clearish I will be able to do it.
And something I would love to see is a work in progress deal. Not necessarily telling everyone what we are doing, but showing what we have done to date. That would make sure I finish my project. From concept to finish product type deal.
I think that would be really cool. Then offering a full breakdown on what we did after like we normally do.
My input anyways.
And I am glad to see this is still running. I can't wait. As long as my schedule stays clearish I will be able to do it.
And something I would love to see is a work in progress deal. Not necessarily telling everyone what we are doing, but showing what we have done to date. That would make sure I finish my project. From concept to finish product type deal.
I think that would be really cool. Then offering a full breakdown on what we did after like we normally do.
My input anyways.
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
I would love to do one with live action. Get Barlow to grab some of his 960x? stuff, or we grab our own material. Se what we can do with footage, maybe incoporate a little 3D, maybe make some kind of magic weilding, maybe a force field that stops bullets, maybe the jumper or nightcrawler "Bamf" effect. something like that.
Derrick_SA
Veteran
I miss the thread when these are announced, is there not a better way than to hide them in the Special Effects/Stunts forum.
I'd love to give it a bash, but I always see the thread to late.
Maybe a banner or something at the top to let you know a new challenge is on?
thanks,
Derrick
I'd love to give it a bash, but I always see the thread to late.
Maybe a banner or something at the top to let you know a new challenge is on?
thanks,
Derrick
Gord.T
Still "Senior Member"
Check in here daily or weekly. Not much else anyone can do.
Those who are interested will see it, basically.
Gord.T
Still "Senior Member"
I could see more time allowed as well. Having two weeks to complete the project and having 4 weeks to sit around does not make sense, right?.
Derrik, I'll try and send a PM when I know when it's on, in case you miss.
I also thought there were 3 winners. Never did here about the 2nd and 3rd place winners. ?
I liked a few things in each of the entries and was looking forward to those breakdowns but...? ...never happened.
For example, I thought the robot in 4 was pretty good. But not a word about it.
So...
Derrik, I'll try and send a PM when I know when it's on, in case you miss.
I also thought there were 3 winners. Never did here about the 2nd and 3rd place winners. ?
I liked a few things in each of the entries and was looking forward to those breakdowns but...? ...never happened.
For example, I thought the robot in 4 was pretty good. But not a word about it.
So...
Barry_Green
Moderator
There has to be more time allowed. These VFXFests should be allowing a month, not a week.
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
The original concept behind them was to make very short (2-5 second), very spefic clips that would allow us to share techniques and ideas.
10-15 hours of man time at the very most.
It is now balooning into these monster endevors that are so big and complicated, it is driving people away.
The original idea behind this has been lost completely. sharing not just after each was finished but alwo answering questions during so people could use ideas they might not be able to pull off but could, if told how. iIt was all about sharing information and program knowledge, learning, giving out tips and tricks, and improving your workflow. Not waiting until the entry was finished before we got to see any of that. That was my original thought.
I should have called them visual effects workshops, that it much closer to theway I wanted to to be.
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Mattykins
Cute Member
I think there is just a conflict of interests. I mean - a month makes this a huge ordeal. A week sucks.
What I think should be done is what I mentioned above. Have the two weeks or three weeks. And then have people make posts for their entries. And give us status updates as they go. Like if we come up with a problem, everyone knows.
Kinda like in the last one. I had the plan but I was having a huge issue with the projection mapping. Didn't quite work out as I planned. Granted I took a shortcut that failed epically. So by the time I had the projection map poorly implemented I was pissed off at the project.
A step by step rolling deal. So we see what everyone is doing as they are doing it. Kinda like a work in progress deal.
Best way to learn from everyone eh?
What I think should be done is what I mentioned above. Have the two weeks or three weeks. And then have people make posts for their entries. And give us status updates as they go. Like if we come up with a problem, everyone knows.
Kinda like in the last one. I had the plan but I was having a huge issue with the projection mapping. Didn't quite work out as I planned. Granted I took a shortcut that failed epically. So by the time I had the projection map poorly implemented I was pissed off at the project.
A step by step rolling deal. So we see what everyone is doing as they are doing it. Kinda like a work in progress deal.
Best way to learn from everyone eh?
Gord.T
Still "Senior Member"
Here I go again...
I appreciate the original concept and understand the idea behind it. I'm struggling on one hand because I aggree with your intentions.
On the other hand, having a month to go nuts and try out ideas that otherwise are not possible in a shorter time frame, to me opens more of a creative door.
I prefer the same rules as the dvxfests. If you got it use it, but give them time to do something.
It takes me generally 8 to 12 hrs to do a decent 5 to 10 second shot in 3D and I just mean setting up the lighting and camera angles, not including rendering.
Some people I've come across have used up to 26 lights just to light one shot.
Render, test, render, test. ect. Time. And at 30 minutes a test render, it can take some time.
So, we can use render farms.
Personally, above all, I want to see quality the same as the dvxfests.
The people doing those are who you can learn from. And to do that you need to have the doors open wide enough to allow them to do something.
Rant over, well, for now.
-Rantor365
I appreciate the original concept and understand the idea behind it. I'm struggling on one hand because I aggree with your intentions.
On the other hand, having a month to go nuts and try out ideas that otherwise are not possible in a shorter time frame, to me opens more of a creative door.
I prefer the same rules as the dvxfests. If you got it use it, but give them time to do something.
It takes me generally 8 to 12 hrs to do a decent 5 to 10 second shot in 3D and I just mean setting up the lighting and camera angles, not including rendering.
Some people I've come across have used up to 26 lights just to light one shot.
Render, test, render, test. ect. Time. And at 30 minutes a test render, it can take some time.
So, we can use render farms.
Personally, above all, I want to see quality the same as the dvxfests.
The people doing those are who you can learn from. And to do that you need to have the doors open wide enough to allow them to do something.
Rant over, well, for now.
-Rantor365
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Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
Here I go again...
I appreciate the original concept and understand the idea behind it. I'm struggling on one hand because I aggree with your intentions.
On the other hand, having a month to go nuts and try out ideas that otherwise are not possible in a shorter time frame, to me opens more of a creative door.
I prefer the same rules as the dvxfests. If you got it use it, but give them time to do something.
It takes me generally 8 to 12 hrs to do a decent 5 to 10 second shot in 3D and I just mean setting up the lighting and camera angles, not including rendering.
Some people I've come across have used up to 26 lights just to light one shot.
Render, test, render, test. ect. Time. And at 30 minutes a test render, it can take some time.
So, we can use render farms.
Personally, above all, I want to see quality the same as the dvxfests.
The people doing those are who you can learn from. And to do that you need to have the doors open wide enough to allow them to do something.
Rant over, well, for now.
-Rantor365
Then don't overcomplicate things. If two weeks or one week is only long enough for you to get half of your 3D finished, submit that with an explination of where you were wanting to go with it and when or if you ever do finish, post your work.
The problem with having a month is people put it off to the last and then rush through it, or see the subject matter, dont like it and don't want to participate. And don't want to wait a month for the next one. Then they move on.
Many people I imagine have forgotten this even exists.
One to two week projects keeps you on your toes, and is a short enough turn around time to get at least 2 or three topics a month. That will bring people in.
And again 2-5 seconds is an ideal length. We aren't going for story telling here, we are looking for one specific effect in a short duration.
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
Not interested? It's only a challenge to you if we come up with 15 second multicut mini movies? That was never what was expected. You are looking or a challenge, keep doing what you are doing, make it 5 seconds long and do it in a week. I would think from your work, producing what you do in a week would be very challenging.
Look at the first fest we had two weeks, and look what you and Mark came up with. The first fest wasn't a challenge for you?
We need to get people in and in higher numbers before we can start making bigger challenges.
But if you want to drop out because you got angry and spiteful at what I wrote (which from you short terse response you certainly did) and want it to be your way instead of the way originally inteded that you were so excited about, then your talents and sharing will be missed.
Blaine
Mr. Hollywood
Something that should be taken into consideration is the fact that people are watching what's being produced in these VFX fests and guys whose work might not otherwise be widely seen are being asked to help with fx in the DVX User fests, thus getting more exposure and having the opportunity to see their work as part of a larger project.
Just sayin'... :happy:
Just sayin'... :happy:
Mattykins
Cute Member
I tend to agree with Raptor. He continually blows me away with what he churns out. Makes me wish my expertise lied more across the field than in regards to fluids and dynamics.
I don't think it is we put it off. The first one - I put off. The second one I wanted to try something new. My whiteboard was filled with ideas. My drives were filled with test renders. Then I ran into a problem regarding the projection mapping. So my city looked like crap. And no where near where I wanted it to. The water and the debris looked decent. And by the point where I was reading up on projection mapping, making some calls, and whatnot, I was no where close to making that city happen by the end of the timeline. I can show you a tidal wave I was playing with...but not much else. I embarrassed myself enough the first fest to ever do that again. Though I tried the same thing with BNice and again embarrassment ensued.
I would tend to drift to the longer times. Matt, if you can churn something out in a week. More power to you. I am generally very busy with day-to-day life, work, other film related stuff (not as much this summer), to spend a few hours working on something. And I don't have a render farm here. I would love one, but I don't have one. So even simpler renders take hours upon hours. (granted most are of fluids which take forever anyways).
A reason most have forgotten this exists is the general lack of interactivity. The DVXuser fests have their own posts talking about what they are doing. I think we need to adapt that here. For one, maybe someone could have given me a hand on that projection map. I would have loved to see what people were up to and what their methods were. And also sneak in jabs at other people. Such as, your building looks like a mudpie...this is how I would tackle it to make it not look like a mudpie.
Another reason this thing seems to have gone swimming is due to the lack of turn-around of fest. Granted the film fest takes precedent. But this thing just simmers. Maybe announcing a fest really soon? And then going from there. My original concept for last one was going to take 10 something seconds. It was a tracking shot. As much as I would like to see a 2second shot, I think it's almost pointless to do. The winterification deal sucked that way. Not much to do. I spent more time cleaning it up than anything else.
I think it is safe to assume no one here is great at every aspect of VFX production. I am not a Maya generalist. Working on it, but my modeling still sucks. Give me an explosion or rain, or a waterfall. Sweet. But I can't model well. So I need to read up on it, call people who know, and learn how to do it. In a week I don't think that is possible. And raptor is right, these things take a lot of tweaking. We need more time. If we ran it the same way we did for the first two - I can tell you what would happen I my end.
I would draw it up on the white-board. Read up on the stuff I don't know. Go back to the whiteboard and break it up. Go into whatever application I need to mess around with for proof of concept. Get a test render done. Do another proof of concept. And run out of time...and repeat.
Really, I think we need more interactivity for people to come, not a shorter time frame.
I don't think it is we put it off. The first one - I put off. The second one I wanted to try something new. My whiteboard was filled with ideas. My drives were filled with test renders. Then I ran into a problem regarding the projection mapping. So my city looked like crap. And no where near where I wanted it to. The water and the debris looked decent. And by the point where I was reading up on projection mapping, making some calls, and whatnot, I was no where close to making that city happen by the end of the timeline. I can show you a tidal wave I was playing with...but not much else. I embarrassed myself enough the first fest to ever do that again. Though I tried the same thing with BNice and again embarrassment ensued.
I would tend to drift to the longer times. Matt, if you can churn something out in a week. More power to you. I am generally very busy with day-to-day life, work, other film related stuff (not as much this summer), to spend a few hours working on something. And I don't have a render farm here. I would love one, but I don't have one. So even simpler renders take hours upon hours. (granted most are of fluids which take forever anyways).
A reason most have forgotten this exists is the general lack of interactivity. The DVXuser fests have their own posts talking about what they are doing. I think we need to adapt that here. For one, maybe someone could have given me a hand on that projection map. I would have loved to see what people were up to and what their methods were. And also sneak in jabs at other people. Such as, your building looks like a mudpie...this is how I would tackle it to make it not look like a mudpie.
Another reason this thing seems to have gone swimming is due to the lack of turn-around of fest. Granted the film fest takes precedent. But this thing just simmers. Maybe announcing a fest really soon? And then going from there. My original concept for last one was going to take 10 something seconds. It was a tracking shot. As much as I would like to see a 2second shot, I think it's almost pointless to do. The winterification deal sucked that way. Not much to do. I spent more time cleaning it up than anything else.
I think it is safe to assume no one here is great at every aspect of VFX production. I am not a Maya generalist. Working on it, but my modeling still sucks. Give me an explosion or rain, or a waterfall. Sweet. But I can't model well. So I need to read up on it, call people who know, and learn how to do it. In a week I don't think that is possible. And raptor is right, these things take a lot of tweaking. We need more time. If we ran it the same way we did for the first two - I can tell you what would happen I my end.
I would draw it up on the white-board. Read up on the stuff I don't know. Go back to the whiteboard and break it up. Go into whatever application I need to mess around with for proof of concept. Get a test render done. Do another proof of concept. And run out of time...and repeat.
Really, I think we need more interactivity for people to come, not a shorter time frame.