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We have just completed the second series of lectures and workshops on digital art at Tate Modern.
While continuing to examine the development of the various forms of digital visual arts, the series explored the current crossover in Art, Design and Technology. The scope of speakers was broadened from the previous event to include representatives from the fields of Product Design and Games.
They were also be joined by scientists and industry heavyweights behind the software and hardware we use to visually express ourselves whose vision and understanding of the creative process ultimately allow us to explore our Digital Dreams.
This year the lectures were accompanied by a Seminar room open throughout the afternoons in the lead-up to each evenings event where the general public got a unique opportunity to meet some of the leading lights in the visual effects industry and get hands-on with the hardware and software used in the creation of visual effects from Hollywood blockbusters to commercials and games as well as product design and architecture.
The speakers included...
Mike Milne Director of Computer Animation, Framestore CFC
Mike Milne has worked for 25 years in computer animation, starting in the early 1980s as Head of Graphics at Research Recordings, followed by 7 years as Director of Production at Electric Image in Soho. In 1992 he started the computer animation department at Framestore CFC, which has grown to become Europe's largest CG studio.
In 1997 Mike formed a new team at Framestore to make the landmark BBC television series 'Walking with Dinosaurs', followed by many subsequent series which have won an unprecedented three BAFTAs, seven Emmys and six Visual Effects Society awards.
Mike is a regular speaker at computer animation conferences in Europe, and has lectured at colleges in the UK, the US and Europe. In 2002 Mike was elected to the Council of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and is a visiting professor at Bournemouth University.
Vicky Osborn VFX Supervisor / Moving Picture Company
Vicky has worked in 3D effects and animation for six years and is presently a VFX supervisor at MPC, voted this year's top facility. Having recently spent time working on ads for Gatorade, Ford Kuga, and Bacardi. Vicky has taken top end film production techniques and squeezed them into a commercials pipeline, most notably MPC's Sony Paint, making use of Scanline AG's flowline for simulation of fluid fireworks.
Vicky has recently worked closely with Jonathan Glazer, Nicolai Fuglsig and Traktor in order to help advise and direct the CG within their adverts. With experience across both film and commercials she advises clients on the fastest, most cost effective and best technical route to achieve a Director’s vision. She also acts as an interface between Client, Agency, Production and the 3D team; in this position Vicky is familiar with the benefit of implementing new technologies offset against the practicalities of delivering work within very tight deadlines.
Ben Shepherd Visual Effects Supervisor / Cinesite
As one of the industry's shining talents in Visual Effects Supervision, Ben is currently supervising Cinesite’s work on Nutcracker: The Untold Story.
Prior to this he supervised a wide range of VFX for Cinesite and over 300 shots on Disney’s superhero dog movie Underdog (2007), leading a team of 50 artists. This huge award of visual effects work included high-end character animation, facial animation, lip sync, CG fur effects and full CG city environments. Ben was nominated for a Visual Effects Society award for Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture for his work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. His many credits include Post-Visualization Supervisor on the Dragon adventure Eragon (2006), in Budapest and prior to that he was Digital Supervisor on The River King (2005) and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) as well as his work on Alien Vs Predator (2004), Big Fish (2003), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). Ben's practical expertise encompasses comprehensive knowledge of both 2D and 3D making his film and visual effects knowledge invaluable to Directors.
Ben trained as an artist, graduating with a degree in Fine Art from Newcastle University.
He worked as an Illustrator and Graphic Designer before starting his Visual Effects career ten years ago.
Sanjay Mistry Senior Manager of Electronics Arts University’s Graphics Training
As the Senior Manager, Sanjay oversees training and education for all EA studios World Wide. Sanjay has supervised the development and implementation of new hire training for hundreds of incoming computer graphics artists.
Working with EA’s art supervisors, project managers and HR teams Sanjay monitors artist development needs and provides a wide range of technical and artistic professional development programs, including asset development, acting for animation, lighting, foundation art courses and Mel programming. He also runs EA’s Art / Tech Speaker Series, which features presentations on important developments in computer graphics, art, design, science, and storytelling. Sanjay is responsible for the ongoing development of the companies' knowledge management systems, and the dissemination of information throughout the divisions to ensure that technical innovations and best practices are deployed across the company.
Sanjay is a key member of the EA team as training and education have become an indispensable component of Electronic Arts recruitment effort and is instrumental in the development of the company’s artists. He also represents EA on the BAFTA Games Committee, and in the larger academic community, working with educators at school level and advanced degree programs in Europe to encourage the development of digital arts curricula.
Scott Eaton Founder / Armature Studios
Scott is an artist, technical director and founder of Armature Studios. He received his master's degree from the renowned MIT Media Lab and subsequently studied traditional fine art at the Florence Academy of Art, Italy where he began to integrate the lessons of the old masters with modern computer graphics tools. Scott founded Armature Studios to continue developing these and other techniques needed to create fantastic digital art and to make these lessons available to all digital artists.
Scott currently divides his time between his art, production, and consulting. His clients include Pixar, Sony, Microsoft Game Studios, The Mill, Double Negative, and many other post production houses and games studios. He regularly lectures on the digital arts and presented at our previous series at Tate Modern, as well as the Annecy Animation Festival, FMX, and Siggraph.
Henrik Wann Jensen, PhD. Chief Scientist / Bunkspeed
Dr. Jensen is an Associate Professor at UCSD following three years as a Research Associate at Stanford University. Before Stanford, he was a post-doctoral researcher in the graphics group at MIT, and between 1996-98, a research scientist in the industry working on visual effects software. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technical University of Denmark in 1996.
He has lectured on the subject to computer graphics artists at major digital-effects companies including Sony Imageworks, Disney, Pixar, and Industrial Light & Magic, his work widely profiled in international media.
In 2004, Professor Jensen received an Academy Award (Technical Achievement Award) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for pioneering research in rendering translucent materials. He also became a Sloan Fellow and he was selected as one of The World's Top Ten Scientists of 2004 by Popular Science magazine.
Marc Petit Senior Vice President of Media & Entertainment / Autodesk, Inc.
With close to twenty years experience in management and technology, Marc Petit leads Autodesk Media & Entertainment as Senior Vice President, iIn his current role managing the Media & Entertainment division and guides the development and marketing of Autodesk’s leading 2D systems and 3D animation software solutions, including Autodesk Inferno, Flame, Smoke, Lustre, Toxik, 3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Mudbox and FBX.
He launched his career with French 3D software pioneer Thomson Digital Image (TDI) in 1987. From TDI, Marc joined Softimage in 1991, and helped the then-fledgling company reach critical mass in Europe. In 1996, he moved to Montreal to serve as Softimage’s Vice President of 3D Products before joining Autodesk in 2002.
Image credits, in order... Digital Dreams poster detail : Bacardi, Sun (Image courtesy of Moving Picture Company) : The Golden Compass (Image courtesy New Line Cinema) : Prehistoric Park (Image courtesy of Framestore-CFC) : Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Image courtesy of Electronic Arts) : Winged Lion by Scott Eaton : molecular simulation of milk based on vitamin B2, protein and fat by Henrik Wann Jensen and the ENV bike by SeymourPowell. (All images copyright of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.)
These lectures would not be possible without the generous support of our partners...
While continuing to examine the development of the various forms of digital visual arts, the series explored the current crossover in Art, Design and Technology. The scope of speakers was broadened from the previous event to include representatives from the fields of Product Design and Games.
They were also be joined by scientists and industry heavyweights behind the software and hardware we use to visually express ourselves whose vision and understanding of the creative process ultimately allow us to explore our Digital Dreams.
This year the lectures were accompanied by a Seminar room open throughout the afternoons in the lead-up to each evenings event where the general public got a unique opportunity to meet some of the leading lights in the visual effects industry and get hands-on with the hardware and software used in the creation of visual effects from Hollywood blockbusters to commercials and games as well as product design and architecture.
The speakers included...
Mike Milne Director of Computer Animation, Framestore CFC
Mike Milne has worked for 25 years in computer animation, starting in the early 1980s as Head of Graphics at Research Recordings, followed by 7 years as Director of Production at Electric Image in Soho. In 1992 he started the computer animation department at Framestore CFC, which has grown to become Europe's largest CG studio.
In 1997 Mike formed a new team at Framestore to make the landmark BBC television series 'Walking with Dinosaurs', followed by many subsequent series which have won an unprecedented three BAFTAs, seven Emmys and six Visual Effects Society awards.
Mike is a regular speaker at computer animation conferences in Europe, and has lectured at colleges in the UK, the US and Europe. In 2002 Mike was elected to the Council of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and is a visiting professor at Bournemouth University.
Vicky Osborn VFX Supervisor / Moving Picture Company
Vicky has worked in 3D effects and animation for six years and is presently a VFX supervisor at MPC, voted this year's top facility. Having recently spent time working on ads for Gatorade, Ford Kuga, and Bacardi. Vicky has taken top end film production techniques and squeezed them into a commercials pipeline, most notably MPC's Sony Paint, making use of Scanline AG's flowline for simulation of fluid fireworks.
Vicky has recently worked closely with Jonathan Glazer, Nicolai Fuglsig and Traktor in order to help advise and direct the CG within their adverts. With experience across both film and commercials she advises clients on the fastest, most cost effective and best technical route to achieve a Director’s vision. She also acts as an interface between Client, Agency, Production and the 3D team; in this position Vicky is familiar with the benefit of implementing new technologies offset against the practicalities of delivering work within very tight deadlines.
Ben Shepherd Visual Effects Supervisor / Cinesite
As one of the industry's shining talents in Visual Effects Supervision, Ben is currently supervising Cinesite’s work on Nutcracker: The Untold Story.
Prior to this he supervised a wide range of VFX for Cinesite and over 300 shots on Disney’s superhero dog movie Underdog (2007), leading a team of 50 artists. This huge award of visual effects work included high-end character animation, facial animation, lip sync, CG fur effects and full CG city environments. Ben was nominated for a Visual Effects Society award for Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture for his work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. His many credits include Post-Visualization Supervisor on the Dragon adventure Eragon (2006), in Budapest and prior to that he was Digital Supervisor on The River King (2005) and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) as well as his work on Alien Vs Predator (2004), Big Fish (2003), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). Ben's practical expertise encompasses comprehensive knowledge of both 2D and 3D making his film and visual effects knowledge invaluable to Directors.
Ben trained as an artist, graduating with a degree in Fine Art from Newcastle University.
He worked as an Illustrator and Graphic Designer before starting his Visual Effects career ten years ago.
Sanjay Mistry Senior Manager of Electronics Arts University’s Graphics Training
As the Senior Manager, Sanjay oversees training and education for all EA studios World Wide. Sanjay has supervised the development and implementation of new hire training for hundreds of incoming computer graphics artists.
Working with EA’s art supervisors, project managers and HR teams Sanjay monitors artist development needs and provides a wide range of technical and artistic professional development programs, including asset development, acting for animation, lighting, foundation art courses and Mel programming. He also runs EA’s Art / Tech Speaker Series, which features presentations on important developments in computer graphics, art, design, science, and storytelling. Sanjay is responsible for the ongoing development of the companies' knowledge management systems, and the dissemination of information throughout the divisions to ensure that technical innovations and best practices are deployed across the company.
Sanjay is a key member of the EA team as training and education have become an indispensable component of Electronic Arts recruitment effort and is instrumental in the development of the company’s artists. He also represents EA on the BAFTA Games Committee, and in the larger academic community, working with educators at school level and advanced degree programs in Europe to encourage the development of digital arts curricula.
Scott Eaton Founder / Armature Studios
Scott is an artist, technical director and founder of Armature Studios. He received his master's degree from the renowned MIT Media Lab and subsequently studied traditional fine art at the Florence Academy of Art, Italy where he began to integrate the lessons of the old masters with modern computer graphics tools. Scott founded Armature Studios to continue developing these and other techniques needed to create fantastic digital art and to make these lessons available to all digital artists.
Scott currently divides his time between his art, production, and consulting. His clients include Pixar, Sony, Microsoft Game Studios, The Mill, Double Negative, and many other post production houses and games studios. He regularly lectures on the digital arts and presented at our previous series at Tate Modern, as well as the Annecy Animation Festival, FMX, and Siggraph.
Henrik Wann Jensen, PhD. Chief Scientist / Bunkspeed
Dr. Jensen is an Associate Professor at UCSD following three years as a Research Associate at Stanford University. Before Stanford, he was a post-doctoral researcher in the graphics group at MIT, and between 1996-98, a research scientist in the industry working on visual effects software. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technical University of Denmark in 1996.
He has lectured on the subject to computer graphics artists at major digital-effects companies including Sony Imageworks, Disney, Pixar, and Industrial Light & Magic, his work widely profiled in international media.
In 2004, Professor Jensen received an Academy Award (Technical Achievement Award) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for pioneering research in rendering translucent materials. He also became a Sloan Fellow and he was selected as one of The World's Top Ten Scientists of 2004 by Popular Science magazine.
Marc Petit Senior Vice President of Media & Entertainment / Autodesk, Inc.
With close to twenty years experience in management and technology, Marc Petit leads Autodesk Media & Entertainment as Senior Vice President, iIn his current role managing the Media & Entertainment division and guides the development and marketing of Autodesk’s leading 2D systems and 3D animation software solutions, including Autodesk Inferno, Flame, Smoke, Lustre, Toxik, 3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Mudbox and FBX.
He launched his career with French 3D software pioneer Thomson Digital Image (TDI) in 1987. From TDI, Marc joined Softimage in 1991, and helped the then-fledgling company reach critical mass in Europe. In 1996, he moved to Montreal to serve as Softimage’s Vice President of 3D Products before joining Autodesk in 2002.
Image credits, in order... Digital Dreams poster detail : Bacardi, Sun (Image courtesy of Moving Picture Company) : The Golden Compass (Image courtesy New Line Cinema) : Prehistoric Park (Image courtesy of Framestore-CFC) : Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Image courtesy of Electronic Arts) : Winged Lion by Scott Eaton : molecular simulation of milk based on vitamin B2, protein and fat by Henrik Wann Jensen and the ENV bike by SeymourPowell. (All images copyright of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.)
These lectures would not be possible without the generous support of our partners...
Supernatural presents... Digital Art - A New Renaissance at Tate Modern
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From September 2006, Supernatural hosted a series of lectures on visual effects and computer animation at the Tate Modern Museum in London. Sponsored by Autodesk and Escape Studios, the series examined the development of the digital arts over the last 20 years, while exploring their future potential. Read on...
Brunel University
As a continuation on the talks presented at 3December, Supernatural came to speak to Industrial design students on the methods and practises we employ within our workflow.
3 December 2005
As part of 3December (international 3D day) in 2005, hosted by software company Alias (now Autodesk), Supernatural was invited to speak at the London event in Earl's Court on the latest developments in our work and our experiences with Maya.
