Congratulations to the 2010 - 2011 CASO board members!
The CASO Annual General Meeting came to a close with these names now on the CASO Board!
Wes Lui,
President, Government Relations, Finances
Chair
Neishaw Ali, Standards
Darin Bristow, Membership
Marianne Culbert, Communications – Animation
Juan Lopez, Marketing Animation
Lon Molner, Marketing VFX
Alex Olegnowicz, Membership Services
Tom Turnbull, Communication VFX
Michael Carter,
Past President
Shirlyn Antonio,
Business Affairs
Friday, November 26, 2010
From The Desk of Wes Lui, 2010-2011 CASO President
Dear Members,
Being apart of CASO for the past two years I have been fortunate to collaborate with Studio owners, executives, government officials and delegates aboard. As my involvement in our industry and with CASO grew, I better understood the passion each past Board Member and President had for our industry. CASO offers a unified presence to support the marketing and viability of our industry. Through the mentorship and integrity of the Board Members before me, I look forward to continuing the successful programs set in place while developing new initiatives with the 2010-11 Board of Directors. There are many new faces to the board, all of whom are very successful in their own right. I look forward to their contribution and experience as we approach the new Board year.
Our mandates for CASO will be to provide a community based marketing approach while developing specific strategies for VFX and Animation. Through this, we have also dedicated separate roles for communication in both respected fields. This will create a concentrated approach and allow for quicker feedback from our members to our clients and governing bodies.
All levels of government have been gracious supporters to CASO; their relationship is critical to each studios success. As such, the board has divided the varying government sectors to allow for focused communication and attention to each relationship.
Each Board of Director's have been assigned a primary Chair and will sit on a secondary Chair Committee to meet the demands of our roles and objectives. All of these steps are to ensure opportunities for membership participation. Whether members collaborate together on projects or with CASO initiatives to develop a growing vibrant community, participation from our members will be what drives our industry. Get involved with the various committee's, programs and trade missions - We want to hear your voice.
Wes Lui,
President, CASO
Being apart of CASO for the past two years I have been fortunate to collaborate with Studio owners, executives, government officials and delegates aboard. As my involvement in our industry and with CASO grew, I better understood the passion each past Board Member and President had for our industry. CASO offers a unified presence to support the marketing and viability of our industry. Through the mentorship and integrity of the Board Members before me, I look forward to continuing the successful programs set in place while developing new initiatives with the 2010-11 Board of Directors. There are many new faces to the board, all of whom are very successful in their own right. I look forward to their contribution and experience as we approach the new Board year.
Our mandates for CASO will be to provide a community based marketing approach while developing specific strategies for VFX and Animation. Through this, we have also dedicated separate roles for communication in both respected fields. This will create a concentrated approach and allow for quicker feedback from our members to our clients and governing bodies.
All levels of government have been gracious supporters to CASO; their relationship is critical to each studios success. As such, the board has divided the varying government sectors to allow for focused communication and attention to each relationship.
Each Board of Director's have been assigned a primary Chair and will sit on a secondary Chair Committee to meet the demands of our roles and objectives. All of these steps are to ensure opportunities for membership participation. Whether members collaborate together on projects or with CASO initiatives to develop a growing vibrant community, participation from our members will be what drives our industry. Get involved with the various committee's, programs and trade missions - We want to hear your voice.
Wes Lui,
President, CASO
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
All In
For the past two years I've had the pleasure of sitting on the Board of CASO to represent our Industry and be apart of the community at large. The Board consists of all studio owners and executives alike with over 250 artists to smaller twenty person shops. It's never easy making money through artistic creativity nor is it easy balancing the need to express creative output with a strained budget. Listening to studios find new ways to reach higher levels of quality while keeping costs low is an all too familiar regime. Studio owners want the best for their artists and their clients. As the manner in which people digest content through a whole host of platforms, studio owners are constantly changing they way they do business. It is the speed of change that I feel CASO is most important. It's developing a community where owners and executives can share ideas and reach out to more people, clients and their employees. Ontario has the best in software development, world-class education system and seasoned professionals in all aspects in VFX and Animation. With the support of the Ontario Government, Sponsors and our members, I'm excited to act as President of CASO for the upcoming year and create strategic initiatives with the new Board of Directors.
We've got much work to do and look forward to the challenge.
Wes Lui
We've got much work to do and look forward to the challenge.
Wes Lui
Previs and Inception Newsletter Summary
The Previsualization Breakfast with Panelist Rob Morgenroth (Previsualization Society) Darren Cranford (Keyframe Digital Production), Justin Denton (HALON Entertainment LLC), Jericca Cleland (Twenty One Inc), Bret Clup (Starz Animation) and David Morin ( Joint Technology Committee on Virtual production) was well attended with about 40 people from within the Industry, including College and major Studio representatives. The Previsualization video conference touched based on quite a few topics including the history of Previsualization, a documentary on what Previsualization is today, how the panelist use Previs, Production Challenges, Workflow/ Software/ Hardware/ Experience with Panelists (i.e. Converging Roles, Cohesive Production Environment) with video clips and images to enlighten the attentive audience. The interactive conference allowed the panelist and audience to interact with each other and opened the floor to any Q/A or feedback.
Previsualization is a collaborative process that generates preliminary versions of shots or sequences,
predominantly using 3D animation tools and a virtual environment. It enables filmmakers to visually
explore creative ideas, plan technical solutions, and communicate a shared vision for efficient
production.
CASO would like to acknowledge our sponsors OMDC, HP, SIRT and Previsualization Society for their steadfast contributions and support.
CASO is also very proud to report that the Inception Lunch held on October 7th at the Scotia Bank Theatres with Paul Franklin and Rob Hodgson was another huge success with over 80 people attending from Colleges such as Sheridan, Humber, Seneca, various studios and film representatives and Government officials. The discussion with these key visual effects creatives, centered around how key software and techniques were used on the set, some of the methods and insights used to create and execute the stunning visual effects in the movie and how collaboration and thought created not only a dynamic movie but outstanding visual effects.
Again CASO would like to acknowledge our sponsors OMDC, DFAIT and HP for their steadfast contributions and continuous support.
Previsualization is a collaborative process that generates preliminary versions of shots or sequences,
predominantly using 3D animation tools and a virtual environment. It enables filmmakers to visually
explore creative ideas, plan technical solutions, and communicate a shared vision for efficient
production.
CASO would like to acknowledge our sponsors OMDC, HP, SIRT and Previsualization Society for their steadfast contributions and support.
CASO is also very proud to report that the Inception Lunch held on October 7th at the Scotia Bank Theatres with Paul Franklin and Rob Hodgson was another huge success with over 80 people attending from Colleges such as Sheridan, Humber, Seneca, various studios and film representatives and Government officials. The discussion with these key visual effects creatives, centered around how key software and techniques were used on the set, some of the methods and insights used to create and execute the stunning visual effects in the movie and how collaboration and thought created not only a dynamic movie but outstanding visual effects.
Again CASO would like to acknowledge our sponsors OMDC, DFAIT and HP for their steadfast contributions and continuous support.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Cure for 3D Viewing Motion Sickness in the Works in Canada
TORONTO -- A cure for nausea or headaches from 3D movie or TV viewing is in coming from Canada.
Starz Animation Toronto has teamed up with Canuck academics to ease or even end motion sickness that movie and TV audiences experience in a virtual world.
The fault, says York University film professor Ali Kazimi, lies in 3D stereoscopic cinematography.
"The reason people feel nauseous or have discomfort, headaches or eye strain is when there's something being done improperly or incorrectly in the Stereoscopic 3D process," Kazimi explained.
The challenge, adds Rob Burton vp of technology at Toronto-based Starz Animation, is controlling stereoscopic camera parameters to generate comfortable 3D images, where possible.
Discovering a more viewer-friendly stereoscopic film language and camera work is especially important as 3D audiences increasingly move from stationary seats in a cinema to watching stereoscopic content in homes, where neck angles and sight-lines vary greatly as viewers move round a 3D TV set.
"Unless you shoot multiple versions for different viewing venues, it's difficult to make a one-size-fits-all model for stereoscopic 3D production," Burton said.
To produce stereoscopic 3D imagery that leaves viewers less queasy, Starz Animation has pacted with Kazimi to make Lovebirds a 3D live action/animated short.
Burton explained Starz Animation already had a stereoscopic 3D unit in Toronto, but tended to put storytelling first before considering how the 3D production process helps tell a story.
With Lovebirds the Starz Animation crew talked extensively with Kazimi, the live action director, at the rough story-boarding stage to consider how stereoscopic 3D camera parameters might impact the story-telling, and what were the format's potential caveats and pitfalls.
"Being able to simulate what you would get with a real stereoscopic camera in a CG environment before stepping onto a live action stage was really invaluable," Burton said.
Love Birds, created and directed by Gary Dunn, portrays a hapless romantic bird and his first experience with dating, is conceived in a CG environment, and set against a live action background.
Stereoscopic 3D imagery helps viewers appreciate the physical size and scale of characters in a movie or TV show through the use of binocular vision.
So the Starz team and Kazimi had to consider how they wanted an audience to perceive their position in relation to a tiny 3D bird.
"Do we want the viewers to feel like their chin is on the ground looking at a bird that's four inches tall, or do we want the viewer to feel they are on-par in terms of scale with the bird?" Burton questioned.
The decision was making the bird larger in scale in all the stereoscopic 3D camera shots to get viewers more into the two-legged animal world, starting with the opening scene.
"We chose stereoscopic camera parameters that convey the appropriate physical size and scale and, as we get into the story over the next few shots, we slowly bring the viewer down to this smaller size by manipulating the stereoscopic parameters," Burton explained.
Kazimi adds that calculating how best to place the animated birds against the live action background when producing Lovebirds offered vital clues to the relationship between stereoscopic 3D live action and animation integration, and scaling and eye vergence.
Easing or eliminating discomfort of viewers experience with 3D content is vital, the Canadian academic insists, before stereoscopic 3D possibly gets a "bad name, and audiences get frustrated with it.
The Lovebirds shoot is part of the Toronto-based 3D Film Innovation Consortium, which has brought a host of private and public sector partners together to research stereoscopic 3D perception and provide best practices for 3D cinematography.
Original Source http://ca.movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.thehollywoodreporter.com/cure-3d-viewing-motion-sickness-works-canada
Starz Animation Toronto has teamed up with Canuck academics to ease or even end motion sickness that movie and TV audiences experience in a virtual world.
The fault, says York University film professor Ali Kazimi, lies in 3D stereoscopic cinematography.
"The reason people feel nauseous or have discomfort, headaches or eye strain is when there's something being done improperly or incorrectly in the Stereoscopic 3D process," Kazimi explained.
The challenge, adds Rob Burton vp of technology at Toronto-based Starz Animation, is controlling stereoscopic camera parameters to generate comfortable 3D images, where possible.
Discovering a more viewer-friendly stereoscopic film language and camera work is especially important as 3D audiences increasingly move from stationary seats in a cinema to watching stereoscopic content in homes, where neck angles and sight-lines vary greatly as viewers move round a 3D TV set.
"Unless you shoot multiple versions for different viewing venues, it's difficult to make a one-size-fits-all model for stereoscopic 3D production," Burton said.
To produce stereoscopic 3D imagery that leaves viewers less queasy, Starz Animation has pacted with Kazimi to make Lovebirds a 3D live action/animated short.
Burton explained Starz Animation already had a stereoscopic 3D unit in Toronto, but tended to put storytelling first before considering how the 3D production process helps tell a story.
With Lovebirds the Starz Animation crew talked extensively with Kazimi, the live action director, at the rough story-boarding stage to consider how stereoscopic 3D camera parameters might impact the story-telling, and what were the format's potential caveats and pitfalls.
"Being able to simulate what you would get with a real stereoscopic camera in a CG environment before stepping onto a live action stage was really invaluable," Burton said.
Love Birds, created and directed by Gary Dunn, portrays a hapless romantic bird and his first experience with dating, is conceived in a CG environment, and set against a live action background.
Stereoscopic 3D imagery helps viewers appreciate the physical size and scale of characters in a movie or TV show through the use of binocular vision.
So the Starz team and Kazimi had to consider how they wanted an audience to perceive their position in relation to a tiny 3D bird.
"Do we want the viewers to feel like their chin is on the ground looking at a bird that's four inches tall, or do we want the viewer to feel they are on-par in terms of scale with the bird?" Burton questioned.
The decision was making the bird larger in scale in all the stereoscopic 3D camera shots to get viewers more into the two-legged animal world, starting with the opening scene.
"We chose stereoscopic camera parameters that convey the appropriate physical size and scale and, as we get into the story over the next few shots, we slowly bring the viewer down to this smaller size by manipulating the stereoscopic parameters," Burton explained.
Kazimi adds that calculating how best to place the animated birds against the live action background when producing Lovebirds offered vital clues to the relationship between stereoscopic 3D live action and animation integration, and scaling and eye vergence.
Easing or eliminating discomfort of viewers experience with 3D content is vital, the Canadian academic insists, before stereoscopic 3D possibly gets a "bad name, and audiences get frustrated with it.
The Lovebirds shoot is part of the Toronto-based 3D Film Innovation Consortium, which has brought a host of private and public sector partners together to research stereoscopic 3D perception and provide best practices for 3D cinematography.
Original Source http://ca.movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.thehollywoodreporter.com/cure-3d-viewing-motion-sickness-works-canada
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
nextMEDIA 2010
Running November 29 & 30 at the Design Exchange in Toronto, nextMEDIA 2010 will be brings together the highest growth areas of the converging next-generation entertainment marketplace, including content production, broadcasting, advertising, music and publishing. As a member of ACCT you are eligible for a discount of $220 off of the regular registration rate. Learn, strategize and collaborate through facilitated meetings, networking, high-level keynotes and sessions, and an exclusive invitation to the Canadian New Media Awards on Dec. 1, 2010. Click here to access your discounted registration.
https://registration.achillesmedia.com/delegate_registration/collect_info?product_id=1087&product_code=9PrfG5ynW7
https://registration.achillesmedia.com/delegate_registration/collect_info?product_id=1087&product_code=9PrfG5ynW7
Monday, November 1, 2010
Board Nominee - Neishaw Ali
Neishaw Ali - President /Executive Producer
SPIN has been creating VFX, Animation, Matte Painting and Motion design for the feature film, television series, commericial and broastcast markets with facilities in Toronto, Vancouver, Atlanta and Los Angeles. They bring over 20 years of visual effects and animation experience to your Production in the areas of Onset Supervision through to Digital Matte Painting, 2D/3D Animation and Title Design. As your VFX Production partner, we are committed to creative excellence and sensitive to your budgetary constraints.
Board Nominee - Tom Turnbull
Tom Turnbull
President
Rocket Science VFX
Although Tom Turnbull started his career in film in 1982 as freelance cinematographer; his first work in visual effects began at age 10, assisting his older brother in creating a claymation sci-fi epic. It was not long afterwards that he graduated to his own trick cinematography, creating back yard miniature exploding space ships and beams of death, eventually winning the Vancouver Planetarium’s best fake UFO photo contest.
In 1992, Tom began working for GVFX as a freelance effects cinematographer. As the company grew from five employees to fifty, Tom soon became one of the company's senior Visual Effects Supervisors and Motion Control specialist. In 2003, Tom co-founded Rocket Science Visual Effects, a boutique facility specializing in photo real visual effects for features and high end television.
Tom is one of the Canada's veteran Visual Effects Supervisors whose worldwide credits include commercial, documentary, television and feature production. He has extensive experience with Motion Control as well as Motion Capture, Miniatures and VFX plate photography. He is the recipient of three Gemini Awards for Best Visual Effects for Terry (CTV 2006), Shattered City: the Halifax Explosion (CBC 2004), and The Arrow (CBC, 1998) and has been nominated for a Prime Time Emmy for the Haven (CBS , 2000), Path to 9/11 (ABC) and Fringe (Fox Television). He recently won the BAFTA for Best Visual Effects for his work on the BBC’s adaptation of John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids. Tom's recent credits include Warner Bros. features License To Wed and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Atom Egoyan’s Adoration, BBC’s Day of the Triffids and Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: After Life 3D
President
Rocket Science VFX
Although Tom Turnbull started his career in film in 1982 as freelance cinematographer; his first work in visual effects began at age 10, assisting his older brother in creating a claymation sci-fi epic. It was not long afterwards that he graduated to his own trick cinematography, creating back yard miniature exploding space ships and beams of death, eventually winning the Vancouver Planetarium’s best fake UFO photo contest.
In 1992, Tom began working for GVFX as a freelance effects cinematographer. As the company grew from five employees to fifty, Tom soon became one of the company's senior Visual Effects Supervisors and Motion Control specialist. In 2003, Tom co-founded Rocket Science Visual Effects, a boutique facility specializing in photo real visual effects for features and high end television.
Tom is one of the Canada's veteran Visual Effects Supervisors whose worldwide credits include commercial, documentary, television and feature production. He has extensive experience with Motion Control as well as Motion Capture, Miniatures and VFX plate photography. He is the recipient of three Gemini Awards for Best Visual Effects for Terry (CTV 2006), Shattered City: the Halifax Explosion (CBC 2004), and The Arrow (CBC, 1998) and has been nominated for a Prime Time Emmy for the Haven (CBS , 2000), Path to 9/11 (ABC) and Fringe (Fox Television). He recently won the BAFTA for Best Visual Effects for his work on the BBC’s adaptation of John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids. Tom's recent credits include Warner Bros. features License To Wed and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Atom Egoyan’s Adoration, BBC’s Day of the Triffids and Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: After Life 3D
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