The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional honorary society, released “The State of the Global VFX Industry 2013,” a comprehensive strategic analysis of the business drivers impacting all sectors of the VFX industry working in film production and presentation of solutions to mitigate instability. Initial recommendations focus on improving business and financial management acumen among artists and facilities management through training programs and new standards and practices. Continue reading VES Publishes Analysis: The State of the Global VFX Industry

The visual effects community held a town meeting Thursday evening in Los Angeles to address rising concerns regarding the state of the VFX industry. “Pi Day” organizers included community members Bill Gilman and Neha Wickramasekaran. During the event, hosted by VFX artist Mariana Acuña, effects veteran Scott Ross and others proposed the formation of a VFX union and a trade association for visual effects facilities. Continue reading VFX Community Proposes Forming Union and Trade Group

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPII) have developed video inpainting software that can delete people or objects from high-definition video footage. How is it done? The software analyzes every video frame and calculates which pixels should replace a moving area that’s been marked for removal, explains Gizmag. The article provides an impressive video demonstration of the technology. Continue reading New Software Can Delete People or Objects from HD Video

Chocolate company Galaxy is offering some classic eye candy for its latest commercial. Production house Framestore used a full CG face replacement technique in order to recreate the late actress Audrey Hepburn to star in the one-minute spot. VFX included extensive pre-shoot facial scanning and a facial action coding system (FACS) to record more than 70 muscle movements and high resolution textures of the CG Hepburn. Continue reading Galaxy and Framestore Recreate Audrey Hepburn for TV Spot

Technicolor has entered into a partnership with software developer Autodesk to develop tools used for color grading and digital compositing. According to respected colorist Steve Scott, who joined Technicolor in 2012, the objective is to launch a finishing system that provides tools for visual effects and post production. Scott believes a single toolset would ultimately provide more creative control and flexibility. Continue reading Technicolor and Autodesk Partner to Develop New Toolset