Thursday, 30 March 2017

Salman Khan’s ‘Sultan’ used VFX

Salman Khan‘s  movie ‘Sultan’ was no less than a storm at the box office breaking almost every record the film proved to be a huge success. This movie has lots of VFX shorts which has enhanced the look and feel of the movie.

The film went on to earn a collection of over Rs 300 crores at the domestic box office in the year 2016.

Since the film revolved around the sport of wrestling world, its take was much bigger than any usual Bollywood film.

Despite having large sets erected, a major portion of the film relied on the power of VFX.

Lots of scenes from the film were created by the power of visual effects.

However, technology also played an important part in the success of Sultan.

Yash Raj Films released A two-and-half minute video where it exhibit the breakdown of just how much green screen was used in the movie while shooting the wrestling scene in the movie Sultan.



It reveals many small bits of background scenery that were inserted via VFX into the fight scene and other action sequences in the film.

In fact, if you’ve seen Sultan, you’re probably going to be astonished to find out just how much was chroma-keyed in later – buildings, crowds and other pieces of window dressing were used to create the look and feel.

The film was also perhaps the most honest portrayal by Salman on screen.

The actor worked hard on his body and this reflects in the film indeed.

The visual effects used in the movie can be seen easily in the video. One can see how visual effects have added value to the film.

In one sequence, Salman can be seen jumping with a green background. But in the movie, the viewer sees Salman jumping from a building to another in Old Delhi and makes the viewers astonish with such tricks.

In another interesting scene, Salman is seen dancing on the popular number 440 volt. But in the movie, one sees firecrackers emanating from his hands. Obviously if it would have been shorted in reality such gimmicks would not be possible.



In another scene where VFX technology has been brilliantly used is to create the crowd in Salman’s wrestling matches.

His action pact wresting scene, modified the natural light with accordance with the scene, and to create all structures in the background during Salman’s run to catch a kite.

The green sheet, as seen in the video, is replaced by what actually shows up on screen.

Again it is a quick trick of VFX used interestingly in the movie to engross its viewers.

All in all, one can clearly see how visual effects have made the life of filmmakers easy. Otherwise one wonders how Salman can shoot in Old Delhi or any other crowded location without attracting attention.

So the crucial component that also deserved some credit was the VFX technology that enhanced the visuals of the scenes in the movie.



VFX has become an important tool for every film nowadays, for which a substantial amount of the film’s budget is being utilized. So with almost all the movies in Bollywood industry requirement of skill VFX artist is very vital now a- days.

And its is booming career for aspirant VFX artist. So who are really looking for a glorify career in Film Industry VFX is such a platform which will actually will make your dream come true.



Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Baahubali 2: the Conclusion Most Awaited Visual Effect Movie of 2017

Baahubali 2: the Conclusion is an upcoming Indian  historical  epic full on visual effect fiction film directed by   Mr S.S Rajamouli The movie is is the continuation of Baahubali: The Beginning.



The budget allotted to the movie is approximately ₹2.5 billion (US$37 million).

However the budget of the second part i.e Baahubali 2: The Conclusion   was increased a bit more, than the part one.

It is been said that the second version of the movie has made a business of ₹5 billion (US$74 million) even before its release.

The film is scheduled for a worldwide release on 28 April 2017. We all are looking forward for the same.

Baahubali 2 will be the first Indian film to be released in 4K High Definition format, requiring many of the theatres to upgrade their projectors in-order to run the movie.



It is actually beyond our imagination that this one movie can actually change our perception of South Indian Cinema. And it actually deed. All the credit goes to  Mr.S.S. Rajamouli’s for giving us this magnum opus Bahubali.

And now, the second part of the much-awaited movie is all set to hit the theatre screens soon. The excitement of the second part of the movie was quite evident when the trailer of Bahubali 2 released.

The trailer went on to become the seventh most watched online video in 24 hours which was unexpected.

The movie is expected to get a massive release – which no other Indian film has ever got in the past as in record.

It is going to hit 6,500 screens all across the nation, the highest ever for any movie in India so far.

“It’s so satisfying to see this kind of response which I never imagined. More than the pressure of working on the trailer of India’s biggest motion picture (yet), I was very anxious to know how audiences will receive it,” said Vamsi Atluri, who edited the trailer of the movie.



The movie has a surplus of spectacle in its trailer. The arrows fly fast furiously and blood flows in a tempestuous torrent as ‘Bahubali’ Prabhas and Rana Daggubati take on one another in the journey of game of death.

What one immediately notices in the trailer of the second and concluding part of Bahubali is Prabhas’ substantially enhanced confidence level as well as the energy he has inculcated in the movie.

His swag and his action pact energy is supremely on display in the movie trailer.

From a  reliable source it came to news that “Prabhas has actually  has lived the role the last two years,, going as far as to remain in costume even at home, so as to not lose his hold over his characterization.

Which is commendable indeed?

He put all his attention into preparing for Rajamouli’s epic.

Prabhas learnt rock climbing, kick-boxing, horse-riding, sword-fighting…everything that is required to enact for the character. He also had to change his physical appearance.

Coming to the visual effect delight of the film which we all are waiting to experience and are eagerly waiting for the film to release as early as possible.

So that we savour our visual pleasure. It’s been reported Visual effect of the film is completely taken care by a core team members.

Baahubali 2 is all set to create a new bench mark for VFX or visual effect in Indian cinema.

Sunday, 26 March 2017

Visual Effect Treat Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Visual Effect treat and the live-action remake of the animated Disney classic Beauty and the beast opens in the theater hall all across with a record-setting opening, making the movie the seventh-largest domestic opening of all time.




Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has hit the market with a roar actually a roar indeed.

Taking in $170 million domestically, Beauty and the Beast has actually had  topped the previous year March month opening  which had recorded of $166 million  Us dollar set by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice .

It has also proved to be the  seventh largest opening weekend ever, ahead of the $169.1 million opening from the popular movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs.

“Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle.

Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.

The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston.

The sheer dexterity is overwhelming, and only the sternest viewer will be able to resist the onslaught of such thoroughly marketed magic.



Disney has indeed ripped a jewel out of its casing and set it in something far more elaborate; the effect is garish rather than nostalgic, frustrating rather than memorable.

Though it may come with much familiarity and not much tweaking in its story, the film is still a magical tale that rekindles the classical aura of the Disney original animation.

Beauty and the Beast shines with its immense star power, dazzling visuals and infectious tunes that refreshes a tale as old as time for new and old audiences.

This is a live-action remake of Disney’s classic love story. ‘Beauty lies within’ is what an enchantress expects a vain and arrogant prince (Dan Stevens) to know.


He learns it the hard way when her curse turns him into a terrifying beast. Her spell can only be broken if he finds true love. Meanwhile, Belle (Emma Watson), the non-conforming daughter of a village inventor and artist, seeks an adventure. She stumbles upon the beast and magic unfolds…
The special effects, sound, costumes, voice-overs, songs – overall production values are first-rate.



The movie  make us  live the fairy-tale once again since it takes  us to the castle along with Belle, experiencing her new unfold adventure.

The movie depiction of eternal love between Watson and mo-cap Stevens.

It’s become awe-inspiring to view the overall visual excellence and grandeur of this spectacular production. It is actually a visual effect treat to our eye.

While story-wise it stays true to the original animated film, the execution is a lot darker, grimmer.
The beast gets a terrifying CGI makeover with Stevens rendering a decent motion-capture memorable performance.

Watson plays the feminist heroine with conviction.


While we like this feisty protagonist, her slightly modified character lacks a certain amount of compassion, making her seem a tad conceited more than confident.

Luke Evans is equally impressive as the self-obsessed, hare-brained Romeo.

What essentially works for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is its relevance. The sets the grandeur the visual effect shorts makes it  a brilliant movie to watch.

It stands out because no matter how old the tale, it holds significance especially today, when smart phones and selfies have turned us all into beauty loving beasts.

The special effects, sound, costumes, voice-overs, songs – overall production values are first-rate.

Its a live the fairy-tale which will transported you to the castle along with Belle, experiencing her adventure.

With the amount of visual effect use that we get to see in the movie actually opens up the door of aspirant visual effect artist to acquire the set skills and being apart of such a project.

The popularity of visual effect is growing moves are actually being made and liked since we are giving such Visual effect treat to our viewers.



Saturday, 25 March 2017

EFFECT OF ANIMATION IN TELEVISION IN INDIA

In our today’s blog we will be discussing in depth the effect of animation in Indian television. Television in India, as on today in 2017 is a huge industry.

There are several channels, which has thousands of programs in various languages. India has 22 official languages and television programs for almost all the official languages are broadcasted.

More than half of all Indian households own a television. As of 2017, the country has a collection of over 857 channels of which more than 184 are pay channels.



Terrestrial television in India started with the experimental telecast starting in Delhi on 15.09.1959. The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio. The television service was extended to only seven Indian cities.

The programmes were mainly produced by Doordarshan which was then a part of All India Radio.

The telecasts would happen twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Programmes were mainly based on agricultural information.

Other than that, health and family planning were the other important topics that were dealt with in these programmes.

In those days Entertainment was also included in these telecasts in the form of dance, music, drama, folk and rural art forms. Television services were separated from All india Radio in 1976.

National telecasts were introduced in the year 1982. In the same year, color TV was also introduced in the Indian market. Indian small screen programming started in the early 1980s.

At that time there was only one national channel i.e. Doordarshan, which was government owned.

The first major television series produced were based on Indian spiritual and mythological stories – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This serial made a world record in viewership numbers for a single program.


The 1980s was the era of Doordarshan with shows like Hum Log -1984,Wagle Ki Duniya -1988, Buniyaad (1986–87) and comedy shows like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi -1984, Mythological shows like Ramayan (1987–88) and Mahabharat (1989–90)  and later on Chandrakanta.

Popular Hindi film songs based programs were Chitrahaar, Rangoli and Superhit Muqabla.

Crime thrillers like Karamchand and Byomkesh Bakshi contributed towards increased viewership, Programmes for children were Divyanshu ki Kahaniyan,Vikram aur Betal,Malgudi Days and Tenali Rama.

Bhimsain Khurana, known as the father of Indian animation in 1974 made the animated film ‘Ek Anek aur Ekta’ .

This short traditionally animated educational film is a landmark in the history of Indian television as well as in the animation industry.

This film used to be presented as a fable to teach children the value of unity. It was frequently broadcast on India‘s Doordarshan.



The first Indian animated television series  Ghayab Aaya, in 1986, Captain Vyom, the first Indian 3D and VFX – television has come a long way.

In 1990s only Doordarshan broadcast popular cartoon shows like  Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Tom and Jerry, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Talespin & Duck Tales, The dubbed Hindi version of Jungle Book was hugely popular.

Earlier, before the emergence of satellite television, only Doordarshan used to telecast cartoons and animated contents for the Indian audience, particularly kids.



But with the arrival of Cartoon Network in the year 1995, popular animated shows and cartoons were shown to the viewers for the first time.

Eventually lot more animated channels, international and national, started to come up as well in India.

Now there are several  Indian Animation Channels namely, Animax, POGO, Sonic ,Disney channel, Toon Disney, Hungama TV   that offers various types of programmes from cartoons,  game shows, art and crafts etc.

Many popular animated and children movies are also premiered on the above mentioned channels, some even dubbed in Hindi and other regional languages.

No doubt cartoons are great source of fun and entertainment for children. Children are also fond of cartoons as because of many reasons. As they find human in cartoon form with cute or weird shape and dress with colorful attire.

Children aged 3 to 9 years usually starts to watch cartoons. But At this age kids have growing mind. They are curious and fast learners. The capability to learn by observing things.

And that is why cartoons directly make an impact on their minds and nature as well. It is better to lead children to watch cartoon having positive effect.



Some of the positive effects of animation on kids are:

Helpful in exploring and observing

Making kid an active and genius

Helpful in maintain good health

Helpful to overcome and reduce stress

Helpful in visual learning and colors

Helpful in learning new things watching cartoon tends children to respect their parents and elders

Watching cartoon, a child can learn language and talking way.

 Accordingly, animation influences family functioning in various ways.

Learning and education, leisure and entertainment, household routines, work from home, personal development, extended family communication, e-commerce and civic involvement are possible affected domains.


Animation  weather 2d or 3d has shaped our culture and social system.

Today, the wonders of animations are not limited to cartoon shows and films that we love and enjoy.

They have become the highlight for the video marketing campaigns. Animation has its influence not only among kids but adults as well.

Animated advertisements are very effective in communicating the message. Animations can go to any depth and explain the product and process.

The main benefit of using animation in commercial is to make it interesting and unique.

One of the major advantages of using animation in advertising is the ability of animators to create environments and worlds that could not be accessed or reproduced by a live action camera crew.

The more original the advertisement is, the biggest is the chance that the customer will remember it and then buy the product. The advertisement of Amul Butter is no doubt a landmark in its own field.




Overall effect of animation in Indian television has given the boost to the 3d animation industry in witnessing a major boom.

Overseas entertainment giant’s or production companies mainly Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India.

So we can conclude by saying animation industry is growing immensely scope of job and opportunity in television industry of an animator is growing. So still thinking to be a part of the industry.

Just go for it. Success is waiting for you all aspirant animators.

Thursday, 23 March 2017

2D to 3D Animated Character Amul Girl Transformed With Time

We have all seen and can remember the lovable mascot, the Amul girl. In our today’s blog discussion we will discuss about how the Amul girl transformed from 2D to 3D Animated character used for different advertisement medium been made for the new era advertisement.

The Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, the owner of Amul Mr. R S Sodhi has actually opened the door to the lovable girl with so many new additions to the mascot.




The Amul girl has actually taken a jump right out of her outdoor pedestal onto our television screens as well. It even went to shoot for an ad film that introduces viewers to a bunch of different ways of consuming and relishing Amul butter.

Earlier the mascot girl has appeared in Amul butter advertisement only as a sign off towards the end only.

Around a decade back, though, she did appear all through the brand’s advertisement but in a flat, two-dimensional animation, sketch-like form.

With  Toonz Animation has given the Amul girl a 3D animation effect form for the very first time ever for Amul.



In all the advertisement she looks like a regular, well-rounded cartoon character and has been profiled from several angles, not just the front.

Moreover, the 60-second version of this advertisement many a times has been placed in cinemas during 3D movies to promote the product; when viewed through special goggles, the ad will be a three-dimensional one. Was actually a fun to watch it.


“We have counterpoised our butter girl. Nowadays everything is in 3D — movies, games — so why not the Amul girl?” Mr. R S Sodhi says about the change addressing the media.

In fact, with time and in today world her popularity is being leveraged beyond billboards. “We are extending the butter girl to other things also,” Mr. R S Sodhi says.



The girl has started appearing on Amul’s boring milk packets and products also.



And besides reproducing the billboards as press advertisement in newspapers, Amul has also started airing them on television advertisement also in the quick 10-second films!

Here’s how: A scene of an actual road is integrated with a graphic billboard which is a replication of Amul’s actual billboard.

Given the nature of the content of these topical ads,  Amul produced these short films which has been aired on Hindi and English  different news channels.

With this Amul witnessed a total changed in Amul’s “media selection strategy” such that the mascot girl was exposed better way.

 Mascot Makeover



Created by Sylvester da Cunha in 1966 to rival Polson’s butter girl, the Amul Girl which was a 2D animation character was first used in outdoor advertisement which was debut on a few lampposts in Mumbai.

Public reaction to her was immediate and positive. People found her really cute — cute enough for the brand to make billboards her permanent home, one that she has inhabited for over 50 years.

Thus, at a time when there was no TV and every brand was going the print, cinema or radio way, Amul butter decided to embrace outdoor.

Then with modern technology, butter girl leap into 3D animated character?  This transformation made the mascot alive  and allows her to develop a different relationship with the younger audiences.

On billboards, the Amul girl is witty and spunky but in this ad film, she is almost a goody goody two-shoes.

In television it becomes sensorial advertising. Ever since it made the leap from black and white to colour, Amul butter, like many other food brands, started using it as a medium to lure consumers with appetising sights and sounds.

So, shots of food became dominant and the Amul girl gradually began appearing more towards the end of the films.

Gradually the role of the Amul girl started becoming different on each platform. On the outdoor medium, she acts as a social observer; the strategy is to comment on India. But the strategy for TV is: sell more butter. So, in a sense, her role on TV is more hard working.

Amul butter girl has found yet another media platform in digital (particularly Facebook and Twitter) for its topical outdoor creative.

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Job Prospect In Animation Industry

Animation has been creating content worldwide for the entertainment industry for more than a century now. As on today it is a multi-billion dollar industry.

The animation industry across the world has grown in a rapid pace. A person can pursue a wide range of career path in this industry with a degree in animation.





There are several options for animation courses that an individual can take up.At present there is a huge demand for professionals in this field across the world.

Previously the animation industry had the kids or the children as its target audience or direct customer.

But as on today the with growing tv channels , increased broadcasting hours, growing numbers of cable tv and varied taste , varied culture have widened the horizon .

End user has also taken a different meaning altogether.  The industry is being led by large multinational studios, big tv channel companies and other entertainment related companies.

They are engaged in varied range of activities. In 2015 the size of the animation industry was about USD 244 billion.USA,China,Japan , Canada, Korea, Britain are the major players.



Big companies are also tapping into animation professionals globally. India has become a favorite talent pool for many multinational companies.

The demand for animation content has given a steady boost to the animation industry in India. 1957 to 2017 , the animation industry has come a long way.

Growing application in movies,Tv Commercials, Internet gaming , mobile games,Educational cds, cartoons has opened up the job market for professionals.

There are more than 300 studios with more than 15000 professionals are catering to the local as well as global market.Japan, United States, Canada, United Kingdom and South Korea have the major number of listed active studios.Studios, be actual production facility or corporate , are found across all continents.



The most popular and oldest of the studios is Walt Disney Animation Studios in the United States. It was founded in 1923,providing job opportunities. They have more than 800 employees.

Activities of the most reputed and high profile animation companies in India at a glance- Pentamedia Graphics in  Chennai has .Popular movies like Gulliver’s Travels, The Five Warriors, Pandavas.

It offers Visual Effects, 2D and 3D animation, film making, and post production services.

Maya Entertainment in Mumbai  has training centers in other places of Asia and the Middle East. They have worked for  popular  brands like BBC, Google, Sony. They have also worked in movies like The Mummy, Stuart Little and others.

They have employee strength of around 400. They have revenue returns of around 1 billion per annum that makes them a big name in the animation industry.

Most Acknowledged creations of Toonz Animation India, animation series -The Return of Hanuman,The Adventures of Tenali Raman has made  them popular in this field.



They are also recognized for mixing 2D and 3D successfully in movie and they have been working for many television serials too Disney is among the clients that Toonz have.

UTV Toonz in Mumbai has clients in America, Europe, and Canada and in other countries .

It has offered services for Cartoon.series like Snow Queen, Clootie& Dumpling; some of the very famous 3D and animation films, Nipuna Services is a  a BPO subsidiary of Satyam Computer Services, has worked with companies of US, New Zealand, Germany etc.

Acknowledged creations: working with Animal Planet channel of India and US and German companies; eating wonderful animation based models for theme parks of New Zealand Padmalaya Telefilms. a subsidiary  of  Zee Telefilms, have a big influence in the south-Asian market. Some of their notable works are 104 cartoon episodes and Mondo’s library for US.


They also have experience of working with some of the popular British animation companies. Works Location: Bengaluru. Most Acknowledged creations.

This Company is known for works in folkloric and mythological programmes in India’s animation industry. There reputation has spread in US too. Crest Communications Year of Establishment: 1990 Location: Mumbai, production house: California Creations and Works:

They offer their services in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. their award winning the animation series are as follows : Jakers, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, The Adventures of Piggley-Winks,Shrek have broght the company awards too.



Silvertoon Studio co worked with animation studios of British and UK. Buena Vista International (India)  is the Indian subsidiary of The Walt Disney. Company and it is one of the popular animation companies in India.

It has been working in collaboration with the Yash Raj Films, UTV etc. Reliance Mediaworks is one of the India’s leading entertainment company. It serve several media and film across the world.

The company has services like 2D, 3D visual effects, digital distribution, post production and lot more.

Future Thought Productions Contributing to various section of the industry like film, web, television and mobile, this is one of the top most animation companies in India.

Tata Elxsi Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group is serving many countries like France, Malaysia, Dubai, South Africa, with services in varied fields like consumer products,transportation, Healthcare, Defence, apart from media,entertainment and communications.

Prana Studios Pvt. Ltd. specialize in 3-D animation, short-form media, visual effects, hybrid films and many such realms related to animation worldwide, including nations like USA, Los Angeles etc.

There are several job rolls from animator to paint artist that a professional can opt for .

Another impetus for a newcomer to this industry can be a simple fact like a single animated movie needs at least 500 to 1000 animators or professionals.



The pace in which animation industry is growing the demand for professionals are also growing. Moreover there is an opportunity to go abroad and work.

The revenue figures are   pertinent proof of the growing animation industry in India. Rs.39.7 Billion in 2013 to Rs.44.9 Billion in 2015 to 51.1 Billion in 2015 – is an indicator of  growing job opportunity  in India.

With growing entertainment industry in India, job opportunities for animators are also increasing.

AS on 2017 , the animation industry is one of the most lucrative job provider.


Friday, 17 March 2017

VFX Breakdown Of Mirzya

Mirzya one of the best VFX film of 2016 opened in the theater with mixed reviews.

However one factor that nobody may deny was the sheer brilliance of the VFX & production styled by the team.

The picture recreated the legend of Mirza-Sahiban, and every frame was pure delight to observe.

Lets take a glance at the VFX breakdown of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s new journey.

The Story




Mirzya is a beautiful epic love story set in the midst of Rajasthan.

As mentioned the story is a real inspiration  by the name of the  legend of Mirza-Sahiban.

It is a  tale of two  lovers, played out in two timelines – real & mythical. Their trials & tribulations type the crux of the story.
Lets take a look at the VFX breakdown of Mirzya.

Ideation



 Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra got one of the best VFX team with excellent skills to shoot this fantastical  love story.

He worked exhaustingly  for 3 years, with  the actors designing, vfx team, to create this film.

The actors did their best too as they were strictly trained in horse riding, mounted sport, and polo and other physical activities.

The team

The best from the national & international trade worked as a part of the VFX team for this movie to give superlative effect. Where the VFX team had earlier worked for legendary film like Life of Pi, Cars, and Tron Legacy etc.

That is not all the film has polish cinematographer, Pawel Michal Dyllus, known to hardly ever step out of his country, made an exception for Mirziya, and was the director of photography for the film.

Chase Sequence


 It was high on action, and is considered to be one of the most crucial scenes in the movie. While there are no body doubles in these sequences, there were BHIM App Download over 30 horses along with trained riders from Poland chasing the lead pair. In all this, the back drops were touched to perfection.

A big applause to the VFX designers who make you believe that it was all set in an era long before our own. From the smoke to the flames in the air, the makers have ensured the scenes look as real as possible.

A special mention needs to be made for the night safari sequence in the film.

It was very high on action, and is considered to be one of the most crucial and interesting scenes in the movie.

While there are no body doubles in these sequences, there was BHIM App Download over 30 horses along with trained riders from Poland chasing the lead pair. So it was shot by the actor who acted in the movie themselves.

In all this, the backdrops of the movie were touched to perfection.

A big applause to the VFX designers who make you believes that it was all set in an era long before our own.

From the smoke to the flames in the air, the makers have ensured the scenes look as real as possible.

Locations



The locations for the shoot include the top notch palaces of Udaipur – Shiv Niwas Palace, Jag Mandir Palace, and Shikharbadi Palace etc. The production design was handled by Acropolis, of Guzaarish & Bhaag Milkha Bhaag fame, and the team visited nearly 50 palaces before deciding on the final palaces to shoot.

Conclusion

May be the film doesn’t have much success in terms of Box –Office. But it was nominated in most of the awards and it has even won a few of them.

The movie will be remembered by the viewers as one of the best VFX work of its time. We are sure we will be getting to see more of such work in future through our own Indian cinema popularly known as Bollywood.

Thursday, 16 March 2017

Job Profiles In Gaming Industry

Over the years, the gaming industry has changed into a posh mechanism that provides jobs and opportunities to a good variety of abilities to aspire a career in game designing.

UN agency caters to the ever growing demands of the play trade.

Gone  the times once Atari used to ship out games with monochrome graphics and tiny beeps and buzzes to function a sound accompaniment.

Now, games provide vivid types of images in millions of small pixels with a complete designed background score.

Game design has grown to be the most exciting and competitive careers in the world.


For people with a passion for technology and interactive entertainment, game design has become a dream job and career for many aspirant, but even those with a slight interest in games would jump at the opportunity to become a part of this wonderful fascinating industry.

Game designers use a combination of technology, science, engineering, mathematics, and design, art, and animation skills to create realistic action packed video games.

It is they who are responsible to rake in billions of dollars in sales around the world only by developing games that will attract viewers.

In addition to the entertainment industry, video game designers create interactive games for the mobile technology industry, education, advertising and marketing, web design, and so many other businesses.

In our today’s blog post we will be discussing the number of the key job profiles within the field of gaming industry.

 

A game is the inspiration of the game designer,who puts all his/her imaginary vision into his project.

They build ideas and set up the whole game flow.

The game designer will define the core elements of the game being designed by him. It is their responsibility to communicate their vision to the rest of the development team, including the ones who create the artwork and to those who work on the computer coding.

Game Programmer


 The game programmer is responsible for writing the computer code that makes gaming possible It’s the most important and vital part of gaming industry.

They are actually the heart of the development process for any games being designed by the game developer.

The lead programmer communicates the game design into a technical specification and then delegates tasks to the programming team. A proficiency in computer languages such as C & C++ language is prerequisite for becoming a game programmer.

Game Artist


The role of the gaming artist begins early in the stage where pre-production phase of the game development process starts.

They create the initial concept art and storyboards of how the game will look and progress in short the flow chart of the process is developed.

The game artist is also responsible for creating the visual elements of the game such as characters, scenery, objects, background images, clothing and skin texture.

Some games focus on how realistic look and feel the game will be  while others go for a more stylised design where stress on the final outcome.

This is more by design than by accident. The development team decides on how much resources should be put to the visual as opposed to other aspects of the game such as motion sensitivity and advanced game play features.

Animator

An animator’s role is multi-dimensional.

They are soul responsible to portray movements and character & object behaviors among the game designing.

Animators should work among the constraints of the gaming engine’s technology and its platform with its limitations.

They convert design and code into living characters on the screen.

While most video game designers work in gaming studios, some work at advertising and design firms, web design firms, multimedia companies, mobile technology firms, and software development firms.

In the organization they usually hold titles such as lead designer, game developer, game designer, interactive designer, lead mobile game designer, lead game developer, senior game designer, and many others.

Game Designer Salaries

 Game designers belong to the broader career group “Applications Software Developers.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for applications software developers is $90,060 per year.

The lowest 10 percent earn less than $55,190 per year, and the top 10 percent earn more than $138,880 per year, says the Bureau. Several employment and salary websites report that video game designers (as a single career group) average between $70,000 and $90,000 per year.

While video game designers are among the highest paid professionals in the world of entertainment, individual salaries vary greatly depending on experience, education, area of expertise (video games, mobile technology, interactive games for education), company, benefits, industry, and geographic location. For example, the top five highest paying states for developers are California (average $112,180 per year), Washington ($111,380), Maryland ($110,160), Virginia ($103,680), and New York ($103,390).

In India market, joining salaries of a fresher’s are around Rs 4.5 lakh (Rs 405,000) per annum for programmers and designers and Rs 3.5 lakh (Rs 305,000) for Graphic Artists and Game Developers.

Indian gaming industry is undergoing makeover and lots of scope is coming up.

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

How Star Trek Created Visual Effects History



Star Trek remains one of the most popular and widespread television & movie network until date.

Generations have grownup up observing this mind blowing intergalactic science fiction.

Besides the story, performances, and picturization of characters, its quality is basically as a result of its mind-blowing visual effects.

In fact, it might not be wrong to mention that Star Trek created visual effects history.

With the release of Star Trek Beyond lets take a  look at how this popular series created VFX history in #Throwback Thursday.

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Nineteen Sixties wasn’t that technologically advanced era.

However, that didn’t stop writers & production studios from writing or producing.

Even at that time they do have the concepts of visual effects.

However this was the era of miniatures, matte paintings on glass & optical compositing on real film.

And it all began with Star Trek: The initial Series.

The quality of visual effects shots within the show created its own landmark in visual effects innovation.

Howard Anderson Company was the primary visual effects studio which single handle produced some mind blowing visual effects of its time.
The studio created the transporter – the teleportation machine which has been utilized by the crew members.

This remains the foremost vital addition to the series until date because it became a vital part of the Star Trek Universe.

Once it had been first created, the art movement impact was achieved with nothing over aluminium powder and optical compositing.


How did it work, you  just ought to ask? The people or props being transported were filmed keep it in the same position.

The beam impact was created by dropping aluminium powder from a height, and cinematography was done one by one with intensive lighting.

All of this was combined with the outline of the person or people together create an effort of the empty set, and faded out or in to make the appearance/ disappearance impact.

Pixar Association

The Genesis Demo from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan is taken into account to be the primary use of visual effects during the feature film.

The lesser known truth is that this sequence was created by Lucas film Computer Division (which is popularly evolved into present day Pixar), the wing of George Lucas’s Lucas film established to analysis varied digital written material, computer graphics, various camera work applications etc.
Much before Toy Story, the Genesis sequence used computer graphics technique, and this was actually a great deal.



Alvy Ray Smith, who directed the sequence, was assured that they might convert their imagination to reality, and designed the piece as per their strengths at the time.

They effectively utilized geometric patterns, particle systems, texture mapping, bump mapping, digital painting, and a moving camera to bring the sequence to life, and eventually have been able to create a history.

The first demo was a 67-second long shot of a torpedo hit the earth, exploding, inflicting a shockwave which gradually evolved a Earth-like structures .

It had been rendered on VAX computers which is much faster than the earlier computers where with some frames took simply 5 minutes to render whereas earlier needed up to 5 hours.
Visual Effects on television Changed forever
Before the Nineteen Eighties & Nineteen Nineties, most television shows were shot on film, and visual effects which were primarily created with miniatures & optical compositing.



Star Trek: Next Generation (1987) modified everything.

It had been shot on film. However the footage was then transferred to video tape. As the series continuing, digital tape formats were used.

This enabled video-based visual effects to be created.

This became the rage thanks to only one factor – and that is speed.

Video tape footage created visual effects & special effects tricks  quicker & more practical.

It gave a path breaking result as each of the episodes had up to sixty – seventy VFX shots, an oversized range at that point of time.

During this era, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series entered into the production, which required a quicker & larger execution of visual effects.

But all visual effects were still not done on video, and use of miniatures continued. Space vehicle space crafts, models were still physically engineered & recorded.

However, advancement came with the utilization of ultraviolet illumination black lights on fluorescent orange screens (instead of blue screens) for ship matte passes.

This was a significant breakthrough as compared to the previous methodology of use 8X4 foam core boards to make distinction round the ship.



Slowly, the studios touched towards incorporating complete computer-generated versions of the spacecrafts and different parts that were earlier created as miniatures.

Another vital development was the utilization of digital disk recorders. True, it’s going to not sound terribly exciting nowadays, however in the past this allowed the team to juggle layers of parts with out any degradation.

J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek Creates History

J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek film series is thought for its use of lens flares, from the Enterprise passing ahead of a sun or star to once the ship’s lights area unit visible because it whizzes past camera.

However once Abram first came up with the thought, it had been with the intention of reproducing the movement of sunshine within the planet.

In fact, several flares seen within the film were merely created and captured on set.

They were later enhanced by the utilization of anamorphic lenses that provided the ultimate image.
But this idea led to the creation of SunSpot, a tool to duplicate this flare within the digital world.

Since plenty of scenes were digital creations by Industrial lightweight & Magic, this device was developed so they might replicate the live-action look of lens flare aberrations in digital kind.

In the world of contemporary visual effects, the lens flares might not appear as if a technical revolution.

However they served a crucial role in storytelling.

Tod Vaziri, one of the artists who worked on the lens flare, believes that these flares gave the films their distinctive flavour of spontaneousness & intensity in the story telling effect.

Giving overall documentary-style feel, implemented in fantastic, different worldly, abstract quality.

Old Wine In New Bottle
The one visual effect that Star Trek brought to the screen live, not just for its own series however the complete realm of science-fiction, is warp in speed.

This faster-than-light propulsion permits the spaceships to manoeuvre at infinite speed. Over time, advances in style, camera work, visual effect & compositing techniques have created warp speed a additional life-like, immersive, & spectacular visual impact.



In the latest movie, Star Trek: Beyond, the warp speed impact evolved even additional.

The film’s visual effects supervisor Peter Chiang created a warp bubble, rather than the previous streak-type look.

The visual effects impact in the studio behind this effect was Double Negative which had previously created the black hole & worm hole effects for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.



Will they continue to boldly go where they have never gone before? Will we be able to see more fantastic evolution in visual effect that the time will say?

Friday, 10 March 2017

Disney: Animation To Live-Action

It all started with Alice in Wonderland. Then there was beautiful, Cinderella, and followed by the Jungle Book.

Let’s take a glance at ten mind blowing movies tat Walter Disney is popping into a live-action journey.

#1 Tink




Introduced to moving picture audiences in Peter Pan (1953), Tinker Bell is Disney’s unofficial mascot. We can see her presence in advertising, and Disney  Theme parks as well. She additionally has her own series of productive direct-to-video animated films.

Currently she is being prepared to hit the massive screen all over again, now in live-action.

A little bird, or could also be a trifle fairy, will be created with  lots of visual effects which will going to be spectacular viewing by recreating the magical  world of fairies.

We are curious to understand if the moving picture can work on an equivalent lines as Hook, a prequel to the first Peter Pan, and therefore the story of  Tinker Bell came to fulfill very little Peter.

#2 Prince Charming




 Have you ever noticed that the Walt Disney Princes seldom ever given a name? They’re largely ‘Prince Charming’, which is what Walt Disney is all ready to bring round the massive screen.

Not a lot of is understood regarding the project, however it’s been rumoured that the story are all regarding the Titular prince’s brother, a person who has been unable to measure up to the name, due to a definite lack of manners and ‘charm’.

#3 Genies




 Genie remains one amongst Disney’s most unforgettable & wanted characters until date.

And it’s about time that he got his own share of fame.

The story is set to be a sequel to Aladdin, and will show how Genie ended up in the magic lamp.

We can’t wait to know who fills the shoes of the legendary Robin Williams, the original voice of Genie in 1992.

Wait!!! Did you know, Disney is also planning a live-action remake of Aladdin?

#4 Cruella

Now who can forget Maleficent?

It seems Disney can’t forget the profits it made on the project, and is all set to create a Disney villain series, Cruella de Vil being the next in line.

The antagonist from 1961’s 101 Dalmatians will return to the big screen with her own story and charm.

Emma Stone is currently in talks to portray the younger, maybe-less-evil Cruella.

But she has the work of Glenn Close to live up to, who played the character in the live-action adaptation 101 Dalmatians & 102 Dalmatians.

#5 Pinocchio

Pinocchio taught us the perils of lying.

And he is coming back.

Although the animation was not a commercial success at the time of its release in 1940, the movie, and Pinocchio have gone on to become the face of childhood morals globally.

Rumour has it that this live-action will remain true to its animated original.

Let’s see if the sequence where Pinocchio gets drunk and smokes cigars with all the other little boys makes it out of the censor room.

#6 Winnie the Pooh



The introduction of almost every child to the world of stories, Winnie the Pooh continues to be a legend.

The film has had four theatrical films & countless television series.

Disney hopes that the magic will crossover from animation to live-action.

It is believed that this version will concentrate on an adult Christopher Robin returning to the Hundred Acre Wood and reconnecting with all his animal buddies.

We hope for some big screen extravaganza similar to The Jungle Book.

#7 Dumbo



Tim Burton will be directing this project. Need we say more?

What will be interesting to see is how Burton turns the original 64 minutes long story into a 90-minute feature.

We are hoping for some brand new material in this classic tale of an orphaned circus elephant that becomes a flying wonder.

But we have to say that this is quite an unexpected name in the list. Let’s keep our figure crossed.

#8 Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers

Chip ‘n vale have starred in a various range of theatrical shorts, and had their own television series – Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

The show had 2 mischievous chipmunks because the founders of an agency that, in conjunction with friends, would solve crimes.

We wish to see some off the crime stories, and if the detectives are our own  favourite Chipmunks, who’s complaining?

#9 The blade within the Stone


 We are glad indeed that somebody thought of revitalising this classic.

It remains one amongst the few Walt Disney films that ne’er saw any continuation, whether or not direct-to-video or within the theatres, except a short reference within the animation Beauty & the Beast.

Since we have a tendency to have to be compelled to grasp that Bryan Cogman, the tv author & producer who originally started with the Sport of Thrones, we have a tendency to square measure watching for some story-telling marvel to happen.

#10 Fantasia

This 1940 classic, supposed to be the come back of Irishman Mouse, introduced in eight totally different classic musical compositions.

Currently film maker is about to require one among st those segments and make a whole moving picture out of it. It’s rumored that the story can have an equivalent treatment as Maleficent.

Which Disney animation do you want to watch as live-action? Tell us in the comments below.