Digital Tutors

I highly recommend anyone who wants to learn software to sign up for Digital Tutors. The tutorials are very well done and organized nicely. I am getting back up to speed on XSI and learning Nuke from scratch. In only a few short days I almost know enough of the apps to do what we're going to need on Resident Evil 4: Afterlife (3D).

Find them at:
www.digitaltutors.com

MONTREAL

I am going to be working in Montreal for 6 months as a CG Supervisor at Rodeo FX on a live action 3d stereo film. The city is incredible. The French influence is lovely. I am staying in the Old Montreal. It's a wonderful district to walk around. I need to lose those DreamWorks 15 pounds...

-Louis

Amazing aerial footage with small Go Pro HD Camera

http://www.goprocamera.com/hdheropreview/

Enjoy,
Louis

kuler - color wheel for the future

http://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Projection on Buildings

I wish I thought of this first. Genius and so easy to do!

Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Carousel

"Director Adam Berg responded with an idea for an epic ‘frozen moment’ cops and robbers shootout sequence that included clowns, explosions, a decimated hospital, and plenty of broken glass and bullet casings."

View the film:

http://beta.stinkdigital.tv/work/view/selected/carousel

How they did it:

http://media.fxguide.com/fxguidetv/fxguidetv-ep057.m4v

PHRAZES

Warren Fu asked me to convert Mandala art into 3D.
Find the result here:
http://www.juliancasablancas.com/

Enjoy,
Louis

Illusion Arts Tribute

http://www.illusionarts.com/

http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/illusion-arts-tribute/

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118004410.html?categoryid=18&cs=1

http://mattejourney.blogspot.com/2009/06/illusion-arts-closes-its-doors.html

I know a few matte painters who worked at Illusion Arts. They always had good things to say about the place.

-Louis

Ralph Bakshi: Surviving In Tough Times

How to unmultiply layer in Photoshop

Following is the manual steps to unmultiply an image in Photoshop the hard way:

Let's say you have a cloud with transparency for example.

- Have the original painted (or not more likely these days) cloud with transparency in Photoshop open.

- If you have a layer mask, delete it, an apply it.

- Ctrl (PC) or Command (MAC) click on the layer to select the layer's transparency.

- Save the channel as an alpha. Make sure it's the only alpha.

- Now duplicate the cloud layer with transparency once. Take the duplicated layer and merge down (ctrl or command e). That's 2 cloud layers merged. Duplicate that and merge. You have 4. Duplicate that and merge. You have 8. Duplicate that and merge. You have 16. Duplicate that and merge. You have 32. Duplicate that and merge. You have 64. Duplicate that and merge. You have 128. Duplicate that and merge. You have 256. Duplicate that and merge. You have 512. Duplicate that and merge. You have 1024. Duplicate that and merge. You have 2048. Duplicate that and merge. You have 4096. Good enough. The power of 2. Gotta love it. I suggest you make a Photoshop Action for easier future use.

- Now I suggest you add a layer below the cloud layer and make it a general sky color, or the average color of the actual cloud's background. If you've truly unmultiplied the cloud it wouldn't matter what color you made the background. Pink, black, white, or green. It just gives you more peace of mind that it's goint to cut out of that color. Some Artists use whatever the background was. That's a waste of disk space. But it can be useful for reference when lining up in 3D.

- Now flatten or merge the rgba image. You have an unmultiplied cloud texture for Maya / Mental Ray. Use .tga for mental ray. Unless they fixed it. Used to be mental ray didn't support .lzw .tif's. Annoying. .tga works for maya or mental ray rendering.

Side note. After Effects can view and save unmultiplied images. Shift click on alpha in comp window. Very convenient. Wouldn't you think that the After Effects team and Photoshop team at Adobe could have lunch one day and share that code? PHOTOSHOP NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO VIEW AND SAVE IMAGE(S) UNMULTIPLIED. THOMAS KNOLL, JOHN KNOLL, HELLO! Not ranting, just trying to get the word out. Write them! Put on your blog(s). Photoshop should just do this out of the box.

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Matte Paintings

I was browsing matte painting dot org. Do you agree with my comments? I noticed most matte paintings have the light, sun, or moon right in camera, or just off. It works, but a little overused in my opinion.


Love it:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4461&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4307

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3362

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2723

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2744

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4376

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2452

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4379

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4373

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4484

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4205

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3579

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4163


Too many birds:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=9223

Good use of birds:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=9286


Interesting:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4190

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4184

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3053

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2729

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2708

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2575

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2087

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2063

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4352

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3707

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4430

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3737

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4092

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4071



Artist(s) who really wanted to work on Star Wars:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=9184

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4472

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4464

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3334


It's not super well done, but something I like about it:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4127

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3986

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2792

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2767


Great study. A good painter could just keep going:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3645&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3588

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3254

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3027

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2604

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3505

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4106


Redneck Painting:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4099

http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2425

Kind of cool, tree needs work:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=9175

Trying to draw the eye TOO much:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=9013

Photo of valley is better than the structure:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4475

Terrible:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4129

I literally had this idea 15 years ago, somebody just shot into my memory, amazing:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3859

Less is more and proof that not every matte painting needs clouds, love it:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3628

Typical junk. How many of these kind of matte paintings are we gonna see before we puke, without even drinking?:
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4403

Hah!
http://mattepainting.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3810


Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

The Holodeck, As Re-Imagined in 2010

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

One day of shooting, 2 years of post production.

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

How Benjamin Button Got His Face

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

At ILM blah blah blah

http://www.vfxhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/the-we-syndrome.png

You could also swap 'ILM' with 'SONY' or 'WETA' or 'PIXAR' and it's just as funny...

-Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

The Crisis of Credit Visualized - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU

The Crisis of Credit Visualized - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhDkZjKBEw&feature=related

-Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Cell Phone Reunion

I bought an iPhone and returned it after one week as cool as it was. Why? Can't text with one hand. Too big for pocket and wallet together. If I was a woman with purse, sure... Too hard to type accurately. I don't need an iPhone to make fart noises. I have lungs and lips. Pay me 99 cents and I'll do it for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD8OcPGScRU

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

The Orphanage

http://prolost.blogspot.com/2009/02/ten-years-of-orphanage.html

"The Orphanage will be suspending operations indefinitely." -Stu

I'll always consider The Rebel Mac Unit at ILM the real 'Orphanage'. Stu taught me a lot at ILM back in the day. He deserves much thanks... I still add grain by hand and get it perfect with his After Effects recipe some 10 years later.

-Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

The Spirit of Spawn at ILM

I worked on Spawn at ILM at the age of 22 with Scott Leberecht and Steve "Spaz" Williams. Every production I work on since gets more political, boring, and I feel the need to carefully watch every word and step I make. For the better?

Enjoy,
Louis
www.louiskatz.com

GIGAPAN

..
..
Super High Resolution photo of the 2009 Inauguration

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c

I want this camera for matte painting source!
This reminds me of Eric Hansen's www.xrez.com
..
Enjoy,
-Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Jedi Days

OK, enough about Obama!

Jedi Days



Having worked with a few folks in this video it was scary and cool to see their character during the making of Return of the Jedi.

NOTE - I am not a fan of Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back. Too bad George really f*ed up the new ones. Way to go George! It was great to work on the visual effects though.

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Obama, Historical Inauguration Videos, and Goodbye Bush

--
This is not visual effects related, but it's much more important.

I am deeply proud Barack Obama is about to be sworn into office today. Growing up in Minnesota, teased for being Jewish (a minority in our small town) I can relate to the emotional impact this day is having on not only Americans, but the world. Hopefully a bit of respect and hope is restored in the world view of The United States of America.


'It's a New Day' indeed!


--

*****

President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address

My favorite moment at 3 minutes and 8 seconds in the video, "I thank President Bush for his service to our nation..." Talk about awkward moment.


--

I will miss David Letterman's "Great moments in Presidential Speeches."

Letterman - Farewell Tribute to Great Moments in Presidential Speeches



***** Historical Inauguration Videos *****

President Franklin Roosevelt 1933 Inauguration


President Truman 1949 Inauguration


President Eisenhower 1953 Inaugural Address


President Kennedy 1961 Inaugural Address


President Nixon 1969 Inaugural Address


President Reagan 1981 Inaugural Address


President Clinton 1993 Inaugural Address


President George W. Bush 2001 Inaugural Address

--

Goodbye George W. Bush. We all make mistakes in life, but not many of us this big:


--

Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Sighting of Superman!

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

Why I don't go to theaters as much as I used to.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/01/2008-box-office.html

I was reading this article and it made me realize why I don't go to the theater as much as I used to. It's not the fact I have Blu-Ray and HD at home. Seriously... I simply don't enjoy it like I did when I was a teenager or in my early 20's. It was exciting to see a movie and was inspired. So much so I told myself I must go work at ILM. I did at the age of 22. I think it's part of aging where it's more and more difficult to be impressed or inspired. Simply because you feel like you've seen it all or you've seen the same plot lines told over and over.

Or... is it the filmmakers selling out and theater's fault?

Popcorn? Rip off and is annoying when the schmuck(s) behind you are smacking away ruining the first 20 minutes of a movie. Give me a theater where popcorn is not allowed. Gum? Gummy Bears? Forbid. I wish I lived in Singapore for that reason. I know, careful what I ask for. Bluetooth headseats in theaters (or anywhere for that matter)? Why do I need to see that super bright blue blinking light when the guy (or gal) wearing it can't? Soda? Watch King Corn. You'll never drink soda again. Hot dogs and people sneaking in food? Stinky! Having to park and walk through a cheesy mall to get to your theater. Gross carpet and sticky floors. Bad commercials. Cell phones are the least of the problems in movie theaters...

This is why I only watch movies at Visual Effects Society screenings, DreamWorks, with friends, or at home now. I can't deal with the general public in a theater. Give me a theater where there is no food and a 'Manners Marshall', but drinking allowed, such as a Comedy club, and I'll go more often. And pay a premium to do so!

Related, but way off beat, do you ever walk into a Best Buy and think when you hear the super loud bass playing rap in the corner of the store, "When do you start annoying yourself?"

-Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com

B2 Bomber (aka Flying Wing) before Rose Parade 2009

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Enjoy,
Louis Katz
www.louiskatz.com