This blog describes my journey exploring storytelling - words, images and the sensations they generate. The lot, basically.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

/Shameless Plug/

Are you interested in 3D?

Are you interested in animation?

Are you interested in VFX?

Are you interested in creature/character work?

Are you interested in rigging?

Yes?

Do you know Simon Payne?

Do yourself a favour. You really should.

Simon Payne is a colleague of mine at Digital Domain London/Reliance MediaWorks. Simon has been around the VFX block more than once. Needless to say he draws on deep, deep experience of most any facet of 3D and VFX. Simon is the kind of brain-on-two-legs kind of guy, you can roll up to ask anything, say "Gee Simon, what can you tell me about matchmoving?" He'll take a deep breath and 20 seconds later it comes streaming out of him coherently and logically about camera control groups and focal lengths, like he'd been preparing the lecture for a good few weeks in advance.

Simon's chosen field of expertise is rigging and character work. I recently learned that he had put together a teaching programme on rigging and creature work. There is a lot of teaching materials out there regarding various aspects of 3D and VFX production. Some of it is worth your while, some of it is not. Even with the worthwhile stuff, you quickly come to the point where you feel, that by rights there would need to be so much more still, for it to truly take you to the levels needed on feature film VFX work.

Simon's rigging and creature programme can best be described as comprehensive. That word just keeps coming back to me. Comprehensive. Comprehensive. He certainly hasn't spared himself putting this together, and it will stand up to the most exacting of standards in feature film level VFX work.

If you have any interest in rigging, creature/character work or VFX in general, you stand to gain massively from Simon generously sharing his knowledge and experience.

http://www.cmivfx.com/tutorials/view/495/Creature+Creators+Handbook+Volume+01

Yes, this is a strong plug on my part, and unashamedly so. This deserves it. I just wish there was a similar course in texturing...