Talks - PIXELvienna5

The Art of Split/Second

Split/Second began life presenting us with a challenge. How do we present the player with a cinematic action racing experience where every lap is different and conveys the notion of ‘Epic Hollywood Destruction’ in a world where the race track is rigged to blow? Was it possible to capture the over-the-top action of a Hollywood movie in a racing game? Could we collapse bridges, explode freeways and bring down airliners in real time?

We’ll take a look at the visual development of Split/Second from its humble beginnings to its eventual conclusion. Exploring some of the biggest moments in the game, the creative challenges we had to overcome and how lighting played a part in bringing it all together into a cohesive and explosive package.

Black Rock Studio, formerly known as Climax Racing, was established in Brighton in early 2000 and is now one of the industry’s premier racing studios. Now part of the Walt Disney Company, Black Rock produces original racing games.

cognition – how to find yourself

Lev will talk about the game prototype “cognition” on which basis he will explore fundamental game design questions like “Where does the fun of games come from?” The lecture will explain how to design a game throwing the player in a situation of pure questionmarks and no tutorial. Starting with the obvious fact, that playing games is learning, that all play means something, the lecture will guide you through the most basic questions: How do we figure out anything at all? How can we distinguish between one object and another? What is this something called “me”?

for directors, camera men, and producers (create the best filmfootage for VFX shots)

What to think of when shooting live action footage for a visual effects shot. Create the best basis for later post production and digital effects on the film footage. How to set up the camera and scene for optimal results in post production. Additional things to do to help VFX artists to best integrate the digital effects onto the footage. Things to do on set to ensure quick post production workflow, save time and money in post production through optimal planing and execution of a live action shoot for a VFX shot.

Practice and Theory of Generative Shape Modeling

This talk is for creative coders looking for efficient ways to create complex shapes. First, the applied section will give a short introduction to the GML shape description language and present some GML related technologies developed in various projects, including a number of demos. This is followed by a second more theoretical section that points out the enormous potentials, but also the fundamental limitations, of procedural shape generation in general, and of GML in particular.

Working for Hollywood from Vienna

The talk will give insight into the production of the 2D Charly Frost clip and the Title Design from Roland Emmerichs 2012. Johannes Mücke (www.jmuecke.net), Ronald Anzenberger (www.basis-online.at) and Jens Mehlan (www.k18.at) worked together on this project and will show some of their workflows and production processes and give a look behind the curtains of working on a Hollywood Blockbuster.

A look behind the curtains of Post Panic Production Studio

Mischa and Jules will be talking about the humble beginnings of PostPanic after their graduation from art college and how their approach to projects was formed. They will give a sneak behind the scenes look at how PostPanic makes a project and will bring some various examples of different types of productions.

Producing and directing a BBC Christmas Special

Last Christmas a stunning 10 million viewers watched the BBC’s “The Gruffalo”, a half-hour animated adaptation of the classic British children’s book, starring a.o. Helena Bonham-Carter, John Hurt and Robbie Coltrane, making the film one of the UK’s most successful productions of 2009. Jakob Schuh, co-founder of studio soi and one of the film’s two directors will give a tour through the film’s making, highlighting both directorial and production issues during the project’s two year genesis.