Ramayana The Epic Challenges/Contests

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Jeff Kleiser : Visual Effects supervisor of Some Spectacular Award winning movies

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things" – Theodore Levitt

Jeff Kleiser creates and innovates and as rightly put in his mini biography: Jeff Kleiser's pioneering work in computer animation has spanned the history of the medium. His journey of 34-36 years has seen taking up challenges and create visual effects that set a benchmark, we can put it as: "It all begins from here".

We take immense pride in connecting you, the readers with one of the leading men in the animation and visual effects arena - Watching Jeff Kleiser's work is like sitting in a time machine and watch the roots of animation and visual effects unfold into a tall tree, and it still continues to unfold into the future. Read More...

CGTantra Matte Painting Challenge

Hi Friends,

Here we are back with our very own digital matte painting contest.

This is called "VICTORIAN STREET 1880"

Below is the guideline for the contest:

Victorian Shop Test

Here are two images; one photo to work on and one photo with red highlighting the areas to modify.

The photo is of a modern street here in London, and the brief is to change the street in to a Victorian street, so around the time mid to late 1800's.
You will need to remove anything that is modern and replace it with something authentic to the Victorian period. You'll need to research the era first to see what is typical of a Victorian shop front including awnings, advertisements, etc. Read More...

CGTantra Rigging Challenge # 4

CGTANTRA RIGGING CHALLENGE is back in action.The task is even more tougher this time with feature quality output expected out of the character Rig.The challenge involves setting up an animator friendly Character Rig with eye-catching Mesh Deformation Quality.

SUGGESTION -The solution should be innovative, which means the candidates are expected to come up with some setup that has not already been covered in tutorials.

This Challenge will be moderated by Chand (CGT ID - Chand) and Anoop A. K (CGT ID - crackerjack)

We would like to mention our special thanks to our member Savio Fernandes (CGT ID - crunk) for helping us with the mesh for this challenge. Read More...

Despicable Me: The making and transformation of a VILLAIN into HERO

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment

Producer CHRIS MELEDANDRI (Ice Age, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!), JANET HEALY and JOHN COHEN

Directors are Oscar®-nominee CHRIS RENAUD (Annie Award-winning short No Time for Nuts, director of upcoming Dr. Seuss' The Lorax) & PIERRE COFFIN (Pat et Stanley).

STEVE CARELL of Get Smart, Horton Hears a Who!, television's The Office for the Voice over of GRU

Leading the talented behind-the-scenes team are editors PAMELA ZIEGENHAGEN-SHEFLAND (Open Season, The Emperor's New Groove) and GREGORY PERLER (Enchanted, Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) Read More...

Talk to the Pro - Vivek "Hell's Angel" Ram

Post your questions, queries for Vivek Ram or Hells Angel as known on CGTantra.

Vivek began his career 9 years ago as a freelancer dabbling in all the various segments of 3d animation. He has worked with Rhythm and Hues as a Senior Digital Artist for a few years before moving on to the Dreamworks Dedicated Unit as a Modeling Lead where he wore multiple hats and moved between many departments during his tenure. He currently works as an Independent Animation Consultant, again playing the role of VFX Supervisor, Designer or Art Director on both feature and game projects for a variety of studios and production houses. Check his website for more about him - WWW.MARKEVIV.COM
Read More...

RAMAYANA the epic - A Sneak Peak

You have watched Ramayana. There is no one who will say that they haven't. Every Indian knows the EPIC. Then what must be the conviction of the film makers to make another Ramayana?

You have to agree, it is a story that every child wants to hear again and again and a Story teller loves to NARRATE.

Maya Entertainment Studio essays the story in the most beautiful landscape that you have ever seen. They are ready to narrate RAMAYANA to YOU.

Your Journey with them Begins here! Read More...

An Interview with Dhaneesh Jameson on making of Wilson Periera

Born and Brought up in Kerala ( God's Own Country unearthing brilliance in an artist ) the World's inspirations etched on his mind translating into a sketch on his canvas, Dhaneesh today has a story to tell. The story of Wilson Periera! Read More...

DSK SUPINFOCOM second BEST INSTITUTE in the realms of INDIAN ANIMATION EDUCATION

A latest Survey in Hindustan Times listed DSK Supinfocom the second (Just behind NID) in an array of ten institutes, an institute that is "Ahead in Shaping Fantastical Worlds" as rightly put. The survey itself proves DSK Supinfocom's potential. We ask the institute how they achieved this commendable feat, where criticisms come galore over the way Indian Animation Education is going.
Read More..

An Exclusive Interview with Matthew Jeffery, Global Director of Talent Brand for Electronic Arts

Matthew Jeffery, Head of Global Talent Brand EA (Electronic Arts) came down to India for MAAC's event on Game On and to also launch an initiative undertaken by MAAC by introducing a state-of-the-art Gaming curriclum "The Diploma In Game Design & Integration". He introduced students to the vistas of gaming and the prospects that come with it. CGTantra couldn't miss on this opportunity. We have the man himself: Matthew Jeffery give us a complete insight into the world of Gaming right here on CGTantra. Read More...

Anifest India 2010 : 3 Day Treat For all Animation Revelers!

Anifest 2010, though at Chembur received an audience one can only envy! The vast hollow of an auditorium, auditorium's balcony was filled with students. The numbers rising to 800+, being bad at math I assure there would be more than that number. All braving the journey came to a very well organized, logistically sound Art and Culture Centre, Chembur Mumbai. Read More...

An Interview with Bastien Dubois on "Madagascar Carnet De Voyage"

The French connection made ☺ he spoke of his award winning movie Madagascar aptly named Carnet De Voyage. Bastien Dubois after winning at Award Canal+ Annecy, Golden Peg bar Animania, Prix Du Publicite L'office National du film du Canada and Sundance Film Festival, very modestly says; "I can't believe so many people want to come and talk to me at Anifest". Read More...

CGTantra Exclusive - An Interview with the Makers of Loom

1. Congratulations on winning "Best In Show Award" at Siggraph 2010. Please tell us how did you come up with the concept of the movie, what was the inspiration? What was the thought process?

Thanks! When we started tossing around ideas at the beginning, we thought about things that we want to tell, but also emotions we want to express and visual styles we like. Read More...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series on Warner Brothers

WB showcases the most awaited animation intergalactic space saga- Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. On July 3, 2010 WB opened up the doors to galaxy of mysterious adventures. The innumerable fans of Star Wars will now have the privilege to unfold the action packed, thrilling epilogues of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Read More...

An Interview with Ken Priebe Author of The Advance art of Stop-Motion Animation

CGTantra recently got the opportunity to publish the news about Ken Priebe releasing his latest book on Advanced Art of Stop Motion Animation. We were intrigued and after the success of his previous book on Stop-Motion Animation we bring to all the budding students of Stop-Motion Animation an excerpt of the New released book's contents.

In an exclusive interview with Ken Priebe himself we explore the span of Stop Motion Animation. Read More...

An Interview with Ace Sculptor & Modeler - Rafael Grassetti

Rafael Grassitti's exclusive interview where he speaks about his journey & his experience of working for around seventy projects. Read More...

StarCraft Fan Art Modeling/Sculpting Challenge

Here we go with another great Contest. This time we are with the Star Craft Fan Art Concept

The StarCraft franchise is a series of real-time strategy computer games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is similar to Blizzard's previous hit franchise, Warcraft, except that it has a space opera setting rather than a high fantasy setting. StarCraft was the best selling video game of 1998, and was so successful that Blizzard estimated in 2004 that 9.5 million copies had been sold since its release(4.5 million copies in South Korea) making it the third best-selling computer game in history.

click here to know more

REVISITING DISTRICT 9

CGTantra brings to you another challenge:

THE VFX WAR

If the above story is to be believed, how are YOU going to perceive it? We don’t have to tell you to imagine, we believe you have already begun the imagination. So start vfxing, we provide you with a footage, a footage of a peaceful noisy polluted Mumbai landscape. You have to return with the same footage but this time Mumbai has been attacked by UFOs. A mother ship with its entourage of more ships is hovering dangerously over the metropolis. We leave it to you what effect this attack has on the landscape.

The Attacks begin on 1st August 2010 and the ravaged footage will have to be submitted on 15th September 2010. You have 45 days. The Contest allows an individual member or a team of 3 people to participate. It is open to students and professionals. The proceedings of the Battle have to be reported at base camp, of course on the CGTantra forum.

So are you ready for the alien invasion?...click here to know more

Video Interview of Sanjiv Waeerkar, CCO MAAC, MCS on CricX

CricX a feature film venture of Maac Creative Workshop headed by Mr. Sanjiv Waeerkar, CCO of MAAC, MCS, is in every way NEW. They have brought in a NEW concept of Collaborative Animation Film Making. Students are learning the NEW theory of content creation. Students have got a chance to work on a feature film together again something NEW. Their work has been aired by DISNEY CHANNEL, this is definitely something first of its kind. CricX has begun a revolution of sorts, to bring students work to fore and be noticed and of course reach to the audience. Read More...

Making of PARALLAX Teaser

Mr. Sachin Bhatnagar, Programmer, VP-New Media-Frameboxx Animation and Visual Effects with his team of budding students and the constant support of Mr. Naveen Gupta, CEO, Executive Director, Frameboxx are in the process of pulling off an out and out 30 minute Sci-Fi Short Feature called Parallax. We bring you a sneak peek of "In The Making" of Parallax.Read More

Making of PUNK by Vikram Vr

Introduction: "Punk" is a character inspired from one of the models of 3d.sk. The intention was to make a character aesthetically pleasing, stands out from the rest and has a unique design. After some research I found out that, there were not many models of punk type characters, so I decided to go in that direction. Read More...

Making of Giant Octopus by Damir Martin

- Please Give us a brief description about your background and what are you working on currently?
I was always drawn by art and visual expression, but I've started dreaming and "focusing" towards CG back when I was 12 years old and first seen Jurassic park. Read More...

An Interview with Daniel Faust, the inventor of the MayaSound plug-in.

CGTantra in conversation with Daniel Faust, the inventor of MayaSound plug-in. To know more about the brilliance of this invention, Read More...

A visual tale of Bank of Baroda TVC’s Directed and Produced by Studio EEKSAURUS

In a world where there are millions (an understatement) of products vying for the consumers attention to break through the clutter is a feat. The Bank of Baroda TVCs in their most unique way has grabbed many eyeballs. Suresh Eriyat of Eeksaurus, a man who requires no introduction tells us in his most animated, exuberant way of their adventure on making Bank of Baroda TVCs. We tell this tale through a visual tapestry, so get your volumes up and understand the mechanisms of brand building through art. Read More...

RamSinghKumaresh : The Animation MasterClass 2 at Pune

June 26, 2010 saw RamSinghKumaresh conduct their first MasterClass in Pune, their second in the series they have recently launched. The 2 day MasterClass had an enthusiastic group of eager students and faculty from some of the leading animation training institutes of the city, all awaiting to interact with the trio. Read More...

A very comprehensive Interview with Mr. Jeff Wike, DreamWorks Animation & Mr. Ray Gilmartin, HP

We bring to you a very comprehensive interview of Mr. Jeff Wike, Director of R&D, California Studio, DreamWorks Animation and Mr. Ray Gilmartin, Worldwide Marketing Manager, Media and Entertainment, HP Workstations. Read More...

Magic of Technology - The Magicians HP, Dreamworks & Nvidia

What would you miss if HP technology did not come to Dreamworks’ rescue? ...hmm say, the very handsome and charming Ogre; Shrek, the escapades of Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman in Madagascar, the very lean and sleek Kung Fu Panda, the flying joy ride of Hiccup on his trained dragon and of course the many dreams that Dreamworks continues to weave, one of them being Megamind. Read More...

Autodesk's Digital Entertainment Solutions 2011

To give the audience a head start into the new ways of technology Mr. Chetan Jain, Business Head, Tasaa Netcom Pvt. Ltd. spoke of the end to end solutions they provide. By end to end it means from software to hardware, training and orientations committed to high level supports. Business domains of Tasaa cover product solutions like Autodesk, Adobe, Corel, Wacom, Plugins , Apple and Business application development (ERP & CRM Solution). Read More...

Industry Speaks its Mind on CGTExpo & CGTantra Community Awards 2010

Having CGTExpo’10 over we did not want to continue blowing our own trumpet, we wanted to know the opinion of our speakers and CCA jury also the opinion of winners. We know it’s too much to ask for, one of the speakers might have commented “Oh! Please give me a break”, but nevertheless they conceded in giving us some credit. Let us take this opportunity to again thank our speakers and judges and associates and of course the audience for making this event a grand success. A BIG THANK YOU GUYS! Read More...

FX School and FXPHD collaboration surfing the New Waves of Today’s Age

FX School is making waves with its progress. Now it has grabbed more eyeballs since its collaboration with FXPHD. An interview with Mr. David Edgar, Mr. Leonard Coster, Mr. Abhyudaya Morarka and Mr. CB Arunkumar gives us a clear view of FX School and FXPHD’s tie-up, vision, horizon and skies beyond. Read More...

An Interview with Raj Naiksatam - The Man behind Story Vision Magic

CGTantra Team recently caught up with Raj Naiksatam, the Man behind Story Vision Magic, a Visual Effects veteran who after a successful career in Los Angeles has set his base in India to explore the best of the talent here. It is our immense pleasure to feature you on CGTantra.
Read More...

Digital Tutor - Largest Summer Training Release

For the past few months, the team at Digital-Tutors has been planning a special Summer Training Release. June and July are synonymous with full schedules and holidays, so Digital-Tutors decided to provide all active members with their largest training release to date; making it convenient for artists to learn something new during their action-packed days. Read More...

CGTantra Community Awards 2010 - A Review

A family of 250 sat together on the Jade Terrace Gardens, Nehru centre, Worli on 29th May, 2010. They are a family belonging to artists. They enjoyed themselves over good music, cocktails and sumptuous food. Oh! I forgot to add CGTantra also gave away exciting prizes to winners of the CGTantra Community Awards. Read More...

Mothership’s David Rosenbaum & Dael Oates Direct Domino Effect for Sprint 4G Phone

Venice, CA—June 3, 2010—Mothership directors Dael Oates and David Rosenbaum have teamed up with Goodby Silverstein & Partners to roll out the world’s first 4G mobile phone, the Sprint HTC EVO. Titled “Firsts,” the :30 cinematic TV and in-theater commercial (with an extended :60) broke June 2nd, and showcases an elaborately choreographed domino effect toppling the world’s technological and cultural Read More...

Alioscopy & Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute's Strategic Partnership at InfoComm

Companies Unveil First Conversion Service that Interpolates Stereoscopic 3D Footage to Multi-View, Auto-stereoscopic ‘no-glasses’ 3D. Read More...

Houdini 11 Sneak Peek

One of my favorite times of the year is when we first reveal a new version of Houdini. Last week in Los Angeles, we hosted a forum with a number of top studios to review the new tools in Houdini 11 and to discuss ongoing development initiatives. This is an annual event and the feedback we get has had a big impact on the development of Houdini 11 as well as future versions.Now it is my pleasure to bring you a quick look at the key Houdini 11 features being released this summer. Read More...

The theory of relativity’s meaning sunk in when CGTExpo’10 was over. Today we are reliving the moments by watching the photographs again and again, waiting for the next season to start soon.
Two days the 29th and the 30th of May saw many eager students with very curious eyes, entering the Nehru Centre. They waited to experience the magic of the industry they worship. The days unfolded as a story, a story of action, fun and admiration. Read More

Frameboxx Presents Frameflixx 2 @ Goa - A Review

Speak of Goa and one thing that comes to your very creative mind is FUN, scenic beaches and FUN again. To add to the excitement was the Frameboxx‘ Frameflixx Awards. The animation community was spirited about viewing and awarding the very original “flixx” meted out by the students and their equally hard working faculty. Read More...

CGT Newsletter May 2010 :: Register now for CGTExpo 2010, Vote for Frameflixx 2 short films & more...

Maac Indore presents "Paarkhi 3d & VFX Awards" - A Review

Connoisseur of animation commemorate the apprentice

5th Annual Day celebration of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics successfully held.
Indore, 30th April 2010: Renowned 3D Animation training institute Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics celebrated their 5th Annual Day Celebration at Ravindra Natya Auditorium. Read More..

RamSinghKumaresh Module 1 - A Review

It was on a sleepy Saturday morning this IPL season that RamSinghKumaresh™, the animation master-class, opened to bat their debut innings. The first of a three-module-master-class was held at Whistling Woods before an eager audience of eighty five (85) participants from across the country. Read More...

Shrek Forever After: Watch the Final Trailer!

An Interview with Director of Toonpur ka Superrhero - Mr. Kireet Khurana

CGTantra Team recently caught up with Mr.Kireet Khurana- Director of Toonpur Ka Superrhero in a candid conversation with us. He was generous enough to give us a sneak-peak into what’s cooking up behind the scenes as he takes out time from his ongoing busy schedule.
Read More...

An Interview with Aaron Sims - Production design, Character Design, Visual FX

Here is a man for whom any introduction would fall short! His creatures speak for him. He is the genius behind many of today's most memorable movie monsters. Currently working as "character designer on Green Lantern", "fantasy world designer on Sucker Punch" and "production designer on Castelvania", Aaron Sims is one of the most innovative and versatile concept artists working in films today. Read More...

CGTantrik Interview - Akash Abhishek Karmakar

Everything around us is inspiring but a single ray of hope and encouragement is enough to bring out the creative sense hidden within. CGTantrik Akash Abhishek Karmakar - CG supervisor, PRANA Studios is one of his kind.With passing time Akash matured as an artist and now has amazing work like Tinkerbell, Unstable Fables & Delhi 6 in his basket. We have him on board to share his experiences and unfold the secrets behind his success and achievements. Read More...

ASIFA India's "Commercials : Behind The Scenes" Cg MeetUp A Great Success !

In its continued effort of sharing knowledge by bringing forth some of the most interesting topics for the benefit of the animation and vfx community, ASIFA India's latest Cg MeetUp saw a packed house at the Whistling Woods auditorium. Read More

CGTantra Community Awards 2010 - Send your Entries Now!

An Interview with Animation Technical Director of Avatar - Rob Powers

CGTantra Team recently caught up with Rob Powers, who originated the Virtual Art Department (VAD) for James Cameron on AVATAR. Rob recently joined NewTek as Director of Entertainment and Media Development, Read More

CGTantra - Animation Community Partner for Toonpur Ka Superrhero Director's Blog

Latest Announcement from CGTantra Desk

CGTantra collaborates with Mr. Kireet Khurana and is the official Animation Community partner of Toonpur Ka Superrhero - Director’s Blog. You can keep yourself updated on the same by going to the homepage and clicking on the Toonpur Ka Superrhero - Director’s Diary. Read More

Making of Stop-Motion USHA Commercial by Mr E Suresh

Experimenting with new styles and techniques brings out the best from an idea pushing its creative limits. The new USHA Sewing Machine Commercial which looks vibrant and splendid at its best on tv, is a perfect example of creativity redefined. Read More