Terminator Salvation Case Study Posted

Check out the great case study on Terminator Salvation recently posted on the Houdini site!

Great thanks to Asylum Visual Effects for helping us bring public the great techniques utilized through Houdini to make a great FX film.

PS: Trivia for you kids out there. John Courte, recently hired as our LA based Senior Houdini artist just recently wrapped at Asylum before joining us back in March!

John Courte, Jeff Lait, Jenny Blacklock, Silvinna Rocca, and Martin Sawtell at the Side Effects headquarters office in Toronto.

New York Pics and event highlights

Thanks to everyone for coming out during the rain for our Houdini 10 Launch at NYU's Cantor Theater!

Spencer Lueders, FX TD, did a wonderful presentation on the Framestore NY Pepsi spot below:



Then Andy Boyd, Head of 3D at Method LA, showed us his latest commercial work and highlighted uses of Mantra's PBR.

Then Jeff showed the crowd the newest things in Houdini 10.




Later, we all enjoyed a drink at the reception down the street.

(Andy Boyd and Jeff Wagner)

(Janet Fraser and Andy Boyd)

(Spencer Lueders and David Mellor from Framestore, me from Side Effects)

NYC Houdini 10 Reception Location announced!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to make you all aware of the location we're holding our cocktail reception at for the Houdini 10 New Launch event!

After our presentaion, please join us at Bar 13's rooftop for some drinks and bites from 9pm to 11 pm.





Please note, this portion of the event is 21 and over only and you will be ID'd at the door.

See you all there!

NEW YORK EVENT: June 18th

Hey Everyone in the NYC area, we're happy to announce an event at the NYU Cantor Theater on Thursday, June 18th!


DETAILS:

Thursday, June 18, 2009
6:30pm-10:00pm

With the recent announcement of Houdini 10, Side Effects is pleased to announce a special presentation at NYU's Cantor Film Center on Thursday, June 18th. Houdini 10 is designed to make artists more productive while equipping studios with the most powerful tools in the industry.

The evening begins with two presentations by Houdini artists Spencer Lueders, Technical Director from Framestore NYC and Andy Boyd, Head of 3D from Method Studios in LA. They both have some amazing work to show you along with a look behind the scenes.

Next is an overview of Houdini 10 which will take you through new features such as Pyro FX, distributed simulations, crumpling and tearing, Progressive IPR, Motion FX and Stereoscopic 3D. This is a feature-rich release and there will be a lot of info packed into the presentation.

There will be a draw for a license of Houdini Apprentice HD followed by a cocktail reception at a soon-to-be revealed location.

Come on down and learn what Houdini can do for you!

Agenda:
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Registration
7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Framestore/Method Presentations
8:00 - 8:45 p.m. Houdini 10 Overview
8:45 - 9:00 p.m. Houdini Apprentice HD Drawings
9:00 - 10:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception (location TBD)

Location:

Cantor Film Center
Theater 101
36 East 8th Street
NY, NY 10003

This event is by RSVP only, so please register on the event page here.

And while we're mentioning Framestore ... please check out the Fireflies Ride benefiting Leuka and their Leukaemia work. Don't forget to support our Framestore friends Dave and Kevin and donate to a great effort.

EVENT: Toronto Technical Evening on Crumpling and Tearing

Come join us in Toronto this week :)

Crumpling and Tearing in Houdini 10
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm

This technical evening will cover the new crumpling and tearing features that are available in Houdini 10's physically-based cloth solver. These include support for plastic deformation, dynamic tearing and changing topologies. The presentation will include direction on basic workflows, and fundamental physical properties of cloth objects. Many of these concepts will be supported by working example videos including smashing cars, cutting fabric and collapsing buildings! Presenters for this event will be Side Effects Developer Michiel Hagedoorn, and Side Effects intern Martin Sawtell.

Come along for an informal and interactive evening to see what Houdini 10's cloth simulations tools have to offer.

The evening will conclude with refreshments.

Please register on the event page here.