interesting Houdini projects - April 2009

I'm trying to post some work on here that used Houdini but not in the traditional big Hollywood blockbuster ways.

Here's a project done in Montreal for a low-budget, multi-media, one-man adaptation of Paradise Lost.



If anyone is in Montreal around April 12, you should go check it out!

Jed Schwartz Productions in New Hamshire recently did some beautiful earth-map shots locating Chytrid fungus and regions of frog declination in this interesting PBS program called "The Thin Green Line".


Thanks Jed for letting us know!

Monsters vs. Aliens story

DreamWorks Animation released Monsters vs. Aliens last week. Box office earnings were quite good, reporting a $60M opener last weekend for the film.

And yes, Houdini was a part of the technology utilized. Take a look at our most recent customer story which talks about the usage of Houdini at DreamWorks!

The LA Office Opens House!

Thanks to our local LA community for coming out to the Side Effects Open House to see our new digs!

Here are a few pics of the space we now reside in ... filled with terrific people we like to keep around :).

(the long corridor between our kitchen and training room, looking down to our staff offices)

(our lobby entrance with art provided by Kevin Mack)

(front: Kim Davidson talking to Houdini artist John Courte, back: Greg Hermanovic)

(David Robert , Account Manager in SF - dangerously walking past more sweets)



(Moylene & Andy Boyd, Producer and 3D Head at Method with me saying goodbye and come again!)

Customer Highlight: Loki Visual Effects

Check out the amazing work our clients up in Toronto did using Houdini 10 fluids. Who said using beta in production was a bad idea?

Full Press Release
Watch "WenJun".

Toronto’s Loki Visual Effects combine 1000fps Phantom footage with pristine CG for a LVMH Group (Moet Chandon Hennessy) concoction called WenJun. And just in case you think the 3D liquid is all just stylish refraction – according to legend, Chinese poet Sima Xiangru was totally smitten with the widowed lady Zhou Wenjun but afraid to reveal his love. So the poet went down to the lake and played his guqin (a form of zither) so beautifully it caused the water to rise up in fanciful shapes. Agency: Bravo Asia, Director/Cameraman: Steve Gordon @ Sons & Daughters, Production Company: Cheers Films, Shanghai, VFX: Loki Visual Effects, Editor: Bob Kennedy @ Rooster, Music: Mike De Eyre @ Tin Pan.

Framestore UK Hiring!

Our longtime customer and friends over at Framestore in London are currently recruiting some Houdini FX TDs.

If you're interested, please contact ben.owen@framestore.com or look at http://careers.framestore.com/ for more information.

Also, Janet Fraser, Senior Account Executive and account manager to Framestore is available at janet@sidefx.com.

Weekly News - March 24, 2009

WE'RE HIRING!

We at Side Effects Software are currently looking for a Houdini evangelist, to work full time out of our Santa Monica offices, in California. The essence of the role is to meet with our prospective and existing customers to explain and demonstrate Houdini’s capabilities and strengths as they pertain to the production environment. Sometimes this takes place in small group meetings. It can also involve presenting to large 3D community groups. Most of interactions will take place in LA, and as such we are looking to hire someone who is already based within commute distance of Santa Monica. This person will be working very closely with the locally-based Account Manager, who will be driving the priorities.

If you are well versed in CG production and understand pipelines, enjoy and can explain technical concepts easily, and are a big fan of Houdini, this opportunity may be of interest to you. Apart from working with a great group of people, this is a stimulating role combining the visually creative with industry-leading technology and the business of production, without the demanding overtime that is so commonly found in production. Your knowledge of Houdini will grow measurably, and your understanding of CG production will be honed by a wide variety of artists and management from the “A-list” of Hollywood film studios and the cutting-edge visual effects boutiques.

Side Effects Software is one of the pioneers in the field of 3D animation and visual effects. Our software has been used in more than 300 feature films and has twice been formally recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. The company’s success comes largely from its employees who are bright, thoughtful, and passionate about what they do. As an independently owned company, we foster a culture of innovation and long-standing customer relationships. We’re dedicated to making the best products to help our customers deliver superb digital content.

If you have the desired skills and experience for this position and are interested in applying please send your resume, with reference to Houdini Evangelist – Santa Monica, to recruiting@sidefx.com for consideration.

We want to fill this opening as soon as possible therefore we are only considering candidates who have permission to work in the US.

Only successful candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Peter Robbinson visits Singapore and China!

Our Senior Houdini Instructor, Peter Robbinson went on a whirlwind visit with our Asia Pacific Rep TK Ng to train classrooms in Singapore and China a few weeks ago. Here are a few highlights from his time at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP ), where SESI has an Asia Pacific Headquarters in Singapore and Crystal Institute of Digital Education in Beijing, China.

Peter on his first day of training at NYP:

.... I focus on two main themes, the procedural workflow and how data is handled and shared thorough out houdini. The later point is not something that can be appreciated right away but needs to be upfront right from the beginning; "why are there different editors...". The data structure and hip files are essential elements that explain channel referencing and de-mystifies the syntax. Proceduralism is a bit harder to grasp at first, but they do see the potential and it usually stimulates quite a bit of "what if I want to ..." questions. Here's a quick panorama of the classroom, with the teachers on the left and in the center and some of the students who will be travelling to the LA office to become interns. TK is standing, in the blue shirt, on the left.

Peter with the ITE School of IT & Electronics and their staff:

The director of the school is on the right, Ms. Yeo Sock Tin, the young woman in the center with the white shirt is Ms. Zhou Yi Nan (she took my course last week) and teaches game programming. The young woman in the black dress is Ivy Liong Choi Yin is the Section Head of this department (oh my god I'm getting old), and the woman on the left is Ms. Wong Kim Booey, the Course Manager. The Director is very keen on adding Houdini to their curriculum and certianly Ms. Zhou did well in my class.

Peter arrives in Beijing and teaches at Crystal Institute:

I could already tell by the energy in the classroom and the attendance that this training session was going to be a good one. My worries about language problems were also dispelled. Many in the class, more or less, could follow along with my talk and TK was doing a great job with translation. He used a dictionary on his Ipod to help with words he was not familiar with and referred to the class for their examples.

Thanks Peter and TK for bringing some Houdini skills to Asia Pacific :)


Peter Robinson - Senior Trainer
TK Ng - Asia Pacific Houdini Rep (TK@sidefx.com)