OT: quick read about Star Wars Art Department

[FengZ]

I know there are some Star Wars fans in here.

I wrote an article recently for my school about what it's like to work at George's Skywalker Ranch. It's a fun little read :)

It's the first article on the Special Feature's List:

http://fzdschool.com/

-feng

[Nausicaa]

Very nice read. I liked also the one about production painting. That's exactly what I am going to start doing for an upcoming feature 3D film (medieval fantasy) They offered me 10 months to establish color/light/ambiance on all the 3D sets.

[Toastmaker]

Feng, fantastic site and nice article ! Thanks -

Naus, all our little political differences aside, I have always respected and been in awe of the kind of talent you have to do these things. I'm a huge fan of cinema production art -

:applause:

[Lionheart]

Thanks Feng,

I look forward to reading it.

<--- Star Wars fan-atic! :d

[Lionheart]

Just read the article, and also watched the video interview.

Some great stuff Feng! Thanks for sharing. My jaw dropped. Luckily, my puppie found it. (Rolled under the desk).

I didnt know you went to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena! I have been there man! (Didnt attend, coudlnt afford it). But I used to go to California just to walk through the halls, and to see all the finished projects in the main Expo room, then spend about 2 hours in the library going through the rare books in there that you cannot find anywhere else on Earth.

Awesome..... An amazing school.

For those that do not know, ACCD is a school inside of a huge black steel structure resembling a bridge of sorts on a huge scale, that sits atop a mountain overlooking the Rose Bowl in Pasadena California. Some of the worlds best artists have gone there, and some graduate to high ranking positions right from college. Its the Harvard of designers... Harvard!

That is some great info and tips you give on meeting deadlines. I think the FS industry could learn alot from watching that video and reading your piece on working at Skywalker Ranch. It should not take 1 to 1 1/2 years to make a plane or scenery package. We need to think of time (in development) as money, and alot of it. But.... (but) not let quality go down, but up. Increase output, and increase quality and also advancements in the software interaction, such as figuring out new ways to work things, like A2A's new sound effects systems, fuel systems, etc.



Feng, I didnt know you were over there to make your own gaming studio. How about seeing if you can make a deal with MS and create some new CFS series...? (and perhaps a next generation FS9 platform).

Man... Must be nice working in that field and with such talented people as well that are so enthusiastic of this world of 'creation'.

Awesome awesome....


Bill


Quick links;
* Movie; http://media.fxguide.com/fxguidetv/fxguidetv-ep060.m4v
* Article; http://fzdschool.com/announcement_features_article1.htm

PS: Sorry to hear about the coolant leak in the G5

[FengZ]

hey Bill,

hehe, thanks for the kind words! :)

Yup, Art Center was the toughest part of my entire career. This school is sooooo hard, but they really prepare you for the working world. Also, most of the instructors are professionals, so you get "connected" to the industry very quickly. I also taught at ACCD for a few years and it's great to see students come out and become designers for various movies/games.

The architecture of ACCD is pretty cool. We always call it the "black box." I think they paint it 3 times a year...so the walls are always pure white, and the outside pure black....it's crazy.

Yup, a lot of top designers are from this school. Usually entire art departments are from ACCD (such as Transformers, Star Wars, etc). Hey, Syd Mead as well! We used to go hang out at Syd's house and look at all the sketches and stuff from Bladerunner (my favorite movie)....it's so inspiring.

My studio in Singapore is a school. I have a seperate gaming studio in Beijing.

I'd love to work on a flightsim. Actually, i've been talking w/ some top peeps at MS about this...hehe...but can't reveal much yet...:kilroy:

i know what you mean by the time spent on planes for FS. But to be fair, a lot of you guys do this as a hobby, so deadlines are not the same. In the working environment, you are paid to do this stuff...so you have to work fast. I know guys who can model an entire airplane w/ all details (film quality) in about 3-4 days! They are amazing...imagine those guys doing freeware/payware aircraft....they can pump them out in probably 2 weeks....

-feng

[FengZ]

here are some examples of one of my friend's work. He is one of the fastest modelers i know...

http://www.fengzhudesign.com/fs2004/image02.jpg

http://www.fengzhudesign.com/fs2004/image04.jpg

http://www.fengzhudesign.com/fs2004/image14.jpg

http://www.fengzhudesign.com/fs2004/image18.jpg

-feng

[Wing_Z]

Well, you've kinda ruined the forum experience for a while there, Feng ;)
SO much to explore out there in your world, instead...I recognize that Valkyrie ERV Le Mans, too - Jeremy Cook!
You guys are taking art to its next level, totally fascinating stuff.
I am so out of my depth, it's quite a pleasure.

[kilo delta]

Some amazing work there, FengZ!:ernae:


Ps....hmmmmm a top quality freeware aircraft could be built in 2 weeks!! Maybe you can set them a challenge? :monkies:

subliminal mesage F-4 PHANTOM /subliminal message


:icon_lol:

[Nausicaa]

Hello Feng,

I see you use the Wacom. Did you try the Intuos 4? It's said to be very good. I just bought the Cintiq, it's really lovely. You seem to have ordinary flatscreens at your work desk. Do you know Eizo? Also flatscreens, but colortrue, and true to greygamma (they show real blacks) I have one, and never want to go back. link: EIZO (http://shop.colourconfidence.com/section.php?xSec=10117) (will also enhance dramatically your flightsimming eyecandy hehe)

[Lionheart]

Feng,

Awesome photos! That white car looking speeder creation is amazing with all its smooth cut sections that move through the shape like ribbons. Tell me, what is the popular 3D engine of choice these guys use?

I have heard (about 10 years ago) that Lightwave was the best, that car designers used primarily Lightwave for the virtual work, as well as some 2D light enhancements. 2 Years ago, I heard from a student at a gaming institute here in town, that Maya was awesome for animators, and Max was great for making things.

I was just curious what you are seeing out there as the popular model making software? What do the fast people use?



Good luck on the MS deal. I hope it goes well.


Bill

[FengZ]

Hello Feng,

I see you use the Wacom. Did you try the Intuos 4? It's said to be very good. I just bought the Cintiq, it's really lovely. You seem to have ordinary flatscreens at your work desk. Do you know Eizo? Also flatscreens, but colortrue, and true to greygamma (they show real blacks) I have one, and never want to go back. link: EIZO (http://shop.colourconfidence.com/section.php?xSec=10117) (will also enhance dramatically your flightsimming eyecandy hehe)

Thanks everyone for the great comments. Yeah, we work in a very fun industry. Where else can you get paid to design giant robots and have them be seen by millions around the world :) My Starscream is still alive after TF2!! yeah!! heheheh..


Nausicaa: Yeah, Wacom sent a few Intuos4 over to my studio, but i haven't tried them yet. I heard they are pretty nice. They sure look cool and slick. About the screens, i've been using the Apple 30" screens for a while now and love them. But i will look into these EIZO screens...since Apples cost A LOT! :) One of my 23" cinemas broke recently...and the quote to fix it was more than buying a new one!!?!?!? WTF?!?! Even the sales men said "just buy a new one, it's cheaper." I guess that's their business model....

Lionheart: For films, it's still mostly Maya and SoftImage. And for soft-surface, Zbrush is completely taking over. Most companies however, don't use these "off-the-shelf" package for many reasons (ie. depend on other company for support, license updates, plugins, etc). So places like ILM have their own 3D package...designed to fit their pipeline. They also have a lot of plugin writers to support the needs of the artists per project. It crazy thing is, after working in the field for a while, you start to reconize who worked on which shot for the films....sorta takes it outta the experience.

-feng

[FengZ]

yeah, I've been working w/ Jeremy Cook for over 10 years now. He is one of the best of the best.

He uses 3DMAX to model most of his work. These days, most 3D software packages are the same...it's the comp/post production that sets the work apart....

-feng

[Lionheart]

Thanks Feng,

Good to know.


On Apple, I hope they realise their prices are a bit high and come down some. Perhaps they cannot handle the massive sales they would have if they did.


Bill

[Nausicaa]

Yes color true screens, thats a complex discussion on it's own. It get's even nastier when putting a printer in the line as well, and trying to get THAT right too...can be a true nightmare. I am not a big fan of the Applescreens because they tend to have uneven color/greygamma rendering over the surface of the screen. Especially the areas close to the edges tend to "decolorize" after a while, or even when it's brandnew. In our studio almost all apple screens are gone out and replaced with Eizos (we do 3D features for Warner Bros) I bought an Eizo after the recommandation of a collegue of mine who is a true nerd in this kind of questions. After installing I fell immedialy in love with it. They are incredibly sharp (very small dots) , have great depth and a MUCH better presentation of white to black range. This will change even webpages you have seen a 1000 times...you are in for a big "ohh" the first time you fire it up. They also come with some handy special buttons and features to keep the color correct. (that is why they have the usual plug + an USB plug to the computer) The cheaper Eizos are, I think, cheaper than the apple screens - and much better I think. You should have a look at it !