In a little over a month, FMX 2018 (Apr. 24-27) will return to Stuttgart, Germany to present a packed conference schedule covering animation, effects, games and immersive media. Newly announced additions to the lineup include a VFX dissection of Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water, a galaxy of virtual reality storytelling in the Planetarium, Lighting & Rendering track — and the fifth episode of the ongoing Behind the Beard trailers featuring long-suffering Bruno the Beaver, below.
Visual Effects
As part of the “Creatures & Characters” track, Trey Harrell (Mr. X) will explore the techniques used to bring the Amphibian Man in Oscar-winning The Shape of Water to life. Raphael de Almeida Pimentel (Luma) will get on stage to illuminate how the studio created rock giant Korg in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. Pennywise, the creepy clown featured in IT, will be the center of a presentation given by Mikael Damant-Sirois and Dominic Piché (both Rodeo FX).
Virtual Reality
After last year’s successful premiere, the Planetarium Stuttgart will host some fascinating VR content once again. Scot Stafford (Google Spotlight Stories) will present Sonaria, a sound-driven journey of light and music. Alex Henning (Magnopus) will take the visitors on a ride into the world of Coco VR, based on Pixar’s latest Oscar-winning feature. Kim Baumann Larsen (The Future Group) discusses the challenge of creating a rich, compelling music VR experience for one of the world’s top EDM artists in “VR storytelling or interaction? Yes, please!” Also presenting at the Planetarium will be, Buzz Hays, Head of Production at Lytro, and Saschka Unseld, Producer and Director at Tomorrow Never Knows (TNK).
Technology
Christophe Hery, Senior Scientist at Pixar Animation Studios, curates the “Lighting & Rendering” track again for the 2018 edition. He will also present Flow, Pixar’s in-house shading tool. André Mazzone (Industrial Light & Magic) will describe the current material modelling paradigm in use at ILM, the history behind it, and some glimpses into the future. Sam Assadian (Isotropix) will explain Clarisse iFX, a new 3D lookdev, lighting and rendering software. Professor Tamy Boubekeur and Davide Pesare (both Allegorithmic) will elaborate on the challenges one has to face when creating digital materials and substances. Prof. Wenzel Jakob (École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne) will talk about modelling, measuring and rendering the appearance of layered materials. Jan Jordan and Dr. Lutz Kettner (both NVIDIA) will discuss the basics of NVIDIA’s Material Definition Language. The track will be rounded off by a presentation given by Andrea Weidlich, Senior Researcher Rendering at Weta Digital.
Joining the marketplace are Autodesk, Avid, NEC Displays and Unit Image / Scan Engine; INRIA and SolidAnim will have a joint booth. Foundry, MAXOn and Sohonet will hold Workshops. Double Negative, Goodbye Kansas and Mikros Image will be at the Recruiting Hub. And faculty, alumni and students of Hochschule der Medien, Staffordshire University and Victoria University School of Design are looking forward to potential students at the School Campus.
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