Day Three here. Probably the most amazing day yet!
Woke up early to attend the Surf's Up "Making Waves" course. We learned that an actual steady cam was used to achieve the documentary style of the film. Some senors were strapped to an old 1970's camera and then connected to a computer. This allowed for the camera operator to view the Maya scene through the camera view finder. In other words imagine putting on a virtual reality helmet and looking around a room. Same thing, applied to a movie! They called it Live-Action Camera and 85% of the shots were used with this one camera. There were 60 animators split into four teams, animating everything in a sequenced-based formal versus character-based.
Also an interesting tidbit, all of the characters share the same topology, and can be morphed together, therefore having the identical UV layout. For example, the character of Cody (penguin) had the exact same amount of vertices's as Chicken Joe (chicken).
One of the most amazing things we learned is how they made the waves. They used the word "trains" to describe them. While I can't go into specifics as it is quite complicated, they did give us a website where you can flip through their concepts and art. Go to www.185vfx.com.
Later that night, we attended the Autodesk (Maya) party on a BATTLESHIP!
There we had the chance to mingle with industry professionals. Three of our members met Rick Sayre, one of the Technical Supervisors at Pixar, who you can see on any "Making of..." Pixar DVD. We recognized him, and were invited to their exclusive party! I'll have further updates for you when the party has ended!
In the meantime, feel free to check out a video shot by one of our members during the Autodesk party :0)
- Alexis
P.S. - I should have today's pictures and exhibition floor information up by tomorrow morning. Right now I need SLEEP haha.
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