Australia Road Trip 2020

Houdini18: Lighting the way to a more Procedural Pipeline 

PRESENTER BIO | Jeff "Old School" Wagner has been a part of the SideFX Software support team from the early days of PRISMS leading up to today's Houdini. Over the years he has accumulated a vast wealth of knowledge and insight and is regarded by many as a true Houdini Guru. If you've encountered him online or watched one of the tutorials then now is the opportunity to meet him in person.

PRESENTATION | Matt will take us on a Houdini journey that touches on hair and fur, cloth, large scale environments, procedural set dressing and real time projects. These disciplines will also highlight the way in which Solaris, with its USD backbone, takes the work to a whole new level. With 2020 now in full swing at the UTS Animal Logic Academy, Matt will also provide sneak peaks into new pipeline and project activities that will highly leveraged Houdini and Solaris.

PRESENTER BIO | Matt Estela is VFX Lead in Residence at The Animal Logic Academy, University of Technology Sydney. He teaches VFX and VR as part of a Masters of Animation and Visualization. Matt also maintains CGWiki, a popular website for Houdini training, and prior to UTS spent nearly 10 years at Animal Logic in Lighting, FX and CG supervisor roles.

PRESENTATION | A retrospective look at the challenges and advantages of using the Solaris Lookdev, Layout and Lighting tools on a full-feature production at Animal Logic. After migrating to a full USD pipeline at Animal Logic, the FX department had to create a feature-rich set of tools, which allowed them to import and deliver FX and character FX through USD. To do this they developed a workflow in Houdini's Solaris. Join Luke for an in-depth look at the how's, why's, challenges and BIG advantages associated with building a new suite of tools in Solaris - and how this fitted into their production pipeline.

PRESENTER BIO | Luke Gravett has over 6 years’ experience in the VFX industry, having held a variety of roles both in Australia and overseas. He joined Animal Logic in 2015 as an FX Artist and is now Associate FX Supervisor working on Peter Rabbit 2, set for release early 2020. Luke has extensive experience creating pipeline development tools for company wide deployment. Additional credits include Captain Marvel, The LEGO Movie 2, Peter Rabbit, The LEGO Ninjago Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy. 

PRESENTATION | More information to come!

PRESENTER BIO | Adam Gailey is the global FX Supervisor at Luma, where he oversees the Effects department to ensure all effects related output is produced efficiently and to a high-quality standard. 

PRESENTATION | Anna Hodge, Manager of Training & Education, will highlight RSP Educations growth in training opportunities in both the undergraduate and post-graduate areas in conjunction with the University of South Australia. Rising Sun Pictures is South Australia's only Side FX Houdini Certified School, where working VFX artists train the next generation of FX artists.

PRESENTER BIO | Anna Hodge has managed Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) growing education branch for close to four years now. Prior to this, she worked in vocational education for over 17 years.  Anna has experience in developing, managing and growing educational initiatives in the screen and media area to reflect the changing and diversifying industry, education and training market.With a proven record in securing both training and employment opportunities for students, Anna is focused on building strong and secure partnerships between education and industry for the purpose of developing job ready graduates.

PRESENTATION | RSP's VFX Bidding Producer Ian Cope will talk through the company's use of SideFX Houdini on blockbuster films, including highlights from Ford v Ferrari. Ian will talk through the challenges of creating awe-inspiring sequences and the effects team's part in the process. This presentation will highlight the work that RSP has been creating for almost 25 years in Adelaide, and the emerging trends in dynamic lighting and simulation in filmmaking.

PRESENTER BIO | Since starting at RSP in 2001, Ian has directly contributed to the design, management, execution and marketing of over forty feature films. Ian draws on this extensive experience to deliver world-class visual effects to clients around the globe. He is a member of the Visual Effects Society Board for the Australia section.