3:00 PM CEST
Connecting Houdini To The Latent Space
A Hitchhiker's Guide Part 1  

You might have heard about this recent thing called AI. The past months have been a whirlwind of releases, shitstorms and new means of creating artworks. In this two part talk, Chris Hoffmann (UglyStupidHonest) and Moritz Schwind (Entagma) try making sense of it all by diving head first into the why and how of Stable Diffusion for artists and how to integrate it into an existing pipeline by duct taping it to our most beloved 3D App, Houdini. Expect a mix of theory, scripting, a good part design and occasional cursing.

Chris Hoffmann is a freelance image maker based in Haarlem. He is interested in experimenting with new technologies to discover how they can be bent, distorted, used and misused or mixed. His process begins with creating whimsical beings who inhabit alternate realities, drawing viewers into complex ecosystems. Chris works for a variety of clients and production companies. Some of his favourite projects include studies into avatars for Microsoft and characters for Apple – both exemplifying the lengths to which you can abstract and reduce yet still achieve empathy.

4:00 PM CEST
Connecting Houdini To The Latent Space
A Hitchhiker's Guide Part 2  

You might have heard about this recent thing called AI. The past months have been a whirlwind of releases, shitstorms and new means of creating artworks. In this two part talk, Chris Hoffmann (UglyStupidHonest) and Moritz Schwind (Entagma) try making sense of it all by diving head first into the why and how of Stable Diffusion for artists and how to integrate it into an existing pipeline by duct taping it to our most beloved 3D App, Houdini. Expect a mix of theory, scripting, a good part design and occasional cursing.

Moritz Schwind. Be it pixels, hardware, code or cameras – if it’s interesting, Moritz is gonna take it apart. And sometimes even reassemble it. In his spare time, he likes to dabble with code and create generative artwork. He claims his early exposure to QBasic is no help at all when working in Houdini, Blender, Processing or Arduino. But it might have been what started his fascination for the boundaries of code and art. When not wreaking havoc to any intriguing devices around him, he works as a freelance Technical and Art Director. His more recent areas of interest cover the use of scientific algorithms in generative design and the application of AI in creative fields. Together with Manuel Casasola Merkle he runs Entagma, a learning platform focused on generative design using mainly SideFX Houdini.

5:00 PM CEST
Hyperrealism. Tactility. Emotion.

XK will showcase a collection of studio projects and talk about their process and approach to the work from a conceptual and technical point of view.

Alexa Sirbu and Lukas Vojir are the founding artists of XK studio.A design and motion practice, with experimentation at its core, they specialise in the creation of high-end 3D visuals and films. The studio has evolved into a team of creative minds who adopt a blend of artistic and technical approaches to craft striking visuals for brands worldwide. Drawing inspiration from the worlds of nature, fashion and art, they focus on reimagining these concepts and exploring the boundaries of beauty through a digital, futuristic lens. They closely collaborate with their clients to produce mesmerizing motion, meaningful narratives and daring aesthetics.

5:45 PM CEST
"The Ultimate Houdini Hack"  

 In this talk we'll cover some super easy projects that give awesome results. People always say Houdini is super hard to learn, so my goal in this talk is to give you an easy starting point to get some fun projects going. 

Paul Esteves is a freelance 3D generalist working mainly in the motion design industry. He loves Houdini, and also enjoys playing his guitar and woodworking. Paul lives in Munich, Germany, but was originally from a sunny little town in South Africa called Durban. 

6:45 PM CEST
 Craftmanship in VFX   

Craftsman's vocation calls for ingenuity and discipline but requires a systematic approach to maintain spontaneous creative process. Join me for a short overview of my explorations and discoveries within the beautiful world of simulations and let's have a look at how craft & design could enrich each other across different platforms.

Jakub Spacek is originally from Czech Republic and worked with different studios leading to his transition to London where he is currently freelance, Jakub has expanded his artistic perception, developing deep passion for simulating abstract visions of real-world phenomenon focusing on even the smallest subtleties of shape and motion. He explores how we can truly enjoy this vision by composing immersive, pleasing, and meditative content.