Digital Media Seminar Program

CLICK HERE for Booking Form

The program is being updated regularly - keep looking as extra sessions will be added.
About our Speakers

*** NEW SESSIONS ***

Paul Kirwan - The animal attraction of Nuke 11 November 5.30

Nigel Sumner Digital Supervisor - Digital Artists Group, Lucasfilm Animation, Singapore, Working in a 24-hour international production environment 13 November 12.00pm

DAY 1 Tuesday 11 November

TIPPETT STUDIOS - Beverly Hills Chihauha 10.00am

Michael Brunet, Lead Animator, Tippett Studios

Learn how Tippett Studios brought to life Chico the Iguana and Manuel the Rat, the animal sidekicks of a pampered Beverly Hills chihuahua named Chloe. Tippett also created several of the fully CG dogs in this Disney comedy's action sequences.

RED & digital cameras today 11.30am

John Bowring, ACS, MD Lemac

John will help you distinguish between the wide range of choices available in digital acquisition today. Learn the advantages of using RED One 4k, P2, Iconix 2k, SI 2k, Sony HDC1500 and others. John has been directly involved in the HD acquisition and workflow for Australian HD features such as, Wolf Creek, Macbeth, Rogue. and The Nothing Men.



LUNCH BREAK 12.30pm

Houdini insights at Kanuka Studio 1.30pm

Rangi Sutton, Founder Kanuka Studio

Kanuka Studio is an artist-owned and operated animation and visual effects boutique based in Brisbane, Australia, the only CG/VFX studio in Australia to specialise in the Houdini 3D pipeline. Hear about how Houdini and a variety of Free Open Source software are used to create an integrated environment from founder Rangi Sutton, a senior visual effects artist with a portfolio sourced at many studios around the globe.

Scorching cross-platform television 2.30pm

Marcus Gillezeau Director/Producer,

Kylie du Fresne and Ellenor Cox Producers

Television is permanently evolving in the Web 2.0 era. The creative team behind Scorched explore the many dimensions of creating a telefeature that extends audience engagement into a fictional online scenario of the future played out on the Internet.

The Sixty40 question 3.30pm

Matt Taylor, Animation Director,

Mark Simpson, Design Director, sixty40

How did Sixty40 become one of Australia’s leading motion design and animation companies? Directors Matt Taylor and Mark Simpson show how they have have developed a unique creative strategy and multidisciplinary approach to production, using a rich vocabulary and cultural savvy that earns them a steady stream of motion graphics and animation work, enabling them to develop their own properties like the Eduganda Panda Show screened on Channel 9's The Music Jungle 2007-08.

Capturing the moment 4.30pm

Evan Butson, Founder The Difference Engine

Evan explains how he implemented a fast and effective workflow for his customer with daily content delivered on line and on time from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Learn how Adobe's complete post-production solution - CS3 Production Premium - was exploited to deliver daily video programming live from Beijing to desktop screens around the world, using a fast, tapeless production workflow.

*** NEW SESSION ***

The animal attraction of Nuke 5.30

Paul Kirwan

See why Nuke 5 is making such headway on the visual effects compositing landscape. Paul Kirwan, an experienced VFX Compositing Supervisor who has helped create such landmark films as Transformers, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, will demonstrate the strengths of the Academy Award-winning compositing software. Kirwan has spent the past few months assisting with the integration of Nuke 5 into the VFX pipeline for Animal Logic on Baz Luhrmann's Australia, providing training and the expertise acquired over a distinguished career in VFX production. Kirwan is able to offer a unique perspective courtesy of his time spent working at Digital Domain, the award-winning VFX and animation facility founded by director James Cameron, and the place where Nuke was originally developed.

Cocktail Reception 6.15pm

For
delegates and speakers

DAY 2 Wednesday 12 November

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 9.30am

Adam Valdez, Animation Director, Visual Effects Supervisor

Moving Picture Company (MPC) London

Adam co-supervised a crew of 75 keyframe animators and 18 crowd animators for Prince Caspian. Most of MPC’s 856 shots involved the various Narnians, numerous animals plus the half-animal/half-human mythical creatures. Star of the digital cast is Reepicheep.

MPC's art department provided the design, facial features, body and carefully detailed fur for Reepicheep and his mouse posse, Bulgy Bear, and an army of Telmarines. The studio also created fighting trees and set extensions. This film required the most shots MPC has ever taken on for a single project and certainly the highest complexity. Adam will take you through the character animation and the latest innovations from MPC.

What's Up with Dr. D? 10.30am

Brett Feeney, Head of Production, Dr. D Studios

Brett is one of Australia's most respected production professionals, and his credits include 3D Effects Supervision on "The Matrix Reloaded" and Digital Supervisor on Academy Award-winning winning "Happy Feet."
As Digital Supervisor, Brett Feeney was responsible for setting up the ‘Happy Feet’ digital production pipeline, overseeing its efficiency and working with George Miller and the creative teams to ensure the digital artists could achieve the visual brief. Brett was also instrumental in helping create the crowd system ‘Hoard’ that allowed the artists in the crowd department to generate up to half a million ‘penguin extras’.
At Dr. D he is currently underway with large scale film projects, including Happy Feet 2. Also in pre-production: Babe 3, Fury Road and Justice League of America.
Academy Award winning producers George Miller and Doug Mitchell have partnered
with Omnilab Media Group in creating a boldly significant Australian digital media company, Dr. D Studios.
Brett Feeney is responsible for establishing Dr. D's production line with a growing team of top talent from Australia and beyond which includes artists, animators and technicians.

Black Water makes a splash 11.30am

John Biggins, DoP, David Nerlich, Co-Director & VFX Creator,
Michael Robertson, Producer

Hi-def and tapeless digital video acquisition can be exploited to bring out a big result from a relatively small production budget. Critics acclaimed Black Water as one of the best of the recent crop from the Australian outback horror genre, a film that builds a brooding tension through tight scripting, good acting and accomplished digital cinematography.

LUNCH BREAK 1.00pm

Conceiving a Dying Breed 2.00pm

Rod Morris, Writer and Producer, Michael Boughen, Writer and Producer

Digital thriller Dying Breed is one of the first Australian films to shoot 1080 60p using the Sony HDC1500 HD camera and SRW1 HDCAM SR portable recorder. Four characters set out to prove the Tasmanian Tiger still lives in the forests of Tasmania, only to become prey when they stumble on descendants of a cannibal tribe.

Music Video VFX with Adobe Production Premium CS4 3.00pm

Jon Barrie, aJBproductions

Jon Barrie shows how Adobe Production Premium CS4 provides a massive speed boost to creating a music video featuring hundreds of cuts. It is a time-consuming job to add motion graphics, tracking and grading and while CS3's dynamic link integration took a lot of render time out of the equation, advances in Adobe Production Premium CS4 are taking performance into another dimension. John will show how replacing clips in Premiere's timeline with frame accurate After Effects CS4 Comps increased his workflow dramatically.
"Mocha for AE ate up a poorly contrasted motion track without blinking. I rendered once from the same Premiere Pro CS4 32-bit colour space timeline! Time is money. CS4 makes it for me faster." – Jon Barrie, aJBproductions

Making Mary & Max 4.00pm

Henry Karjalainen, Melodrama Pictures

Learn how Melodrama Pictures, in collaboration with partner companies Stop Motion Pro and XDT, have built world-class custom software and digital technologies to produce their claymation feature film on a tight budget and speeds far eclipsing conventional film animation methods. Mary and Max, directed by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs, is among the most eagerly anticipated Australian feature films in recent years. Due for release in 2009, Mary and Max combines an innovative and integrated digital workflow from the animatic or digital storyboard to delivery.

AEAF AWARDS 6:30pm

Awards ceremony and screening of the finalists in the annual

AEAF Awards, followed by receprion at the Chauvel - Paddington Town hall.

workshops

WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER

Plug into the Future with Panasonic 1.00pm

Learn the benefits of tapeless workflow

See P2HD/AVCHD workflow with common NLE systems

Learn the difference between Intra/Inter frame codec’s

AVC-I AVCHD

Get hands on with two new hand held

cameras on display, AG-HPX172,AG-HMC152

Day 3 Thursday 13 November

Put your best digital foot forward 9.00am

Nick Hore and Patricia Kung, Animal Logic

Insider tips to help jump start your career in animation and visual effects. Animal Logic Training Supervisor Nick Hore and Senior Recruiter Patricia Kung will demystify the job application process, discuss industry expectations and provide useful information to showcase your talent and help you stand out from the crowd.
From preparing a show reel, portfolio and resume to avoiding the classic pitfalls applicants sometimes make when applying for a role with a large digital production studio, this session will help prepare an artist for a career in digital media..

An open source pipeline 10.00am

James Neale, Producer,

Matt Ebb, Lighting & Shading TD, ProMotion Studios

James and Matt will explain how Sydney's ProMotion Studios employed Blender in a mostly open source 3D pipeline for Lighthouse, a stunning commercial short film project

RED & working for real in 4K 11.00am

Mike Seymour, Co-founder fxguide.com & fxphd.com, and Stuart Monksfield, Cutting Edge General Manager – Film & TV

As the arrival of cameras such as RED makes 4K filmmaking a reality, what are the considerations in workflow, through editing and colour correction? Stuart will take you through the 4k workflow.

*** NEW SESSION ***

Working in a 24-hour international production environment 12.00pm

Nigel Sumner,
Digital Supervisor - Digital Artists Group,
Lucasfilm Animation, Singapore

Managing the process of delivering a vision into images - Nigel will discuss the benefits and challenges involved when two teams work in two locations and time zones on visual effects for live action features films. He will use examples from Indiana Jones / Ironman / Transformers

LUNCH BREAK 1.00pm

RED - The Nothing Men 2.00pm

Peter Holland, DoP, Warren Lynch, Intercolour

This team has produced the first full length feature in the southern hemisphere, filmed entirely on a RED One camera. Peter and Warren will take you through the process and methods they developed to take advantege of the RED.

3D blooms among The Ruins 3.00pm

Carsten Kolve, CG Supervisor, Rising Sun Pictures

Explore the animation pipeline developed by RSP for The Ruins, to tame the complexity of the film's main character, the Vine-mass. Learn how thousands of leaf and flower attachments were made to bounce, sway, collide and perform in a believable and controllable way. RSP completed more than 100 shots over a 12 month period for this film.

Creating a 3D TVC 4.00pm

Clinton Downs, the lab Sydney

Get into the nitty gritty of animated production with this detailed overview of the 3D workflow behind a major television commercial created by the the Lab Sydney’s Commercial Studio.

Explosive games cinematics 4.45pm

Nathan Maddams, Creative Director

Dean Finnegan, Animation Supervisor, Plastic Wax Animation

Plastic Wax has created a stunning cinematic to promote the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Relic's fast-paced and violent real-time strategy (RTS) game. Unveiled at the annual blockbuster games expo, E3 in Los Angeles, the trailer features an artful mix of motion capture and keyframe animation.

Program accurate at time of viewing, changes maybe made to session or speaker lineup. We will put any changes online as soon as they are made.
About our Speakers

.

CLICK HERE for Booking Form




Chauvel Paddington Town Hall, corner of Oatley Road and Oxford St Paddington
Busses from Central Station, Nearest train Kings Cross, Parking Moore park precinct

View Larger Map

DAY 1 Tuesday 11 November

TIPPETT STUDIOS - Beverly Hills Chihauha 10.00am

Michael Brunet, Lead Animator, Tippett Studios

Learn how Tippett Studios brought to life Chico the Iguana and Manuel the Rat, the animal sidekicks of a pampered Beverly Hills chihuahua named Chloe. Tippett also created several of the fully CG dogs in this Disney comedy's action sequences.

RED & digital cameras today 11.30am

John Bowring, ACS, MD Lemac

John will help you distinguish between the wide range of choices available in digital acquisition today. Learn the advantages of using RED One 4k, P2, Iconix 2k, SI 2k, Sony HDC1500 and others. John has been directly involved in the HD acquisition and workflow for Australian HD features such as, Wolf Creek, Macbeth, Rogue. and The Nothing Men.



LUNCH BREAK 12.30pm

Houdini insights at Kanuka Studio 1.30pm

Rangi Sutton, Founder Kanuka Studio

Kanuka Studio is an artist-owned and operated animation and visual effects boutique based in Brisbane, Australia, the only CG/VFX studio in Australia to specialise in the Houdini 3D pipeline. Hear about how Houdini and a variety of Free Open Source software are used to create an integrated environment from founder Rangi Sutton, a senior visual effects artist with a portfolio sourced at many studios around the globe.

Scorching cross-platform television 2.30pm

Marcus Gillezeau Director/Producer,

Kylie du Fresne and Ellenor Cox Producers

Television is permanently evolving in the Web 2.0 era. The creative team behind Scorched explore the many dimensions of creating a telefeature that extends audience engagement into a fictional online scenario of the future played out on the Internet.

The Sixty40 question 3.30pm

Matt Taylor, Animation Director,

Mark Simpson, Design Director, sixty40

How did Sixty40 become one of Australia’s leading motion design and animation companies? Directors Matt Taylor and Mark Simpson show how they have have developed a unique creative strategy and multidisciplinary approach to production, using a rich vocabulary and cultural savvy that earns them a steady stream of motion graphics and animation work, enabling them to develop their own properties like the Eduganda Panda Show screened on Channel 9's The Music Jungle 2007-08.

Capturing the moment 4.30pm

Evan Butson, Founder The Difference Engine

Evan explains how he implemented a fast and effective workflow for his customer with daily content delivered on line and on time from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Learn how Adobe's complete post-production solution - CS3 Production Premium - was exploited to deliver daily video programming live from Beijing to desktop screens around the world, using a fast, tapeless production workflow.

*** NEW SESSION ***

The animal attraction of Nuke 5.30

Paul Kirwan

See why Nuke 5 is making such headway on the visual effects compositing landscape. Paul Kirwan, an experienced VFX Compositing Supervisor who has helped create such landmark films as Transformers, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, will demonstrate the strengths of the Academy Award-winning compositing software. Kirwan has spent the past few months assisting with the integration of Nuke 5 into the VFX pipeline for Animal Logic on Baz Luhrmann's Australia, providing training and the expertise acquired over a distinguished career in VFX production. Kirwan is able to offer a unique perspective courtesy of his time spent working at Digital Domain, the award-winning VFX and animation facility founded by director James Cameron, and the place where Nuke was originally developed.

Cocktail Reception 6.15pm

For
delegates and speakers

DAY 2 Wednesday 12 November

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 9.30am

Adam Valdez, Animation Director, Visual Effects Supervisor

Moving Picture Company (MPC) London

Adam co-supervised a crew of 75 keyframe animators and 18 crowd animators for Prince Caspian. Most of MPC’s 856 shots involved the various Narnians, numerous animals plus the half-animal/half-human mythical creatures. Star of the digital cast is Reepicheep.

MPC's art department provided the design, facial features, body and carefully detailed fur for Reepicheep and his mouse posse, Bulgy Bear, and an army of Telmarines. The studio also created fighting trees and set extensions. This film required the most shots MPC has ever taken on for a single project and certainly the highest complexity. Adam will take you through the character animation and the latest innovations from MPC.

What's Up with Dr. D? 10.30am

Brett Feeney, Head of Production, Dr. D Studios

Brett is one of Australia's most respected production professionals, and his credits include 3D Effects Supervision on "The Matrix Reloaded" and Digital Supervisor on Academy Award-winning winning "Happy Feet."
As Digital Supervisor, Brett Feeney was responsible for setting up the ‘Happy Feet’ digital production pipeline, overseeing its efficiency and working with George Miller and the creative teams to ensure the digital artists could achieve the visual brief. Brett was also instrumental in helping create the crowd system ‘Hoard’ that allowed the artists in the crowd department to generate up to half a million ‘penguin extras’.
At Dr. D he is currently underway with large scale film projects, including Happy Feet 2. Also in pre-production: Babe 3, Fury Road and Justice League of America.
Academy Award winning producers George Miller and Doug Mitchell have partnered
with Omnilab Media Group in creating a boldly significant Australian digital media company, Dr. D Studios.
Brett Feeney is responsible for establishing Dr. D's production line with a growing team of top talent from Australia and beyond which includes artists, animators and technicians.

Black Water makes a splash 11.30am

John Biggins, DoP, David Nerlich, Co-Director & VFX Creator,
Michael Robertson, Producer

Hi-def and tapeless digital video acquisition can be exploited to bring out a big result from a relatively small production budget. Critics acclaimed Black Water as one of the best of the recent crop from the Australian outback horror genre, a film that builds a brooding tension through tight scripting, good acting and accomplished digital cinematography.

LUNCH BREAK 1.00pm

Conceiving a Dying Breed 2.00pm

Rod Morris, Writer and Producer, Michael Boughen, Writer and Producer

Digital thriller Dying Breed is one of the first Australian films to shoot 1080 60p using the Sony HDC1500 HD camera and SRW1 HDCAM SR portable recorder. Four characters set out to prove the Tasmanian Tiger still lives in the forests of Tasmania, only to become prey when they stumble on descendants of a cannibal tribe.

Music Video VFX with Adobe Production Premium CS4 3.00pm

Jon Barrie, aJBproductions

Jon Barrie shows how Adobe Production Premium CS4 provides a massive speed boost to creating a music video featuring hundreds of cuts. It is a time-consuming job to add motion graphics, tracking and grading and while CS3's dynamic link integration took a lot of render time out of the equation, advances in Adobe Production Premium CS4 are taking performance into another dimension. John will show how replacing clips in Premiere's timeline with frame accurate After Effects CS4 Comps increased his workflow dramatically.
"Mocha for AE ate up a poorly contrasted motion track without blinking. I rendered once from the same Premiere Pro CS4 32-bit colour space timeline! Time is money. CS4 makes it for me faster." – Jon Barrie, aJBproductions

Making Mary & Max 4.00pm

Henry Karjalainen, Melodrama Pictures

Learn how Melodrama Pictures, in collaboration with partner companies Stop Motion Pro and XDT, have built world-class custom software and digital technologies to produce their claymation feature film on a tight budget and speeds far eclipsing conventional film animation methods. Mary and Max, directed by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs, is among the most eagerly anticipated Australian feature films in recent years. Due for release in 2009, Mary and Max combines an innovative and integrated digital workflow from the animatic or digital storyboard to delivery.

AEAF AWARDS 6:30pm

Awards ceremony and screening of the finalists in the annual

AEAF Awards, followed by receprion at the Chauvel - Paddington Town hall.

workshops

WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER

Plug into the Future with Panasonic 1.00pm

Learn the benefits of tapeless workflow

See P2HD/AVCHD workflow with common NLE systems

Learn the difference between Intra/Inter frame codec’s

AVC-I AVCHD

Get hands on with two new hand held

cameras on display, AG-HPX172,AG-HMC152

Day 3 Thursday 13 November

Put your best digital foot forward 9.00am

Nick Hore and Patricia Kung, Animal Logic

Insider tips to help jump start your career in animation and visual effects. Animal Logic Training Supervisor Nick Hore and Senior Recruiter Patricia Kung will demystify the job application process, discuss industry expectations and provide useful information to showcase your talent and help you stand out from the crowd.
From preparing a show reel, portfolio and resume to avoiding the classic pitfalls applicants sometimes make when applying for a role with a large digital production studio, this session will help prepare an artist for a career in digital media..

An open source pipeline 10.00am

James Neale, Producer,

Matt Ebb, Lighting & Shading TD, ProMotion Studios

James and Matt will explain how Sydney's ProMotion Studios employed Blender in a mostly open source 3D pipeline for Lighthouse, a stunning commercial short film project

RED & working for real in 4K 11.00am

Mike Seymour, Co-founder fxguide.com & fxphd.com, and Stuart Monksfield, Cutting Edge General Manager – Film & TV

As the arrival of cameras such as RED makes 4K filmmaking a reality, what are the considerations in workflow, through editing and colour correction? Stuart will take you through the 4k workflow.

*** NEW SESSION ***

Working in a 24-hour international production environment 12.00pm

Nigel Sumner,
Digital Supervisor - Digital Artists Group,
Lucasfilm Animation, Singapore

Managing the process of delivering a vision into images - Nigel will discuss the benefits and challenges involved when two teams work in two locations and time zones on visual effects for live action features films. He will use examples from Indiana Jones / Ironman / Transformers

LUNCH BREAK 1.00pm

RED - The Nothing Men 2.00pm

Peter Holland, DoP, Warren Lynch, Intercolour

This team has produced the first full length feature in the southern hemisphere, filmed entirely on a RED One camera. Peter and Warren will take you through the process and methods they developed to take advantege of the RED.

3D blooms among The Ruins 3.00pm

Carsten Kolve, CG Supervisor, Rising Sun Pictures

Explore the animation pipeline developed by RSP for The Ruins, to tame the complexity of the film's main character, the Vine-mass. Learn how thousands of leaf and flower attachments were made to bounce, sway, collide and perform in a believable and controllable way. RSP completed more than 100 shots over a 12 month period for this film.

Creating a 3D TVC 4.00pm

Clinton Downs, the lab Sydney

Get into the nitty gritty of animated production with this detailed overview of the 3D workflow behind a major television commercial created by the the Lab Sydney’s Commercial Studio.

Explosive games cinematics 4.45pm

Nathan Maddams, Creative Director

Dean Finnegan, Animation Supervisor, Plastic Wax Animation

Plastic Wax has created a stunning cinematic to promote the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Relic's fast-paced and violent real-time strategy (RTS) game. Unveiled at the annual blockbuster games expo, E3 in Los Angeles, the trailer features an artful mix of motion capture and keyframe animation.

Program accurate at time of viewing, changes maybe made to session or speaker lineup. We will put any changes online as soon as they are made.
About our Speakers

.

CLICK HERE for Booking Form




Chauvel Paddington Town Hall, corner of Oatley Road and Oxford St Paddington
Busses from Central Station, Nearest train Kings Cross, Parking Moore park precinct

View Larger Map