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Bits & Pieces L Method's VFX for Wrath of the Titans OS ANGELES — Method Studios' Los Angeles- and London-based offices provided 163 visual effects shots for Wrath of the Titans 3D, including Kronos and the CG underworld environment, working with the film's VFX supervisor Nick Davis, VFX producer Rhonda Gunner and director Jonathan Liebsman. "We had this constant free dialogue about new ideas and designs to help the story," says Olivier Dumont, VFX In order to accommodate all the camera views, Tarta- rus was built totally CG. "Around 7,000 pieces were sculpted and textured before merging them together, " says Dumont. Most of the work was via Zbrush and Mari. Method's animation work increased when the direc- tor decided to add the full CG shots to the movie. "That meant new animations of Kronos bursting free but also digi-doubles animation to represent the action of the different characters in those Vitamin T offers no-risk staffing service N EW YORK — Vitamin T (www.vita- mintalent.com) is a talent agency that was created to specifically meet the needs of advertising agencies, mid-sized companies and digital creative studios. The company, which is a division of Aquent, was established about a year ago and has offices throughout the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom and Australia. Jason Miller is director of business shots," he says. "We increased the modeling and texture details on previously low-res scans and added some cloth animation to make it as believable as possible. Hand animation was also used to supervisor for Method. He offers up Kronos as an example. "He was supposed to stay pretty static, but Jonathan thought this wasn't bringing enough tension to the scene and wanted several full CG shots in which Kronos is brought to life and moving. This was work we didn't anticipate, but the design of those shots was so appealing that the challenge was totally worth it." The CG environment for the underworld was split between London and LA (www.methodstudios.com). In addition to designing the set extensions, Method's team in London had the huge task of showing the outside of Tartarus as well as the introductory fly-through shot to the underworld. The LA team's main focus was to build the interior of Tartarus with all its set extensions, the massive Kronos and all the destruction set-ups. drive main destruction simulations such as the collapsing mountain and the falling rocks." Rigging, animations and layouts were all done in Maya. "Method's comp work was then to bring all those CG elements together and blend them with the 2D elements so that you can't distinguish one from the other, and, to make the shot as photorealistic as possi- ble," says Dumont. "While Dan Seddon (Method's CG supervisor) and his team were developing all the tools to build the CG set-ups, Robin Graham (Method's 2D supervisor) was writing tools to help organize the thou- sands of CG elements yet to be received." The compos- iting was done in Nuke. Twenty-one of the 163 final shots done by Method were created in stereo. Videotape Products working with StarLink B development for Vitamin T and says the company specializes in finding and placing talent in the marketing and creative indus- tries, particularly advertising agencies and both digital and interactive businesses. Many companies, says Miller, need free- lance talent on either a short-term or long-term basis. Vitamin T can help match the company with the talent, and at no initial cost to either party. Talent can submit a profile by visiting URBANK — Hardware and media solutions company Videotape Products (www.myvtp.com) has entered into an exclusive agreement with Nextlink Video Communications to serve as its sole distribu- tor and authorized reseller for StarLink Wireless products throughout North America. StarLink Wireless products provide a solution for "super long range" line of sight and "ultra-long range" non line of sight single and multi-camera remote on-set picture monitoring. By offering a variety of tunable choices in the 2.4GHz band and others in export bands, and using effi- cient power ratios, users can retain the advantages of uncompressed standard definition color video and ranged analog low power transmission and reception, which includes almost no delay to the receiver from a camera transmitter and avoidance of compression. StarLink Wireless receivers include eight-channel and 32-channel tunable versions with dual auto gain, and the new StarLink PowerMax Antenna system. LCD monitoring is supported in color in a variety of sizes with full daylight readable displays. StarLink camera accessories include ruggedized high capacity Lithium-ion batteries with extended run times, and the GripSter portable grip and tripod combination. 4 Post • April 2012 www.postmagazine.com Vitamin T's Website. There is no cost for the registration, and they are able to include links to their recent work. Small- to mid-sized companies can also register with Vitamin T, at no cost or obligation. Only after a match is made, is there a fee. Both parties are given time to get to know each other and to determine if the match will ultimately work out. "We'll generally match up talent with companies," says Miller, "There's no com- mitment — only when the match is made. It's no risk. We want to make it a win-win situation all around." Miller says the positions that agencies, digital studios and interactive companies often look for include Website design, front-end development, user experience, art directors, creative directors and copy- writers — everything from front-end development to final execution of an idea. The company's Website is clean and graphically driven. If you are a studio look- ing for talent, simply click the "I'm looking for talent" button, which then allows visi- tors to build their team. If you are a free- lancer, click the "I'm looking for work" button and connect with an agent in your local market who is familiar with job oportunities. By Marc Loftus