Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1058642
e d i t i o n 4 , 2 0 1 8 | c g w 5 S P O T L I G H T ILM TV to Target Television and Streaming Services Industrial Light & Magic is extending is visual effects and animation services to the streaming and episodic television markets via a new division called ILM TV. Based out of ILM's new 47,000-square-foot London studio, the business will be supported by the company's global locations in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Singapore. The ILM TV team will be led by visual effects supervisors Hayden Jones and Jonathan Privett, alongside executive producers Louise Hussey and Stefan Drury. Previously, the team set up and oversaw DNeg's television division. They won a BAFTA for "Special, Visual and Graphic Effects" for their work on Black Mirror. The business's first projects will be Lucasfilm's live-action series Mandalorian, based in the Star Wars universe and developed by Jon Favreau, and the Superman prequel series Krypton, which is now in its second season, based on DC characters from Warner Horizon Scripted Television for Syfy. "It's not oen you get to create a new division at Industrial Light & Magic," explains Rob Bredow, executive creative director and head of ILM. "We are seeing a real convergence in our creative approach used on films and in our immersive entertainment divi- sion ILMxLAB, and now we're proud to be able to offer these ILM innovations in a way that's suitable for streaming and television work to creatives around the world." ILM's legacy in television dates back to the studio's Emmy-win- ning work for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Adds VFX supervisor Hayden Jones, "The television and stream- ing segments have grown exponentially in recent years, and we are seeing substantial demand for high-caliber visual effects that can be delivered on schedule and within budget, all of which lie at the core of our team's expertise and proven track record." ILM TV will offer producers and showrunners access to Industrial Light & Magic's VFX talent, infrastructure, and technology, com- bined with a fresh approach to visual effects designed to suit the condensed production schedules and rapid turnaround times that episodic series and online streaming programs demand. INTRODUCING DIGITAL KAY "She's currently a work in progress, but aren't we all?" "DIGITAL KAY 1.0" is currently a work in progress. Her textures and shaders are being optimized for pre-render in VRay for Maya, and in both pre-render and real time render in UNREAL. The continuing development and evolution of DIGITAL KAY, including a full body likeness and hair, is planned for the near future. The face of DIGITAL KAY is fully rigged in Joint ONLY, Blend Shape, Hybrid, and Blend Shape Combination formats, and ready for animation in both pre-rendered, and real time applications. THE ORIGIN OF COUNTERPUNCH STUDIOS Well versed in the CG Animation industry, CounterPunch Studios founders Andrew Egiziano and Kay Arutyunyan have singled out what they consider to be the weakest link in any project pipeline: the rigging process. The fidelity of the rig is the foundation of any animation pipeline, by which all movement and motion is made possible. This is true for all characters, in any style of animation. Since breaking ground in 2011, the talented team at CounterPunch Studios have been developing proprietary rigging tool-sets, specif- ically, building all levels of custom facial rigs for every client need. These tool-sets, allow their team to build high quality rigs quickly, efficiently, and within budgetary constraints. The proprietary tools are capable of creating Joint Only Rigs, upgraded Joint Rigs with built in FACS based expressions, Blend Shape Rigs, Blend Shape Combination Rigs, Hybrid Rigs, and any combination of the above to suit the specifi- cations of each project. The CPS pipeline is a collaboration with the client, helping to ensure the delivered asset will be primed for the artists who will be animating them. CounterPunch Studios dedicates time to pushing technology, breaking new ground through development, and is finally able to share this progress with the world! "DIGITIAL KAY 1.0" is the start of future rollouts to demonstrate their rigging capabilities, and an example of what the team at Counter- Punch Studios can bring to the industry of CGI. Scanned at 3D Scan LA, then built to sim- ulate Co-Founder and VP of Operations, Kay Arutyunyan, the demo represents the continu- ing evolution of their toolsets. Accompanied with this release are illustrations of their "best practices" suggestions; supervisor instructed Tech Talks highlighting the constructive process. All future updates of "DIGITAL KAY 1.0"can be found on the CounterPunch Studios You- Tube Page. We invite you to follow along with progress at CounterPunch Studios by visiting their website: www.counterpunchstudios.com , YouTube Page, and Social Media. Contact them for a demonstra- tion of their process. COUNTEPRUNCH STUDIOS SPONSORED CONTENT