Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/187650
Level 256 produces, posts VFX-driven short L OS ANGELES — Level 256 VFX (www.level256vfx.com) produced The Final Moments of Karl Brant, a new, sci-fi short starring Paul Reubens. The film premiered in San Diego at Comic Con and can now be viewed on Nerdist.com or via a direct link (http:// youtu.be/jFotiDbj-D4). The principals of Level 256 VFX produced the project, which takes place in the near future. It depicts experimental technology that allows two detectives to bring a murder victim back to life in a digital state so he may be questioned about his final moments. Paul Reubens, best known for his Pee Wee Herman character, stars as Dr. Bennett Ferryman, a scientist who dabbles in digital immortality. The film also stars Janina Gavankar (True Blood, The L Word), Fay Masterson (Eyes Wide Shut, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra), Jon Sklaroff (CSI, The Comeback), and Pete Chekvala (The Education of Arthur Banks). Scott M. Davids, owner of Level 256 VFX, was the film's producer, and Level 256 provided the editorial and also designed the visual effects, which include 50 shots in the 16-minute piece. The studio's worked included matte paintings, futuristic interface designs and comps, and miscellaneous split-screens and enhancements. Level 256 also developed a 3D holographic face that depicts the digital character of Karl Brant, which was created with custom software and a Microsoft Xbox Kinect camera. The technique was developed by head of production Seth Kleinberg and Davids specifically for this short film. "Our work on Karl Brant represents the first creation of original content for Level 256," says Davids. "My background in editorial, combined with Seth's expertise in post, made it possible for our shop to move beyond serving just as a VFX provider. We handled all aspects of this film. It was a great experience to show that a small shop could produce, edit, create VFX, and finish a film with high production value on a virtually non-existent budget. At the script level, the digital character of Karl Brant was cost prohibitive, so we had to get creative. Once we developed a working live-action test integrated with our Kinect Hack, we knew [it] was possible." "Leveraging the power of open source applications like Processing, Python and bash scripting, we were able to take the point cloud data from the Kinect, manipulate it, and get it into Nuke for integration with the live-action plates for texture re-projection," explains Kleinberg. "The process evolved and grew over time, and when we finally saw the fruits of our labor on the screen, we were excited to see Karl Brant fully realized, taking on an expressive life of his own." Wacom extends the Cintiq experience V ANCOUVER, WA — Wacom (www.wacom.com) has extended the creative experience from the desktop to the mobile device with the release of the Cintiq Companion and Cintiq Companion Hybrid creative tablets for Windows 8 and Android, respectively. The Cintiq Companion runs Windows 8 and full versions of creative software. The Cintiq Companion Hybrid is a traditional Cintiq when plugged into a Mac or PC, but when used as a mobile device, works as a standalone Android tablet, with enough power to do light sketching to start creative processes with suitable apps. The new tablets ensure a Cintiq experience even in mobile use, leveraging key elements of the Cintiq 13HD and Cintiq 22HD touch. This includes full HD display with touch control, and the Wacom Pro Pen, with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, as well as tilt recognition. The Cintiq Companion is an all-purpose mobile workstation in the form of a Windows 8 tablet, powered by a third-generation Intel Core processor and Intel HD Graphics 4000. Wacom offers two models: one with 8GB memory and 256GB SSD with Windows 8, and the other with 8GB memory, 512GB SSD with Windows 8 Pro. Cintiq Companion Hybrid is a digital sketchpad for illustrators and designers who want to draw, sketch and paint when mobile, but who also want to use their pro software when connected to a Mac or PC. The Companion Hybrid functions as a traditional Cintiq when connected to a Mac or PC. When unplugged, it's suitable for light work using Android apps. The tablet comes with an Nvidia Tegra 4 processor, Android Jellybean and the new Wacom Creative Canvas. Images can be transferred to a computer or shared directly to popular cloud services with the pre-loaded Astro File Manager. Two versions of the Cintiq Companion Hybrid are available, a 16GB version and a 32GB version. www.postmagazine.com Post • September 2013 5