FMX 2011 is just around the corner!

April 2011/FMX 2011

16th Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Interactive Media

May 3-6, 2011

Stuttgart, Germany

This year our conference is full of exciting presentations, talks and workshops; focusing on the most pressing issues in the industry. We are pleased to announce the latest developments in Games, including Transmedia and Stereoscopy 3D for Games; Volker Engel will present on Anonymous", Roland Emmerich's latest movie; visual effects in "The King's Speech"; an exclusive presentation on Pixar's upcoming 3D animation feature "Cars 2" and the creative processes in DreamWorks Animation's "Megamind".

Visit our website for the frequently updated program: www.fmx.de

Transmedia and Visual Arts in Games

Video games and interactive entertainment have grown to the point of cultural significance, moving across all handheld devices; consumers expect to be able to play games on any device with a screen. Games are beginning to expand to social games, between friends through a Transmedia environment where stories and worlds can be experienced directly.  These topics will be discussed amongst others in the AIAS Transmedia Track; Boyd Multerer (Microsoft) discusses the fundamental changes that are enabling new forms of entertainment to gain mass acceptance. Joseph Olin (AIAS) provides a snapshot of where games are today, how they have evolved and how they will continue to grow.

The AIAS Visual Arts track includes amongst others Benjamin Joffe, (Cmune) discussing "Building the Top 3D First-Person Shooter on Facebook" this social-network driven game brings the genre to the next level incorporating 3D and real-time. TJ Galda, (Electronic Arts) considers how games engage the player; "Fight Night Champion" combines cinematics and real-time rendering to create a story-driven sports game. Galda will discuss how various pieces of animation, lighting, rendering and compositing fit together to deliver designs.

Stereoscopic 3D Games

As Stereoscopic 3D Game development is still in the infancy stages, it is predicted to have a significant impact on the consumer entertainment markets as developers begin to understand the impact it will have on hardware performance. During this track the difficulties being faced by developers will be discussed; such as the lack of virtual reality research that is related to consumer technologies.

Sebastien Schertenleib (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited) will discuss the techniques used to generate 3D game content for the Playstation 3, from hardware and software perspectives and the advantages 3D brings to games. This will include case studies of several 3D games, highlighting real world issues and solutions.

Dr. Bill Kapralos (Game Development and Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology) will discuss his findings  from his exclusive access to "The UDecide Initiative" 2011 results, the largest study of what traditional 2D and experienced stereoscopic 3D gamers want. He will reveal details about a Canadian funded initiative to create a new class of stereoscopic 3D research in video games and talk about the possible link between the audio experience and perceived visual quality.

Volker Engel presents "Anonymous"

Oscar-winning VFX Supervisor Volker Engel grants a look into the creation of a virtual 16^th Century London for Roland Emmerich's period thriller "Anonymous". This is an exclusive presentation ahead of the worldwide release on September 30 2011. In 2010 Volker and his business partner Marc Weigert with their company "Uncharted Territory" set up shop with 35 artists and technicians at Germany's Babelsberg Studios for an entire year to create over 300 visual effect shots. The objective was to build a virtual London that no audience has ever seen before. The shots range from city fly-overs to complex CG set-extensions. In addition to supervising the visual effects, Volker and Marc also served as Executive Producers on the

film.

Visual Effects in "The King's Speech"

Dayne Cowan, Creative Director of Molinare VFX and Chair of the UK Section of the Visual Effects Society will discuss "The King's Speech" during the VES Exchange. Although this film was clearly not a project driven by visual effects it still contained a substantial number of VFX shots. His presentation examine the use of "invisible" effects and the challenges and experience of what can be achieved when working with a small budget. "The King's Speech" was phenomenally successful winning 4 Oscars® and 7 BAFTA's.

Cinematography and Staging at Pixar: "Toy Story 3" and "Cars 2"

FMX will discuss Pixar Animation Studio's latest 3D animated feature, "Cars 2". Saschka Unseld (Camera and Staging Artist, Pixar Animation Studios) will talk about the process of Pre-Viz, Staging and Cinematography at Pixar Animation Studios. Through examples from "Toy Story 3" and "Cars 2" Unseld will explain Pixar's role for Layout in exploring the visual storytelling as well as its role in the overall production process.

Dreamworks Animation's "Megamind"

Philippe Denis (VFX Supervisor) will introduce three sequences from Dreamworks Animation's "Megamind", discussing the creative process from pre-production to final completion. The presentation will cover early FX and Lighting development, discussing idea generations, workflow and references, as well as the specific challenges overcome during production (sequence specific).

Editor's Notes:

Conference program is now online, visit http://www.fmx.de/

Press Accreditation is now available online via the ticket shop.

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FMX is an event by Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, organized by the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction, hosting the Animation Production Day 2011 (APD), a joint venture with the Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (ITFS). It is an event in cooperation with VES Visual Effects Society, AIAS Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, ACM Siggraph and Stuttgart Media University (HdM). FMX is funded by the Ministry of State and the Ministry of Economics Baden-Wuerttemberg, the MFG Film Funding and the FFA German Federal Film Board.