Some great Mac OSX tips/tricks

Put the Path Bar on Top - If you want to see the path to the current folder at the top of the window, open Terminal and type 

 defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES.

Then press return. Next, hold down the option key and control-click on the Finder icon in the Dock; then select Relaunch. From now on, the path should appear, in traditional Unix format, in the title bar of all your Finder windows. To undo the change, repeat the procedure, replacing YES with NO.

Select and copy text in Quicklook previews -

Look previews, you just need to enable a hidden Finder setting. Select and copy the code below, open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities), paste that code at the prompt, then press Return:

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE; killall Finder

After a second or two, the Finder will restart. Once it does, you'll be able to select text in Quick Look previews and copy it to the Clipboard for use elsewhere.

If you decide you don’t deserve to select text in Quick Look, you can turn this feature off with another Terminal command:

defaults delete com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection; killall Finder

 

Both of these tips come from the writers at Macworld.


Prometheus

The official trailer for Ridley Scott's Prometheus is now online. Click on the image below & watch in HD.

VFX Show podcast episode #139 "Tree of Life" & "Melancholia"

Mike Seymour, TyRuben Ellingson and Matt Wallin discuss the visual effects in two very unique films this week, Tree of Life and Melancholia. Click on the images below for the direct link to FXGuide or subscribe for free in iTunes.

This week I pay props to one of my oldest and dearest friends, Negin Bairami. Negin worked as Senior Texture Painter on Tree of Life and is an amazing and gifted artist all around. I actually met Negin in high school art class back when we were both sixteen. We both wound up working in VFX and have been friends for more than twenty five years. Negin's work can also be seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 and in the upcoming films Gravity and Rise of the Guardians. 

Eames: The Architect & The Painter

When I first moved to New York in 1999 I went to a retrospective show of Charles and Ray Eames at the Cooper-Hewitt. Their design work was so fun to see, but I was really intrigued by some of their films that I had not previously seen. There was one called, Blacktop: A Story of the Washing of a School Play Yard (1952), which was projected on the floor of the museum and it consisited of nothing but soap suds washing over blacktop. While it may sound dull, the presentation and the overall effect was quite beautiful. I'm looking forward to this new documentary.  

Apple used Charles and Ray Eames in their "Think Different" campaign.  Watching the trailer for the upcoming doc, it seems like they were a good choice.  

 

Katana 1.0 released

The Foundry has just released Katana 1.0.  I used the Sony Imageworks version of Katana on both "I Am Legend" and "Beowulf 3D".  It was a fantastic tool back then and I can only imagine that The Foundry has done a great deal to make it a truly revolutionary product.  Integration with Nuke will make it a fantastic tool for any production pipeline.  Click on the image below to read more.  

Esper Machine (Blade Runner, 1982)

I'm in San Sebastian, Spain preparing to give a talk at the International Conference on the Image and have been thinking a lot about just how we define the nature of the "image" in today's environment.  I recently went back and watched a lot of old movies from my youth. There is a great scene in Ridley Scott's 1982 film, Blade Runner, where Harrison Ford uses a device, that the script referred to simply as the "Esper Machine", to analyze some found photographs he believes belong to the genetically engineered replicants that he is tasked with "retiring".  

In my research for the talk this scene struck me as an early precursor to some of the emerging technolgies in digital imaging, ie; dual-photography or light-field photography.  I thought it was fun to have a look at the original images from the film here.

The Esper sequence was achieved by taking a series of still photos on a small set and then assembling them on an animation stand to create a piece of film that was transferred to videotape for playback on the Esper prop. Most of the material here is from an early version of the Esper sequence that was eventually re-shot, but includes 35mm positives and 8 x 10 in. transparencies that were eventually used to create the Polaroid of Zhora that Deckard prints out of the Esper.

 

 

 

Visual Effects Society 2.0 "Industry Bill of Rights"

The Visual Effects Society issues an "Industry Bill of Rights".  The VES Board unanimously voted to approve the document outlining the rights of visual effects workers, facilities and studios.  You can read the entire document by clicking on the image below. 

In the Summer of 2008 my family and I spent three months in Vancouver working for a visual effects company on a major studio release.  When the film came out in theaters, I did not receive screen credit.  I hope this bill of rights would eliminate that kind of thing from happening in the future.  A credit winds up being the equivalent of a published work when it comes to academia.  That studio/facility denying credit has the potential to put one's future job security at risk.

Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of APPLE

Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO and the company has named former Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook to replace him.

"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come," Jobs said in a letter addressed "to the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community."

Jobs's letter sais he would like to continue serving as Apple's chairman and recommended Tim Cook as his successor as CEO. "I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role," Jobs wrote. "I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you."

VFX Show podcast episode #130 "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Mike Seymour, Mark Christiansen and Matt Wallin discuss the visual effects and story of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

There is additional fxguide coverage of the film over at fxpodcasts where Dan Lemmon, VFX Supervisor (WETA Digital) discusses their brilliant animation work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes : The Eyes have it.

Dr. Zaius says, "Click on the image below to listen to the show online or suscribe for free in iTunes you damn dirty human".

 YOU FOOLS!

Siggraph 2011 Vancouver

Nearing the close of a long and amazing week at Siggraph 2011 here in Vancouver. The show highlight for me has to be the Jury Prize winner in this year's Computer Animation Festival, Damian Nenow's incredible short film, "Paths of Hate". The long form trailer linked above gives you some indication of the look and feel of the piece. 

I've been here working with some of my best students from VCU, attending papers and presentations (the most astounding of which was on Lola's work creating "Skinny Steve" for Captain America), seeing old friends and making new ones.  

On Tuesday, I recorded an episode of the VFX Show with Mike Seymour, Ian Failles & Mat Graham, where we discussed the visual effects in "Cowboys & Aliens". It was great fun to meet up with the whole FX Guide/FX PhD crew in person and talk about the film as well as some of our impressions of the convention this year.  

Tuesday night was the infamous Lighter/Darker party in Gastown where I got the chance to catch up with several old friends and colleagues, Chris White, Dan Goldman, Ellen Pasternack, Miles Perkins, Adam Martinez, Alex Seiden, Matthew Adams & Serena Rainbow Naramore, the great Neha Wickramasekaran, and Jonathan Litt among others. I even met my new arch nemisis, a fellow San Francisco State University graduate, who seemed to disagree with every word that I uttered in a pretty amusing way, Jessica Walker.  

On Wednesday Sony Executive, Ken Maruyama was incredibly gracious and invited my students and I to come by Sony Imageworks/Animation's new Vancouver studio for a casual "meet and greet". It was great for the students and its clear to me that Ken is one of the nicest and most down to earth people in the business.  

Thursday is my last day here at the conference and I'll be attending a few more talks on subjects like, Fast Simulation, Video Resizing and Stabilization, Lighting Worlds in Unity, Dscrete Differential Geometry and Designing Curriculum for 3D Computer Animation: Innovation and Experimentation for an Evolving Discipline.

I look forward to getting home and getting some much needed rest. Its been another great year at Siggraph and I am already thinking of booking a block for August 2012 in Los Angeles. Happy trails.

I can't help it, I really enjoyed this short too. Hotdog must have something to do with it...

Columnar Basalt

Took a short day trip yesterday to a nearby lighthouse. The geological rock formations on the peninsula were amazing. The same kind of columnar basalt that we saw on the Giant's Causeway in Ireland and the Isle of Staffa in the Western Hebrides in Scotland.

Climbing Spákonufellshöfði

We climbed to the summit of "Soothsayer Mountain" yesterday.  It was an all day event and Thor made it all the way to the top!  646 Meters!

Icelandic horses!

Thor & Chrissy on the mountain.

Snow in July!

Thor & Chrissy near the summit (really, they're in that picture...)

RAM

Horses on the road by the sea.

© Matt Wallin. All rights reserved.