I decided that with 2 weeks until this years SIGGRAPH convention that I should make a post about some of the behind the scenes talks between myself and the Animux devs. Since a lot of Blender to RenderMan integration has been done on the Animux distro, Mark Puttnam (the founder of Animux) has asked for some screencasts and imagery so that he can show this during his presentation.
So I decided that instead of just showing off normal screenshots of the default Blender startup screen, why not show something with some punch to it? Such as the one below, a simple test render done for Project Widow in early June.
So the idea is to setup and render at least static frames of Project Widow, if not maybe 10 seconds of animation of the spider, the tunnel system and the train. This not only would be the first official test of the pipeline, it will also serve as a small technical demo for the SIGGRAPH presentation. Most likely this preview will not end up in the final production short, much like Pixar did for the first Finding Nemo trailer. What this will do is not only draw attention to Project Widow itself, it will also draw attention to the whole Blender to RenderMan idea. SIGGRAPH has traditionally been the place to present "proof of concept" ideas and papers, showcasing new technologies and amazing artwork. So it only makes sense that after years of pain staking work trying to get where we are now that we at least begin to present our efforts at the biggest CG event in the industry.
The downside is that I am not able to attend this, I cannot afford it. I am not upset though since what we are showcasing is more of how Blender to RenderMan works with one OS - Animux, rather than how it can work for everyone. It just so happens that Animux is delivering us to SIGGRAPH. We could not ask for more publicity than SIGGRAPH anyway. If anyone does manage to get to New Orleans this year, please stop by the Animux Birds of a Feather meeting, take pictures too!
Monday, 3 August
Animux: Free Software for Animators
Animux is an absolutely FREE animation toolset that is used to handle all the tasks of pre-production, production, and post-production stages of a high-quality animation project.
Monday, 11 am - 1 pm
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Room 264
Mark Puttnam
