This article is also available in:
Français
The curtain falls on this 28th edition of FMX, which took place in Stuttgart from April 23 to 26. Around 3,650 participants gathered, with a large majority coming from Germany (about 65%). Over 190 conferences were held, and 271 speakers presented their projects. In terms of recruitment, 23 studios attended the event. The preliminary figures are encouraging given the current economic climate and its impact on the audiovisual industry.
Conference Chair Jan Pinkava is enthusiastic:
It’s been such a strong FMX. The top studios, companies and talents have converged on Stuttgart to share the latest in film production, technology and new insights. And everyone can’t wait to be back next year.
3DVF was on site during these four days of conferences. Following our previous articles, here is our report on the last day, Friday, April 26.
Wonka
Released in theaters in December 2023, the film grossed over $630 million at the box office. A huge success that required numerous VFX to translate Paul King’s vision on the big screen. One of the biggest challenges was Hugh Grant playing an Oompa Loompa. Dale Newton, Animation Supervisor at Framestore, discussed the development and performance of this small orange-skinned character.
Creating the character was a difficult task. It was also a challenge for the actor himself: he compared his work on the film to wearing “a crown of thorns.” A performance capture system can be quite tiring, especially for those unaccustomed to it.
For Framestore, it all started with the design of this Oompa Loompa, its silhouette, the costume, the hair. The director also wanted to portray a character younger than Hugh Grant (he is currently 63 years old, but he was to appear the same age as in the movie Bridget Jones 2 released in 2004). The actor was 3D scanned using photogrammetry. Hugh Grant also provided several facial expressions that were later refined through 3D sculpting and animation. Besides the character design, another challenge was the filming, particularly the interaction between Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant. Indeed, since Grant is 1.8 meters tall, the cameraman could hardly stay in the scene without having to move walls and ceilings.
It was a very beautiful presentation, the only thing missing was the chocolate.
Then and now
We attended two conferences led by our friend Ian Failes, from Befores & Afters. The first guest was Mark Elendt, Senior Mathematician, who has been working at SideFX for over 35 years! Mark witnessed the early days of SideFX, when the company was known as Side Effects, and its flagship software was PRISMS, which laid the foundation for Houdini. The team then consisted of just two people, the founders of SideFX. He was the first developer hired and helped create the software’s tools.
Mark Elendt shared numerous anecdotes about his beginnings and the journey since then. He revealed that Houdini now contains about 6 million lines of code. Now, Mark works on Karma, Houdini’s physically-based path tracer.
In the early afternoon, Ian welcomed Todd Sheridan Perry, VFX Supervisor at Amazon Studios, to the stage. He delivered a masterclass on camera effects and forced perspective. The idea was to have two similarly-sized individuals appear very different in size on screen. Todd Sheridan Perry explained that this type of trick had been employed on one of his recent projects as a VFX Supervisor, the series I’m a Virgo.
Using just an iPhone, two volunteers from the audience, a meter (because distances had to be calculated to achieve the desired effect), and a small stool, he provided a demonstration on stage. The result was astonishing when the two participants interacted, all without the use of CGI.
The audience was very enthusiastic about this encounter and is eagerly anticipating more in the future!
Exhibition floor
During these four days, 28 companies from 12 different countries were gathered. Among the exhibitors were Golaem, as well as the Adobe Substance 3D team, Chaos, Qualisys / Manus, Lenovo, and Xencelabs. The feedback we received was mixed, with some participants finding this edition “quiet,” although others were quite enthusiastic. It is true that this part of the building attracted fewer crowds than other floors, such as the workshops or the recruitment area.
As far as we are concerned, and as you read in our articles, it was primarily the conferences that captured our attention.
The FMX team has already set the date for next year, with the 29th edition scheduled to take place from May 6 to May 9, 2025.
