Position Based Fluids is a way of simulating liquids using Position Based Dynamics (PBD), the same framework that is utilized for cloth and deformables simulation in PhysX SDK.

Because PBD uses an iterative solver, it can maintain incompressibility more efficiently than traditional SPH fluid solvers. It also has an artificial pressure term which improves particle distribution and creates nice surface tension-like effects (note the filaments in the splashes). Finally, vorticity confinement is used to allow the user to inject energy back to the fluid.

More details on this a new technique will be available later on, in a SIGGRAPH 2013 paper “Position-Based Fluids” by Miles Macklin and Matthias Mueller-Fischer, and we also expect it to be included in future versions of PhysX SDK or APEX modules.

http://physxinfo.com/news/11109/introduction-to-position-based-fluids/

A remarkable breakthrough in the use of 3D technology, PI will take audiences on an emotionally captivating journey that will inspire, touch and transport them to a place of discovery they will be unable to forget. The Oscar-winning director took four years to shoot “Life of Pi,” an adaptation of the novel of the same title written by Canadian author Yann Martel. The movie, which filmed for more than a year in scenic Taichung, premiered at the New York Film Festival last week.

The extraordinary film, which will hit Taiwan cinemas on Nov. 21. tells the story of an Indian boy named Pi who is stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days with an orangutan, a hyena, a wounded zebra and a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. The novel was rejected by at least five London publishing houses before being accepted by Knopf Canada, which published it in September 2001. The UK edition won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction the following year.

It was also chosen for CBC Radio’s Canada Reads 2003, where it was championed by author Nancy Lee. The French translation, L’histoire de Pi, was chosen in the French version of the contest, Le combat des livres, where it was championed by Louise Forestier. The novel won the 2003 Boeke Prize, a South African novel award. In 2004, it won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in Best Adult Fiction for years 2001–2003. Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. He was named after a swimming pool in Paris, despite the fact that neither his father nor his mother particularly liked swimming.

The story is told as a narrative from the perspective of a middle-aged Pi, now married and with his own family, and living in Canada. At the time of main events of the story, he is sixteen years old. He recounts the story of his life and his 227-day journey on a lifeboat when his boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean during a voyage to Winnipeg.

The film Life of Pi, is based on Yann Martel’s 2001 bestseller about a 16-year-old boy drifting at sea in a lifeboat alongside a tiger, zebra, hyena and orangutan. It’s a challenging novel to adapt since it is deeply psychological, allegorical and requires giving the feel of open waters. Academy Award winning director Ang Lee is up to the challenge. A remarkable breakthrough in the use of 3D technology, PI will take audiences on an emotionally captivating journey that will inspire, touch and transport them to a place of discovery they will be unable to forget. Life Of Pi stars newcomer Suraj Sharma as Pi, Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac), Rafe Spall (Prometheus), Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire) and Tabu (The Namesake). Yann Martel’s novel has been adapted into a screen play by David Magee (Finding Neverland), produced by Ang Lee, Gil Netter (Water for Elephants), David Womark (Stardust), co-produced by David Lee. Cinematography by Claudio Miranda (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), editing by Tim Squyres (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). Production Design by David Gropman (Date Night), music by Mychael Danna (Little Miss Sunshine).

As James Cameron’s 3D re-release of 1997 “Titanic” grossed 934.03 million yuan (US$149.55 million) during the last half of 2012 and with that became the biggest grossing film on the Chinese mainland so far, China Film Group Corporation asked six Hollywood giants if they could replicate this massive success, sources close with the situation said. Columbia Pictures then proposed to 3D-ize “2012″.

“2012” initially grossed a whopping 465 million yuan (US$74.45 million) in China, as top earner on the mainland that year, and its worldwide total box office gross was a staggering US$769.67 million. This year is the very year the film portrayed to coincide with the earth’s doomsday, according to ancient Mayan legend. The 2012 phenomenon sees a series of cataclysmic events unfolding in the lead-up to the end of the world as we know it. For these reasons, China Film Group gave the project its green light.

When the project was announced, both critics and moviegoers were skeptical that it was just another way to bank in on the film’s original success and milk out moviegoers. And there have been quite a number of fake 3D-films, in which the 2D to 3D conversion was done very poorly. But Sunday’s 3D clips of “2012″ showed this is definitely not the case here.

The 30-minute footage shown to the media came from scenes of destruction in California and Las Vegas, plus the eruption of a super volcano in Yellowstone National Park. The 3D conversion is shockingly good and absolutely breathtaking. According to the engineers of the film, when director Roland Emmerich shot it, much of the material was initially intended for 3D-release, with the special effect models created in 3D as well.

However, due to the film’s release schedule, Emmerich’s team did not have the time or technology to produce a 3D version and so the film came onto worldwide screens in 2D.

According to Zhang Miao, distribution director of Columbia Pictures, the “2012″ 3D project was started in late April of this year. A team of 460 engineers from Columbia Pictures, Sony 3D Technology Center and China Film Co., Ltd. worked together for months to re-create “2012″ in its 3D form frame by frame and remix the film’s sound,which had previously won high recognition from both directors and film studios, said engineers Cui Xiaoyu and Keith Collea at the preview conference.

“I don’t like the phrase ’3D conversion’, ” Cui said during the conference, adding that any good and responsible 3D post production is more than just converting a movie. “I keep saying it is actually a matter of 3D visual recreation. Such a project should be taken on as if you were making an entirely new film,” he said.

The film distributors said “2012 3D” features some never before seen disaster footage and has deleted some original dialogues, Keith Collea said. It will also be released in Chinese DMAX version- a China’s home-made IMAX format. But as the 3D special effects are so dramatic to experience, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) will have to re-rate the film and is bound to raise its “PG-13″ rating to a “Restricted” one.

China will be the first country to release “2012″ in 3D on November 20 and distributors are hoping for positive results, which may help them decide if they will turn more classic Hollywood blockbusters into 3D releases . “2012 3D” will also be screened in other countries later this year or in next year, distributors said.

chinadaily.com.cn

In this breakdown of the Emmy Winning Special/Visual effects you will see how all the magic happened.

The shots I worked on were really hard.  I had to remove trees in front of the camera and reconstruct people and faces where the trees once were then put them back with transparency over the original plates in stereo 3D. This was done to avoid stretching from the conversion process.

http://www.hanselandgretelmovie.com

Denver Riddle, founder of Color Grading Central brings amazing tutorials to DaVinci Resolve users.

http://www.colorgradingcentral.com/davinci-resolve-tutorials 

DaVinci Resolve is a high end color grading application that is used to correct and enhance the color of film and video. It has been used to color grade more feature films and TV spots than any other system and is considered to be the benchmark or gold standard upon which all systems are measured.

Below are some great breakdowns of the VFX shots by Imageworks.

A key sequence in The Amazing Spider-Man pits Peter Parker against The Lizard in the halls of Peter’s high school. Now, in this video, you can see how the scene came together.