VFX Notes: Ep 3 – Black Widow, SIGGRAPH preview, LUTs, CG vs. practical

July 13, 2021

Hugo and Ian discuss movies and more in this latest episode.

Hugo Guerra from Hugo’s Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters are back with episode 3 of VFX Notes. We offer our thoughts on what we’ve been watching, including Black Widow, give a preview of SIGGRAPH 2021 sessions, talk about why VFX artists need to know LUTs, and enter the discourse on CG vs. practical filmmaking.

You can listen in at Apple Podcasts and at Spotify, or via the embedded video below, which includes clips and images. Also below, a quick overview of the episode, and some detailed show notes. Also, here’s the RSS feed.

Episode run down

02:21 What we’re watching
24:30 SIGGRAPH preview
32:34 What is a LUT?
47:05 CG vs. practical

1. What we’ve been watching

The Plot Against America: VFX Voice story

Black Widow: Wikipedia entry

– Also, Hugo mentioned the Paula Rego exhibition at the Tate Britain.

2. The biggest VFX tech thing right now

A preview of SIGGRAPH 2021

– Much of the conference programme has been announced, with main sessions happening 9-13 August

– Some suggested sessions:

The Making of Marvel Studios’ WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki

ILM Presents: The Visual Effects & Virtual Production of “The Mandalorian”

Featured Speakers (Ian’s program). Amy Hennig from Skydance New Media is one of the speakers.

Real-Time Live!

Underwater Procedural Vegetation on Pixar’s ‘Luca’

Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animation Presents: ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’

Making Blizzard Entertainment’s ‘Diablo IV’ Announcement Cinematic

Pixar’s ‘Soul’ and the Search for Authenticity

The Tech Papers

The Tech and Art of Cyberspaces in ‘Cyberpunk 2077’

3. Ian’s VFX tech question for Hugo

What are LUTs?

– Videos to check out, below

– B&H Photo article, ‘An Introduction to LUTs’

4. Things we’ve seen on the web that people should check out

The CG / practical debate

– The Insider piece on F9, below

– Some relevant F9 links: Post Perspective article, and DNEG’s posting about their work

In The Heights article


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