So it’s been a while since i have done an update. I currently have a new job since the last post. I left the great confides of Blur and went back to Frantic Films. I will miss and always thank Blur for the vast amounts of training i got there. Those guys are the best people to work for and with.

I did a few months in the Frantic LA office and got to work on a cool project for a little known toy called GI Joe. It was really rad getting to go back in time to the days of playing gi joes with my brother in the basement and bringing new life into the brand.

After working on that for a bit i got to do a test for a new movie. I am not sure i can say which yet. But i will say this. To all the people who come to this site and enjoy the Fume+Kraktoa stuff that i have, I cant wait to show the stuff i am doing now. This whole show (FX wise) is ALL fume and Krakatoa. Using the really cutting edge beta of Krakatoa that has some really dope new features. Such a great toolset.

On another topic. I am planning out a Fume Kraktoa mega DVD training video soon. If you read this and are intrested in said dvd write me an email and let me know topics or ideas you want me to cover. I really want to make a training dvd that has the user questions answered.

That’s all for now.

Enjoy,

Mark

So I am apart of a cool collection of artists from all over. We are putting together all of our work into one site as a global display. The site is still a WIP but i wanted to post my VFX reel from there here also.

Click here to go to the site:  Computer Beach Party

Click Image for Reel:

enjoy!,

Mark

So a new trailer I worked on at Blur is up and running. It’s for a game called Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. I have to say that this trailer is pretty cool. And i also have to give props to the man who handled the majority of the effects, Brandon Riza. The man is a machine! I got to do two cool effects that stand out to me. One was the arm disintegration and the guy who smashes another guy into a set of stairs.

Click image for trailer:

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Enjoy!,

Mark

A well needed change!

So I finally got the chance to update my site layout a bit (iPhone version coming soon). I had recently been putting up more posts and work as I felt it would keep me motivated and show myself the long hours are worth it. It actually has, in its own way, so I figured I should keep at it. I am also going to start to post ideas and thoughts about work and cg. I have a hard time writting things down, journaling ideas, or mental sketching.

I also realize no one really reads this other than my mother so don’t worry it won’t get deep.

Things that i still need to do:
-upload an NDA approved reel
-bug fix site on all browsers
-start new job but not till after I’m tan.

With that I’m out.

Enjoy!,

Mark Theriault

So, I had a really cool honor this week. Frantic Films really dug my Radiohead visualization and asked to use my image in the Siggraph Data Sheet for Krakatoa.  Of course, I said ‘hell yes!’  With that, I wanted to show off a sneak peek and post the Data Sheet.  I also wanted to say if you use Max and do particle work and haven’t bought a copy of Krakatoa…you’re crazy.

Cool stuff!,

Mark

Well, it’s that time of year. Where the mass of nerds all spread out around the globe converge. Some come to further there careers, some come to make one, and others go to get drunk at lavish corporate parties. All over the world people are getting there reels, speeches, eye prescriptions, and alcohol tolerance up to par. And for me, this year is different, this year I was asked to present some FX composting techniques for the software I use at work called Digital Fusion. So if you are in the building on Wednesday August 13th stop by booth 801 in the times listed below to watch me stumble words and make images on computer screens. Also, that night is the Blur Party. Which consists of Live music from Crystal Method, free drinks, and great times. Get your tickets fast and don’t ask me for any since I get a snazzy bracelet saying “I sir am special”.

The time of the Greatest Presentation of Siggraph:

10am
12pm
2pm
4pm

Booth 801

See you there!,
Mark

I got to do a really cool effect/project called Tomb Raider Underworld. I got to do the initial scene’s effects of really slowly floating ashes. The whole thing was animated and worked together going forward. I found it easy to actually go in reverse to give the correct motion.

click image for the full trailer!

I ran through a lot of tests which i you can see here (again click image):

Enjoy!

Mark Theriault

So Radiohead posted an intresting new music video called “House of cards”. It was a cool little tech piece of work. What was really impressive to me was that they released all of the point cloud data for anyone to take. So knowing that i work with point cloud data on a daily basis with an application called Krakatoa I got to work. I spent around 2 hours creating this piece. I would love to have more time to develop it into something more imaginative but currently free time isn’t on my side.

so here is a frame of the video and if you click it, it will take you to the youtube clip. I would suggest watching it in High Quality as youtube likes to chew up nicely compressed footage.

Enjoy!,

Mark Theriault

Well some of it.

I created a number of effects in this trailer. I will have a breakdown soon when i post my Reel to the public. Currently I have a reel but its by request only.

Click the image below for the HD trailer!:

Enjoy!,

Mark Theriault

So, there is a cool article in Post Magazine about Journey to the Center of the Earth which I worked on while I was at Frantic Films. Throughout the article there are a bunch of paragraphs about some of the effects that I developed for the film. If you would like to see some R&D Samples check out the portfolio section for the Frantic R&D Video. There are a ton more effects in the movie that I created but here are a few specific mentions from article in Post:

RAINDROPS AND DINOS

“Frantic made its own rain, and Brevig and company made rain on the set the old-fashioned way. The question was how would the two match up? “You’d have to key out what you could and replace a lot of rain,” Harvey says, and a good bit of R&D time went into solving this. “It was amazing how much the rain added to the stereo aspect of the show. It was so cool because you could see this volume of rain extending back to the horizon and raindrops right in front of your face.”

“You can’t use a stock sea for something like this. Journey’s raging sea was completely designed and executed using Frantic’s simulation R&D, fluid dynamics, particle spray and more at the Winnipeg facility.”

“…and the painstaking addition of replacement of rain water (in this case both practical and CG) that strikes the waves and soaks the subterranean travelers. The storm’s innumerable raindrops had to be made to behave properly in stereo space or they could commit visual violations like suddenly disappearing behind an actor’s head.”

Check out the article by clicking the image below:

 Check out the R&D Reel by clicking the image below:

Mark Theriault