WHY IS HOUDINI THE FUTURE OF 3D AND VFX?

SEE WHY HOUDINI, A STATE OF THE ART ANIMATION AND VFX PIPELINE TOOL IS CHANGING THE GAME. 

Written by Rachel Kim

 

Explosions, earth-shattering destruction, glittering swirls of magic—these are the unavoidable spices of film and television. Today, much of these effects are created by a single tool—Houdini. But Houdini’s influence stretches even further. Though traditionally favoured by the effects departments, Houdini is a 3D and visual effects package that handles everything from modeling, animation, effects, character effects, lighting, and compositing. It has been embraced for its versatility and powerful capabilities.  

“Houdini is very much designed and conceived as an end-to-end pipeline tool,” says Luca Pataracchia, Senior Production Specialist at SideFX and an industry-experienced Houdini artist. SideFX is Houdini’s software developer.

Houdini had an ethos of embracing procedural generation since its inception in 1996. The software has firmly established itself as a powerhouse in the industry.

Houdini FX for Film + Games | InFocus Film School

Click here to learn more about InFocus Film School’s Houdini FX for Film + Games Program

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WHAT HAPPENS IN A T.V. WRITER’S ROOM?

what happens in a t.v. writer's room

THIS STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD KNOW AND EXPECT WHEN BECOMING A WRITER FOR A TELEVISION SERIES!

what happens in a t.v. writer's room

Written by Johnny Papan

 

Characters, storylines and the direction of a series evolves with the team who writes it. Though the seed of a series may often come from the mind of one individual, it takes a team to plant, water and blossom a television show into what we see on screen. A show’s direction can completely change based on a number of factors. Characters originally intended to last through the finale are killed off two seasons early because an actor decides to move on, or two protagonists will develop an unplanned romance because it’s what the audience wants. 

In the hit mockumentary series The Office (U.S.) the show’s main couple Jim and Pam were written to break up in it’s final season. However, after audience backlash, the entire production backpedaled, quickly rewriting, reshooting and re-cutting episodes to mend the fictitious couple’s breaking bond as the season was already on-air, making sure to get the couple back together for a happy series finale. 

Although the screenwriter’s journey is a long and winding road, it’s never too late to start. Diving into the world of film and television later in life, InFocus Screenwriting Instructor Roslyn Muir bloomed into an actively working screenwriter who has penned feature films, television movies and, most recently, was part of the writer’s room for the CBS television series Ransom. 

Originally working for the series as an intern after being accepted into the Corus Writer’s Apprentice Program, Muir used the time to learn, network and push for a greater opportunity. 

After meticulously studying the show, rewatching old episodes and reading past scripts, Roslyn became a story editor for Ransom Season 3 and penned the ninth episode, “Broken Record”.

Now, Roslyn shares her experience of how a television show breaks down inside a writer’s room. 

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