Alex Duque received his BFA in Computer Animation at the Miami International University of Art & Design in 2001. After graduation he moved back to his hometown in Bogota Colombia to become a freelance 3D artist for Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy and Mather, Mc Cann Erickson,

J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett. After developing a strong relationship with his clients, Alex became their “go to” guy for the development of their 3D illustrations, 3D animations, and CG enhancement projects. Some of his credits include work for Toyota, Renault, Energizer, Ford and Citibank.

After working as a freelance artist for the past seven years he returned to school to earn his masters degree in Visual effects. Upon receiving his degree, he was given the opportunity to become a professor at Digital Media Arts College (DMAC) in Boca Raton FL. and has loved it ever since. Currently Alex is a professor for advanced classes in modeling, lighting, texturing as well a visual effects for both the BFA and the MFA programs and he still is actively involved in the industry.

Alex’s workshop will guide you through the main stages of development for a visual effects shot and through the process you will learn some some basic tips, tricks and techniques.

ah1 shotdown from alex duque on Vimeo.

*Click on image for a larger view*

Lite Pass Event Schedule

*Click on image for a larger view*

Don’t forget about the Game Room!

Evolve CG will have a Game Room with various console based games at the event this year. The game room will be open all day Saturday and Sunday until 2:00pm. We will be keeping score on 4 of the Games and awarding prizes for the highest scores (for each game). The highest scores will receive a cash prize of $100.00, Second highest scores will receive $50.00 for a total of $600.00 in prizes. Prizes will be distributed during the Raffle session on Sunday.

Xin Wang was born in Hangzhou, P.R.China, next to the beautiful West Lake. Right after graduate from SCAD, he has been working at Blizzard Film Department, currently he is the Cinematic Character Supervisor, helping to create CG characters and creatures for the in-game-movies, he is one of main creators behind Kerrigan, the Queen of Blade. He has worked on the cinematics of some of the world’s best-selling PC games, such as “Starcraft Ghost”, “World of Warcraft”, “World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade”, “World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King” and “Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty” and most recently on “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm”. He is currently working on the cinematics of Diablo.

Xin’s master workshop will focus on the creation of “kerrigan” the iconic female character from the critically acclaim Starcraft game series.

We are pleased to announce Evolve CG’s Conference Wrap party at club VAIN, Orlando’s Largest Club with the Biggest Attitude. This super club is a combination of a Miami style dance club and a live entertainment complex featuring cutting edge 3D entertainment. With 4 themed bars throughout 3 distinct environments and world-class service to accompany the ultra-modern atmosphere, VAIN is the nightlife experience you’ve been waiting for. You won’t want to miss the be the best party of the year!

Party Details:

• Saturday, April 30, 2011. Party starts at 9:30pm (be there early it will get packed).
• Venue: VAIN Night Club http://www.vainorlando.com/video-gallery.html
• 22 S. Magnolia Ave.
  Orlando, FL 32801
  T: (407) 835-3590
  
• *Free entrance for Evolve CG 2011 attendees.
• Age: 18 plus, government issued ID a must.
• Dress code: no t-shirts, baggy jeans or baseball caps. Dress to Impress.

Be ready to have fun!

*Does not include drinks but there will be a happy hour.

JON KARAFIN, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
DIGITAL DOMAIN MEDIA GROUP

“Revealing the Magic Behind 2D to 3D Conversion; A review of Stereoscopic VFX, conversion, and the desired skills DD looks for in a potential candidate.”

Jon Karafin is Director of Production Operations at Digital Domain Holdings. His current focus is Digital Domain’s new Stereography/VFX department in Florida. Previously, Jon was VP of Production Operations with In-Three, Inc. and developed stereoscopic production facilities in Mumbai, India and Los Angeles, CA. He has applied his diverse background in visual arts and digital production to direct and optimize the company’s daily operations and stereoscopic production pipeline. In addition, Jon actively develops innovative stereoscopic techniques and systems, with the goal of increasing artist efficiency and product quality.

Jon Karafin, Director of Production Operations at Digital Domain Media Group, will be revealing the tricks of low quality stereo conversion, as well as reviewing the artistry behind Digital Domain’s Dimensionalization® process. He will provide the audience with the knowledge of how to discern high quality stereographic VFX to help arm artists with the knowledge of the skill sets required for employment at Digital Domain’s Florida based studio.

Brett McConnell and Nickie Huai are a lighting and rendering duo from California. As a married couple in the often nomadic production industry, they have been fortunate enough to work together in almost ever branch of the computer graphics industry—commercials in Manhattan, video games in Southern California and films in Los Angeles—culminating with their trip down to New Zealand in 2009 to work with Weta on James Cameron’s “Avatar”.

Brett and Nickie both come from fine arts backgrounds and hold Masters of Science degrees from New York University in Digital Imaging and Design.  They worked on the live action films “Speed Racer” and “Night at The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian” and animated features “Horton Hears a Who” and “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown”.  Currently a CG Supervisor at Sony Playstation, Brett is finishing up work on the pre-rendered cut sequences for “Resistance 3.” Nickie is Lighting Lead at DisneyToons studio, overseeing the lighting direction of 4 films currently in production.

Brett and Nickie’s Master Workshop will display practical steps towards implementing effective lighting and rendering regardless of the situation or software.  Focusing on the multiple elements that make up a successfully executed shot, including scene organization, scene breakouts for composite, managing rendering resources and a step-by-step method to lighting, they will show you the problems solved every day by professional lighters in the computer graphics industry.

View more of Brett’s work
View more of Nickie’s work

Gary M. Davis began his career after receiving a BFA in Computer Graphics from Bowling Green State University in 1992. Since that time, he has been heavily involved in visual effects and motion graphics for numerous clients in television, film, video games and architectural visualization projects. After spending nearly six-years developing ride films and digital photography systems for themed entertainment venues, at the turn of the Millennium he formed visualZ, LLC. From 2004-2007, Davis served as the only independent, worldwide certified training specialist for 3ds Max, Combustion and Toxik. During this time he also authored The Focal Easy Guide to Combustion. At the Siggraph 2007 Conference, Davis was awarded the title of Autodesk 3ds Max Master. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Media and Entertainment Division of Autodesk as a Solutions Engineer specializing in 3D animation and compositing software solutions.

View Gary’s Blog on “The Area”

Creative Director, technical artist and project lead at Nuclei, Miguel graduated with a BA from Florida Atlantic Univeristy’s Computer Arts Program. While working towards his degree he also worked for Navteq’s Mapper division. While at Mapper he was responsible for creating 3D buildings and textures for use with Navteq’s real-time 3D GPS systems.

From college he went on to found Nuclei, Inc. which has gone on to work with several clients including HGTV and has developed games for Unreal mobile including Fridge Raider and Silent Death. He also teaches Unreal at several universities in south Florida. An indie game developer to the core making the best out of this interesting and evolving industry.

Miguel’s talk will take you through the workflow of the Unreal 3 engine.

Visit the company website at: Nuclei3d

Here is a list of the current companies that are scheduled to take part at this year’s job fair. Please click on the studios below to see what positions they are looking for.

AnimaticMedia

DreamWorks Animation

Sony Games

Shadows in Darkness

Activision

Nuclei3d

Digital Domain (Florida)

EA

We will be updating this page in the coming weeks with more recruiters, stay tuned!