Art Direction and Digital Sculpting, Modeling in StudioTools, and Practical Light and Color

September 17th, 2007, HOLLYWOOD. The Gnomon Workshop is pleased to announce three new additions to our 3D and 2D libraries! Zack Petroc returns with Volume 2 of his fantastic Art Direction and Digital Sculpting series, utilizing ZBrush 3. We also introduce new instructors Henry Goecke and Jeremy Vickery. Henry teaches the basics of modeling surfaces in StudioTools and Jeremy lectures on light and color theory from a practical perspective as applied to 2D and 3D image creation.

Accolades:

"Jeremy has a deep understanding of the craft of CG lighting. His technical knowledge is strong, but his passion lies in creating artistically gorgeous images. As a senior lighting artist at Pixar, he uses these strengths to create breathtaking and memorable imagery. This DVD is a special treat since Jeremy is also a very capable and generous teacher and mentor, he truly loves to share what he knows."

- Sharon Calahan
Director of Photography
Pixar Animation Studios

"Jeremy Vickery is a well respected artist and technical director whose work you have probably seen in some of your favorite films. A knowledge of color as Jeremy demonstrates is a vital asset in pursuing a career in visual arts or 3D lighting."

-Jeremy Birn
Technical Director
Pixar Animation Studios

"Henry is a very talented hands-on artist. Literally! He's the only person I know that can sketch a design quickly on paper, build a prototype model in 3D that can actually be manufactured, then he has the parts milled or molded from his own 3D files and puts the whole thing together himself. It's really incredible to see his designs come to life in a physical medium."

John Willette
CGI Director
Armstrong White

"Zack Petroc's creative gifts place him at the forefront of the emerging field of digital art direction. Zack's great talent in all the traditional areas of artistic expression, coupled with a technical ability that takes a back seat to no one, combine to make him a truly unique talent. A rare ability to bring true artistry to life in a highly technical environment helps to set Zack apart."

- Kevin Conran
Film Maker

DVD Descriptions:

The Digital Maquette, Volume Two
Art Direction and Digital Sculpting with Zack Petroc
Zack Petroc's Art Directing Series continues with The Digital Maquette, Volume 2, in which he outlines the creation of the Froad Rider, the costume and peripheral accessories using ZBrush. Watch as Zack develops the character from a low-resolution organized mesh for the head, and box meshes for the costume and accessories. After posing the character using ZBrush's new Transpose tools he documents the process for outputting the character as a 3D print with Gentle Giant Studios. Zack presents the workflow with the artist in mind, highlighting specific tools and techniques and focusing on how they add to the creative freedom of the design process. He also discusses how to define your character from both an art directing and digital sculpting perspective. This lecture is intended for Art Directors and Production Designers who are interested in discovering how digital sculpting can add to their creative process. Additionally, it presents information for artists who are interested in growing their skills as design sculptors.

Modeling Essentials with StudioTools
Industrial Design Techniques with Henry Goecke
The knowledge and understanding of NURBS based 3D design modeling is a crucial step in the mastery of modern design and production techniques. StudioTools is an industry standard program that helps release your creative ideas. Henry lays the foundation needed to understand this program's rich and detailed features. Methods are covered in detail and the curves you need to create the example model are supplied. This puts the focus on creating surfaces and trouble- shooting. This DVD is intended for beginners and as a refresher course for professionals. At the end of the lecture you will have a visually complex, richly detailed model to inspire further learning of the software.

Practical Light and Color
Theory and Application with Jeremy Vickery
In this DVD, Jeremy discusses the fundamentals of light and color from a very practical standpoint. Going back to the basics of how light works in the real world, he focuses on an often neglected subject. Intended as an introduction to understanding light and color, the lecture covers topics such as bounced light, shadows, atmosphere and camera effects, going beyond basic color theory while staying relatively untechnical. Jeremy demonstrates many practical examples of how to apply the concepts to both 2D and 3D image creation.

Instructor Bios:

Zack Petroc has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a major in Sculpture and dual minor in Drawing and Digital Media. Additionally, he studied anatomy at Case School of Medicine and figure sculpture in Florence, Italy. He began his career as Model Supervisor on Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and went on to work with the Conran brothers as an Art Director on John Carter of Mars. Production recently began on "Attaboy", his first Sculpted Novel and he continues to freelance as an Art Director and Concept Designer for feature film and video games. As a member of the Art Director's Guild Technology Committee, Zack utilizes his strong foundation in traditional art and design to pioneer modern approaches to art direction and digital sculpting.

Henry Goecke is a lead sculptor at the General Motors Advanced Design Studio in Warren, Michigan. He has worked on such show cars as the 2006 Camaro, 2005 Sequel, and 2004 Velite. He has also had the fortune to work on two feature films: Poseidon and Scary Movie 3. Henry has been involved with industrial design for over ten years, and has also taught several Autodesk StudioTools classes. He has a prototype fabricator / special effects background, and has worked on projects such as the Segway and the Ibot 3000. Henry is also involved in several proprietary projects at GM that cannot be disclosed.

Jeremy Vickery is currently a Lighting Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios but has also worked as a concept artist, freelance illustrator, modeler/texture artist, and CG generalist. After graduating from Full Sail Real World Education in 1997 with a general degree in Digital Media, Jeremy got his first job as a digital modeler/texture artist and concept designer at Big Idea Productions in Chicago, working on several of the popular kids animated videos Veggie Tales. He later worked at Fathom Studios in Atlanta as a CG generalist and became the Lighting Supervisor. He joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2003 and has worked as a lighting artist on such films as The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and Wall-e.

Since 2000, The Gnomon Workshop has provided artists and students with the educational resources they need to succeed as artists in the entertainment industries. Whether they're interested in design, modeling, effects, animation, storytelling or matte painting, these DVDs provide a valuable educational resource for students around the world. The Gnomon Workshop is the sister company of The Gnomon School of Visual Effects, which provides professional caliber visual effects instruction to students and professionals in Los Angeles, California.

Visit http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com for more information on The Gnomon Workshop and our library of over 180 training DVDs.

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