Students From Filmakademie Baden-Wuertemberg School Win Autodesk
Sponsored Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in
a Student Project
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2012--
Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to inspiring students of all ages
to imagine, design and create a better world, Autodesk,
Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is proud to recognize this year’s winners of the
Visual Effects Society’s (VES) award for “Outstanding Visual Effects in
a Student Project.”
The winning student project this year is “a.maize” created by
Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper, and Florian Wittmann of Filmakademie
Baden-Wuertemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Using Autodesk Softimage
software, the students created visually stunning computer animation of
larger than life popcorn explosions set in the streets and plazas of
Stuttgart. The promotional trailer captures the anticipation and
excitement for the industry’s annual FMX conference in Germany. This is
the third time in the award’s four-year history that students from
Filmakademie Baden-Wuertemberg have won the award.
“We wanted the FMX trailer to showcase how the conference brings people
and ideas together, and filling the city of Stuttgart with giant popcorn
pieces was a way for us to convey amazement and wonder. We created the
popcorn pieces with Softimage and particularly with ICE (the Softimage
Interactive Creative Environment),” said Co-Director Roman Kaelin.
“Winning the VES Student Award was a complete surprise, and we are
honored and very happy.”
Sponsored by Autodesk, the VES “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student
Project” award was created in 2009 as the result of a challenge to the
VES by Steven Spielberg to recognize the future of the visual effects
industry (see related video).
This year, the VES received entries from around the world. Although it
was not a requirement for submission, most nominees used Autodesk 3D
animation software to create their short films. The list of nominees
for the 2012 award were:
-
a.maize – Submitted by Filmakademie, Baden-Wuertemberg.
Students: Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper and Florian Wittmann. http://vimeo.com/36135396
-
Aquatic Bloom - Submitted by School of Visual Arts, New
York. Students: Susie Hong and Bokyeong Kim. http://vimeo.com/22608388
-
Defective Detective - Submitted by Ringling College.
Students: Avner Geller and Stevie Lewis. http://vimeo.com/25541923
-
Hai Hase - Submitted by Filmakademie, Baden-Wuertemberg.
Students: Florian Greth and Julia Reck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0N6QwpauDQ
-
Renee the Movie - Submitted by DAVE School. Students:
Syrena Edmonds, Zack Heimbegner, Brian Mullen and Nathaniel Skinner. http://www.reneethemovie.com/
-
We Miss You - Submitted by Filmakademie,
Baden-Wuertemberg. Students: Jann Doeppert, Tonio Freitag, Hanna Maria
Heidrich, and Sebastian Nozon. www.wemissyou.de
“The high caliber of the films produced by this year’s nominees is
evidence that students from around the world are hungry for
opportunities to showcase their skills to the visual effects industry,”
said Marc Petit, senior vice president of Autodesk Media &
Entertainment. “As one of the leading providers of Digital Entertainment
Creation software, Autodesk is proud to provide students with
experiences and software to help them succeed in their careers. We
congratulate the team from Filmakademie Baden-Wuertemberg and all of
this year’s student nominees.”
“Every year the quality and art that we see in our student awards
category completely blows our socks off. a.maize is a
tremendously exciting work of art that uses the same technology and
tools as industry professionals to produce the visual effects," said
Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the VES.
For more information on the awards and to watch each nominee’s short
film, please visit the VES student awards page on AREA,
Autodesk’s online community for digital artists.
Autodesk Education Initiatives
Autodesk wants students of all ages to imagine, design and create a
better world. By partnering with academic leaders and institutions,
Autodesk is helping educators to build skills and engagement, both in
and out of the classroom, in order to prepare students for successful
careers in architecture, engineering and digital arts. Autodesk offers
the technology and learning resources that inspire the next generation
of professionals, while providing institutions with educational pricing,
training, curricula and community resources. For more information about
Autodesk education programs and solutions, visit autodesk.com/education.
About the VES
The Visual Effects Society is a professional, honorary group, dedicated
to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of visual effects and
to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual
effects profession. The VES is the entertainment industry’s only
official organization representing the extended community of visual
effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers,
technology developers, educators and studio executives. For more about
the VES, visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D
design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the
manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and
entertainment industries -- including the last 16 Academy Award winners
for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software to design, visualize
and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in
1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of
state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information
about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD and Softimage are registered trademarks or
trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates
in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered
trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other
brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective
holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services
offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice,
and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may
appear in this document. © 2012 Autodesk, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Source: Autodesk, Inc.
Autodesk, Inc.
Noah Cole, 503-707-3872
noah.cole@autodesk.com