Tag Archives: Reel Review

Reel Review ’17 Results!

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Kaboom.  That’s right, this flaming film strip is about the best and only way to describe what happened the other night at our annual Demo Reel Review – Portland.  Blew.  It. Up.

It gets better every year!  Thanks to everyone for participating this year and of course, our judges (Dan Short, Nicholas Wiegel, Michael Miller and Joel Stewart), who I’d like to thank first and foremost for taking the time out of their busy schedules and being shackled with the responsibility of picking this year’s winners.  Which was not easy.  In the same breath, thanks to MC Jarrod Allen for running the show.

reelieWithout further adieu – this year, in addition to the usual schwag and software, our winners also take home a trophy! Dubbed The Reelie.  Yes, really…  The Reelie.  Designed hastily in a furious late night, last minute session by myself, and then my mess of a model fixed and retopo’d by the one and only Felipe Mirez in the same late night session, and printed admirably at the final hour with the help of some amazing tech from the 3d printing gurus at 3DV (and you thought they only did software!) – I present to you the first in the series.  May this year’s winners don these trophies on their desks like the badge of honor that they are, and taunt losers and even previous winners of years past who can’t help but ogle at the glory that now has a physical manifestation.  We might paint the reels gold for max bling factor.  (btw- get in touch if you’re a modeler and want to design next year’s Reelie)

Now really (reelie?) without any more adieuing – our winners:

Best Motion Design reel – Adam Gill – judges liked the scope and breadth of styles and level of work, with bonus points for a fitting music track.
Award:  Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite + 3 months of Lynda/LinkedIn Learning
Honorable mention:  McKay Marshall (note:  last year’s MD category winner) – judges liked the sound design especially, and the smooth packaging that shows a rare versatility.

Best 3D reel – Eric Scheur – judges liked the personality that came through and the level of character animation, with all of it’s intricate subtleties, on display.
Award:  SideFX Houdini Indie License for the year + 3 months of Lynda/LinkedIn Learning
Honorable mention:  Ira Owens with an interesting look into his world of previz at Laika

Best VFX reel – Esli Becerra – presentation scored major points with the judges, as did versatility and visual impact.
Award:  A license of Blackmagic Fusion Studio + Neat Video + 3 mos. Lynda/LinkedIn Learning, and this limited edition, can’t-be-bought VFX/PDX T-Shirt –

(R.I.P. Bill Paxton!)  Honorable mention VFX:  Kimberly Lashbrook (password: holarango) gives us all something to strive for, and this decision between she and Esli gave the judges fits on so many levels.

The Audience Vote pick for best reel:  Neil Hilken
Award:  1 year of Lynda/LinkedIn Learning

Thanks everyone for coming out and (as always…) keep those reels sharp, Portland!

Annual Design Week Animation Challenge + Demo Reel Review – DRAEMS @ Ziba 4/24

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Spring is in the air, and it means it’s almost that time again!  Our annual Design Week blowout is live, and the ticket link now active.

This year’s animation challenge is yet another brainchild of Jamal Qutub – DRAEMS.   Take a closer look, think of our favorite motion design tool After Effects and I’m sure you’ll make the draemy connection.  Details on the theme or to get signed up as a participant are over at aepdx.org

This year’s demo reel review promises to be our best yet and there’s no better time to polish up your reel and enter it to be reviewed by our expert panel of judges, not only for golden feedback but also great prizes.

This year’s judges include (in no particular order):
Saira and Nicholas Weigel, power couple extraordinaire.  She the Head of Motion at W+K and he a Creative Director primarily at his company !hatKe!
Joel Stewart, Creative Director at his own Foil
Daniel Short, Compositor at large and reigning champion of last year’s Reel Review VFX category
Michael Miller, Owner/Operator/VFX Supervisor at 9iFX

This year’s MC is Motion Designer Jarrod Allen.

Prizes include:
VFX – a license of Blackmagic Design Fusion Studio + a copy of Neat Video’s denoise plugin (a must have!)
3D – a 1 year license of  SideFX Houdini Indie 16
Motion – a license of Red Giant Magic Bullet Suite
All category winners receive a 3 month subscription to Lynda/LinkedIn Learning.
1 Audience winner, voted live, will receive a 1 year subscription.
…and more to come!

To enter the demo reel review, submit your information here.  Please, only fresh reels from the last year.

This year’s reel review will be kept on a strict program schedule so we can’t guarantee all reels will be screened or commented on, but we guarantee a silent email of judge feedback on any/all reels submitted.  You must be PDX-metro based to enter.  You do not need to be present to win.

Details:
VFX/PDX + AEPDX + 3DPDX present
Animation Challenge (DRAEMS) + Reel Review 2017
Ziba Design (Auditorium)
810 NW Marshall St
Portland, OR 97209
April 24, 2017  – 6:30/doors to 9:30pm

Get your tickets now before this sells out!

Sponsored by  / Ziba / Toolfarm / Adobe / 3DV
Side FX / Blackmagic Design / Neat Video / Red Giant
(poster design by Jamal Qutub)

Another Design Week Down – Reel Review ’16 Results!

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packed house

Wrapping up another fun and inspirational Design Week, I wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank all involved with our annual Animation Challenge and Demo Reel Review event.  First and foremost, thanks to Jamal Qutub of AEPDX fame for organizing the Alphabest section of the evening and doing plenty of animation himself in addition to all of the arrangements, walk throughs, coordinating, designing web pages and posters, and other selfless donated time.

I’d like to thank Sarah Bills and the crew (Shawn and Dave) at the Artists Repertory Theatre, the venue.  We can’t blow up a spot without having a spot to blow up, and it’s hard to argue with perfection, from your 25′ projector screen, well staffed & stocked cash bar, and perfect seating for our near capacity crowd of 200.

Finally, I need to thank the judges for the Reel Review.  Dawn Macleod, Brian Smith, and Blain Klitzke could not have been more spot on and helpful.  Thanks to the brothers Macey at 3DV who helped with our projection needs and provided sponsorship support, as did 52 Ltd, OMSI, and Scopic.

With a hefty thanks out of the way, let’s next give props to our winners!

Head on over to the AEPDX tumblr to relive the magic that was Alphabest, complete with links to watch (most of) the animations again at your leisure.  Such creativity on display and every year the animation challenge takes a jump forward by leaps and bounds.

The Reel Review also continues to progress each year as we review and refine the process and judging.  You all have been keeping very, very busy and saying this year’s pack of reels was inspirational is an understatement.

Our overall winner was motion designer Chip Webster, who’s stellar reel can be viewed here.  Chip takes home the entire Trapcode Suite courtesy of Red Giant, plus a year of training from Lynda.com

Our category winners also won big on the night.  Daniel Short, a Compositor fresh on the Portland scene from NYC, won a copy of Blackmagic Design’s Fusion Studio + the fantastic Neat Video noise reduction plugin by wowing us with this reel.  The 3d category winner saw Ramiro Gomez blew us away with a character rigging clinic built into in his reel, which was an education to say the least and not something I’d ever really seen before.  Ramiro takes home a copy of SideFX Houdini Indie 15 for his effort.  Honorable mention to character artist Felipe Mirez for his “demo reel UI” that serves as a great way to identify what roles he plays in each project – you can see that here.  Last but not least, the motion category winner (2nd to Chip, the overall winner) was McKay Marshall, who takes home the license of the new Trapcode Tao plugin for his awesome reel of precision motion design.

Overall an incredible night, and one we look forward to repeating each April as Design Week (in it’s new time slot) rolls around each year.  Next year, I promise to take more photos!  Keep those reels sharp, Portland!

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