BUF Outline

BUF

This was originally a PowerPoint presentation, and the movie won't go any bigger than this, so I am sorry about the text size, but if you want to see each slide, you will need to pause it.

Again, sorry for the size!!!

Demo Reel:

http://www.buf.fr/main.php?class=visual_effects

There are many studios that deserve recognition for their contribution to the popular world of visual entertainment. So to be able to focus on a single special effects house would be like picking a single grain of sand from the oceans side. There is however a special effects house called BUF, whom has been hiding behind some of the most innovative visual effects up to date.

BUF is a visual effects company that prides themselves on being innovative and original. They have one many awards with their achievements with developmental design and special editing tools.

Founded by Pierre Buffin in 1984.
The main location is based in Paris, France, with an office in Los Angeles that provides direct contact with American partners.

Their major accomplishments
with visual effects are their approach to character animation. Their character setup is more anatomically correct, with a "Natural deformation system," that will create realistic skinning.

Another technique that Buf is known for is the technique of bullet time. The technique for using bullet time is most recognized in the movie "The Matrix". The inspiration for that scene came directly from research done by BUF while working on the music video, "Like a Rolling Stone," done in 1996

They are also known for their camera mapping techniques, camera mapping is mainly used for matte paintings in movies. These days matte paintings aren't just static flat paintings in the background. Matte paintings can now be 2.5D - they are projected onto 3D geometry which allows for much more complex camera moves and perspective changes. BUF is also well known for their stereo modeling, which is an application that creates 3D objects that is automatically assembled with small surface patches from a series of over lapping photographs to develop a full 3D model.

Most all of their applications are special in house applications that are exclusive to the house, most of the tool which were developed by Pierre Buffin.

1. Feature film
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Batman Begins, Fight Club, Speed Racer and City of Ember.
2. Commercial
Spots from Fox Sports to Gucci
3. Graphic design and music video
The well known Sharp multi-screens piece.
PS2 game God of War ll
music video Superbus "Addiction"

Future projects:

Intelligent 3D content extraction and manipulation for film and games

i3DPost is an EU Project under Framework 7 ICT Programme. This project is formed of six companies and educational institutions that are Europe's leading specialists in their fields. The project will run for three years.

i3DPost will develop new methods and intelligent technologies for the extraction of structured 3D content models from video, at a level of quality suitable for use in digital cinema and interactive games.

The research will enable the increasingly automatic manipulation and re-use of characters, with changes of viewpoint and lighting.

I3DPost will combine advances in 3D data capture, 3D motion estimation, post-production tools and media semantics. The result will be film quality 3D content in a structured form, with semantic tagging, which can be manipulated in a graphic production pipeline and reused across different media platforms.

Information obtained from the following websites (later to be cited):
http://www.i3dpost.eu/Project-Partners/BUF-Compagnie
http://www.buf.fr/main.php?class=latest