Hello! We would love it if you posted a short introduction of yourself, what you are looking forward to about our software, and how you feel like you can contribute!
October 23, 2010 | Thinkbox Software
I feel silly introducing you to myself - BUT…here goes.
I’m the original founder of Frantic Films, and from that seed of vfx/commercial goodness came the R&D department which actually managed to successfully transition technology we used in production into software for sale…and we did it well! Extremely well!
I think the key in that success was that fact that we were creating technology to solve a real problem - there was clearly a need for the tools we had…a blank space. For example, render farm management software was unpredictable, buggy and unstable. It wasn’t robust and at the time- and most importantly it was designed usually for one app. you would have a farm with machines dedicated to Fusion and separate machines dedicated to MAX. If the Fusion machines were idle, then the MAX jobs weren’t rendering on those machines. In order to change it, you had to -manually- change the machines by running the specific render management software. How ridiculous that sounds now!
After a variety of roles within Frantic as President, VFX Supervisor and eventually Creative head of Prime Focus North America, I find myself back doing what I loved the most - working with the technologists and programming artists on projects that we control the destiny of. To be clear, I know that the future of Thinkbox is incredibly rich and our capabilities are unlimited.
My immediate goal is to create a fantastic work environment, remove boundaries to development and focus our incredible talent on what comes next. The “what next” is where our imagination lies, and I hope, where the imagination of our users - the talented tds and artists who use our tools to help accomplish their visions exists.
This is why the current phrase “What comes next is your imagination” is what I am currently choosing as our first goal as company.
We want to make tools for you to create your worlds, your images and make it easier to do so, so lets get started, and lets talk about ‘what comes next’!
Chris Bond
CEO/ President
October 23, 2010 | Chris Bond
Ah, the smell of fresh paint of a new website… So exciting!
I joined Frantic Films as Technical Director in January 2004. It was a cold winter in Winnipeg, but a hot season for RnD with Deadline 2004 about to be released and Flood being used for an animated fluid character in a movie for the first time.
The following year saw the birth of the Frantic Films point renderer which a year later was rewritten into what is known as Krakatoa today, as well as the early versions of Amaretto which was my first serious RnD project participation thanks to the hybrid SDK/MAXScript concept. That same 2006 I started helping with the GUI of the early Beta versions of Krakatoa which was originally derived from the Amaretto UI and I got hooked so much I still cannot stop tweaking it…
Since 2007 I have been developing both the UI and the documentation of the particle renderer and have participated actively in its community building and support via the public and beta forums. Somewhere in between I also got to contribute code to the 3ds Max Submitter to Deadline, and of course got to use both products on enough VFX projects to have them very close to my heart.
While I am still employed as TD by Prime Focus VFX, I am determined to help Thinkbox Software with the continuing development of the existing and potential future products in a consulting role and just can’t wait to see what’s next…
Bobo
That MAXScript Guy
October 25, 2010 | bobo petrov
I joined Frantic Films as a co-op student back in the summer of 2004. Deadline 2004 was still in its infancy, but we managed to push it through the final stages of beta testing and get it out the door in August. At the time, it only supported a handful of applications, and was only available for Windows.
At the beginning of 2005, with diploma in hand, I jumped at the opportunity to rejoin the Frantic RnD department on a permanent basis, and was looking forward to contributing to the Deadline project again. A few weeks in though, circumstances resulted in me taking over the lead developer role, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.
It’s been exiting to watch Deadline grow into what it is today. It now supports over 40 applications, runs on 3 operating systems, and is used by hundreds of companies around the world. I’ve also had the luxury to travel to many interesting places for trade shows and client visits. I’ve met and partied with some fascinating people along they way, and even managed to damage a rental van in the process (I’ll never look at a pillar the same again). But those crazy days are slowing down and family life is starting to take over. Laura and I have a 17 month old son named Carson, and we’re expecting our second child in March.
I’m looking forward to continue working with this group of talented people. The future for our current product list is brighter than ever, and I can’t wait to see what new products we come up with down the road.
Ryan
October 25, 2010 | Ryan Russell
I began as a software developer at Frantic Films on a co-op work term in 2006. I joined the team full time one year later.
I started off writing scripts and tools for artists during the production of Superman Returns. I then took the lead development roll on our Amaretto software. Amaretto is a 3ds Max renderer plugin that interfaces with NVIDIA Gelato’s renderer to produce film quality images. In 2008 NVIDIA stopped development on Gelato and Amaretto released its final version. Developing Amaretto and being part of visual effects production left me with valuable knowledge of rendering concepts, shader development, and 3ds Max programming.
In 2008 I started to work heavily on our fluid simulation software. I took over all development on Flood:Surf, our ocean surface generator. I also branched out and became the lead developer of Flood:Spray, our particle fluid simulator. Additionally, I have done a lot of development on our voxel fluid simulator and have worked heavily with the simulation department to create fluid effects for production. My work included developing tools for the entire Fluids pipeline, from simulation all the way to final rendering. Working in fluid simulation has provided me with a great deal of experience in physical simulation and high performance computing.
I am pleased to continue working with our very talented team and am excited to move forward with Thinkbox.
Conrad
October 25, 2010 | Conrad Wiebe
I started working with Chris Bond in August 2005. It was a dry summer and I needed to stop living with my parents. He took a chance on me and hired me to work on Frantic Film’s in-house fluid simulator Flood. Superman Returns gave me my first real taste of VFX production and that is where I met some of the fine folks who are now on the Thinkbox Advisory Board. Chris Harvey supervised my mad scripted fluid simulations for the ocean floor in Superman Returns and the rest they say is history. Or at least slightly forgotten. I worked predominantly on Flood, including a full rewrite executed in parts over Journey To Center of the Earth, and Dragonball Evolution. I have dabbled in the 2D realm, reviving my research background in computer vision and contributed other bits and pieces over the years.
I have gone from Developer, to Lead Developer, to R&D Supervisor (I hate lakes of lava), and finally to Director of Development. Now, I have the privilege of working with this fine group of developers, who have continually exceeded my expectations over the years. I could not be happier to continue working with so many great minds.
The greatest work has always been achieved when developers and users are in a collaborative tug-o-war that pulls us both farther than we could reach on our own. I am ecstatic that I get to continue working with the talent and ingenuity of the Thinkbox team and the passion, artistry and creativity of our users.
The foundation has been laid for something truly fantastic.
Ian
November 2, 2010 | Ian Fraser
Hi! I’m Troy McClure! You might remember me as a compositor on such films as Scooby Doo 2, Superman Returns, and Dragon Ball Evolution! No, i’m not really Troy McClure, nor am I as handsome as our beloved yellow actor, (or have the impeccable resume) but one thing we do share is our love of movies and the art of film making…
Let me take you back, waaaay back to the mid 1990’s. A young and highly impressionable Kert Gartner is sitting in front of the TV on a lazy Saturday afternoon… Around 3pm, while sorting my Saturday flyer delivery I sit entranced, watching Movie Magic on channel 8, MTN. That show cast a mystic spell on me, more powerful than 1000 gypsy hexes! Visions of elaborate miniatures, shot against seas of blue… Model makers, crafting spaceships out of razors and left over model kits… Film, flying through huge car sized machines to produce something un-real, something incredible, something… Magic! I was hooked… There was no turning back…
Fast forward a few years, and 10 orders of magnitude of computer processing power later, and you’ll find me sitting in front of my trusty Power Mac 7500/100 learning the art of animation and compositing with Adobe After Effects and Photoshop. Rather than do the things most teenagers would do like “date” and “kiss girls”, my life revolved around things like “Keyframes”, “besier curves” and “Time-Remapping”.
Years were spent downloading, learning, and assimilating every piece of software I could get my hands on. Everything from Audio editing, real time video manipulation, to 3D rendering and animation. If it ran on a Mac, I probably used it at one point or another… I created countless videos, and spent obscene amounts of money on 100MB hard drives and SD video capture cards so I could explore the world of digital video, 3D animation and visual effects…
After a brief stint at A-Channel Manitoba as their graphic designer and motion graphics artist, I applied to Frantic Films (for the 2nd time) and was finally introduced to this brave new world…
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when walking into Frantic’s doors for the first time. I asked myself: “Is movie magic really just a bunch of guys and computers?”
I remember a time before Deadline, where we had to walk into the render farm to check our renders. Did Mike leave for the day? Time to fire up his computer to render off a few frames of this comp locally!
The thought that we could use what essentially added up to pre-alpha level fluid simulation software on a feature film to create one of the major charters in dozens of shots? At the time I thought it was pretty insane, and in most industries, it probably would be. At the time, I didn’t realize that skating along that razor thin edge of success or failure is inherent in the visual effects industry. Over the years, I’d see this repeated again and again in ever increasing levels of complexity, but one way or another Frantic always pulled through. Shots were finalled, and we all lived to fight another day…
To this day, I still feel incredibly grateful and humbled that I was able to partake in the wild ride that was Frantic Films VFX. I’m incredibly lucky to be among a small group of people that were able to work on such high profile projects, and not have to move to a different city to get that kind of experience. The amazing people and sometimes crazy personalities that came through that place over the years is something I’ll always remember…
After working on 28 movies over 8 years in various capacities, I think I finally have a better understanding of what “movie magic” really is. Is it just a bunch of dudes sitting in a room cranking away on 3DS Max and Maya? Is it just a bunch of code and tools to create new applications and workflows? Independently, I don’t believe any of these things can create something new and unique, but together, in the right environment, something truly exciting can happen…
My hope for Thinkbox software is that it will be a place that nurtures that delicate balance of combining the right people with the right technology to create something ‘magical’.
If nothing else, I hope I can bring my passion, excitement, and perhaps a slightly different point of view to the new applications and technology that will be developed by Thinkbox software. I have a love of technology in all its forms, and a passion to create cool imagery with whatever tools are put in front of me.
I’m incredibly happy to see that the best minds and technology from Frantic are being kept intact, and that you will be given the chance to flourish, rather than drown due to a misplacement of ‘Focus’. I can’t wait to see what cool new toys are developed over the next few years, and I hope that I am able to contribute in some small way…
Thanks again for the opportunity to be involved!
–
Kert Gartner
kertgartner.com
November 11, 2010 | Kert Gartner
Howdy,
I’m Chad Capeland, endowed with the title of Director of R&D, Anatomical Travelogue, LLC, which mostly makes me beta tester extraordinaire and goto guy for all production issues harder than average. We have a small team of developers and TD’s in our department servicing the tool and training and application support needs for the general production teams at Anatomical Travelogue and TheVisualMD.com as well as techincal consulting for pharmaceutical and medical device firms.
I’ve been doing amateur computer graphics since AutoCAD r9 (my dad had to buy me a 387 math co-processor) and professionally since 3D Studio r3. I started out doing ink-and-paint for Sesame Street, corporate training videos, and low budget TV ads. For the past 9+ years, however, I’ve been specializing in med viz work. Every so often, I get to do a “fiction” side project, but for the most part it’s all science, all the time.
As much as I like the images, my real passion is the process behind the product. I’m delighted by clever solutions and clear processes, as well as unusual applications of mundane tools.
December 2, 2010 | Chad Capeland
Hi ya’ll I’m Ansi.
I worked at Frantic Films/Prime Focus from 2008 til 2010 as VFX TD. Prior to that i was particle gun for hire all over europe at around 30 shops and have been beta tester for Orbaz Technologies (Particle Flow extensions). I used Krakatoa since beta testing days and the Thinkbox Software tools excessively in production during my time at Frantic and after. Beside being a vfx artist i beta test 3dsmax plugins and I am actively co-producing the RayFire demolition plugin with Mir Vadim (I am the reason it is a commercial plugin today).
Thanks for the opportunity to be on the advisory board, now it is on me to make it count 
kind regards,
Ansi
June 5, 2011 | Anselm v. Seherr - Thoss