A brief history of how the rapid advances in GPU technology have allowed film makers and designers to create high end visual effects using accessible computing technology, and how this has lead to the normalisation of VFX in low to mid-range video productions. Touching on software design & development and visual effects processes, the talk will take the form of a brief introduction, software demonstration and examples and Q&A session, examining both backend and front end design considerations.

1. The Graphics Revolution
and how VFX became accessible to everyone

2. • Introducing FXHOME
• A brief history of the GPU
• Visual Effects
• Why this matters to you
• Designing the future

3. • FXHOME is a technology company, specialising in imaging and
visual effects products for film makers and photographers.
• FXHOME develops products for both consumers and professional
users, works in partnership with major global companies including
Sony and offers consultancy and technology solutions for a wide
range of clients.
Introducing FXHOME

4. • Founded in 2001 by UEA Graduates
• Grew from a bedroom startup to international company over 13 years
• Over 250,000 users worldwide
• Based in Norwich, UK
• 85% of users are in the United States
Introducing FXHOME

5. Josh Davies
• Founder & CEO FXHOME
• History of Art Graduate
• Programmer since childhood
• UI & Design Lead for all FXHOME products
• Website and UX design
Tom McLoughlin
• Marketing Manager for FXHOME
• Communications & Film Graduate
• 10+ years experience of Film & Advertising Production
• Produces all FXHOME film assets
• Manages communications team
Introducing FXHOME

6. Introducing FXHOME

9. A brief history of the GPU

10. The GPU
• "Graphics Processing Unit." Like the CPU (Central Processing Unit), it
is a single-chip processor. However, the GPU is used primarily for
computing 3D functions. This includes things such as lighting effects,
object transformations, and 3D motion. These types of calculations are
taxing on the CPU, the GPU can help the computer run more
efficiently.
• The first company to develop the GPU was NVidia, Inc.
• The GeForce 256 GPU could process 10 million polygons per second
and had over 22 million transistors.
A brief history of the GPU

11. A brief history of the GPU
!
The Playstation 1 (1994)

12. A brief history of the GPU
• GPU development continued
apace in the 2000s
• Most rapid advances in PC
Graphics Cards
• Driven by the gaming industry

13. A brief history of the GPU
% increase in CPU processing power over time

14. A brief history of the GPU
% increase in GPU vs CPU processing power over time

15. • Large CPU vs. GPU power differential
• Exponential increase in graphical processing power for
consumers
A brief history of the GPU

16. A brief history of the GPU
Silicon Graphics International (SGI) hardware from the 1990s

17. SGI Octane:
1998-$38,995
A brief history of the GPU

18. A brief history of the GPU

19. • VFX industry has moved from bespoke hardware to the same
equipment that everyone uses
• SGI were one time owners of the Cray Supercomputer brand
• Your smartphone would have been considered a super
computer not long ago
A brief history of the GPU

20. A brief history of the GPU
SUPERCOMPUTER

21. These conditions have created an
environment in which we are used to
seeing high end VFX, whether in
Hollywood movies, commercials & even
YouTube videos.
A brief history of the GPU

22. Visual Effects

23. Visual Effects
• Once the preserve of studio block busters or limited to one or
two key moments in a film
• The VFX spectacular has become standard fare in all areas of
visual storytelling, and has allowed high end practitioners to
do incredible things
• Life of Pi - impossible to film

24. Life of Pi, 2012

25. Visual Effects
• Once the preserve of studio block busters or limited to one or
two key moments in a film
• The VFX spectacular has become standard fare in all areas of
visual storytelling, and has allowed high end practitioners to
do incredible things
• Life of Pi - impossible to film
• Gravity

26. Gravity, 2013

27. Visual Effects
• Once the preserve of studio block busters or limited to one or two
key moments in a film
• The VFX spectacular has become standard fare in all areas of
visual storytelling, and has allowed high end practitioners to do
incredible things
• Life of Pi - impossible to film
• Gravity
• Toy Story - exponential increase in quality due to technology
and user expectations

28. Toy Story, 1995

29. Toy Story 2, 1999

30. Toy Story 3, 2010

31. Visual Effects
• Toy Story 1 took 800,000 machine hours to render
• Between 2-15 render hours per frame (24 frames per second)
• Contrast with Construct (2014)

32. Visual Effects
• Toy Story 1 took 800,000 machine hours to render
• Between 2-15 render hours per frame (24 frames per second)
• Contrast with Construct (2014)
• Entire trailer rendered in 5 minutes

33. • Different to editing, special effects and sound design
• Creating something impossible to capture in camera
• Combining layers to create something new (moving Photoshop)
• CGI elements
• Particles with Physics behaviour
• 3D lit, textured and animated models
• Colour Grading
• Nearly very frame of film, TV or even internet video has some form of
VFX, you might just not realise it.
Visual Effects Principles

34. Visual Effects Principles

35. Why does this matter to you?

36. Designing the future

37. • Fiction has long had a role in predicting and forming the future
• In the 20th century, science fiction in particular came to have a
strong futurology component
• Arthur C. Clarke
• Philip K. Dick
• William Gibson
• Film (and VFX) have built on these works, through adaptation &
homage
Designing the future

38. Blade Runner, 1982
Designing the future

39. Minority Report, 2002
Designing the future
Designing the future

40. John Underkoffler - MIT Media Labs
www.ted.com/speakers/john_underkoffler
Designing the future
Designing the future

41. Iron Man 2, 2008
Designing the future
Designing the future

42. • Contrast how well the VFX have aged with the quality of
vision
• All these ‘worlds’ hold up, because they feel believable
• The increase in data complexity is marked
• The data in all the Iron Man HUD shots actually relates to the
‘real’ environment
• HAL from 2001 was a just voice, Jarvis from Iron Man
provides large amounts of visual data
Designing the future

43. We tell stories with pictures
Designing the future

44. • Marketeers talk about brand and product stories
• Increasingly those stories have to be visual
• How do you present a vision of a product that doesn’t exist
yet?
• How do you make someone believe in a new idea?
• You show it to them
Designing the future

45. Designing the future
Google Glass promo, Jan 2013

46. • How FXHOME approach UI in our software design
• How FXHOME approach UI in terms of our websites
• How FXHOME approach UI in our promotional materials
• Questions from the floor
Designing the future