Thursday, 27 October 2011

Motomichi for Pictoplasma

Big news for Picasso Director Motomichi Nakamura who is a featured artist at this year's Pictoplasma event in Paris!

The incredibly talented Japanese artist, who since going to school in the US at 16 has spent his life and career developing his aesthetic internationally, brings his eponymous style to the famed Berlin based project.

Now living and working in Ecuador, Nakamura brings his work in digital and traditional media to the proceedings and will even contribute with a live-VJ set and an installation piece called 'Missing Link' to be held at the Gaite Lyrique museum.

This comes hot on the heels of news that Nakamura  is collaborating with onedotzero on an artist's pack for the iPad app Granimator and his participation at Coidigra festival in Venezuela from Nov.14-18where he'll be giving a workshop and lecture.

We can't wait to see the results!

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

The Big News this Week!

So it's been a hugely busy week for everyone here at Picasso HQ, with lots of lovely new people (more on this at a later date!) joining the ranks to make this Winter a bumper-season all round. Let's take a look at the big news swirling round the office right now...

The Perfect Stocking Filler
 

The wonderful British Animation Awards have released their 2011 DVD collection featuring work from 3D imagery, 2D loveliness and even puppetry. You can have a look at the trailer above and check out their site to buy your own!

Steve Lenton Gets Ready For Christmas
The amazing Steve Lenton, aka 2D Scrumptious, has produced this rather cute Advent Calendar to feast your eyes on. It's got us feeling all festive!
Encounters is Upon Us

The ever exciting Bristol based Film Festival Encounters comes to life this November complete with showings from two Picasso Directors. See Damian Gascoigne's MusoSoup, which will have its debut at the fest, trailer above top and Mia Nilsson's Eskimo Above below

Thursday, 13 October 2011

Chatting with Projection Gurus NuFormer



Netherlands based NuFormer are Picasso's 3D Mapping Projection superstars, working with brands as diverse as BMW, Parker pens and Toshiba to create beautiful, custom projections on great architectual landmarks. We caught up with the team to discuss life, work and what's next...

Picasso: So, who is NuFormer? 

NuFormer: NuFormer is a Netherlands based multimedia company, specialised in video production and 3D video mapping projection. NuFormer has all the technical experience and expertise in house (3D modeling, 3D animations, character animation, motion graphic design, video editing, multimedia programming,audio production etc) and together with our design capacities we create a unique live and online experience whether its a commercial or cultural project or event. 



P. How did your unique projection style come about?

NF: After seeing some simplified and small scale examples of the 3D video mapping technique online (mainly of artists collectives) we were inspired to start exploring the possibilities. Combined with our experience in video production and 3D animation we wanted to bring the use of this technique to the next level. 


P: You've worked on so many amazing projects, does anything in particular stick in your mind?

NF: We are very lucky to be invited to the most unique places and spectacular events. From the climate summit in Copenhagen to the EUFA final in Madrid and from a historical European building or ancient Chinese pagoda to a museum near Central Park in New York. Working towards a custom fit for every client, brand, event, location, building and architectural elements makes every project special to us.   



P: NuFormer's work is often inextricable with the architecture it uses as a canvas, what is the process of selecting a building and developing a sequence around it? 

NF: There are quite a lot of technical and creative considerations to keep in mind during the building selection process. Each project has a different desired outcome and therefore calls for a different approach during selection. To us it's an inspiring challenge to be creative and make optimal use of the location and push both technical and creative boundaries whenever we can.    



P: Any hints you can give us about projects in the pipe-line? 

NF: Well August saw our projection opening the festivities of the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, Armenia. Other exciting projects are coming up but we can't share it with you just yet. Sorry! Of course our own development never stops either. After executing 3D video mapping projections onto objects and buildings worldwide, the use of interactivity is the latest addition to the technology. To add to the experience of the spectators, interactive projection applications that are combined with the 3D video mapping technique are now being developed. All types of branded content, logos or product placement can be incorporated in these interactive projection applications. The spectators will become the controller and interacted realtime with the building by using gesture based tracking (Kinect). People can influence the content with audio or by using an iPad, iPhone or web based application made available for both mobile phone and computer. Social media integration is also possible


Have a look at some of their fabulous work below and stay tuned for more from this exciting bunch!


Ben and Julia hit New York!

After the success of their Pictoplasma talk state side (more to come!), German Directing duo Ben and Julia hit the streets of New York and send back these beautiful shots to show us all what we're missing!





Motomichi Nakamura at the Coidigra Conference

Catch Picasso's Motomichi Nakamura at the Coidigra Conference in Merida, Venezuela this coming November following his current solo exhibition at the Centro De Arte Contemporáneo. It looks set to be a great series of talks from Ferrari to Motorola so we're chuffed to pieces for Motomichi and wish him the best of luck!

See more about the conference and the programme of events here