You will need to use your coding ability to create ‘sparks’. You are provided with some models/assets, a reference scene and a rough sketch for visual direction. You can start with the reference scene and its coding language or create your own from scratch in your language/platform of choice (You are free to make your own desktop program with OpenGL). You are not allowed to use any physics/collision engines such as Bullet, unity, unreal etc. You essentially have to write code for the mathematics (external vector/math library allowed) and physics (external library not allowed as mentioned above) of the motion of the sparks.
L0: Basic natural motion of sparks (projectile motion, air and ground friction)
L1: Collision with ground plane
L2: Sparks should split randomly post collision to give variation
L3: Collision with a minimum of one of the given primitive shapes
L4: Collision with the ‘Stanford Bunny’
You are free to use graphical enhancements (sprites/glow/complex-lighting etc.) on your output to make it visually appealing and look natural/realistic.
Submission: Final Date for submission is 30 September is 9:00 AM Ensure you have completely filled the shared google form and keep the following in mind:
Video submission: Format: Youtube link (Unlisted until evaluation) Resolution of Movie file (at-least 1280x720) of your effect. (You can use a desktop recorder software to make a movie)
Code submission: Format: Shared Url of One zip File containing your code on Google Drive. Make sure we have permission to download it.
“At the end of the day we want to see your coding style, understanding of physics & math and creative imagination”
Do you ever find yourself watching the cream curl into your morning coffee and discover some subtlety in the way it moves that’s just a bit intriguing? May be you’ve stumbled upon some play of light that’s so interesting that you’ll stop and stare at it, unconsciously trying to figure out what’s happening. Has anybody ever caught you doing this? Do you keep doing it anyway?
Have you ever become so fascinated as to perform little experiments, draw diagrams, even concoct mathematical formulas that aspire to capture that beautiful thing in it’s essence? Do you yearn for an understanding so complete that you could create this vision from scratch, so that even a computer could be made to simulate it?
If that’s you, then you’re probably a DreamWorks Effects Professional.
Our Effects professionals are the people who make a Dragon’s fireball look real. They put fur on a talking panda. They create oceans, jungles and savannahs. They convince you with images that something has happened that you know full well is impossible. They create visual effects that are not just convincing, but beautiful.
They do it because, let’s face it, they’re obsessed. They leverage their fascination with the organic details of the world with science and mathematics. They work in a medium where they can fulfill their secret desire to shape clouds in the sky and make water flow uphill. They eat galaxies for breakfast. They are the ultimate control freaks.
We let them have all the coffee they want.
This activity is a pre selection for entry level position FX Department in DWA. It is a small glimpse into the challenges faced by the FX professionals. It is one of a kind challenge for those who love to amalgamate science with art, for anyone who loves to code, is a game-enthusiast or has a love towards visual effects. Code your way to solve a problem that many FX professionals encounter today, to achieve more and more unbelievable feats in Visual Effects and Animation!
The DWA Effects Challenge Program is a 5 month intense training program starting this Jan 2017 in DreamWorks Animation Studio Glendale California, and on successful completion will lead to a fulltime employment in DreamWorks Animation India Studio. It is designed to give recent graduates a firm knowledge base in the concepts critical to the design and animation of visual effects in CG feature animation. It is a fast paced course in which concepts will be coming at you sometimes at blistering speed. It covers programming, rendering and simulation. It does so by stepping you into fundamentals: matrices, ray tracing, color and deformers. We will throw you in the deep end, but don’t worry, we’ll be there with plenty of life savers to throw to you when we think you’re drowning!
The program is designed to build solid infrastructure of concepts through progressive lessons which build upon each other, presenting even more complex challenges. Critical to your success is not only your commitment to learning new and potentially foreign concepts, but your ability to work within a production team environment and seek advice from experts. Who knows? You may find that occasionally you are that expert!
Candidates shortlisted on this pre selection will be put through couple of rounds of interviews. Once cleared, he/she will be selected for the Effects Challenge Program.