takkun
06-17-2003, 09:06 AM
Allen Hastings is a guest speaker at the fanime convention this coming weekend, I'm going and I'll bring you guys back a report. The main reason I was going to this convention was because the director of FLCL will be there (and if you can't tell from my name or avatar, I'm a huge fan of the anime Furi Kuri and the company that made it, Gainax) but then I noticed that Allen Hastings was a guest and I almost fell out of my chair. I guess he's a big anime fan! :applause:
Here's a snip from the site:
Chat with Allen Hastings
In 3D graphics and animation, Allen Hastings (original developer of LightWave 3D) has been an industry leader for many years, giving rise to memorable scenes in blockbuster Hollywood movies and Japanese animation, to mention a few things. This 1 hour panel showcases current works and Allen Hastings himself.
Here's his bio on the Guests page:Allen Hastings
Allen Hastings has been developing computer graphics and animation software for over 22 years. His interest in the subject grew during high school, when he started adding sequences made on a Commodore PET computer into his homemade science fiction films. After earning his computer science degree from U.C. Santa Cruz in 1985, Allen began working on a new 3D animation program for the Commodore Amiga. Although he started the project as a hobby, it soon attracted the attention of software publishers. In 1988 he was approached by NewTek Inc. to develop what was to become LightWave 3D, and it was released two years later as part of the Video Toaster system. It wasn't long before LightWave began to be used in high-profile projects like music videos and special effects for shows like Babylon 5 and SeaQuest DSV. Consulting with users in Hollywood became a large part of Allen's job, and the program was forced to evolve quickly to meet demands of the studios. This work won him an Emmy award in 1993, and also led to LightWave being used in many more series including Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager, Hercules, and The X Files. Since then, LightWave has expanded into the computer game, TV commercial, and feature film industries, and that has led to many further refinements in the program. For example, Allen made about two dozen improvements to support work on James Cameron's Titanic, which featured a digital ship model and 'set extensions' created in LightWave. A few of the other major projects using the program include TV ads for M&Ms, Nike, Coca Cola, Dodge, and Pontiac, and such films as Contact, Lost in Space, The World is Not Enough, X-Men, and Red Planet. Allen's personal interest in anime has also affected LightWave, which comes with cel edge and cel shader features that he developed specifically to achieve a 2D "anime look" with 3D rendered objects. These have seen use in the Invasion America miniseries and the second Batman animated movie. LightWave has also been used in the production of actual anime such as the End of Evangelion movie and Blue Submarine Number Six.
Allen has now formed a new company with Stuart Ferguson (who wrote the modeling portion of LightWave) called Luxology, where they have a team of developers working on cool new stuff that he can't talk about yet. When he isn't working on his projects or enjoying anime, Allen may be found rock climbing, playing the piano, or just relaxing with his wife Robin and two Devon Rex cats.
Fanime convention site (http://www.fanime.com)
Saturday Live Programming Schedule (http://www.fanime.com/schedule/Saturday.html)
Here's a snip from the site:
Chat with Allen Hastings
In 3D graphics and animation, Allen Hastings (original developer of LightWave 3D) has been an industry leader for many years, giving rise to memorable scenes in blockbuster Hollywood movies and Japanese animation, to mention a few things. This 1 hour panel showcases current works and Allen Hastings himself.
Here's his bio on the Guests page:Allen Hastings
Allen Hastings has been developing computer graphics and animation software for over 22 years. His interest in the subject grew during high school, when he started adding sequences made on a Commodore PET computer into his homemade science fiction films. After earning his computer science degree from U.C. Santa Cruz in 1985, Allen began working on a new 3D animation program for the Commodore Amiga. Although he started the project as a hobby, it soon attracted the attention of software publishers. In 1988 he was approached by NewTek Inc. to develop what was to become LightWave 3D, and it was released two years later as part of the Video Toaster system. It wasn't long before LightWave began to be used in high-profile projects like music videos and special effects for shows like Babylon 5 and SeaQuest DSV. Consulting with users in Hollywood became a large part of Allen's job, and the program was forced to evolve quickly to meet demands of the studios. This work won him an Emmy award in 1993, and also led to LightWave being used in many more series including Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager, Hercules, and The X Files. Since then, LightWave has expanded into the computer game, TV commercial, and feature film industries, and that has led to many further refinements in the program. For example, Allen made about two dozen improvements to support work on James Cameron's Titanic, which featured a digital ship model and 'set extensions' created in LightWave. A few of the other major projects using the program include TV ads for M&Ms, Nike, Coca Cola, Dodge, and Pontiac, and such films as Contact, Lost in Space, The World is Not Enough, X-Men, and Red Planet. Allen's personal interest in anime has also affected LightWave, which comes with cel edge and cel shader features that he developed specifically to achieve a 2D "anime look" with 3D rendered objects. These have seen use in the Invasion America miniseries and the second Batman animated movie. LightWave has also been used in the production of actual anime such as the End of Evangelion movie and Blue Submarine Number Six.
Allen has now formed a new company with Stuart Ferguson (who wrote the modeling portion of LightWave) called Luxology, where they have a team of developers working on cool new stuff that he can't talk about yet. When he isn't working on his projects or enjoying anime, Allen may be found rock climbing, playing the piano, or just relaxing with his wife Robin and two Devon Rex cats.
Fanime convention site (http://www.fanime.com)
Saturday Live Programming Schedule (http://www.fanime.com/schedule/Saturday.html)