Autodesk launches media and entertainment solutions for the Philippines

Friday, September 12 2008
Manila Times

TECHBYTES

Autodesk launches latest media and entertainment solutions for the Philippines

Latest product releases, including 10th anniversary of Maya, enable designers and artists with powerful creative, productivity and workflow tools


At the Autodesk Media & Entertainment (M&E) launch in the Philippines, Autodesk, a leader in digital design innovation technologies, showcased the most recent releases of its 3D solutions and compositing applications, including the latest versions of the recently acquired Autodesk ImageModeler and Autodesk Stitcher software. Also noteworthy was the announcement of Autodesk Maya 2009 3D animation and visual effects software, in celebration of the popular software's 10-year anniversary. Professionals representing the academe, film, animation and design, production, gaming and other segments attended the launch, which had customer presentations and demos of the new product features.

"Recent advances in computing technology are enabling greater levels of interaction, simulation and immersion in 3D environments," said Teddy Tiu, country manager of Autodesk (Philippines). "The creative processes for film, games and television are increasingly 'virtualized' and digital entertainment creation has become highly technical. At today's Autodesk M&E launch, we and our partners demonstrated how Autodesk is driving the change from highly technical to more creative processes, which will allow artists to freely experiment and better express their ideas in the digital world."

Autodesk continues to observe significant growth drivers for its business in the media and entertainment industry from three specific areas: a focus on increasing production efficiency through end-to-end creative solutions rather than piecemeal software packages, the potential in the mid-range television and games middleware (or games authoring) markets, and the opportunities to embed visualization technology into the traditional CAD design process, creating synergies between the M&E industry and others such as manufacturing or architecture to increasingly employ powerful design visualization technology that has its origins in film and game design. As a recognized leader in high value digital content creation solutions, Autodesk is pre-eminent in domains such as 3D graphics, visual effects, visualization and 3D asset creation, with the best breadth and depth of offerings in the M&E industry to leverage on these growth drivers.
Autodesk has received industry awards from such esteemed institutions as the US National Television Academy Awards, the Scientific and Technical Academy Award and the Game Developer Frontline Hall of Fame Award.

The latest products for media and entertainment
Consistent product innovation makes sure that Autodesk customers are working with the most leading-edge technology, helping them to stay ahead of the competition. Products that are available for attendees at today's launch to discover, peruse and test-drive are Autodesk's latest solutions for the games, film, television and design visualization industries, including:

· Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk 3ds Max Design modeling, animation and rendering software
· Autodesk ImageModeler image-based modeling and photogrammetry software
· Autodesk Maya modeling, animation and rendering software
· Autodesk MotionBuilder 3D character animation software
· Autodesk Mudbox digital sculpting software
· Autodesk Stitcher software for the creation of panoramas
· Autodesk Toxik interactive, collaborative compositing software
-- Tech Times Online

a destiny by design

a destiny by design

IRWIN CRUZ talks to Jowee Alviar and Mon Punzalan of Team Manila for SMILE Magazine

“If you read [our work], you’ll see it is local,” Jowee says. “It comes from our culture. The Manila experience. Even our name. Everything boils down to where we come from. If our design gets anthologized in a German publication (such as Die Gestalten Verlag’s Tres Logos), and people see our name, then they will understand that there is something going on in Manila,” he says.

Jowee thinks that the graphic design’s future and development does not hinge on graphic design at all, but on belief in Filipino culture. As designers, they see that their work is their humble share in nation-building.

“Believing that our culture is unique is important. We must celebrate it. Everything that your talent can do to uplift the image of our country and society, whether you are a young musician, illustrator or artist or whatever, you can contribute, then just do it. That’s what we did for graphic design.”

source: http://www.cebusmile.com/2008/02/01/filipino-innovators-2/

Design Process Council of the Philippines

The Environments Global (EG) and Re:Source Partners (RSP), in a mission to help create awareness of the Filipino design professional’s creative talent and competence in design process outsourcing promoting the country as an alternative outsourcing destination, has formed the Design Process Council of the Philippines (DPCP).

It is an organization of providers of outsourced services for the preparation and processing of design commonly known as Engineering Outsourcing. They believe that the design professions are headed toward the road of outsourcing as globalizations is making the world interconnected. Labeling the outsourced service as “Design Process Delivery”, they aim to bring the highlight Philippine brands while making it synonymous to reliable delivery of technical savvy and design flair.

The DPCP is working hard to push the Philippines to be at the forefront of the wave as the outsourcing tide ebbs into mainstream design practice. They envision accepting membership for all niche types of outsourced design services someday. The organization also envisions upholding quality in the design process sector by helping providers meet international standards and by supporting various programs promoting software management, use of licensed software and related initiatives.

They hope to address the “brain drain” that the industry has been experiencing over the years by expanding the design process sector and creating more opportunities that would encourage Filipino design professionals to remain in the country and for those working overseas to come back.

it's a desire in disguise...

While i was searching for the best definition of what is design that would fit my thesis' main point...

this one hit me the hardest... it's from a blog of an arabian girl entitled "Desert Bloom" . she's also a freelance graphic designer. she listed down a few quotes by famous designers that she got from the book "401 Design Mediations".

and this is the one.

Design is desire disguised as a function. by Terence Riley

Yes, it's short. But it perfectly sums up what I wanted to say. Designs are made to do something. it must serve a function or else, it has failed you or i would like to say, it sucked.

We view it as a something that works for us. But i believe it's more than that. I would like to view designs no matter what type, as something that came out of our desires. That desire that has made us do whatever it takes to design something that we needed. It's that longing to have a better way in all things that gave birth to designs.

I believe that this quote by Riley relates to all kinds of design no matter what country it comes from.

Can Filipino design reputation be sustained?

here's an article last April 9th, 2007 from www.inquirer.net

Can Filipino design reputation be sustained?

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the growing international renown of Filipino designs, industrial design continues to befuddle Filipinos themselves. Filipinos know their nurses, doctors and teachers are in demand in other countries. But industrial designers?

Oftentimes mistaken for industrial engineering, or worse, commercial arts, industrial design is a discipline in the creative industries. It has two aspects. One is communications design, which covers exhibition and spatial design, graphics, environment, packaging and photography. The other is product design, which includes the design of tools, such as agricultural or medical equipment, as well as furniture, gifts, crafts, houseware, and what-have-you.

Unlike the one-of-a-kind works of fine art produced by painters and sculptors, the industrial designer's output is more on the practical side. They are for mass production and commercial distribution.

Philippine designs have made a stir in international trade fairs, and manufacturers have made inroads in American and European markets. In fact, many Philippine designs have been copied by other countries with cheaper labor.

The clamor for "export quality" products reinforces the need for Philippine industrial design to cope with the challenges posed by global competition.

For designer Kenneth Cobonpue, whose Lola chair won an Asian Design Award alongside designs by Nokia and Samsung last year, the innate designing skills of Filipinos may soon turn rusty because of the lack of appreciation for industrial design. He said the lack of appreciation is reflected in the paltry number of schools offering industrial design.

"We are still the perceived design leaders on our part of the world, but it's a title we need to defend more vigorously with each passing year," Cobonpue said.

"Our schools need to partner with the industry to know what's out there and what can be done."

Deeper problem

A deeper problem of the schools, according to Cobonpue, is lack of "qualified professors."

"The problem with the curriculum is that no one's there to teach the students," Cobonpue explained. "Most of industrial design faculty come from painting or advertising, which are different disciplines."

The University of Santo Tomas, which is the pioneer private school in industrial design, has nine professors in its Industrial Design program, the majority of them with Masters degrees. It also has a very comprehensive curriculum, said UST officials.

"UST's Industrial Design program covers the whole spectrum of subjects for creative design work and business strategies," said Violini Venturanza, UST Industrial Design department head.

"The program emphasizes before the students that the fusion of art and technology are essential components in bringing creative ideas into reality."

"And with seasoned faculty members, most of whom are international design consultants, students learn more than the know-how of industrial design, they also learn the on-hand experiences their professors had as industrial designers," Venturanza added.

The thrust of UST's Industrial Design education is teaching the design of consumer and industrial products that are responsive to domestic and global markets as well as environment needs, Venturanza said. The emphasis is on the use of available and indigenous resources and technologies.

Recently, UST Industrial Students showed their design ideas in the exhibit, "Le Industriel," at the main gallery of the UST Beato Angelico building. However nascent, the student designs showed the promise that the well-regarded name of Philippine design would be sustained in the future.

graphika manila '08!!

SEPTEMBER 2008!!!!

i have read people say that it wasn't that good last year....

i want to see it myself this year....

i can't wait!!!

interview with Mr. Bren Bataclan

I got a chance to interview Mr. Bren Bataclan for my thesis research and here are his thoughts on Philippine design.....

1. What are the top design disciplines (like fashion, interior design, animation, etc.) that you think Filipinos are really known for in Asia or in the world? Please give examples.

The first thing that comes to mind is furniture design. I've known this for years and I have seen books about our work. I also know that some Hollywood-based animation firms have also been outsourcing work to the Philippines. I think that this is great (I went to grad school for computer animation). Filipinos and Filipinas are also being featured a lot in recent American-based reality shows. Example: Diane Monique Lluillier was a guest judge for Project Runway recently.

2. What is/are that quality/qualities of Philippine designs that make/s it uniquely Filipino?

Most Filipinos can understand/speak English and we are constantly being exposed to Hollywood/American media... This is one of the reasons why we appeal to the computer animation industry in the U.S. Filipinos are also good with craft and we like to use our hands--that's why we are known for our furniture (plus, we have unique natural resources for this industry). Overall though, we are known as excellent workers and that we are affordable.

3. Usually if you “goggle” search for designs of Filipino, a lot would be about furniture, jewelry and such. What are your thoughts on other disciplines like graphic arts, cartoon art, digital art?

Prior to painting full time, I used to know a lot of really talented Filipinos and Filipinas in the design and animation fields, both in the U.S. and in the Philippines. The world should know about our more high tech capabilities.

4. The industry of Philippine design has rapidly grown for the past few years but continues to face tough challenges and competition. Please share your thoughts.

I believe that one of the reasons why Filipinos face lots of challenges in the design field is because of our lack of innovation. We should stop mimicking what is out there and find our own true voice in the field. No amount of technical wizardry would truly impress the world. Filipinos should define the Philippine design aesthetics. The Swiss and Japanese have done it. We can do the same!

5. What promotions tools would you recommend be used if Special Event called “Philippine Design Festival” would be held?

I am not quite sure about these questions. I'll try to answer it the best I can. Though this seems like an obvious answer... I just re-learned that mailing postcards is still an effective way of promoting one's work or event. People do not have to print it, they can touch it and post it to remind oneself. The web and email is also a good idea. Finally, having a well designed and professional looking brochure or program is another good solution.

6. What components of a Philippine Design Festival would you like to see?

How we define Philippine design aesthetics.

7. In today’s business, please give three Filipinos who epitomize Philippine design. Why?

1. Dino Ignacio: http://www.dinoignacio.com/

2. The Filipino animators working at Pixar

3. Lucille Tenazas: http://www.tenazasdesign.com/