Box 2D

Box2D is a free open source 2-dimensional physics simulator engine written in C++ by Erin Catto and published under the zlib license. It has been used in Crayon Physics Deluxe, limbo,Rolando, fantastic contraption, Incredibots, Angry birds, tiny wings, transformice , Happy Wheels, and many online Flash games,  as well as iPhone, iPad and Android games using the Cocos2d game engine and Corona framework.

                                                              History

Box2D was first released as "Box2D Lite", a demonstration engine to accompany a physics presentation given by Erin Catto at GDC  2006. On September 11, 2007 it was released as open source on Sourceforge. On January 17, 2010 Box 2D moved the project to google code for hosting.

On March 6, 2008, version 2.0 was launched, introducing continuous collision detection and revamping the API

Nuke (software)

NUKE is a node-based digital compositing software produced and distributed by The Foundry, and used for film and television post-production. NUKE is available for microsoft windows, Mac OS X and Linux. NUKE's users include Digital Domain, Dream Works animation, sony pictures imageworks, sony pictures animation, framestore, Weta Digital and industrial light & magic. NUKE has been used on productions such as Avatar, mr nobody, the cutious case of benjamin, king kong, jumper, i, Robot, Resident Evil and black swan.

What VFX software should I be learning to use?

In short I'm wondering what the big industry software for VFX work is so that I can start learning it to make myself marketable in the future.

I'm a student who also does some freelance work at the moment. When I graduate I'd like to go into more advanced editing and possibly visual effects. I use Media Composer constantly for my main editing and After Effects for motion graphics. This summer I'll be learning Nuke in a visual effects and compositing class. Basically I'm wondering what else I should learn so that I know how to use the tools the industry is using. I'm working on downloading Maya, which is free for students. Anything else?

                     Early approaches to motion in art

Evidence of artistic interest in depicting figures in motion can be seen as early as paleolithic cave paintings. Animals in these paintings were often depicted with multiple sets of legs in superimposed positions. Because these paintings are prehistoric they could be explained a number of ways, such as the artist simply changing their mind about the leg’s position with no means of erasing, but it’s very likely that they are early attempts to convey motion.

Another example includes a 5,200-year old earthen bowl found in Iran in shahr-e sukhteh. The bowl has five images painted along the sides, showing phases of a goat leaping up to nip at a tree.

An Egyptian mural, found in the tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhnum , at the beni hassan  cemetery includes a sequence of images in temporal succession. The paintings are approximately 4000 years old and show scenes of young soldiers being trained in wrestling and combat.

Seven drawings by Leonardo da vinci (ca. 1510) extending over two folios in the Windsor Collection, Anatomical Studies of the Muscles of the Neck, Shoulder, Chest, and Arm, show detailed drawings of the upper body with a less-detailed facial image. The sequence shows multiple angles of the figure as it rotates and the arm extends. Because the drawings show only small changes from one image to the next, the drawings imply motion in a single figure.

Even though some these early examples may appear similar to an animated series of drawings, the lack of equipment to show them in motion causes them to fall short of being true animation. The process of illustrating the passing of time by putting images in a chronological series is one of the most important steps in creating animation so historic instances of this practice are definitely notable.

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images to create an illusion of movement. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although there are other methods. This type of presentation is usually accomplished with a camera and a projector or a computer viewing screen which can rapidly cycle through images in a sequence. Animation can be made with either hand rendered art, computer generated imagery, or three-dimensional objects, e.g. puppets or clay figures, or a combination of techniques. The position of each object in any particular image relates to the position of that object in the previous and following images so that the objects each appear to fluidly move independently of one another. The viewing device displays these images in rapid succession, usually 24, 25 or 30 frames per second

Visual effects

Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using computer generated imagery (so recently become accessible to the Independent filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.