Dan Sollis : Digital Distortion : Graphic Design, Animation and Compositing

Welcome to Digital Distortion

This is the online presence for Dan Sollis, an independent visual effects artist producing work for the Film, Television, Music and Video Game industries.

My principle areas of expertise include Video compositing, Motion graphic design, 3D CG modelling, animation and title design. In addition I work with regular partners for jobs requiring extra manpower or specialist skills and have been building a mutally beneficial relationship with two Soho production companies Pulse Films and Grid24 that provides me with a conveniently-located base in Central London.

Examples of my work are listed in the Portfolio section. Further information about myself is available in the Profile section. And to get in touch about work, quotes, project proposals or whatever see the Contact section.

Latest News

Fujiya & Miyagi - "Knickerbocker"
(posted 05-08-08)

The latest video for Fujiya & Miyagi has hit the front page of Promo News, as well as being selected for BUG 08. Directed by Wade Shotter of Draw Pictures, it was a post-production tour de force for Digital Distortion - where masses of the latest expensive hardware were pressed into the service of making something that looks very old indeed :)
See it for yourself and find out how we did it here.

Portfolio updates
(posted 11-06-08)

I've added some more work examples to the portfolio section, as well as updating some older pages which were broken by recent updates to Quicktime (embedded flash files in Quicktimes no longer seem to be supported).

Videos added: Cage The Elephant, The Young Knives, The Klaxons
Videos updated: Kasabian, The Magic Numbers, Steve Malkmus

Adobe Inspired Media - example files now online
(posted 06-09-07)

The files I created for my talk on the 28th of August are now available to download in the Resources section. Enjoy!

Adobe Inspired Media - After Effects talk
(posted 30-08-07)

Many thanks to everyone who attended my talk at the Curzon Soho last Tuesday. It was the first time I've ever done a public talk, so if I looked nervous you now know why! I've had some really nice feedback from people already, but If you've got any questions about any of the stuff I talked about, email me. I'll post up the After Effects project I used in the presentation in the Resources section soon, I just have to clear some of the material with the copyright holders.

Also - just to clear something up - I did make one innocent gaffe. I said that After Effects CS3 supported direct manipulation of pixels so you could create pseudo-plugins using simple scripting (like Shake). Sadly, this isn't the case. You can read image data using scripting now, but you can't write it. Shame. I'm hoping this situation will change in the future though.

Finally, for your reference the websites I mentioned at the end were www.creativecow.net and www.aenhancers.com.The Adobe Forums are also a great resource.

Fujiya & Miyagi - "Ankle Injuries"
(posted 15-05-07)

The video's been released so I can finally reveal it here. Ch-ch-check it out. It's dead good.

New videos
(posted 09-05-07)

I've added a couple of videos to the portfolio section. I heartily suggest you take a peak at them, particularly the Kathryn Williams one which is a an FX biggie. There's also an edit of the work I did on the Moby Greatest Hits DVD last year. I'm itching to upload the most recent video I worked on - "Ankle Injuries" by Fujiya Miyagi - but apparently it's still under embargo. It's a fantastic promo by Wade Shotter, for which I did the online grade and additional post. Look out for it soon in the portfolio section.

Office Move
(posted 06-06-06)

I've moved offices! The new premises has tons more space and should provide an excellent base for future growth, both for myself and for Pulse Films. The new address is 36 Berwick Street. The contact page has been updated.

The Road to Guantanamo
(posted 19-04-06)

Somewhat belatedly, I should mention that "The Road to Guantanamo" - a film for which I (alongside long-time collaborator Adam Garner) produced all VFX shots - won a Silver Bear at The Berlin Film Festival. You can find out more about the VFX in the portfolio section of the site here.

Older news stories are archived here