Here's the latest News and information on CG events, sofware release and new tutorial releases here at CG Academy. If you have any tib-bits that would be of interest, please send them in to... Just click on the link below to subscribe to the CGA RSS feed We have formatted our feed to give the best results in most RSS broswers. If you do find an issue with our feed, please contact via our news email address (see left panel). EBoy's FixPix IPhone Game is basically the greatest thing ever made   Looks like a fun little concept. Easy to implement and probably a little money farm (wish we'd thought of it first, damnitall!......) "Okay, so this isn't out yet, but it's hard to deny that the eBoy-designed Delicious Toys-developed game FixPix is probably the best idea anyone has ever had since the wheel or sliced bread. Maybe that's a little hyperbolic, but as you know, we are huge fans of eBoy and their mind-boggling pixel art. Now the design collective's cityscapes and fantastical scenes have been turned into an iPhone app where you can piece the 3D milieus back together by tilting your phone this way and that. As we said, the title isn't available, but there's an awesome demo site where you can play around with the concept, and it's likely FixPix could see Apple approval any day now. We can barely contain ourselves. Check out a video of the game in action after the break."   Reported By Chris Thomas On 07-05-2010 at 15:47:46   Top 10 Games We Can’t Wait To Get Our Hands On by Chuck Boston   There are some pretty juicey morsels in this list, that's for sure...... Out personal interest was piqued by Fable 3, mainly because we have never played any of the previous Fable stable (sorry....) "Star Wars the Old Republic- With all new classes and an awesome battle system this is sure to entertain the masses. There are many different classes to choose from each with a varied combat style that are balanced against each other. Each is unique in it’s own way and will have something fun and different to appeal to everyone. This will be epic no doubt and releases in 2011. Lost Planet 2, as in two words, ‘lady pirates’. That’s all I needed to see before I was convinced that this game would be awesome. Yes, that does mean that Lost Planet has more options for character customization. The vital suit is still the center of the multiplayer mode but now ranges from small battle suits to enormous spider mechs that seat an entire team. There have also been added conventional vehicles such as tanks and hovercraft. The bosses you will have to face are even bigger and badder so good luck, we can’t wait till it’s May 11th release." Click the link to read more at CGChannel.............   Reported By On 07-05-2010 at 15:29:43   Star Trek Online - Pros And Cons by Chris Wales   Ok, so this game review, it's all good and all. But the real reason for us posting this review, is the reviewers name. Chris Wales, I mean c'mon, could it get any better? "When diving into the new experience of Star Trek Online, you will notice right away one of the strongest attributes of the game: customization. Creating a character delivers vast amounts of it. Players are able to chose skin color, eye color, hair style…not impressed? Beyond the usual customizable character attributes, further mutation may take place. Also customizable are traits like facial width, length, and skull depth, body height and build, hand size, bulk, and finger length, torso length and bulk, stomach size, physical stances such as “Brawler” and “Twitchy”, earrings and jewelry, uniforms, and it goes on. Now, if you’re new to MMO’s or gaming in general, this might be a daunting task. Fear not, there are many pre-programmed races to chose from as well." Click the link to read more at CGChannel..... http://www.cgchannel.com/2010/04/star-trek-online-pros-and-cons/   Reported By On 07-05-2010 at 15:15:51   Crysis 2 - Teaser Trailer - EA Games/Crytek - 2010 - Full HD by Paul Herbert   Feast your googly, game-drinking eyes....... "This is a teaser trailer for the forthcoming Crysis 2 game from Crytek published by EA Games. Working with Headstrong Games and Maverick Media on behalf of EA Games I was the lead lighting and set dressing artist on this project. The entire trailer was rendered using the Crysis engine and created in Sandbox 3."   Reported By On 07-05-2010 at 15:11:15   Academy Exhibit Covers Career, Creations Of Ray Harryhausen By: Thomas J. Mclean   Looks pretty interesting. I wonder when the old ILM fx gods will hit the tribute trail? "“The Fantastical Worlds of Ray Harryhausen,” a summer retrospective exhibition focusing on the careers of the visual effects pioneer, opens May 14 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The free exhibition, which will be shown in the fourth-floor gallery at the Academy’s Beverly Hills building, will feature original models, drawings, storyboards and behind-the-scenes photographs demonstrating Harryhausen’s effects work. " Click the link to read more at Animation Magazine...   Reported By On 07-05-2010 at 14:27:55   DreamWorks Announces Dragon Sequel, 1Q Results By: Thomas J. Mclean   As the money rolls in, inevitably the sequal will roll out..... (think if it a bit like ying/yang) "DreamWorks Animation announced it plans a sequel to How to Train Your Dragon in its quarterly results announcements. Financially, the studio reported a profits were down 65 percent in the first quarter versus a year ago — an expected result given the studio had no holiday movie release to drive sales in the first quarter of this year. The details show the studio earned a profit $21.7 million on revenues of $162.1 million, up from a $62 million profit on $263 million in revenues in 2009. " Click the link to read more at Animation Magazine...........   Reported By On 07-05-2010 at 14:24:40   Why I Hate 3-D And you should too!   You know what we think about 3D, I mean 3D display tech? Well, some people call it a gimick. I'd say that's just nonsense. We ALL see in 3D, it's something we take for granted. So why should a movie NOT be also displayed in 3D too? Most people can hear, and sound is an important feature of movies today. It was not always so. We can (mostly) all see in colour. But again, movies have not always featured colour images. So, I can see where the impulse comes from. Now... that does mean that we think current 3D tech is going to be a hit. It may really just be a foot in the door. A first pass technology that gets us all comfortable with 3D as a standard component of the viewing experience. Just as with our normal vision. But, todays tech is kind of clunky. You need glasses, and batteries for those glasses. Or you need a special TV with a weird lenticular screen covering. And that means you either HAVE to wear the silly looking glasses, or sit stock still in front of the screen. So, 3D may not catch on now (or it may). But it will become a standard somewhere down the line. We'll just all have to wait for now and see if this particular throw of the mud sticks. "3-D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood's current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the moviegoing experience. For some, it is an annoying distraction. For others, it creates nausea and headaches." Click the link to read more at Newsweek.com.........   Reported By On 06-05-2010 at 16:01:16   Nike Mercurial   Vid 3 of story below.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 06-05-2010 at 15:50:39   Coke Quest   Video 2 of story below.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 06-05-2010 at 15:48:15   Robots, Paint Chips, And Soccer by Matt McCorkell   You really must have a swatch of this.... (cool pun eh?) "It seems like everything is robots lately. Soccer fields transform into obstacle courses. Or the players themselves are robots…..or little birds and frogs can be made of paint samples. All together we are presenting dangerous choices for kids through cg commercials – giant killer soccer hooligan robots encouraging the consumption of huge amounts of sugar or animals/plants made from paint chips (which can’t be good for the digestive track) or sending them out to play on constantly changing robotic fields where one wrong move could send them tumbling into the abyss." Click the link to see more at CGChannel, or watch the next three vids........ http://www.cgchannel.com/2010/04/robots-paint-chips-and-soccer/   Reported By On 06-05-2010 at 15:47:16   Custom JibJab Clip Celebrates 30 Years Of Empire Strikes Back By: Thomas J. Mclean   30 years! Cripes, was it really that long ago? In a galaxy far far away? "It was just about 30 years ago that Darth Vader and the Empire routed the Rebels at Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back — and now JibJab is letting people put themselves in the movie. Thanks to a deal with Lucasfilm, the online animation site lets users upload photos of themselves to be included in a brief and humorous retelling of The Empire Strikes Back. After watching their movie, users can share the video with friends via email, Facebook and Twitter. Custom versions of the videos are available as premium downloads for users who want to save them forever on their computers or watch them on their iPhones." Click the link to read more at Animation Magazine...........   Reported By On 06-05-2010 at 15:46:37   Screenshots Emerge Of Steam Linux Client, BeOS Wonders If It's Next By Darren Murph   Poor poor, sad old OsX. Languishing with no real gaming support.... Eh what? Valve have now supported it with their Steam game delivery system? Ok, cool news, now what about Linux? I mean, OsX IS basically Linux (with a bit of Steve Jobs buffing applied of course). So, Lunux, huh!? "There's some old adage referring to smoke and fire meant to explain this phenomenon, but frankly, we're too focused on the promise of the future to go and look it up. Merely weeks after the Steam for Mac beta proved that Linux support may be in the works, along comes this: two glorious screenshots proving as much. 'Course, nothing much about this situation has changed, but having pictorial evidence that a Steam client exists in some stage for Linux is a boon for hopefuls." Click the link to read more at Engadget..........   Reported By On 05-05-2010 at 08:49:57   Autodesk Santa Monica Live Event - Thursday May 6th   You read the title, so if you are in or near LA this Thursday evening, why not make an effort to attend? Motion Media, an reseller of CG Academy products is hosting the event. So, even better, see 3dsmax/Maya/XSI 2011 and maybe buy some top quality training material along the way ;) "This Thursday, Autodesk and MotionMedia (local reseller on the West Side in LA) is hosting a live event to kick off the release of the 2011 line of Media & Entertainment products. Steven Roselle, Mark Schoennagel, and Mark Noland show off the new 2011 versions of new 2011 versions of Maya, 3ds Max, Mudbox and Softimage in a session targeted on new features and enhancements benefiting game development pipelines. 3ds Max 2011 for Games 3ds Max 2011 has just shipped and it has already received strong positive vibes from the 3D community. Game Developer’s Best 3D Creation Tool is now better than ever with new advanced productive and creative tools. In this demonstration, you’ll see new tools such as the Slate material editor, Quicksilver Hardware Rendering, Objects and Textures 3D Paint modules as well as CAT and CAT Muscle for fast rigging and animation of all sorts of characters." Click the link to read more at CGChannel...........   Reported By On 05-05-2010 at 00:12:24   Seagulls Fly And The Amazing CS5 Launch Trailer Posted by Matt McCorkell   We know, we know, it's a little late for CS5 launch fluff at this stage. But if you did miss the initial launch party poppers, here's another chance to watch the (rather fetching) launch vid. Hit it, drink some coke/pepsi/fanta/beer/cider, and nibble away on your snack of choice......   Reported By On 05-05-2010 at 00:10:44   Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland: How Illustrators Kei Acedera And Bobby Chiu Shaped The Characters’ Designs by Jérémie Noyer   Not bored with Alice in Wonderland insight articles and showcases? If not, then here is another for the pile...... "When we think about Alice in Wonderland, it’s hard not to recall Walt Disney’s classic animated film. So, when making the live action sequel, the challenge for Tim Burton and his illustrators was to imagine a wonderland of their own. Among the talented artists that collaborated with the creator of Jack Skellington stand Kei Acedera and Bobby Chiu, two Canadian illustrators working together at Imaginism Studio in Montreal. Kei Acedera is an illustrator and art director at Imaginism. She specializes in children’s books, visual development and character design for film and television. She co-produces our series of art books with Bobby Chiu. Her art oozes charm and broad-based appeal, they never fail to bring a smile to people’s faces." Click the link to read more at Animated Views,,,,,,   Reported By On 05-05-2010 at 00:06:46   18 iPhone Apps For 3D Artists   Tech Radar has gathered together an ensemble of 3D related apps for the iPhone. Hoot hoot, once again, Christmas comes early :) "We've gathered together a collection of free and paid-for apps that can help you to work smarter and faster. Even if you have resisted the allure of Apple's iPhone so far, the surprisingly large quantity of 3D apps out there may prove useful enough to make you look twice at the ubiquitous shiny fruit-marked touch-phone. We've got offerings from the likes of software heavyweights such as Autodesk and Luxology, and a whole host from unknown developers. If there isn't something here to help you with design, workflow or even just that ever sought after inspiration, we'll eat Steve Jobs' hat" Click the link to read more at Tech Radar.............   Reported By On 05-05-2010 at 00:01:25   Korean (Asia) SIGGRAPH Begins A Call For Entries   Heading over to Siggraph Asia? Wan't to get your animated short, or techy wizardy on show. Then check this out..... "The Chair and panel of the SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 have announced that the Computer Animation Festival is open for submissions. The festival accepts submissions in the following categories: • Animation Shorts (narrative, character, abstract, experimental, etc.; most animations should be in this category) • Animated Feature Films (selections or montages) • Commercials • Music Videos • Real-Time Visualization (games, mobile animations) • Scientific Visualization or Research • Visual Effects (short films, sequences, live-action feature films, etc.)" Click the link to read more.......   Reported By On 04-05-2010 at 23:55:43   The Lord Of The Rings: Remastered Deluxe Edition by Ben Simon   Way back when, there was an attempt made on the great peak of movie making, that is t'LOTR. In those days, CG was but a twinkling in the eye of some labs, and cutting edge VFX projects. So.... 2D it was. And, to be fair, the resulting movie really was not bad. However, the plan was to attempt the entire trillogy in one go. And, as it turned out it was too large a bite to swallow. Finanaces ran out, and a half baked product, that ended at an awkward point in the storyline, did not generate enough return to allow for a part 2 and completion. Very sad.... Anyway, now you can buy this little gem on DVD (in a Deluxe edition!). And it's certainly worth it for it's take on Gollum, and it's second example on how NOT to do Samwise Gamgee (i.e. like a halfwit bumpkin man-servant) .So off you go! "Extraordinary wizard Gandalf instructs a young Hobbit, Frodo, to return the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, to the fires of Mordor’s Mount Doom, where its sinister power can be destroyed forever. Along the way he is joined by a band of friends and foes, not least the formidable Hobbit-turned wretched creature Gollum, who wants the precious Ring for himself… In the late 1970s, a young Peter Jackson took his seat at his favorite movie palace in New Zealand, and found himself so disappointed at the event picture he saw unfolding on screen that he vowed to remake the film when he became a world class director. The film was, of course, the 1976 version of King Kong, which Jackson would go on to attempt to remake, as a more faithful to the original 1933 film, in 1998, and finally realize his dream onscreen in 2005. But there was another film, released around the same time, which must have also had an effect on the young director to be…" Click the link to read more at Animated views...........   Reported By On 04-05-2010 at 17:46:12   CE-Oh No He Didn't!: Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki Thinks Cameraphones Are About To Make SLRs Obsolete By Vladislav Savov   Hrm, I think Mr T would comment on this. Something about pitying the fool? "From what we know of Anssi Vanjoki, he's a great guy and one that isn't afraid of admitting his company's mistakes. Alas, now we can also add to that dossier the ignominious fact that the fella doesn't seem to know how professional cameras work. Talking about the rapid improvement in cameraphone technology during a speech in Helsinki yesterday, Vanjoki said that very soon "there will be no need to carry around those heavy lenses." He's really enthusiastic about HD video coming to phones, which he predicts will be here within 12 months (if you ask Sony Ericsson, it's here already), but we just can't let that spectacular line about lenses slide." Click the link to read more at Engadget.............   Reported By On 04-05-2010 at 17:22:53   Giza 3D by CGarchitect   A few years ago, I worked on a BBC/Discovery special on the great pyramid at Giza. I was the modeller on that project, and despite what you may think, that was not an easy job. I modelled the pyramid in three separate stages of construction, with all the interior chambers, construction ramps, workers homes and so on. Great fun to work on, and a challenge to boot. Anyway, enough of me. It seems now even more Giza facts, theories and figures are being digitized, for future generations to use, expand upon and hopefully improve... "The Giza Archives Project is a digital initiative, housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), for research on the Egyptian Pyramids and surrounding tombs at the Giza Plateau. In the last decade, it has digitized historic expedition photographs, excavation diaries and field notebooks, maps, plans and sketches from the ancient tombs and pyramids at Giza. The result is the largest database and web site ever assembled relating to the Giza Plateau. Most of the archaeological documents and photographs had been assembled over forty years of excavation by Egyptologist George Reisner (1867–1942), one of the prominent founding fathers of modern scientific archaeology, who led the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition in Egypt. In a unique international collaboration, the Giza Archives Project partners today with all of the world's institutions that house major collections related to Giza." Click the link to read more............   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 12:19:46   Defense And Government 3D Visualization, Simulation, And Training Market To Grow Quickly by CGarchitect   So, 3D skills will be in demand into the future? Heck, whats new. Learn 3D, be good at it, and you will have a job , my son.... "“The 3D visualization, simulation, and training defense and government market is on the cusp of another disruption. 3D capable browsers, ubiquitous 3D on the desktop, in notebooks, and in handheld devices will make 3D accessible to a large portion of the defense and government workforce,” says Christine Arrington, senior analyst, Acacia Research Group. “Hardware makers, application developers, and service providers will have to evaluate their business models and their development strategies to take advantage of the new opportunities that will appear worldwide over the next five years. Those who adapt will benefit those who do not will suffer.”" Click the link to read more at cgarchirect.............   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 10:15:02   Spielberg, DreamWorks, Discovery Animate Future Earth By: Thomas J. Mclean   Sounds pretty interesting. It'll be fun to see what exactly thi series will forsee for the future. It's always hard to pick out what technologies will be in play 50 years in the future, let alone 100. Back in the 1940's they thought we'd be living on the Moon and Mars by now. Whilst mobile video phones were just too outlandish (see Blade Runner). Oh yeah, and again, where are our frakin flying cars? Hrmph....... "Steven Speilberg is coming back to animation having set up a miniseries for Discovery Channel. The series, called Future Earth, will speculate about life on the planet 25, 50 and 100 years from now. Spielberg will produce the series, with DreamWorks TV and DreamWorks Animation both on board the project as well. In a statement, Spielberg said he would personally be overseeing the development of the project. The Oscar-winning director, who presented the classic Tiny Toons Adventures animated series for Warner Bros., also is producing a special series for Discovery called The Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero." Click the link to read more at Animation Magazine......   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 10:14:40   Canon Brings Out Jackie Chan-branded Rebel T2i / 550D For Chinese Market By Vladislav Savov   A Jackie Chan branded camera? Eh, I mean, C'mon, it's got to be a Steven Seagal themed telephoto lens (with the abaility to kill, with a simple stare) or nothing! ""Eye of Dragon" must be Chinese for "better kit lens, fancier neck strap, a branded photo album, and a leather case." Because that's the totality of substantive changes you'll be getting if you opt for the upgraded Jackie Chan variety of Canon's Rebel T2i. Of course, there's also the knowledge that you'll be one of only 2,010 owners of this exclusive kit, which will set buyers back an unenviable 10,000 Yuan ($1,467). If you ask us, we'd rather just buy the body and add on the EF-S 18-135mm lens ourselves, but then we were always more partial to Bruce Lee anyway. " Click the link for more at Engadget...........   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 10:13:10   C.G.S.A. Computer Graphics Student Awards   Are you in college, are you a budding CG Wizard? Well, if so, have a looksie at this award? "Welcome to Computer Graphics Student Awards! This event aims to provide you with an amazing opportunity to showcase your creative and technical skills to leading production companies, and get a chance to kick start your career. Prizes for this amazing event include over $67,000 worth of Internships, software, and hardware... and all you have to do to enter is upload a single video." Click the link to read more......   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 10:05:19   Pixar Opens Studio In Vancouver Posted by Matt McCorkell   Tax breaks, oh how sweet thoust be, unto a production budget that lies, at peril, crushed by the taxes of THE MAN...... "Pixar has just added a studio in Vancouver contributing their part to the recent trend of studios adding creative divisions in Canada. Digital Domain already added a studio to Canada earlier this year and now Sony Pictures Imageworks is also planning to formally announce its Vancouver studio next month. Oh Canada…. The Academy Award-winning Hollywood animation studio Pixar, which is set to launch Toy Story 3 in June, opens its new studio in a historic Vancouver building for an invitation-only sneak peek this morning – one of the highlights of what has become an exciting year for the city’s digital-animation and visual-effects industry. At a time when U.S. production is in the doldrums here, no fewer than three American studios are opening up shops in Vancouver: Pixar, Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks, which plans to formally announce its Vancouver studio next month." Click the link to read more at CGChannel...   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 10:04:41   Dante's Inferno the Divine Comedy, retold   Can't really say much more on this, click onwards dear readers..... "Re-imagining a piece of Italian literature that is roughly 700 years old is what surfaced as an idea for creating Dante’s Inferno by Visceral Games. As a developer, this sounds like a great idea; an established story to build upon and a widely known familiarity among potential gamers. Developing a visually appealing art style for Dante’s Inferno’s audience also proved to be a creative playground for the artistic developers at Visceral. At least, that’s how Art Director Ash Huang saw it. I asked Ash Huang what went on in the halls of Visceral Games when dealing with the task of beautifying this video game iteration of the Divine Comedy." Click the link to read more at CGSociety.....   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 09:50:16   NEC's 3D All-in-one PC Set To Polarize The Market This Year By Tim Stevens   More 3D goodies (anyone out there tried one of these displays yet?) "It seems that even the fully-integrated desktop is not immune to the wiles of 3D. NEC has demonstrated an all-in-one desktop PC that features a Blu-ray player and an LCD display that, when paired with some inexpensive polarized glasses, adds a little depth to movie content. That's all we know about it at this point, other than a release date that's been pegged as happening sometime in 2010, with Impress indicating that it could even be sometime in the first half of this year. The question is, of course: will anyone buy it? " Click the link to read more at Engadget...........   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 09:44:20   The Future of Digital Content Creation with the GPU sponsored by Nvidia   The latest Nvidia graphics cards, or as they are known these days, GPUs, are really not geared so totally to just producing images. Instead Nvidia (and ATi) have been working more towards what are basically parallel super-computing devices on a card. Not all tasks are suited to this kind of processing, but then a lot of tasks are. Now, traditional CPU's have been designed to process a wide range of general tasks, and of course this makes perfect sense. But with the GPU architectures, they are designed to handle simpler, very repetitive tasks, but in a parallel nature. So, many simple taks at once, rather than one general task at once. If you apply this to many graphics and simulation problems, it can be a perfect match. Like taking millions of pixels and blurrin them, or working out how many fluid cells move from step to step for fluid simulation. If converted, these simple algorythms can run many, many times faster on a GPU. Even better, you can also run multiple GPU's in one machine (SLI) and therefof build super processing machines in a typical tower stylie wotkstation. Intrigued? Then head along to this event..... "The Future of Digital Content Creation will provide attendees with an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in production workflows. See how the latest technologies and applications are taking advantage of the high performance computing power on the latest generation GPUs. NVIDIA will present how you can use highly optimized software modules including acceleration engine technology, CUDA, PhysX, SceniX, CgFX, CompleX, OptiX and iray. Featured speakers will include software providers who will discuss best practices for optimizing workflows and software. Come see how GPUs are transforming visually-rich and computationally-intensive applications such as video games, film production, broadcasting and industrial design. This panel of speakers brings together studio R&D and pipeline engineers who are approaching complex VFX challenges in new ways to build on the high performance computing afforded by the GPU. The resulting discussion would give attendees a snapshot of how these forward thinking companies are leveraging this technology to gain significant pipeline efficiencies and throughput speed increases. Panelists to discuss: 1. Amazingly fluid, real-time video editing Adobe® Mercury Playback Engine and Quadro® CS5 -- Jacob Rosenberg; Bandito Brothers 2. Highly optimized software modules including acceleration engine technology, CUDA, PhysX, SceniX, CgFX, CompleX, OptiX and iray; -- Phil Miller, NVIDIA 3. ARRI Relativity and Pixel Strings engine demo Cinnafilm/ARRI -- Richard Antley, Director, Digital Intermediate Systems; ARRI, Inc. 4. Phasespace (motion capture) using Quadro FX4800.for LED mocap -- Tracy McSheery, VP/CTO; Phasespace ****MOCAP Demo on stage 6 to follow the presentations**** " Click the link to read more...........   Reported By On 29-04-2010 at 09:41:25   Grrzzzzzrrtttt Shshshssshhhh ...a wandering minstrel I!   Hello readers, some of you may have noticed a break in transmission over the last few days. Thats because the team here are CGA have been taking a well earned break. Sun-block, sea, sand, sunburn, sangria, more sand, kebabs, sand etc. You get the picture.... But we are back now! (well, sort of...) We'll give a quick catch-up broadcast today, and then service should pretty much resume as normal.   Memories Of The Song music video   Great animationg style here, and all the work of just one person. Pretty amazing eh? "This is the Music Video I've made for my Friend, the singer 'Mono Diary' recently. It's about the song for the memory and love...."   Reported By Chris Thomas On 22-04-2010 at 18:56:52   New York City 3D in Google Earth   In January 2009, NYC & Company, the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization of New York City, launched nycgo.com and opened an information center that makes it easier for visitors and residents to explore all the vibrancy, excitement and diversity of New York City's five boroughs. I'll leave it to the Googbots to explain...... "Mirroring the integrated Google Maps on the website, our highly interactive Official NYC Information Center in Midtown Manhattan includes Google Maps–based Interactive Map Tables where you can plan your visit and a beautiful Video Wall featuring 3D imagery of New York City in Google Earth that lets you “fly” through your selected itinerary. Since we opened our doors, thousands of tourists have virtually explored New York in our center before venturing out on their own. When Google let us know that they would be releasing new, high-quality 3D imagery of New York City, we were excited to help spread the word. The new imagery will be an amazing improvement to our already-stunning Video Wall and will help us to reach our goals in making New York City more accessible to visitors and residents alike. The detail at the street level, as you’ll see in the video below, makes it easier than ever to virtually experience our variety of cultural institutions, storefronts and residential and commercial buildings."   Reported By Chris Thomas On 22-04-2010 at 18:15:59   Who is the winner, Kick-Ass or HTTYD   Seems there is an Atlantic divide going on in terms of the performance of these two films. In the UK, Kick-Ass is deemed to be the box office king, whilst in the US, How To Train Your Dragon is apparently "the daddy" in terms of receips. Apparently though, both films are great. So see either, or both and you'll come out ahead either way..... "DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon surged back to top the weekend box office race in its fourth weekend of release, just barely beating out the much-buzzed-about comic book adaptation Kick-Ass for the crown. Dragon earned an estimated $20 million over the weekend, bringing its domestic gross up to a total of $158 million. The film has grossed about $177 million overseas, giving it a respectable worldwide total of $335 million." Click the link to read more at Animation Magazine....   Reported By On 22-04-2010 at 17:05:23   Gaiking Giant Mecha LadyBot   This one passed under our radar here in the UK. But... to link think back to us westerners, it seems that Carl Macek (producer on Robotech), was also involved in the production of this movie. Unfortunately Carl has passed on recently. So fingers crossed his last production lives up to his previous glories...   Reported By Chris Thomas On 22-04-2010 at 13:06:09   Disney Legend Floyd Norman Writes (and Talks) About His Animated Life   Want to hear how it was, back in the good old? "What was it like to work at the Walt Disney Studio in the nineteen fifties, be in the apprenticeship program with the Nine Old Men, and maybe even attend story meetings with the Old Maestro himself? Disney animator, artist, storyman and Disney Legend Floyd Norman spent nearly fifty years in Walt’s magic factory helping create a fair amount of that magic himself. From February 1956 to August 2000, he worked through three managements, and alongside a host of talented writers, artists, entertainers and craftsmen to help create the Disney legacy." Click the read more at Animated Views.......   Reported By On 22-04-2010 at 12:00:15   3D-Coat Ptex in external engines with no Ptex support   And one more for the pot......   Reported By Chris Thomas On 20-04-2010 at 18:36:01   3D-Coat Baking Ptex textures on to a mesh with existing UVs   See previous story, and watch on!   Reported By Chris Thomas On 20-04-2010 at 18:34:59   3D-Coat model, UV, Texture   This app seems to be promising. Right now it's a stand-alone app, with some affinity for Blender. What does it do out of the ordinary? Pretty much everything. Lots of new technologies seem to be at play here. Check out the following tutorial vids to see some of it's features in action....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 20-04-2010 at 18:27:50   Ntel Says Light Peak Coming Next Year, Can And Will Coexist With USB 3.0 By Sean Hollister   Lightpeak sounds great in principle, but, can you buy one right now? No. So, for now, the future is USB 3.0. However, Intel seem pretty bullish on getting us all to move over to LP, sooner, rather than later. Until LP hits the shelves, features on motherboards etc, USB has free reign..... "How do you sell a generation of hardware manufacturers on yet another standard? If you're Intel, you tell them that it'll transfer files at 10Gbps and is compatible with every major protocol that came before... and if that doesn't work, you simply fail to give your competitor hardware support. But PC World reports that while Intel is still dragging its feet regarding USB 3.0, it's planning to have Light Peak fiber optic devices in the market next year." Click the link to read more at Engadget...........   Reported By On 20-04-2010 at 17:57:26   Disney Research Unveils Technology Competition To Focus On Youth Education At SIGGRAPH 2010.   Sounds pretty cool. If you can make it over there, why not give it a fertle? "ACM SIGGRAPH has announced the launch of the Learning Challenge at SIGGRAPH 2010. This is an open competition sponsored by Disney Research with the goal of finding new and creative ways to use technology to make learning fun for children. Based on the principle that fun and learning should not be contradictory, teams are asked to develop an engaging, computer-based learning application that will delight, inspire, and reveal key learning concepts for children ages 7-11." Click the link to read more .......   Reported By On 20-04-2010 at 17:46:05   How To Be Make Transformers 3 if your'e Michael Bay   Ah, we all know and love Michael Bay. Er, rewind that.... Ah, we all know Michael Bay, and, if you want to emulate his highly successful Holywood directorial style, read on! "Michael Bay has the ultimate formula for summer blockbuster so far. Judging from Transformers 2 the next installment (Transformers 3) is bound to be a success. How can you bring a little of that popularity to your short film or reel? Check out The Bay Formula: Step 1: Study the Bay and learn to look beyond the babe….. If anything the Victoria Secret ads created by Michael Bay prove that he knows what guys (aged 13+) want to see. Girls, heat waves, girls, cars, and girls. Lesson learned: add girls in underwear/tight clothing to your story." Click the link to see more at cgchannel......   Reported By On 20-04-2010 at 17:41:56   Eyjafjallajokull time-lapse   So you want more Eyjafjallajokull? Of course you do (who could not?). Just hit the vid above for a rather neat time-lapse shot of ole Eyj ( as we at CGA like to call it, her). And BTW, this comes from an employee of Framestore Iceland no less.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 20-04-2010 at 13:49:14   More From Eyjafjallajokull that Icelandic Volcano thing   Who would have thought that several hundred million tons of toxic ash and dust could have caused so much trouble eh? If there is one thing you can bet on to cause a ruckus (from time to time), then it would be a Volcano. Earth quakes can cause damage over a pretty wide area, but for only a short duration. Sunami's can be devastating, but again only for a short duration. But a Volcano can change the world climate for hundreds of years, and shape continents (just ask Western India...if you could.. you know what we mean). Anyway, here are some pretty (amazing) pics from Etytyrtjjjsdfkgtertertggglkull...... "As ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued to keep European airspace shut down over the weekend, affecting millions of travelers around the world, some government agencies and airlines clashed over the flight bans. Some restricted airspace is now beginning to open up and some limited flights are being allowed now as airlines are pushing for the ability to judge safety conditions for themselves. The volcano continues to rumble and hurl ash skyward, if at a slightly diminished rate now, as the dispersing ash plume has dropped closer to the ground, and the World Health Organization has issued a health warning to Europeans with respiratory conditions. Collected here are some images from Iceland over the past few days."   Reported By Chris Thomas On 20-04-2010 at 13:40:54   SHREK FOREVER AFTER 18 High Res Images   The Shrek franchise rumbles on, and by now, you'd think taking the kickey out of the Disney fairy tail universe would be getting tired, but NO! So, if you are still on the cart, why not hit the link and download some nice (HD) pics from the up'n'comming release. Walpapertastic no less.... "DreamWorks Animation and Paramount have released a bunch of new Shrek Forever After images as part of an “early” look at the film. With a release date of May 21st, I’m a bit surprised they’re releasing so many images this early. But I’m not a marketing guy, and both studios clearly know how to open a movie. As I have said a few times, I saw the first 30 minutes of Shrek Forever After a few months ago and thought it looked pretty good. And this is coming from someone that did hated the previous two films. Will the fourth installment be good? Can Mike Myers end his run of bad films? We’ll all know next month. Until then, hit the jump to check out the 18 images we were sent:" Click the link to read more at collider.com ......   Reported By On 20-04-2010 at 13:01:14   WarGames 'Shall We Play A Game?' Computer For Sale Credit Cards At DEFCON 1   Hrm.... can't say I have a place in my home for a peice of obsolete 1980's super-computer. Still, for a museum, or hardware nut, there has to be some kind of pull, to get this peice of cinematic history sharing their bed, er..... I mean garage.... Can it really talk? I don't think so. But you could probably make a decent table out of it..... "You know what sells? Nostalgia. And while you might be from the Kin generation, you have undoubtedly heard the W.O.P.R. supercomputer utter the text-to-speech phrase, "Shall we play a game?" from the speaker resting atop David Lightman's IMSAI 8080. The 1983 film WarGames is the stuff of nerd legend, of geek folklore; a 1200 baud, acousticly-coupled, wardialing catalyst in a Hollywood blockbuster that gave phreakers mainstream cred and a real chance at Ally Sheedy. Appraised at $25,000, the perfectly preserved IMSAI 8080 and its associated peripherals will go sale to the general public soon. So embrace it, buy it, and then hand over your icon of computing to the Smithsonian where it can be admired for generations. See the 8080 after the break with a gratuitous WarGames trailer tossed in just for fun." Click the link to read more at Engadget......   Reported By On 19-04-2010 at 15:11:29   2010 CGarchitect.com Architectural 3D Awards   I'll leave the details to the CG Arch team, read on....... "CGarchitect.com is hosting the 7th annual Architectural 3D Awards to be awarded at this year's Mundos Digitales Conference in La Coruna, Spain. The Awards Competition is open to everyone in the Architectural Visualization industry to highlight the best imagery and animations done in 2009/2010. This year's awards will be divided into three categories: Still Imagery and Animation/Film and Real-Time. From the submitted entries a panel of expert judges will select the top five nominees in each category. The Industry choice category will be selected by public vote in the Image and Animation categories. The winner of each category will be awarded the exclusive CGarchitect.com 3D AWARDS trophy during the Mundos Digitales Conference." Click the link to read more at CG Architect........   Reported By On 19-04-2010 at 14:07:53   5th NVArt Competition Has Opened at Digital Artists Submit Work In The Style Of Syd Mead   This competition has been open for a few days now. So, if you want it, better get you (levitation) skates on! "For my fellow digital artists around the world, I have great news: We’ve partnered up with our friends at CGSociety for the fifth NVArt competition! The theme this year is Images of Future Transport: In The Style of Syd Mead. Submissions for NVArt open today and will close on June 30th. For detailed information on how to enter, go here. For those who don’t know him, Syd Mead is a living legend to industrial designers, graphic artists and 3D designers alike—not to mention one of my personal heroes. You can imagine how thrilled we are to have him as an NVArt judge. His prolific designs have graced the silver screen in movies such as Bladerunner, TRON, Aliens, 2010, and more. His work has inspired many of the futuristic films movie-watchers know and love." Click the link to read more.....   Reported By On 19-04-2010 at 13:59:10   New Manfrotto 504HD Tripod For 5DmkII And 7D Shooters at NAB 2010   So, you have your Canon 5DmkII, and you have your storyboard and script, now, are you going for a handheld look (soooooooo 2009...) or for a more traditional tripod mount? If the answer is the later, hit the vid above to see Manfrotto's new offering.   Reported By Chris Thomas On 14-04-2010 at 17:36:43   House Season Finale shot entirely with Canon 5DmkII   So, digitial technology seems to be breaking down one more traditional pro/am barrier. Now, you too can stomp around in your jodhopurs and berret, barking instruction from your loud hailer, directing the next blockbuster (in your head at least...). Or, you can make smaller, indie drama's and documentaries with a professional level of quality not seen before in the amatuer arena. Why? Because of the revolution that is taking place with pro-sumer digital SLR cameras and their new fernangled HD video features..... "I got this info from Petapixel.com. I have been in contact with House director Greg Yaitanes to try to get a nice in depth interview but no joy as yet! Like you I have many questions as to how that got past the issues ox X,Y,Z. Many of which we encountered whilst shooting on DSLRs for Lucasfilm last month. But first this is the house news… The season finale of the popular TV show House, which will air on May 17th, was filmed entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II. cinema5D overheard the plan last month and Greg Yaitanes, the director of the show, has confirmed it through a tweet in which we made himself open to questions." Hit the link for a psuedo interview with Greg Y at philipbloom.com   Reported By Chris Thomas On 14-04-2010 at 17:33:42   3D Gallery Eye Candy Posted by Matt McCorkell   CG Channel is pimping iits 3D use gallery. And why not, there's some pretty cool artwork in there. Take a looksie if your busy schedule allows.... "Every week we come across great art in the 3D side of our gallery. Everything from evil biomechanical trees and one bad ass street batman to portraits of cute pugs with cigars and tortured superheroes." Click the link to see more at cgchannel....   Reported By On 14-04-2010 at 16:43:16   New Mitsubishi 3D DLPs Arrive For 2010, Is This The Mysterious StreamTV? By Richard Lawler   I managed to get a viewing of one of these new fangled 3D TV thingies recently. It was a Sony model, using active shutter glasses. I have to say, I was not impressed. I'm not sure if the kit was faulty, or badly setup (or both), but the impression of depth was not so great, and it had a pretty bad flicker. My personal feeling was, there had to be some kind of setup issue in play. I mean, are Sony (et al) really betting the farm (TV wise) on this tech? "Sure most other manufacturers are new to this 3D TV thing but Mitsubishi is already on its fourth generation, announcing the new 638, 738 and 838 series DLP TVs. New for the 2010 lineup, and possibly giving some insight to those weird HDTVs that appeared on Amazon yesterday is "StreamTV" interactive media which appears to be a new (post Wal-mart acquisition?) branding for the VUDU Apps service we spotted during CES with Pandora, Flickr, Picasa and others built in. If that sounds like a little too much then don't worry, it's not in the base 638 series televisions while the 738 models add StreamTV, an optional WiFi N adapter and video calibration options, and the top of the line 838 models offer Mitsubishi's 16 speaker built-in iSP surround sound tech along with a few other minor adjustments as upgrades." Click the link to read more at Engadget.....   Reported By On 14-04-2010 at 16:28:08   Gears of War 3 Trailer   The Gears Of War franchise rumbles on, with v3 due for release in the not too distant future. Hit the vid above for its (rather sweet) trailer....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 14-04-2010 at 15:26:53   OCZ's Z-Drive Gets Swappable NAND Sticks, Ludicrous Speed In Second Incarnation By Sean Hollister   Hrm, SSDs, we all love em. We all can't afford them. Apparently OCZ's Z drive was like an SSD on steriods, both in terms of performance AND unfortunately, price. I wonder if this new interation of the product will be more appealing the the (pro) masses.... "While Fusion-io's PCI-Express SSDs garner glowing reviews and deplete wallets accordingly, OCZ hasn't been so lucky -- even as its similar Z-Drive boasted seriously speedy sequential transfer speeds that made it desirable for video editing and the like, it was tested and found wanting in consumer applications. This time, OCZ is playing to its strengths and marketing its next batch of Z-Drives directly to the professional market." Click the link to read more at Engadget.......   Reported By On 13-04-2010 at 17:28:33   ARRI's ALEXA Busts Out Native ProRes Recording, Plans For RED Smiting By Chad Mumm   RED, ARRI, CANON, take yer pick..... "It's taken three years, but one of the big boys may finally have an answer to the RED ONE camera -- the device that took the cinema world by storm in 2007 as the first affordable digital movie cam with a 35mm, full-frame sensor, 4k resolution, and rugged good looks. Venerable camera-maker ARRI has finally revealed both the full specs for its upcoming ALEXA digital camera and reconfirms Hollywood's propensity for over-capitalization. Regarding the specs, you can color us impressed. The ALEXA is something of a follow up to the ARRIFLEX D-21, the company's first foray into digital cams, but besides writing data in 0s and 1s the two cameras share little in common. ARRI is positioning the ALEXA to compete directly with the RED ONE (and forthcoming EPIC and SCARLET cameras), so you can expect a price point in the sub-$60k range. Besides the low price tag (for a professional movie camera), a few newly-announced features may have indie-shooters on a budget thinking hard about picking up an ALEXA for their next bit-crafted, cinematic yarn. We'll break it down for you after the break" Click the link to read more at Engadget.....   Reported By On 13-04-2010 at 17:22:45   Saturn 5 You really were the greatest sight!   Some pretty incredible footage here for all your fluid dynamic nuts out there (yes you, you know who you are). Roughly eight minutes of 500 fps footage of the rockets motor, in all its glory. Hit the vid above, sit back, and slurp up some juice.   Reported By Chris Thomas On 13-04-2010 at 16:05:43   Wacom’s Cintiq 21UX A Digital Artist’s Wet Dream   We still want's one, and apparently, this guys has one (life just ain't fair...) " April 11, 2010 13 After years of waiting and $2,000 later.. I finally own a Cintiq ! Wow , this baby is huuuuge ! There’s really no space on my work table for it so I had to replace my [discontinued] 23″ Cinema Display with this . Setup on the Macbook Pro was a breeze . Just plugged it in , installed the tablet driver , reset the laptop , and calibrated the pen mapping ! Very simple and easy so you can get to the fun stuff ! Photo-whatt !? PhotoShop ! Drawing on the Cintiq is in a word.. awesomeness ! The first test is the obvious one.. Adobe’s Photoshop ( CS4 ) . I would test Corel Painter too but unfortunately I don’t own it yet . Corel hook me up ! Photoshop.. well it’s Photoshop . If you’re used to drawing on a tablet you’ll have the same experience but now instead of watching your mouse you’re drawing directly on the screen and clicking on the tool settings with your pen . One of the best things about using a Cintiq is that what you draw is what you get . When using the Intous the tablet maps it out to your screen ( at least with my settings ) . I’d usually set it up to map both screens so that I can easily drag windows between both . The problem with this is that your drawing proportions are way off ( for example , if you draw a circle on the tablet you’ll get an oval ) . You can switch between which screen you want mapped , which helps a lot but still isn’t perfect . With the Cintiq you don’t have to worry about any of this !" Hit the link to read on....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 13-04-2010 at 15:08:56   Kutsche Slides Into Wonderland by Barbara Robertson   Great artwork (2D), need we say anymore? "Are artists born or trained? Read about Michael Kutsche for a few minutes and you'll vote, 'born. "I started drawing when I was four," says the talented artist. "And I was always doodling around since then, off and on. When I was 14, I guess I got serious." Serious meant studying on his own for the most part. "I did everything art-related at home," he says. "We had a regular art class at school, but I didn't go to art school." And yet, not long after he turned 30, the self-taught artist was designing characters for Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' from his studio in Berlin. And that commercial work has led to support for his personal work, including an upcoming exhibition at the Arludik Gallerie in Paris." Click the link to read more at CGSociety...............   Reported By On 13-04-2010 at 14:01:33   Law Abiding Engineer Using Team Fortress 2 Engine   This one is a little odd. We wonder why? But, hey, why not. Take an existing trailer (for Law Abiding Citizen) and re-work it, using a game engine. The result.... Hit the vid above to find out.   Reported By Chris Thomas On 13-04-2010 at 13:59:11   Behind The Tech Of Avatar, Distict 9, And Alice Posted by Matt McCorkell   Are you a member of VES, the Visual Effects Society? If so, they have an event planned on the techniques developed and deployed in Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and District 9. Of course, this only applies if you happen to live close to LA, USA. Or rather, near Glendale to be precise.... "VES is set to host an event focusing on the behind the scenes technology used in the creation of Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and the Motion Capture of District 9. If you want to know how they pulled off the life-like animation and performances of the Navi this is definitely the event to see. The PGA, VES, and Motion Capture Society present a panel to explore the latest advancements in Motion Capture Technology. From Virtual Cameras to Virtual Worlds and beyond, we will explore the virtual camera technology that was developed for James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” as well as Facial Capture Technology used on “Avatar” and in the Broadway production of “Shrek the Musical”. The Motion Capture work done on “District 9” will also be presented." Click the link to read more at cgchannel......   Reported By On 09-04-2010 at 14:41:28   Fantastic Mr. Fox by Ben Simon   Directing from afar. Sounds odd to me, but on this occasion seems to have worked....... "Despite the aggravated proclamations of its animators and heavily dropped rumors that director Wes Anderson was hardly to be seen on the “set” of this stop-motion animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, there is, ultimately, no question whose film this most certainly is when regarding the final result. Anderson says he “lived” the production for two years, and it’s clear he certainly supervised the vocal recordings, but while his thumbprints may not show up on the characters’ animation itself, his fingers are all over the rest of the movie, from its visual design to the music and editing." Click the link to read more at Animatedviews.............   Reported By On 08-04-2010 at 16:31:14   Disney Puts 'Tron Legacy' Sequel In Motion (exclusive) Due out in December   A sequal, in the works, already? Hrm... sounds like Disney are pretty confident their TRON franchise is about to explode into pretty vigorous bloom it seems..... "“Tron Legacy” isn’t due until December, but Disney already is putting a sequel on its monorail track. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the “Lost” writers/executive producers who worked on “Legacy,” have begun writing a sequel to the studio’s sci-fi tentpole. No details have been released because it is so early in the process. Notwithstanding the question of whether the movie will be a hit, other topics to ponder are whether the sequel will focus on spinoff characters or center on a new adventure set in the “Tron” world. Insiders have suggested that Kitsis and Horowitz are working on a way to round the story into a trilogy." Click the link to read more at heatvisionblog......   Reported By On 08-04-2010 at 15:51:09   Pixel 8-Bit Armageddon   This one is wizzing around the internets. And why not, because its pretty 8-bit-homagetastic and cool to boot. So cool I nearly dropped my thing on a spring.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-04-2010 at 14:59:29   Scottevest Debuts 'iPad Compatible' Clothing Line available now!   For the man, woman, child, whatever who has everything. Why leave yourself open to attack whilst on the street. Yes, thats right, hide away your new shiny iPad in one of these oh so charming vest thingies..... "If you're the kind of person who has no problem walking into the Apple Store on Walnut Street dressed in some urban approximation of safari gear, you'll probably go wild for Scottevest. The company sells travel vests and jackets that feature a million gadget-friendly pockets and little conduits for wires and such, meaning that even the geekiest among us can have a somewhat acceptable-looking PAN, if that's what you're into. And now its SeV Travel Vest is iPad compatible! Available July 1st for $100, please feel free to hit that source link to pre-order today. We will continue to look into the rumor that this is actually a re-badged Joojoo vest." hit the link to read aaawn...   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-04-2010 at 14:04:18   2D Gallery Eye Candy! at CG Channel   CG Channel is pimping their gallery of 2D artwork. Why not dip in, to see what our Photoshop and ZBrush (et al) brethren have been up too? "Haven’t stopped by the gallery in a while? CG Channel has an incredible repository of images worth checking out. Below I’ve attached some of the more recent entries into the 2D section of our site. Click on the thumbs below to see the larger versions or to leave comments and critiques." Click the link to see more at cgchannel....   Reported By On 08-04-2010 at 12:46:41   IRIDAS To Introduce SpeedGrade DI And FrameCycler DI 2010 At NAB Posted by Newsdesk   I think the headline says it all? But if not, read on below.... "Munich, Germany, March 31, 2010 … IRIDAS an industry leader in Stereo 3D, color correction and production workflow technologies, today announced that SpeedGrade DI and FrameCycler DI 2010 will debut at the NAB show in Las Vegas, April 12-15 (Booth SL 7927). The 2010 versions of IRIDAS’ flagship products include advanced Stereo 3D tools, improved RAW support for digital cinematography cameras and a completely revamped user interface, based on the IRIDAS Merula UI engine." Click the link to read more....   Reported By On 08-04-2010 at 12:38:09   Meet Meline The Making Of   And as promised, here is the make of Meet Meline. Enjoy......   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-04-2010 at 12:32:16   Meet Meline   It really is amazin what people are creating these days as personal "shorts". Meet Meline is a charming story of a little girl, that meets a strange creature whilst playing in a old barn. Hit the video above to watch on. And above, we have also posted the "making of" video. Oh lucky you's   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-04-2010 at 12:04:30   CINTIQ 21UX Tablety, Screeny Thing   Hrmmmm, me wants...... not sure I can stretch to the $2k asking price though. Anyone out there have a spare one we can have? "The combination of a color LCD with industry-leading pen input capabilities allows photographers, designers, animators and other creative professionals to work naturally and intuitively directly on the surface of the large-format, 21.3" screen. The new Cintiq 21UX detects 2048 levels of pressure, giving you even more control over pressure-sensitive pen effects such as line weight, opacity, and exposure. With Wacom's new Tip Sensor, the pen now features a lower activation force that captures even the most subtle nuances of pressure." Click the link to read more at Wacom.....   Reported By On 07-04-2010 at 14:30:04   Leica M9 Hands-on; Or, The Tao Of Leica By Chris Ziegler   Can't say I've ever laid hands on one of these, and by the mention of the price, it looks like I never will...... "For most amateur photographers, Leica's legendary M System represents a virtually unobtainable holy grail, a line of cameras so unspeakably expensive, rare, and coveted that even having the opportunity to hold one -- much less own one -- is a somewhat unrealistic goal. Why is that, exactly? It's a combination of things, really; sure, Leica's brand cachet undoubtedly factors into it, but in reality, it's much, much more than that. For our money, nothing demonstrates that better than a day or two with the M9, the company's latest flagship rangefinder with an 18 megapixel CCD sensor sourced from Kodak." Click the link to rear more at Engadget....   Reported By On 07-04-2010 at 12:29:30   Henry Selick Returns To Disney By Peter DeBrug   CG is very very good as a medium in terms of animation, but it's very good to see that the traditional methods are being brought back into play at Disney. First the Princess and the Frog, and now stop-motion is going to be a regular feature at Disney-Pixar in the near future. One thing that mad my heart sink of late was seeing CG duplication of stop-motion techniques. I mean, whats the point of that? If you are going to do stop-motion, then do it...... "Henry Selick is coming home -- to the Mouse House, that is. The "Coraline" director, who began his animation career at Disney in the late '70s, has struck an exclusive long-term deal to make stop-motion features for Disney/Pixar. Disney Animation topper John Lasseter's decision to bring Selick into the Disney/Pixar fold is another boost for the painstaking hand-crafted technique, while representing expansion beyond strictly computer-animated fare for the company." Click the link to read more at Variety...   Reported By On 07-04-2010 at 12:12:54   Lucasfilm Plans Animated 'Star Wars' Series By Nellie Andreeva   Luke: Oh yeah, man, like I laughed my head off, when like dad, just you know, just lopped my hand off! Chewie: Gnargh hu grwaoh! Liea: Ha ha ha.... yeah, he really knew how to throw a party eh Luke? Luke: (chokes on Tattooine desert worm juice shot). Huh, he he he he, yeah, still brings tears to my eyes! Ah, all the fun that goes on in the Star Wars universe on their off time. A million voices being silenced at once aside, it seems Lucasfilm is going ahead with a new lighter hearted look at the Star Wars schting...... "After two hit "Robot Chicken" parodies of "Star Wars," "Chicken" masterminds Seth Green and Matthew Senreich get to do the real thing. Lucasfilm Animation on Monday announced it is developing a new animated "Star Wars" series that will take a comedic and irreverent look at the characters from the sci-fi franchise and feature creative involvement from Green and Senreich as well as writing from Brendan Hay ("The Daily Show")." Click the linink to read more, in a galaxy, far far away.....   Reported By On 07-04-2010 at 11:16:42   The 5 Miserable VFX Jobs That Make Movies Possible   Man, this article is soo, sooo bitter. It has to be said, there are indeed sucky jobs in the CG industry, and it does have it's down sides (what industry does not?). However, it IS possible to get into VFX straight as an artist i.e. by showing artistry and skill. Look at CG Talk on any given day of the week, and you will see students, and those just working in their bedrooms, that are putting out amazing work. In the end, if your reel rocks, you'll be welcomed in the front door, straight into an artists job (with pretty low pay to start, but that should get better over time). Others, well, they are not so stellar, and so come into the industry via the back door, so to speak. Now, these jobs are a foot in the door, but should not be long time positions. You can get a job in roto, learn the ropes at the studio, look at work you may be good at, and then you SHOULD be able to move on, in say six months to a year, maybe by moving into a more technical role, maybe simulation (fluid effects) or as a cloth wrangler (for clothing). If not, leave that studio and try elsewhere (NOT as a Roto artist though) and if you cannot move on and up, take it as a sign you are a square peg, looking for a round hole. "So I am a visual effects (VFX) artist, putting fake things into movies with computers (often referred to as CG effects). You think you know me? You don't know me! You know that CG makes things like Gollum and dinosaurs and pretty much everything in Avatar, but most of the CG you've seen in your life, you didn't know was CG at all. For instance, did you know that there was only one real helicopter in Black Hawk Down? Or that most movie sports stadiums are filmed completely empty, or that no buildings were harmed in the filming of the Bourne trilogy? If not, then we know we did it right. If you ever find yourself saying, "That's a pretty cool CG effect there!", that means we f?!#!d it up." Hit the link to read on, and lap up two straight pages of bile.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 06-04-2010 at 11:24:01   Researchers Develop Fast Methods For Making 3D City Models   Automated modelling of a cityscape. Sounds pretty neato, as long as it works as advertised..... "There is a growing demand for three-dimensional city models, but creating these models is expensive and labour-intensive. Shi Pu and Sander Oude Elberink of the University of Twente, The Netherlands, have each developed a method to largely automate this process, using topographic information from the land registry in combination with laser measurement data." Click the link to read more.....   Reported By On 06-04-2010 at 11:15:15   Talent Agents A New Force In The Video Game Industry?   We have never really had good experiences with agents. Generally they treat you like a number, forget who you are, where you are working, and end up becoming a nasty interjector between you and a client. Maybe that's just a bad agent, or agency of course. Or maybe agents make more sense when you are being paid $1,000,000 per year. Is that how much people are bein paid for game dev these days? Really? "The New York Times posts an interesting read on how talent agents may be the next big thing in recruiting in the video games industry. You might balk at this idea, but it’s happened to every other major entertainment industry…and it’s happening to video games too. Agents have been trying to plow this turf for over a decade, succeeding with helping industry giants like Electronic Arts navigate Hollywood. But a deep cultural divide between the slick, Armani-suit-wearing agent crowd and rumpled computer-code-writing gamers has proven difficult to bridge." Click the link to read more at the New York Times   Reported By On 06-04-2010 at 10:30:14   PrimeSense Revealed As Project Natal Tech Partner by Leigh Alexander   Wii must have a controller system, just like theirs..... "PrimeSense, a 3D sensing and recognition technology company, says its tech is being used in Microsoft's Project Natal gesture-controlled input system. "PrimeSense has delivered an important component to the technology, helping us deliver revolutionary controller-free entertainment experiences in the living room," says Ilan Spillinger, Microsoft VP of Xbox 360 hardware. Microsoft plans to launch Project Natal this holiday. According to the Israel-headquartered company, the Project Natal sensor was developed based on the PrimeSensor reference design. The company makes sensing and recognition tech for consumer devices from home computing to consumer electronics." Click the link to read more at Gamasutra.....   Reported By On 06-04-2010 at 10:05:18   IPad Reviews the first verdicts come in   By now some of you will have an iPad, but for those who do not, the reviews are in. Why is this of import to us CG heads? We'll, love it or loath it, the iPad is likely to become a major portal for our artwork, still and animated, over the comming years..... "If the bulk of your computer use involves giant documents, highly controlled editing or lengthy writing, the iPad won't work for you. What it does work for, said Mossberg, is consuming - web reading, video, music, gaming, newspapers and magazines and books, as well as short-form writing and social networking: "My verdict is that, while it has compromises and drawbacks, the iPad can indeed replace a laptop for most data communication, content consumption and even limited content creation, a lot of the time. But it all depends on how you use your computer."" Click the link to read the reviews at The Guardian (UK)   Reported By Chris Thomas On 06-04-2010 at 09:22:02   In-Depth: Reflections On The Pinball Hall Of Fame by Kris Graft   Ah, dinga dinga, chung chung, doink.... or something like that, the sounds of the pnball machine. In some ways, they are a kind of steampunk version of what was to come. Electro-mechanical games machines, that populated games arcades in the years before the electronic kind were to take over. Still things of beauty, and bloody hard to play and master to boot.... "Just off of the Las Vegas strip and across the street from the Liberace Museum is an inconspicuous building that is home to around 150 pieces of machinery capable of stirring up nostalgia, even in visitors who missed the heyday of these bulky contraptions. A plastic sign is tied at the corners near the top of the building: "Pinball Hall of Fame." After spending the last couple days in a city that has such an array of glowing, pulsating signage, I expected something more ostentatious. Typically you'd think any physical location of a "hall of fame" would want to scream, "Look at me, I'm important!" This just looks plain… like part of a strip mall." Click the link to read more at Gamasutra....   Reported By On 05-04-2010 at 11:57:07   Nature by Numbers by Cristóbal Vila   A pretty nice little CG short, based on the beauty of math(s). "A SHORT MOVIE INSPIRED ON NUMBERS, GEOMETRY AND NATURE. Go to etereaestudios.com if you are looking for more information: the theory behind the movie (Fibonacci, Golden Ratio, Delaunay, Voronoi…), stills and screenshots showing the work in progress. There are lots of free training materials and 3D workshops, too ;-)" http://www.etereaestudios.com/   Reported By Chris Thomas On 01-04-2010 at 18:09:50   Why Mentoring In The VFX Industry Is So Important by Leonard Teo   Passing on the batton. it's usually a very very long duration pass, but it is indeed very important.... "It’s easy for today’s young filmmakers to forget that the art of the cinema goes back 132 years; television 83 years; and interactive media 23 years. Today’s students might think the latest high tech tools are all they need to succeed in the rapidly-changing visual effects industry; and they’ll be sorely disappointed when their ignorance of time-tested filmmaking technique puts them in the dole queue. That’s why mentoring is so important to the future success of young VFX professionals. I recently sat down with Zoic Studios’ Syd Dutton to discuss the importance of industry pros passing along their knowledge to the next generation." Click the link to read more at cgchannel......   Reported By On 01-04-2010 at 16:40:08   Glich in the Grid Teaser Trailer   "Glitch In The Grid is a story about young artists dealing with life, love, work and weariness during the new American recession.,qe>   Reported By Chris Thomas On 01-04-2010 at 16:35:37   Chris Evans To Sling Captain America's Shield By: Thomas J. Mclean   Soon to be seen in Scott Pilgrim vs The World (a project close to our heart), Chris Evans has been given the daunting prospect of bringing one of the super heroes most iconic characters to life. Cap'n America no less..... "Actor Chris Evans has signed on to play Captain America. Evans, who played another Marvel icon, the Human Torch, in two Fantastic Four films, will play the shield-slinging hero in three solo films and Marvel’s planned Avengers crossover movie. Evans beat out a hefty list of contenders for the role that included John Krasinski, Michael Cassidy, Patrick Flueger, Scott Porter, Wilson Blethel and Chace Crawford. He will first appear as Cap in The First Avenger: Captain America, which will be directed by Joe Johnston and is set for release in 2011." Click the link to read more at Animation Magazine...   Reported By On 01-04-2010 at 16:33:44   Autodesk Webcasts: Dragon Age, Super Bowl Spots by Leonard Teo   Could be worth getting in on this. Origins has some pretty sweet art in it, as does it's mini-sequel, Awakening..... "BioWare’s Lead Animator Clove Roy and Lead Character Artist Shane Hawco discuss the challenges faced in creating digital actors for BioWare’s newest award-winning role-playing epic Dragon Age: Origins. This presentation will provide an in-depth look in how Autodesk 3Ds Max enabled BioWare to tell a complex story through an interactive narrative complete with hundreds of emotionally engaging digital actors." Click the link to read more at cgchannel.....   Reported By On 01-04-2010 at 16:06:22   Magna Carta's Kim Talks 'Tug Of War' Between Realism, Exaggeration In Art   "Even before his games launched outside of Korea, War of Genesis and Magna Carta artist Hyung-Tae Kim had already drawn a significant global fanbase thanks to his rich, distinctive style. His female characters are popular subjects for fan wallpapers, renowned for their beauty. And refreshingly, he favors softness, not unrealistic thinness, in the way he depicts them. Speaking as part of today's Gamasutra feature, Kim says it's his attention to body fat that make his characters so beautiful: "The most important part of the character is actually fat," he tells us" Click the link to read more at Gamasutra.....   Reported By On 01-04-2010 at 15:56:55   NVIDIA Announces The Dates For The Next GPU Technology Conference. by CGSociety   Get your GPU goggles on, because there's a techy graphics fest approaching...... "NVIDIA has announced the next GPU Technology Conference (GTC) will take place on Sept. 20-23, 2010 in San Jose, California. Building on last year’s inaugural conference, GTC 2010 will feature an even broader and deeper selection of technical sessions, tutorials, technology previews, and industry and academic presentations. Three concurrent GPU-focused summits will take place under one roof:" Click the link to read more...   Reported By On 30-03-2010 at 17:27:07   Engelbart's Chorded Keyboard Reborn As Stunning Red Jellyfish By Sean Hollister   The Chorded keyboard, kind of a neat idea, but maybe one for the future, when we all have larger brains to handle this kind of contraption...... "In December 1968, Douglas C. Engelbart introduced the world to two brand-new computer peripherals of his own invention. The first was the computer mouse -- which, as you're well aware, revolutionized user input two decades later. The second, the chorded keyboard, still has yet to take off outside the Braille community. But after forty years, Doug Engelbart hasn't given up on the latter device; he recently commissioned an industrial designer, Erik Campbell, to modernize the antiquated keyset into this lovely jellyfish-inspired, five-fingered keyboard replacement." Click the link to read more at Engadget...   Reported By On 30-03-2010 at 17:20:24   Sofia Vergara Joins 'Smurfs' (exclusive) By Jay A. Fernandez   Me - oW! x 2 (who would have thought, in a Smurf movie?) "“Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara is picking up her share of film work, too. The Colombian bombshell has been cast in “The Smurfs,” the Raja Gosnell-directed adaptation of the ’80s cartoon series that Columbia Pictures will release in summer 2011. Vergara will portray Odile, a powerful executive at a high-end French cosmetics company who is the boss of the live-action character played by Neil Patrick Harris." Click the link to read more..   Reported By On 30-03-2010 at 17:19:39   Supermicro New Servers Achieve 48 Processor Cores In 1U by CGarchitect   Me - oW! "Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI), a leader in application-optimized, high-performance server solutions, today launched its first wave of servers optimized for the new 8- and 12-Core AMD Opteron™ 6100 Series processors (codenamed "Magny Cours"). This launch includes Supermicro's new 2U Twin2 systems with four hot-plug DP computing nodes that support up to 96 processing cores, quad-processor 1U servers that support up to 48 processing cores in 1U, and new GPU-optimized systems. In addition to these innovative system architectures, Supermicro is also introducing advanced new UP, DP and MP solutions in standard 1U, 2U, 4U and tower form factors." Click the link to read more....   Reported By On 30-03-2010 at 14:01:49   Mari a new texturing tool from The Foundry   It seems the Foundry (Nuke), has a new texturing product up their sleeve (it's currently entering Beta).... "Mari is a new product for the Foundry, developed by the R&D and texture departments at Weta Digital. Mari has been forged by Weta in the heat of the production of films such as Lord of The Rings, King Kong and Avatar. Mari is a full 3D paint/texture tool able to handle up to 30K textures and produce production ready assets while remaining responsive and interactive. The product is not a modeling tool such as Mudbox - rather it is focused just on texture painting. The application allows hundreds of production textures to be painted on a model, but rather than be limited to just a static neutral pose, you can import an animation sequence and still interactively work on the texturing. This is important as seams and stretching can often only appear when the character or asset is in motion in a real scene, which is exactly why Mari has this feature - it is a direct result of Production requests from the original Weta team." Hit the link to read the full lowdown....   Reported By On 30-03-2010 at 12:56:27   Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light Part Of New Downloadable Strategy   Lara Croft, the original digital pneumatic pin-up, "lives" on at Crytal Dynamics..... "Crystal Dynamics' Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light contains many firsts: It will be the first outing for the iconic adventurer that lacks the Tomb Raider moniker; it's also the studio's first console digital download release, and its first project since Square Enix acquired it last year. Studio GM Darrell Gallagher explained to Gamasutra the reasoning behind the title shift, and said that Crystal Dynamics isn't re-branding Lara with this game so much as branching the franchise -- while remaining, so far, within a consistent universe for the heroine." Click the link to read more at Gamasutra......   Reported By On 30-03-2010 at 10:32:29   Would Dew Believe It? It's slightly eeeww and a little bit ahhhh....   Here are some pretty amazing photos of insects (apparently asleep), bejewelled with water droplets. Hrm... we think sleeping is a code word for cold stone dead. But we'll give the photographer the benefit of the doubt. Still, pretty amazing images... Hit the link for more droplety magic.   Reported By Chris Thomas On 30-03-2010 at 09:11:15   Unwrella: Optimal Automatic Unwrapping By Max Underground   Unwrella claims to be an automatic UVing tool for 3dsmax and Maya. We have no idea how good it is, but if it lives up to it's claims, it sounds like a god-send..... "Unwrella is an exact unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk 3DSMAX and Autodesk Maya. It is a single click solution which allows you to automatically unfold your 3D models with exact pixel to model surface aspect ratio, speeding up texture baking UV map production significantly. * Automatic one-click solution – Just apply the Unwrella modifier * Precise – Preserves user created UV Seams * Smart – Reduces texture mapping seams almost completely and minimizes surface stretching * Efficient – Chunks are kept large and are arranged on the UV surface with maximal use of available space * User-friendly – User defined pixel based padding between UV chunks * Excellent for all kinds of models (organic, human, industrial)" Hit the link for Unwrella's site. Where a demo download is available....   Reported By On 29-03-2010 at 11:30:35   How To Train Your Dragon Interview with Shaggy Hornsby, Supervising Animator   And one more vide from the Dreamworks PR machine. And why not!   Reported By Chris Thomas On 26-03-2010 at 18:47:16   How To Train Your Dragon Interview with Sabrina Riegel, Supervisor of Surfacing   Hit the vid to view on....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 26-03-2010 at 18:43:44   How Pixar Creates Great Films And Balances Art, Tech And Success by Ben Parr   Ok, so questions of who's go the biggest bananas out of the way. Pixar certainly know their stuff. This article, at Mashable tunes us into an interview with Ed Catmull, who was discussing how Pixar balances art, tech and economics.... "Here at The Economist Innovation Conference in Berkeley, California, hundreds of thought leaders have gathered to discuss the process, politics and economics of innovation. How do you create an innovative technology? How do you balance innovation and economics? What fosters great ideas? On stage earlier today was Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, who spoke to a lot of these points. He was interviewed by Economist correspondent Martin Giles; He also answered question from the audience. Here’s a small sampling of his thoughts on how innovation and innovative companies are created." Click the link to read more....   Reported By On 26-03-2010 at 17:32:06   5 Ways DreamWorks Animation Is Better Than Pixar By Josh Tyler   Ah, the age old questions. Which is better, apples or pears? Or, do you prefer beer or wine? Or maybe, what tastes better, sweet or salty? Or, who rules the roost in CG animation in 2010, Dreamworks or Pixar? "Pixar launched the world of computer animation with Toy Story, but DreamWorks Animation wasn't far behind. Other animation studios have come and gone, but since the beginning of the CGI feature format back in the 90s it's been DreamWorks and Pixar going head to head, and since the beginning there's been almost no question that Pixar is better. DreamWorks movies may make tons of money, yet everybody knows Pixar's the king of animation. After all, they've never made a Shrek the Third. Maybe that's true, but Pixar isn't better at everything. " Click the link tio read more.....   Reported By On 26-03-2010 at 17:28:48   Tromso Students Put Together The Best Interactive Display Wall We've Seen Yet (video) By Vladislav Savov   Ah, the old wave your arms around like a crazed kung fu master, type GUI, makes a return..... "Take everything you thought you knew about multitouch and throw it out. Okay, keep the Minority Report stuff, but throw everything else out. What we're looking at here is a 22 megapixel display, stitched together from the output of no less than 28 projectors (7,168 x 3,072 total resolution), which just happens to respond to touch-like input in a fashion even Tom Cruise would find fascinating. You don't have to actually touch the wall, floor-mounted cameras pick up your gestures in 2D space and a 30-node computer setup crunches all the computational and visual data to deliver some buttery smooth user interaction. For demo purposes, the makers of this system grabbed a 13.3 gigapixel image of Tromso and took it for a hand-controlled spin. See the mesmerizing show on video after the break." Click the link to read more at Engadget...   Reported By On 26-03-2010 at 15:10:42   Welcome To The Skape Of Things To Come   This looks akin to video game tech. In this case though, put to use visualizing large city-scapes. Pretty sweet....... " Skape enables you to view and download highly realistic 3D environments, for visual concepts and interaction with building information from unlimited vantage points. Internally, Skape provides the context which allows you to assess the impact of a development and resolve issues early in the development lifecycle. Skape saves you time, reduces your costs and allows you to do your job more effectively. Externally, Skape turns vision and concept into reality, enabling key stakeholders - whether potential clients, planning authorities or the local community - to relate to and support your ideas. " Click the link to read more.....   Reported By On 26-03-2010 at 15:08:19