Spring term for Gnomon School of Visual Effects begins April 3 through June 11. New classes include:

* Digital Sculpting and Texturing in ZBrush. This course is a comprehensive look at ZBrush's complete toolset for high-end 3D modeling and texturing. Instruction introduces a complete ZBrush workflow beginning with a base mesh and taking it to a complete ZBrushed finish. Instructor: Scott Spencer.

Linden Lab, creator of the virtual world SECOND LIFE, announced the release of BELLS AND SPURS, a machinima film based on the cowboy poem "Silver Bells and Golden Spurs" and created entirely within SECOND LIFE. The film will have its real world premiere Saturday, March 11, 2006, during the Screen Burn Beta Festival at the 13th annual SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin. To see the film and tour the virtual back lot where Bells and Spurs was filmed, visit www.bellsandspurs.com.

Alain Bielik reports on the more ambitious vfx utilized in Underworld: Evolution, resulting in a pipeline shift by Luma Pictures and further reliance on ZBrush.

fmx/06, the 11th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, will take place May 3-6, 2006, in Stuttgart, Germany.

Topics include the latest animated movies and vfx features, the convergence of games and movies, new fields of work for animators, the latest use of realtime graphics and current trends from the Far East. There is also new cooperation with the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, with overlapping programs, in addition to the festival award ceremony coinciding with the opening of fmx/06 on the evening of May 2.

The ION International Animation, Games and Film Festival will return to Los Angeles this fall and organizers are looking for submissions of animated films, machinima, game trailers, music videos, live-action short films, short documentaries, TV spots, movie trailers and films made for mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs. Last year

With the holidays comes holiday parties. The Career Coach gives some quick tips on how to get more out of the festivities than just chips and dips.

The Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences (AMAS), an organization that provides advocacy, education and community for Machinima, announced the winners of the 2005 Machinima Awards (The Mackies), which were unveiled in an awards presentation during the Machinima Film Festival on Nov. 11, 2005.

The Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences will present the 2005 Machinima Film Festival, a full-day of Machinima (animated filmmaking using 3D videogame technologies), taking place at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. The one-day event will include screenings of Machinima films, special presentations, talks with award-winning independent filmmakers and seminars about Machinima production techniques. For more information, visit festival.machinima.org.

Sponsored by GarageGames, the fourth annual Independent Games is a fun, informal and informative gathering of independent game developers featuring a keynote address, "The State of the Revolution," by Mark Frohnmayer. IGC provides connections and content for programmers, artists and indie entrepreneurs. Speakers include Melv May on 2D game design, Ill Clan on machinima, John Welsh and Dave Nixon on the casual gaming industry, Thomas Buscaglia on legal issues, Ageia on the future of game physics, Ryan Gordon on Mac OS X game development, Microsoft on Xbox development and many more industry veterans. IGC 2005 presents a great platform for the independent game development community to show off their creations, while learning about next-generation technologies and helpful topics for game developers spread out over five different breakout tracks. The breakout tracks cover topics such as animation and lighting for artists, marketing and legal issues for the business side of gaming, and development techniques from seasoned game programmers. Early registration is online and costs $195 for a three-day pass, including sessions, t-shirt, food, LAN parties and beverage of choice ("beer") for those registering before Sept. 16. Space is limited, so reservations will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registrations after Sept. 16 will be $250. More information is available at www.indiegamescon.com.

With two stop-motion features hitting theaters this year, Gerard C. Raiti looks at another trailblazing stop-motion legend Gumby, who is celebrating his 50th year, with a talk with Clokey Prods. head Joe Clokey, the son of Gumby creator Art Clokey.