Pixel Corps, the global learning guild for aspiring and professional digital craftsman, revealed its fall class line-up scheduled for Nov. 1-8 in San Francisco. Taught by industry veterans such as Alex Lindsay, Steve Wright and Marty Rosenberg, this four-part series of comprehensive workshops will cover everything from mastering Apple Shake 4 and the secrets of compositing, to shooting and lighting a visual effects shot on a fully-equipped greenscreen stage.

Seneca College’s Animation Arts Centre is now accepting applications for its January 2006 intake in its one year graduate certificate programs, which include 3D character animation, visual effects for film and television and 3D gaming program. In addition, Seneca offers a three-year undergraduate diploma in animation arts, which provides a solid foundation of 2 years of traditional animation and in their final year students can choose between 3D character animation for film and television or 3D game art and design.

The Art Institute of California — Los Angeles invites high school seniors interested in the fields of applied arts and design to apply for tuition scholarships in its 2006 Scholarship Competition. The competition is open to all students who are scheduled to graduate in 2006 from a U.S. high school or equivalent foreign institution.

Scholarships are available for new students pursuing degrees in Graphic Design, Media Arts & Animation, Game Art & Design, Interior Design, Interactive Media Design and Video Production.

Digital-Tutors announced the availability of INTRODUCTION TO XSI RENDER TREE training kit, a comprehensive training resource for SOFTIMAGE|XSI and the latest release in a growing library of popular training resources for emerging digital artists. A free trial of SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.0 Foundation is included with INTRODUCTION TO XSI RENDER TREE, allowing for immediate access to learn and explore the software.

Digital-Tutors announced the availability of INTRODUCTION TO MAYA: 2ND EDITION and INTRODUCTION TO PAINT EFFECTS training kits.

The Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition and the DigiPen Institute of Technology have announced the establishment of a scholarship to DigiPen Institute of Technology. Every member of the winning student design team for the “Physics” award will receive a $15,000 scholarship to DigiPen Institute of Technology, subject to admission to the program. Winners choosing not to attend DigiPen, or unable to qualify for admission, will receive cash and prizes valued at $5,000. The “Physics Award” judges engine, tool and A.I. programming, implementation and game play.

Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics, a leading animation training institute in India and part of the internationally acclaimed Maya Entertainment Ltd., hosted a seminar on “Career Opportunities in the Animation Industry” at the Music Academy in Chennai recently, reports CHENNAI ONLINE.

Digital-Tutors announced the availability of the highly anticipated FUNDAMENTALS OF SOFT AND RIGID BODIES IN XSI and FUNDAMENTALS OF MENTAL RAY IN XSI training kits, the newest releases in a growing library and first release of training material for XSI v.5.0. A free trial of SOFTIMAGE|XSI V.5.0 FOUNDATION is included with both, FUNDAMENTALS OF SOFT AND RIGID BODIES IN XSI and FUNDAMENTALS OF MENTAL RAY IN XSI training kits providing immediate access to explore the software and expand the users’ skills.

Maya 7 Personal Learning Edition (PLE) and MotionBuilder 7 Personal Learning Edition are now available for download at www.alias.com/mayaple and www.alias.com/motionbuilderple, respectively. Maya 7 PLE and MotionBuilder 7 PLE are special versions of Maya Complete and Alias MotionBuilder Standard that provide free access to the software for non-commercial use.

Design Studios, a training, production, and research-based animation studio, is in negotiations with the state government in Hyderabad to open a National School of Animation (NSA), according to CYBER INDIA ONLINE. If approved, the academy would be one of the largest animation houses in Asia. Besides the government, Design Studios is in talks with big companies to help fund the academy.

Pixologic has announced the release of the learning edition of ZBrush 2 and the ZBrush Learning Kit. Experience ZBrush 2’s innovative modeling and texturing tools. With its realtime sculpting and texturing of multi-million poly models, ZBrush will carry your digital art to that next level of realism and artistry.

REBELLION OF THE CANES is an animated short documentary, which was recently produced by 25 Minya children in Egypt with the financial add of UNICEF, reports EGYPTTODAY. The children spent five days making a series of short animation films on topics relating to children’s rights. The resulting film screened at the Lebanon International Film Festival.

Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics today (Sept. 14, 2005) that it will be conducting a seminar on careers in the animation industry on Sept. 17, at the Music Academy in Chennai, India, it was reported in India Infoline News.

Jesh Krishna Murthy, who is a renowned Hollywood animator, conduct the seminar. The Computer Graphic department of Maya Entertainment will also be showcasing MAAC involvement in visual and special effects, used in Ketan Mehta’s latest film, ‘The Rising.

Digital-Tutors released INTRODUCTION TO PAINT EFFECTS training kit, the newest release in a growing library of popular training resources for emerging digital artists. INTRODUCTION TO PAINT EFFECTS provides more than four hours of project-driven training and guides users step-by-step through Maya’s powerful brushed-based technology, Paint Effects.

Animazoo supported students at Dubai Men’s College through an intense seven-day production with Gypsy motion capture systems.

Using Gypsy as their core technology, the students managed the MoCap pipeline for a popular animated mascot nicknamed Mobda conceived to improve relations between children and the Dubai police force.

Avid Technology Inc. announced its support for the Atlanta chapter of the Urban Video Game Academy (UVGA), a program created to enable high school students to enhance their math, science and art skills by learning the principles of game development and design. Students enrolled in the program will use SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.0 to create 3D art for videogames, and Avid Xpress Pro Academic for editing cut scenes and game trailers. An open house is being held today to launch the Atlanta chapter at the American Intercontinental University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Registration for the Fall term 2005 at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects (Oct. 3 - Dec. 11) began Aug. 22. In addition, Side Effects Houdini joins the curriculum as the latest tools package.

New Courses:

* Artists interested in adding high-end effects capabilities may be interested in Introduction to Houdini Visual Effects in which instructor Garman Herigstad, production consultant at Side Effects Software, will introduce Houdini’s procedural approach to 3D.

Digital-Tutors announced the availability of PARTICLES AND FORCES IN XSI training kit, a comprehensive training resource for SOFTIMAGE|XSI and the latest release in a growing library of popular training resources for emerging digital artists. A free trial of SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.4.2 Foundation is included with training kits.

PARTICLES AND FORCES IN XSI provides more than 3.5 hours of project-driven training and guides users through the intuitive particle system within XSI v.4.2.

Ex’pression College for Digital Arts announced that several students in its Digital Visual Media program helped create a three-minute trailer showing highlights of a proposed interactive visual game for NASA targeted for use in schools at K-12 level, titled the Miranda Project.

Escape Studios, Skillset and six major U.K. post houses are still looking for entries to the Visual Effects Production Grade. Starting in October 2005, the VFX PG combines five months full time training and a two-month work placement in the post-production industry. Throughout this time not only will the training be free, but students will also be paid.

To be eligible you must be an experienced Maya user and an EU National.