Virtual Rush Gaming, game consumer and technology specialists, announced today their Virtual Rush Game Design Camps scheduled for this summer, located at seven college campuses in the Philadelphia region, including De Vry University, Delaware County Community College and La Salle University. Virtual Rush Game Design Camp is a career preparatory summer camp that allows middle school and high school students to experience video game development from a game industry perspective. Virtual Rush Game Design Camps focus on giving students a well-rounded education about the video game industry so that they can make clear decisions about the education and careers they want to pursue. The curriculum emphasizes the importance of education, team building, career planning, and having fun. Instruction is provided by working game professionals in two-week sessions that cover Flash, Photoshop and 3-D Blender, taught in state-of-the-art computer labs in several convenient locations. Students will be able to create a "one of a kind" video game in a non-competitive environment. Virtual Rush Game Design Camps combine game creation and fun, where students will experience animation, storyboarding, character development techniques and weekly game tournaments, as well as guest lecturers with visiting game industry experts. Paul Tresca, President of Virtual Rush Gaming, offers "Virtual Rush Game Design Camp is dedicated to providing campers with an exciting, fun and stimulating experience. The goal is to reach children in ways that the traditional academic setting is unable to and provide a highly educational and memorable experience. We are excited by our line-up of professional instructors, all of whom bring significant knowledge and adventure to the process of using games to learn more about technology and teamwork." Virtual Rush Gaming is also the show producer behind GameX (Games & Media Expo), October 23-25, the only major game consumer show in U.S. supported by a major media sponsor. Virtual Rush Gaming is partnered with NBC Local Media in Philadelphia to host GameX, a high-profile 'pop culture' event appealing to local, regional feature advance film and TV screenings and trailers, celebrity guest appearances, high stakes game tournaments, robotics demonstrations and video art installations. You can learn more at www.gamexpo.us. To register online for Virtual Rush Game Design Camps, visit www.virtualrush.net. Virtual Rush Game Design Camps run from June 15 to August 21 for two-week periods. Each two-week camp is $1095.00 per student for each class, with payment plans available. Payment must be made by check, money order or credit card. A $25.00 deposit for each session is required. For questions regarding registration or additional camp information, please call (610) 565-9300.

Annecy has been showcasing the very best in animation for more than 45 years, making it the industry's leading international competitive festival. The competition is open to the following five film categories, each using different animation techniques: -- Feature Films -- Short Films -- Commissioned and TV Films -- Graduation Films -- Official Selection The Festival also includes: film premieres, retrospectives, exhibitions, screenings from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., in nine theatres around the town and evening screenings by the lake on a giant screen. Mifa will be held June 10-12 with the conference June 9-13. Located close to the International Animation Film Festival, the Mifa is the global animation event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing animation content across all platforms.

Creating today's entertainment media demands community, collaboration and teamwork. Community is vital to artists struggling in the current economic landscape. The Industry Giants 2009: Building a Community, Visual Effects, Animation and Game Forum features 2D artist/animator Michel Gagne, veteran of Warner Bros., Disney and Pixar, Jay Hawkins, Epic Games' Senior Concept Artist for Gears of War and many other creative professionals. The eighth annual event takes place Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6, 2009 at the Spring Creek Campus (SCC) of Collin County Community College, 2800 Spring Creek Parkway in Plano, Texas. It's open to the public, students and industry professionals. Hosted annually by the filmmaking/visual effects, animation, game development non-profit, A Bunch of Short Guys, and Collin's Applied Graphic Design Technology department, Industry Giants 2009 features Masterclasses and a one-day forum and panel discussion. The event features a distinctive lineup of speakers working in all areas of animation and visual effects for film, television and games. Schedules for the Masterclasses, forum and ticket information are available online at www.industrygiants.org. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. Advance combination tickets for both the June 5 Masterclasses AND the June 6 forum are $40 for students and $80 for the public and professionals. Advance tickets to the June 6 forum-only are $15 for students and $20 for the public and professionals. Combination tickets purchased at the door are $50 for students and $90 for the public and professionals. Forum tickets purchased at the door are $20 for students and $25 for the public and professionals. Questions? Please call 972-516-5089 or by email: AGDT_TA@ccccd.edu. Masterclasses will be held on campus in rooms C-103, C-104 and the SCC Conference Center from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, June 5, 2009. With the purchase of a combination ticket, those attending the Masterclasses will be able to choose their own schedule. Masterclasses will be offered throughout the day. Morning sessions will run from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and include "Creating The IK Walk Cycle" by veteran Pixar, Blue Sky and Henson Studios Animator/Animation Director, David Tart. Id Software Character Artist, Brett Briley, will conduct a session on Zbrush digital sculpting techniques in video games. The afternoon sessions take place from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will include a second session on Zbrush by Janimation Senior Creative Director Greg Punchatz featuring real-time creation of a digital character with audience participation. Jeff Alcantara, Reel FX Lighting and Compositing Supervisor, will conduct a session on compositing for OPEN SEASON 2 in NUKE. In addition, "Artists' Alley" will run all day, featuring Michel Gagne, Jay Hawkins, Jason Manley and others. Artist's books and book signing will be available. The Industry Giants Forum takes place in the John Anthony Theatre from 10:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, 2008. The lineup includes presentations by Will Nicholson, CG Supervisor at Cafe FX who will discuss his work on recent films and tips on succeeding in the industry. Artist Michel Gagne, veteran of Warner Bros., Disney, Pixar and other studios will feature his recent game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and other work. Jay Hawkins, Senior Concept Artist with Epic Games, will present on his work for Gears of War. Digital Domain Technical Developer Tadao Mihashi will feature his lighting and rendering work on THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Jason Manley, President of MassiveBlack.com and Founding Director of ConceptArt.org will discuss online communities in the entertainment industry. Winners of the A Bunch of Short Guys 2009 Student Animation Contest will be announced. A full panel discussion will conclude the event. A Bunch of Short Guys (ABOSG) is a non-profit organization that fosters education and career development for students and professionals in the animation, visual effects and game industries. The group hosts free monthly meetings on the third or fourth Saturday of the month. In addition, ABOSG presents Industry Insights, an ongoing series featuring industry artists, as well as various training workshops and the Industry Giants events.

Now in its fourth year, FSC once again moves into a larger venue as the three day festival continues to grow. This year's event will take place June 5-7, 2009 at the Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel and Convention Center in Miami, Florida. The three day festival will take place in the convention center's west hall and the convention centers entire second floor, making this the largest genre event to ever hit South Florida. The show will include celebrity guests, artists, writers, vendors, industry guests, Q&As, parties, costume contests, anime programming, manga, cosplay, workshops, panels, cosplay photo shoots, dance parties, console gaming, LAN gaming, tabletop gaming, collectible card gaming, tournaments and more. As always, FSC will feature dozens of celebrities, artists and industry guests. Past guests have included the stars of HARRY POTTER, CLERKS, SOUTH PARK, THE SIMPSONS, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, THUNDERCATS, JEM, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY, FINAL FANTASY, FULL METAL ALCHEMIST and more. This year's show will include more guests than ever before, including 23 guests already set. The convention hours of operation are: Friday, June 5: 3:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday, June 6: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Sunday, June 7: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information and updates: visit www.floridasupercon.com.

Corus Entertainment's YTV's interactive, entertainment-filled summer road show WOW! will be heading out for another exciting summer tour. Now in its 11th year, WOW! will be travelling to communities across the country, visiting major festivals and attractions from June 4 until Labour Day. This year the summer tour includes HASBRO's Camp NERF DART TAG Capture the Flag! After months of training to become NERF Operatives at CampNERF.ca, YTV viewers can now put their online skills into real-life action, when they get to test NERF DART TAG products in a live game of Capture the Flag. On site, the WOW! crew will be distributing collectible prizes from NERF to all NERF Operatives-in-Training. WOW! will also gets kids up and moving with action-packed Dunkaroos Slam Dunkers All Stars. This inflatable zone is the ultimate basketball experience as kids can practice dunks, shoot hoops and play three on three with their friends. New to the tour this year, is Dunks Bump, where kids must make their shots to stay in the game -- last one standing wins a Dunkaroos prize. Kids can also check out Dunkaroos Dish, Drive and Dunk at www.ytv.com/wow where kids can battle it out online in their own basketball tournaments. Travelling from coast to coast, the unmistakable WOW! vehicles don't go anywhere without the high energy road crew, who travel from event to event, interacting with Canadian kids along the way. WOW! vehicles feature the latest in multimedia technology including a massive 95" screen, giving kids and their families a sneak peek of upcoming YTV programming. WOW!'s first stop is on June 4 at the Clearmeadow School Fair in Newmarket, Ontario. For further information, including video blogs, tour dates and locations for WOW!, visit www.ytv.com/wow.

For its third edition, Dimension 3 will be settle in the department of the Seine-saint-Denis, a region that strongly supports 3D research and production. This move will help the Forum to implement an animation plan in favor of the markets convergence

From June 2-4, 2009, Dimension 3 invites all the actors and professionals of the cinema, TV, video games, entertainment, communication or training industries to one of the most important event of the 3D industry in the world.

Displayed in the Centre National de la Danse in Pantin (5mn from Paris), this unique-in-Europe event is a meeting point for worldwide visitors. For 3 days, they will evaluate the maturity of the creation and visualization solutions dedicated to the 3D images and their application programs. This year, a space for the 3D production promotion will be added to the Dimension 3 professional exhibition area. In this Espace CREA the producers will present 3D content and their know-how. Added to those areas dedicated to professionals, Dimension 3 Immersion, an area for the visual experimentations, will be devoted to video games, the telephony but also to the 3D marketing tools and will be open to a broader audience.

Moreover, 60 international experts will be gathered at the International Forum dedicated to 3D images. They will talk about technologic, creative and economic topics in Dimension 3 conferences and Master classes. Display window of the international 3D production, Dimension 3 third edition will carry on its entertaining and didactic ambitions thanks to the Festival traveling in the Seine Saint-Denis department but also to Dimension 3 Discovery, an exhibition about the 3D technologies history.

Supporting the 3D development, Dimension 3 also offers bilingual trainings and helps the emergence of young designers or directors through the Writing Talent Grant.

Dimension 3 is an event offered by the local Council of the Seine-Saint-Denis and organized by Avance Rapide Communication.

For further information, visit www.dimension3-expo.com.

E3 Expo is the world's premiere trade show for computer and video games and related products. The show is owned by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies, publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. For more information, visit www.E3Expo.com or www.theESA.com.

At Pantin's venue Cine 104, the third edition of the international forum on 3D images will be presented by Claude Bartolone, president of the Seine-Saint-Denis department's General Council, and Stephan Faudeux, organizer of Dimension 3. Claude Bartolone welcomed Dimension3 to his district, and took this opportunity to highlight the importance of favorable economic, technical and cultural conditions for the development of digital images in Seine-Saint-Denis. The presence of training institutions (the Ecole Nationale Superieure Louis Lumiere, Les Gobelins, the universities of Paris 8 and Paris 13, the ESIEE, the CIFAP, the EICAR, the IUT of Bobigny et Montreuil ), of a strong scientific community (ATI Arts and technologies for images, L2TI Laboratory for information transfer and processing, the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris Nord ) and of technical industries make the department of Seine-Saint-Denis a favorable ground for fast-growing 3D activities. To take advantage of a potential collaboration with partners such as these, the third international forum on 3D images will be held in Seine-Saint-Denis, from June 2 to 4, 2009. This international forum on 3D images relies on three main events: a series of conferences, an exhibition area and a film festival. This year, about 50 international experts will be present to share experiences and talk about innovations and new products on the various markets of 3D, with a greater emphasis put on feedback from actual experiences. Manufacturers, publishers and contractors will present the latest innovations in 3D, from filming to post-production and display, within a more comfortable showcasing environment. Visitors will be able to discover, test and enjoy the equipment in optimal conditions. The public will see free screenings, an discover Dimension 3 Immersion, the ideal event to find out about 3D video games, new screen technologies or virtual reality environments.

Our next meeting is a special one. Animators and WIA members, Nina Frenkel and Ru Kuwahata, will be giving a talk on Thursday, May 28th, looking at the works of contemporary women animators. They will be showing work by today's women animators who are creating work and putting it out there in both the commercial and festival realms, discussing their mediums, processes, content and influences. This survey will be sure to introduce the audience to animators with whom they weren't already familiar, and will hopefully inspire members to explore them further and/or to join these animators in their ranks. Nina Frenkel is an animator and illustrator who works for clients in education, publishing, and advertising. She is currently working on an animation based on a Hungarian folk tale, as a way to learn and integrate After Effects into her animation process. You can see her work at www.ninafrenkel.com. Nina also teaches flash animation and character design to pre-college students at the Parsons School of Design. Ru Kuwahata is an animator with experience working in studios and independently. She is part of the 2-person studio Tiny Inventions with her husband Max Porter, where they are currently animating their independent film,"Something Left, Something Taken". Their animated video "Davy Crockett in Outer Space" for the band They Might Be Giants just appeared at the Asifa East Animation Festival and will be appearing in upcoming screenings and festivals, and you can see more of their work here: (www.tinyinventions.com). Ru also teaches traditional animation to pre-college students at the Parsons School of Design. The Vitals: Date: Thursday, May 28th Time: 6:30-8 p.m. Place: SVA- School of Visual Arts/209 East 23rd St., between 2nd and 3rd Aves/ ROOM 502 RSVP: To me by Tuesday, May 26th at lisaggoldman@yahoo.com. If you are not a member, we ask for a $10 donation. If you want to join, please visit the website at wia.animationblogspot.com Students are free with a valid ID.

As a child, would you have guessed that one of your favorite toys would influence the future of 3D imaging technology? Cascade ACM SIGGRAPH, Oregon and Southwest Washington's local SIGGRAPH chapter, today announced the "From Toys to Technology - Stereoscopic Display" event, scheduled to take place Monday, May 18, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Portland Community College (PCC) Cascade Campus. Highlighting Oregon-engineered stereoscopic display systems, the evening will discuss stereoscopic terms and concepts, and will offer an inside look at Oregon's very own youth phenomenon, the View-Master. The evening's program will include insight from: -- Kathleen O'Reilly, Cascade SIGGRAPH Vice-chair -- Ron Kriesel of 3D Center for Art and Photography and Cascade SIGGRAPH Board Member (Portland, Ore.) -- Pat Green, Director of Research & Development for Planar Systems (Beaverton, Ore.) -- Tom Woody, Program Manager of Perceiva 3D LCD Stereo Displays, MacNaughton Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.) -- Herc Silverstein, Product Manager/Project Lead for Schrodinger (Portland, Ore.) Products and technologies on display at the event will include the original View-Master, StereoMirror technology, a Perceiva 19" LCD-based display, a Zalman ZM-M220 interlaced stereo using passive polarized glasses, and NVIDIA quad-buffered OpenGL using shuttered LCD glasses. Event Location, Registration and Parking The Cascade ACM SIGGRAPH "From Toys to Technology - Stereoscopic Display" event will take place Monday, May 18, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the PCC Cascade Campus, Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building Auditorium (room 104); located at 705 N. Killingsworth Street, Portland, Ore. Registration and a social networking session, featuring light refreshments, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium lobby. The presentation will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. For planning purposes, all attendees are asked to register prior to the event via http://cascadesiggraphmay2009.eventbrite.com/. This and other Cascade ACM SIGGRAPH meetings are free to Cascade ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter members. Non-members are asked to pay a $5 admission fee at the door. Annual local memberships can be purchased at the door for $25 a year for professionals and $18 for students. Checks or cash only, no credit cards accepted. The PCC Cascade Campus is close-in to downtown Portland. Street parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and across the street in the PCC parking lot for a minimal fee. Carpooling is recommended as parking availability is limited. Directions to the PCC Cascade Campus may be found here: http://www.pcc.edu/about/locations/cascade/.