'Poser 7 Revealed': Work with Expressions
In the latest excerpt of Poser 7 Revealed, Kelly L. Murdock shows how to load and save expressions in the Library.
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Special Halo 3 Presentation at //ADAPT 2007 Conference
CJ Cowan, director of Cinematics at Bungie Studios, will present HALO 3 at the //ADAPT 2007 Conference in Montreal on Sept. 27. This will mark the first behind-the-scenes glimpse following the Sept. 25 launch of the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game. //ADAPT will take place Sept. 24-28 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Digital Musings From the Editor:
This month we turn our focus again on previs --- one of our favorite topics. Craig J. Clark starts things off with an interview with SHOOT 'EM UP's Michael Davis about how he turned his script into animatics to convince New Line to let him direct his action romp starring Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and Monica Bellucci. Meanwhile, in the latest POSER 7 REVEALED excerpt, Kelly L. Murdock reveals how to load and save expressions in the Library.
Bill DesowitzEditor
HBO Acquires Doc Made in Second Life
HBO has picked up MOLOTOV'S DISPATCHES IN SEARCH OF THE CREATOR: A SECOND LIFE ODYSSEY, a documentary made completely within the virtual world of SECOND LIFE, the trades report. The doc, directed by Douglas Gayeton, follows avatar, Molotov Alva as he traverses the SECOND LIFE world, chronicling the various levels of social interaction engaged by the users.
HBO plans to qualify the 35-minute film for the Oscars in the animated short-subject category. The cable channel will air the production in 2008. The film was produced by Amsterdam-based Submarine.
Tron Maker Decodes Soul with IGN Hostess
TRON writer/director Steven Lisberger has teamed with IGN hostess Jessica Chobot to concoct a new cyber tale called SOUL CODE, reports VARIETY. The duo first met at a TRON screening where Lisberger was impressed with Chobot's passion and female point of view on the dangers of cyberspace. The twosome hatched an idea that follows a female tech pioneer, who has created a way to download a person's memories, as she copes with having her memories inserted into the mind of a far younger woman.
Avatar & Little Bill Return to Nickelodeon
The epic third season of the hit series AVATAR and Bill Cosby's half-hour animated children's series LITTLE BILL will both return in Nickelodeon's fall lineup, the top-rated children's network announced.
Transformers to Invade DVD & HD DVD on Oct. 16
Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS, the third highest grossing blockbuster of the summer, arrives Oct. 16 on DVD ($19.99 for single disc and $39.99 for Special Edition double disc) & HD DVD ($39.99) from Paramount Home Ent. The DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures feature, in which ILM ratchets up hard body surfaces under the vfx supervision of Scott Farrar, contains a host of bonus features.
Vancouver Film School Announces Partnership with Joost
Vancouver Film School (VFS), the largest private post-secondary entertainment arts institution in Canada, announced today that it has partnered with Joost, the world's first broadcast-quality Internet television service, to deliver two channels of unique, award-winning student work.
Yan Chen Assumes Supervisory Role on Imagi's Astro Boy
Imagi Animation Studios today announced the appointment of Yan Chen as Lead CG Supervisor on the feature film ASTRO BOY. Chen comes to Imagi with over ten years of experience at Hollywood studios, including Disney and DreamWorks Animation, and a list of credits that includes DINOSAUR, TREASURE PLANET, THE MATRIX, RELOADED, SHARK TALE and EVERYONE'S HERO.
Max & Maya Help Shape Upcoming Korean MMOGs
Leading Korean game developers NCsoft, Webzen and Gravity are relying on Autodesk's 3ds Max and Maya to deliver some of the most-anticipated massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). MMOGs enable millions of players to simultaneously interact in an online game. Thus, characters, objects and entire worlds for the AION, HUXLEY and RAGNAROK ONLINE II upcoming MMOG titles are being shaped with Autodesk products.
HP Unleashes New Workstations
HP has launched three commercial desktop solutions designed to give businesses a professional edge with entry-level workstation pricing and "zero-footprint" PCs. The new products, including the HP xw4550 workstation, the HP xw4600 workstation and the HP Compaq dc7800 Business Desktop PC, pack the power and performance demanded by users of high-end solutions. HP also introduced new technologies for the HP ProLiant Blade workstation, which was developed to improve business continuity, data security and business efficiency for multi-display, multi-workstation computing environments.
Career Coach: How to Avoid A Bad Boss
For September's "Career Coach," Pamela Kleibrink Thompson follows up last month's topic of dealing with a bad boss with a discussion of how to avoid being employed by one.
Scriptapalooza TV Wants Your Scripts
Scriptapalooza Fall Television Writing CompetitionWorld Wide WebFeb. 15, 2008Deadline: Oct. 15, 2007
The Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition is going into its 9th year. Scriptapalooza TV has seen two writers win Emmys, one writes for Comedy Central and numerous writers have gotten agents, managers and meetings.
Scriptapalooza TV is accepting submissions through Oct. 15, 2007. The four categories include existing one-hour scripts, existing half-hour sitcoms, original pilots and reality shows.
Evangelion Tops in Japan
Japanese animated feature EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE was the highest-grossing film over the September 1-2 weekend in Japan, pulling in over $2.42m (Y280.4m), reports SCREEN. The film, which opened on 84 screens, had a per-screen average of $28,800, the highest by a large margin of any film this year.
While animated franchise installments like POKEMON frequently open in the top spot, it's unusual for films that are more adult-oriented. It's also rare that a film reaches the number-one position on fewer than 100 screens.
Carl2 Heads South To HBO Latin America
CARL2 (CARL SQUARED), Portfolio Ent.'s clone-themed animated comedy series for tweens, will make its Latin American debut on HBO Latin America in October 2007. HBO Latin America acquired the first two seasons of CARL2, totaling 39 half-hour episodes, for broadcast in Spanish and Portuguese.
The sale was brokered by Portfolio Ent.'s Latin American agent, Katherine O'Brien of KO Film Distribution.
In Television, Television | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America
Lair Delivers PS3
Sony Computer Ent. America Inc. announced the release of LAIR, available exclusively for PlayStation 3. Developed by Factor 5, LAIR engages players to fight alongside a voracious dragon and to save a world from the brink of extinction. LAIR includes high-definition graphics in 1080p, immersive 7.1 surround sound, and interactive, motion-based control utilizing the SIXAXIS wireless controller.
Commodore Opens North American Headquarters
Commodore Gaming, a leader in high-performance PC gaming solutions, announced that it has opened a new North American headquarters and hired a veteran from the videogames industry to run it. The new offices are in Stamford, Connecticut in one of Stamford's best known business complexes, One Stamford Plaza. Joining the company to run the Stamford headquarters is Bill Sims as VP of North American Sales.
Konami Ships Plug & Play Track & Field Challenge
Konami Digital Ent. Inc. has shipped TRACK & FIELD CHALLENGE, an original TV Plug and Play videogame that lets children compete in a virtual decathlon. Using a custom gaming mat, players will only need a television to take part in more than seven different sports events.
EA Sets Medal of Honor Airborne
MEDAL OF HONOR AIRBORNE, the latest installment from EA's critically acclaimed franchise, has shipped to store shelves across North America and the U.K. for the PC and Xbox 360. The game will ship to retailers throughout Europe on Sept. 7, 2007.
Mattel Inks Deal with Amberwood for RollBot Toys
Amberwood Ent. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Mattel, Inc. to produce toys and other products based on the 3D animated action-comedy series ROLLBOTS (26x30). The series is in full production and was commissioned by Canada's YTV, a division of Corus Ent. Inc.
4Kids Names Jennifer Askin to Manager Post
4Kids Ent. Inc. has appointed Jennifer Askin to the position of Manager, International Broadcast and Digital Sales, in which capacity she will oversee the marketing of worldwide new-media platforms for 4Kids Ent.'s extensive program catalogue. In addition, she will be responsible for securing traditional media sales for television in the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey, Poland, the Ukraine, Belarus, all countries in Central Asia, South Africa and Africa.
Halloween Remake Terrorizes Labor Holiday Box Office
Trick or treat came early (emphasis on the latter), as Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN (2007) led a record-breaking Labor Day pack of movies for the closing summer period ended Sept. 7, 2007. The remake of John Carpenter's horror classic from MGM/Weinstein captured $30.5M. Slipping to second was Sony's R-rated comedy, SUPERBAD, which earned $15.8M for a three-week cume of $92.6M. Third place went to newcomer BALLS OF FURY (with vfx from Mr. X) from Rogue Pictures, which swatted $14.1M and $17M for the week.
Spidey 3 Leads Record Breaking Summer Box Office
The sizzling summer box office captured a record $4.1B (when not adjusted for inflation or ticket prices), led by Sony's SPIDER-MAN 3 with $336.5M (containing bar-raising vfx from Sony Pictures Imageworks). Second place belonged to Paramount/DreamWorks' SHREK THE THIRD, with $321M, the fourth best in animation history, the third best among CG animation contenders and second best for DreamWorks Animation. Paramount/DreamWorks' TRANSFORMERS (with innovative vfx from ILM) followed in third with $310.5M.
Teletoon Launches Retro Specialty Channel
Teletoon Retro, a new digital specialty channel featuring classic cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, Fat Albert, Tom & Jerry, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Superfriends, will premiere across Canada on Oct. 1, 2007 at 6:00 pm. The channel will be available as part of the Digital standard package on Bell ExpressVu, with additional carriers expected to be finalized by launch. Beginning today, Sept. 4, a special Teletoon Retro hour will air every evening at 7:30 pm ET/PT to promote the launch.
NYF 2008 In'l TV Broadcasting Awards Call For Entries
New York Festivals 2008New York, New York, USAJan 31, 2008Deadline: Sept. 17, 2007
New York Festivals is looking for the best and most creative work for the 2008 International Television Broadcasting Awards. Now in its 48th year, these awards recognize the world's most outstanding news, documentary, information and entertainment programming, as well as the best music videos, infomercials, promotion spots, openings and IDs.
