Former Digital Domain vet Dennis Hoffman has been appointed vp/head of production for Vancouver-based Anthem Visual Effects Inc. Anthem was recently awarded, for the second consecutive year, production of visual effects for Starz/IDT Ent.s anthology series MASTERS OF HORROR.
Loni Peristere, creative director/co-founder Zoic Studios, presents a dialog on the continued progress of the changing world of entertainment manufacturing, in this months Digital Eye.
Iridas will bring the complete 2006 SpeedGrade and FrameCycler product portfolios to IBC 2006. IRIDAS will exhibit with Ciprico (stand 7.510) from Sept. 8-12, 2006, at the Amsterdam RAI.
Renee Dunlop looks into how Movas Contour Reality Capture System changes how we look at CG characters.
Toronto-based compositing software developers, eyeon Software Inc., announced eyeon Connection at IBC 2006. This allows Fusion machines to directly access Autodesk's Media & Entertainment Stone file system over a LAN, giving the ability to interoperate with Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire and Smoke systems without the need to import, export or publish media.
Luma Pictures completed more than 75 visual effects shots for THE COVENANT, the new supernatural thriller from ScreenGems and Lakeshore Ent., and director Renny Harlin (opening Sept. 8, 2006). Included in the package are the films eerie opening sequence in which four teenage boys leap off a towering cliff, a mystical rite of passage sequence, as well as its climactic battle sequence.
Midway Games Inc. announced the development of THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY & MANDY for the Nintendo Wii. Gamers can play as one of 15 characters from one of Cartoon Networks top-rated shows in the adventure/fighting game, which is also scheduled to be available for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance this holiday season.
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. announced that programming downloads of original episodes from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim are now available on Amazon.coms new digital video download service, Amazon Unbox. The new content features such favorites as Cartoon Networks FOSTERS HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS and Adult Swims AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE. Amazon.com has been offering Cartoon Network and Adult Swim content via DVD as well.
Available download content from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim will include the following:* JOHNNY BRAVO
Shorts Intl, the programming and distribution arm of leading short films specialists Brit Shorts, announced that a special collection of 10 animated films from the world's hottest independent animators are available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com).
Pileated Pictures announced that it recently wrapped production of a dozen animated episodes to support the launch of Trivial Pursuit DVD for Kids. The team at Pileated handled all aspects of production for Parker Brothers, owned by Hasbro, including animation, design, voice-over production, video post work and DVD authoring.
The ninth season of the popular POKÉMON series POKÉMON: BATTLE FRONTIER will air exclusively on Cartoon Network, part of Cartoon Networks Saturday morning lineup of comedic and action-adventure programming. The new season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 9:00 am (ET, PT) with a special one-hour episode. The series will air regularly on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am (ET, PT).
Immersive community sites Urbanics.com and Ikoncity.com have pitted their gamers against each other in a battle for bragging rights as well as cool prizes. Members of the two sites can sign up to participate in the competition at www.ikoncity.com/battlezone10/. Top scorer will win an Urbaniacs t-shirt and the top will earn bonus Urbos, which can be used on the site to pimp out your custom Urbaniacs character.
Fox Interactive Media (FIM) and FOX offered fans on the Web an exclusive glimpse at the new season of THE SIMPSONS series. Through a campaign sponsored by Burger King, FIM sites will offer a promotional premier look at the first episode starting Sept. 8, 2006. In a first, online fans on three FIM sites, including MySpace.com (www.myspace.com/thesimpsons), FOX.com (www.fox.com) and IGN.com's new site IGN TV (www.igntv.com) have the exclusive opportunity to see the first seven minutes of the first episode before it airs on television.
Entertainment Art Academy is holding an open house. Here is a chance to meet the instructors, students and enjoy some food and beverages. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions and watch demos by the faculty and learn about EAA's philosophy. The open house will run from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. For more information, visit enterartacad.com.
Children and students of all ages have always been fascinated by dinosaurs. If you have watched the program Walking with Dinosaurs and wondered how the animation was done, here
The Austin Game Conference (AGC) is the definitive conference for networked game development, including massively multiplayer online games, mobile and wireless games and devices, and online PC and console games. The event is marketed internationally and provides a venue where developers, technologists and business professionals can network with colleagues, learn from industry leaders, stay informed about the latest tools, technologies and techniques and get business done in a relaxed atmosphere.
A presentation of the benefits of optically correct previsualization provided by FrameForge 3D Studio software will take place at the Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles. This demonstration will feature the unique abilities of exploration and discovery as seen by your equipment and the subsequent creation of vital production setup data saving time and money, communicating with crew/cast and presenting and selling your vision.
University of the Arts Media Arts Department have begun using an Intel Core 2 Duo processor workstation system and an Intel Pentium D processor server render farm for its students high-end animation and digital films. The new Intel processors reduce render times for UArts students who explore complex environments, dynamic character movement and dense texturing as they create their work.
Steve Sullivan, director of R&D at Industrial Light & Magic, tells Barbara Robertson about the new interactive previs system ILM is developing.
Wildform, Inc. announced the release of a new, consumer priced Lite version of its popular presentation program, WildPresenter, which allows users to create Flash slide shows, flow charts, ads, online lessons and sales presentations.
Users can combine text, images, audio, artwork and shapes as well as add hundreds of animations, slide transitions and Flash features such as play controls, preloaders, links and mouse-overs. Additionally, users can import and then edit, combine and manipulate any Flash SWF and FLV file.
Dr. Toon chats with New York indie animator Patrick Smith about his new film, Puppet, his career and animation in general.
Off the heels of sold-out shows around the world, videogame composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall are bringing their videogames music concert back to the Hollywood Bowl for the second time on Sept. 21, 2006. The new Video Games Live concert features music from the most popular video ames performed by top orchestras and choirs, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists and interactive segments.
Sophos, a global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, has announced that it has found spammers using animated graphics to display subliminal messages encouraging investors to buy stocks in "pump-and-dump" stock scam. Spammers have moved to using animated GIFs as an attempt to try and avoid detection by anti-spam products.
Buena Vista Home Ent.s BROTHER BEAR 2 has landed in the top slot on the national DVD sales chart for the week ending Sept. 3, according THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. This is the second big direct-to-video animated sequel for Buena Vista this year with Februarys BAMBI 2, which still is among the top 10 DVD sellers of the year. In other animated charts toppers, Paramounts SOUTH PARK SEASON 8 DVD set ranked #8 in its first week.
Kent Rice has been named ceo of Starz Animation, a division of Starz Media, to develop and produce animated feature-length movies. Rice reports to Clasen.
Rice is a 20-year vet with executive level management experience in cable operations, telecom and TV programming, both in domestic and international markets. Most recently, he had been executive adviser to Starz Ent., helping acquire the newly named Starz Media and the integration of Starz Media with Starz Ent.
