Square Enix Inc. has announced the release of MUSASHI: SAMURAI LEGEND, now available at retailers nationwide. The action role-playing game is available exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and marks the series' debut on the platform.
Game Trust, the leading platform developer to manage premium casual games, announced development alliances with two of the hottest independent game development studios in the world Fuel Industries and Alter Ego Studios. These announcements follow the deals being inked at GDC.
wondertouch announced the release of "wondertouch Particle Emitters for Motion," a particle emitter package designed for customers using Motion, the high-performance motion graphic design and production application from Apple. The emitter package features a selection of more than 300 preset particle effects, based on the company's award-winning, standalone particleIllusion software technology, that have been converted to operate in Motion.
Animation World Networks publisher Dan Sarto and the Australian Film Commission (AFC) are headed to the Hong Kong Entertainment Expo, which runs March 2224, 2005.
Sarto will be presenting a keynote speech at the event, regarding the current developments and opportunities in the world of animation and visual effects across multiple mediums such as television, film, gaming and mobile. In addition, he will part of one of the events many panel discussions.
Desktop Images announced the availability of the Visual FX Series, 3D EFFECTS COMPOSTING and SET EXTENSIONS, a step-by-step instructional DVD set for mastering the essential skills of seamlessly integrating computer generated 3D elements with live-action footage.
Character Animation Technologies Ltd., a New Zealand-based developer of innovative character animation software, announced the public, beta release of CATMuscle, its proprietary muscle deformation system. CATMuscle adds a whole new dimension to the company's flagship product, CAT (Character Animation Toolkit), a complete character system for 3ds max. The muscle system allows artists to achieve full-range, realistic movement in shoulders and other difficult areas with a minimum of setup. CATMuscle is the only muscle system that can be imported directly into a game engine.
George Lucas announced Thursday at ShoWest that he intends to repurpose all of the STAR WARS movies in 3D for digital cinema re-release, with the original movie, A NEW HOPE, to be readied in time for its 30th anniversary in 2007, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The plan is to then reissue one every year through 2012.
Veteran e-commerce and publishing exec Seth D. Radwell joins Scholastic as evp and president of e-Scholastic, the online information and e-commerce division.
Radwell was president, marketing and editorial group for Bookspan, the premier direct marketer of general interest and specialty book clubs, where he was responsible for all editorial, marketing, media and Internet functions, as well as new business and product development.
For an animated Internet lampoon of the BALCO steroid scandal involving major league baseball players Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield has been lampooned by an Internet animation.
The two-minute cartoon, which can be viewed for free at www.TheHomerunGuys.com, was written and directed by Will Horan, who says he was inspired by the web animations that parodied the 2004 presidential election (by JibJab).
"I just wanted to do something funny and make people laugh" said Horan, who saw a tremendous jump in traffic with very little advertising.
DICs Growing Worldwide Consumer Products Division has promoted 10-year DIC veteran Ryan Gagerman to vp, International Consumer Products for DIC Entertainment. It also named Lorne Bloch, director of Licensing and Stephanie Mente, manager of International Consumer Products.
Walt Disney Pictures has lined-up a star-studded voice cast for the English-dubbed release of Hayao Miyazakis highly anticipated HOWLS MOVING CASTLE. Christian Bale (BATMAN BEGINS) will star as Howl. Main character Sophie Hatter will be voiced by Gene Simmons (THROUGH THE MOEBIUS STRIP) as an old woman and Emily Mortimer (DEAR FRANKIE) as a little girl. In the Japanese dub Chieko Baisho voiced both the young and old versions of Sophie.
Turbo Squid, home of the Web's largest collection of royalty-free 3D products available for download and worldwide publisher for the Discreet Certified 3ds max Plug-in Program, announced the availability of four new market specific software collections.
BOXX Technologies announced that its 8200 series of high-performance workstations based on dual Intel Xeon processors are certified for the Blackmagic DeckLink HD Pro, a high-quality broadcast video card designed for the most demanding high-end television and feature film post-production.
On its first day of release, THE INCREDIBLES sold five million units on DVD and video in North America, it was announced today by Steve Jobs, chairman/ceo of Pixar Animation Studios and Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Ent. Fresh off the heels of winning two Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature Film, Achievement in Sound Editing), the five million units sold to date has THE INCREDIBLES on track to be the best-selling DVD and video of 2005.
Known for creating strong female characters for his hit TV series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Joss Whedon has been hired by Silver Pictures to write and direct the feature film adaptation of WONDER WOMAN. Joel Silver and Leonard Goldberg will produce the film, which Warner Bros. Pictures will release worldwide. William Moulton Marston created the original Wonder Woman character, which appeared in DC Comics.
Texas Instruments (TI) DLP Cinema technology, the digital cinema projection technology deployed in movie theatres worldwide, assisted the directors and visual effects team of Miramax's and Dimension Films' SIN CITY during post-production to achieve the desired comic-book feel of the movie. Directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller relied upon DLP Cinema projectors to ensure rich and consistent color in the movie.
4Kids Ent. Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Hasbro Inc. to broadcast the new G.I. JOE SIGMA SIX animated series on 4Kids TV, beginning September 2005. 4KIDS TV is the 4Kids Ent.'s four hours of children's programming airing Saturday mornings on FOX.
The Gnomon Workshop, in conjunction with Design Studio Press, has released two new training DVDs by renowned matte painter and concept designer Christian Lorenz Scheurer. Utilizing Adobe Photoshop, Lorenz Scheurer shares his techniques for executing high-concept painting, including architecture, vehicles and characters.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2004.
Nickelodeon has announced the nominees for the 18th Annual Kids Choice Awards, which will take place April 2 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT) and will be hosted by Ben Stiller.
Were thrilled to welcome Ben Stiller as a first-time host of Nickelodeons Kids Choice this year, said Marjorie Cohn, evp, Nickelodeon development and original programming. Hes hilarious, beloved by kids and a movie veteran of the kind of irreverent mayhem that is the hallmark of our slime-meets-stars Awards.
VFXWORLD turns technical this week as Andy Stout talks to users of Iridas new SpeedGrade DI software, which offers a completely non-destructive way of working, saving all color, conform and compositing information as XML-based metadata alongside the unaltered source material. This means that users can save as many versions of each shot as they want at any stage in the production process without requiring any additional storage, before baking in the changes during one final session.
Sony Computer Ent. of America Inc. (SCEA) has more than doubled its motion-capture output as a result of deploying the MX40 system from Vicon Motion Systems. SCEA Motion Capture operates as a service bureau available to all of Sonys first-party game titles that require motion capture. The outfit installed a 24-camera Vicon MX40 system in September of 2004, and in just six months has already exceeded the amount of motion capture produced in all of the previous year.
As with THE LORD OF THE RINGS, look for two TITANIC DVD sets when Paramount Home Ent. releases the all-time box office juggernaut in October: a four-disc COLLECTORS EDITION and a two-disc SPECIAL EDITION. No street date or SRP were announced at yesterdays Paramount/Fox joint press conference (the latter will handle international markets). The COLLECTORS EDITION will contain two bonus discs with including nearly an hours worth of deleted scenes that can be accessed through branching while watching the feature or viewed separately.
Herb Scannell and Bill Roedy have been appointed to the positions of vice chairman, MTV Networks and president, Nickelodeon Networks and vice chairman, MTV Networks and president, MTV Networks International, respectively.
Sumner M. Redstone, chairman/ceo of Viacom Inc. is exploring the possibility of dividing the corporations businesses into separate publicly-traded companies, to achieve important corporate objectives and to better deliver value to shareholders in a tax-efficient manner, a company statement read. Viacom expects to announce further details regarding the possible separation in the second quarter of 2005.
