SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT v.1.0 is now available. It is the first production toolset for lifelike face animation. By solving faces for animation and reducing preparation time, Face Robot allows animators to concentrate on sculpting the details of every expression for unforgettable performances.
Massive Software was utilized by visual effects studios Framestore CFC and Weta Digital for X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. With Massive, visual effects studios can animate anywhere from a few to a few hundred thousand realistically responding digital characters, helping artists and animators tackle ever more ambitious effects challenges and scenes, such as those seen in X3.
Both Framestore CFC and Weta Digital used Massive to craft scenes of mayhem in the Brett Ratner-directed movie, which sees war breaking out after a cure for mutant genes is found.
The British directing duo, Tom and Charlie Guard, are in negotiations to remake Korean chiller, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, for DreamWorks, according THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The 2004 original from Kim Jee-woon was based on a classic Korean folk tale crossed with 1970s British horror. The DreamWorks version will follow modern-day teenage sisters Anna and Alex Rydell who return home from a mental hospital only to have their sanity challenged by a cruel stepmother, clueless father and a lingering ghost. Production is set to begin this fall.
HUMANITAS Prize announced that 33 writers were named finalists in eight categories for the 32nd HUMANITAS Prize. The writers will be competing for $145,000 in prize money to be handed out at the annual luncheon, which will be held on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, at the Hilton Universal Hotel. The HUMANITAS Prize was created 32 years ago to reward great writing for television and film.
Imagi Animation Studios, in association with Tatsunoko Prod. of Japan, will produce a new CG-animated feature-length theatrical release based on the long-running anime franchise GATCHAMAN. The new film will be written and directed by Kevin Munroe, who is writing and directing Imagis TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES CG feature that is being distributed by Warner Bros. in the U.S. and The Weinstein Co. internationally.
Animax Ent. won a Sports Emmy Award for OFF-MIKES, the weekly original animated series they produce for ESPN.com. Animax Ent. and ESPN.com won for Outstanding Achievement in Content for Non-Traditional Delivery Platforms, a category that the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences debuted this year. This is Animaxs first Emmy Award.
Emmy award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. announced the release of Toon Boom Storyboard, the leading storyboarding system for visual storytelling. Developed in conjunction with expert storyboard artists, Toon Boom Storyboard speeds up production planning and enables studios to increase production integration.
Toon Boom Storyboard provides:* Flexible layer-based panel display with motion camera capabilities * Complete set of drawing tools, including pressure-sensitive brush tool when using a digital graphic tablet and pen
MJZ topped the list of honored production companies in the 15th Annual AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, presented by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, tonight (June 8, 2006). Close to 2,000 members of the advertising and production industry gathered to view the show, an hour and 22-minute compendium of the best commercials of the previous year, which premiered at The Museum of Modern Art, and now goes on tour to museums and cultural institutions around the country and abroad.
Michael Pardee joins Sway Studio as exec producer after serving as head of production for commercials at Digital Domain since 2003.
This is a key development for Sway, said company founder and former Digital Domain exec Mark Glaser. Ive known Mike for more than 10 years and hes the perfect person to oversee all of our production in a seamless, cohesive and streamlined manner. Pardee will work alongside executive producer Shira Boardman.
London-based Framestore CFC created the climactic San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge sequence in X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, arguably the most complex vfx in the movie, as it is wrenched from its foundation to form a bridge with Alcatraz island. It features a vast array of elements: CG, digital backgrounds, miniatures, full-size sets with digital extensions, night-shot material that had to be matched with day-shots all of which had to be brought together as a seamless whole.
Despite producer Toeis reluctance to license the blood-soaked original to any North American studio for fear of cuts, New Line was able to obtain the remake rights to worldwide Japanese cult hit, BATTLE ROYALE, according to VARIETY. Neal Moritz and Roy Lee are set to produce.
This month, top players from around the globe will compete for the sporting worlds other top international prize the Altador Cup. On June 8, 2006, concurrent with the start of the World Cup, Neopets.com will kick-off its first ever Altador Cup Tournament, offering its 25 million members the opportunity to compete internationally in the online sport, "Yooyuball" (pronounced you-you-ball).
MTV2 has joined up with Aardman Animations to broadcast a series of shorts featuring the character Big Jeff.
MTV2 is MTV Networks U.K. & Irelands channel dedicated to guitar-based music. The 10 BIG JEFF films range from 90 to 180 seconds in duration and will be scattered amongst the MTV2 schedule from mid June. The animations were created, written and directed by Aardmans Tom Parkinson and exec produced by Miles Bullough, Pete Lord and Dave Sproxton.
FUNimation Ent., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corp., announced that the company has signed an agreement with Verizon for distribution of the FUNimation Channel as part of the Verizon FiOS TV service.
Genius Products has signed a U.S. distribution pact with BKN Intl for 16 animated direct-to-video titles based on classic tales, reports VARIETY. In addition, an all-animal CG version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL will receive a limited theatrical release via SD Intl in November before arriving on DVD later that month.
Other titles will debut between September and the end of 2007 and include ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES and animated retellings of A JUNGLE BOOK, ROBIN HOOD and ZORRO.
There's an influx of new talent at game developer Trilogy Studios. Animator Chad Schoonover recently left Sony Pictures Imageworks, where he created 3D facial and body animation for characters in the upcoming animated feature film, MONSTER HOUSE. He is now leading the animation team at Trilogy. He previously worked for five years as an animator on the UNREAL franchise, the demos for Epic's highly vaunted UNREAL 3 tech, as well as three years at Midway Games, where he pioneered the use of motion capture in the Sports division.
NVIDIA Corp. announced a reference design with Intel Corp. that will provide device manufacturers with a fast and easy solution for bringing powerful, media-rich handheld devices to market based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.
ArtZone, a unique and focused online destination that brings community to art, is now available and free to artists worldwide at www.ArtZone.com. Backed by DAZ Prods. Inc., a leading developer of professional quality 3D models and software, ArtZone brings a new environment that enables the sharing and growth of each members passion for art.
Rising Sun Research, an innovative developer of tools for visual professionals, now offers cineSync v1.1, a new version of the company's remote review and approval tool. Based on Apple QuickTime technology, cineSync continues to redefine the post-production review and approval paradigm.
Foxs remake of THE OMEN opened auspiciously well with $12.5M on 6/6. Alain Bielik recounts how Cinesite digitally recreated those legendary death scenes we remember so well. Meanwhile, Fred Galpern reviews modo 201, the latest version of Luxologys 3D modeling, painting and rendering software. According to early reports, 201 makes it easier to model and render all in application without worrying about the mechanics. Theres also the latest excerpt from LEARNING MAYA 7 FOUNDATION, which continues the series on rendering.
Bill DesowitzEditor
AWN has launched the latest free video lesson in its exclusive video learning series taken from Hollywood Camera Work: The Master Course In High-End Blocking And Staging, a comprehensive and ambitious six DVD training series for animation and live-action directors.
Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. will launch JUSTICE LEAGUE HEROES: THE FLASH for Game Boy Advance and JUSTICE LEAGUE HEROES for Nintendo DS in fall 2006. Distributed by Eidos Interactive, the games will release simultaneously with the JUSTICE LEAGUE HEROES games for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PSP.
Hugh Jackman (X-MEN: THE LAST STAND) has agreed to star with Nicole Kidman in writer/director Baz Luhrmann's as yet untitled epic.
The Weinstein Co. has sold most of the world on Exodus Film Groups CG-animated feature comedy IGOR, following Cannes.
Key territorial sales include the U.K. to Momentum, in France to TF1, in Germany and Switzerland to Constantine, in Spain to Aurum, in Russia to West Film Group, in Eastern Europe to EEAP, in Benelux to RCV, in Brazil to Europa, in the Middle East to Italia, in Portugal to Lusomundo, in South Korea to Jung-A Ent., in Turkey to Film Pop and in Taiwan to Applause.
University Press of Mississippi will release the new book, MOUSE TRACKS: THE STORY OF WALT DISNEY RECORDS, written by Tim Hollis and Greg Ehrbar with a foreword from Leonard Maltin.
