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AWN Headline News

Headline News

Digital-Tutors Releases XSI Particles and Forces Training Kit

Digital-Tutors announced the availability of PARTICLES AND FORCES IN XSI training kit, a comprehensive training resource for SOFTIMAGE|XSI and the latest release in a growing library of popular training resources for emerging digital artists. A free trial of SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.4.2 Foundation is included with training kits.

PARTICLES AND FORCES IN XSI provides more than 3.5 hours of project-driven training and guides users through the intuitive particle system within XSI v.4.2.

Artists Headline News

eyeon Expands European Office

eyeon Software, which introduced Fusion 5, the latest in its flagship compositing software at SIGGRAPH 2005 (shipping Aug. 31), has expanded its European office, appointing Rüdiger Knoblach to director of operations for eyeon Europe, while London-based Tim Doidge has been promoted to director of sales.

The European visual effects community dominates the sales of DFX+, one of eyeons signature broadcast products, allowing the expansion to take place before the release of Fusion 5.

Design Headline News

FISH•EGGS Motion Graphic Design Studio Launched

FISHEGGS, a motion graphics and design company, has launched in Venice, California. Heading the company is founder/exec director Chris Roe, an award-winning filmmaker and designer who has worked in all visual mediums including film, television, interactive and web.

FISHEGGS comes from Roes last name, which by definition means fish eggs. The company uses its experience and creativity to effectively interpret, visualize and communicate clients ideas to their fullest.

Color Headline News

da Vinci Upgrades 2K Plus With Version 4.0

da Vincis 2K Plus, the leading color enhancement system and the most widely used system in digital intermediate (DI) applications, has recently been upgraded with the release of version 4.0, which includes the introduction of the ColorTrace and Toolbox2 options. Major enhancements in the new release include fingertip access to many powerful Toolbox2 features such as enhanced PowerVectors, enhanced Defocus, and realtime vfx.

Headline News

Wildcat Realizm 500 Graphics Accelerator Announced

3Dlabs Inc. Ltd. announced the Wildcat Realizm 500 professional graphics accelerator. The new Wildcat Realizm 500 offers high-end graphics performance to Computer-aided Design (CAD) and Digital Content and Creation (DCC) professionals for an MSRP of only $899.99.

Headline News

Jolie to Star in Beowulf

Angelina Jolie will star as the queen of darkness in BEOWULF, director Robert Zemeckis latest feature that will rely on the same performance capture technique at Sony Pictures Imageworks (Imagemotion) used on THE POLAR EXPRESS and next summers MONSTER HOUSE, reports VARIETY.

Distribution may wind up at Paramount domestically and Warner Bros. internationally.

Jolie will play the queen that tempts the Viking that would be king. Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Gleeson, Robin Wright Penn and John Malkovich.

Disney Headline News

Walt Disney Treasures Wave 5 DVDs Due Dec. 6

Wave 5 in the illustrious Walt Disney Treasures DVD series will arrive Dec. 6, 2005 (Buena Vista Home Ent., $32.99 each), according to various online sites. The four two-disc sets (packaged in collectible tins) will consist of The Chronological Donald Volume Two, Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts 1920s-1960s, ELFEGO BACA AND THE SWAMP FOX: Legendary Heroes and THE ADVENTURES OF SPIN & MARTY.

Headline News

Toronto Hosts North American Premieres of Wallace & Gromit & Corpse Bride

The 30th Toronto International Film Festival will be host to the battle of the stop-motion features as both DreamWorks and Aardman Animations WALLACE & GROMIT - THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT and Warner Bros. THE CORPSE BRIDE will be making their North American debuts at the event.

Directed by Nick Park, original creator of the Academy Award-winning clay-animated shorts, and Steve Box, THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, stars the voices of Peter Sallis (who has voiced the role of Wallace in all of the shorts), Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter.

Headline News

Lions Gate Acquires More Than 300 Titles From Modern Ent.

Lions Gate Ent. Toronto announced that it has closed its asset purchase agreement to acquire substantially all of the Modern Ent. Ltd. library, effective today, Aug. 17, 2005. The acquisition had been previously announced.

The acquisition includes the rights held by Modern to leading titles from Vestron, Dino DeLaurentiis and other libraries within the Modern Ent. family, including CONAN THE BARBARIAN, HALLOWEEN II and III, RAGTIME, DEAD ZONE, AND GOD CREATED WOMAN, AMITYVILLE II, EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE, HERCULES IN NEW YORK and EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY.

Channel Headline News

ITV Set to Launch Kids Network

Five years in the making leading U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV is now set to launch of a kids network, reports VARIETY.

The digital channel will be available on all platforms including Freeview, the free-to-air digital service backed by the BBC and BSkyB. Debuting within the next six months, the channel will offer a combination of existing programming, new commissions and acquisitions.

Headline News

Kelly Flock To Drive THQ Global Product Strategy, Sales, Marketing

Kelly Flock is joining THQ Inc. in the newly created position of evp of worldwide publishing, overseeing product strategy, marketing and sales.

Flock has more than two decades of publishing, sales, marketing and licensing experience in the videogame industry, having served as president/ceo of Sony Online Ent., president of 989 Studios and president of Sony Interactive Studios America. Flock also was gm of LucasArts Ent. Co. where he managed the game division of Lucasfilm Ltd.

Comics Headline News

Cairo-Based Comic Book Creator/Publisher Opens L.A. Office

Cairo-based AK Comics has established a Los Angeles area office to promote in the U.S. market its line of Middle East-themed superhero comic books, animated series based on the comic titles and extensive licensing program surrounding the companys array of brands.

Jordan L. Udko will head the office in Santa Monica, California, as vp business development for AK Comics. Udko was a distribution account exec Paramount Pictures.

Award Headline News

Hollywood Film Fest Honors Howl’s, War of the Worlds Batman, Sin City

The Hollywood Film Festival's Board of Advisors announced that this year's festival will honor Warner Bros.' BATMAN BEGINS with the Hollywood Sound of the Year Award, Disney's HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE with the Hollywood Animation of the Year Award," Dimension's SIN CITY with the Hollywood Make-Up of the Year Award and Paramount's WAR OF THE WORLDS with its "Hollywood Visual Effects of the Year Award.

The awards will be bestowed upon the honorees as part of the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony on Oct. 24, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Film Headline News

Fox/Marvel Withdraw Suit Against Sony/Revolution’s Zoom

Fox and Marvel have withdrawn a case filed in June against Sony and Revolution film ZOOM, reports VARIETY. The suit claimed the Tim Allen comedy is too similar to the X-MEN franchise and that its release two weeks prior to X3 was an attempt to ride the promotion of the third X-MEN film.

Marvel Headline News

Konami Signs Deal With Marvel, Set to Release 2 New Sports Games

Konami Digital Ent. Inc. announced a multi-year agreement with Marvel Enterprises Inc. and Upper Deck Ent. that gives Konami exclusive worldwide interactive rights to develop games for current and next-generation videogame systems based on Upper Decks best-selling Marvel Trading Card Game. This is the latest addition to Konamis collection of interactive trading card based properties, which also includes the tremendously successful YU-GI-OH! series.

Visual Headline News

TV Academy Stirs Up Its Own VFX Bake-Off

Taking its cue from the Motion Picture Academy, which holds a special visual effects nominees screening event shortly before Oscar ballots are due, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Title Design & Special Visual Effects Peer Group will host a Bake-Off" showcase of Emmy Award nominees and its Nominee Reception together, on Friday, Sept. 9, 2005, at 6:30 pm at the Television Academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theater in North Hollywood, California.

Story Headline News

Pixar Story Man Joe Ranft Killed In Car Crash

Pixar story man extraordinaire and voice actor Joe Ranft was killed in an automobile accident Aug. 16, 2005, near Mendocino, California, at the age of 45.

Ranft was head of story on the original story teams for Pixars first two films, TOY STORY and A BUGS LIFE, and was a story artist on MONSTERS, INC. He was most recently working as head of story on John Lasseters next film, CARS.

Technology Headline News

Digital Musings From the Editor:

Even though SIGGRAPH 2005 has come and gone, the VFXWORLD focus remains this month on new technology. Alias Maya 7 started shipping, so later in the week Fred Galpern explores the latest features. This newest Maya capitalizes on the Alias MotionBuilder full-body IK technology and makes animating characters faster, easier and more accurate. Plus there is new polygonal modeling and some new vfx tools, too, including a new Toon Shader and advanced render layering technology.

Headline News

Batman Begins Bound for DVD on Oct. 18

Warner Home Video has announced that BATMAN BEGINS will released on DVD Oct. 18 in both a single-disc ($28.98) and two-disc Deluxe Edition ($30.97), with the movie in anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) and English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, DIGITAL BITS reports. The Chris Nolan-directed feature, which set an IMAX record for 2D DMR presentation, boasts vfx from The Moving Picture Co., Double Negative, Rising Sun, BUF and The Senate Visual Effects Ltd.

Animation Headline News

Curious Pictures Expands VFX Department

Curious Pictures visual effects department in New York has selected seven new computer graphics and vfx specialists for Curious ever-growing slate of branded entertainment projects. The new talent roster includes animators Seth Lippman of PDI/DreamWorks, Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks, who worked on SHREK 2, THE LORD OF THE RINGS and ANTZ, and Dr. John Alex, a former software engineer and technical director for Pixar, who led animation teams for TOY STORY 2, MONSTERS, INC. and FINDING NEMO, and wrote software applications for THE INCREDIBLES.

Animation Headline News

NaturalMotion Announces endorphin 2.5

NaturalMotion announced the forthcoming release of endorphin 2.5, the newest version of the companys award-winning 3D character animation software. endorphin 2.5s powerful new transitioning, blending and behavior features, combined with enhancements to asset repurposing tools and improved FBX support, allow animators to create realistic, fully interactive 3D character animation faster and easier than traditional keyframe or motion capture techniques.

Cartoon Headline News

TV Academy Announces Individual Achievement in Animation Emmy Award Winners

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today (Aug. 17, 2005), the Emmy Award winners in Individual Achievement in Animation, as well as Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the 57th Annual Emmy Awards. Juried awards do not have nominations and are selected by members of ATAS' animation peer group, which may choose more than one winner in a category or none.

The winners will be presented with their Emmys at the 2005 Creative Arts Awards on Sunday, September 11, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Festival Headline News

Nicktoons Premieres Its 2nd Annual Film Festival Nextoons

Nicktoons will present NEXTOONS: THE NICKTOONS FILM FESTIVAL, a week-long festival of shorts submitted by animators worldwide. The festival will kick off on Sunday, Aug. 21, at midnight (ET)/9:00 pm (PT) and will air nightly at midnight (ET)/9:00 pm (PT), leading up to the final episode on Sunday, Aug. 28. Created in partnership with Frederator Studios, NEXTOONS: THE NICKTOONS FILM FESTIVAL is the first on-air festival of its kind, and the only, on-air festival dedicated to showcasing the diversity of independent cartoon filmmaking by animators from around the globe.

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