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AWN Headline News

Digital Headline News

Fincher, Digital Domain Create All-CG Nine Inch Nails Music Video

The idea had been swimming in the back of David Finchers mind for a number of years. On many occasions the cutting edge director discussed it with his longtime collaborators at Digital Domain.

David and I talked about a scene that takes place entirely in the confines of an executives workspace, explained Ed Ulbrich, Digital Domains svp/gm. He envisioned the objects in the office coming to life under the right circumstances. The difficulty was finding the right project.

Effects Headline News

RE:Vision Effects Releases FieldsKit 1.5

RE:Vision Effects now offers FieldsKit version 1.5 for After Effects-compatible applications (Adobe After Effects, Autodesk Combustion, Adobe Premiere Pro, Digital Fusion and Apple Final Cut Pro, among others).

At the heart of FieldsKit is FieldsKit Deinterlacer, which deinterlaces video imagery with superior results. Using proprietary field reconstruction and adaptive motion techniques, FieldsKit Deinterlacer can build full frames from fields that are of much higher quality than the standard approaches available in most effects and video editing applications.

Headline News

Pixel Corps Provides New Open Enrollment Policy

Pixel Corps, the global learning guild for aspiring and professional digital craftsman, has launched a new open enrollment policy. For a nominal monthly fee, Pixel Corps now offers its members unrestricted access to advanced digital media software (valued at more than $20,000), a comprehensive global learning community and extensive online training on a variety of products ranging from Adobe Photoshop and Apple Shake to Luxology modo and SOFTIMAGE|XSI.

Headline News

Vintage Mickey on DVD

In case you dont already own all of the black-and-white Mickey Mouse shorts on the two Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets, you can get a glimpse of the early mouse on the new VINTAGE MICKEY compilation disc (Walt Disney Home Ent., $19.99), which streets July 12, 2005.

The mischievous Mickey appears in the following nine seminal shorts directed by Ub Iwerks, Wilfred Jackson, Burt Gillett and David Hand:

* STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928)* PLANE CRAZY (1928)* THE KARNIVAL KID (1929)* THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (1931)

Films Headline News

Bitfilm Deadline This Week!

Bitfilm Festival 2005Hamburg, GermanyNovember 2-6, 2005Deadline: July 15, 2005

The Bitfilm Festival for digital film and new media shows films that use digital technology in a creative and innovative way. There are six categories:

* 3D SPACE Computer-generated 3D animations * FX MIX - Digitally composed hybrids, mixing for example live action and animation * FLASH ATTACK - Films produced in Macromedia Flash * MACHINIMA - Movies made in real time with game engines

Films Headline News

Glitch Fest Calls for Entries

Glitch Fest 2005Montreal, Quebec, CanadaNovember 2005Deadline: August 1, 2005

The Glitch Fest, is comprised of short films of three to 10 minutes in length and in all categories: French or English, from Quebec or elsewhere, be they parodies, fake publicities, dramas, horror films, press reports, animations, trash, etc., so long as the short films are interesting and innovative.

Books Headline News

Chronicle Books Brings Mutts & Optic Nerve Creators to Comic-Con

Chronicle Books will host signings with the creators of MUTTS and OPTIC NERVE at Comic-Con, July 14-17, 2005. Chronicles booth is #1135. Patrick McDonnell, author/illustrator and creator of MUTTS will be signing his Chronicle Books gift items (blank journal, postcard box, 2006 wall calendar) from 2:00-3:00 pm on Thursday, July 14. Adrian Tomine, author/illustrator and creator of OPTIC NERVE will be signing his Chronicle Books gift items (blank journal, postcard box) from 11:00 am - noon, on Saturday, July 16.

Online Headline News

Composer Laura Karpman Will Tune Up for Sony Online Entertainment

Four-time Emmy award-winning musical composer Laura Karpman has joined Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), as a full time composer.

Technology and interactivity has always been central to the ways that I think and work in music, Karpman said. It is an enormous opportunity for me to join forces with Sony Online. I believe that together, we can push the envelope of interactive orchestral and electronic music in the world of online gaming.

Headline News

TiVo Names Tom Rogers President/CEO

TiVo appointed veteran media executive Tom Rogers as president/ceo, to replace Mike Ramsay, co-founder of TiVo, who announced his intention to step down as ceo in January after seven years in the position.

Rogers served as vice chairman of TiVos board, on which he has served since September 2003.

Games Headline News

Vivendi Universal Games Wins Race to Distribute FlatOut 2 in North America

Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) signed a deal to market and distribute in, Empire Interactives multi-platform destructive racing game FLATOUT 2 in North America.

FLATOUT 2, one of Empires key frontline titles, builds on the success of also distributed in North America by VU Games.

Music Headline News

Sagarika Music Forms Culture Company for Toon Series

Mumbai-based music company, Sagarika Music Pvt. Ltd., has launched its children's entertainment brand, The Culture Company, and an animation VCD series targeting children, reports THE HINDU.

"The Culture Company is a brand under which Sagarika will produce and market educational and entertainment products for children of the target age group, 2-12," Sagarika Bam, president, Sagarika Music.

Books Headline News

Byron Preiss, Digital Publishing Pioneer, Dies In Car Crash

Byron C. Preiss, an author and a publisher who specialized in illustrated books by celebrities, graphic novels and science fiction, died in a car accident on July 9, 2005, in East Hampton, New York, reports THE NEW YORK TIMES. He was 52 and lived in Manhattan.

Preiss, the president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications and Ibooks, was one of the first publishers to release CD-ROM's and electronic books.

Headline News

Fantastic Four Ends Box Office Skid

Twentieth Century Foxs FANTASTIC FOUR exceeded all expectations with a fantastic $56M debut for the weekend ended July 10, 2005, signifying the fifth best opening for a comicbook movie. Coupled with solid holdover business from WAR OF THE WORLDS and BATMAN BEGINS, FANTASTIC FOUR (with vfx principally from Giant Killer Robots, Stan Winston Digital and Soho VFX) helped snap the 19-week year-to-year box office skid.

Animation Headline News

Bauhaus Software Introduces Mirage Nomad Tablet

Bauhaus Software Inc. unveiled Mirage Nomad, a new tablet PC-based animation and storyboarding system for 2D artists. Mirage Nomad frees artists to draw, paint and animate anywhere. From storyboards and pencil tests, to fully-colored final animation and vfx, Mirage Nomad is a powerful, portable 2D animation studio that easily fits in a backpack.

Dreamworks Headline News

DVD Sales Spur DreamWorks Animation to Withdrawal Secondary Offering

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. confirmed that it has been informed by its principal shareholders that they will not proceed at this time with the secondary offering of $500 million of Class A common stock which was filed in a preliminary registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2005.

Kids Headline News

Time Warp Trio Transmits History Adventures Via Discovery Kids on NBC

TIME WARP TRIO combines humor and great stories to ignite kids interest in history in a new action-adventure animated series, which debuted on the Discovery Kids on NBC Saturday morning block on July 9, 2005. The show will air weekly at 10:30 am (ET)/8:30 am (PT) (check local listings), and also airs on the Discovery Kids Channel.

Headline News

More Switch VFX's Land of the Dead Work With Exclusive Pics

Switch VFX, a Toronto-based visual effects studio, recently completed work on LAND OF THE DEAD, the latest installment in legendary filmmaker George A. Romeros DEAD horror franchise.

Switch VFX was responsible for 155 of the films more than 300 shots. Headed up by visual effects supervisor Jon Campfens, Switch VFX created complex zombie decapitations, digital gore, matte paintings and greenscreen composites.

Animation Headline News

NASA Animator Get Emmy Nom

Dan Maas of Maas Digital received an Emmy Award nomination for his animation featured in the PBS Nova documentary, MARS DEAD OR ALIVE.

The 26th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Award nominees were announced July 7 by the National Television Academy. The awards, recognizing outstanding achievement by individuals and programs broadcast during 2004, will be given Sept. 19, 2005, in New York City.

Mill Headline News

Passion & Mill Dare Gorillaz

DARE is the latest single from Gorillaz's celebrity strewn DEMON DAYS CD, and this time round the video sees the cartoon heroes being joined by the head of Shaun Ryder. Compositing involving 3D backgrounds, 2D animation and live-action footage of Shaun Ryder's head had was by Passion Pictures and The Mill ran two Flame machines for three days to finished their portion of the work. As usual all the characters have been designed by the ferociously talented Jamie Hewlett.

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