3Dlabs Inc. announced that the Wildcat Realizm 800 professional graphics accelerator has been selected by Fujitsu Siemens Computers for its Celsius R630 high-end workstations. Harnessing the power of two onboard Visual Processing Units (VPUs), the Wildcat Realizm 800 is a performance leader.
ART VPS has released a new 64-bit version of its RenderDrive network system that can accommodate up to 48 of the company's AR350 dedicated raytracing processors. This comes on the heels of last weeks release of the new Pure PCI-X raytracing card, offering twice the processing power of its predecessor.
Rendercore Inc., a leader in remote rendering solutions, has appointed production expert Marty Shindler to its advisory board. Shindler is the ceo of The Shindler Perspective Inc., a management-consulting firm for award-winning entertainment and technology companies.
McDonalds Corp. has named DIC Ent. (DIC) as its worldwide licensing agent for active play toys, entertainment and apparel as well as other concepts to come. DIC will develop comprehensive new programs and products for McDonalds McKids brand slated to rollout in 2005 and 2006.
Nicktoons has announced that Digital-Tutors has joined the lineup of sponsors for the 2005 NEXTOONS: THE NICKTOONS FILM FESTIVAL. Digital-Tutors, a creative training development company based in Oklahoma City, is providing several prizes to 2005 film festival winners and entries placing in the top 10.
With a December production start for James Cameron's BATTLE ANGEL, the Oscar-winning director is already readying another feature tentatively titled PROJECT 880, his Lightstorm Ent. told the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Cameron plans to shot the film in 3D with custom-designed high-definition cameras as well as a photo-real performance capture technology.
Lightstorm did not give details about PROJECT 880, but did say that Cameron may choose to film that project before BATTLE ANGEL, which has become a difficult film to adapt from Yukito Kishiro's 12 popular Japanese graphic novels.
Germany's Constantin Film and Impact Pictures have already begun pre-production on RESIDENT EVIL 4 before even filming the third film in the series, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The fourth film will take place in Tokyo.
The third film, RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE, will begins shooting in Australia in either Nov. or Dec. AFTERLIFE will be set in the Nevada desert and then shift to Japan in the third act, setting up the fourth installment.
After putting the pieces in place, Sumner M. Redstone, chairman/ceo of Viacom Inc. announced today (June 14, 2005) that the companys board of directors has unanimously approved the creation of two separate publicly traded companies from the companys leading entertainment brands through a spin-off to Viacom stockholders.
The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films & Film Market Palm Springs, California, USASeptember 20 - 26, 2005Deadline: June 24, 2005
FirstGlance Hollywood Film Fest 2005Hollywood, California, USADecember 2005Deadline: July 1, 2005
2005 Austin Film FestivalAustin, Texas, USAOctober 20-27, 2005Deadline: July 15, 2005
Lions Gate Entertainment Toronto has restructured its international operations to reflect continued growth of its feature film and television businesses with Nicolas Meyer, president of Lions Gate International, solely overseeing the international division of Lions Gate Ent. with two newly created executive positions that will report directly to him.
Luxology announced that modo, a leading subdivision surface and polygonal 3D modeling platform, is compatible with Apples new Intel Processor-based Macs. modos highly adaptable architecture will enable Luxologys customers to access this advanced technology as soon as its released.
Disneys latest DVD prequel, TARZAN II (Walt Disney Home Ent., $29.99), comes off the vine June 14, 2005. Directed and co-written by Brian Smith (POCAHONTAS II), the Disney Toon Studios release focuses on young Tarzans realization that he is not an ape and his quest to discover his true identity. Voice cast includes Harrison Chad, Brenda Grate, George Carlin, Brad Garrett, Estelle Harris, Lance Henriksen, Harrison Fahn and Glenn Close. Contains a trio of new songs by Phil Collins.
Bonus features include:
Continuing our special event specific Flash Newsletters, AWN will continue with its coverage of SIGGRAPH and has added an additional newsletter for Comic-Con. These two important events are fast approaching and our editorial and advertising staff is gearing up for the Flash Newsletter series.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, some members are looking for others thoughts on the twist ending to the animated short GERALDINE. Another member wants to know users impressions of US Animation. Others are discussing animated music videos. Additionally, a member wants to talk to others who have attended MIPCOM Jr. Theres also a thread dealing with Mirage 1.5. A junior member wants to know who other members got started.
Move over MADAGASCAR. Foxs MR. AND MRS. SMITH grabbed the second best three-day opening of the year $50.3M thanks to the sultry star power of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The romantic thriller (with vfx by Digital Dimension) finished ahead of the pack for the weekend ended June 12, 2005. Meanwhile, DreamWorks MADAGASCAR fell to second place with $17.1M. The three-week cume for the 3D-animated comedy hit $128.4M. Foxs REVENGE OF THE SITH (with that stunning ILM vfx) held the third spot with $14.8M and has reached $332.1M as it continues its box office descent.
Director Arvind Palep and exec producer Serge Patzak have launched 1st Avenue Machine, a new CG boutique in New York City that will integrate what it perceives as a fresh live action and animation hybrid to its design work.
Continuing a successful collaboration with Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and director Francois Vogel of Paris-based Paranoid Projects: Tool, Zoic Studios has just completed the visual effects for HP's FRANCOIS II, which showcases the capability of the HP Photosmart 375. Last year's spots, FRANCOIS I and PICTURE BOOK, were both recent Clio winners, garnering the Bronze and Silver for Best Visual Effects, respectively.
Digital-Tutors has released the MAYA IN PRODUCTION: FUNDAMENTALS OF ANIMATION training kit, the fifth installment in the popular Backwater Bunch Series and latest release in a growing library of industry leading training resources for emerging digital artists.
Maxon Computer has announced its support of the new Intel-based Apple Macintosh Generation.
Maxon cto Harald Schneider stated, "Apple's announcement is good news for a cross-platform developer like Maxon. Since our products' source code is over 95% platform-independent, it can be ported very quickly. In addition, Intel has always proven to be a very flexible and dedicated partner."
Apple ceo Steve Jobs announcement last week that Macintosh computers will embrace Intel microprocessors next year in an effort to improve speed and efficiency, especially on notebooks, has received mixed reviews.
Some analysts fear a rocky transition ahead and a diluting of the brand. However, others are more optimistic. This move away from IBMs PowerPC would allow the Mac to eventually run Windows at full speed, opening it up to more software choices.
Beginning June 13, 2005, Jetix will kick off a Super Summer of Heroes, an on-air and online programming event that includes the premiere of the popular 1990s animated series THE TICK and the return of FANTASTIC FOUR to ABC Familys Jetix block. Jetix airs evenings on Toon Disney and mornings on ABC Family, seven days a week.
The coveted short film grand prize at the 29th International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy went to THE MYSTERIOUS GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORATIONS OF JASPER MORELLO by Anthony Lucas from Australia. The awards were presented at the closing ceremony held on Saturday, June 11, 2005 in Annecy, France. Congratulations to all the winners!
