Search form

Geographical Region: Europe

Advertising Headline News

Microsoft Reportedly Buying Massive Inc.

Various news reports say that Microsoft Corp. plans to pay $200-400 million for Massive Inc., a privately held company that places ads in videogames.

The deal to buy the two-year-old startup demonstrates the increasing importance of advertising in nontraditional media, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft and Massive spokeswomen have declined comment.

Headline News

NVIDIA Adds Quadro FX 4500 X2 Graphics Solution To Lineup

NVIDIA Corp. announced the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 X2 graphics solution is the latest addition to the company's growing line of solutions for advanced visualization systems requiring scalable graphics performance. This solution joins the recently announced NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 card with the NVIDIA Quadro SDI and G-Sync option cards the most extensive line of products for this growing market segment.

Final Headline News

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Born on DVD

Sony Pictures Home Ent. released FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN on DVD and UMD, April 25, 2006. With direction and character designs from Tetsuya Nomura, the creator of the FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII & X games, this 100-minute feature includes the voices of Steve Burton (THE LAST CASTLE, TAKEN), Rachel Leigh Cook (JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS) and Mena Suvari (AMERICAN BEAUTY). The two-disc Special Edition will sell for $26.96.

Software Headline News

DAZ Prods. Acquires Carrara Maker Eovia

DAZ Productions Inc., a leading developer of professional quality 3D models and software, today (April 25, 2006) announced it has acquired Eovia Corp., a based in Mountain View, California-based developer and publisher of leading 3D animation, modeling and rendering solutions. DAZ Productions has taken over Eovia's entire development, marketing and sales divisions and all the technology rights to Carrara, Eovias 3D modeling, animation and rendering software. DAZ Prods. has also acquired all technology rights to Hexagon, Eovias 3D modeling software, from Eovia Europe S.A.

Headline News

ATI Introduces Complete Line of Next Gen FireGL Graphics Accelerators

ATI Technologies Inc. announced a complete top-to-bottom line of next generation FireGL workstation graphics accelerators for professional users. The new family of products range from an ultra high-end one gigabyte configuration to 128MB model, and are all based on ATI's scalable, ultrathreaded architecture with Avivo video and display technology.

Special Headline News

AWN & VFXWorld Reminds Filmmakers’ To Enter eDit/VES’ eDwards

Animation World Network and VFXWorld would like to remind young filmmakers that we are a special media sponsor for the Visual Effects Societys eDIT Filmmakers Festival in Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 24-26, 2006. We will be sponsoring eDward VII, a young filmmakers contest and awards which celebrates the work of talented artists under the age of 30.

Nickelodeon Headline News

THQ Announces Its 2006 Nickelodeon Videogame Lineup

THQ Inc. announced its 2006 videogame lineup based on Nickelodeon's top brands for kids. Games based on the TV series SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, DANNY PHANTOM and UNFABULOUS, as well as a new installment of Nicktoons, are anticipated to ship across multiple game systems in 2006. THQ is also scheduled to release BARNYARD based upon Paramount Pictures'/Nickelodeon Movies' upcoming summer theatrical release.

Kids Headline News

AOL Launches KOL Jr. on the Open Web

AOL has launched KOL Jr. (www.koljunior.com/), a website for kids 2-5. The site contains original cartoons, games, music, bedtime stories and other fun, interactive features designed to help parents introduce the Internet to their young children. The launch of KOL Jr. also marks the debut of a brand new cartoon called PILAR'S ADVENTURES, which covers topics that engage preschoolers' imaginations while helping them deal with everyday life experiences.

Series Headline News

Fuse Cable Network Premieres Empire Square

On Tuesday, April 18, 2006, the music television network fuse, premiered EMPIRE SQUARE, its entry into the in-your-face, envelope-pushing animated cable series sweepstakes.

EMPIRE SQUARE and its creators hail from England: Lloyd Salmons and Ant Cauchi of the design shop Outside Line (creators of the Beatles website and currently designing Quadrophenias DVD release) and Dave Rowntree, drummer for Blur. The show began as downloadable three-minute segments for British mobile phone users, but was snapped up by Fuse and expanded into a half-hour show.

Headline News

Ira Rubenstein Upped To Sony Pictures Digital EVP

Sony Pictures Digital upped Ira Rubenstein from svp to evp to of marketing and production. Rubenstein will continue to manage the divisions production efforts to extend Sony Pictures Entertainment properties into the digital marketplace through SonyPictures.com, mobile games, personalization products and the creation of casual games.

Autodesk Headline News

Broadcasters Worldwide Turn to Autodesk Solutions

Autodesk graphics and editing systems continue to be adopted globally by broadcasters. Broadcasters are relying on Autodesk's high-performance systems for use in news, sports, promotions and branding, in order to deliver high-impact visual content in the increasingly competitive battle to capture viewers' attention.

Production Headline News

Rogue Pictures Acquires Distribution Rights To Driver

Rogue Pictures has acquired distribution rights to Constantin Film and Impact Pictures' production of the movie version of the best-selling videogame DRIVER. Academy Award winner Roger Avary is scripting, and will direct.

Producers on the project are Impact's Jeremy Bolt and Paul W.S. Anderson and Constantin's Bernd Eichinger and Robert Kulzer. Rogue will hold worldwide distribution rights to the title, excluding Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland, which will be handled by Constantin Film. Foreign sales will be handled by Focus Features Intl.

Headline News

Da Vinci Code Quest on Google Challenges Fans Through Online Puzzles

Columbia Pictures and Google have partnered on THE DA VINCI CODE Quest on Google a 24-day online puzzle adventure themed to THE DA VINCI CODE. Players will discover new puzzles on Google daily at www.google.com/davincicode. THE DA VINCI CODE Quest runs through May 19, 2006 the worldwide release date of the film.

Headline News

MAXON Launches MoGraph

MAXON announced MoGraph, a new module for its flagship 3D animation tool, CINEMA 4D. Offering numerous possibilities for creating vfx using simple primitives, logos and text, MoGraph is the ideal solution for motion graphics artists ready to step into the third dimension.

Headline News

NVIDIA Launches GeForce Go 7900 Series GPUs

NVIDIA Corp. unveiled the new NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 Series of graphics processing units (GPUs), which enable gamers to experience vivid, extreme high-definition (XHD) games on notebook PCs.

The two new GPUs are:

* GeForce Go 7900 GTX GPU the new NVIDIA flagship GPU, which delivers XHD graphics performance and extends the company's position as a performance leader.* GeForce Go 7900 GS GPU enables superior gaming performance in slimmer performance notebooks

Animation Headline News

Next-Gen Animation Artists Creating European Network

The Halle, Germany-based European Animation Masterclass (EAM) initiated a European network of animation film artists and animation schools. Last week, the EAM brought together 25 of the next-generation animation film producers from 11 countries with internationally acclaimed trainers from Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany and the U.S.

Animation Headline News

SIGGRAPH 2006 Announces Computer Animation Festival Schedule

The Computer Animation Festival jury for SIGGRAPH 2006 selected 97 films and two award winners from 726 entries for exemplary use of computer-generated imagery and animation and compelling storytelling.

The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is an internationally recognized event that engages and inspires artists and technologists alike. Each year, it serves as a mirror of what is possible today and a window into what can be achieved in the future.

Animation Headline News

New Animation World Magazine Acrobat Now Online!

The new Acrobat edition of Animation World Magazine is now available for download. This editions theme is Internet and Wireless. Joe Strike looks into the growing opportunities of repurposing content from other mediums on the Internet. Brands still dominate, but a growing number of opportunities exist for animators to sell their content for cell phone distribution. Karen Raugust reports. Christopher Harz examines the international new media market, chronicling its evolutions and revolutions.

Headline News

Iridas Launches FrameCycler VenueSystem

Iridas has released FrameCycler VenueSystem. The new application offers direct-from-disk playback of digital film content at unlimited resolutions, providing venue theaters and museums with higher image quality, and greater playback precision than video codecs will allow.

Game Headline News

AGEIA PhysX SDK Goes Russian for Gaming

AGEIA Technologies Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, has signed pacts with a number of Russian game developers at the recent Russian Developers Conference (KRI). Gaijin Ent., is implementing PhysX SDK into its Dagor game engine, a popular middleware solution for Russian game developers. Gaijin will also provide first-line support for the AGEIA PhysX SDK, an important benefit in the region where English is not widely used.

Film Headline News

Famous Czech Documentarist/Animator Pavel Koutecky Dies

Renowned Czech documentary filmmaker Pavel Koutecky died after falling from a high building under construction in the Prague-Pankrac neighborhood while filming is latest film, reports the public Czech Television (CT). He was 49.

The police spokesman told CT that Koutecky had been reported missing since Friday (April 14, 2006) night. Script editor Alena Muellerova said that Koutecky was shooting a documentary about a young man who climbs high buildings.

Sega Headline News

SEGA Acquires Notable San Francisco-Based Developer

SEGA Holdings U.S.A. Inc. has acquired acclaimed developer Secret Level Inc. to establish new internal development arm in North America. Founded in 1999 and headed by Jeremy Gordon, San Francisco-based Secret Level is a leading videogame developer well-known in the industry for developing cutting-edge next-generation technology.

The Secret Level, Inc. development studio will continue to operate out of its current office in San Francisco.

Pages