Focusing on the state of the art in computer graphics, CGI2002 Conference will feature courses in 3D Java, 2D Web Graphics, Real Time Virtual Humans, CGI and Film Special Effects and many more. For more information, visit the Website.
IndustrialLight + Magic will provide the special visual effects and animationfor PETER PAN, the first live-action version of J.M. Barrie'senduring classic about the boy who doesn't want to grow up. The filmis a joint production of Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures andRevolution Studios, with P.J. Hogan (MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING)enlisted to direct. Principal photography will begin in fall 2002 inQueensland, Australia. Hogan and writer Michael Goldenberg (CONTACT)
A Web-slinging superhero, fire-breathing dragons and bite-sized chocolate with a hard candy shell.What do these things have in common? They were all created usingHoudini 3D animation software. Side Effects Software, developer ofthe Houdini family of software, will be presenting visual effectsartists from Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPIDER-MAN), Walt DisneyFeature Animation (REIGN OF FIRE) and Rhinoceros Visual Effects(commercials for M&M's) at its annual Houdini meeting in San Antonio,
The final numbers from this weekend's box office have been tallied, and it was a close one! Although Disney officials predicted the traditionally animated duo LILO & STITCH will take the number one spot over the powerful combination of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, it was not to be. It was down to the wire, but Spielberg's MINORITY REPORT, with primary visual effects by ILM, prevailed, edging out LILO & STITCH for the number one spot with $35.7M.
Freshfrom the dedication on June 13, 2002 of the Ray Harryhausen AnimationLab at Ex'pression Center for New Media in Emeryville, California,Ray Harryhausen received another honor, this time from the Academy ofArt College in San Francisco. On Monday, June 24, 2002, as part ofthe Academy's ongoing "Legends of Film Graphics" series, RayHarryhausen was presented an honorary doctoral degree from thecollege. The following day, the Academy's main animation building was
Rick DeMott swings in on Sony Pictures Imageworks to find out how they created visual effects amazing enough to match Spider-Man.
The CGIScooby isn't the only startling effect in Warner Bros. feature filmSCOOBY DOO. Spooky Island features a host of ghosts and SanFrancisco visual effects house Giant Killer Robots (GKR) delivered120 visual effects shots, most involving the "spirits" of the film'scharacters. When the villain Mondavarius and his team of evil-doerssteal the spirits of the Mystery, Inc. gang, the artists at GKR hadto bring those spirits to life. Working with point cloud scans of the
Three new releases took the top three spots at this weekend's box office. Number one was the live-action comedy SCOOBY DOO, featuring an all CGI Scooby courtesy of Rhythm & Hues and Warner Bros. Feature Animation. The Mystery Inc. crew debuted with $56.4M, making SCOOBY DOO the third highest grossing debut this year, after EPISODE II and SPIDER-MAN. In second place was the thriller THE BOURNE IDENTITY with a strong $27.6 debut. In third was the John Woo-helmed World War II pic WINDTALKERS, with visual effects by Cinesite, earning $14.5M for the weekend.
The CIA thriller THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, with visual effects by Rhythm & Hues, came in at number one again this weekend, earning $18.7M for a two-week total of $61.7M. The Ya-Ya's battled the Clones to take second, as chick-flick THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD earned $16.3M in its debut weekend and STAR WARS: EPISODE II, with visual effects by ILM, dropped to third with $13.8M and a four-week cume of $254.9M.
Comic book and outer space heroes lost to a CIA operative in this weekend's box office, with action-thriller THE SUM OF ALL FEARS taking the top box office spot. Based on a novel by Tom Clancy with visual effects by Rhythm & Hues, the film took in $31.2M. SUM's number one debut added up to second place for STAR WARS: EPISODE II, with the attacking clones earning $20.6M this weekend, representing nearly a 60% drop from last weekend's 3-day box office. Ouch. This gives the space saga, with visual effects by ILM, $232M after three weeks in theaters.
The editors of The Little Black Book of Visual Effects have partnered with entertainment consulting company Razorview, Inc. to launch lbbvfx.com, an online resource for the visual effects community. The print version of The Little Black Book of Visual Effects currently lists approximately 4,900 qualified visual effects professionals, all of whom are now part of the online resource. All new applicants to lbbvfx.com are provided with a basic listing for free as long as they have verifiable credits and references.
Side Effects Software has announced the upcoming version 5.5 release of their Houdini 3D software. Currently in beta testing, Houdini 5.5 includes a host of new features including VOPs, a powerful, interactive node-based shader and effects builder. Houdini 5.5 also features an expanded Shader Gallery, a new compositor, a drag-and-drop interface, simplified installation and keying, and enhanced character and animation tools.
Santa Monica-based creative studio house R!OT provided digital visual effects and post-production services for a new national advertising spot for Mint Skittles from Mars. Conceived by DArcy, St. Louis, the commercial employs a fantasy scenario aimed at promoting the new product to adults. R!OTs involvement included pre-production visual effects design, on-set visual effects supervision, film transfer, color correction, visual effects production and compositing. "Sirens" opens on a man hiking through a forest.
Film Roman, Inc. continues to expand, this time into the visual effects arena. The company best known for THE SIMPSONS has announced plans to acquire visual effects house VanHook Studios and to form a new visual effects division called Forum Visual Effects, to be based out of Film Roman's North Hollywood studios.
A four-part seminar examining the art of visual effects will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences beginning April 30, 2002, at 7:00 pm. The series will continue for three additional Tuesday evenings - May 7, 14 and 21 - and will feature participants who have garnered 25 Academy Award nominations among them. Each session of "The State of the Visual Effects Arts" will focus on a specific area of the visual effects field and will be moderated by Jamie Price, who created the visual effects for THE TIME MACHINE and BICENTENNIAL MAN.
Topping the box office for the second weekend in a row, THE SCORPION KING, with visual effects by Centropolis FX, took in $17.6M for a two-week total of $60.8M. However, THE SCORPION KING should be on the look out for SPIDER-MAN, who will no doubt dominate the box office next weekend, when it debuts on May 3rd. Psychological drama CHANGING LANES took second place again this weekend, earning $9M with $44.6M to date. Two new releases took third and fourth place with weak debuts.
A four-part seminar examining the art of visual effects will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences beginning April 30, 2002, at 7:00 pm. The series will continue for three additional Tuesday evenings - May 7, 14 and 21 - and will feature participants who have garnered 25 Academy Award nominations among them. Each session of "The State of the Visual Effects Arts" will focus on a specific area of the visual effects field and will be moderated by Jamie Price, who created the visual effects for THE TIME MACHINE and BICENTENNIAL MAN.
With the largest April opening in history, THE SCORPION KING, with visual effects by Centropolis FX, topped the box office this weekend. Starring The Rock, this "prequel" to THE MUMMY franchise earned $36.2M in its debut. The weekend's other new release, MURDER BY NUMBERS, debuted in third with a tepid $9.5M while last week's number one film, CHANGING LANES, took second place with $11.2M and $32.8M to date. Disney's THE ROOKIE climbed a notch to fourth place with $6.3M and a four week total of $53.7M, while ICE AGE dropped two spots to land in sixth place with $5.7M and a cume of $159.5M.
3D animator and visual effects artist Mark Glaser has launched Sway, a 3D animation and digital effects studio serving the commercial and film industries. A two-time Clio Award winner, Glaser was a former CG supervisor at Digital Domain and was co-founder and visual effects supervisor for Station X Studios. Glaser's specialties include photo-real rendering and 3D animation. His credits include spots for Dodge, Nike, Chevy, Sony and Duracell.
Visual effects and design company A52 has recently completed visual effects work for the latest Gatorade Ice spot via agency Element 79 Partners and director Phil Joanou. "Defining Mia," a 30-second spot that began airing on April 1, 2002, shows U.S. soccer star Mia Hamm on the field with Gatorade Ice in her veins. While she shoots for the winning goal, a sequence of X-ray shots shows the Ice at work inside her.
Adobe Systems has announced a new Plug-In Power Pack for Adobe After Effects 5.5 incorporating 16 new effects and Advanced Windows Media support. The After Effects 5.5 Plug-In Power Pack works with Adobe After Effects 5.5 software to produce motion graphics and visual effects for film, video, multimedia and the Web. The new Windows Media output module offers a comprehensive set of controls to create Windows Media streaming video content. Users can customize settings, embed metadata, create multi-stream movies and independently optimize audio and video.
The new psychological thriller CHANGING LANES topped the box office this week, despite a strong performance from PANIC ROOM, which fell to second in its third week. CHANGING LANES debuted with $17.5M, while PANIC ROOM, with visual effects by ComputerCafe, scared up $11.3M for a three-week total of $74.1M. The girl buddy comedy THE SWEETEST THING took the third spot with $10M. Showing that family-friendly films are holding their own at the box office, ICE AGE is in fourth place after five weeks in release.
Is Adobe's After Effects 5.5 upgrade a significant improvement for animators? George Maestri thinks so. Version 5.5 expands on Version 5's introduction of 3D and now contains over 90 different effects.
At the 2002 NAB show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Discreet announced details of inferno 5, flame 8 and flint 8, the most powerful versions of the company's visual effects software to date. Offering enhanced feature sets, such as mixed resolution support, extended editing capabilities and support for background rendering on Linux, the new releases will also support the FBX file format from Kaydara, creating improved integration of 2D and 3D workflow and extending the 3D model support across different vendors writing with this industry standard.
Despite mixed reviews, David Fincher's PANIC ROOM, with visual effects by ComputerCafe, managed to stay number one at the box office this weekend, despite a challenge from another thriller HIGH CRIMES, which came in second. PANIC ROOM took in $18.5M for a two-week total of $58.8M, while HIGH CRIMES, with visual effects by FX Concepts, debuted with $15M. ICE AGE is still going strong in its fourth week, slipping just one spot to third with $14.3M and a cume of $141.4M. Disneys family-friendly baseball flick THE ROOKIE slid into fourth place with $11.7M and $35M to date.
