Performance capture studio Mova and Gentle Giant Studios are unveiling a unique 3D Zoetrope that uses persistence of motion to bring to life a series of 3D models of an actor's face captured live by Mova's Contour Reality Capture System in booth #1229 at SIGGRAPH 2007 in San Diego this week.
Massive Software and Vicon House of Moves contributed to the work of Method Studios on the new Miller Lite spot, BREAK FROM THE CROWD, helmed by 300 director Zack Snyder.
Xsens Technologies has announced what it has termed a groundbreaking new motion capture system called "Moven." This comfortable suit with integrated inertial sensors, captures human motion in realtime with unprecedented life-like fluidity and ease-of-use.
Xsens will launch Moven to the international community on Aug. 7-9 at SIGGRAPH 2007 in San Diego, California (booth #109).
MAXON Computer Inc. announced "The Power Integration Tour," a joint road show with Adobe Systems Inc. where motion graphics artists will learn how to bring their vision to life with blockbuster visual effects and compelling motion graphics for film, video, DVD, the Web and mobile devices.
The ASIFA-Hollywood Stop Mo Expo is envisioned as a celebration of the art of stop motion. There will be screenings, special guests, guest speakers, panels and vendors. There will also be a stop motion animation jam taking place all day long. The current plan is to build two stop motion models and a set. The subjects will be boxers. The armatures will be purchased from Armaverse. A boxing rink set will be designed and set up in the area off of the Cabrini Meeting Room.
BBC Motion Gallery, the clip and short form program licensing division of BBC Worldwide, announced the debut of royalty-free footage collections available for purchase through its newly redesigned website, featuring immediate access to production-ready clips, improved search functions, and both clickless previews and large-screen previews in QuickTime 7.
RE:Vision Effects announced the immediate availability of ReelSmart Motion Blur (RSMB) for Autodesk Toxik (2007 and up) and Assimilate Scratch (version 3 and up). Other OFX hosts will be added to the list of supported applications once they are verified to work properly.
RSMB as an OFX plug-in product comes with two plug-ins:
The Art Institute of California - San Francisco start offering a bachelor's degree in Visual Effects & Motion Graphics, in summer 2007.
ASIFA-Hollywood has announces more details about the guests and events that will be part of its Stop Mo Expo, which will take place on April 21, 2007, at Woodbury University, located at 7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, California. There will be two big events. The first is a group of panels and seminars running from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The lineup includes:
* Stop Motion in the Computer Age -- moderated by Edward Chiodo* Ask the Experts -- moderated by Tennessee Reid Norton* Stop Motion Education -- moderated by Larry Loc
The Foundry has announced Furnace 4 plug-ins for Shake, a major product release comprising next-generation motion estimation technology and a host of other tools, designed to ease the routine processes involved with the production of digital visual effects.
Organic Motion Inc. announced the industry's first full body, markerless motion capture system. Functioning without the use of markers or body suits, Organic Motion's technology improves every step of the animation process by producing immediately usable clean data that can be imported into MotionBuilder, Autodesk's leading realtime character animation application, as well as any custom software applications. Organic Motion will be exhibiting at GDC (North Hall, booth #5603) in San Francisco, March 7-9.
We finish the month at VFXWORLD with a look at music videos and sports motion graphics. Steven J. Gottlieb provides a first look at Motion Theorys vfx work on Modest Mouses brand-new music video, DASHBOARD. And J. Paul Peszko looks at four powerhouses in the field of sports motion graphics: VizRT, The Troika Design Group, Imaginary Forces and Reality Check Studios.
Steven J. Gottlieb provides an exclusive look at Motion Theory's vfx work for Modest Mouse's brand-new music video, Dashboard.
In VFXWorld's last excerpt from The Magic of Houdini, Will Cunningham finishes his analysis of the various kinds of motion blur.
In VFXWorld's latest excerpt from The Magic of Houdini, Will Cunningham tackles the topic of motion blur.
UCLA Extension is offering two new courses in animation. "Make It, Move It" is for designers and artists who want to make their art move. UCLA Extension is also offering a new online course that deconstructs 3D opening title sequences, on screens and graphic sequences.
Starting by storyboarding their animation, "Make It, Move It" students design and create a character, animal or object using mixed media and collage.
Ray Feeney, a pioneer of software solutions for visual effects in motion pictures, will receive the first Oscar this year when Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors him with the Gordon E. Sawyer Award. Another VFX pioneer, Richard Edlund, will be awarded a John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation. The Oscar statuette and Bonner medallion will be presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards Dinner on Feb. 10, 2007, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire.
Janet Hetherington talks to vfx experts about how videogame technologies are influencing movies and TV -- in production, presentation and marketing.
Digital Anarchy, a leading provider of cost-effective vfx software for Adobe and Apple products, announced the immediate availability of the ReSizer 2.1 update. ReSizer is a plug-in for high quality scaling of footage or up-converting SD to HD. This gives designers and filmmakers the power to produce high quality SD to HD up-conversions while staying on time and within budget. The plug-in works in Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and now natively in Apple's Final Cut Pro and Motion using Apple's FxPlug plug-in architecture.
Concrete Pictures and Philadelphia Art Alliance are presenting a digital art exhibition titled
Alain Bielik explains the imaginative vfx and animation in Michel Gondrys The Science of Sleep.
Motion Stopped: An Evening Of Animation is an erotic musical tour of the sensual and obscure animation. The event will screen works from such artists as Norman McLaren, Jung Ahn, Stacy Steers, Stine Gonsholt, Jelena Girlin, Mari-Liis Bassovskaja, Johanna Spoerri, Amy Lockhart, Eva Ovijanovic, Marie-Jose Saint-Pierre, Samara Halperin, Suzanna Buehland. The evening will also present the U.S. premiere of THE CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS by Michaela Pavlatova. Live music will be provided by Stormy Night. The event will take place at El Rio, with doors opening at 6:30 pm. Free BBQ will be served.
VICON announced a new set of hardware advancements for its VICON MX motion capture solutions. These new features simplify high camera-count motion capture set up, automate simultaneous live-action footage capture, provide powerful and production-friendly near-infrared strobes and round out the MX line with a two million-pixel, full grayscale MX camera, VICON MX20+.
At SIGGRAPH, Mova, a San Francisco-based motion-capture studio, unveiled its new Contour Reality Capture System, which allows film and game makers to use digital cameras to capture and depict full-motion, photorealistic computer-generated characters and other imagery. Movas booth at SIGGRAPH is #1027.
"Mova Contour takes us from motion capture to reality capture," said Steve Perlman, founder/president of Mova.
Mary Ann Skweres reports on what students need to know for planning a motion capture education. Includes QuickTime movie clip!
