DAZ Prods. Inc. has launched DAZ Studio, a free, feature-rich 3D animation software package that puts a complete virtual photo and motion picture studio at your fingertips. With pre-configured 3D scenes, poseable characters, animals, environments, clothing and accessories, DAZ Studio is the easiest way to quickly create high-quality digital images and animation for games, multimedia, illustration and photography applications.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
For the animated feature THE THREE WISE MEN, Disney has stuck an unprecedented deal with Wal-Mart, where the retailer will sell the film exclusively from Nov. 1 through the holidays, according to VARIETY.
Buena Vista Home Ent. is distributing the 76-minute film, produced by Animagic Studio, for Latino marketing and acquisition company Arenas Ent., which purchased the rights from Spain-based Cartel.
MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS (1999) and POM POKO (1994), two animated features from director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, make their DVD debuts (Buena Vista Home Ent., $29.99) on Aug. 16, 2005. The former provides nine amusing comic book-style tales in the life of the quirky Yamada family, punctuated by a haiku.
Studio Center Worldwide Audio, a production group with 16 studios in four cities, as acquired Hollywood-based Tele-Talent International, Inc. as part of its nationwide expansion.
"We love the Los Angeles market and Tele-Talent International, Inc. has been very successful there for 23 years, said William "Woody" Prettyman, ceo of Studio Center Worldwide Audio. We are extremely excited about the long-term prospects of this acquisition."
FlickerLab founder, Harold Moss, and independent producer Tammy Walters, have formalized their long-term association, as Walters becomes a partner in his fast-growing animation studio. Moss and Walters first met at Curious Pictures, where Walters was head of the companys digital division.
SHARK TALE co-director Eric Bibo Bergeron has set up a new animation studio in Marseilles, France. After spending eight years at DreamWorks, where he also made THE ROAD TO EL DORADO, Bergeron is returning to France to produce and direct his latest projects.
The first 3D film, A MONSTER IN PARIS, will be co-written by Bergeron and Ramzy, the two French comedians on whom the designs for the main characters are based and who will provide the French voiceovers. The film will be entirely produced in France at the new European studio.
After producing an ambitious slate of direct-to-video movies, The Walt Disney Co. has decided to close its animation studio in Sydney, Australia and notified its 250 employees there this will take effect next year.
College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita will be offering short-term summer animation classes. They will be 4-week 1-credit classes, a brief introduction to the software. The following classes will be offered from 7/11/05-8/5/05:
ANIM 081, 3D Studio Max, TH 4pm-8:00pm (An introduction to 3D Studio Max)
ANIM 085, Maya, MW 6-8:00pm (An introduction to Maya)
ANIM 091L, Animation Open Lab: An open lab in which you use the computers and come and go as you please. Offered: Mon 8:00pm-9:20pm, Tues 6:30pm-9:50pm and Wed 8:00pm-9:20pm
Craig Zerouni looks at the state of CG and wonders if weve reached the end of significant technological breakthroughs in the medium.
, New York, USAJune 3
Turbo Squid recently announced the release of Flight Studio 1.5 from Bluerock Technologies. Flight Studio 1.5 offers visual simulation professionals the ability to:
* Import, edit and export OpenFlight scene graphs and databases from within 3ds Max easier and more efficiently* Quickly and efficiently build accurate models and complex scenes* Leverage features such as an easy-to-use hierarchy browser, familiar user interface controls, and direct node attribute editing* Retain scene graph structure and attributes
Buena Vista Games Inc. (BVG) announced two major business deals to strengthen the company's internal game development capabilities and further its goals of becoming a top tier publisher of handheld and console games. The deals include the acquisition of acclaimed Salt Lake City-based videogame developer, Avalanche Software Lc. and the establishment of a start-up development studio in Vancouver, Canada, led by former Electronic Arts Canada senior development and business staff.
Apple chose NAB 2005 in Las Vegas on April 17, 2005,to unveil its Final Cut Studio, the ultimate HD video production suite that features Final Cut Pro 5, a major upgrade to the Emmy award-winning editing software for DV, SD, HD and film.
Avid Technology Inc. announced that G4, the only 24/7 television network dedicated to videogames, is implementing Alienbrain Studio asset management software to streamline its in-house computer graphics production process. The Los Angeles-based network purchased 60 seats of the Alienbrain Studio Designer Client to enhance its workflow with integrated version control and approval processes. Running on both Windows and Mac workstations, G4s workflow includes 15 Avid Media Composer Adrenaline editing systems and an Avid Unity shared-storage network.
Veteran animator and producer Hal Seeger passed away on March 13, 2005, at the age of 87. Seeger started in animation as an assistant animator at the Fleischer Studios. He also served as a ghostwriter for Bud Counihan's BETTY BOOP comicstrip. In the late 1950s, he started Hal Seeger Prods., in New York City, specializing in television commercials. In the early 1960s, his studio created cartoons for syndication and Saturday morning television, including a KoKo The Clown revival OUT OF THE INKWELL, ABC's THE MILTON THE MONSTER SHOW and BATFINK.
While the U.S. isnt seeing much hockey action these days, those Canadians stay animated about the sport as hockey star Trevor Linden is featured in Studio Bs animated series, BEING IAN, airing at 6:30 pm on March 15, 2005, in the episode 'Hockey Night In Burnaby, on YTV.
Paramount Pictures has acquired the film rights to Robert Kirkman's Image Comics title, INVINCIBLE, reports VARIETY. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Circle of Confusion partner David Alpert will produce the film for the studio. Kirkman will adapt the superhero comic, which tells the trials and tribulations of teenaged Mark Grayson, whose father is the worlds most powerful superhero. Circle's Lawrence Mattis, Jason Lust and David Engel will exec produce. Di Bonaventura's vp Erik Howsam, who brought the property to the studio, will shepherd the project.
Lions Gates DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN toppled Sonys HITCH during the Oscar weekend for the period ended Feb. 27, 2005, ringing up $21.9M vs. $20.4M for the popular Will Smith comedy that has taken in a mighty cume of $121.4M.
Stop-Motion-Workshop
DATE: April 22. - 24. 2005 (german spoken)
Duration: 2,5 days (25 Hours) Location: Gelnhausen, Germany 40 km east of Frankfurt am Main
Topics to be covered in the theoretical part of the workshop will be:- Puppetbuilding possibilities- puppet construction materials- Animation principles (Timing, Anticipation, Dynamic etc)- How to record your animations (Software, Hardware)
Topics to be covered in the practical part of the workshop will be:
Alain Bielik uncovers the demonic inspirations and digital challenges of bringing Hellblazer to the big screen as Constantine.
SPIRITED AWAY director Hayao Miyazaki and a group of investors are set to buy Studio Ghibli from Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co., reports VARIETY.
Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, director Isao Takahata, Miyazaki and other top employees have already formed an independent company in Tokyo with a market capitalization of ¥10 million ($96,000) and are seeking between $96 million-$144 million to buy out the rights to all past Ghibli productions.
pasi, Philippine animation studio inc., will be moving its production studio facilities on March 1, 2005, to a new home after 15 years at its current Makati, Manila location. The new facilities located in the upscale Legaspi Village, business district of Metro Makati, encompasses six floors with 3,709 square meters of production and office floor space. The building offers an upgraded technical infrastructure and floor to ceiling windows to give artists ample natural light.
Nicktoons will feature 24 episodes, back-to-back, of YAKKITY YAK on Feb. 5 & 6, 2005, from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm during Super Bowl Weekend in the U.S. Viewers will see Yakkity, the class clown of Onion Falls High School, on his rocky road to stardom as he strives to become a standup comic.
Electronic Arts has laid off 60 development employees at its Playa Vista, California facility. EA opened the West Los Angeles campus little over a year and a half ago with the forecast of expanding to 1,000 employees in the near future.
The move was made by the facilitys exec director Neil Young, who came to the post last September after working on the LORD OF THE RINGS games and overseeing EAs Northern California-based Maxis studio.
