The National Football League, 3ality Digital and RealD will join forces to test a 3-D broadcast experience that could create a new home viewing standard for televised sports. The first-ever live broadcast of an NFL game in full digital 3-D format, being made available December 4 to select audiences in three U.S. cities, is designed to immerse viewers in the game as never before.
Smoke & Mirrors New York (SMNY) recently hired highly regarded CG Supervisor Michael Donovan. Donovan has lent his talent to such brands as LG, GE, Commonwealth, Visine, Upper Deck, Gushers, Ricoh, U2, Verizon, Chase Bank, Schick and Gillette for agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, and Posnick +.
Prior to joining SMNY, Donovan worked as a CG Supervisor at Spontaneous in New York. Before Spontaneous, Donovan served as technical director at Quiet Man.
A free downloadable demo for the award-winning videogame DEAD SPACE from Electronic Arts will be launched on November 25.
The stunning demo showcases the critically acclaimed combat and strategic dismemberment of the epic sci-fi action game. The demo comes just in time for holiday gift buyers to get a taste of the gore and action that has made the game a critical and commercial hit. The demo will be available at the PlayStation Store in North America and Xbox LIVE Marketplace worldwide. In Europe, the demo will be available at the PlayStation Store on November 27.
Davie Johnston is joining the exec board as Chief Technology Officer at Moving Picture Company (MPC). An accomplished engineer with a strong interest in design, Johnston has been with the company for 14 years working in all aspects of technology and engineering.
Most recently as Head of Strategic Projects, Johnston project managed the design and build of MPC's new office in Santa Monica, California. Prior to this; he was Head of Technology for the commercials and TV department responsible for running and development of the technology team.
IDW Publishing has joined with Paramount Pictures, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, Kurtzman/Orci Productions and CBS Consumer Products to publish a four-issue limited comic book series tied to next summer's new STAR TREK movie, which will be released in theaters on May 8, 2009.
Digimation, a provider of 3D software, models, and creative services to the entertainment, visualization, and defense industries, is making 12 of its award-winning software plug-ins for 3ds Max available for free.
The free products are collectively known as the Digimation Suite. In addition, the company has launched a completely redesigned website to make finding and purchasing products easier than ever.
Free plug-ins support most versions of 3ds Max and include:
Overture's remake of George Romero's THE CRAZIES will star actor Timothy Olyphant, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Breck Eisner is onboard to direct the horror film about a secret biological weapon causing death and insanity in a small Kansas town after a plane crash.
Olyphant will play the town's sheriff. Scott Kosar and Ray Wright wrote the script. Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris will produce. Sean Furst will oversee for Overture.
The seventh book in the d'artiste series from Ballistic Publishing -- MATTE PAINTING 2 -- features master artists Yusei Uesugi (the first digital movie matte painter), Max Dennison and Chris Thunig. With more than 30 Hollywood blockbuster movies to their credit, they show you the approaches and techniques used to create unforgettable movie environments.
Actress Mila Kunis has been added to the cast of THE BOOK OF ELI from Warner Bros. and Alcon Ent. and starring Denzel Washington, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Albert and Allen Hughes are directing the action thriller about a lone hero named Eli (Washington), who fights his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity.
Sci Fi Channel and Trion World Network, the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment, hired two industry veterans in the co-development of a videogame and television show.
Kevin Beardslee joins Trion to serve as Senior Development Director for the project at Trion's San Diego development studio. Television writer Peter Egan has been tapped to write the pilot episode.
The partnership will simultaneously co-develop a game and cable television property. This will be the second original IP Trion has created.
Mackevision, a 3-D visualization company with offices in Germany and Pontiac, Michigan, was commissioned by Tribal DDB, of Hamburg, Germany, to produce the CGI materials for the launch of the Volkswagen Scirocco.
The real background environments were produced by John Wyland, exec VP and head of production, Mackevision, over two weeks. The production process included two days of filming and gathering the background plates, after which the Stuttgart facility constructed the CGI Scirocco vehicle, and seamlessly integrated the vehicle into the actual filmed backgrounds.
Universal Pictures has made an overall deal with Ludlum Ent., the estate in charge of THE BOURNE IDENTITY author Robert Ludlum, per VARIETY. The deal gives the studio exclusive rights to the Jason Bourne character and a first look at all other Ludlum novels.
Digital-Tutors, an Autodesk Authorized Publisher, has announced CREATING CARTOON CHARACTERS IN 3DS MAX -- the newest release in a library of interactive training for emerging digital artists using 3ds Max, the highly customizable and scalable 3D modeling, animation, and rendering solution.
Procedural has released a significant upgrade to their revolutionary 3D software CityEngine. When the software was launched in July, Procedural announced the generation of ancient Rome within just one day ("Rome Reborn Project"). Now, with the newly introduced OpenStreetMap import, the CityEngine enables the generation of literally every city in the world within minutes.
HP has added the "Shanghai" 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor to the award-winning family of HP workstations.
The HP xw9400 workstation taps into the power of the new AMD Opteron processor to deliver power users a timely combination of extreme performance and low power consumption. The AMD Opteron processor provides an increase in workstation performance compared to the previous generation Opteron processor, plus a decrease in power consumption at idle.
Today, in association with Image Comics the hardbook comic titled DEAD SPACE hits comic book stores nationwide and will hit Amazon, Border's and Barnes and Noble at the end of the month. The DEAD SPACE hardbook serves as a prequel story for the award-winning videogame that tells the gut-wrenching tale of a deep space mining colony that unexpectedly pulls an ancient and vicious alien life force from the dark rock.
Adobe Systems has introduced Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 version 4.0.1 software, a major update to the leading start-to-finish professional video production solution. A pivotal component of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 version 4.0.1 leads the way in delivering open, flexible post-production workflows by providing virtually seamless project exchange with Final Cut Pro, Digidesign Pro Tools, and Avid workflows.
TERMINATOR SALVATION - THE VIDEOGAME, an action-packed, third-person shooter, will be released in conjunction with the Warner Bros./Sony film, which opens nationwide on May 22, 2009.
VARIETY reports that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have left the planned JONAH HEX adaption of the DC Comics comicbook. Josh Brolin (W., MILK) is expected to star as the partly disfigured gunslinger and bounty hunter.
The duo, who wrote the script, departed as directors over "creative differences." Warner Bros. is looking to quickly fill the director's chair in order to keep Brolin and their intended spring start.
VICON House of Moves, a motion capture service bureau and a division of VICON, developer of Academy Award-winning motion capture systems, has provided motion capture services for VFX facility CIS Vancouver (www.cis-vancouver.com) for the Clint Eastwood-directed drama from Universal Pictures, CHANGELING.
At this week's SC08 conference in Austin, Texas, NVIDIA announced several breakthroughs with their Tesla supercomputer.
New York-based conceptual design, animation and VFX studio SUSPECT has hired Keith McCabe as their new visual effects director.
CyberPower Inc., a manufacturer of customized gaming machines, notebook systems, and high performance workstations, has announced its fastest desktop gaming system to date with the release of the Black Pearl, based on Intel's newly released Core i7 processor.
On the heels of recent collaborations with Animal Planet on promotional packages for MEERKAT MANOR and the network's fall images spots, Blue Room NYC designed, produced, shot and created visual effects for one :30 and one :15 promo for the network series WHALE WARS.
The seven-part, series documents the battle to end whaling on the far side of the world between Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and begins airing Friday Nov. 7 at 9 pm. ET/PT. The promos launched nationally on October 31.
Gore Verbinski is on board to remake THE HOST at Universal, per VARIETY. The 2006 Korean thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho broke records in its South Korean theatrical run.
Commercials director Fredrick Bond will be making his feature debut and Mark Poirer will write the script. Verbinski will produce with Vertigo's Roy Lee and Doug Davison along with Paul Brooks.
