Category: Visual Effects

With the fanfare of the Olympics over, a buzz still remains over the new Chevy DISAPPEAR spot, which was created by ad agency Campbell-Ewald and directed by Eric Saarinen of TWC. VFX company Ntropic was commissioned to create the complex and intensive vfx in the :60 spot.

Using time-lapse techniques, the spot showcases the evolution of a gas station over the years, culminating in the reveal of Chevy's electric Volt car in 2010.

To view DISAPPEAR, go to http://www.interdubs.com/r/ntropic/index.php?al=YU4RqY

Sci Fi Channel's newly-acquired series LOST scored in syndication with audiences Monday night averaging a 1.0 HH rating and 1.266 million total viewers (P2+) across the 7-11 p.m. stack in Live + Same Day Nielsen data. In addition the telecast delivered 719,000 P25-54s and 658,000 P18-49s.

--In 8-11 p.m., Sci Fi was the #6 cable entertainment network for P25-54s and ranked #8 for P18-49s.--The 8-11 p.m. prime average of 653,000 P18-49s is the Network's best Monday prime performance with series programming since January 1, 2007.

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 2, Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent's first release on BD-Live. THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE Blu-ray release uses the format's Web-enhanced functionality with exclusive features, games, additional content and connectivity to other BD-Live users and X-FILES fans nationwide.

Director Sylvain White recently sought out Digit's Creative Director Elad Offer to help illustrate the idea of human connectedness for the respected humanitarian organization One World. White and Offer have collaborated on numerous projects -- from music videos to feature films -- and this time they turned their creative collaboration to the greater good.

NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang -- and Stanford alumnus -- will donate $30 million to help build a modern and sustainable destination for education and research, the Jen-Hsun Huang School of Engineering Center.

The 130,000-square-foot building, already under construction and expected to be completed in the first half of 2010, is designed to encourage a vibrant academic and social atmosphere for people throughout the Stanford community.

New filmmaking studio Framelight Productions is looking to add to the volume of comic book and graphic novel film adaptations, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Launched by producer Jeffrey Erb and entrepreneur Robert Robinson Jr., they have options on properties including Marvel Comics' DR. DETH WITH KIP AND MUFFY from G.I. JOE author Larry Hama. Framelight has plans to make six to eight films in the next five years, all within the $20 to $80 million range.

Data acquisition from the RED-ONE 4K Digital Cinema Camera will now have a complete and streamlined workflow from on-set to finishing with high-performance, highly efficient, and cost-effective software tools. ASSIMILATE will create a 4K RED digital workflow for on-set to finishing, integrating its real-time SCRATCH Digital Process Solution and the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium software.

Robert Graves' classic Roman Empire novel I, CLAUDIUS, has been picked up by Relativity Media for Jim Sheridan & Nye Heron to write, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Sheridan will direct also.

I, CLAUDIUS recounts the plots and counterplots surrounding Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome (41-54 A.D.), who was a stutterer and was handicapped. Born into a murderously imperial family, Claudius used his mind to outwit, survive and become one of Rome's greatest emperors.

Twentieth Century Fox has purchased Shane Salerno's spec script DOOMSDAY PROTOCOL in a seven-figure deal, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Plot details were not forthcoming, but it is rumored to be a sci-fi action adventure not unlike THE SEVEN SAMURAI, involving a group of aliens and humans with abilities who are brought together to save Earth.

Salerno adapted ARMAGEDDON, wrote SHAFT and ALIEN VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM. Fox's Alex Young developed DOOMSDAY PROTOCOL with Salerno and will oversee for the studio.

Production for Joss Whedon's DOLLHOUSE for FOX has been temporarily shut down, per VARIETY.

Twentieth Century Fox TV shut down the show Wednesday, but plans to resume shooting September 25, giving Whedon his requested time to tweak the show's fourth script. Whedon had been directing the first two episodes, keeping him out of the writer's room. As a consequence, the studio, network and Whedon agreed the show's fourth episode needed re-writing, also allowing the writers to get ahead on the next few scripts.

Notebook PC makers and users desire the realism and performance of a discrete graphics processing unit, but they still demand maximum battery life. Now Sony, Fujitsu Siemens, and BenQ have announced the availability of notebooks that let users dynamically switch between a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GPU and Intel Centrino 2 integrated graphics without rebooting, giving users the choice of more visual computing performance or reducing power demands to extend battery life.

U.K. training company Sphere VFX has released their new Nuke 5.1 training DVD -- "In-Depth 3D."

The course is designed specifically for people who already know Nuke but want to increase their understanding of how the 3D system works, and benefit from some industry hints and tips in producing more complicated setups. Designed with production in mind, all modules are tool focused and application based to help you understand not only how something works but why it does and how you would use it in a production environment.

DVD Classes Include: