REALVIZ has announced upgrades to ImageModeler and MatchMover. The new ImageModeler will be the first to be Mac compatible. ImageModeler 3.0 feature highlights include a newly designed user interface and contextual menus allowing for improved calibration workflow and easier camera navigation. ImageModeler is compatible with all major 3D animation packages, including Maya, Lightwave 3D, Softimage, 3D Studio Max, and Cinema 4D.
The World Animation Celebration (WAC) took place August 7-12, 2001 in Hollywood, California with six days of film screenings, business conferences and career sessions, plus the marketplace. The awards ceremony was the first induction into the Animation Hall of Fame, honoring men and women whose contributions to the arts, business, education and entertainment of animation has been of the greatest value. The 2001 Hall Of Fame winners were animation legends Walt Disney, Chuck Jones and Windsor McCay.
Curious Labs, Inc. has announced that their Poser and Poser Pro Pack will be supported within the Cinema 4D and PiXELS 3D applications. The Cinema 4D plug-in will be available for download at no charge to Pro Pack customers from the Curious Labs Website and will enable Pro Pack users to integrate and render their animated Poser scenes directly in Cinema 4D. The PiXELS 3D plug-in will offer similar functionality. Distribution details will be announced once they have been formalized.
This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include: Women In Animation's Writers' Seminar Series: Thursday, September 13, 2001, Los Angeles, California USA; Don Bluth's ToonUp Animation Seminar: Saturday, September 15 - Sunday, September 16, 2001, Toronto, Ontario Canada; Animation Workout With Guest Director Julie Prendiville-Roux: Tuesday, October 02, 2001, Burbank, California USA; Women In Animation's Writers' Seminar Series: Thursday, October 11, 2001, Los Angeles, California USA; Animation Workout With Guest Director Cynthia McLean: Tuesday, October 16, 2001, Burbank, California USA; a
Plympton's new series of comics is extracted from the comic book "Polls Apart - How To Tell A Democrat From A Republican," by Kathy Paton & Bill Plympton...
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz...
* 2nd Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction: Friday, August 03 - Sunday, August 26, 2001, Los Angeles, California USA.
* Animation Art Auction: Sunday, August 12 - Thursday, August 16, 2001, Calabasas, California USA.
* Maximum Pictures: The Visionary Cinema of Ridley Scott: Friday, September 14 - Sunday, September 23, 2001, Los Angeles, California USA.
All films will be showing at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles. Tickets are: $8 General; $7 Student/Senior; and $6 Members.
- Friday, September 14 at 7:30 pm: ALIEN, 1979. Discussion following with director Ridley Scott. Special ticket price: $10 General; $9 Student/Senior; and $8 Members.
- Saturday, September 15 at 7:30 pm: GLADIATOR, 2000.
* Television Business School: Wednesday, October 24 - Sunday, October 28, 2001, Lübeck, Germany.
Entry Deadline: Monday, September 24, 2001
With OSMOSIS JONES slipping out of the top ten, the U.S. box office remained mostly live-action. With AMERICAN PIE 2 claiming the top spot for a second straight week, RUSH HOUR 2 held tight to the #2 slot, grossing US$19.2 million. The kung-fu caper, with primary visual effects by Cinesite, has racked up $164.8 million. RAT RACE, with animated opening titles by Wild Brain, debuted at #3 with a gross of $11.8 million. At #6, CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN, with primary visual effects by Double Negative, sung home $7.1 million in its premiere.
* Daniel Langlois Foundation's Grants for Researchers in Residence: Thursday, January 31 - Tuesday, December 31, 2002, Montreal, Quebec Canada.
Entry Deadline: Friday, August 31, 2001
Film Roman Inc. has reported that revenue increased by 19% to $9.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2001, over $7.9 million for the same period last year. Net loss attributable to common stock for the second quarter of 2001 was $1,293,641, or $0.15 per share, compared with a net loss attributable to common stock of $800,260, or $0.09 per share, for the second quarter of 2000.
Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc., a leading developer of 3D technologies for the Internet, reported their financial statement for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001. The firm posted that their net revenues rose 162% to US$652,000 over $249,000 from last year. Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2001 were $1,042,000 compared to $436,000 for the same six-month period in 2000. Brilliant Digital reported a net loss of $1,219,000, or $0.08 per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001, compared to a net loss of $4,452,000, or $0.30 per share for the second quarter of 2000.
Academy Award-winner Christopher Walken has joined the voice cast of Columbia Pictures' STUART LITTLE 2. He joins a voice cast, which includes Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Steve Zahn and Melanie Griffith. Walken will voice the character of Falcon, a sharp-beaked villain who puts Stuart and a new friend in danger. Scheduled to hit theaters July 19, 2002, the sequel follows the continuing adventures of Stuart (voiced by Fox), the beloved mouse who was adopted by the Littles, a human family. Rob Minkoff will return as the director of the film.
Wild Brain has completed production on the animated opening title sequence for Paramount's upcoming film RAT RACE, directed by Jerry Zucker (AIRPLANE!). Wild Brain director Julia Tortolani provided the title design and animation. The opening title sequence features animated Photo Collage Puppets of the movie's characters. The sequence comes to a climax when four of the characters take the director's credit and run across the desert, through a collaged version of Las Vegas and into the front door of the Venetian Hotel.
With THE SIMPSONS still remaining the top dog, KING OF THE HILL jumps over FAMILY GUY to become the second rated primetime toon. Moving up from 44th to place 35th, THE SIMPSONS scored 5.5 rating/10 share. KING OF THE HILL finished in the 64th slot, garnering a 3.9 rating/7 share. Sliding into the 66th slot, FAMILY GUY grabbed a 3.8 rating/7 share. Meanwhile, FUTURAMA forged 3.3 rating/7 share in 78th place. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.
id Software is bringing its classic shooter game, DOOM, to Game Boy Advance. The project is a joint development effort by id Software and David A. Palmer Productions. Published by Activision, Inc., DOOM for Game Boy Advance will allow gamers to battle horrific demons on the go. The handheld version features up-to-four-players support through the Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable. "DOOM redefined gaming on the PC and now it's back to change the way we think about mobile games," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software.
Macromedia has released the Macromedia Flash Jump Start Kit, a free two-CD training collection for Macromedia Flash 5. The free kit is available to users who purchase Macromedia Dreamweaver 4, Macromedia Flash 5 or any product studio containing either software. The Macromedia Flash Jump Start Kit contains: the MickeyLive!
Pinnacle Systems has shipped Commotion Pro 4, the company's integrated paint, composite and special effects software. Commotion Pro 4 offers speed gains of 30% in compositing and 200% in painting. New grouping and browsing controls provide a comprehensive solution for managing composites and working with multiple layers. Users can add mattes, color corrections or other filters and motion controls to multiple layers at once. A new timeline browser gives users an overview of the entire composite with controls for selecting, moving and deleting groups and layers.
The Art Institutes - Journey Education Marketing National Animation Competition is sending first prizewinner 21-year-old Cody Pierson of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh on an all-expense paid trip to the SIGGRAPH Conference. Pierson's winning entry featured a rhino racing across a desert, which stops suddenly in mid-charge to watch a television showing four short vignettes that demonstrate Pierson's experiments with animation and style. He developed the animation using 3D Studio Max and AfterEffects.
TriStar Pictures is set to release METROPOLIS, directed by Rintaro (X) and written by anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA), in the U.S. on November 9. Based on the classic comic by Osamu Tezuka, the film is set in the futuristic city populated by humans and robots. Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young female android created to succeed the leader of Metropolis. The film is a combination of cel and digital animation.
Los Angeles-based development and production company, Collision Entertainment, has acquired the film and television rights to MAX PAYNE, one of the most highly anticipated video game releases of the last several years, from game producer 3D Realms. Dimension Films will distribute the property in the U.S., with Abandon Entertainment handling international distribution. Max Payne is a DEA operative deep undercover, torn between avenging the mafia murders of his wife and child and being framed for the murder of a fellow agent.
Los Angeles-based Whamo Entertainment and Australia-based Burbank Animation Studios have announced the completion of their Halloween special, THE CANTERVILLE GHOST. The special is the tale of an American family that inherits an English castle, inhabited by the ghost of Simon de Canterville who tries to get rid of the family. The film is the sixth and last animated special from the Animated Classic Gold Collection 1. The other titles from the collection include EASTER IN BUNNYLAND, JOSEPH AND THE COAT OF MANY COLORS, ANNA & THE KING, SILENT NIGHT and D4: THE TROJAN DOG.
Phoenix-based animation house Rainbow Studios has digitally cloned and animated 3D dinosaurs for MPH Entertainment's upcoming A&E Network documentary special THE LOST DINOSAURS OF EGYPT. "We did a lot of things different on this project," said director Jim Milio of MPH Entertainment.
