LOS ANGELES, June 18 -- A marching band, famous movie "characters," and a champagne christening welcomed the re-opening of the famous Courthouse Square film location to Universal Studios Hollywood's Studio Tour trams, which are now newly equipped as "mobile movie theaters" with hi-def video monitors, all-new video content and state-of-the art audio systems.
DRAPER, Utah - June 16, 2009 - Providing artists with greater opportunity for advanced 3D content creation, DAZ 3D today announced a new free version of its celebrated 3D art and animation package, DAZ Studio 3, as well as the debut of its enhanced, professional-quality toolset, DAZ Studio 3 Advanced, ideal for 3D animators, designers and illustrators.
Press Release from Smith Micro Software, Inc.
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. -- Smith Micro Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMSI) Productivity and Graphics Group today announced the availability of Anime Studio Debut 6. Anime Studio Debut 6 offers a comprehensive set of easy-to-use animation tools that help hobbyists, artists, and students create animations and cartoons for home videos, school projects, or their websites, and even share them via popular social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube.
Bristol, 18 May 2009. Leading independent Aardman Rights is expanding its portfolio of third-party properties, securing the distribution rights to Studio Baestarts' series of brand new short films LOG JAM.
Studio Baestarts has already concluded deals for the shorts with Nickelodeon for multiple territories and with Canal+ for France. Aardman will manage the remaining rights to LOG JAM for the rest of the world, covering TV, home entertainment, online, digital, mobile, in-flight and licensing.
Miramichi, Canada-based Fatkat Animation has shut its doors. Studio founder Gene Fowler announced the studio's closure on the company's blog. Fowler blames the company's recent production of THREE DELIVERY as "the straw that broke the camel's back." Fatkat had recently completed work on the Animation Collective production, which Fowler called "most demanding and torturous production I have ever seen." This combined with the Canadian government pulling funding from the studio led to it closing.
Pixar Animation Studios released version 2.0 of RenderMan Studio and version 3.0 of RenderMan for Maya. Built on the common foundation of Pixar's core rendering technology, both releases feature substantial performance enhancements for production rendering, including faster multi-threading, optimized ray tracing, and other enhancements that will dramatically impact most scenes. New levels of customization will allow studios the ability to develop their own unique pipelines, and both releases provide full Maya 2009 compatibility.
Electronic Arts Inc. announced that its EA Redwood Shores Studio has been renamed and rebranded Visceral Games. The newly named studio will focus on developing action games with state-of-the-art technology, visuals, audio, and gameplay. The studio is currently working on the highly anticipated games, DANTE’S INFERNO and DEAD SPACE: EXTRACTION, as well as two other unannounced titles.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 -- Culver City, CA -- Studio Nouveau, a cinematic and 3D animation production studio, is pleased to announce their recent completion of the game cinematics for the highly-acclaimed video game RESIDENT EVIL 5 for Capcom, a leading game industry publisher.
Malaysian Animasia Studio has partnered with Chinese studio Agogo Corporation to produce multiple animation projects.
The projects which are worth more than Euro 3 million, consist of servicing contracts, co-development of IPs and joint distribution for worldwide markets, are set to kick off middle of 2009 and will keep both studios busy for the next 24 months. The projects will be broadcasted by international networks and prominent European networks.
Tippett Studio is integrating Tweak Software's RV company-wide as its playback tool of choice. RV will replace Flipper, the proprietary playback software developed at Tippett Studio, as the backbone of its VFX digital pipeline.
Tippett Studio was founded 25 years ago and has earned a reputation for groundbreaking animation and visual effects. The studio has launched a major initiative to retool its pipeline to accommodate increasingly complex artistic and technical demands -- without disrupting existing workflows.
A new production studio will be opening this summer in Philadelphia, called UArts Motion Heads (http://motionheads.uarts.edu/), a studio that incorporates various methods of animation with live-action, original music, voice-over talent, motion graphics and illustration.
Belgium-based family entertainment group Studio 100 has launched a new animation studio, Studio100 Animation.
Based in Paris, the company's new studio has been established as part of Studio 100's development strategy to create a thriving business in the animation sector through self-funding as well as seeking out co-finance and project development opportuntities.
Heading up the operation is Jo Daris, GM of Studio100 Animation, who will manage the team and spearhead all activities within the division.
Horror film writer Neal Marshall Stevens will write two comicbooks for Studio 407 that the company may also adopt into features, per VARIETY.
Futuristic action-thriller HAVOC BRIGADE will come out March 25 and scary actioner DEMON SQUAD is set for release later in 2009. Stevens originally came to Studio 407 to write HUNTER with director Eric Vallete and co-produced by Stallion Pictures.
Studio 407 is working with Myriad Pictures to produce two films based on their graphic novels: HYBRID and THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST.
On the heels of MARTHA SPEAKS and KID VS KAT in 2008, Studio B Productions Inc., a production subsidiary of DHX Media Ltd. and Slap Happy Cartoons have signed a development deal for 2D animated series B.O.O.M. Boys, created by Slap Happy Cartoons.
Targeting kids 6-11, B.O.O.M. BOYS is a 52x11 comedy series about three bionic brothers, Flip, Ollie and Kick, who build out-of-this world inventions while escaping the grasp of the evil military agency that developed them. The boys have to lay low, but that's hard to do when you're 13 and super-charged.
Who wants a studio tour of the producers of VENTURE BROTHERS? Come meet the gang at World Leaders Entertainment, and hear what Charlie Miller (president and CEO) and Rachel Simon (producer) have to say.
Check out their website at www.wleaders.com.
This is a members only meeting and there is limited space for only 15 people . The first 15 respondents will be chosen. Please read the RSVP info carefully and respond to Sue Nilsson
Here's the vitals: Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Time: 6:30-8 p.m. Location: World Leaders, 159 West 25th Street, 9th Floor (between 6th & 7th Avenues)
Sony is pushing 2012 back from July 10 to November 13, per VARIETY, the same weekend the studio used to launch the last two James Bond films.
Sony's president of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer said the studio has a good summer slate and it makes sense to move 2012, from director Roland Emmerich, to the eve of the crowded Thanksgiving holiday.
Summer tentpoles for Sony include ANGELS AND DEMONS (May 15) and THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (June 12) with Denzel Washington and John Travolta.
Scott Griffin, senior producer at MPC London, is moving to MPC's Vancouver location, where he will take the position of Head of Production.
The studio, which focuses on VFX for feature films, has recently completed sequences for Zach Snyder's WATCHMEN and is currently working on Jonathan Mostow's SURROGATES for Walt Disney Studios.
The studio is based in the Yaletown district of Vancouver, central to the vfx industry.
Smith Micro Software, Consumer Group have released Manga Studio Debut 4.0 and Manga Studio EX 4.0, the world's leading manga and comic art software used by professional artists and hobbyists to create professional, ready-to-publish comics and print cartoons from start to finish.
U.K. vfx company Double Negative will open an office in Singapore by March of 2009, according to Singapore newspaper THE STRAITS TIMES.
Animators and designers in the Singapore studio will work on projects like HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRICE, and start with a staff of about a dozen. Double Negative's recent credits include THE DARK KNIGHT, QUANTUM OF SOLACE and HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY.
Tokyo-based animation and live-action producer and distributor Toei will spend $55 million on renovating and digitalizing their studio, per VARIETY.
The studio, in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, is four-story, 51,161 square feet facility for films, TV and animation production by their group companies. A highlight of the revamp is a new digital postproduction center to process images and sound, including advanced CG and 3-D work.
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami will be opening an animation studio in Los Angeles next summer, according to the LOS ANGELES TIMES.
Called Japan's Andy Warhol, and based in Tokyo, Murakami is known for his oversized anime style and already has a studio in New York. The new studio will operate under Kaikai Kiki, his production and artist-management company. Murakami works in painting and sculpture, film and mass-produced goods all under one company.
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, VFXWORLD offers an exclusive interview with Doug Chiang, the EVP of ImageMovers Digital: the new 3-D performance capture studio from Robert Zemeckis.
Electronic Arts is opening a new studio, Pogo Austin, who have come together to build new games as part of the Pogo.com team. The Pogo Austin team will be joining EA's Bioware studio in Austin, Texas, USA.
The new studio will focus on creating family-friendly titles based on Hasbro properties. The initial team of 12 features a strong foundation of Austin natives who boast more than 108 years of collective game experience and have shipped titles at companies such as LucasArts, Aspyr Media, Acclaim, Amaze Ent., Human Code, Origin Systems and Family Time Interactive.
Cake Ent. is expanding its development slate through a co-production partnership with Melbourne-based Studio Moshi on its original creation EL MARIACHI. Studio Moshi's EL MARIACHI is currently being developed as a 2D 52x11 comedy action animation series for 6 to 11 year olds.
Sydney, Australia-based Digital animation studio Plastic Wax, who specialize in videogame production, are implementing global expansion plans that include extensive talent acquisition, investments in new technology and the opening of an office in San Francisco focused on business development.
