Category: Visual Effects

STAR WARS: EPISODE III wrapped principal photography at Fox Studios Australia on Sept. 17, 2003, five days ahead of schedule, according to a Lucasfilm announcement.

"It's almost unheard of for a major motion picture to come in under-schedule," boasted producer Rick McCallum of the shoot that was originally scheduled for 12 weeks.

HOLES, the family adventure concerning an ancient family curse and kids forced to dig holes to build character, comes to DVD (Walt Disney Home Entertainment, $29.99) on Sept. 23, 2003. Starring Stanley Yelnats (Disney Channel's EVEN STEVENS), HOLES is based on the Newberry award-winning book by Louis Sachar.

Luma Pictures helped to conjure up a dark and formidable world of werewolves and vampires in providing visual effects services for Lakeshore Entertainment's new horror thriller UNDERWORLD (opening Sept. 19, 2003). A team of some 20 artists from the studio took part in the project, crafting visuals ranging from 3D matte paintings of central Budapest, to the partial transformation of a man into a werewolf, to the creation of microorganisms representing creature transformations on a cellular level.

Pinnacle Systems Inc. announced a new product aimed to help consumers enjoy their PC-based music, photos and video on the television in their living room. Pinnacle ShowCenter is a set-top device that connects to wireless and wired home local area networks (LAN) and enables streaming of multimedia files from any PC on the network to any television or home entertainment system in the house.

Spiral Graphics announced the release of its anticipated Genetica seamless texture maker. Genetica, the industry's first node-based texture maker to specialize in the generation of seamless textures, intends to dramatically improve the productivity of game designers, 3D artists and others.

THE CORE, the high-tech sci-fi thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank about a team of geophysicists that travel to the earth's core to save the planet, bores its way to DVD on Sept. 9, 2003 (Paramount Home Entertainment, $29.99). There are plenty of digital vfx disasters to dazzle the eye, courtesy of Frantic Films, CREO, Fantasy II Film Effects and Rising Sun Pictures, and the work was recently highlighted at VES 2003: A Festival of Visual Effects.