'Prince of Persia':The Tale of a Thousand Textures
Andrew Farago reviews four short films: Drux Flux by Theodore Ushev, The Old, Old, Very Old Man by Elizabeth Hobbs, Sandbox by Avi Ofer and The Waif of Persephone by Nick Cross.
Article Type: Review
MotionBuilder 2009 Review: Greater Realtime Capabilities
Autodesk's latest version of MotionBuilder provides a realtime simulation toolset and enhanced interactivity, among other things encountered by George Maestri.
Book Review: 'Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writer, Filmmaker, Video Artist and Game Develope
Chris Perna, lead artist at Epic Games, tells Peter Rizkalla how Gears of War 2 raises the bar with more graphical richness and complex animation.
Anime Reviews: Ghosts, Brawlers, Journeymen and Shinigami
In this third excerpt from The Official Luxology modo 301 Guide, author Daniel Ablan puts a twist on Shader Tree applications.
The Digital Eye: Master Key Turbo Boosts its VFX Workflow
The producers and creators of the new French animated feature talk about the transformation of six graphic visions into one artistic frightfest.
Book Review: 'The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age'
Andrew Farago makes the case why you should make room on your bookshelf for Don Hahn's modern take on The Alchemy of Animation.
'Quantum of Solace': Activision Bonds with 007
Jeremy Luyties, the lead design director of the new Quantum of Solace videogame, takes Peter "The Rizk" Rizkalla through the James Bond paces along with the virtual Daniel Craig.
Mudbox 2009 Review: More Robust and a Steadier Stroke
In this edition of her bimonthly column, Nancy Cartwright interviews top-ranked voice-over actor Jess Harnell.
Rebuttal to Mind Your Business: How Will Artists Vote?
Variety being the spice of life, Peter "The Rizk" Rizkalla exposes himself to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Galaga Legions and N+.
Maya 2009 Review: Going Above and Beyond for the 10th Anniversary
George Maestri tests out the latest edition of Maya from Autodesk to figure out the significance of the new particle systems, layered animation, modeling and stereoscopic image rendering.
Book Review: 'Character Animation Crash Course!'
Janet Hetherington chats with producer Max Howard about Igor, the new animated feature whose protagonist is as independent as the company that made him.
Fresh from the Festivals: July 2008's Reviews
Andrew Farago reviews five short films: Chainsaw by Dennis Tupicoff, Hot Dog by Bill Plympton, Mammon by Robin Fuller, Styri (Four) by Ivana Sebestová and Vaterschaftstest (Paternity Test) by Katherine Landgrebe.
Book Review: 'The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America'
Ellen Wolff gets deeper into Meet Dave with VFX Supervisor Mark Stetson.
The HP xw8600 Workstation Review: Worth a Second Look
Bryan Hoff tests the new and improved HP xw8600 workstation, now boasting Xeon 3.16 processors.
Summer 2008: Tools That Push Visual Limits
Eric Post takes us on a ride through some of the summer tools that are setting new standards for vfx excellence.
Book Review: 'Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi'
The former work-for-hire power transitions into a source of proprietary animation for the global market.
Book Review: 'Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists'
In Don Peri's new book, insights abound, but the real Walt Disney remains elusive.
Jonesin’ for a fix…
Hey kids! Play the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Drinking Game! It’s easy! It’s fun! You’ll get boozed out of your mind! Here’s how to play…
fmx/08: Expanding the Global Animation & VFX Connection
Johannes Wolters dives into fmx/08, which this year offered an even greater number of stimulating discussions on the state of artistic and technological visual content.
3ds Max 2009 Review: More Lighting, Rendering, Navigation
Ryan Lesser tests the new 3ds Max 2009 and is pleasantly surprised at how useful the new tools are, even for a humble game developer.
Frantic Films Integrates with the Prime Focus Family
Karen Raugust reports on how the famed AI-based 3D animation system is being adopted by key VFX/animation schools.
Anime Reviews: Light, Brains, and 'Kakuganes'
Alain Bielik visits The Ruins with Rising Sun Pictures, which devised a new system for animating the nasty, man-eating vines.
Houdini 9.1 Review: Added Value and Improved Problem Solving
Anupam Das of EA tests Houdini 9.1 and discovers several improvements, including FBX support and new additions to fluid and animation tools.
Panda doesn’t pander
My first reaction to Kung Fu Panda was, (bored, Droopy voice), whoopee, here we go again: hopeless slob (Jack Black, who else?) makes good in spite of himself, done with that trademark DreamWorks unattractive angular character design.
Mea culpa, friends. I just saw a lengthy promo reel for the film hosted by Ol’ Bullet-head himself, Jeff (nyah-nyah Michael, I’m still a player, what are you doing these days?) Katzenberg – and I am blown away. This is going to turn into an Anton Ego review (end of Ratatouille Anton that is), but here we go.
