Technology

Pendulum Announces New Facial Performance Division, Alter Ego, At SIGGRAPH

Pendulum's AlterEgo team will be presenting their technology at SIGGRAPH along with examples from some of their recent projects at the Vicon booth (#1101) on Tuesday August 12 at 12:15 p.m., Wednesday August 13 at 12:15 and 4:30 p.m., and Thursday August 14 at 11:10 a.m.

The AlterEgo team, armed with their most recent innovation and Vicon's new T160 cameras will be giving a demonstration of an unprecedented high-res real-time facial mocap visualization technology, during each of their presentations.

In Event, Event | Headline News | Special Events: SIGGRAPH | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

West Hollywood Film Festival Awards Super-Res Film

SOUNDS, the first-ever full length movie produced with Super-Resolution Technology, came home with multiple awards in several categories at the recently completed West Hollywood International Film Festival.

Competing against 400 other independent films submitted to the first annual West Hollywood International Film Festival, SOUNDS won a total of four prestigious awards including:

Best Science-Fiction Comedy FeatureBest New TechnologyBest Visual EffectsSpecial Juror Award

In Awards, Visual Effects, Awards, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Artists ANIMATIONWorld

Career Coach: Keep Up with Technology

In this month's column, Pamela Kleibrink Thompson emphasizes the necessity of learning the latest tools.

In Technology | ANIMATIONWorld | Columns: Career Coach

Technology Headline News

Yippee-Ki-Yay, Moviegoers! Die Hard Comes Back To Life At The Academy

Considered by many to be a benchmark in the action genre, DIE HARD will screen at a special 20th anniversary event on Wednesday, August 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Science and Technology Council, the evening also will feature an onstage panel discussion with several key members of the film's sound and visual effects teams, who will highlight the role motion picture science and technology played in shaping the movie. Film historian and author Eric Lichtenfeld will moderate the panel.

In Event, Visual Effects, Event, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Gamecaster Licenses Virtual Camera Control Technology To Elliott Animation

Gamecaster has licensed its patented virtual camera control technology to Elliott Animation, a full-range animation studio located in Toronto, Canada. Elliott Animation has integrated Gamecaster's technology into the studio's production pipeline, and is using the technology to film Amberwood Ent.'s ROLLBOTS, a 26 episode 3-D animated action-comedy TV series for kids, commissioned by Canada's YTV, a division of Corus Ent., Inc.

In Licensing, Licensing | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, North America

Technology Headline News

Academy's Tech Council Selects Students For 2008 Internship Program

The Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected three students to participate in a summer internship program designed to provide real-world experience to students interested in careers in motion picture computer graphics and animation technology.

In Anime, Education and Training, Anime, Education and Training | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Digital Musings From the Editor:

As we head into the July 4th holiday weekend, VFXWORLD looks at the striking vfx in a trio of animated features this summer, courtesy of J. Paul Peszko: WALL-E, KUNG FU PANDA and HORTON HEARS A WHO! In addition, we have the fifth excerpt from MAYA 2008 CHARACTER MODELING AND ANIMATION by Tereza Flaxman (Thomson Course Technology). This one's about NURBS Surface Tools. Have a great Fourth!

Bill DesowitzEditor

In Visual Effects, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Gamecaster's Virtual Camera Control Technology Patent Approved

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for Gamecaster’s U.S. patent application.

In Technology, Technology | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Japanese Magic Lantern Show To Light Up Academy Theater

Celebrating the centuries-old Japanese magic lantern tradition of Utsushi-e -- a blend of moving images, light, color, music, storytelling and traditional art -- the Minwa-za Company of Tokyo will make its American premiere performance on Wednesday, July 2, at 8 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

The program, presented by the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will re-create and examine the uniquely Japanese art form using reproductions of lanterns and slides of the Edo era.

In Event, Event | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Film Events

2001 in 2008: A Cinematic Odyssey

Begins: May 21, 2008

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will take audiences on a special behind-the-scenes journey into the making of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY during a program hosted by special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull and actor Tom Hanks, on Wednesday, May 21, at 8 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Presented by the Academy's Science and Technology Council, "2001 in 2008: A Cinematic Odyssey" will feature never-before-seen images of and an onstage discussion about the technology used in the making of Stanley Kubrick's Academy Award-winning sci-fi epic.

In Event Types: Discussion, Screenings, Features, Visual Effects

Autodesk Headline News

Autodesk Acquires Assets of REALVIZ

Autodesk Inc. today announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of REALVIZ S.A., the privately held developer of image-based content creation software. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In Business, Visual Effects, Business, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Europe

Film Headline News

2001 in 2008: A Cinematic Odyssey

In Event, Visual Effects, Event, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Europe

Technology Events

Computer Games and Allied Technology 08

Begins: April 28, 2008

Computer Games and Allied Technology 08 is an Annual International Conference and Symposium theming on

In Event Types: Conferences, Discussion, Exhibits, Seminars / Workshops, Animation, Interactive, Live Action, New Media, Television, Visualization, Visual Effects, Web / Internet

Technology Headline News

Codemasters And RTT Announce Strategic Technology Alliance

Codemasters, developer and publisher of award-winning video games, and Realtime Technology, a leading provider of 3D realtime rendering and visualization technologies and services for the automobile, aircraft and consumer goods industries, today announced a strategic partnership of technology and knowledge cooperation.

In Business, Visual Effects, Business, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

HP, DreamWorks Preview Breakthrough Color Display Technology

HP and DreamWorks Animation previewed a display technology at NAB Monday that helps solve a longstanding obstacle for digital content creators: affordable and consistent color accuracy between devices.

The result of an unprecedented collaboration between the two companies, the HP DreamColor Technology computer display provides accurate, predictable color and a simple color management process to assure vision-to-production color consistency in a widescreen liquid crystal display (LCD).

In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Games VFXWorld

The Digital Eye: Gaming as the Driving Technological Force

In this month's edition of "The Digital Eye," Autodesk's Maurice Patel explores how gaming is driving VFX and Design Visualization through performance, interaction and immersion.

In Technology | VFXWorld

Media Events

2008 Media Summit New York

Begins: March 11, 2008

The 2008 Media Summit New York is the definitive international conference for media, entertainment and technology leaders. The Media Summit is presented by The McGraw-Hill Companies, co-sponsored by BUSINESSWEEK and Standard & Poor's and produced by Digital Hollywood. The event will occur at McGraw-Hill's headquarters, 1221 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan.

In Event Types: Conferences, Discussion, Exhibits, Seminars / Workshops, Trade Shows, Business / Management, Interactive, New Media, Television, Web / Internet

Technology Headline News

K2 Network Gaming Co. Of The Year

The Technology Council of Southern California named K2 Network 2008 Entertainment & Gaming Company of the Year.

The awards were presented at the Tech Council's annual gala event on Thursday, in downtown Los Angeles at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel.

Now in its fourteenth year, the Technology Industry Awards recognize Southern California-based technology leaders that have made outstanding contributions to the industry over the past year.

In Awards, Awards | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Chuck Dages To Oversee Emerging Technology for WB Home Ent.

Chuck Dages, who oversees Emerging Technology for Warner Bros., has been shifted from Technical Operations to Warner Bros. Home Ent. Group. He retains the title of EVP and continues to have oversight of Motion Picture Imaging (the studio's postproduction facility for film mastering, restoration and digital imaging for movies and television) and the Advanced Media Editorial department (which prepares feature films for distribution on airlines, cable networks and broadcast television).

In Games, People, Visual Effects, Games, People, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Mobile Headline News

Mobile Braveheart & Shooter Games Come to Artificial Life

Hong Kong-based Artificial Life Inc., a provider of award-winning mobile 3G technology and applications, announced that it has signed a worldwide licensing deal with Paramount Digital Ent. to release two exclusive mobile games based on the multiple-Academy Award-winning movie BRAVEHEART and the recent box office hit SHOOTER.

The advanced mobile games will be of the action genre with real-time strategy features and enhanced 3D graphics. The games are scheduled for release and sale globally in early 2008 via on-deck telecom carriers and off-deck resellers.

In Interactive, Games, Interactive | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia

Technology Events

Triangle's First Videogame Technology Showcase and Career Fair

Begins: November 17, 2007

North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, home to some of the world's leading companies in the $38 billion global videogame industry, is hosting its first videogame technology showcase and career fair. Local videogame companies will be recruiting to fill more than 100 positions in technical, marketing and sales departments. The event will feature more than a dozen companies and university departments within the greater Triangle area that are creating technology and content for the videogame and interactive media industries.

Participants include: * Emergent Game Technologies

In Event Types: Discussion, Exhibits, Animation, Interactive, Web / Internet, Other

Technology Headline News

Luxology Licenses Pixar's Subdivision Surface Patents

Pixar Animation Studios has licensed its Subdivision Surface patents to Luxology. The agreement covers key Pixar proprietary computer graphics technology that will enhance Luxology's products. Luxology is making no specific announcements as to when this technology might be incorporated into future Luxology software offerings. The specific terms of the agreement are confidential.

In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Animation Headline News

Ottawa Animation Fest to Spotlight Technology

Some of the world's leading animation technology companies are coming to the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) for the 3rd annual Technology Forum, a series of panels and presentations showcasing cutting edge animation software. The Technology Forum takes place on Friday (Sept. 21) and Saturday (Sept. 22) at the National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage.

In Event, Event | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Feher to Create New Media Technology Organization for NBC Universal

Darren Feher, evp/cto for NBC Universal, will take on a new role to create a media technology organization dedicated to digital product innovation and emerging technology. Feher will add new technology and engineering teams concentrating on the areas of digital asset management, content distribution, production and commercial planning across NBCU's broad portfolio of assets.

In People, People | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Technology Headline News

Intel Helps Disney/Pixar Cook Up Ratatouille

Intel Corp. joined forces with Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios on the animated RATATOUILLE. And for the first time, Intel is working hand-in-hand with Disney/Pixar as a major promotional sponsor.

In Films, Films | Headline News | Geographic Region: All