Phoenix Tools Releases RealFur 2.0
Milan-based Phoenix Tools announced the release of RealFur 2.0 a major upgrade to their fur rendering technology. The new version introduces renders up to 10 times faster than the previous version. The key to this speed is that the old volumetric technology has been replaced with a new geometry-based system that allows artists to render millions of polygons without having to display them in the 3D authoring application. An optimized cylinder, with the given color, transparency and other global material parameters, replace each hair strand at the rendering stage.
AntEye Closes Its Eyes
AntEye has closed its eyes and its doors. The Los Angeles Netcaster shut down on Friday, December 15, 2000 and laid off its 20 employees. The company decided to finally close up shop after finding a buyer was unsuccessful. Matti Leshem, company CEO, told the DAILY VARIETY, "The party is over. We're shutting for the same reason that everyone else has; the market can't support this kind of company.
iFilm Lays Off 10% Of Its Staff
iFilm has laid off 15 employees, or 10% of its staff. The move was made to release some pressure on the Netcaster's capital. The cuts were across many divisions and come on the heels of the firm's launching of three new projects the iFilm portal, the relaunch of iFilmpro and an online testing business. In the past year, iFilm has purchased film industry business-to-business services such as Film Finders, the Hollywood Creative Directory, Lone Eagle Publishing and TV Tracker. However, rumors have flourished that the company is backing away from a b2b model and refocusing on content.
Stan Lee Media Stops Operations
On Friday, December 15, 2000, Stan Lee Media (SLM) stopped operations and laid off "substantially all of its [140 person] staff." The company will keep an executive core to look into possible new directions for the company including selling off the firm's assets. The move comes as a result of the Netcaster's plummeting stock and inability to raise a new round of financing. Early in December, SLM announced it had obtained US$2.2 million as a bridge loan until it could finalize a $40 million financing round.
KC Filmmakers Jubilee Celebrates Films From The MidWest & Around The World
* Wednesday, April 4 Sunday, April 8, 2001. Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.
Entry Deadline: January 10, 2001.
The fifth annual KC Filmmakers Jubilee is a celebration of independent filmmaking. All experimental and animation entries must be 30 minutes or less. A US$1000 prize will be awarded in each category. For more information contact: Tel.: (913) 649-0244; E-mail: [email protected]; or Web: http://www.kcjubilee.org/.
Highlight Your Work In I.D. Magazine's Best Of 2000 Edition
* Monday, April 30, 2001. Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.
Entry Deadline: January 8, 2001.
Learn The Art Of Mime At Noam Markus All-Day Workshop
* Saturday, January 6, 2001. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Discover The Differences Between Animation & Live-Action Writing At WIA Seminar
* Thursday, January 11, 2001. Westwood, California, U.S.A.
The Women In Animation Writers' Group starts up their new Seminar Series at Saban Entertainment, 10960 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood at 7:30 pm. Find out the differences between writing for animation and live-action. Learn comedy and gag writing techniques. Fee is US$5. RSVP is required to Jean Ann Wright at: Tel: (818) 360-8321 or E-mail: [email protected].
Visit The ANIMAC Show In Spain To Learn More About The Art Of Animation
* Thursday, February 1 Sunday, February 4, 2001. Lleida, Spain.
The Acrobat Issue Of Animation World Magazine Is Now On-Line!
December's feature articles are based on the themes of location-based entertainment and anime. Karl Cohen is profiling Imax -- is animation's next frontier in peril? Also, Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman is discussing the past and future of LBE, specifically VR. On the anime side of things Fred Patten is profiling "Vampire Hunter D," the latest anime release to arrive on U.S. soil. Andrew Osmond is interviewing a number of experts and scholars on the stylistic merits of Japanese animation. Be ready to put on your thinking cap before reading this one.
New Jobs: Animators, Digital Artists, Directors, Visual Artists And More...
Vancouver, B.C., Canada's a.k.a. Cartoon, Inc., producers of a television series currently airing on Cartoon Network, is looking for a STORYBOARD SUPERVISOR to supervise an in-house staff of storyboard artists. . . Santa Maria, California's BSR Entertainment Group, a movie production company, is looking for EXPERIENCED LIGHTWAVE ANIMATORS with strong character animation skills. . . Fenton, Michigan's Creative Reign has immediate openings for several ANIMATORS and MODELERS to work on a 3D animated children's movie set for release in 2002. . .
The Toronto Animated Image Society's Winter Schedule
Tais, the Toronto Animated Image Society, presents its winter 2001 schedule. Mark these dates in your calendars:
New At Visual Magic Magazine
Check out the latest "behind the scenes" features and tutorials from Visual Magic Magazine...
New Additions To AWN's Calendar Of Events
This week's updates to the Calendar of Events includes the Noam Markus Mime Workshop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, January 6, 2001; the Australian Effects & Animation Festival in Sydney, Australia, February 26-28, 2001; Culture2Culture at the "Tricky Women" event Vienna, Austria, March 2-8, 2001; and BroadCast WorldWide Market and Conference in Busan, Korea, June 5-8, 2001.
New In The Animation Showcase: Animator And Caricaturist Bob Lizarraga
When Bob was a kid, a typical Saturday morning would begin with a bowl of Apple Jacks cereal, then watching melodrama, horror and wrestling with his parents...
Ask The Experts In The Discussions Forums!
Leading experts in their respective fields are here to answer your questions and give you personal advice and insight...
Plympton's Comic Of The Week: Democrat Vs. Republican!
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...
This Week's Animation Trivia Quiz
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz...
Nick's Neutron Feature Adds Voices
Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures have tapped top Hollywood actors to voice characters in their upcoming 3D animated feature, JIMMY, NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS. Patrick Stewart (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) and Martin Short (INNER SPACE) have signed on to voice characters for the film. The film will chronicle Jimmy's journey into space as he attempts to rescue all the parents from his town who have been kidnapped by the alien Yokians. The feature will start production under the direction of John Davis in January. The scheduled release date is holidays 2001.
Billy Bob Thornton To Make TV Cartoon
Oscar-winning director/actor Billy Bob Thornton is teaming with Acme Productions on a new TV animated series. The currently untitled series is based on an idea by Thornton about a father who has been in a garage band for the past twenty years. The SLINGBLADE director will team with Emmy-winning SIMPSONS writer, Ron Hauge, on developing the project. Thornton will also voice the main character. Acme Production is the six-month-old production company formed by former 20th Century Fox executives Mindy Schultheis and Michael Hanel.
NewTek Reinforces Mac Commitment
NewTek has reinforced its commitment to the Macintosh platform by announcing that their newly released Lightwave [6.5] will also be available for Apples new OS X platform. Although NewTek only released Lightwave [6] on the MAC earlier this year, they have slowly moved their efforts toward the fruity platform.
TV Loonland Acquires Korean Distrib Firm Saerom
Berlin children's producer TV Loonland has bought a 65% stake in Seoul distribution firm Saerom Entertainment. Saerom is the third-largest video and DVD distributor in Korea and controls a leading Internet film portal, which it has been leveraging as a new means of distribution. TV Loonland will pay US$9.5 million for its share of the company, which foresees sales of $14 million and profits of $2 million for the year 2000. The move is yet another step in TV Loonland's global expansion, giving the company a strong distribution and Internet foothold in Asia.
This Week's Web Animation Guide For Friday, December 15, 2000
AWN's Web Animation Guide is the place for what's new on the Net. In this week's edition John K's George Liquor hits Icebox, the finale of Stain Boy, first two Webisodes of The Critic, Undercover Brother's second season premiere and much, much more!
Get your Web Animation Guide here!
Also every week AWN's associate editor Rick DeMott highlights what he thinks is the top new toon in cyberspace in "Rick's Picks!"
FTC Says You've Got A Time Warner/AOL Merger!
On Thursday, December 14, 2000, the Federal Trade Commission approved America Online's US$111 billion acquisition of Time Warner. As part of the approval, AOL must open its high-speed Internet access to competitors. At least three Internet service providers (ISPs) must be offered when AOL/Time Warner enters a new market. "Our concern was, and has always been, about access," said FTC chairman Robert Pitofsky.
Shockwave.com and AtomFilms To Merge
Shockwave.com and AtomFilms announced they have signed a definitive merger agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, shockwave.com will acquire AtomFilms in a stock-for-stock deal giving Shockwave shareholders 70% of the combined company. In addition, Macromedia, parent of shockwave.com, will now own less than 50% of the new firm. The combined company will announce its new name at the closing of the deal.
