Animation ,Visual Effects , 3d Animation, Autodesk Smoke Flame

Cameron To Make Avatar 2 & 3 Back-to-Back

2010-10-30T10:16:00.000+05:30

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 11:56 am | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: CG, Films, People, Visual Effects | Geographic Region: All | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, People, Visual Effects

Press Release from Fox Filmed Entertainment

LOS ANGELES (October 27, 2010) — Moving forward with the most anticipated films of the next decade, Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman announced today that Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron has agreed to make AVATAR 2 and 3 as his next films.

Cameron, who had always viewed AVATAR as the creation of a new world and mythology, will begin work on the scripts early next year with an eye towards commencing production later in 2011. Cameron will decide if he will shoot the films back-to-back after he completes the scripts, but the release of the first, as yet untitled sequel, is targeted for December 2014, with the third film contemplated for a December 2015 release.

AVATAR 2 & 3 will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.

“AVATAR is not only the highest grossing movie of all time, it is a created universe based on the singular imagination and daring of James Cameron, who also raised the consciousness of people worldwide to some of the greatest issues facing our planet,” said Rothman and Gianopulos. “We had no higher priority, and can feel no greater joy, than enabling Jim to continue and expand his vision of the world of AVATAR. This is a great day in the history of our company, and we thank Jim, Jon Landau, Rae Sanchini and all of their team and all of our Fox colleagues throughout the world, who have made this possible.”

Commented Cameron: "It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company. AVATAR was conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit, across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox. Our goal is to meet and exceed the global audience's expectations for the richness of AVATAR’s visual world and the power of the storytelling. In the second and third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of AVATAR’s visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I'm looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild."

“It is very exciting to be teaming again with our partners at Fox to give audiences the opportunity to return to Pandora,” said producer Jon Landau. “With the first movie, Jim only scratched the surface of the stories he wants to tell and the creatures and world he wants to create. Now we will continue his vision.”

AVATAR is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in nearly $2.8 billion in worldwide box office. It is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time. AVATAR won Golden Globe® awards for Best Motion Picture and Best Director; and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won Oscars for art direction, visual effects and cinematography.

AVATAR was written by Cameron from an idea he nurtured for over a decade, while working on the technology necessary to realize its wholly imagined world. Working with Joe Letteri and his team at Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital, Cameron created a fully immersive 3-D cinematic experience of a new kind, where revolutionary technology that was invented to make the film disappeared into the emotion of the characters and the epic nature of the story.

AVATAR 2 & 3 will mark Cameron’s latest collaborations with Twentieth Century Fox, a relationship that spans 25 years and marks one of the most successful filmmaker-studio alliances in motion picture history. Cameron and Fox first joined forces in 1985 for Aliens, which became a sci-fi classic. Next came The Abyss, which revolutionized visual effects technology; and True Lies, a blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1996, Fox greenlighted Cameron’s Titanic, which became the most successful film in history, and won a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Lightstorm partner Rae Sanchini negotiated the deal on Lightstorm’s behalf.

Cameron Looking at Jolie's Cleopatra: A Life

2010-10-19T10:46:00.002+05:30

By Rick DeMott | Friday, October 15, 2010 at 1:43 pm | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: CG, Films, People, Visual Effects | Geographic Region: All | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, People, Visual Effects

James Cameron is talking with Sony Pictures Entertainment to take the helm of their 3-D adaptation of Stacy Schiff's book CLEOPATRA: A LIFE, which is set to star Angelina Jolie, reports Deadline.com. Scott Rudin is producing and Brian Helgeland penned the script.

This take on the Queen of the Nile will focus more on her leadership abilities and less on her sex appeal. The GONE WITH THE WIND-like epic will deal with how Rome sacked Egypt.

Sony hopes to start production next year.

Disney to Use Foundry's Mari Technology

2010-09-24T18:22:00.002+05:30

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
By: Ramin Zahed

Software developer The Foundry has made a new deal with Disney studios to advance 3D texture painting techniques. Disney will incorporate elements of its internally developed Paint 3D technology into The Foundry’s Mari and the studio’s technology group will participate in a steering committee, contributing to the future direction of the software.
Paint 3D offers some of the industry’s most advanced aspects of paint and texture creation technology. Paint 3D is also the original development ground and authoring tool for Ptex, Disney’s open source texture mapping system that eliminates the need for UV mapping and efficiently stores hundreds of thousands of images in a single file. This represents the first time Walt Disney Animation Studios has commercially licensed its proprietary animation software to an outside company.
“The technology group at Walt Disney Animation Studios is proud to have created some of the most innovative software in the industry and we’re thrilled to be contributing technology to The Foundry to make these next generation tools available to everyone,” says Dan Candela, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ director of technology. “We’re looking forward to expanding our relationship with The Foundry, using their technology to help create 3D paint and texture tools that leverage the best of our mutual technologies.”
Paint 3D was first used on Disney’s 2005 feature, Chicken Little , and was widely deployed on Meet the Robinsons, Bolt and all subsequent animated projects including the upcoming November release Tangled. Disney first used Ptex on the production of its animated short, Glago’s Guest, in late 2007, and went on to present it publicly for the first time at the Eurographics Symposium on Rendering (EGSR) in June 2008.
Mari—technology originally developed at Weta Digital—is a 3D texture painting application which was driven by the need to handle complex, high-resolution textures on 3D models.

Shaken with Salt

2010-08-30T14:11:00.000+05:30

Read about the tricky action in the latest Angelina Jolie actioner.

By Bill Desowitz
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 12:07 pm

Posted In
Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out the Salt trailers and clips at AWNtv!

CIS Vancouver built a new 3D model of the White House south lawn and wrote a plug-in to make use of a government data set for surrounding Washington DC. All images courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

After tackling the Vatican in Angels & Demons, CIS Vancouver was ready for the demands of digitally reproducing The White House and surrounding Washington DC for the action-packed political thriller, Salt, starring Angelina Jolie as a suspected double-agent.

"The White House is an icon," asserts Robert Grasmere, the overall visual effects supervisor, who describes the action as hyper-real for the Philip Noyce-directed Salt. "It was a pretty daunting task because we couldn't shoot at the White House or build a set or even put up bluescreens. These were front and center shots. So the work CIS did looks pretty real -- it all came through."

The reason it all came through is because of CIS' skill and visual effects repertoire. They shot the Grumman Air Force base and constructed two White House gate posts in the parking lot with gates, and then dressed up the ground a bit, added some grass on the other side of the fence and marked out with chalk the general curve of the road that goes in front the White House. CIS shot everything in one night and had their plate.

"We got the plates back and quickly worked on a temp version while working on the textured version that looked like the White House after we'd gone to Washington DC and taken hundreds of photographs," explains Mark Breakspear, CIS visual effects supervisor. "And we used that to build our model. Version two looked real. We refined it and put in digital trees and a complete synthetic skyline of Washington. We added digital humans, so we dressed up a couple of CG characters in security and army uniforms and then walking up the steps to the portico of the White House. "

Of course, because they were only using the north side for the action, CIS didn't bother building the other side in CG. That is until they decided to re-shoot the ending to relocate this crucial sequence on the south lawn. "So we had to now build it," Breakspeare continues. "It was probably the most inefficient way to build a model in CG, with putting all of your forces off to one side and thinking you're done and then going back and rebuilding the backside.

"It was much harder because it is a lot bigger and your closest vantage point is right on the bottom. We ended up going up the Washington Monument because there's a good vantage point from the top. We worked with the Secret Service to get special permission to take our photos with a tripod."

The White House was pretty daunting because CIS couldn't shoot at the White House or build a set or even put up bluescreens.

Salt has been captured and is taken away in the helicopter outside the White House. This raised several issues: we see all of Washington DC behind the White House, so CIS opted to do brute force with roto. It was too expensive to do a complete 3D model of the city, and a matte painting was going to look too flat.

"We came up with a clever way of accessing a free data set available from the US government, which told us where all the buildings were," Breakspeare adds. "We realized that if we were take images from the right angles and project them onto the boxes from the data set, we would get a very convincing cityscape night shot in 3D. One of our programmers wrote a plug-in that would take this government software and reconfigure it into useful geometry that we could use. We did a very simple 2.5D model of Washington DC going back 20 miles with simple geometry and simple textures, but it rendered quickly. He populated the streets with cars and headlights and rendered that as a separate layer."

They used Maya for the animation but switched mid-stream from Shake to Nuke for the more complex compositing. Since the facility was transitioning anyway to Nuke, it seemed like the best solution. "On paper it was suicidal," Breakspeare notes, "but we had played our hand and it turned out surprisingly painless. Nuke is amazing and, quite honestly, if we had tried to use Shake for the second half of the project, it would have come up short."

Meanwhile, CIS was also given an elevator sequence in which Salt pursues the president down his secret bunker underneath the White House, which also proved more challenging and creative than anticipated. "We built a very small set for that at Grumman as well for three floors with bluescreen at the top and bottom," Breakspeare recalls. "The plan was to extend the elevator shaft up and down in the shots that we saw it.

"The elevator sequence was shot by Second Unit Director Simon Crane, so he had a very definite idea about how to shoot this and what Angelina could or couldn't do practically. And so she was put in a rig harness and did all her own stunts inside the elevator shaft, but what we found is that she looked like she was hanging from a wire, and some of the moves weren't as big as they could be because we didn't have a set that was big enough.

With a completely digital environment, CIS was able to move things around and make the elevator sequence more dynamic.

"We were faced with some difficult problems. Later on, what we had discovered is we had already built this elevator shaft in CG because we had to rebuild the top and bottom. We said if we're going to replace the top and bottom in CG, we might as well replace the middle as well because it'll be too much effort to match everything. Now that we have her in a completely digital environment, we were able to move things around and make it more dynamic. We experimented with the set and had her jump two or three floors down instead of one. She looked like she was really falling and did this in one shot and everyone loved this look, so, suddenly this six or seven-shot sequence became 35 or 40 shots and became a far bigger moment in the movie."

Other action was handled primarily by Framestore, supervised by Ivan Moran (there are 700 vfx shots total), including the assassination of the Russian president at St. Bart's Church in New York City.

"We shot the whole scene in St. Bart's Church, so we had to explode the floor and put in smoke and dust and debris and have people running," explains Grasmere. "We had to build a secondary set and do all the stunts and special effects and build an entirely digital floor of the pulpit matching it tile for tile and drop it back in with the shot at St. Bart's and have the guy fall through this digital environment and have it look like he's really there. We had to match lighting and get the digital elements to look photoreal and work out the CG destruction so it looks believable over a series of 10 shots."

Speaking of explosions, Moscow-based Tikibot was the third largest vendor, handling explosions, bullet hits, muzzle flashes and blood. Phosphene worked on set extensions and matte paintings; UPP in Prague did CG creatures, including butterflies for a poignant flashback.

"I asked them to photograph real butterflies at a butterfly park with a high-speed camera, and they 3D motion tracked the butterflies to come up with how they really fly and we applied that movement to our CG butterflies," Grasmere continues. "We had to hand-articulate where they could fly and add custom animation to their flight pattern. I think they ended up looking more real than a lot of CG butterflies."

Although there was a lot of wire removal, it wasn't the automated kind with Nuke. "Because Angelina likes to do her own stunts whenever possible, so scenes like a freeway chase where she was cabled to the truck, we didn't have control of it. And all that had to be rebuilt and they were hand-held, moving shots. Many rebuilds had to be done as full CG, including rebuilding her hair and part of her face.

Like Salt, there is obviously more than meets the eye.

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

Star Wars Coming to Blu-ray

2010-08-18T09:45:00.000+05:30

By Rick DeMott

Monday, August 16, 2010 at 10:46 am
AWN News

Posted In
News Categories: CG, Films, Home Entertainment, Visual Effects
Geographic Region: All
Site Categories: CG, Films, Home Entertainment, Visual Effects

Press Release from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (August 14, 2010) – Today at Star Wars Celebration V, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced that the complete Star Wars Saga will come to Blu-ray Disc with a worldwide release in Fall 2011. The Star Wars Blu-ray Box Set will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films utilizing the highest possible picture and audio presentation, along with extensive special features – including documentaries, vintage behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, retrospectives and never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives.

“Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home – in pristine high definition,” said George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars Saga. “The films have never looked or sounded better.”

ABOUT STAR WARS CELEBRATION V

Featuring celebrities, costumes, live entertainment, screenings, autographs, collectibles, panels and much, much more, Star Wars Celebration V is THE official Lucasfilm convention - and the biggest Star Wars party in the galaxy! Taking place in Orlando, FL from August 12-15, Star Wars Celebration V commemorates the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and the ongoing, weekly adventures of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

ABOUT TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTANMENT

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

NVIDIA Helps ILM Forge Epic Battle Scenes Harnessing the Four Ancient Elements for "The Last Airbender"

2010-08-02T09:43:00.002+05:30

By Dan Sarto | Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 8:43 am | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: Films, Technology, Visual Effects | Geographic Region: North America | Site Categories: Films, Technology, Visual Effects

NVIDIA Helps ILM Forge Epic Battle Scenes Harnessing the Four Ancient Elements for "The Last Airbender"
Press Release from NVIDIA
Giant Fireballs, Swirling Clouds, Dust Storms Simulated 10-15 Times Faster Using Groundbreaking NVIDIA Quadro GPU Technology
SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- July 14, 2010 ---Paramount Pictures' latest film, "The Last Airbender," features extraordinary battle visual effects created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), with the help of NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics technology NVIDIA announced today.
The film, released in theaters on July 2, features dramatic sequences in which characters are empowered to harness the four ancient elements -- fire, air, water and earth -- and manipulate them as weapons in battle. Giant fireballs, tendrils of water, walls of earth and overwhelming air blasts are a few of the digital simulations created by ILM as part of the film's 485 visual-effects shots resulting in over an hour of screen time.
Central to achieving many of these sequences was the use of a tool created by ILM called Plume. Plume is both a fluid simulation system and a GPU-based renderer that utilizes the NVIDIA® CUDA(TM) parallel computing architecture. ILM realized dramatic speed increases with Plume by running simulation renders on a 12-machine GPU-based render farm powered by NVIDIA Quadro® FX 5800 professional graphics solutions.
"As with everything in high-end visual effects, iteration was essential," said Olivier Maury, research and development engineer, ILM. "By working within an NVIDIA GPU-based framework, we saw up to eight iterations each day of complex fire, dust and air simulations. That represents speed improvements of 10-15x over CPU-based simulations. Access to CUDA and NVIDIA GPUs has entirely changed the way we approach a variety of complex visual effects challenges."
While Plume was initially designed for rendering computer-generated fire, its flexibility led it to also be employed in the creation of air-bending dynamics, ocean mist, smoke and the swirling of clouds. A particularly complex shot depicts the film's main character, Aang (played by actor Noah Ringer) fighting off hurled streams of fire with gusts of air that push aside the fire and sand particles. It was made possible by two Quadro GPU-driven Plume simulations of carefully directed air streams and fire, interacting with each other.
"Because Plume is accelerated by NVIDIA Quadro GPUs, it's highly interactive and becomes a tool that relies more on the artist's eye rather than their technical knowledge," explained Craig Hammack, associate visual effects supervisor, ILM. "This means you don't have to understand the underlying algorithms or all of the fine details of how fluid solvers work to drive the detail of a simulation."
ILM's primary toolset on "The Last Airbender" included NVIDIA subsidiary mental image's mental ray® software and Pixar's Renderman for rendering, Autodesk Maya for animation, The Foundry's Nuke for compositing, and proprietary tools Zeno and Saber for CG and effects creation. ILM plans to incorporate additional NVIDIA CUDA architecture-based tools into future project pipelines and continues to explore even more new ways to implement GPU-accelerated rendering into its visual effects workflows.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from tablets and portable media players to notebooks and workstations. NVIDIA's expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. The company holds more than 1,100 U.S. patents, including ones covering designs and insights which are fundamental to modern computing. For more information, see http://www.nvidia.com

Bringing VFX Magic to The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-07-26T12:56:00.000+05:30

Double Negative has fun toying Fantasia and creating a new spectral sorceress.

By Bill Desowitz | Monday, July 19, 2010 at 4:18 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out The Sorcerer's Apprentice trailers and clips at AWNtv!
The Tesla Coil proved difficult in recreating the behavior of the lightning bolts and also directing its motion to the beat of the music. All images courtesy of Disney.

There's plenty of electrifying mayhem in the live-action version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as a nod to the famous Disney animated mop scene from Fantasia, which inspired the Jon Turteltaub-directed feature about sorcery in present-day Manhattan, starring Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel and Alfred Molina.
Double Negative (under the supervision of Adrian de Wet) handled the majority of the work while Asylum FX (supervised by Phil Brennan) contributed around 500 shots (roach and dragon sequences) and Rising Sun Pictures (supervised by Tony Clark and Dennis Jones) pitched in about 70 shots (CG flame, smoke and knives, texture projected face morph and concept work on mirror wand sequence). Meanwhile, Method (supervised by Stephanie Ceretti) also contributed to the climactic mayhem (cloud formation and destruction of ancient statue).
Not surprisingly, the Fantasia sequence was very challenging and time consuming for Dneg (Baruchel resorts to a short cut to get ready for a date, and, of course, the props get out of control and the lab gets flooded and Cage returns to clean up the mess).
"When we got the original script, there were only three or four lines of description," de Wet explains. "We had to make a three or four-minute sequence to build around this idea, and, given that was all we had, we went straight into storyboarding at Double Negative. We knocked out some storyboards and pretty quickly got into animation previs. After we got the turnover brief from Jon, the CG requirements seemed enormous. But it wasn't the most difficult part of the film because we knew what it was supposed to look like. Fantasia was the most daunting originally because it had to stand up to the original.
Double Negative was also responsible for Merlin's circle and other training effects in the lab.

"We fleshed the sequence out and put in lots of character to the props; and ended up with a sequence that was about 10 minutes long and then cut that previs down and removed chunks. By the time we got the previs approved by Jon, we were very much into principal photography on that sequence. The shooting was on the set at the armory in Brooklyn. The special effects guys rigged the set so you could flood it, so we were ankle deep in water. Practically, we employed a team of puppeteers dressed in light green suits and they held mops and brooms, and the idea was to shoot footage and remove them and use mostly practical props."
However, the final version of the sequence ended up using a lot more GG (60 shots and several hundred elements, including water splashes and environment), led by James Lewis of the animation team. "Jon is all about gags," de Wet adds, "he's all about personality, comedy, character and those little moments. Rather than the mops defying gravity, he wanted them to develop personality and interact with each other. To get that point across was the challenge."
Dneg used Maya and ZBrush for the props along with Rex, the RenderMan interface tool, and composited in Shake (optimized for 64-bit by Dneg).
The other big challenge was CG water interaction. Dneg used Squirt with a whole menu of other tools, including Maya particles and DnB, the proprietary volumetric renderer.
"When Balthazar [Cage] comes in and clears all the water, you see the water vortex get swept away from the balcony, followed by a closer shot," de Wet continues. "In those two shots, everything is CG, including the water, props and floor. It was the hardest part of the sequence. It's quite difficult to direct because you can't compress fluids: they have to go somewhere, so they can't magically disappear, which is exactly what Balthazar is doing when he comes into the room. It's strange that we can't really break the rules of physics with these simulations. The software is too good in obeying the laws of physics, whereas what you're trying to do is a bit more magical than that."

There was plenty of particle work to go around.

Meanwhile, the final battle with sorceress Morgana (Alice Krige) in her spectral form was the most challenging CG character because of its creative and technical complications.
"One of the most important things to Jon was that she had to look like something that we haven't seen before," de Wet suggests. "We decided to use a particle simulation to take a human form. She was a swarm of particles that gave her the ability to shape shift; she was like a school of fish. It took a long time to get there. We conceptualized this CG creature all the way along the creative pipeline. But it was late when we decided what she was going to look like: a journey into the unknown.
"We wanted her to look like a swarm and have an internal flickering energy like backlighting clouds and she had to have a density. One of our guys came up with having a thick core of lamprey eels. We needed to get a good read on her face because when we put the photography of Alice's face through the process of the particle simulation, you lost the performance. We had to dial back the solid outline of Alice and bring back some of her features, especially when she was delivering dialogue.
"What we insisted on was basing the action of the character off the performance so we didn't have to do much character animation. We did an accurate, closed body track, which involved a cloth rig on Alice, and a decent body track on her as well. We used that geometry, in conjunction with a full digital double of Alice, to generate the particles and the lampreys and all the other layers in making spectral Morgana. We altered her size because the actress isn't tall enough, so we scaled her up."
The end battle also includes the bronze Wall Street Bull coming to life (also animated in Maya) in downtown Manhattan. The challenge was coming up with a creature that both acts like a bull and a statue. "The first time, it looked too muscular and lost it metal quality," de Wet notes. "It looked too much like a bull. And so we took all the muscle jiggle out and made it tight and rigid so that it behaved like metal. And then it looked too much like a robot. So we compromised between the rigid metal Bull and the fleshy, muscular bull."
The other noteworthy challenge involved recreated the famed Tesla Coil, which is part of the apprentice's magical specialty in controlling electricity. The difficulty was in timing to the music spectacle he creates.
"We studied footage of the real Tesla Coil spewing out lightning bolts and spent weeks analyzing it and reproducing the behavior of these bolts as accurately as possible," de Wet recalls. "Initially that was done in Houdini using L-systems. And then we had to make the bolts dance along to the music, which completely broke all the work that did. We had to turn up the contrast in the frames where they were off and the frames where the beat was. You had to really drive that home to make it look correct and in time to the music because it didn't look that way when we started."
Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

Getting Bullish on Knight and Day

2010-07-21T10:07:00.000+05:30

No talking animals for Rhythm & Hues, but the running of the bulls posed a different kind of challenge on the latest Tom Cruise actioner.

By Bill Desowitz | Monday, June 28, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out the Knight and Day trailer and clips at AWNtv!
R&H's photoreal animation had to match the plates for this thrilling sequence. All images courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.

For Knight and Day, the lighthearted espionage thriller starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, director James Mangold naturally wanted real-looking bulls for the Spanish bull-run stampede. For Rhythm & Hues, it was a wonderful break from the usual talking animals.
"We had CG trains and cars and set extensions and greenscreen work and got to blow up a plane, but the biggest challenge were the CG bulls," suggests Greg Steele, the visual effects supervisor of Rhythm & Hues. "We went to Spain, blocked off a street and shot some footage with some running bulls in it and we had to augment that and increase the number of bulls. And actually some shots didn't have bulls, so we had to add them. There were usually nine to 15 bulls in each shot.
"It was actually nice not to do a talking animal for once. And that was Jim's really big thing: he wanted it to look realistic: the bio mechanics of how it moves and the weight of it."
The bulls were dangerous and uncontrollable to motion capture, but R&H shot as much reference footage as it needed to send back to the animators in LA. "We went out to the ranch where they were keeping all the bulls for this running stuff because we did have a couple of shots where we actually did put the bulls in there and Tom [Cruise] rode with them," Steele continues. "It was crazy and I can't believe that he did it.
R&H built the bulls from the inside out to get to the core of their motion.

"At the ranch, we set up a situation where we shot with three HD cameras and surveyed the place: a bull charging at someone, stopping and turning, the bulls skittering and bumping into each other. Then we also had an area where they ran along some fences to get some good biomechanical locomotion footage. We took some select pieces and tracked all of those and had some animators go in and rotomate to it. And that was important because it wasn't just a matter of replicating what the skin was doing; we had to also replicate what the bones were doing… and had to get to the core of what their motion was. So we had the animators go in and work the bone animation because we had simulations on top of all of this -- we built it from the inside out so the skin would simulate and would have all the right harmonics to the muscles as they moved through space and had the right gravity."
Steele says it was a fairly quick job: R&H had five months but didn't get most of the footage until mid-way through, which gave the studio about two months to build all of its assets.
"We started dropping these vignettes in and mixing things up," Steele adds. "Once the shot was locked in the way we wanted, we would go in and add nuance. For instance, two of the bulls are bumping into each other and we added some head rotations. We didn't want it to look too mechanical. The reference was great for all the texture detail and fur grooming that we needed to do."

No talking animals for Rhythm & Hues, but the running of the bulls posed a different kind of challenge on the latest Tom Cruise actioner.

By Bill Desowitz | Monday, June 28, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects

Indeed, the lighting of the bulls proved challenging as well since the fur was so reflective. That meant that they couldn't rely on the usual specular hit. "It had to be a reflection that we could adjust with the HDRIs we had shot on location," Steele says. "Thankfully, our rendering guys and Josh Breyer, one of our CG supes for lighting and rendering, took it upon themselves to find a way to render the fur as a ray traced methodology, which made it look a lot more realistic and it dropped right in next the real stuff perfectly."
Because the fur was so reflective, R&H built a ray tracing technique.

R&H built the original maquette of the model of the bull in ZBrush, and took it into Maya and cleaned it up and set up "a little pipeline because we wanted a super high-resolution model that we could use to run the simulation of the skin on. We were more than happy to use a 250,000 poly mesh for the final simulation that we were doing to get all the detail in the skin."
For the rest of the pipeline, R&H relied on its proprietary software: Voodoo for animation and Wren for rendering. And it could add in the new ray tracing technique to make it work better for them.
Meanwhile, other vfx work was turned in by Weta Digital, Soho VFX, Hydraulx and Wildfire VFX. Eric Durst served as overall visual effects supervisor.
Weta, for instance, created a snowy alpine environment to be composited outside train windows. The two scenes were both greenscreen shoots, one in the dining car, and the other in the kitchen carriage. The New Zealand studio completed 139 shots in five weeks.
R&H used ZBrush, Maya, Voodoo and Wren.

"Normally, faced with a scene like this at Weta, we'd immediately set about generating a full digital environment, with snowy terrain, trees, villages, mountains at the horizon and a sky dome," explains Charlie Tait, Weta's visual effects supervisor. "However, we were sent reference footage shot from inside a train travelling through the Swiss Alps, and we noticed pretty quickly that there were periods in this journey that could easily be replicated using a painted background, and 2D trees on cards passing the train. We had a tight turn-around, so we started with this approach, to get the scenes underway."
And the approach worked. Weta had the camera department do a layout setup, in which the train's speed would be determined by a single axis node in Nuke (allowing Weta to adjust it at any time), and the cameras were tracked quickly in most cases just for their rotations. "One of our compositors, Jean-Luc Azzis, made a Nuke gizmo, which was used to place tree cards in groups parallel to the axis the train was travelling along," Tait continues. "The gizmo took a single directory full of tree images as its input, and randomly selected from them to place up to 30 trees per node along the tracks, with their position and spacing adjustable by the compositors. We found that by using many of these nodes, a compositor could quickly spread around 400 trees along the track, for any given shot. Although the trees individually were 2D images, spacing them out away from the train, and allowing sufficient spacing between them to allow the camera to see far back through them, gave a great sense of space and depth."
Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

Shyamalan Talks The Last Airbender

2010-07-12T10:05:00.000+05:30

The acclaimed director of supernatural fables tells us about bringing the popular Nickelodeon series to the big screen as a live-action, vfx-intensive feature.

By Bill Desowitz | Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out The Last Airbender trailers at AWNtv!
Aang takes on a supernatural aura before air bending, which looks smoky, ghostly and wispy. All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Once M. Night Shyamalan became a big fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, he was intrigued with bringing the animated series to the big screen as a live-action franchise. But this epic world and larger narrative scope, despite being steeped in the supernatural and spirituality, was certainly the most ambitious undertaking of his career. Fortunately, when it came to bending the elements of air, water, earth and fire, Shyamalan was in great hands with ILM (under the supervision of Pablo Helman). With The Last Airbender opening today from Paramount Pictures, the soft-spoken director discussed this potentially career-altering experience.
Bill Desowitz: What was this experience like?
M. Night Shyamalan: I've never been so drained because basically it's like two-and-a-half times the size of one of my movies. I guess I underestimated the toll that it would take physically and emotionally. That's probably what I can comment on. I know I've never been more excited about a movie. When we finished it and I did the sound check, I was really, really taken by it -- the subject of the movie. Maybe because the original idea wasn't mine, I could have a little more distance quicker. But it really helped me watch [the animated series] as an audience member at that time, which is very rare. But as a process, it was Herculean.
BD: But you can certainly see the spiritual and supernatural themes that interest you.
MNS: Yeah, there are a lot of conversations about faith that I use and the supernatural as the vehicle to talk about it.
BD: Talk about the collaboration with ILM, as your most vfx-intensive movie.
MNS: It was a long, complicated process of thousands of sessions of talking through shots and seeing each stage and trying to get a common language of aesthetics. And I screened the movie very early for the animators when there was nothing in it and I talked through my hopes and what I imagined was there. I really tried to approach it with a common philosophy. So there wasn't a bunch of boutique animators doing something but all under a common point of view. And I learned on the job about how to communicate my thoughts and what's important. At first, it was all overwhelming to convey from scratch everything I needed. But soon a language developed and ILM gave me the very best people that they had.
Water bending takes on a zero gravity characteristic.

BD: A naturalistic aesthetic?
MNS: Yes, I definitely go for the minimal amount we can do. Where does the eye go? Very much about what it represents for the characters. If we're talking about creatures, I'll definitely talk in depth about their personalities. In ways, I talk to the animators as if they were actors and what the motivations are coming from.

BD: And it was important to visualize air, water, earth and fire. I understand you were concerned about CG fire?
MNS: Yeah, my original concern was that fire does not look real on film, even if it's real fire. It looks improbable and doesn't follow the rules of lighting and physics that you intuitively know. So I didn't know how we were going to circumvent this. But ILM eventually found a language and a movement and an understanding about that small band where fire looks good and believable. That turned out not to be an issue.
BD: What about changing the fire bending rule from the series, making it based on a physical presence and not coming out of nowhere?
MNS: Yeah, when I watched the shows that was just stuck in my craw as something that wasn't explained and that the rules weren't even for the four nations. It was an interesting idea to turn your chi into energy. But I felt that should be reserved for the highest fire benders. Each movie ups what people can do with the bending of the elements. So that's what I also love about the progression of the movies, until you get to the third one where you have perversions of how non-ethical people start using bending.
BD: And air proved too abstract?
MNS: Yes, that was an R&D process where they eventually found samples of smoke that were moving in wind tunnels and things that created a movement that I thought was ghostly and interesting and wispy: churned air that creates this kind of foam. That was the principle. And beyond that, it had to be from the environment. Air ended up being solved pretty quickly as well.
BD: Earth was a matter of particle simulation but what about water?
MNS: Water was the most difficult because it had a lot of physics involved. I wanted to get that kind of astronaut thing where they take the water out of the jug and let it float in front of them. I wanted that kind of effect and it took a long time to do each and every one of them.
Appa stayed true to the series, which was Shyamalan's biggest leap of faith.

BD: Let's talk about the creatures Appa (the flying six-legged gentle giant) and Momo (the flying lemur).
MNS: I grounded everything in a reality that I could defend and believe in; and Appa [flying] I couldn't get my head around, so I said we're just going to have to take a leap of faith. Otherwise, I think we would change the spirit of the show too much if we changed that character.
BD: And Momo, which we don't see a lot of?
MNS: Yeah, Momo's pretty cool. The second movie is pretty creature heavy and, hopefully, he will work his moments in a more significant way in the future. But I actually think he would exist in the real world.
BD: And the spirit dragon?
MNS: It's more of a Chinese dragon than a European dragon.
One of the sculptors made a beautiful maquette, and it was this long, snake-like thing, and I said, "Let's put that in a cave and coiled up, and only at the end, uncoil itself and walk by the boy and see it in its glory."
BD: What about the impact of the last minute 3-D post conversion?
MNS: Yeah, the last-minute decision for 3-D was basically a year in the making. It's an announcement that happens late in the game by the nature of the process. They can't do tests until you have stuff to show them from ILM, and I can't make a decision until you show me many tests. They can't even work on it until the movie is completely picture-locked. So it's always going to be late in the game from a conversion standpoint.
BD: Who did the conversion?
MNS: A company called Stereo D. They had brand new software and an incredible group of artisans that came and presented and presented and re-presented and convinced me. And my primary reason for doing it beyond what they showed me was I believed in their integrity and desire to protect the movie. Then we just went whole hog; they actually came after I saw Alice. I felt Tim did a really good job with the 3-D and enhanced the experience going down the rabbit hole for me and I thought it was custom-made for this: to be in a fantasy world and an alternate world, and it could help the immersion feeling and the suspension of disbelief. So I came home from Alice and I called Paramount and I said let's do it.
Shyamalan changed the rules of fire bending with only the most powerful able to solely use the power of their chi.

BD: So you didn't find the process intrusive at all?
MNS: No, but it was scary as hell because I told them I didn't want to hurt this movie in any way, and I said when I finish I want to be able to say that I prefer this version of the movie hands-down. And that's the truth. And they taught me a lot, too, about the misconceptions of 3-D: how it's not always coming out and that you want to create a sense of depth like you're looking through a window.
BD: What can you tell us about the second movie in this proposed trilogy?
MNS: Well, the R&D would start immediately as soon as they tell me to go for it, and we would map it out. I would tell them how much time I would need to prep it and this is how much post I'm going to need based on what I anticipate the amount of CGI is going to be. As soon as they call me, I'll meet with ILM to discuss the amount of creatures, the kind of effects that I'm thinking about. I have a rough first draft that I wrote that could serve as our jumping point for everybody's discussions and schedules. For me, it's all about schedules for these types of movies. If you give it the time, it'll work out. And I'm talking about the difference of two months or one month. That extra time is where all the answers happen.
BD: Have you figured out the third movie, too?
MNS: No, just the second one. I thought it was helpful for the first one to know what was immediately following it. And my favorite season is the second. I thought they found their stride and I love the storylines and the characters. The second movie will be even more truthful to the series.
BD: And if not the second Airbender, what would be you directing next? The supernatural thriller about the father and missing daughter?
MNS: No, it's not a girl, but it is that supernatural thriller. Yeah, it's all about schedule at this point. It's very tricky to figure out when we would want to have a second movie -- it could take two to two-and-a-half years to do properly.
The director looks forward to adapting Book 2: Earth because that's his favorite season.

BD: What's it been like taking on a larger epic scope?
MNS: There is a global tension that exists in one of these movies that is not just created by the characters but that the characters have to acknowledge. You have to instruct the actors in the writing to make sure that it's represented so when you do the intimate scenes it's in the context of the life and death of the larger things going on. That wasn't always the case with my movies with contemporary settings and contemporary issues. And I didn't have to bring into account the larger milieu. And so that was an interesting process to learn.
BD: What's the favorite among your films?
MNS: I think I have three. Is that close enough?
BD: What are they?
MNS: Unbreakable, The Village and Lady in the Water. I'm too close to this one to put it in the same category, but ask me next year. I feel committed to all these movies, but these are the three that I would run into the burning house and grab.
Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

The New Spider-Man Has Been Cast

2010-07-05T11:52:00.000+05:30

By Rick DeMott | Friday, July 2, 2010 at 2:34 pm | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: Acting, CG, Films, People, Visual Effects | Geographic Region: All | Site Categories: Acting, CG, Films, People, Visual Effects

Press Release from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios

After a comprehensive worldwide casting search, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker when Spider-Man swings back onto the screen in 3D on July 3, 2012. The new film will begin production in early December directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Today's confirmation culminates what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated casting announcements in recent memory. Bloggers, pop culture speculators, and everyday fans have pored over and analyzed every conceivable online rumor in an attempt to discover the identity of the next actor to play Peter Parker. Garfield will immediately begin preparing for the coveted role.

The Spider-Man franchise is one of the most successful in film history and the three previous motion pictures have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion in worldwide box office.

On selecting Garfield, director Marc Webb said, "Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor's work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker."

Commenting on the announcement, Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, President of Columbia Pictures said, "Spider-Man is a classic superhero -- a young man who balances his responsibility to serve humanity and crush evil with the shyness and normalcy of someone struggling to find himself. The role demands an extraordinary actor. You need someone who can magically transform himself from Peter Parker into Spider-Man. An actor who will depict the vulnerability of youth and the strength and confidence of a legendary figure at the same moment. We have found that actor in Andrew Garfield. From the first time we saw him in the upcoming film The Social Network, to his glorious screen test, which floored all of us, we knew that we had found our new Peter Parker."

Producer Avi Arad added, "I'm incredibly excited about Andrew Garfield. In the Spider-Man tradition, we were looking for a smart, sensitive, and cool new Peter Parker who can inspire us and make us laugh, cry, and cheer. We believe we have found the perfect choice to take on this role and lead us into the future."

Producer Laura Ziskin said, "We are thrilled to have Andrew Garfield for this new incarnation of Spider-Man under Marc Webb’s direction. We were fortunate enough to meet with a group of fantastically talented young men. In the end, we all agreed that in addition to being an extraordinary actor, Andrew had the right mix of humor, youth, and pathos, along with an underlying sense of strength and power necessary to bring Peter Parker and Spider-Man to life on screen."

The selection of Garfield was revealed at a press event in Cancun, Mexico for international journalists attending a media tour promoting upcoming films from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Garfield is fast becoming one of the most respected and sought-after young actors working in the industry today. In a short career, spanning only five years, he has already been directed by, and starred alongside, some of the greatest names and received a BAFTA for a role that won him international praise.

Garfield most recently worked with director David Fincher on the upcoming film The Social Network. He previously starred for Spike Jonze on his robot love story I'm Here, which premiered at Sundance this year. He plays the lead male opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, due for release later this year.

Other notable screen credits include Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus playing opposite Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law and the late Heath Ledger, Robert Redford’s Lions For Lambs, where he starred alongside Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; Revolution Films' "Red Riding Trilogy – 1974" directed by Julian Jarrold, where he lead a stellar cast including Rebecca Hall and David Morrissey, and his unforgettable portrayal of a young ex-con in John Crowley's "Boy A," for which he earned the best actor BAFTA in 2008.

Garfield’s career began in theatre and in 2006 his performances in "Beautiful Thing" (Sound Space/Kit Productions), "The Overwhelming," and "Burn / Chatroom / Citizenship" (Royal National Theatre) won him the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard awards and the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards. Other notable theatre credits include "Romeo and Juliet" (Manchester Royal Exchange) and "Kes" (Manchester Royal Exchange), for which he received the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the Manchester Evening News Awards 2004.

Jimmy Hayward Talks Jonah Hex

2010-06-25T17:57:00.000+05:30

The former Blue Sky and Pixar vet tells us what it's like making the transition to directing live action.

By Bill Desowitz
Monday, June 21, 2010 at 3:27 pm

Posted In
Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out the Jonah Hex trailer and clips at AWNtv!

Hayward saw Hex as a spaghetti Western meets Terminator. All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Jimmy Hayward definitely has a dark side, taking on Jonah Hex as his first live-action feature after a successful career in animation at Pixar and then Blue Sky. Hex is a far cry from Horton Hears a Who!. But apparently this DC comic adaptation about a scarred ex-Confederate-turned vengeful bounty hunter (Josh Brolin) is not such a stretch.

Bill Desowitz: How much of a departure is Jonah Hex?

Jimmy Hayward: It's a departure only because I've been doing big four-quadrant family movies for so long. I enjoyed making Horton because it was material that I really liked. But this material is really dear to me that I've been into since I was a kid. So in that respect, it wasn't a departure. In fact, when I went into my first meeting with Warner Bros., I had a weird Western tale digest with me that I've had since I was eight or 10-years-old.

BD: What was your take on this?

JH: My take was that Westerns today are made in the somewhat traditional sense. Obviously, movies like 3:10 to Yuma I love. So why not take Jonah Hex -- who is an action figure -- and make an action film. We'll blow up trains, but in terms of the way we shoot it and cut it, the music we put to it, we'll bring it into a new age. And I think my choice to use Mastodon, the progressive heavy metal band, and to push it into new territory with the timing of the action and with the DNA of the movie. We take it for granted the way the spaghetti Westerns used music, with Morricone and the twangy guitar, but the way they shot and cut them with the music was an alien thing back then. And I think it was trying to push [the Western] into a new direction like that and get operatic by the end of this movie where we're in this revenge fantasy in his mind.

BD: What about the videogame influence?

JH: I think it's impossible not to be influenced by videogames given that I'm such a gamer and I'm in the generation of videogames that grew up all around us. I don't know how it comes out in the movie. Maybe you can tell me.

Hayward with star Josh Brolin: Andrew Adamson warned him to "get everything" because this is not like animation.

BD: The way the action unfolds is similar to a videogame. Of course, you also have his stylized inner thoughts as well.

JH: Well, one of the things that we found out when we were cutting the movie was that once you found out that Quentin Turnbull [John Malkovich] was alive, it was a non-stop, Terminator-style 'til he gets him kind of thing. And we found if we took side journeys that it took away from that. And the length of the movie has to do with that because we cut it down shorter.

BD: Eighty minutes is pretty short these days.

JH: A graphic novel is more like what it is. The essential idea was to get him where he needs to go.

BD: How was your animation background helpful to you?

JH: I think anything that has to do with illustration and visual storytelling. Except for the scenes when he stops and has moments with Jeffrey Dean Morgan [who plays the buddy he killed] or Tom Wopat [as Col. Slocum], he doesn't say a lot. So there's a lot of visual storytelling. When you look at the train sequence or when he rides into town at the beginning of the movie, it's all composing the frame and shot flow. When you project it, it all winds up flat -- whether it's animation or live action. Preparing the movie and making the movie, it's a major difference.

The former Blue Sky and Pixar vet tells us what it's like making the transition to directing live action.

By Bill Desowitz
Monday, June 21, 2010 at 3:27 pm

Posted In
Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects

There's plenty of vfx but not always where you expect it.

BD: Did you previs?

JH: Oh, yeah, I storyboarded and did animatics. I think because of my history in animation doing a lot of pre-planning and pre-cutting of stuff, I was able to better handle all of the action sequences. I drew everything out and cut it all together. And all the vfx sequences, of course, we planned out that way. We did a little bit of previs with the boat attack on the capital. But, for the most part, it was storyboards and animatics and cutting everything into the Avid.

BD: What was the role of vfx?

JH: We set out to do as much practically as we could. So the explosion in the town at the beginning and the explosion on the train are practical and one explosion on the boat is practical. There is no CG enhancement on those at all. And the rest of it is environments in Washington with set extensions, a CG dog running around. Then, of course, the skies in the red clay sequences in his revenge fantasies are all vfx; the Indian village [with CG smoke and CG crows]; and whenever the boat is in the water; sky replacements; the Washington attack stuff; all those cannonballs ripping through Washington; the explosion in the town; blowing up Will Arnett's boat.

BD: What was the hardest part directing this?

JH: It's funny: Andrew Adamson said, "Just make sure you get everything." The trick is, with animation, you can always go back. So I think the hardest difference is that, in the execution, you have to make decisions a lot faster and on the fly and under a great deal more pressure. And in that respect, we had a great group of people to work with and it was a massive learning experience for me -- I have a whole new set of tools to work with.

Opening the same day as Toy Story 3 proved to be a real killer.

BD: How difficult was it avoiding an R?

JH: It was tricky -- there was more violence; there's a missing love scene between Megan and Josh. God knows, we had a lot more of Megan, and she was very cool about it -- nothing tasteless. It's a lot more graphic but just not bloody. But when he puts [that head] through the propeller, we actually have a much graphic version where it actually chops off the back of his head. So there were deleted scenes.

BD: Will they wind up on the Blu-ray/DVD?

JH: I think we'll definitely have some great deleted scenes for the DVD. I actually like the fact that it's PG-13 because it doesn't become exploitive. I'd rather look at Malkovich's eyes when he's executing somebody than a bunch of blood splatter out of an exit wound. One tells the story of a character and the other's just guts.

BD: Have you seen Toy Story 3 yet?

JH: I was just staying with Jason Deamer and am still friends with all those guys at Pixar, but I haven't seen it yet. It's ironic, being involved with Pixar all those years and working on Toy Story and Toy Story 2, that it's opening on the same day as Toy Story 3. Talk about getting killed!

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

Battle Royale To Be Converted to 3-D

2010-06-21T10:07:00.002+05:30

By Rick DeMott | Friday, June 4, 2010 at 10:49 am | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects | Geographic Region: Asia | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, Visual Effects

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, BATTLE ROYALE will be converted into 3-D and re-released in Japanese theaters in November, reports VARIETY. Kinji Fukasaku's cult classic is set in a near future where one junior high class is randomly selected to participate in a game where they are forced to kill their classmates until only one remains alive. The film earned $35 million at the Japanese box office making the highest grossing domestic release of that year.

Toei's Digital Center will handle the conversion. The estimated cost is approximately ¥20 million ($222,000). The studio will also update some of the CG and sound effects.

Plympton's Hair High Now on DVD

2010-06-15T10:40:00.001+05:30

By Rick DeMott | Monday, June 14, 2010 at 7:35 pm | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: Films, Home Entertainment, Internet and Interactive | Geographic Region: North America | Site Categories: 2D, Films, Home Entertainment, Internet and Interactive

Press Release from Plymptoons

Bill Plympton's animated feature "Hair High" on DVD is now for sale at www.plymptoons.com.

The film features the voice talents of Sarah Silverman, Dermot Mulroney, Eric Gilliland, Keith Carradine, Beverly D'Angelo, David Carradine, Martha Plimpton, Michael Showalter, Ed Begley Jr. and Justin Long in an outrageous romantic comedy that tells the story of a teenage couple, murdered on prom night, who return as zombies for revenge.

The world's first animated "rom-zom-prom-com" is now for sale on DVD, along with a director's commentary, a behind-the-scenes look at Bill's drawing via his "Anicam", and footage of the cast voice-over sessions.

"Hair High" is Bill Plympton's award-winning theatrical film that premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2004, and won festival awards at FantAsia in Montreal, Animadrid in Spain, and Anifest Trebon in Czech Republic.

Please visit www.plymptoons.com for ordering information, or go directly to: http://www.plymptoons.com/merchandise/newmerch.html

Also, visit the redesigned web-site www.hairhigh.com for inside info on the story, cast, the animator's backgrounds, and trailers for the film.

The DVD will also be on sale at San Diego Comic-Con, where Bill Plympton will host a panel about the DVD release, and will be available in Booth 5552 to autograph copies of the "Hair High" DVD, and other merchandise. San Diego Comic-Con runs July 21-25, for more information, please visit www.comic-con.org

Paprikaas Rebrands as Technicolor India

2010-06-11T10:39:00.002+05:30

Monday, May 17, 2010
By: Thomas J. McLean

Indian animation studio Paprikaas has been renamed and rebranded as Technicolor India by its corporate owners.
The studio, based in Bangalore, was fully acquired by Technicolor earlier this year. Technicolor has been using the studio to build on its relationships with clients sucha s DreamWorks Animation, Electronic Arts and Nickelodeon. The studio, founded in 2001, also has added visual effects, compression and authoring services to its menu.
Nickelodeon’s new Kung Fu Panda TV series, produced for the worldwide broadcast market, and initially comprising 26 episodes, is currently being animated at Technicolor India. Nickelodeon and Technicolor have developed a strong production relationship based on the studio’s CGI work on Penguins of Madagascar.
“India has emerged as the Asian destination of choice for animation. This enhances our India investments in Paprikaas over the past few years. We have aggregated and developed the best and the finest skill sets in the industry blending international and local artists,” said Frederic Rose, CEO, Technicolor.
“Consolidating further within Technicolor gives us greater scope and opportunity, while providing our artists from all over the country the opportunity to work on great projects with A-list clientele,” says Biren Ghose, the studio’s general manager.

Prince of Persia Rewind with 'Dagger Time'

2010-06-07T11:28:00.000+05:30

Read how Double Negative made time rewind with event capture.

By Bill Desowitz | Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 4:16 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out the Prince of Persia trailers and clips at AWNtv!
For "dagger time," Dneg created a full motion long exposure effect to travel past or through. All images courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer Inc.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time owes as much to The Matrix as anything else because it required a variation of the famed "bullet time" for its signature rewind through time effect with the magical dagger.
Thus, while Framestore created vipers and huge quantities of sand, MPC worked on the CG Alamut City and used ALICE to simulate the Persian attack and Cinesite got the Royal City of Nasaf and Avrat bazaar chase, Double Negative focused on the rewind effect.
This included the final Sandglass Chamber that is effectively a mammoth rewind, incorporating flowing, magical sand, glowing figure and rewind images -- all in a very nearly fully CG environment of photoreal rocks cascading and crumbling from the walls, according to Tom Wood, the overall visual effects supervisor.
"The rewind sequences were Dneg's biggest challenge," Wood suggests. "Using their proprietary 'event capture' software to carve a 3D version of a scene, captured with up to nine Arri 435 cameras slaved together shooting at 48fps with a 90º shutter. We renamed the traditional 'bullet time' to 'dagger time,' as we were now able to place a camera anywhere along the path of the original camera layout, at any time. We could run forwards and/or backwards at any time: meaning we could see all time at any place. This meant we could create a full motion long exposure effect that we could travel past or through. The idea was for the rewinding character, visible within their extended long exposure, to reverse through their own path, dissipating it through simulated fluid turbulence created by their own body motion.
Dneg utilized its proprietary event capture to merge individual snap-shots so you could view time as a long stream of light.

"The 'ghost' figure was established to be an external viewer, reacting with the audience to the rewind. Initially the approach to the treatment was simple, but as Dneg demonstrated more of their fluid sims, he became more complicated. He ended up being a fully CG figure, roto-animated over the cast's performance, with a projection of the facial performance. Sand swirls and blows around and from the 'ghost' in Dneg's fluid sims."
Overall, there are four rewind sequences consisting of 200 shots, which took Dneg 18 months to complete. According to Mike Ellis, Dneg's visual effects supervisor, there were three main objectives: detach the viewers so they could experience the rewind (the "ghost" effect), the need to see people reverse in a magical way (the "rewind" effect) and the need to change the whole environment to distinguish between rewinding and regular forward action. Not only that, but the same actor would need to appear twice in many shots moving both forward and in reverse simultaneously with two distinctly different looks, requiring the need to freeze and rewind some aspects of the same shot and a certain amount of relighting.

The open shutter look was discussed with Wood, who provided photographic reference, but they needed something different from a long smear effect with the camera moving around a frozen object. "We wanted the camera moving around a moving human form that had a frozen long exposure," Ellis explains. "This, as far as we knew, had not been done before so we needed a new technique in order to achieve it.
"We'd done some work previously on 'event capture.' The Quantum of Solace freefall sequence used the technique; then we developed it further for Prince of Persia. It allowed us to achieve something that couldn't be done any other way. This is a technique which records a live scene using multiple cameras, then reconstructs the entire scene in 3D, allowing us to create new camera moves, slip timing of the actors, change lighting, reconstruct the environment and pretty much mess around with whatever we wanted.
With some restrictions based on texture coverage, Dneg redesigned live-action shots after they'd been photographed.

"If the world around you was slowed down, frozen and rewound, but you were unaffected, we felt that you might see time as a long stream of light, as if you were seeing lots of individual snap-shots in time all merged together. The length of the light stream indicated the amount of time that was being rewound and was dictated by the quantity of sand in the dagger hilt.
"One problem we found with this technique is that as our photographic textures are derived from locked camera positions; specular highlights tend to jump over an image rather than smoothly roll over a surface as they do in real photography. [We] had to correct this by manually painting out such problems. The great advantage of this technique was that it answered all of our technical requirements while giving us great creative freedom. With some restrictions based on texture coverage, we could essentially redesign live-action shots after they'd been shot. The camera is independent from the action. A camera move can be created after the shot has been filmed, actors' timing can be slipped and they can be manipulated to break them apart or change them as if they were conventional 3D."
Initial previs for the rewind scenes was done by Nvizage, which blocked out the choreography of each scene with forward action, freezes, reverse action and the 'ghost' character but without rewind or ghost effects. "We knew that the additional effects work would take the form of long extended motion blur and particle and that it would alter the composition and dynamics in each shot," Ellis continues. "We worked closely with Tom Wood to re-work the previs, creating a shoot template not only for which shots were needed to tell the story but also where we'd need to build our camera arrays around the action. We knew, however, that even with all of the planning we'd done, things were likely to change when it came to the edit and with the addition of our effects, we therefore needed the flexibility that our 'event capture' technique would give us."
According to Ellis, the event capture required clean, crisp photography with a minimum of motion blur but a maximum depth of field. This provided a better result when projecting the nine cameras onto 3D geometry and was valuable in creating convincing new camera moves as it meant that they could apply their own motion blur and depth of field. The process involved volume carving, shrink wrapping and dense stereo displacement.
Framestore created sand "with rigid body collision dynamics without having to render ludicrous numbers of sand particles in one go."

"This was a problem," Ellis suggests, "because we'd need a lot of light hitting our subjects and all of our rewind scenes occurred at night or indoors. [DP] John Seale and our VFX [DP] Peter Talbot came up with a way of boosting the scene lighting universally by 2 to 4 stops. It meant that the rewinds could keep the same lighting feel with shadows and highlights matching the forward action but give us the best possible images to work with.
"So it was really the transition in the shoot schedule from forward action to rewind action that took the longest time to set up because we had to accommodate this boost to the lighting. As soon as we had the first rewind set-up in the can, the others followed much more quickly. We carefully planned the position of each camera and marked up the set accordingly, so we were quickly able to set-up our cameras for each shot. "
As for the differences between the rewind sequences, Ellis says the first two involving Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), which come right after the other, were the most challenging. "We see time slow down to a freeze, we see the ghost very closely with magical sand particles flowing straight into the camera and we get a really good look at all the component parts of a rewind scene."
The third rewind happens with Dastan and his brother Tus (Richard Coyle). This presented its own challenges. "A very ornate 3D background had to be built and lit," Ellis continues. "We also had a difficult camera takeover as the dagger is pressed between a conventional stedicam shot and our full nine locked camera array. We had the stedicam spiral out from the dagger while running nine cameras at the same time, the operator had to cleverly squeeze between two cameras in order to exit the shot."
The fourth Rewind happens in the Oasis as the group is attacked by snakes. "It was a much faster paced action scene, which actually kept this scene simpler," Ellis observes. "Reduced length and travel of camera moves meant that we could use [fewer] cameras in the array. In this scene, we worked closely with Framestore, which created the snakes. Maya scene files and rendered elements were passed backwards and forwards between the facilities."
Fortunately, there was no magical dagger required for that.
Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

DreamWorks Announces Cast & New Date for Kung Fu Panda 2

2010-06-01T15:45:00.000+05:30

27 May 2010 04:40 PM
BY ANIMATIONXPRESS.COM TEAM
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. today announced that Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Jean Claude Van Damme and Victor Garber will join Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and James Hong in its upcoming film, "Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom," which is now scheduled to be released on May 27, 2011 (Memorial Day weekend). The previously announced release date was June 3, 2011.
Oldman voices the character of Lord Shen (a peacock), the film‘s formidable new villain while Yeoh brings to life the mystical character of The Soothsayer (a goat). Van Damme and Garber round out the cast as Master Croc and Master Thundering Rhino, respectively.
Advertisement

"In the sequel, Po goes on an amazing personal journey and we are thrilled to have assembled such a talented and well-respected group of actors to bring to life our new characters, who - alongside our returning cast - play such a critical role in Po‘s quest and his ultimate triumph over the forces of evil," said Melissa Cobb, Producer of both "Kung Fu Panda" and its sequel.
Advertisement

During its theatrical run in 2008, "Kung Fu Panda" - DreamWorks Animation‘s most successful original film ever - reached over $631 million in worldwide box office. The sequel will follow Po, the world‘s biggest kung fu fan, as he continues his journey as the chosen one who fulfills an ancient prophesy while mastering the art of kung fu. "Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom" is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and produced by Melissa Cobb. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who wrote and co-produced the original film, also return.
connect@animationxpress.com

Judges Set for Animag’s 9th Annual Pitch Party

2010-05-27T09:35:00.001+05:30

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
By: Thomas J. Mclean

The judges for Animation Magazine’s ninth annual Pitch Party are set!

The annual event, which opens up a section of Animation Magazine to anyone who wants to pitch an idea for the next great animated series. The winner gets the chance to pitch their idea to the judge of their choice.

So who are the judges? Read on:

• Brian Jones - Manager, Action Adventure Series, Cartoon Network
• Kim Manning - Director of Programming and Acquisitions, Adult Swim
• Alan Gregg - Director of Original Content, Teletoon
• Michael Vogel - Exec Dir., Boys & Action, Hasbro
• Kevin Gamble - Vice President, Development, Disney Television Animation
• Sharon Levy - Executive VP, original series and animation, Spike TV
• Barbara Uecker - Head of Programming and Acquisitions for ABC Children’s TV, Australia
• Scott Landsman - VP, Development, Comedy Central
• Ellen Goldsmith-Vein - President and Founder, Gotham Group

The winner of the Pitch Party also gets additional editorial coverage and the cost of your entry reimbursed. The second and third place winners get editorial coverage. The winners of our staff pick and online readers poll also will get editorial coverage.

To enter, contact our sales staff by phone at (818) 991-2884, Ext. 104, or email at sales@animationmagazine.net. Entry fee is $375 and the deadline is June 7.

Winners will be announced in our August issue, which hits stands around July 1. Winners also will be hyped on our website during the week of Comic-Con International: San Diego, July 22-25.

Shrek Forever After’s $71 million Debut a Series Low

2010-05-25T09:31:00.000+05:30

Monday, May 24, 2010
By: Thomas J. Mclean

It was good news and bad news for Shrek Forever After, the fourth film in the Shrek franchise: The good news is the film handily topped the weekend box office with an estimated $71.2 million gross. The bad news is it fall far short when compared to the openings of the last couple of Shrek movies.

The king of the franchise for opening weekends is Shrek the Third, which grossed $121.7 million in 2007, followed by Shrek 2’s $108 million opening in 2004. The original Shrek opened with $42 million in 2001.

These results have been hotly debated, with some box office watchers suggesting the series is past its prime, while others suggesting the film may have the kind of legs that have been seen with other stereroscopic 3D films, including DreamWorks’ own How to Train Your Dragon.

Speaking of which, Dragon earned $1.8 million for the weekend, bringing its domestic total to just under $211 million. With $221 million banked overseas, the film’s worldwide gross stands at $432 million.

The No. 2 slot this weekend went to the still-strong Iron Man 2, which took in $26.6 million for a domestic take of $251 million. Its worldwide take now totals $506 million. Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe collaboration Robin Hood was in third place with $18.7 million for a $66 million domestic total. Overseas, the merry men have racked up $125 million for a $191 million total.

Newcomer MacGruber, based on a Saturday Night Live sketch, opened in sixth place with $4.1 million.

Further down the charts sees the following films still adding to their totals: Alice in Wonderland added $480,000 as its worldwide gross of $996 million edges toward the billion-dollar mark; Avatar made $170,000 this weekend, a minor amount compared to its worldwide record total of $2.7 billion.

Indie animated film Secret of the Kells earned $18,000 this weekend at 20 theaters, bringing its domestic gross to $491,000.

The Return of the Moomins

2010-05-24T16:05:00.001+05:30

Read about this Finnish stop-motion feature's unique 3-D conversion.

By Bill Desowitz | Friday, May 14, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: 3D, Films, Stop-Motion

Check out the Moomins trailer!

With its multi-layered approach, the fuzzy felt stop-motion series was a natural for 3-D. All images courtesy of Oy Filmkompaniet Alpha.

The Moomins are back -- and in 3-D. That's right: thanks to the latest digital advancements and the clamor for everything stereoscopic, Tove Jansson's big, white, fuzzy, whimsical trolls, which have taken Scandinavia and Japan by storm, are now primed for the big screen.

Moomins and the Comet Chase, produced by Tom Carpelan's Oy Filmkompaniet Alpha in Finland, premieres tonight at the Cannes Film Festival in 3-D (a Nordic first) with voice work by such Scandi stalwarts as Mads Mikkelsen, Max von Sydow, Helena Mattsson and the father-and-son team of Stellan and Alexander Skarsgard. Plus Moomins fan Bjork has written "The Comet Song," with an animated music video forthcoming.

However, the interesting thing about The Comet Chase is that it's actually a clever repurposing of the beloved '70s stop-motion series, which was a Polish/Austrian co-production with animation by award-winning Se-me-For Studios.

Carpelan, who had been eyeing Scandinavian distribution rights of the series for 20 years but was thwarted by copyright snafus until 2007, saw a great theatrical opportunity by re-cutting, restoring and converting into a stereoscopic feature.

A full digital restoration was done by Labfilm in Poland.

"It's an odd idea to take a series from the '70s," Carpelan admits, "and so we made a test, like a pilot film (Moomin and Midsummer Madness), which was a theatrical success in 2008. But then I got the idea of doing it stereoscopically before it became so hot. I felt that stereo was the whole intention of how the series was made originally. It was a very complicated stop-motion production, done in layers with the fuzzy felt puppets separated from the other animated objects (painted on glass plates in the foreground and background. The whole idea was to create some form of three-dimensionality even if stereoscopic wasn't technically possible back then."

According to the producer, the project now contains brand new stop-motion for the opening and closing credits (artist Antonia Ringbom) as well as minor CG enhancements by Undo Finland. The full digital restoration was done by Labfilm in Poland. The extensive 2-D to 3-D stereoscopic conversion, meanwhile, was produced by Stereoscape in Finland and QXD Japan in co-operation with Aalto University Helsinki and Waseda University Tokyo.

"Technically, there were restoration challenges because the original film elements were in bad condition, but also because of the layered process," Carpelan continues. "When the series was originally filmed, lighting was a problem because of the double glass layers casting bothersome shadows. We had to remove the shadows and did all kinds of tests so you wouldn't notice the refilling where the shadows were before. That was quite a task to make it look like the original animation."

Posted In | Site Categories: 3D, Films, Stop-Motion

Undo Finland did CG enhancements and Antonia Ringbom created new stop-motion animation for credits.

The stereoscopic work was just as intensive: "QXD has a program that automatically analyzes the depth charts of the film but then you have to manually do a lot of work as well," the producer explains. "And the characters have fuzzy felt with lots of hair and you had to be really careful when you did the masking. It has worked well and has been quite a handicraft."

According to Stereoscape producer Ilkka Peltola, this project has been a marriage of nostalgia and cutting edge technology. Working closely with director Maria Lindberg and Carpelan, Stereoscape tried to find the right balance between an immersive experience and a family-friendly comfort level.

"The conversion process is called 'Hybrid Off-line 2-D to 3-D,'" Peltola explains. "This way, we have a great balance on cost-efficiency compared to some other conversions. Basically, the conversion contains a few phases. First of all, the source material (2-D images) is analyzed and the staff prepares for the conversion by reviewing the original material and its depth cues. Our conversion staff is highly experienced and consists of people from both technical and artistic backgrounds. So, there are people who have PhDs and there are professional painters as sort of a counterbalance. Both types of 3-D artists are vital in our conversion flow, as they bring their own points and pragmatics to the table.

Stereoscape did the 3-D production and was very mindful of depth issues for young children.

"We've used depth maps as the basis of our conversion. Through these different phases, we've carried out quality checks on which several people participate and go through a series of enhancement discussions relating to theoretical and practical aspects in the use of stereoscopy and, technical view and artistic feeling of the spatial design. For example, how to locate different objects in space, how to express depth by interpreting the 2-D image and coinciding with the story's emotion, how to maintain depth consistency…"

Another challenge was making the stereoscopic experience enjoyable for young children (who apparently experience the third dimension more drastically). "We have been emphasizing the quality and responsibility in the use of stereoscopy," Peltola continues. "Thus, we've made the stereoscopic movie to be more suitable for everyone to watch. We've done some qualitative tests for the use of depth with Moomins and it has had an important role in confirming our expectations. I think that the type of content, audience and main purpose for the use of 3D decide very much on what kind of a role stereoscopy should have and how it would be utilized as a filmmaking tool."

Carpelan adds, however, that they are not finished with final stereoscopic work: "We will not try to approach the same kind of depth as in Alice in Wonderland or any of these other movies because we want this film to be seen by a much younger audience. So we are now testing and balancing the final depth and will most likely increase it a little from the version we are now showing in Cannes."

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.

SIGGRAPH 2010 Emerging Technologies: From Robotics to Human Taste Simulations

2010-05-22T14:08:00.000+05:30

By Bill Desowitz | Friday, May 21, 2010 at 5:33 pm | AWN News

Posted In | News Categories: Events, Technology | Geographic Region: North America | Event: SIGGRAPH | Site Categories: Events, Technology

SIGGRAPH 2010's Emerging Technologies presents innovations across a broad range of applications, including displays, robotics, input interfaces, vision technologies and interactive techniques.

Presented in a combination of technologies chosen by the organizers and works selected by a jury of experts, the 22 selections came from more than 107 international submissions and will be on display and available for interaction with attendees in Los Angeles this summer.

"With every passing year, the technologies presented at SIGGRAPH become more and more astonishing," said Preston J. Smith, SIGGRAPH 2010 Emerging Technologies chair from Laureate Institute for Brain Research. "This year is no different as conference attendees will experience first-hand the latest achievements across science, commercial, and research fields. In some instances, these technologies are making their first public appearance and are coming to SIGGRAPH directly from research labs."

Highlights include:

Acroban the Humanoid
Olivier Ly, INRIA/LaBRI; Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, INRIA

Acroban is the first humanoid robot able to demonstrate playful, compliant and intuitive physical interaction with children while moving and walking dynamically. Also, it is able to keep its equilibrium when moving even if unpredicted physical interactions are initiated by humans.

Potential Future Use:
The system is presented in an entertainment human-robot interaction context specifically meant to engage children. In this demonstration, the robot has a range of behaviors that it combines in order to react intuitively, naturally and creatively to uncontrolled external intervention.

A Fluid-Suspension, Electromagnetically Driven Eye with Video Capability for Animatronic Applications

Lanny Smoot, Disney Research; Katie Bassett, Yale University; Marcus Hammond, Stanford University

This compact, fluid-suspension, electromagnetically gimbaled animatronic eye requires minimal operating power, a range of motion and saccade speeds that can exceed those of the human eye without the traditional frictional wear points.

Potential Future Use:
In a special application, the eye can be separated into a hermetically sealable portion that might be used as a human eye prosthesis, along with an extra-cranially-mounted magnetic drive.

In-air Typing Interface for Mobile Devices with Vibration Feedback
Takehiro Niikura, Yuki Hirobe, Alvaro Cassinelli, Yoshihiro Watanabe, Takashi Komuro, Masatoshi Ishikawa and Atsushi Matsutani, The University of Tokyo

This vision-based 3D input interface for mobile devices does not require space on the surface of the device, other physical devices or specific environments. Based on a camera with a wide-angle lens, it can operate in a wide 3D space.

Potential Future Use:
This device could one day replace the need for physical keyboards across all hardware.

Complete info can be found at: http://www.siggraph.org/s2010/for_attendees/emerging_technologies

SIGGRAPH 2010 will bring approximately 25,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles, California for the industry's most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, music, gaming, interactivity, education and the web from July 25-29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. SIGGRAPH 2010 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from July 27-29. More than 200 international exhibiting companies are expected. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2010.

Oscars Consider Expanding to Five VFX Nominees

2010-05-20T09:22:00.000+05:30

The visual effects branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted to expand from three to five the number of nominees for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, Variety reports.

If approved by the academy’s rules committee and the board of governors, the change would take effect with the 2011 Oscar ceremony.

The move was approved at the branch meeting last Thursday, amid heated debate on the move, the trade reports. The change was reportedly supported by the Visual Effecst Society and some of the larger visual effects companies.

Arguments against the expansion are that it will decrease the likelihood that the most cutting-edge work will win and that with four people per movie getting a nomination that the value of being a nominee will be diluted.

How the move will affect the nomination process and the bakeoff has yet to be determined.

AWN Oscar Tour Travelogue

2010-05-17T09:54:00.000+05:30

AWN Oscar Tour Travelogue
Catch Up with AWN's Oscar Showcase Videos on AWNtv
By Oscar Tour Editor Friday, March 12, 2010 at 10:48 amPosted In Blog Categories: Videos Site Categories: Awards, Events, People, Places, Short Films

2010 Oscar Tour Videoblogs

Now with the crazy award season over, AWN offers readers a chance to catch up with all the adventures of the animation nominees.Watch interviews with the nominees and a who's who of the animation community as part of AWN's Oscar Showcase videoblog! New episodes will be posting weekly. Check them out on AWNtv.
Shot right alongside the animators and producers as they visited one fantastic studio location after another, the videoblogs capture the spirit of camaraderie and excitement that exemplifies the annual tour. Meeting top studio executives, directors, designers and artists is a once in a lifetime opportunity – catching behind the scenes glimpses of unseen work, attending special presentations on studio technological pipelines or analyzing the 5 year history of an Oscar winning feature’s visual design development are just some of the highlights from this year’s tour.
Skywalker Ranch, ILM, Pixar, PDI/Dreamworks, Disney, Sony Imageworks and Dreamworks are just some of the stops on this year’s tour. Watch the videos on AWNtv and take yourself inside a truly unique animation-lover’s experience.

CGTantra‘s CGTExpo ‘10 to be held on May 29-30 in Mumbai

2010-05-12T19:18:00.000+05:30

CGTantra‘s CGTExpo ‘10 to be held on May 29-30 in Mumbai 12 May 2010 04:55 PM

BY ANIMATIONXPRESS.COM TEAM

CGTExpo - ‘Where ART meets TECHNOLOGY‘, Career Guidance and Computer Graphics Technology Expo on Animation, Visual Effects and Gaming by CGTantra is all set to happen on the 29th and 30th May 2010 at the Nehru Centre, Worli. CGTExpo is returning in its third Edition with an impressive line-up of activities, programs and conferences foraying into all genres of artistic, technical and business domains.

The expo includes an exhibition, job fair, education fair, seminars, conferences, master classes, art gallery, gaming competitions and the CG community awards which have received a huge response with around 600-700 entries that include a lot of international entries. People can register online at www.cgtexpo.com/register.php for the exhibition which is free for all the attendees. However, the master classes and conferences will be moderately paid, for which the details will be available on CGTExpo website very soon.

Autodesk 2010 Animation Show Reel Call for Submissions

2010-05-12T12:11:00.000+05:30

Show Off Your Talent in the Autodesk 2010 Animation Show Reel

Looking to show off your best assets? Be part of the Autodesk 2010 Animation Show Reel.

Submit your latest short animation game cinematic, film, feature film, commercial, broadcast, music video and episodic projects created using Autodesk software, such as Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® 3ds Max®, Autodesk® Softimage®, Autodesk® MotionBuilder®, and Autodesk® Mudbox™ software.

More exposure! More great opportunities!

The Autodesk 2010 Animation Show Reel will be premiered at SIGGRAPH from July 27-29, 2010, in Los Angeles. It will be featured in our booth, on our websites: www.the-area.com, www.autodesk.com, on the Autodesk You Tube Channel, and at events throughout the year.

We are particularly interested in HD material. Of course, video submissions in other formats are still most welcome.

The deadline for video content submissions is Monday, May 31^st, 2010.

We are also interested in receiving high-resolution images – for inclusion in our marketing material leading up to and surrounding the show.

The deadline for imagery submission is Friday, June 4^th, 2010

Shrek, Chomet and Besson Set to Shine at Annecy

2010-03-19T19:21:00.001+05:30

Friday, March 19, 2010By: Ramin Zahed
Screenings of Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist, a “work-in-progress” sneak peek at Luc Besson’s feature The Mechanics of the Heart and the European premiere of DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek Forever After are all part of the star-studded 50th Anniversary Edition of the Annecy Intl. Animation Festival, which takes place June 7-14. John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Nick Park are all expected to attend this year’s landmark edition, according to Variety.
Other well-known titles in the spotlight this year are Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and Gabor Csupo (Rugrats) new feature The Immigrants. Among other noteworthy movies getting the “work in progress” treatment are Une Vie de Chat, (A Cat’s Day Night) Folimage’s 2-D animated thriller directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli and Patrice Leconte’s animated musical Le Magasin des Suicide (The Suicide Shop).
Annecy will also showcase the traditional mix of brilliant animated shorts and TV projects competing for the grand Cristal prize. Bill Plympton’s latest short The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger, Jean-Claude Rozec’s Sacred Monster, Jonathan Dunleavy’s Crash Bang Wallow, and the Oscar-winning Logorama (directed by Ludovic Houplain, Herve de Crecy and Francois Alaux) are among the many titles appearing in the shorts category. On the TV front: Pete Circuitt’s Yes Virginia, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang’s The Gruffalo and Pierre-Luc Granjon’s Le Printemps de Melie are appearing on the specials ballot, while Dragons and Princesses, Marvo the Wonder Chicken, Fun With Claude, Little Krishna, Olivia, The Wonder Pets! and The Marvellous Misdaventures of Flapjack are some of the better-known titles in the best series category.
The festival will release the list of the animated features running in and out of the competition in the next few weeks. For a complete list of nominated projects, visit www.annecy.org.

2010-03-12T17:23:00.001+05:30

Autodesk Brings Smoke to the Mac

2010-01-05T10:06:00.001+05:30

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
By: Thomas J. Mclean

Autodesk’s Smoke 2010 is coming to the Macintosh.

The new version of the finishing software is the first such product the company has made to run on the Mac platform and its newest version, Snow Leopard.

"The business of post-production is evolving. Post-production and broadcast facilities alike are seeking more affordable, integrated creative tools that can help them stand out from the crowd," said Stig Gruman, Autodesk vice president of digital entertainment. "Smoke 2010 on the Mac has been designed to help editors increase creative output, project quality and turnaround times. It brings production-proven finishing capabilities to the extremely talented community of artists already using the Mac in broadcast and post-production."

Among the top features of Autodesk Smoke 2010 for Mac OS X Feature Highlights are:
• An all-in-one toolset for editorial finishing: editing, conform, 2D and 3D titling, sophisticated color correction, image stabilization, precision tracking and keying, 2D and 3D compositing, paint, rotoscoping, retouch and design
• Autodesk Modular Keyer, Master Keyer and Colour Warper advanced image-processing technologies
• Ability to import entire timelines from Apple Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer using the AAF or XML format and even finish projects using Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD media used in creative cut
• Native support for popular files-based formats: QuickTime, Panasonic P2 HD and Sony XDCam files
• Support for uncompressed DPX, TIFF and OpenEXR workflows

Smoke 2010 for Mac OS X license is available at a suggested retail price in the United States of $14,995. Autodesk Subscription is available for purchase simultaneously with the product license for $1,995 per year. Smoke 2010 on Mac OS X is also available for a free 30-day trial download.

Avatar Soars to the Top Worldwide

2010-01-05T10:04:00.000+05:30

Avatar Soars to the Top Worldwide

Monday, January 04, 2010
By: Thomas J. Mclean

Avatar easily held onto to its box office crown in the first weekend of the New Year, kicking off 2010 by carrying on the record-setting pace set last year.

The overall box office take was up 8 percent over last year, hitting a record total $10.6 billion. Admissions were up about 4 percent to 1.41 billion, states The Hollywood Reporter.

The James Cameron film took in $68.3 million in the three-day New Year’s holiday weekend, bringing its domestic total to a whopping $352 million in just 17 days of release. The film is on track to become the highest-grossing film released in 2009, having only the $402 million earned by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen still to top.

Avatar’s overseas gross has been just as impressive, taking in $666.7 million and bringing the film’s worldwide total to just over $1 billion so far. That makes it easily the globe’s top-grossing film of the year, elevating it to the fourth all-time money-maker behind only Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and, of course, Titanic.

The news also was good for the rest of the films in release, with Sherlock Holmes grossing $38 million over the weekend for a domestic total of $140 million, while Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel was just behind it with $36 million for the weekend and a $157 million domestic total.

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog finished the weekend in seventh place with $10 million, bringing its total to $86 million.

Other animated films still in release include Disney’s A Christmas Carol, which grossed $540,000 for the weekend to bring its total to $137 million. The movie has grossed $118 million overseas for a global total to date of $255 million.

Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox grossed about $482,000 in its eighth weekend of release to bring its domestic total to $19.1 million. Its international take to date is $2.4 million for a total of about $21.6

Best Guesses for the Animation Oscar Races

2009-12-28T12:03:00.001+05:30

By Rick DeMott Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 7:42 amPosted In Site Categories: 2D, 3D, Awards, CG, Films, Short Films, Stop-Motion

Up
As the December chill sets in and people sit curled up on the couch with a nice cup of hot chocolate, invariable their thoughts will come to "Who's going to be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar?" Well, AWN is here to help answer that question with some wonderful educated guesses. Our learned staff has pooled our collective brainpower to gauge the buzz around the industry and distill it into an easy-to-read list. While we're not saying it's as valuable as other lists, like the Bill of Rights, or even your holiday shopping list, we think it's pretty good nonetheless.
1) Up (Disney-Pixar)It's no surprise that the latest Pixar film is a shoo-in for a nomination (or even the win). The real question left to be revealed is whether it will make the Big Show of 10 Best Picture nominees, where Pete Docter has more of a chance of winning a door prize at the Governor's Ball than beating out nine other "actors-in-the-flesh" productions. Nonetheless, the acknowledgement of animation would be spectacular even if they had to double the amount of nominees to make it happen again.

The Princess and the Frog
2) The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Pictures)John Musker and Ron Clements are the go-to guys when you want someone to revive a dying medium. With this new 2D production, they have brought a touch of class back to Walt Disney Feature Animation and it will rightfully be honored come nomination day.

Coraline
3) Coraline (Laika - Focus Features)Henry Selick's latest dark stop-motion affair has a great deal of love around the industry. Just look at it's leading 10 nominations at this year's Annie Awards. While the Annies predict Oscars about as accurately as a 1-800 psychic predicts whether I'm going to win an Oscar or not, the love does prove something. One can pretty much consider #1-3 locks.

Fantastic Mr. Fox
4) Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight)This is where those educated guesses really start to kick in. There is also a lot of love for this quirky stop-motion flick. Those that say its indie auteur director Wes Anderson won't get love in the animation branch forget that George Miller received no slights for being an animation novice when he soft-shoed his way to an Oscar for Happy Feet. The snobbery over the style has died down, so it boils down to whether this oft kilter adaptation of Roald Dahl will connect with enough older Academy voters to make the cut.

Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs
5) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony Pictures Animation)Sony's hit is really on the bubble, but the love is growing. What a great time to peak. Sony is pushing hard for this nomination and they've done it before. Surf's Up was a big surprise, so you can't count Sony out of this race.

Ponyo
6) Ponyo (Walt Disney Pictures - Studio Ghibli)Another person who you can't count out of the Best Animated Feature category is Hayao Miyazaki. Ever since the category was created, he has been nominated for his latest film. He's won in the past and his status as a living legend won't hurt his chances. As for Ponyo itself, the buzz is luke warm and the youth-skewed story will not help keep it in the minds of voters over more in-your-face productions.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
7) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox - Blue Sky Studios)One cannot count out Oscars' love for the cash makers. This global phenomenon earned $196.6 million in the States and it's staggering $682.2 million foreign market haul puts it only behind Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in the history books. That's crazy success. But where's the love? While everyone apparently paid money to see it, they have forgotten about it come award season. But I'm sure Fox will remedy that problem. And everyone loves Scrat.

Monsters vs. Aliens
8) Monsters vs. Aliens (DreamWorks Animation)This DreamWorks spoof actually did better at the U.S. box office than Ice Age 3. But again, where's the love? DreamWorks is pushing, but they're going to need marketing muscle more akin to Insectosaurus rather than Dr. Cockroach to make the final cut.

9) 9 (Focus Features - Starz Animation)Now does Shane Acker's underrated 9 have one slot's worth less of a chance than Monster vs. Aliens? Not really. But it was cute to put 9 at #9 wasn't it? However, what MvA does have, that 9 doesn't, is box office coin. The industry buzz is respectful for what Acker accomplished, especially visually, but others weren't wowed by the story. Without the voice of consumers' wallets, it's probably going to get drowned out by the behemoths.

Mary and Max
10) Mary and Max (Melodrama Pictures)This quirky stop-motion feature won both Annecy and Ottawa, the two biggest animation fests in the world. It also received a Crystal Bear - Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival. So how does this help it's chances of an Oscar nod? Not at all. But what it does have going for it is an Oscar-winning director in Adam Elliot (Harvie Krumpet). But one big thing it has going against it is that it has no U.S. distribution. So you'd have to call it the strongest dark house out there.
The Other Contenders
· Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel - Not the first live-action/animation hybrid to qualify, but it won't be the first to be nominated. It's going to take a very good Roger Rabbit 2 for that to happen.
· Astro Boy - D.O.A.
· Battle for Terra - This Ottawa winner has been long forgotten.
· Disney's A Christmas Carol - While Happy Feet and Monster House broke the mo-cap barrier in this category, a Robert Zemeckis performance capture film won't make it until he says there is animation in there too.
· The Dolphin - Story of a Dreamer - Watch the trailer.
· The Missing Lynx - Is nowhere to be found in this Oscar race.
· Planet 51 - When did this come out again? Ten days ago? Ouch.
· The Secret of Kells - There is a lot of love for this Annecy winner, but GKIDS is just too small of a distributor to make a nomination happen.
· Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure - Simply entered to ensure five nominees.
· A Town Called Panic - Way too quirky for Oscars.

Avatar Poised to be Holiday Blockbuster

2009-12-19T11:09:00.000+05:30

Friday, December 18, 2009
By: Ramin Zahed

Nearly 12 years to the day since the release of James Cameron’s last fiction film, Titanic, the director delivers one of the most anticipated films of the year with the release Friday of Avatar.

Made with a combination of motion-capture, CG animation and live action, Avatar opens at more than 3,400 cinemas amid ecstatic reviews and blockbuster expectations. The Hollywood Reporter states that count will include some 3,000 3-D screens — roughly half of the total screen count.

The film features effects work from Weta, Legacy Effects, Giant Studios, Framestore, Hydraulx, ILM, Pixel Liberation Front and Blur Studios.

The film has been racking up advance ticket sales and all that’s left for box office followers to do at this point is wait for the numbers to roll in.

Taking the counter-programming route is Fox, which opens the week’s only other major release, the romantic comedy Did You Hear About the Morgans? at just more than 2,700 cinemas. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant.

Disney’s animated feature The Princess and the Frog, last weekend’s box office champ, also should have a strong second weekend heading into the Christmas break.

Five Animated Films Up for Golden Globe Nominations

2009-12-16T19:08:00.000+05:30

Five Animated Features Up for Golden Globe Nominations
Tuesday, December 15, 2009By: Ramin Zahed
The Hollywood Foreign Press announced the nominees for the 67th Golden Globe Awards early this morning (Tuesday, January 15).
The nominees in the Best Animated Feature category are (in alphabetic order):
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord (Sony Pictures Animation)Coraline. Directed by Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Features)The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Directed by Wes Anderson (Fox Searchlight)The Princess and the Frog. Directed by Ron Clements and Jon Musker (Disney)Up. Directed by Pete Docter. (Disney/Pixar)
James Cameron’s much anticipated Avatar also did well in the major categories, scoring a best drama (alongside The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious and Up in the Air), best director nomination (competing with Kathryn Bigelow, Clint Eastwood, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino) best score for James Horner and best song for “I Will See You” (James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrel). Surprisingly none of Randy Newman’s songs from Disney’s Princess and the Frog received any nominations.
The Golden Globes will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 17, 2010 and will be broadcast live on NBC, 8 p.m. on the East Coast, 5 p.m. on the West Coast. Often seen as an early predicator for the Oscars, the Golden Globe nomination bode well for movies such as Up and Avatar to also make in the Best Picture Academy Awards race.
For a complete list of the nominees, visit www.goldenglobes.org.

Fifteen Animated Films Qualify for Golden Globes

2009-12-12T11:20:00.003+05:30

Monday, December 07, 2009By: Thomas J. Mclean
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced that fifteen movies have qualified for the Best Animated Feature category in the 67th annual Golden Globes Awards.That means five films will be nominated for the award when the group announces its nominees on Dec. 15.
The qualifying movies are: • 9•
Alvin and the Chipmunks:
The Squeakquel•
Battle for Terra•
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs•
Coraline•
Disney's A Christmas Carol•
Fantastic Mr. Fox• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs•
Mary and Max• The Missing Lynx•
Monsters vs. Aliens•
Planet 51•
Ponyo•
The Princess and the Frog•
The rules require animated features to be at least 70 minutes long with no more than 25 percent live action. The winners will be announced in a televised ceremony Jan. 17.

A fortune from fun

2009-12-07T19:49:00.001+05:30

Remember what you were told as a child— all work and no play make Jack a dull boy? What if you could play at work by working at play? No, this isn’t a tongue-twister or an oxymoron. You can actually earn pots of money by playing games, mimicking or even by doodling. These fantastical-sounding jobs have cropped up in the past decade thanks to the growing entertainment sector that has turned the art of recreation into a money-spinning profession.
While movies and TV have existed for a long time, it is only in the past 10 years or so that the entertainment industry has evolved rapidly. In the process it has given birth to new career avenues beyond the usual acting, directing and singing. The biggest revolution has taken place in the area of animation and visual effects, and gaming. Most analysts consider that both the segments are still in a nascent stage compared with their western peers, so there’s a huge potential for jobs.

http://moneytoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=1&task=view&id=5881&sectionid=106&issueid=76&page=archieve

Making Money from Games People Play

2009-12-07T19:39:00.002+05:30

Indian animation and gaming training institutes are gearing to scale up their businesses and open up new avenues for professionals who are passionate about animation and gaming technologies. Hyderabad-based C G Mantra Digital Media, which recently incorporated a VFX (special effects) suite at its Delhi facility with an investment of Rs 5 crore, is planning to set up three more of such campuses next year in other metros. Similarly, DQ Entertainment, which already is a knowledge-sharing partner with the West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments, is holding talks with other state governments, while Arena Animation, which has so far trained 250,000 students from across 165 centres in India and 35 centres abroad, is planning to set up 30 more centres in the next 12-18 months. “The VFX industry is expected to grow from the current $67 million to $173 million in three years. With rapid increase in animation and VFX component in live action movies, the actual growth may easily go far beyond these numbers. At C G Mantra, our objective is to create top-class studio facilities for education that caters to about 200 students in each campus,” says ABRP Reddy, founder and chief executive of CG Mantra, and advisor to Nasscom’s animation and gaming forum (NAGFO). “We plan to expand to Tier-II and Tier-III cities in India and also internationally. We would like to focus on Latin America and African markets as well as countries like Malaysia and Philippines,” concurs Anuj Kacker, global head of Arena Animation, the animation and multimedia training business of Aptech Limited. Reddy, however, feels a significant growth from the Indian animation industry may come from domestic television and film industry, which is of Rs 40,000 crore already. “From Nasscom’s side, we are working with the Union information and broadcasting ministry to impress upon them to give guidelines to electronic media to encourage domestic content. We will also take up with the finance ministry the idea to create policies to encourage domestic market consumption and give a level-playing field with export markets,” he says. Nasscom has set-up a core committee “Board for Animation and Gaming Standards” with experts drawn from the practicing industry to define minimum standards in the training industry, which include hierarchy of certifications, entry and exit tests for aspiring youth. “To sum up, we are looking at a system of accreditation for animation education,” Reddy adds. A recent Nasscom report reveals that despite the impressive growth forecasts, the Indian animation and gaming industry will account for less than two percent of the worldwide market in 2010. Nasscom predicts animation and gaming jobs to double to 10,700 in India by 2012. India, according to analysts, has the potential to grow its animation industry to around $1 billion by 2010, but will remain restricted to around $870 million due to a looming demand-supply gap in the area of employable human resources.

http://www.nasscom.org/Nasscom/templates/NormalPage.aspx?id=58227

ABRP Reddy launches CG Mantra Media at Hyderabad and Delhi

2009-12-05T18:36:00.000+05:30

http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php?file=story&id=18981#/

UP COMING ANIMATION MOVIES

2009-12-03T19:13:00.001+05:30

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/

All about Digital Animation

2009-12-03T11:10:00.001+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation

World largest free animation Library

2009-12-03T11:07:00.001+05:30

http://www.animationlibrary.com/

Animation Resent reviews

2009-12-02T14:33:00.001+05:30

http://www.awn.com/recent/reviews

37th Annual Annie Award Nominations Announced

2009-12-02T14:30:00.001+05:30

http://www.awn.com/news/motion-graphics/37th-annual-annie-award-nominations-announced

Latest Animation News

2009-12-02T14:18:00.001+05:30

http://www.animationxpress.com/

Fanboy and Chum Chum: Breaking the TV CG Mold

2009-12-02T14:14:00.001+05:30

http://www.awn.com/articles/article/fanboy-and-chum-chum-breaking-tv-cg-mold

CGMantra Media brings international faculty to India

2009-12-02T14:12:00.001+05:30

http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php?file=story&id=21831

10 Animated Shorts Move Ahead in 2009 Oscar Race

2009-12-02T14:08:00.000+05:30

http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php?file=story&id=24151#

Attend Free One Day Workshop by

2009-12-02T11:33:00.003+05:30

For Free One Day Workshop by

Mr. Kishore D. VFX Expert

(worked for several Indian Movies) on

Visual Effects Creation in Movies

www.cgmantra.in

CG Mantra to add four more studios

2009-12-02T11:29:00.003+05:30

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cg-mantra-to-add-four-more-studios/20/38/375591//

3D EFFECTS CREATION WITH VFX

2009-12-02T11:25:00.001+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYHpK9XFFA

CG MANTRA MULTISTUDIO FACILITIES WITH AUTODESK'S SMOKE & FLAME

2009-12-02T11:21:00.002+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLxCexQrBU

NAGFO AT CGMANTRA

2009-12-02T11:07:00.001+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXpAAVCVyns

2009-11-26T15:51:00.000+05:30

2009-05-15T11:06:00.001+05:30

www.cgmantra.in

CG MANTRA presents India’s first
Level V * facilities in VFX & Animation
Multi Studio Facility: GLASS *
Digital Intermediate Environment: VOICE *

Step into Your Dream Career with...

	BSC & MSC in three streams: Animation, VFX & Gaming
	Diploma Programmes for Career Seekers in Animation, VFX & Gaming
	International Faculty for select modules
	Studio Internships
	Live Projects
	Campus Placements

Animation ,Visual Effects , 3d Animation, Autodesk Smoke Flame

Cameron To Make Avatar 2 & 3 Back-to-Back

Cameron Looking at Jolie's Cleopatra: A Life

Disney to Use Foundry's Mari Technology

Tuesday, July 27, 2010By: Ramin Zahed

Shaken with Salt

Star Wars Coming to Blu-ray

NVIDIA Helps ILM Forge Epic Battle Scenes Harnessing the Four Ancient Elements for "The Last Airbender"

Bringing VFX Magic to The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Getting Bullish on Knight and Day

Shyamalan Talks The Last Airbender

The New Spider-Man Has Been Cast

Jimmy Hayward Talks Jonah Hex

Battle Royale To Be Converted to 3-D

Plympton's Hair High Now on DVD

Paprikaas Rebrands as Technicolor India

Monday, May 17, 2010By: Thomas J. McLean

Prince of Persia Rewind with 'Dagger Time'

DreamWorks Announces Cast & New Date for Kung Fu Panda 2

Judges Set for Animag’s 9th Annual Pitch Party

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 By: Thomas J. Mclean

Shrek Forever After’s $71 million Debut a Series Low

Monday, May 24, 2010 By: Thomas J. Mclean

The Return of the Moomins

SIGGRAPH 2010 Emerging Technologies: From Robotics to Human Taste Simulations

Oscars Consider Expanding to Five VFX Nominees

AWN Oscar Tour Travelogue

CGTantra‘s CGTExpo ‘10 to be held on May 29-30 in Mumbai

Autodesk 2010 Animation Show Reel Call for Submissions

Show Off Your Talent in the Autodesk 2010 Animation Show Reel

More exposure! More great opportunities!

Shrek, Chomet and Besson Set to Shine at Annecy

Autodesk Brings Smoke to the Mac

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 By: Thomas J. Mclean

Avatar Soars to the Top Worldwide

Avatar Soars to the Top Worldwide

Monday, January 04, 2010 By: Thomas J. Mclean

Best Guesses for the Animation Oscar Races

Avatar Poised to be Holiday Blockbuster

Friday, December 18, 2009 By: Ramin Zahed

Five Animated Films Up for Golden Globe Nominations

Fifteen Animated Films Qualify for Golden Globes

A fortune from fun

Making Money from Games People Play

ABRP Reddy launches CG Mantra Media at Hyderabad and Delhi

UP COMING ANIMATION MOVIES

All about Digital Animation

World largest free animation Library

Animation Resent reviews

37th Annual Annie Award Nominations Announced

Latest Animation News

Fanboy and Chum Chum: Breaking the TV CG Mold

CGMantra Media brings international faculty to India

10 Animated Shorts Move Ahead in 2009 Oscar Race

Attend Free One Day Workshop by

CG Mantra to add four more studios

3D EFFECTS CREATION WITH VFX

CG MANTRA MULTISTUDIO FACILITIES WITH AUTODESK'S SMOKE & FLAME

NAGFO AT CGMANTRA

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
By: Ramin Zahed

Monday, May 17, 2010
By: Thomas J. McLean

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
By: Thomas J. Mclean

Monday, May 24, 2010
By: Thomas J. Mclean

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
By: Thomas J. Mclean

Monday, January 04, 2010
By: Thomas J. Mclean

Friday, December 18, 2009
By: Ramin Zahed