Animation

SIGGRAPH 2013: Keynote brings together successful directors

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

ANAHEIM — SIGGRAPH 2013 will be taking place from July 21 to July 25 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Marc Davis Lecture Series: “Giants' First Steps” will be presented in a collaboration between ACM SIGGRAPH 2013 and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It will feature eight distinguished directors, who will share their years of experience along complex paths to filmmaking success.

Cartoon Network gets ready for summer

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK — Cartoon Network’s in-house creative agency Creative Group recently helped design a summer makeover for the network using a combination of brightly colored images and a video that seamlessly blends the work of top animators from around the globe. As part of the 2013 “Summer Refresh,” the new graphics feature popular Cartoon Network characters, such as the Annoying Orange and Finn and Jake from Adventure Time.

Design studio Stardust launches creative collective Falcon

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

SANTA MONICA — Design-centric studio Stardust (www.stardust.tv), which has offices in Santa Monica and New York, has launched Falcon, a new, global, creative collective and integrated talent arm. Falcon (http://falcon.tv) is made up of Neon, Assembly and Abdel Abanomous. According to Stardust managing director/partner Dexton Deboree, Falcon is the result of a confluence of ideas born out of an evolving industry.

Reseller Key Code Media expands to Midwest

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Burbank, CA’s Key Code Media (www.keycodemedia.com) has expanded to the Midwest with a new office in Chicago. The company, which offers consulting, sales, and service, also has offices in Santa Monica, Irvine, San Francisco, and Seattle. It is one of the largest Avid resellers and integrators, and is also a top reseller for NewTek.

Modus FX contributes 227 VFX to 'Now You See Me'

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

MONTREAL — Modus FX (www.modusfx.com) created 227 visual effects for the new film Now You See Me. The feature stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher as a team of illusionists who appear to rob banks during their performances.

Proof handles previs for 'Fast & Furious 6'

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Proof Inc. (www.proof-inc.com) provided previs services for Universal Pictures’ recently-released feature film, Fast & Furious 6. According to creative director/founder Ron Frankel, Proof provided previsualization for six sequences, which involved the creation of 40 minutes of original animation. The studio also provided post-vis services, including the production of 200 visual effects shots.

Dive provides previs & post for 'After Earth'

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK — Dive (www.divevisual.com) was among a select group of visual effects studios that provided services for director M. Night Shyamalan’s new feature film, After Earth. The film stars Will Smith and his son Jaden as a pair of crash survivors who become stranded on Earth 1,000 years after a series of events forced humans to leave the planet.

Boxx improves 3DBoxx with 4th generation Intel technology

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

AUSTIN, TX — Boxx Technologies (www.boxxtech.com) has introduced the 3DBoxx 4120, a new, compact, professional workstation that features fourth generation Intel Xeon processors E3-1200 v3 family and Intel’s fourth generation Core processors. These products offer a significant performance increase over previous Intel processors while also providing better power efficiency.

London's Nexus partners with animation producer Claire Jennings

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

LONDON — Animation studio Nexus (www.nexusproductions.com), here, has entered into a partnership with animation producers Claire Jennings, Christopher O’Reilly and Charlotte Bavasso to develop and produce original animated features. Nexus’s credits include short films, series and commercials. It’s work on This Way Up was garnered an Oscar nomination.

Dell adds to Precision workstation line

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

ROUND ROCK, TX — Dell (www.dell.com) has introduced new workstation models for both the high-end and entry-level user. The company’s new R7610 is the next model in its rack workstation line and follows the existing R5500.

Digital-Tutors adds to training library

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Digital-Tutors (www.digitaltutors.com), which serves as a training resource for CG, VFX and digital art technology, released 43 new tutorials recently. The update brings the Digital-Tutors training library to over 1,100 tutorial options and 22,000 video lessons.

NFTS partners with Aardman on 'Character Animation' course

Mon, 13 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

BRISTOL, UK — The NFTS has launched a new animation course in partnership with the Aardman Animations (www.aardman.com), here, in an effort to meet the growing demand for animators in the UK. The three-month “Certificate in Character Animation” course will be taught by lead by Aardman’s head of animation Loyd Price and supervising senior CG animator Mathew Rees.

Luma Pictures suits up for 'Iron Man 3'

Thu, 09 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

SANTA MONICA — Luma Pictures (www.lumapictures.com) recently contributed to Marvel Studios' new Iron Man 3 film, creating full-body CG armor replacements for both Iron Man and Iron Patriot. The studio, which also has a location in Melbourne, also added weaponry, environmental and particle effects, and CG backgrounds.

VFX pioneer Ray Harryhausen dies at 92

Wed, 08 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Visual effect pioneer Ray Harryhausen has doe at the age of 92. His Facebook page made the announcement and included the following details:

Adobe shifts to cloud with 'CC' releases

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES — At “Adobe MAX, The Creative Conference,” here, San Jose-based Adobe (www.adobe.com) announced that is has accelerated its shift to the cloud with a major update to Creative Cloud, which will be available in June. The company also announced that its Creative Suite of desktop tools are now being branded “CC” to reflect their part in Creative Cloud.

3D Garage releases LightWave 11.5 training video

Wed, 01 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — 3D Garage.com, which produces instructional training videos for 3D modeling and digital content creation, has released “LightWave 11.5 Up to Speed.” The instructional training video from Dan Ablan is now available at www.3dgarage.com.

BigSmack helps Nat Geo promote 'Brain Games'

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK — BigSmack (www.bigsmack.tv), with locations in New York and Philadelphia, recently created a promo campaign for the National Geographic Channel highlighting its new series Brain Games. The studio collaborated with National Geographic’s in-house creative team to complete creative concepting for the project and then wrote, produced, and created extensive CGI and graphics for the launch.

Post Picks: Top Products from NAB 2013

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

LAS VEGAS — Post Magazine had a number of post production professionals scouting out the latest technology and new product announcements at the recent NAB Show, here. The following is a list of products that captured the most attention and interest. All winners were determined by pro users, who also suggested some runner-ups too. Check out Post's May issue for more details about each of this year's Post Picks winners.

MPC NY adds VFX talent

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK — Chris Bernier has joined Technicolor’s MPC (www.moving-picture.com) in New York City as VFX supervisor and CG lead. Bernier studied computer graphics at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and soon worked with Curious Pictures as a CG freelancer. He later worked with QuietMan, after which he joined The Mill as senior 3D lead and VFX supervisor.

May Expo to look at 'Production Pipeline'

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

SANTA MONICA — The “Production Pipeline Expo” is a two-day event that will be held May 3 and 4 at Raleigh Studios, on Stages 10 and 14, in Hollywood. The Expo is designed to serve as a full blown visual effects and animation event, complete with expert panels, presentations, educational sessions, and speakers.