News CGI

Adobe develops 3D camera technology

2007-10-13T21:16:00.001+05:30

Adobe develops 3D camera technology

At a recent event in France, Adobe showcased a prototype 3D lens that could essentially capture a scene from 19 slightly different angles simultaneously, giving photographers a lot more to work with when they return home for post-processing. Essentially, the firm boasted that by using this lens along with software designed to understand the 3D nature of the image, individuals could utilize newfangled tools such as a "3D healing brush" and make perspective shifts based on the different viewpoints originally captured. Dave Story, vice president of digital imaging product development at Adobe, called the technology "computational photography," and suggested that it could open up an entirely new window of image transformation opportunities. As always, these type things are better explained in motion, so be sure and hit the read link to check out the video.

AMD promises huge speed gains with new graphics driver package

2007-10-13T11:55:00.001+05:30

TG Daily - AMD promises huge speed gains with new graphics driver package

Markham (ON) – AMD has released Catalyst 7.10 yesterday, which, according to the company, will speed up the gaming performance of some its graphics card configurations by up to 80%. HD 2400 and HD 2600 cards get Crossfire support.

If you are unhappy with your ATI graphics card and the performance delivers in recently released games, there’s a good chance that the manufacturer’s latest driver update may fix this issue. Performance increases for certain games are what we are expecting by now from driver updates, but version 7.10 certainly is a standout.
AMD said that 70% DX10 speed gains can be seen in Crossfire HD 2000 configurations for BioShock and 14-67% for World in Conflict. Single HD 2600 and 2900 cards will be able to return about 20% more performance under World of Conflict.
The entire HD 2000 series will see “at least” 70% more speed under DX9 in World of Conflict, according to the manufacturer.
Other games that see improvements are Lost Planet (+20% in DX10 for HD 2000 Crossfire); Call of Juarez (+42% in DX10 on HD 2000 Crossfire, +34% on single cards); Company of Heroes (+80% in DX10 on Crossfire HD2000, 31% on single cards); Battlefield 2142 (5-23% on Crossfire HD 2400, 2600, X1300, X1550), Call of Duty (+7% on Crossfire/single card HD 2400 and 2600 systems); Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (+23% on X1000, HD 2000); FEAR (+16% on Crossfire X1950 XTX, X1650 XT, HD 2400, X1300/X1550) and Supreme Commander (+30% on HD 2000, X1000; at least 82% on Crossfire X1650, X1300/X1555).
The new driver also comes with a few new features such as adaptive anti-aliasing for X1000 cards as well as Crossfire support for HD 2400 and H2600 cards.
The driver can be downloaded from AMD's website.

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TG Daily - AMD promises huge speed gains with new graphics driver package

Ballistic Publishing: Essence - The Face

2007-10-12T10:49:00.001+05:30

ESSENCE: The Face is the first book in the new 'Creative ESSENCE Series'. Designed for artists with a mid-to-advanced understanding of 3D character creation, the book starts with the photo shoot of model Monika and draws on the methods of six professionals to create a digital model from beginning to end.
Working as a team each artist develops a piece of the 3D character puzzle to show you how lifelike characters are created in a production environment. The Face encompasses reference photography, modeling, UV mapping, texturing and rendering to create a digital double that would be at home in a next-gen game or HD movie.

Ballistic Publishing: Essence - The Face

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TechSmith Corp announced Camtasia Studio 5

2007-10-12T00:23:00.001+05:30

Okemos, MI , October 11, 2007) TechSmith Corp., the world's leading provider of screen capture and recording solutions, today announced the availability of Camtasia Studio 5 which dramatically simplifies the creation and distribution of screencasts.
Now business professionals with no programming or multimedia expertise can create engaging demonstrations, rich marketing content, PowerPoint-based video presentations and interactive training in minutes.
A one-minute overview screencast of Camtasia Studio 5 can be viewed here: http://www.techsmith.com/cs5overview
“From the concept stage to final animation, Camtasia Studio 5 gives me everything I need to bring my digital drawings to life,” said Jason Ryan, supervising animator at DreamWorks Animation. “Compared to earlier versions, this new release has really been simplified so I can just focus on my presentation and not worry about the technical side. Camtasia gives me everything I need to record, edit and produce professional screencasts.”
“Every organization I’ve met has expertise and information they need to share,” said Troy Stein, Camtasia Studio product manager at TechSmith. “With Camtasia Studio 5, anyone can record what they know and share it in video format. Camtasia Studio users, whether they’re in the sales, marketing, training or the support department, get to shine like a rock star within their organizations because what they create helps make everyone more productive and helps to improve the bottom line.”
Camtasia Studio automatically records exactly what a user sees on a computer screen, what they say, and how they interact with any Windows-based application or website. Individuals can then edit the interactive content and share it online in all popular streaming media formats including Flash (SWF, FLV), fixed media such as CD or DVD, or portable media players such as the Apple iPod.
In addition to the many user experience, stability enhancements and added transitions, some of the new features in Camtasia Studio 5 include:

Camtasia SmartFocus™ -- enables users to create smooth automatic zoom-n-pan action with a single mouse click to focus the viewer’s attention on important points of interest and to provide visual clarity when delivering screencasts inside small playback windows like blogs, on YouTube or via the Apple iPod. See the Camtasia SmartFocus screencast at: http://www.techsmith.com/cs5smartfocus
TechSmith ExpressShow™ -- is a sleek staging and playback format for Camtasia Studio screencasts that gives the viewer user-friendly controls and puts maximum emphasis on the content while taking up minimal screen real estate. Customers can also apply their own corporate branding.
Snap-to-App -- automatically places applications, dialogue boxes and the cursor in the right recording position at the right time so action is smooth, editing time is reduced, and the presentation is clear and professional. See the Snap-to-App screencast for the new recorder at: http://www.techsmith.com/cs5recorder
New Screencast.com, blog, and FTP preset outputs that allow users to easily share content quickly online.
Camtasia Studio 5 is integrated with the new Screencast.com service, which is currently in open beta testing. The integration between Camtasia Studio 5 and Screencast.com facilitates fast and easy video sharing. Unlike other online video hosting services, Screencast.com retains the original quality, size, and professionalism of the uploaded screencast.

System Requirements and Availability
Camtasia Studio 5 supports Microsoft Windows XP and Vista with DirectX 9.0 or later. Additional digital video formats can be imported, including AVI, MPEG, MPG, and WMV. Web cameras and microphones for capturing audio and video are available for purchase separately. Camtasia Studio 5 has a suggested retail price of $299 with a 30-day free trial. A free, 60-day account for Screencast.com is also available. The software and recommended hardware can be purchased at http://www.techsmith.com .
About TechSmith
Founded in 1987, TechSmith is the world’s leading provider of screen capture and recording software for individual and professional use. TechSmith’s products, SnagIt and Camtasia Studio, are used to capture content from computer screens to help the user communicate more clearly, create engaging presentations for diverse audiences, and analyse product usability and customer experience. The company is headquartered in Michigan and TechSmith products are available in five languages through a global distribution network of resellers in more than 30 countries

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Job portal for CG people

2007-10-12T00:14:00.001+05:30

I would like you introduce a new international job's webportal for computer graphics actors. This project is dedicated to jobseekers and recruiters working for imagery. All industries are welcome : Cinema, Animation, Post-prod, Advertising, Video Games, Real Time, Architecture, CAO... Artists, developers, technicians can now register their CV online; and companies and studios can add their announces very fastly.

Rsizr: image resizing tool

2007-10-12T00:05:00.001+05:30

Rsizr is a web application for image editing, especially image resizing.

Rsizr is flash macromedia application, it works with jpg, png and gif format and its main fatures are about cutting and image resizing. This last feature is the most important and it is based on a new and revolutionary algorithm: Seam Carving

Probably, Seam Caving will be very important in the next Photoshop fatures!!

This technic allows to resize images preserving the most important parts in the image, so it can delete some informations and preserve the important ones: at least the image will appear perfect. This feature offers many oppurtunity in web applications.

If you want to see how Seam Caving works, watch this video: Resizing Video

Here the free web application: Rsizr - Enjoy it (-:

New Autodesk Site: myfirstflame.com

2007-10-11T23:43:00.001+05:30

Autodesk has rolled out a new web site targeted towards flame users called myfirstflame.com. It’s a fun site with some longtime flame users such as Sheena Duggal, Jake Parker, Vico Sharabani, and more. It also has links to the past NAB tutorials.

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Emmy winners

2007-10-11T23:26:00.001+05:30

Congrats to the winners of this year’s creative Emmys. Dexter, Battlestar Galactica and NightMares & Dreamscapes. Outstanding work once again in this years 59th Prime Time Emmy awards.

Outstanding Main Title Design: Dexter (Showtime)

Eric Anderson, Creative Director
Josh Bodnar, Editor
Lindsay Daniels, Designer
Colin Davis, Main Title Producer

Oustanding Special Visual Effects for a Series: Battlestar Galactica
Exodus, Part 2 (Sci-Fi Channel)

Gary Hutzel, Visual Effects Supervisor
Michael Gibson, Senior VFX Coordinator
Doug Drexler, CG Supervisor
Adam “Mojo” Lebowitz, CGI Sequence Designer
Jeremy Hoey, Lead Matte Painter
Tom Archer, Lead Compositor
Andrew Karr, CGI Supervisor
Alec Mcclymont, Lead CGI Artist/ Animator
Brenda Campbell, Lead Compositor

Oustanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special : Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King
Battleground (TNT)

Sam Nicholson, Visual Effects Supervisor
Eric Grenaudier, Visual Effects Supervisor
Mark Spatny, Visual Effects Producer
Adalberto Lopez, CGI Supervisor
Michael Cook, Lead CGI Model Maker
Daniel Kumiega, Lead CGI Animator
Megan Omi, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
Ryan Wieber, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
Marc Van Buuren, Visual Effects Producer

Kerner Optical : The ex-ILM Model Shop

2007-10-11T23:20:00.001+05:30

This week fxphd takes an in-depth look at miniatures and the ways digital works alongside large scale miniatures at one of the worlds leading shops, Kerner Optical. After decades of award winning work, the company's results are the gold standard by which all others are judged. The company certainly has a respected history, but you might be surprised at just how forward-looking the company is. Read more

ZAPPLINK VERSION 3 is available

2007-10-11T23:10:00.001+05:30

ZAppLink 3 is a ZBrush plugin that allows you to seamlessly integrate your favorite image editing software into your ZBrush workflow. Call up your image editing package while in ZBrush, use it to modify the active ZBrush document or tool, and then go straight back into ZBrush.

To learn more about using the new features in ZApplink Version 3 visit the ZBrush online docs.

CGArena publishes free bi-monthly animation magazine

2007-10-11T23:05:00.001+05:30

CGArena proudly announce the release of another free issue of much awaited bi-monthly animation magazine in PDF. Click here to visit their page.

Adobe Labs announced preview of The Adobe Image Foundation (AIF) Toolkit.

2007-10-11T22:57:00.001+05:30

(Oct. 05, 2007) - Adobe Labs has announced the preview release of The Adobe Image Foundation (AIF) Toolkit. The preview release includes a high-performance graphics programming language that Adobe is developing for image processing, codenamed Hydra, and an application to create, compile and preview Hydra filters and effects. The toolkit contains a specification for the Hydra language, several sample filters, and sample images provided by AIF team members. The AIF technology delivers a common image and video processing infrastructure which provides automatic runtime optimization on heterogeneous hardware. It currently ships in After Effects CS3 and will be used in other Adobe products in the future. The next release of Flash Player, codenamed Astro, will leverage Hydra to enable developers to create custom filters, effects and blend modes.

Hydra is a programming language used to implement image processing algorithms in a hardware-independent manner. Some benefits of Hydra include:

Familiar syntax that is based on GLSL, which is C-based
Allows the same filter to run efficiently on different GPU and CPU architectures, including multi-core and multiprocessor systems in a future update
Abstracts out the complexity of executing on heterogeneous hardware
Supports 3rd party creation and sharing of filters and effects
Delivers excellent image processing performance in Adobe products

For more details on The AIF Toolkit, please visit: labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIF_Toolkit

Luxology licenses Pixar Animation's Subdivision Surface Patents

2007-10-11T22:43:00.001+05:30

Luxology has made public an agreement under which Pixar has licensed its Subdivision Surface Patents to them. The agreement covers key Pixar proprietary computer graphics technology that will enhance Luxology's products. Luxology is not making any announcement about when this technology could be worked into Luxology products as the terms are confidential.
"Pixar is not only an important client of Luxology's, they are also a key source of technology for the computer graphics and entertainment industries," said Brad Peebler, President and Co-founder of Luxology. "We are very excited to have clear rights to use some of the most fundamental SubDivision surface modeling and rendering algorithms on the planet."
"Luxology is a key provider of outstanding software for 3D content creation," said Rob Cook, Vice President of Advanced Technology at Pixar. "We are very pleased to have licensed these Pixar patents to Luxology for use in its products, and we look forward to seeing those enhanced products arrive in the marketplace."

EXPOSÉ 5 on sale

2007-10-11T22:36:00.001+05:30

The flagship title of award-winning publisher Ballistic Publishing has become an institution in the digital art world. EXPOSÉ 5 boasts a raft of new artwork including that of 108 unpublished artists drawn from a pool of over 4,500 entries.

Judged by an international team of industry leaders this year’s edition features 298 examples of the world’s best digital art prepared by 218 artists from 45 countries.

Toon Boom Studio 4 Is Released

2007-10-11T22:17:00.001+05:30

Montreal (September 6, 2007) – Emmy Award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced the release of Toon Boom Studio 4. With each
release, Toon Boom Studio is injected with new advanced features that
help users make the most of their talents and their time. Studio 4
increases your ability to create a wider range of animation styles
easily, all within a more user friendly interface.

Feature highlights include:

New User Interface offers unparalleled flexibility and increased ease-of-use.

Photo Animation Made Easy to animate bitmap images like any other vector drawing.

Extended Line Styles to create a multitude of line styles including calligraphy.

Feather Edges to create vector blur or glow effects.

More Peg Functionalities to easily create improved motion effects.

Advanced Web Publishing Options for seamless playback on the internet.

Over 30 new features and improvements, including support of Adobe Illustrator layers, the Vectorize Preview window, improved drawing
tools, Alpha Onion Skinning and support of Tablet PC OS (for Windows
XP and Vista).

Buy Toon Boom Studio 4 now at the launch special of $329.99 US (Promo
code: TBS091307), valid until September 13, 2007. Studio 4 customers
can log into their Members/My Products Page on Toon Boom’s web site
and download this latest release immediately. All orders requiring
shipping will be processed at the end of September 2007.

Information about Toon Boom Studio 4 is now available online at
www.toonboom.com/products/toonBoomStudio/

SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® 6.5 Essentials availability announced

2007-10-11T22:11:00.001+05:30

Montréal, Québec – September 14, 2007 –Softimage® Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., today announced the availability of its 3D animation software packages, SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® 6.5 Essentials, geared for artists, and SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Advanced, created for production facilities. Softimage has added Hair, Fur and Syflex Cloth features to SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials—giving 3D artists a complete 3D tool set at the price of MSRP US $2,995. SOFTIMAGE|XSI Advanced adds five batch rendering licenses for facilities that require high-capacity rendering networks—making it a production powerhouse for MSRP US $4,995. Additionally, both versions include over 30 customer-driven feature enhancements.

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials offers the most comprehensive set of tools artists need to create compelling 3D characters and content for games, film and television. Added to XSI 6.5 Essentials are:

Hair & Fur (previously only available in XSI Advanced)

Syflex Cloth ($2,200 value sold separately)

Over 30 enhancements derived from key clients in film, television and gaming

XSI 6.5 Essentials Pricing

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials (Windows): MSRP US $2,995

Upgrades – XSI Essentials (any version) to XSI 6.5 Essentials (Windows): US $999

Maintenance: US $799

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 XSI Advanced offers everything technical artists and directors need to set up and run a creative animation facility. Added to XSI 6.5 Advanced are:

Five XSI Batch rendering licenses for six total licenses and support for 36 render nodes (US $7475 value sold separately).

Over 30 enhancements derived from key clients in film, television and gaming

XSI 6.5 Advanced Pricing

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Advanced (Windows): MSRP US $4,995

Upgrades – XSI Advanced (any version) to XSI 6.5 Advanced (Windows): MSRP US $1605

Maintenance: US $1335

“Softimage listens to its customers and today we’re pleased to deliver the best configuration of tools and technology for 3D artists and animation production studios,” said Marc Stevens, Vice President and General Manager for Softimage. “SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials delivers all the tools for professional 3D artists, while SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Advanced targets technical directors and studios—together setting the standard for value and productivity in the industry.”

Over 30 Feature Enhancements in XSI 6.5:

Softimage has also added over 30 customer-influenced features and enhancements to meet specific workflow needs from the game development, visual effects and visualization industry, including: Lionhead Studios, Valve, EA, Animal Logic, Nerdcorps, Pandemic and Passion Pictures.

Additions to SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials and Advanced include:

TransformUV Property for multi-UV editing

New interactive “Tight” layout for Unique UVs/PolyPack

Shaderball support for Hardware Renderers

Snapping tools to work with Instances

New Drag and Drop event

New OnObjectAdded event

New OnObjectRemoved event

HDR image generation in RenderMap

Satellite Support for RenderMap

HDR color range for vertex colors

API to convert vertex colors from shorts to floats and vice-versa

Availability:

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials and Advanced are available to purchase from Softimage resellers or direct from Softimage at: http://www.softimage.com/buy/ .

About Softimage Co.

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. provides intuitive, production proven tools that free 3D artists to create the world’s most compelling characters in the film, broadcast, post-production and games industries. Its flagship product, SOFTIMAGE|XSI is the most complete and intuitive character animation solution available. Easily integrated into any CG production pipeline, XSI software enables 3D artists to create the most lifelike character performances. SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT is the first commercial toolset that accelerates facial animation that empowers 3D artists to create, refine and repurpose high-quality, lifelike facial animation in less time than traditional solutions. For more information about Softimage, please visit www.softimage.com.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company’s Oscarâ, Grammyâ, and Emmyâ award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

Studio Lighting Video Tutorial

2007-10-08T12:30:00.000+05:30

Awesome series of studio lighting tutorial by Ken Henderson APAGB. Recorded in the UK on 9th March 2007.

V-Ray Video Training for Architectural Visualization

2007-10-08T12:20:00.000+05:30

The V-Ray renderer is a plug-in that allows 3ds Max users to bypass the default scanline renderer and achieve truly photorealistic quality with minimal effort. Because of its unsurpassed quality, speed, and ease of use, V-Ray has rapidly become the industry’s renderer of choice in the lighting of architectural visualizations, and is also a favorite among film and game producers.

On Demand Videos

The VisMasters Online:V-Ray Video Training for Architectural Visualization are pre-recorded training lessons designed to teach the concept of global illumination with V-Ray and how to achieve it with photorealistic and transcendental qualities. Each module is taught by expert instructors who work day-to-day in the production of architectural visualizations. Throughout these modules, users will learn how to maximize speed and efficiency in the same type of architectural production environment. Each module is a 30 to 90 minute self-contained lesson that covers the critical settings of each major V-Ray feature, and builds upon the instruction provided with each subsequent module.
Training modules are designed for users with little or no experience in V-Ray or users who wish to become more proficient with the product. A fundamental level of experience with lighting in 3ds Max is also required.

ILM crew makes hay when the sun is shining

2007-10-08T12:12:00.000+05:30

Jonathan Harb had one of the best jobs a CG artist could have – supervising digital matte painting at Industrial Light & Magic. In April 2007, after 11 and a half years at ILM, he walked out the door, got an equity loan on his house, cashed in his savings, borrowed money, and took the biggest risk of his career. In May, he opened the doors of Whiskytree, Inc., a concept art, digital environment, and matte painting studio. The studio stretches through the second floor of a three-story building in downtown San Rafael, California.

Gnonmon adds 3 DVDs to their collection

2007-10-08T12:08:00.000+05:30

September 17th, 2007, HOLLYWOOD. The Gnomon Workshop is pleased to announce three new additions to our 3D and 2D libraries! Zack Petroc returns with Volume 2 of his fantastic Art Direction and Digital Sculpting series, utilizing ZBrush 3.

We also introduce new instructors Henry Goecke and Jeremy Vickery. Henry teaches the basics of modeling surfaces in StudioTools and Jeremy lectures on light and color theory from a practical perspective as applied to 2D and 3D image creation.

Enjoy CG creates tutorial on creating a good porfolio

2007-10-08T11:58:00.000+05:30

If you ever want to get a job in the CG industry people will need to know about you (and your work) before they will hire you, and a proffesional looking portfolio is a great way to get to know you! You might already have a simple site, but looks are important, so it's a good idea to invest some time in making a great looking site, which will attract more jobs, or at least increase the chances of getting one.

So what are you waiting for, don't miss your chance of a (better) job! let's get started...

Read here

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Adobe wows by developing a online version for photoshop

2007-10-08T11:48:00.000+05:30

CHICAGO --Adobe Systems gave a public viewing Tuesday night of an online version of Photoshop, its popular image-editing application.

During a sneak peek session at its Max 2007 developer conference, Adobe product manager Geoff Baum gave a demo of Photoshop Express, the Flash-based image editor that runs inside a Web browser.

The application is aimed at consumers, rather than professional developers, and complements existing versions. Baum showed how people can quickly make changes to images with the program.

With one click, people can fix red eyes or blemishes. The application also generates a thumbnail of an image with various effects, like sepia tone, which people can click on to select.

Below the main image editing window, there is a timeline of thumbnail images that lets people view all the changes they've made to a photo and revert to older versions.

The features that got perhaps the most applause from Max attendees was the ability to selectively change colors in an image.

Baum edited a photo of a car by changing only the color of the car and only the background. He also showed how people can quickly alter the image with different distortion patterns, like curving straight lines, by dragging the cursor over the image and clicking.

With the image editor, people will also be able to create slide shows, share pictures with others and embed photos in Web pages, Baum said.

Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told CNET News.com about the online version of Photoshop in February of this year, saying it was a way for Adobe to offer a low-end consumer-oriented product to compete with free desktop photo editors.

At the time, Chizen said Adobe would have a beta version within six months, a deadline it has missed. Since then, the company hasn't said when it plans to ship the product or whether Adobe will offer it directly or through partners as it has done with its online video editor Adobe Premiere Express.

This was the second public viewing of Photoshop Express. John Loiacono, senior vice president of Adobe's Creative Solutions Business Unit, gave a demo at Photoshop World in September and the company supplied a screenshot.

Digital-Tutors announces Introduction to XSI Hair training

2007-10-07T16:36:00.000+05:30

Digital-Tutors, a Softimage Official Training Partner and leading provider in video-based training, has announced the availability of 'Introduction to XSI Hair', the newest release in an expanding library of interactive video-based training for digital artists using XSI.

'Introduction to XSI Hair' provides over three hours of practical scenarios demonstrating several creative practices and time-saving workflows to creating, styling, texturing, rendering, and dynamically drive hair while maintaining realistic hair with cinematic-quality imagery using XSI Hair.

Highlights on ‘Introduction to XSI Hair’ include: Shave interface overview, using hair presets, creating hairstyles based on curves, growing and scalping techniques, hair overview, hair styling, hair based on curves, growing and scalping techniques, brush and cut tools, scale, puff and stand tools, popping hairs and attenuation, connect maps, dynamic setups, displacement effects, simulating hair curves with cloth, hair and forces, alternative uses with hair instancing, transfer hair, and additional lessons to give you a firm understanding of XSI Hair

Bungie Studios Becomes Privately Held Independent Company

2007-10-07T16:17:00.000+05:30

Bungie Studios Becomes Privately Held Independent Company

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2007 — Bungie and Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of Microsoft’s “Halo” franchise, to become a privately held independent company, Bungie, LLC, in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest. As part of this transaction, Bungie and Microsoft have forged a deep and long-term development and publishing relationship focused on the continued success of the “Halo” franchise. It is also the intent of both parties to expand their partnership to include new IP created and owned by Bungie.

Bungie’s critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive “Halo 3” achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “Halo 3” is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”

“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on. And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees,” said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner.

Bungie’s management retained the services of Don Leeds, senior managing director of B-Hive Global, LLC, to assist in the structuring of the deal and negotiating on their behalf. Bungie will remain in Kirkland, Washington, and is always looking to hire excellent talent.

About Bungie

Bungie was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and to sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon” trilogy and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 18 million units worldwide, logging billions of hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE®, and spawning action figures, books, graphic novels, soundtracks, apparel and more. The critically acclaimed “Halo 3”, released on Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, is the fastest-selling video game ever, achieving $300 million in global sales its first week, making it one of the most successful entertainment properties in history. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.

Ballistic Media's Klara Medkova Ultimate DVD set

2007-10-07T15:35:00.000+05:30

The Klara Medkova Ultimate DVD set, created in conjunction with 3D.SK, delivers 16-megapixel, royalty-free character reference for film and game development, life drawing and texture reference. Each photograph is shot at the highest quality in the best lighting conditions to produce a 16-megapixel image with extraordinary detail.

300 shots, clothed, and semi-clothed in both reference and action poses all tagged and categorised, on two DVDs will improve your work flow by having what you need at hand, when you need it.

Welcome to News CGI

2007-10-07T15:13:00.000+05:30

Welcome to News CGI, we aggregate all the breaking news from Computer Graphics Industry.