Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to be released in Disney Digital 3D this October

DISNEY SET TO DEBUT SPECIAL LIMITED ENGAGEMENT, DOUBLE FEATURE, OF DISNEY-PIXAR’S “TOY STORY” AND “TOY STORY 2” EXCLUSIVELY IN DISNEY DIGITAL 3D™ ON OCTOBER 2ND

Moviegoers are in for twice the fun and triple the thrills as The Walt Disney Studios prepares to debut the Disney Digital 3D™ versions of Disney-Pixar’s beloved animated features – “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” – during a special limited engagement starting on October 2, 2009, it was announced today by Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group.

This extraordinary double feature, taking the latest advances in digital 3D technology “to infinity and beyond,” will play exclusively in 3D. “Toy Story,” the industry’s first ever computer-animated feature and the first feature released by Pixar Animation Studios in 1995, and “Toy Story 2,” the critically acclaimed sequel that debuted in 1999, were both directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker John Lasseter. Both films have been meticulously re-rendered in 3D from the original digital files using the latest state-of-the-art technology.

Commenting on the announcement, Zoradi said, “This fantastic double feature will let moviegoers see two of their all-time favorite films from Pixar Animation Studios in a way that they’ve never seen them before, and all for the price of one movie ticket. John Lasseter and the animation team have truly created a spectacular 3D experience with Buzz, Woody, and all the toy characters in a whole new eye-popping dimension. We’re also excited that audiences will soon see a whole new chapter when Toy Story 3 in 3D, directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2) comes to theaters on June 18, 2010.”

Lasseter added, “The ‘Toy Story’ films and characters will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we’re so excited to be bringing these first two films back for audiences to enjoy in a whole new way thanks to the latest in 3D technology. Disney Digital 3D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation and we will continue to use this new technology to push the boundaries in telling our stories. With ‘Toy Story 3’ shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought this would be the perfect way to let audiences experience the first two films all over again. To see the movies back to back will be an amazing treat as well. This is certainly nostalgic for me and reminiscent of my youth when double features were the norm.”

Originally released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, “Toy Story” went on to receive Oscar® nominations for Original Screenplay, Original Score, and Original Song earning Lasseter a Special Achievement Award “for his inspired leadership of the Pixar 'Toy Story' Team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.” 'Toy Story 2' was released in 1999, and reunited voice talents Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, in their roles as Woody and Buzz. The film became one of the most popular animated features of all time, and received an Academy Award® nomination for Original Song.

Pixar to open Vancouver studio

Computer-animation giant plans 20,000-square-foot facility in downtown

VANCOUVER - Pixar Animation, one of the world’s leading computer animators and a multi-Academy Award winning studio, will build a 20,000-square-foot facility in Vancouver to produce its popular short features.

Walt Disney Studios, with whom Pixar merged in 2006, is scouting locations in the city, concentrating on the downtown area. It hopes to have the new studio up and running by this fall.

The studio will hire 75 to 100 people, most of them Canadians, and will make all of Pixar’s three-dimensional, computer-animated short films, which usually run three to five minutes. All Pixar theatrical features will continue to be made at its main studio in Emeryville, Calif., which employs almost 900.

Amir Nasrabadi, who will run the Vancouver operation as studio general manager, said Vancouver was attractive to Pixar for a number of reasons. It’s an English-speaking city in the same time zone as Los Angeles; the B.C. production tax credits are attractive to an American company; and the city, with its numerous animation studios and quality schools, is a good source of talent.

“There’s a huge, very robust, and mature talent pool in Vancouver that we’d like to tap into and continue to develop,” Nasrabadi said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he has been vice-president of operations and finance for DisneyToon Studios, a direct-to-DVD studio.

“I don’t have a particular number [of employees] in mind, but I can say the majority will be locals.”

Pixar has grown from a small studio making award-winning computer-generated short animations — Luxo Jr. (1986), the tale of a small desk lamp which, when shown in theatres, got as much buzz as the feature it preceded, and the Oscar-winning Tin Toy (1988) were its first titles — to a large operation which has produced nine major animated features: Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, and Wall-E. A 10th feature, Up, will be released on May 29.

The company’s most popular short features include Knick Knack (the story of a snowman stuck in a snow globe), One Man Band (about fiercely competitive street performers), and Presto (a hapless magician frustrated by an unfed rabbit).

The company uses short films as springboards for its feature animations, and that will be the role of the Vancouver studio. A Pixar short takes six to 12 months to produce, and the production team can range anywhere from 20 to 75 people.

“First and foremost for us is to concentrate on Pixar legacy characters,” said Nasrabadi, citing Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, and Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars as four of its legacy characters. “We want to keep these well-known and well-liked characters alive without creating a distraction to those working on the full-length motion pictures in California.

“The types of products we produce will be niche products, such as short films, whether they are standalone or episodic in nature,” said Nasrabadi, a 12-year veteran of the digital entertainment business. “They will be helpful to all of Disney’s ancillary businesses, such as television, compilations on DVD, Internet broadcasting, as well as theatres.”

Nasrabadi, who will oversee production and business strategy at the Vancouver operation, said the company has a couple of projects in mind for the Vancouver studio, but nothing is firm yet. He also said that all post-production will continue to be done at the main studio in California.

John Lasseter, chief creative officer at both Pixar and Disney Animation, is not expected to spend much time at the Vancouver studio.

Pixar will not be the city’s biggest studio. Rainmaker Entertainment, which houses Rainmaker Animation, has 75,000 square feet at its two buildings, and employs 250 to 400 people, depending on the production cycle.

mandrews@vancouversun.com

Siggraph 2009 New Orleans

SIGGRAPH announces the selection of Steve Duenes, a leader in transforming complex data into understandable graphic journalism, as a keynote speaker for SIGGRAPH 2009.

Duenes started at The New York Times in 1999 as the graphics editor for science, and he became the graphics director in 2004. In his current role, he manages a staff of 30 journalists who work as a team to shape and deliver visual information by researching, writing, designing and programming information graphics for both the printed newspaper and www.nytimes.com.

Duenes is also on the faculty at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His team has received awards from numerous organizations including the Society of Publication Designers, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Society for News Design, and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition, Duenes is a contributing cartoonist in the The New Yorker.

"In a growing digital world, the importance of graphics has never been higher," stated Ronen Barzel, SIGGRAPH 2009 Conference Chair. "Steve brings a fresh perspective to the table, which is especially appropriate this year given the amazing SIGGRAPH content in regards to scientific visualization and information aesthetics."

SIGGRAPH Keynote Speakers represent a variety of prominent industry luminaries and technology experts, who present on different aspects of the multi-dimensional computer graphics and interactive techniques.



Related links:
SIGGRAPH 2009

Platige's Kinematograph "Cinematograph"

"Cinematograph" - the first staff of the film

Not more than week ago Platige Image presented visual concepts of the "Kinematografu" and now you can see the first production staff.

Tom's latest film Bagińskiego, it dwunastominutowa animation telling the history of a forgotten inventor. Is it a discovery proves to be a success?This will tell you soon. After the annual production, the movie is almost complete, the Prime Minister as early as June.

Read More:http://community.platige.com/news/139

Allegorithmic's Substance Air

Procedural texturing middleware, Allegorithmic's Substance Air is now available.


With more games moving online and digital distribution becoming an increasingly important business strategy for publishers, Allegorithmic is improving visual quality of web pages and allowing user-generated content while containing client size and broadening the audience has become a critical challenge. Allegorithmic is filling this immediate market need through the worldwide availability of Substance Air.

A new texturing middleware is poised to redefine the development and distribution of rich content for online, retail and downloadable games (MMOs, Free2Play and XBLA/PSN). Substance Air was created to help game developers generate and customize assets that are lightweight, dynamic and infinitely versatile.

"Substance Air was specifically designed with both the game developer and end user in mind," said Dr. Sebastien Deguy, founder and CEO of Allegorithmic. "Not only does Substance Air offer high-quality texture generation in a few kilobytes, these textures can easily be modified for the players, allowing for some of the most advanced user-generated content appearing in games today."

In addition to the ability to generate detailed graphics that fit in a few kilobytes and a procedural base that allows developers to create an infinite number of variations within a given game, Substance Air also offers an exciting hybrid approach to creating textures that allows customers to easily mix procedural maps together with SVGs and bitmaps.

"From a technical artist's standpoint, dynamic textures offer a tremendous amount of creativity without the constraint of rewriting shaders every time," says Fred Moreau, a Substance Air beta tester from Veloce Interactive. "In short, Substance Air, with its non-linear approach, finds no match in the industry."

Substance Air Evaluation Kits are available starting today and can be requested at the link below. Pricing models vary based on the type of game and gaming platform.

Allegorithmic
Allegorithmic Substance Air

Exotique 5 Call For Entries

Ballistic Publishing invites you to submit your work to EXOTIQUE 5: THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL CG CHARACTERS. The fifth book in the series will showcase the best digital character creations produced for film, television, games and personal endeavor.

EXOTIQUE 5 will showcase the world's most stunning CG characters. We are looking for all types of character work from humans to fantastic creatures.

If your work is selected for publication in EXOTIQUE 5 you will receive a complimentary copy of the book and will also get international exposure by having your work included in the premier collection of digital character art.

There is no cost or limit to the number of entries you can enter for EXOTIQUE 5.........

Read more :http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/exotique_5/callforentries/

E-on Software Uncovers Vue 7.5

E-on Software Uncovers Vue 7.5

VUE 7.5 PRE RELEASE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE FOR USERS UNDER MAINTENANCE

April 29, 2009. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, maker of Vue, the leading solutions for natural 3D environments, today disclosed the new features available in its upcoming professional solutions, Vue 7.5 xStream and Vue 7.5 Infinite.

Release 7.5 of Vue xStream and Infinite will add significant new functionality to Vue 7. Following the terms of e-on software’s maintenance contracts, users of Vue 7 xStream or Vue 7 Infinite who subscribed to a Standard or Premium maintenance plan will receive the upgrade to the corresponding Vue 7.5 product at no charge.

Users who are not under maintenance may nonetheless purchase the upgrade to Vue 7.5 (see further down for pricing). However, e-on software strongly recommends that they consider subscribing to a maintenance plan instead, as this may prove more cost effective* in the long term (maintenance plans include free upgrades to all .5 and full versions released during the subscription period).

More information on e-on software's maintenance plans can be found at:
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/maintenance

If they wish, users under maintenance can immediately download a pre-release version of Vue 7.5. Users of Vue 7 who subscribe to a maintenance plan today will also be granted access to this pre-release version.

Vue 7.5 xStream and Vue 7.5 Infinite are expected to ship during Q2 2009. Customers who purchased Vue 7 xStream or Infinite within one month of release of Vue 7.5 will receive the upgrade to Vue 7.5 at no cost.

At the time of releasing Vue 7.5, e-on software will also release a Vue 7.4 service pack for all Vue 7 products (including Esprit, Pro Studio and Complete). This service pack will add new functionality to Vue 7 and will be available at no cost for all Vue 7 users.

*The cost of the upgrade to the next version of Vue will be the same whether upgrading from Vue 7 or Vue 7.5.

New features of Vue 7.5

Vue xStream and Vue Infinite are the company's flagship solutions for the creation of natural 3D environments. While Vue Infinite is a standalone application, Vue xStream operates seamlessly inside of 3ds max, Maya, LightWave, Cinema4D and Softimage|XSI. Specifically designed for graphics professionals, these products combine a multitude of cutting edge features that easily integrate into existing production pipelines.

Release 7.5 of Vue adds a number of breakthrough features:

• Support of the V-Ray renderer for 3ds Max (xStream)
• Support of EcoSystem painting in XSI (xStream)
• Color and Alpha masks of single clouds and cloud layers in multi-pass renderer
• "Camera Mapping" to dramatically cut animation render times
• Spherical and planetary procedural terrains with infinite level of detail
• Spherical cloudscapes (procedural, or based on real-world cloud maps)
• Material Painting and effect-driven material mapping in the Terrain Editor
• Enhanced Multi-Processor usage for procedural terrains, Dynamic EcoSystems and panoramic rendering
• Ecosystem populations that can evolve over time
• Cloud layers that cast and receive shadows from other cloud layers and objects in the scene
• Improved OpenGL sky and cloud preview, colored EcoSystem instances
• Other productivity and feature enhancements.

More details on the new features of Vue 7.5 will be disclosed at the time of release.

A selection of new features already available in release 7 includes:

• Direct access and interaction with individual Vue elements inside of compatible applications (xStream)
• Extended compatibility with Mental Ray – integrated and satellites (xStream)
• EcoSystem 3 technology: dynamic population, EcoSystem painting from any angle
• Spectral 2 cloud technology: highly realistic volumetric 3D clouds and cloud layers
• New Radiosity engine optimized for indoor and infinite scenery
• Water Editor: convincing water animation from still lakes to stormy ocean waves
• Global Illumination rendering up to 4 times faster
• Improved SolidGrowth 4 plant technology with high definition species for "hero" plants
• Collada file format import
• Over 160 editable SolidGrowth plant species, with almost 100 species previously only available from Cornucopia3D.com and 20 brand new species.

Standard Retail Price:

Vue 7.5 xStream will retail for $1,495, with upgrades from Vue 7 xStream available for $495. Vue 7.5 Infinite will retail for $895, with upgrades from Vue 7 Infinite available for $295. Other upgrade paths from Vue 6 Infinite and Vue 6 xStream will be available at the time of release.

Annual subscriptions for Educational licenses of Vue xStream and Infinite are available respectively for $149/year/seat and $99/seat/year. Upgrades to Vue 7.5 are free for owners of active educational licenses of Vue 7.

Site licensing discounts are available, contact e-on software for further details and pricing information.

Owners of Vue 7 network rendering licenses who upgrade to Vue 7.5 will receive the corresponding Vue 7.5 network rendering licenses at no cost.

Availability:

Vue 7.5 xStream and Vue 7.5 Infinite will be available in English for Windows XP32/64 and Vista 32/64, and on Mac OSX 10.4 and 10.5 as a 32 bit application (Universal Binary). Vue 7.5 xStream is compatible with the following renderers: Mental Ray for 3ds Max, Maya and XSI (integrated and MR satellites), V-Ray for 3ds Max, and Maya, Cinema4D and LightWave native renderers. Other renderers are under consideration.

About e-on software

E-on software is the leading developer of high quality solutions for the creation, animation, rendering and integration of natural 3D environments. With products specifically targeted for the different market segments, e-on software provides solutions adapted to every project and budget. E-on software products are used worldwide by the film, television, architecture, game, science, education and entertainment industries.

Vue was used in features such as "Pirates of the Caribbean's 2", "Indiana Jones 4", "Australia", "Battlestar Gallactica", "Stargate Atlantis" and more. Read more on these stories in e-on software's Spotlights section: www.e-onsoftware.com/spotlight.

E-on software was founded on the premise that powerful graphics tools should never get in the way of the designer's creativity. By investing significant resources into research and development, e-on software is able to deliver cutting-edge technologies that significantly improve usability and workflow.

E-on software is based in Beaverton, Oregon with a European office in Paris, France.

Visit their website at http://www.e-onsoftware.com.

Press Contacts
press@e-onsoftware.com
971-327-6008 (US)
+33 1 43 14 28 15 (Europe)