Pinky Dinky Doo Production Focus.

PEN Productions Inc has release a production focus on the technical tools used in creating season two of Pinky Dinky Doo.

http://www.paulneale.com/technical/...nkyDinkyDoo.htm

Digital-Tutors Unveils First Design and Art Training Title

Hey Everyone,

The team here at Digital-Tutors is proud to present our first design and art training title for 2D artists – ‘Digital Painting: Illustrating Eyes,’ a complete guide to learning a variety of styles and technical approaches to rendering eyes in Photoshop®.

‘Digital Painting: Illustrating Eyes’ provides traditional and digital artists with over four hours of self-paced training and teaches essential elements and techniques to sketching, inking, and rendering eyes for toon, anime, manga, and portraiture styles, as seen in graphic novels, cartoons, and films. ‘Digital Painting: Illustrating Eyes’ presents new artists with the opportunity to develop fundamental drawing and design skills to creating character concepts and offers time-saving workflow tips for more experienced illustrators.

For a detailed outline, e-download information, and pricing for ‘Digital Painting: Illustrating Eyes,’ visit: http://www.digitaltutors.com/store/...?productid=3628

Stay tuned for more releases next week and more training covering various pre-production and 2D topics!

The Team at Digital-Tutors

Particle Flow Tools Box#2 for 3ds Max Released

Box#2 provides operators and tests to replicate real-world effects such as natural and man-made forces, binding particles together and then breaking the bonds, collisions between particles and with other objects, and more. Also included are several new Birth operators that are optimized for physics simulations as well as a preset flow that makes initial setup a snap. To top it all off, Box#2 gives you three new modifiers that allow particles to interact with standard mesh objects in mind-blowing ways.



Features include:

• Three new Birth operators let you control placement and speed of particles when created, produce arrays of particles, and use any regular objects as particles.
  
• Special PhysX operators and tests let Particle Flow communicate with the physics-simulation engine. You can adjust world settings, use 3ds Max forces in simulations, bind particles together and disintegrate bound groups, and more
  
• Dedicated new modifiers use particles to make parts of regular objects appear and disappear, use particles as bones in mesh objects, and allow particles in a simulation to physically interact with standard objects.
  
• Extras include sub-operators for controlling simulations with custom operators from Box#3, updated operators with advanced features, and material inheritance.

Official Release info: Orbaz Forum
Product Page: Particle Flow Tools Box#2

IFX one-hour monster

The July issue of ImagineFX has a host of brand new content. We’ve got a one-hour monster speedpainting workshop with Joe Vriens, and the first of a six part series on animal anatomy, straight from the expansive mind of Marshall Vandruff.



There’s also Fion Staples's guide on how to paint effectively using a limited palette, Justin Gerard’s feature on combining a watercolour and digital approach to your painting, core skills focussing on blurring and sharpening with Photoshop tools and we also look at the striking artwork of Jon Foster.

Get full details and a sneak peak at some pages.

The Foundry announces management buyout

Nuke to take over from Shake as industry standard for desktop compositing 'within years', says venture capital firm involved

Nuke developer The Foundry has just announced a management buyout, with European venture capital firm Advent Venture Partners replacing former investor Wyndcrest Holdings.

The move represents Advent‘s only investment in the 3D or digital media industry: the bulk of its existing portfolio consists of pharmaceutical and communications technology companies.

A clue to the thinking behind this unusual investment is offered by an inconspicuous quote buried in the press release below: Advent believes that Nuke, rather than eyeon Software‘s Fusion or Autodesk‘s Toxik, is set to take over from Shake as the industry standard in the professional desktop compositing market.

And when will this happen? Within the ‘next few years‘, apparently – but Advent isn‘t making more specific predictions.

FULL PRESS RELEASE
London, UK, 3rd June, 2009: Leading visual effects software developer, The Foundry (www.thefoundry.co.uk), whose software products have been used to make many of the past year’s biggest motion pictures, today announced a management buyout for an undisclosed sum led by Advent Venture Partners.

Advent has backed The Foundry’s management team, led by CEO Dr Bill Collis and the original founders, in a transaction that sees the sale of the shareholdings of previous investors, Wyndcrest Holdings.

The Foundry is highly profitable and has more than doubled revenues in the last eighteen months to $10m. Advent’s support will permit the company to continue expansion plans that have seen staff numbers more than double from 20 to over 50 in the past two years, necessitating the company’s expansion into two additional floors of its Wardour Street headquarters.

Established in 1996, The Foundry is a world-leading innovator of visual effects and image-processing technologies that boost productivity in motion picture and video post production. The Foundry’s product portfolio includes two AMPAS (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences) Sci-Tech Award® winners: Nuke, a high end compositing system, and Furnace, a collection of problem solving tools based on advanced motion estimation technology.

The Foundry has a well-established client base that includes leading visual effects facilities worldwide, such as Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand, Framestore in London, and Sony Imageworks and Digital Domain in Los Angeles. It is at the cutting edge of software development, marketing and sales for visual effects compositing. With Nuke, The Foundry has been taking significant share from the market leader, Apple’s Shake product, since 2007, and Advent believes it will become the industry standard over the next few years.

Nuke was originally developed by Los Angeles post-production house, Digital Domain, before becoming part of The Foundry’s offering in 2007. Since then, The Foundry has invested aggressively in the product’s development, culminating in 12 software releases.

The Foundry’s products have facilitated ambitious effects sequences on numerous major Hollywood blockbusters including: The Dark Knight, the Harry Potter franchise, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Speed Racer; Iron Man, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Star Trek, Australia, Watchmen, X-Men Origins, Wolverine and many more.

Commenting on the completion of the transaction, Bill Collis, CEO of The Foundry said, ”The Foundry is renowned for responding to user need and developing useful tools that boost productivity. With the backing of our previous investors, we enjoyed substantial growth and are now in a strong position to take the business forward with our new partners. We are ready to realise our further ambitions for Nuke and the rest of our product portfolio, ensuring the company goes from strength to strength whilst maintaining strong customer focus.”

Mike Chalfen, General Partner at Advent Venture Partners, remarked, “We are delighted to be backing an innovative and entrepreneurial management team with such a strong reputation and enviable market leading track record that together will generate interesting opportunities for this business. The Foundry‘s products are ubiquitous in its field, its Ocula 3D stereoscopic technology is poised to dominate its market, and the company is a true European digital technology success story. Furthermore, our investment fits with Advent’s strategic focus of backing capital efficient, defensible and differentiated businesses that have a number of levers to make money for shareholders. We look forward to working with the team to realise the company‘s enormous potential.”

Pixar Characters Surprise Chicago Opening Weekend Audience

As part of Walt Disney Pictures’ Opening Weekend Surprise promotion, a lucky Chicago audience got an unexpected visit from some famous Pixar faces you just might recognize!

Opening Weekend Surprise is basically an appearance by a famous special guest at a randomly selected theatre to celebrate the premiere of Disney’s latest film. Usually a celebrity related to the movie appears, and this time the famed Pixar favorites Woody, Buzz, Sulley and Mr. Incredible greeted guests for Up’s Surprise! Watch as the audience at Kerasotes Show Case Theaters in Chicago, Illinois get hyped Up by a Disney representative and her Pixar friends over at Disney.com/surprise!

Even though you might not have been visited by the Pixar pals last weekend, you can still win something special! Text BALLOON to 347639 to enter for a chance to win the complete Disney•Pixar film library!

Better yet, the website hints that Toy Story/Toy Story 2 in 3D will also have one of these surprises. So, I’d suggest you go out on opening day and/or enter the contest. Good luck!

Woody's News Round-Up

What we missed, misplaced or just learned about during this eventful Up premiere week:

Toy Story 3 First Look: Yes, this "first look" image (click to view larger) from Toy Story 3 (June 18th, 2010) is from the teaser but it’s been specially released for promotional purposes in high resolution so I thought I’d share it with you guys. We’ll be looking forward to an image from the actual movie sometime later this year! Don’t forget to check back on the brand new Toy Story website for more updates in the future!

WALL•E at the Tonys: Jim Hill Media is reporting that the Living Character Initiative version of WALL•E will be attending theatres’ biggest night, the Tony Awards! WALL•E will be introducing the tribute to "Hello, Dolly!" composer Jerry Herman. Learn more about the 2009 Tonys here.

AWN Goes Up: Animation World Network has two interesting features on the development of Pixar’s critically acclaimed hit, Up! The first focuses on "simplexity" including quotes from the Up team. The second article is an interview with Bill Desowitz and Josh Hollander, the 3D team on Up!

Audience Reactions: Reelz Channel‘s series First Fans went Up this weekend to see what viewers thought of Pixar’s latest. We already knew that Up is critically acclaimed, but it’s refreshing to know that people like me and you loved it too! Check out the reactions here, they’re fantastic! Also on Reelz Channel, a great interview with Pete Docter!

Tourism Up?: Yahoo News! sat down with Pete Docter to talk about the locations in Up. As you know, the film is primarily set in the Amazon’s tepui tabletop mountains famous for the abstract rock formations. Yahoo! wonders: Was it Docter’s first choice for the setting? How was the visit? And best of all: Do you think this will boost tourism in the area? Read the full story here.

(Thanks so much to everyone who sent these in!)

Batman : ashes to ashes

Ashes to Ashes is an unofficial short film shot in 13 days and postproduced in France between 2006 and 2008. This fan film is based on the Batman character created by Bob Kane and on the graphical universe of Franck Miller’s Sin City. Original screenplay by Samuel Bodin and directed by Julien Mokrani & Samuel Bodin.

http://pipit.cccelsius.com/?p=1252

DreamWorks announces upcoming slate

DreamWorks Animation Announces Plans to Release Five Feature Films Every Two YearsCompany Adds An Additional Film Every Other Year To Its Existing Release Schedule.

Company Announces Its Next Eight Animated Feature Film Releases Through 2012

GLENDALE, Calif., May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA) announced today its plans to release five feature films every two years, adding an additional film every other year to its existing two picture a year release schedule on a going-forward basis. The Company also announced its upcoming slate of animated feature film releases through 2012.

The Company's slate through 2012 now includes eight feature films from DreamWorks Animation's talented and seasoned creative leadership team, including five original films and three sequels based on the Company's existing blockbuster franchises, Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda. As has been previously announced, all DreamWorks Animation feature films are now being produced in 3D.

"Our exceptionally talented and highly experienced creative team is bringing to DreamWorks Animation a significant number of imaginative, original and cutting-edge ideas today," said Bill Damaschke, Co-President of Production and President of Live Theatrical. "Having achieved a high level of success and consistency in our creative process and having in our development pipeline more great story concepts than ever before, we are very confident in our ability to add one original film every other year."

The upcoming animated films on the Company's future theatrical release schedule are currently planned as follows:

How to Train Your Dragon, which is based on the book of the same name by Cressida Cowell, will be released on March 26, 2010. It is being written and directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) and Dean DeBlois (Lilo & Stitch), produced by Bonnie Arnold (Over the Hedge, Toy Story) and will star Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig and TJ Miller. Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, the story centers around a teenager who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. But when he encounters - and ultimately befriends - an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down.

Shrek Forever After will be released on May 21, 2010. Aron Warner (producer of the Shrek franchise films) and Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia) are serving as executive producers on the film, which is being directed by Mike Mitchell and produced by Teresa Cheng and Gina Shay and will feature the original all-star cast, including Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas.

Oobermind (formerly titled Master Mind) will be released on November 5, 2010. It is being directed by Tom McGrath (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa), executive produced by Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld, produced by Lara Breay and Denise Nolan Cascino and will star Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey. When super villain Oobermind defeats his archrival Metro Man, the world should be his oyster. But instead, Oobermind falls into total despair. It turns out that life without a rival is life without a point for him. So he creates a new superhero rival. Unfortunately, the new hero wants to be a super villain too. Who can we turn to? Who has what it takes to stand up to this menace? Who will defend the innocent? Oobermind! That's who.

Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom will be released on June 3, 2011. The next chapter of the 2008 blockbuster is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, produced by Melissa Cobb and will feature the return of the original all-star cast, including Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu and David Cross. A new villain has emerged with a mysterious weapon so powerful it threatens the very existence of kung fu. It is up to Po and the Furious Five to protect all that they know. But first, Po must confront his long lost past.

The Guardians (working title), based on the forthcoming books by William Joyce, will be released on November 4, 2011. It was brought to the Company by William Joyce and Reel FX, and is being directed by Jeff Lynch in collaboration with William Joyce and produced by Christina Steinberg and Nancy Bernstein. The world's five unlikeliest heroes - Jack Frost, North (aka Santa), Bunnymund (the Easter Bunny), Tooth (the Tooth Fairy), and Sandy (the Sandman) - must band together to stop an ancient spirit called Pitch (the Boogeyman) from plunging the world into eternal darkness.

Puss In Boots (working title) will be released on March 30, 2012. It is being directed by Chris Miller, produced by Joe Aguilar and Michelle Raimo and executive produced by Andrew Adamson, and will star Antonio Banderas as Puss In Boots and Salma Hayek as Kitty, Puss' love interest. Swords will cross and hearts will be broken in this adventure starring one of the most beloved characters of the Shrek universe - Puss In Boots. It's a swashbuckling ride through Puss's early years as he teams with mastermind Humpty Dumpty and the street-savvy Kitty to steal the famed Goose that lays the Golden Eggs.

The next chapter of the Company's hit franchise Madagascar is due to be released on May 25, 2012. It is being directed by Eric Darnell (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa) and produced by Mireille Soria (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa) and Mark Swift (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa). Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple; King Julien, Maurice and the Penguins are along for the adventure. This time the road takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent Madagascar style!

On November 2, 2012, the Company plans to release one of three original projects currently in pre-production at the studio. The first is The Croods (working title), which is being directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco and produced by Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell. An old school caveman must lead his family across a volatile prehistoric landscape in search of a new home. The outsized flora and fauna are challenge enough, but the real complication arises when the family is joined by an alarmingly modern caveman whose search for "tomorrow" is at odds with our hero's reliance on the traditions of yesterday. The second is Truckers (working title) based on The Bromeliad Trilogy by fantasy legend Terry Pratchett and written by Academy Award(R) winning writer, Simon Beaufoy. A society of tiny beings lives in a department store, right underfoot and unseen by the humans that shop there. To them, the store is the entire universe. And when they discover that the store is slated for demolition, they must embark on an epic journey to find a new home ... ultimately learning that their true home is literally out of this world! And the third is an as-yet-untitled Super Secret Ghost Project, in which DreamWorks Animation will bring you ghosts as you've never seen them before.

DreamWorks Animation Chief Operating Officer Ann Daly added, "We are thrilled with our exciting line-up of feature projects. With so many promising original ideas and new franchise chapters in our pipeline, we believe this is the perfect time to share our theatrical plans for the next few years as we continue to lead the 3D charge and push creative boundaries to bring our stories to life."

Free ArtVPS Shaderlight 0.1 for Interative Render in 3DsMax

ArtVPS has made Shaderlight, its revolutionary new interactive rendering technology, available for free download. Shaderlight promises to deliver massive productivity and creativity improvements over traditional ray-trace rendering engines. Shaderlight 0.1 is a plug-in for 3ds Max, the leading 3D modelling tool from Autodesk, and is free to download at www.artvps.com. Early adopters of the technology will be encouraged to help shape the software by becoming part of the Shaderlight online community (www.artvps.com/content/discuss) and providing valuable feedback during the key final phase of product development.

Shaderlight is a physically based ray-trace renderer that for the first time enables 3D artists and visualisation specialists to make changes to key image attributes at any stage of the rendering process – even on production quality images – without having to restart the render. Providing a greater level of creative freedom than traditional rendering techniques, Shaderlight enables users to not only see the progressive refinement of a scene when objects or camera angles are altered but also allows them to make interactive changes to materials, environments, lights and textures (the MELT elements) on full quality 3D images. Shaderlight also includes a new approach to global illumination (GI), which enables light, colour and intensity to be updated on screen without the need to re-render.

"As a CG artist I often have to work with clients who have no real idea of how long even the slightest change to an image can take to re-render," says Olaf Finkbeiner, CGI operator at Mainworks GmbH Germany and a member of the Shaderlight Product Steering Committee. "The ability to make changes to materials or environments on a final image would save us days of re-rendering and in this industry time is money."

Michael Lawson, CTO at ArtVPS adds: "This is an exciting time for everyone at ArtVPS. After 18 months of hard work we are delighted to launch Shaderlight 0.1. Shaderlight stands to fundamentally change the way 3D artists and visualisation specialists go about generating images. At the heart of the development has been the user’s experience and we believe that the time and cost savings that Shaderlight will bring are invaluable in terms of improving efficiency and project turnaround. CG professionals need never compromise on the quality of their final output again."

Shaderlight 0.1 is available now as a free download from www.artvps.com, where users can also share feedback, both with each other and with the ArtVPS development team.

http://www.artvps.com/content/news/news?newsID=53