News from CGW.com

The Brief: Finding Opportunity in the Japanese Gaming Market

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

By Wanda Meloni, M2 Research

There is no denying that the Japanese video game market has suffered from the downturn in the economy. Enterbrain estimates game sales in Japan for 2009 were $5.4 billion, down 6.9 percent from 2008.

The Previsualization Society Goes Live with Official Online Web Portal and Membership Launch

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Los Angeles, Calif. - The Previsualization Society, a non-profit, interdisciplinary organization dedicated to advancing previsualization in feature film, games, commercials, and architecture, has gone live this month, with membership applications now formally being accepted and an online portal newly active on the Web. The initiatives are part of a ramp-up of activities for the Previsualization Society's inaugural year and are key steps in the group's mission of cultivating a community of knowledge and information around the previs process. Both initiatives are being launched on www.previssociety.com.

Zoic Brings Photo-real CG to Broadcast TV with ESPN NASCAR Dominoes

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

To the opening riffs of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets,” two NASCAR drivers jostle for position at the front of the pack. One cuts off the other by the wall, and the rear car speeds up, smashing into the front car. As the front car drifts from the wall, the rear car makes its move, attempting an aggressive pass on the right. But it’s no good--he sideswipes the front car and spins out. He’s slammed by another car and flips high into the air, triggering a massive pile-up. And straight through the smoke and chaos of the pileup--a third driver makes his move and takes the lead. “It’s anybody’s race.”

Stratasys and HP Sign Definitive Agreement for Stratasys to Manufacture HP-branded 3D Printers

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Frankfurt, Germany - Stratasys Inc., a manufacturer of 3D printers and 3D production systems, has signed a definitive agreement with HP for Stratasys to manufacture an HP-branded 3D printer. Used by product designers and architects, Stratasys 3D printers create three-dimensional plastic models directly from 3D digital designs.

SIGGRAPH Selects Carnegie Mellon's Don Marinelli as a Keynote Speaker

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Chicago, Ill. - ACM SIGGRAPH announces the selection of Don Marinelli, a leading Carnegie Mellon scholar and educator, to give one of its keynote presentations at SIGGRAPH, the 37th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Sunday 25 July - Thursday, 29 July 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California.

Busting the Myth that the Super Bowl Sells HDTVs

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

From Retrevo ( www.retrevo.com)

Conventional wisdom has big media events like the Super Bowl dramatically increasing demand for HDTV sets. With the New Orleans Saints about to take on the Indianapolis Colts and the Winter Olympics starting on February 12, Retrevo turned their Pulse study to look at how events like these influence consumers decisions to buy HDTV sets and services. Retrevo asked which events would be more likely to get someone to purchase a high definition TV or HD service. Surprisingly, neither the Olympics, Academy Awards, nor even the Super Bowl provided the biggest motivation to buy an HDTV set.

16th Annual HPA Tech Retreat Held February 16-19

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Hollywood - The Hollywood Post Alliance will host its 16th Annual HPA Tech Retreat, February 16-19, at Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage, California. A premiere event in the broadcast and postproduction industries, the four-day HPA Tech Retreat offers a unique opportunity to review the latest in cinema, broadcast, and related technologies, and to gain insights into the industry’s future from its leading innovators, thinkers, and analysts.

NEC Display Solutions Adds Eco-friendly Desktop to AccuSync Series

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Chicago - NEC Display Solutions of America, a provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announces the 17-inch AS171 to the AccuSync Series, replacing the popular ASLCD73VX-BK display. Joining the recently introduced 19-inch AS191 and AS191WM, as well as the 22-inch AS221WM, this standard-aspect ratio display is designed for small- to medium-sized businesses and continues to promote environmental consciousness, a standard in the AccuSync Series.

Artbeats Offers Free Stock Footage

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Myrtle Creek, Ore. - Artbeats, a 20-year veteran in the stock footage industry, is offering a free, downloadable HD clip every day at artbeats.com. In this "no strings attached" program, visitors to the Artbeats home page can access a different free clip every day simply by registering or logging-in to their online account. The clips, valued at up to $299 USD each, are pre-selected directly from the Artbeats and Artbeats FootageHub libraries and are available as a free download for 24 hours. Those who take full advantage of the Daily Free Clip program can quickly enhance and build their stock footage cache with more than $8,000 in royalty-free HD content each month.

Alice in Wonderland Q&A with Anne Hathaway

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Open Your Calendar to the View

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Italy’s leading CG conference is not to be missed

Wacom Introduces Intuos4 Wireless

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Vancouver, Wa. - Wacom announces the Intuos4 Wireless professional pen tablet featuring Bluetooth wireless technology. The new product is well suited to photographers, designers, and artists who seek the freedom of wireless technology, as well as the control and comfort benefits of Wacom’s professional line of pen tablets.

Vancouver Film School Alumni Honored with Oscar Nominations

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Vancouver, Canada - Vancouver Film School (VFS), Canada’s post-secondary entertainment arts institution, is thrilled to congratulate VFS graduates Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell on the four Academy Award nominations awarded to their acclaimed film District 9, as announced this morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Prime Focus Software Releases Deadline 4.0

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Winnipeg, Canada - Prime Focus Software, the R&D and software development arm of Prime Focus, has released Deadline 4.0, the company's easy-to-use administration and rendering tool kit for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX-based render farms. This new version includes improved Mac OSX support, enhanced scalability and stability, and key new features.

FilmLight Wins Four AMPAS Scientific and Technical Awards

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

London - FilmLight, having grown from a very small start-up to a brand leader in digital film technology in eight years, has won Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Sci-Tech awards. The awards recognize the achievements of 10 of FilmLight's founding engineers in every one of the company's three main product lines, says a representative. This event marks the first time in the history of the Sci-Tech awards that as many as four out of the 15 awards are going to the engineers of a single company.

Oscar Nominees Announced

By: Karen Moltenbrey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

After much speculation following a year of amazing film releases, we now know which movies will compete head to head for the coveted Oscar.

82nd Academy Awards® Nominations

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Beverly Hills, CA — Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, February 2) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar® nominee Anne Hathaway. Sherak and Hathaway, who was nominated for an Academy Award® for her lead performance in “Rachel Getting Married,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards Web site, www.oscar.com.

Matrox Announces Multiple Graphics eXpansion Module Support to Drive Even More Displays

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Montreal, Canada - Matrox Graphics Inc., a manufacturer of specialized graphics solutions, has announced multiple DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go Graphics eXpansion Module (GXM) support to drive up to four or six monitors, respectively, from a single system. A second GXM can now be connected to the secondary output of a supported dual monitor graphics card so two DualHead2Go GXMs can power up to four outputs in 2x2 or 4x1 modes, while two TripleHead2Go units can be combined to connect six displays to produce either a 3x2 or 6x1 set up.

Apple Unveils the iPad

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Cupertino, Calif. - In a long anticipated moment, Apple has introduced iPad, a device for browsing the Web, reading, and sending e-mail, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books, and much more. iPad's high-resolution, Multi-Touch display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is 0.5 inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds— thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run nearly all the more than 140,000 apps in the App Store.

Six-part Adobe CS4 Online Training Session Announced

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Malvern, Pa. - For those interested in solving business design and Web needs with the powerhouse Adobe CS4 applications, there will be a six-part training session: "Adobe CS4 Product Integration for Design and Web ˆ 6 Part Training Session" held February 8-10 in two sessions per day: 12:00-1:30pm and 2:00-3:30pm (Eastern Standard Time).

Legendary Developer Sid Meier To Present Keynote at Game Developers Conference 2010

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

San Francisco, Calif. - Sid Meier, the director of creative development and co-founder of Firaxis Games, will bring to bear over 25 years of experience in game design in the keynote address at the 2010 Game Developers Conference (GDC). Best known for his work designing the genre-defining Civilization strategy game franchise, Sid Meier will present a keynote entitled "The Psychology of Game Design (Everything You Know Is Wrong)."

Bluefish444 Introduces New Functionality to Epoch and Create Uncompressed SDI Capture Cards

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

S. Melbourne, Australia - Bluefish444 announced the immediate availability of major new functionality to the Epoch and Create series of uncompressed SDI video capture cards, via a series of new free installers posted to the Bluefish444 homepage.

2010 CES Sets Optimistic Tone for Industry

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Arlington, Va. - The 2010 International CES, which concluded January 10 in Las Vegas, featured innovative new technologies, from android products and apps to tablets, eReaders, netbooks, and smartphones. As a result of the resounding success from the 2010 CES, exhibit space sales for the 2011 CES are already tracking ahead of 2010, with the 2011 International CES scheduled January 6 through 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Visual Effects Society Announces 2010 Board of Directors Officers

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Los Angeles, Calif. - The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the 2010 Board of Director officers, who were elected at the January 20, 2010 board meeting. The list of officials includes Jeffrey A. Okun, visual effects supervisor, who was re-elected for a second one-year term as Board Chair.

The School of Visual Arts Announces Lectures

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

New York, N.Y. - The School of Visual Arts has announced the school's event listings for February and March 2010.