Toon Boom Animation has announced a major upgrade to its signature software application with the upcoming release of Toon Boom Animate 2.
The upgrade is designed to give professional animators more power and flexibility in creating traditional, digital, cut-out and Flash-style animation.
New features include: • Fast distribution of character parts to layers • Easy adjustment of velocity on multiple character parts • Efficient creation of richer-looking ambiance • Full-fledged SWF export with effects • Direct import of scanned drawings (TWAIN) • Convenient text capability
The improvements to Animate 2 will enable animators to draw or import scanned drawings, color, animate, synchronize sound, set camera moves, apply effects and render projects in the leading output formats with no need to jump between multiple applications to make revisions.
It also brings together the most advanced Flash animation feature set available, all embedded in a flexible environment.
Animate’s smart Colour ID system, palette management, painting tools using vector, gradient and texture translate into significant time-savings.
Toon Boom Animate 2 can be ordered now at the special pre-launch price of $549.99, until March 21. Regular price is $699.99. More information about Toon Boom Animate 2, including upgrade info, is available online at www.toonboom.com/animate.
Software maker Autodesk has announced the most-recent versions of its signature digital production applications, including Maya, Softimage and 3ds Max.
"Our 2011 products offer customers great value and integrate avant-garde technology - some developed with industry leaders like Sony Pictures Imageworks," said Marc Petit, Autodesk senior VP media and entertainment. "These versions offer much improved data interoperability through open formats like Autodesk FBX, as well as many innovative new capabilities."
Maya 2011 software offers several breakthrough capabilities, including an invigorated customizable user interface, enhanced tools for character animation including non-destructive live retargeting, high-performance display of large scenes in the viewport, new 3D editorial capabilities for pre-visualization and virtual production workflows, integrated color management, asset structures for pipeline connectivity and improved rotoscoping. Also, Maya 2011 is now available for Snow Leopard, the 64-bit Mac OS X operating system.
3ds Max 2011 features a powerful new node-based material editor, the feature most requested by 3ds Max users, and a high-quality hardware renderer that provides near production quality results 10 times faster than traditional rendering techniques on common graphics cards. It also offers a tightly integrated full-featured high dynamic range compositing system, based on Autodesk Toxik technology, as well as enhanced tools and workflows for creating and texturing models, animating characters and viewing high-quality images interactively.
Softimage 2011 introduces innovative new rendering and animation tools that help artists create more complex, high-quality characters and effects in less time.
Mudbox 2011 delivers new tools for helping deform and pose models. It also offers new image adjustment brushes and blend modes for paint layers, Vector Displacement map extraction, the ability to create higher-quality turntables, and enhanced file transfer with Maya and Adobe Photoshop.
Offering significantly improved interoperability with Maya 2011 and 3ds Max 2011, MotionBuilder 2011 now integrates more smoothly and reliably into production pipelines. Skinning and blendshape deformations are now calculated on the graphics processing unit for improved performance.
Also getting upgrades are Autodesk FBX 2011, Autodesk HumanIK 4.5 and Autodesk Kynapse 7 Middleware.
These new products will also be available as part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites - giving artists and production facilities access to a broad range of creative toolsets at significant cost savings. The suites offer a choice of either Maya 2011 or 3ds Max 2011, and include MotionBuilder 2011 real-time character animation software, as well as Mudbox 2011 digital sculpting and 3D painting software.
Release of the upgrades is expected in April From March 11-13, visit the Virtual GDC event on the AREA community site to watch Maya 2011 and Softimage 2011 product demonstrations and customer presentations live from the Autodesk Game Developers Conference booth.
Animation Magazine has joined the S-3D Gaming Alliance, an industry organization that represents the interests of game developers, display manufacturers, and technology enablers in this field.
Animation Magazine will provide the digital version of its publication to S3DGA and Meant to be Seen members for free, and will present at the 3D Gaming Summit set for April 21 and 22 at Universal City.
"We have to keep up with the times, and stereoscopic 3-D gaming has a very important present and future,” said Jodi Bluth, Animation Magazine's publisher. “Game developers need a firm grasp of this technology, and this is a great opportunity for them to have a real say in how it moves ahead, "
The Animation Magazine offer is available only through links on s3dga.com and mtbs3d.com. The submission form is accessed after registering and logging in to mtbs3D.com, S3DGA's consumer outreach division. All registrations are free and instantaneous.
The summit is the first conference that is nearly 100% focused on stereoscopic 3-D gaming, and features top names like NVIDIA, Real D, Panasonic, Jon Peddie Research, The S-3D Gaming Alliance, and more.
Non-profit and non-proprietary, some of The S-3D Gaming Alliance's top members include Blitz Games Studios, LG, Real D, DDD, iZ3D, The Game Creators, HDMI Licensing, and more. Advisory board members include Jon Peddie of Jon Peddie Research; Neil Trevett, president of the Khronos Group; and Habib Zargarpour, senior art director for Electronic Arts' Need For Speed SHIFT.
Michael Davenport, a veteran VFX artist who most recently worked at Image Metrics, has joined Method Studios as VP of operations.
Davenport will be based at Method’s location in Santa Monica, and will be responsible for overseeing the studio’s Los Angeles and New York operations
“There is a lot happening at Method right now, and we are thrilled to have Patrick join our team to help steer new initiatives,” said Gabby Gourrier, senior executive producer at Method. “Having produced visual effects for both commercials and features, Patrick has unique experience and perspective that make him an ideal choice to manage Method’s technical pipeline.”
A native of the United Kingdom, Davenport’s credits include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Image Metrics, where he introduced the company’s proprietary performance-driven facial animation. He also was director of digital operations and executive producer of Digital Domain’s commercial division. He began his career with The Moving Picture Co. in London.
“I am incredibly pleased to be joining Method Studios at this point in its evolution,” said Davenport. “Method’s facilities on both coasts house a very robust pipeline and a fantastic team of VFX artists, and with a full slate of upcoming feature and commercial projects, I’m very much looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
A group of leading game makers has teamed up to launch Globex Studios LA, which will be the North American development and project management office for global online games leader Globex Studios.
Globex will start out entering the online gaming markets in the United States and China, creating cost-effective, visually stunning and innovative game titles.
"The ability to innovate and be agile has become essential for creating great games," said Benjamin Chow, chairman and CEO of Globex Studios. "By putting together this highly creative international team, we are bringing together the highly sophisticated gameplay of a western game with the unique social gameplay of a Chinese MMO — effectively delivering engaging game play experiences that reach broad consumer demographics on a global scale. We are excited to be meeting these challenges and experiencing the growth opportunities of the evolving worldwide industry with our talented Globex Studios and now Globex Studios LA teams."
Globex Studios LA collectively boasts prior work on more than 100 console/PC games, including notable Pandemic Studios successes Star Wars Battlefront and the original Mercenaries and Destroy All Humans! games. Key members of the L.A. team include former executive art director of Pandemic Studios Carey Chico as president and chief creative officer; award-winning video game designer, director and producer Troy Dunniway as VP of game development; and game product development and publishing veteran Jesse Taylor as chief technology officer and chief operating officer.
The company is currently working on a development slate of original IP that includes a specific focus on massively multiplayer online role playing games targeting the Chinese market as well as online titles with a global appeal.
Actor and Eighties teen idol Corey Haim dead at 38
Corey Haim, famed for his roles in 1980s movies Lucas and The Lost Boys, died at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, said Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie. He was 38.
Haim's career was damaged by drug abuse. An autopsy will determine cause of death. There was no evidence of foul play, police Sgt. Michael Kammert said.
"As he got out of bed, he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees," Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. His mother called paramedics.
Haim had symptoms similar to flu before he died. He was getting prescription and over-the-counter medications, according to police Sgt. William Mann.
"He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had, or it could have been drugs. He has had a drug problem in the past."
In Episode 65 (2002) of MTV Animation's Celebrity Deathmatch, a claymation Haim was depicted in a fight-to-the-death battle against fellow teen idol Corey Feldman.
Federated Resources, a 2006 Robot Chicken episode, had both Haim and Feldman guesting as themselves, uniting to rescue the President's daughters. Haim portrayed a teacher and a man as well.
Haim was taken by ambulance to the hospital from a Los Angeles apartment near Burbank. Feldman, his longtime friend, said that he cried when he heard the news.
"This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family and best friend. We must all take this as a lesson in how we treat the people we share this world with while they are still here to make a difference," he said in a statement. "I hope the art Corey has left behind will be remembered as the passion of that for which he truly lived."
He was born Corey Ian Haim in Toronto on December 23, 1971. At age 10, he began in TV commercials. He was later well-received for his work in such movies as Murphy's Romance (1985), in which he portrayed Sally Field's pre-teen son, and that year's TV-movie A Time to Live, in which he had the role of Liza Minnelli's dying son.
His work in Lucas (1986) and 1987's The Lost Boys, in which he fought vampires, marked his peak as a teenage heartthrob. The 5'8" actor was nicknamed "Space Ace" and "The Haimster."
But in 1997, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Among his assets were a few thousand dollars in cash, clothing and royalty rights. He cited debts for medical expenses and over $200,000 in state and federal taxes.
In a 2004 interview with the British tabloid The Sun, Haim admitted to fighting drug abuse.
"I was working on Lost Boys when I smoked my first joint. I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack," he said.
Haim said that he was put on prescription drugs when he went into rehabilitation, taking sedatives and stimulants: "I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck."
In a 2007 interview on CNN's Larry King Live, Haim called himself "a chronic relapser for the rest of my life."
Also that year, he told ABC's Nightline that drugs damaged his career: "I wasn't functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn't working."
In recent years, he made some TV appearances and was in several direct-to-video movies. He also was in several movies that have not yet been released.
He appeared with Feldman in the A&E reality TV show The Two Coreys, which was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Later, Feldman said that Haim's drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.
Whoopie For Toy Story
Pixar has announced yet another voice for their summer release triquel Toy Story 3. Fresh from her day job at ABC's The View, Whoopie Goldberg has voiced a new character- an octopus- named Stretch.
Watch Clips From Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans
The new Comedy Central animated series Ugly Americans is lurching toward your television. The Flash-animated series, which is being produced by Augenblick Studios (Superjail) and Cuppa Coffee, was created by David M. Stern and Devin Clark. The series premieres March 17th at 10:30pm/9:30c, and below are few new clips:
Ben studied animation under former Disney animator Milt Neil at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He has been in the animation industry since 1984. He started doing animation for small commercials, then years later moved on to J.J. Sedelmaier Productions working on the "Cluckin' Chicken" parody for Saturday Night Live, which led to MTV, where he worked on "Beavis and Butt-Head", doing storyboard revisions, character and prop design, layout. animation on the hallucination sequence on the feature "Beavis and Butt-head Do "America" and also MTV's "The Maxx", doing character layout. As a freelancer, he's worked for various companies including Disney TV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, HBO Family, Miramax, Warner Bros., Saatchi and Saatchi, General Mills and Comedy Central. Currently, he's still doing the freelancing thing, while developing some personal projects for pitching.
Toon Boom Animation has announced a major upgrade to its signature software application with the upcoming release of Toon Boom Animate 2.
Software maker Autodesk has announced the most-recent versions of its signature digital production applications, including Maya, Softimage and 3ds Max.
Animation Magazine has joined the S-3D Gaming Alliance, an industry organization that represents the interests of game developers, display manufacturers, and technology enablers in this field.
Michael Davenport, a veteran VFX artist who most recently worked at Image Metrics, has joined Method Studios as VP of operations.
A group of leading game makers has teamed up to launch Globex Studios LA, which will be the North American development and project management office for global online games leader Globex Studios.
Corey Haim, famed for his roles in 1980s movies Lucas and The Lost Boys, died at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, said Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie. He was 38.
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