The Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a HUGE collection of movie information. They catalog every pertinent detail about a movie, from who was in it, to who made it, to trivia about it, to filming locations, and even where you can find reviews and fan sites on the web. The IMDb people present this information in a manner that is easy to search and access.
The IMDb started as a hobby project by an international group of movie fans(history of IMDb), essentially something by movie fans for movie fans.
IMDb creators say "We are some of our site's most hardcore users. Our managing director claims to have seen over seven thousand movies. Most of our people could write or win a movie trivia game show. One of our proposed slogans was "we just love movies." As big and intimidating as we may seem because of our millions of monthly visitors, we're just a bunch of hardcore movie fans who still can't get over the fact that we're getting paid to keep improving this tool we use so much for our own pleasure."

Autodesk Technology heats up the big screen with Action, Adventure and Animation

Digital artists around the world relied on Autodesk Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ADSK) media and entertainment solutions to deliver this summer's blockbuster entertainment. Transformers, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Surf's Up, Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End, Penelope and countless other feature films have been created using Autodesk technology.
Autodesk software offers creative solutions that help artists raise the bar, push boundaries and deliver visual masterpieces that make for a truly authentic movie experience each and every time, said Marc Petit, Autodesk Media & Entertainment senior vice president. This summer's blockbusters offer something for everyone, including surfing penguins, hammering llamas and transforming superheroes. We continue to support and applaud those artists who create magical images, transporting audiences to exhilarating new heights.
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his posse returned in the long-anticipated trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Post-production facility Asylum completed 315 shots with a visual effects pipeline that included the Autodesk Flame and Autodesk Toxik visual effects solutions, Autodesk Maya 3D animation software, and Autodesk Lustre digital color grading system.
In one scene shaped by Asylum using Flame, Sparrow is exiled to a desert purgatory where he begins to hallucinate and sees 20 clones of himself dressed as his crew. The Flame system was also used to create the climactic maelstrom backdrop along with computer-generated characters, mast extensions on miniature ships and track shots.
Toxik was used for compositing, color correction, and final tweaks.
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) was the main visual effects house for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. ILM used Maya and Flame as part of its proprietary SABRE visual effects system to create computer-generated characters and Maelstrom sequence.
Michael Bay's summer powerhouse Transformers exploded onto the big screen as evil Decepticons re-wage war on heroic Autobots. ILM used Maya and Inferno as part of its proprietary SABRE visual effects system to complete 460 shots for the film. Maya was used for all character animation, including the challenging opening sequence in which a robot attacks an American military base in the Middle East.
Autodesk Inferno was used on two key compositing sequences, including the Bonecrusher scene where a destructive 30-foot rollerblading robot shreds through a moving bus. The robot's bones were created using Maya and imported into Inferno, and were animated and combined with flying and burning debris.
Mark Casey, ILM's SABRE/Inferno artist, explained: Creating and combining production plates, particle elements, computer-generated elements, practical pyrotechnics, and lens flares all in one shot can prove challenging and intimidating; knowing that all these elements can be tamed in Inferno is all the reassurance any artist needs.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer soared on the big screen, showcasing a battle between the powerful Silver Surfer and the planet-eating Galactus. The Orphanage completed approximately 120 shots on the film, with the majority of shots involving Maya 3D animation software.
"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer presented us with an ever-changing array of challenges, from superpowers to surfboards. Maya was there for us at every step, allowing us to develop complex new effects easily and quickly," explained Stu Maschwitz, VFX supervisor at The Orphanage.
Up-and-comer surfer extraordinaire, Cody Maverick (Shia Labeouf), takes audiences on an animated journey in Surf's Up, from Sony Pictures Imageworks. The wizards at Sony Pictures Imageworks used Autodesk Lustre color grading system for the film's final grade. Also, a combination of software was used to create the final water animation, with much of it completed using Maya. Maya is the core of the front-end pipeline at Imageworks, explains Mike Ford, character set-up supervisor. It is used for modeling, layout, animation, and some effects work.
By leveraging the power of Maya Embedded Language (MEL) Python and Maya's API scripting, the Sony Pictures Imageworks team customized the Maya software to overcome many of the film's challenges. Comments David Schaub, animation director at Sony Pictures Imageworks, We never have the question, Well, can the software do that? Because if it doesn't, the way Maya is built allows us to create a tool that will do the job.Modern-day fable Penelope is the story of pig-nosed Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) and her family's secret curse. Double Negative turned to Maya to create the complicated computer-generated tree that helps tell the tale in the film's opening. The complex construction of the growing tree involved building the basic tree shape, including the trunk and main branch structure, using blend shapes to go from one small shape to one big shape, and using a combination of plug-ins to populate the smaller branches and leaves.
The Reaping, Are we Done Yet?, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and Hairspray were films completed with EFILM using the EWORKS color grading system to complete the digital intermediate. The EWORKS system consists of a proprietary configuration of Autodesk Lustre and Autodesk Incinerator technology.
Other summer films created using Autodesk solutions include:
· Evan Almighty: Rhythm + Hues used Autodesk Maya to create computer-generated characters and CafeFX used Maya to model and animate sixty CG salt-water tropical fish
· 28 Weeks Later: Prime Focus London used Autodesk Flame, Inferno and Smoke to create all of the film's photorealistic 3D shots, including the napalm bombing sequence of London's Canary Wharf
· Live Free or Die Hard: Digital Dimension completed 182 shots using Autodesk 3ds Max to create 3D cars, 3D buildings, 3D crowds, 3D smoke and matte painting

Spider-Man 3: Autodesk Technology Helps Web-slinging Superhero Conquer the Dark Side

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) announced on 4 July ’07 that Sony Pictures Imageworks used Autodesk’s media and entertainment technology to create the visual effects shots in this summer’s blockbuster film, Spider-Man 3.
Marc Petit, Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment Senior VP said, “With Spider-Man 3, the artists at Sony Pictures Imageworks have reached new heights in character animation and visual effects. We’re proud that they used Autodesk solutions to enhance characters’ performances with digital doubles and to generate detailed, photo-realistic sets. We congratulate them on this milestone film.”
Sony Pictures Imageworks used Autodesk Maya 3D animation software for modeling, texturing, rigging, match-moving, character animation and visual effects animation on approximately 50 percent of the shots completed by the facility. The Autodesk Flame visual effects system was used for character face replacements and to composite live footage of the main characters into fully computer-generated environments.
For the “Birth of Sandman” sequence, the most technically complex and dramatic sequence in the entire film, Flame technology was used. During the three minutes of on-screen magic, a pile of sand slowly gathers itself into a sentient being and poignantly transforms into the human that is Thomas Haden Church in the role of Flint Marko.
The first shot in the “Birth of Sandman” sequence is approximately three minutes long (2,672 frames), without a cutaway, starting with a few dozen grains of sand that gradually gather with billions of others as the creature is formed. The computer-generated Sandman was created at Sony Pictures Imageworks by a team led by Visual Effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk, Animation Director Spencer Cook and Digital Effects Supervisor Kee-Suk Ken Hahn. The work also highlights the talents of CG Supervisor Bob Winter, Sand Effects Supervisor Doug Bloom and Software Engineer Jonathan Cohen.
“The Sandman shots involved many paint-fixes to blend between different takes of sand simulations,” said Peter Nofz, Sony Pictures Imageworks’ digital effects supervisor for Spider-Man 3. “The Flame system’s versatility and speed enabled us to deliver extraordinary results. Overall, Flame was used in the final step of the production pipeline. It was the tool of choice for many difficult changes and fixes.”
In addition, Sony Pictures Imageworks used Maya to design the “venom” goo. The use of this software in the design of the evil, shape-shifting symbiote allowed animators to build goo-rigs on a shot-by-shot basis. The artists could then animate each shot with those rigs, retaining very precise control over the animation. The result is a powerful, alien-looking black silky goo that slithers and pulls itself along with dramatic fluidity.
“One of our most significant accomplishments on Spider-Man 3 was integrating character animation with effects animation, as they are were very closely related. The Autodesk Maya software‘s flexibility and adaptability made it possible for character animators to work concurrently with effects animators to produce seamless results” concluded Nofz.