Zoom, the lifestyle & entertainment channel

Zoom, the lifestyle and entertainment channel has re-launched its website http://www.zoomtv.in/. The channel known for its glamour and lifestyle programming will now make its show offerings available through the website and content packages through mobile platforms.The revamped website will carry Bollywood news, gossip, celebrities, and events. It is designed to cater to the global demand for Indian entertainment, glamour and lifestyle content from India.The website will also offer video library, celebrity interviews, industry news, movie reviews and more. The design of the website is in sync with the visual appearance of the channel. Zoom has also been running its official channel on

Youtube.com/ZoomDekho

The portal will allow its users to connect with each other via the Zoom Club and offer a range of value added services. Zoom is already available on mobile via IdeaTV. The channel is currently preparing to roll out its mobile content services and further scale its web offerings to reach its audience.

2007 WebAward Winners Announced

The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the winners of its 11th annual WebAward Competition for Web site development. More than 2,400 sites from 40 countries were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during this year's competition. Entries were judged on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology. A complete list of the winning sites can be found at the WebAward Web site at http://www.webaward.org/

The 2007 Best of Show WebAward is presented to Walt Disney Internet Group, for their exceptional work on Disney XD . The site was also awarded Best Design WebAward. Disney XD is an online entertainment experience that's designed for how kids want to use the Internet.

Best of show runner up submitted by Atlanta-based IQ Interactive is UPS Whiteboard . Seamlessly integrating with the TV campaign, visitors to the site are treated with the ability to interact with Andy Azula, the actor from the 'Whiteboard' commercials.

Biggs/Gilmore was named Top Agency at the 2007 WebAward Competition, taking home 20 awards. The Top Agency Award given to recognize the consistently outstanding development going on at interactive firms.

The Web Marketing Association would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank all of the many judges and volenteers who participated in this year's WebAwards. Our judges are industry leaders who donate their valuable time and expertise to help set the standard for Internet excellence. It is an honor and a privilege to work with such an esteemed group of individuals, without whom the WebAward competition could not go on.

We love our logo - MTV

We love our logo. For real, we wanna take it out for an expensive candlelit dinner... TWO appetizers. Since MTV's inception in 1981 our brand's been the subject of countless artist interpretations by some of the world's most beautifully warped minds. We plan to keep that spirit alive with the new mtv.com and push it to the next level... YOU. This project is called MTV Hats (Header Art Treatments), and we plan to wear many of them. The works of art at MTV Hats are currently in rotation on mtv.com. Calling all artists? we want YOUR MTV.
To begin, download this Photoshop template. It's set up with actual dimensions, guidelines and a few samples of art in rotation on our site. Once your masterpiece is complete you'll need to email a high quality JPEG of your artwork here. We'll be scouring through submissions for the fresh, the fun and most importantly, the FREAK. If your piece is chosen we'll request a layered Photoshop file from you for our final output. The best of the best will be posted on this blog and go into permanent rotation on mtv.com for the world to adore. We apologize for any delay in posting your submissions- we're just getting started on this project and have to sort out a few legal issues. Please be patient!
Rock steady,
MTV.com Design Team

Watchout the MTV Hats

Download Photoshop Template

Submit your Logo

Chandamama then and now

On completing 60 years, Publisher and MD Vishwanath Reddi shares the journey of Chandamama Pvt Ltd. for our readers…Early years…Chandamama was the brainchild of two visionaries of Madras (now Chennai)—Mr. B Nagi Reddi, who later became a leading film producer in South India and who promoted the largest film studio in Asia, and Mr. Chakrapani, a litterateur in Telugu, Hindi and Bengali.They were volunteers in India‘s freedom movement and were anxious about the children of the country who, they found, had all along been denied much knowledge of their motherland—its heritage, hoary past, traditions and culture. They realised that the best vehicle to take children closer to these aspects of India would be through a magazine and to impart information through stories narrated in a simple spoken language supplemented by illustrations. In the ‘30s and ‘40s, there were no magazines for children; even most of the books available were of no literary value.The two friends launched Chandamama in July 1947 – first in Telugu language, followed by an edition in Tamil in the same month. When the two magazines began rolling out month after month, demands soon rose for editions in other languages.
Mile stones…It is a universally accepted fact that India is a land of stories. However, till Chandamama appeared in the print media as a colorful, multilingual story magazine, many of those stories had remained beyond the reach of children. Chandamama can boldly claim itself, perhaps, as the key player in promoting children‘s literature with a multi-layer national spirit. By promoting the use of spoken language without hurting the literary flavor of many a language in India, Chandamama had played a pioneering role in taking children closer to their mother-tongue and cultural heritage.
Mr. B Nagi Reddi’s words….Our nation, too, celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of Independence this year, and it is indeed sad to observe its apathy towards children. Whether it is children‘s literature, children‘s theatre, children‘s films or children‘s welfare, they come next only to all other programmes and priorities. The concept woven round the magazine has been preserved intact all these 60 years.

'Indian Splendor' to become annual Indian event in US

Encouraged by the response received in the United States, the organizers of the recently concluded event 'India Splendor' have decided to turn this into an annual fete.The next edition of 'India Splendor' is scheduled to be held from 15 to 17 August 2008 in Los Angeles, according to MCorp Global President and India Splendor director Bhuvan Lall. India Splendor was celebrated across six days from 10 to 15 August on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence and was attended by over 5000 people. It was designed to present the best of India’s arts, business, culture and spirituality.Said Lall, “We have been overwhelmed and humbled by the tremendous response by the citizens of Southern California to the first 'India Splendor' event this year and have decided to have a sequel next year.”Notable Indians and non-resident Indian participated in the extravaganza which included some of the country’s most prominent filmmakers, artists, performers, scholars, business moguls, politicians, spiritual leaders and others.

Visit the website to know more about the great event.

Warner Bros. to distribute Nikhil Advani's 'Made in China'

Warner Brothers Pictures has inked a worldwide distribution deal for Made in China, a Hindi film to be produced by Ramesh Sippy and directed by Nikhil Advani. According to an official release, the shooting for the film which for the first time will see an Indian production in China, is expected to get underway in January 2008. The film, written by Sridhar Raghavan (Khakee, Bluffmaster), stars Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone and music composers are Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The story is centred around Kumar who plays the role of Sidhu, a lowly Mumbai cook mistaken for a martial arts hero.Warner Bros entertainment India country manager Blaise Fernandes said, "We are excited and proud to be working with such respected partners as Ramesh Sippy and Orion. We will count on our partners' expertise and will do everything in our power to make a well-crafted, popular and successful Indian film."Advani will be helming an action film for the first time. He has previously directed the drama-musicals Salaam-E-Ishq and Kal Ho Na Ho. Besides directing Sholay, Ramesh Sippy has produced films such as Bluff Master and Taxi No 9211.

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

Rs 40 Million ‘Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang' all set to light up the Silver Screen in December'07

Produced at a cost of Rs 40 Million ‘Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang‘, the first feature produced by Elecom Fiesta Entertainment, is all set to light up the Silver Screen this December.Elecom Fiesta Entertainment is a joint initiative between Kolkata based Elecom Toon and Mumbai based Fiesta Entertainment, where both companies have jointly set up a corpus for producing animated features.If the brochure and other publicity material of the venture‘s first feature are anything to go by, the 80 minute long 2D animated feature looks like a winner.The 80 minutes long film has drawn inspiration for its title from the 1964 children’s book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming (which later inspired the 1968 film by the same name). The 2D feature’s story is neither a copy nor an inspired version of it.Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang revolves around two Kingdoms of Ants who are at loggerheads with each other. However, it is not a battle story altogether. There is a romantic twist too, as the Prince and Princess of warring Kingdoms fall in love. The film in fact works on the premise that ‘War Never Pays’. It endeavors to drive home the point that with unity and peace are the driving factor’s for a nation’s health.Story, script, animation direction, pre production and production are being done in house at Elecom Toon and Fiesta Entertainment is working on all aspects of post production including sound design. The feature will be released in six Indian languages with the Bengali and Hindi versions to hit screens first.Fiesta Entertainment Director N D Nagpal said, "Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang is the first movie from the bouquet of Elecom and Fiesta joint venture. We have invested a lump sum of Rs 40 Million and an additional Rs 10 Million is expected as investment in our marketing plans and promotion of the movie.""We plan to make one animated movie each year for the next three years. Soon we will be announcing other animated feature which will be based on a famous Indian novel. We also have merchandising plans as part of which we will introduce books, toys, stationery, contests and other promotional activities"On being asked about the production schedule, R D Malik, CEO of Elecom Toon shared, "The production work began in April this year and close to 100 artists are working round the clock. The movie is almost complete and we are planning release it in theatres with four hundred prints‘Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang also features the voices of well known Indian actors like Ashish Vidyarthi, Mahesh Manjrekar, Asrani and Anjan Srivastva.Nida Fazli‘s awe inspiring lyrics in the film find voices of renowned singers including Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Kunal Ganjawala, Sudesh Bhosle and Rashid Khan

2D Animated Advertisement

Watch "Thakur Ka Intequam" at http://www.thakurkainteqam.com/
A 2D animation created by Webchutney for orbit white chewing gum advertisement.

Autodesk To Acquire Skymatter

Autodesk Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Skymatter Limited, the developer of Mudbox 3D modelling software. This acquisition will augment Autodesk’s offering for the film, television and game market segments, while providing additional growth opportunities for other design disciplines. Autodesk anticipates that the transaction will close in the next two months. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Skymatter is a privately held New Zealand-based company. Skymatter’s Mudbox software offers a new paradigm of 3D brush-based modelling, allowing users to sculpt organic shapes in 3D space with brush-like tools. Appealing to both traditional sculptors and digital artists, Mudbox provides a simple and fast toolset for creative modelling, prototyping and detailing. 3D assets created in Mudbox are often imported into Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya software for texturing, rigging, animation and final rendering.
“Entertainment and design markets are demanding more integrated technology workflows, as well as increased realism and sophistication,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “In order to create advanced digital characters and models, 3D artists are relying on Skymatter’s Mudbox software, along with Autodesk’s 3D solutions. By acquiring Skymatter, Autodesk will be able to offer a more complete solution for film, television and game pipelines, as well as new workflows for other design disciplines, such as automotive and industrial design.”
Mudbox is used by leading visual effects and game development companies, including Weta Digital, Blur Studio, Cinesite, Epic Games, Pandemic Studios and The Orphanage. The software has shaped photorealistic creatures for the blockbuster film King Kong, as well as upcoming films The Golden Compass, Fred Claus and Inkheart.
Skymatter founders Andrew Camenisch, Dave Cardwell and Tibor Madjar will join Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment business. These computer graphics veterans have production experience from Weta Digital and Electronic Arts, as well as design experience from Ford, GM and Mercedes Benz.
Skymatter’s Madjar commented: “We’re excited to join forces with Autodesk. Autodesk develops the most popular 3D modelling, animation and rendering software products in the world. Mudbox offers a strong complementary toolset and an innovative way to create 3D models. We look forward to working with Autodesk’s product teams to evolve the Mudbox capabilities to meet the expanding needs of a wide variety of digital artists and designers.”

Click to Read the Press Release

Click to Read Autodesk & Skymatter Fact Sheet

Click to Read about Skymatter's Founders

Animation Pure & Simple With Toon Boom Digital Pro

Emmy Award-winning Toon Boom Animation has released Toon Boom Digital Pro, its latest high-performance animation software.
Packaged in an easy-to-use interface, Toon Boom Digital Pro is the complete animation software for professionals, offering advanced content creation, animation and compositing capabilities within a single application.
Productivity tools such as state-of-the-art vector engine, palette management, lip-sync, true 3D space, morphing and inverse kinematics enable users to unleash their creativity. Toon Boom Digital Pro comes with kick-start programs to ensure successful and seamless studio integration, extensive training material and reliable customer support. Digital Pro is the tool of choice for animation projects ranging from the simplest to the most detailed, from digital to complete cut-out styles.
"We are committed to releasing easier-to-use products to meet the demand of a broader range of users. Toon Boom Digital Pro certainly offers a smooth creative experience, in addition to significantly reducing operational costs with its integrated pipeline, leading-edge toolset and paperless production. Combined with Storyboard Pro, Digital Pro offers all creative minds the most advanced toolset to create animation digitally," shared Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom.
Feature highlights include:
Superior Animation Tools with a rigging tool made for robust framework, morphing for automatic in-betweens, inverse kinematics for natural looking animation, automated lip-sync, a virtual light table and a rotary animation disk.
Asset Library to store animated cycles, sounds, effects, characters, backgrounds, props, templates for reuse and to maximize the drawing substitution tool to easily swap elements and create new poses and expressions.
Advanced Palette Management to create colour models with independent palettes, easily change colours of any element at any time during production, all in real-time.
True 3D Space to place elements at different depths and automatically preserve their perspective using the real-time multi-plane camera and easily add a depth of field effect for an even more realistic render.
Sparkling Effects and Compositing to apply any combination of effects on elements instantly anytime during the production using the effect network, selecting from over 50 special effects and seeing changes implemented in real-time with interconnected windows.
Unparalleled Image Quality, relying on a state-of-the-art real-time vector engine and offering full resolution independence for outputs to every media, from web and handheld devices to film and HD.
Artistic Style Unleashed to develop any project from cut-out animation to frame-by-frame without having to compromise quality or style, and to mix cut-out characters with traditional vector animation over bitmaps of 3D rendered objects.
Integrated Workflow, covering all the production steps from storyboarding to final rendering, working freely in a non-linear workflow.
Toon Boom Digital Pro is offered in three versions: commercial, educational and personal learning edition. Toon Boom Digital Pro sells at $2,999 US and is now available .
Toon Boom Animation Inc. is the worldwide leader in animation software solutions. Toon Boom carries entry level and high-end animation software solutions for film, television, web, games, mobile devices and training applications. Toon Boom’s solutions also include powerful pre-production tools ideal for all animated or live-action projects. In 2005, Toon Boom was granted the Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its significant contribution made to the animation industry targeted for television, in North America and throughout Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In 2006, the IT Federation of Quebec (FIQ) awarded an OCTAS 2006 in the Multimedia – educational and cultural sector category, for Toon Boom Studio V3. In 2007, FIQ awarded an OCTAS 2007 in the Technological Innovation category, for Toon Boom Storyboard Pro.
Toon Boom's client base ranges from major studios creating Hollywood blockbuster animated films to individual animators creating their first masterpieces. Market-leading studios using Toon Boom's products include Nelvana, Warner Bros., Mercury Filmworks, China Central Television, Toonz Animation India, Starburst Animation, Answer Studio, Alphanim, Cosgrove Hall, Cromosoma and Lanterna Magica, to name a few. Some of the prestigious productions done with Toon Boom’s technology include Les Triplettes de Belleville, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, The Rugrats, SpongeBob The Movie, Curious George, Go West: A New Lucky Luke Adventure and The Simpsons Movie

A one-stop online movie tickets booking portal for India

Everyone wants to watch movies, but no one wants to queue up outside multiplexes for tickets. That, simply put, is why online booking of tickets has been seen as a viable e-model for cinema houses. Now, there’s a new player – http://www.bookmyshow.com/ – that has unveiled a one-stop-shop for online purchase of movie tickets across the country.
The website is promoted by BigTree Entertainment, which recently received funding from the TV18 Group. BigTree is not new to the business; over the past five years, they have been offering ticketing and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions to major multiplexes such as the PVR chain. Buoyed by the fact that BigTree Entertainment helps sell around 2 million tickets annually, it’s not surprising that they have now decided to come up with their own online ticketing facility.
Bookmyshow.com offers consumers the ability to book movie, play and concert tickets in real time, either through the site or through their call centre. It has tied up with major multiplexes such as PVR, Adlabs, Fun Cinemas, Inox, DT cinemas, Prasadz, Wave, M2K cinemas and 24Karat.
Initially, Bookmyshow.com’s booking services will be available across 27 cities from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Lucknow to smaller cities such as Agra, Aurangabad, Indore, Latur and Panipat. According to Ashish Hemrajani, CEO, BigTree Entertainment, Bookmyshow will later expand to cover ticketing facilities for venues all over India. There is a strong focus on boosting the number of call centres across India; right now, only 11 cities have call centre facilities.
What about the new site posing competition to the online ticket booking systems (powered by BigTree) owned by multiplexes? Hemrajani feels there will be no clash and that his site will only augment the total number of tickets sold.
When a ticket is booked through the site, an SMS is sent or a voucher is mailed as a booking receipt. The voucher needs to be printed out and taken to the venue to get the ‘real’ tickets). To book through a call centre, a consumer needs to call on a number (39895050) and order a ticket, which will be delivered at his doorstep.
A consumer has to pay a convenience fee of Rs 10-15 per ticket, whether booked through the call centre or online. “Right now, Bookmyshow.com is not offering SMS-based booking, but will launch SMS booking and Pay by Mobile services soon,” says Hemrajani. Apart from booking the tickets, a person can choose his seats, too.
The major revenue stream is going to be the convenience fees charged for booking tickets, which is Rs 10-15 per ticket. Right now, there are no ads on the site and Hemrajani is not convinced about offering space to advertisers because he thinks it will create transactional hassles for customers.

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.

Toon Boom animates The Simpsons Movie

Watch the trailer:



Emmy Award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. encouraged all animation lovers and Simpsons fans to go see The Simpsons Movie and experience the Toon Boom technology at its best. In addition to winning 23 Emmys and 22 Annie Awards, The Simpsons is the most popular primetime animated series and the longest running half-hour sitcom in the history. Its success on the big screen is more than promising.
Produced by 20th Century Fox and animated at Film Roman, a Starz Media company, The Simpsons Movie is done in 2D animation using a combination of Toon Boom Harmony and Opus. To create animation of the highest quality, the team has taken full advantage of Toon Boom‘s powerful network solutions from the design stage to final rendering. The impressive use of special effects applied on characters, the extensive number of characters, the breathtaking backgrounds and the smart combination of 2D and 3D animation makes the whole adventure worth watching.
David Silverman says close to 100 animators worked more than 18 months on the movie, and brand-new animation techniques were devised to show crowd shots of most of the population of Springfield. In the end, there were 100 speaking parts. And all this after it took four years just to come up with a script that everyone could agree on.

Visit http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/ to experience the Simpsons life-style
Visit http://www.toonboom.com/ to know all about toon boom

simpsons

Cadbury Mini 2D animated TVC by Famous House of Animation

Mumbai based Famous House of Animation has recently created a refreshingly wonderful 2D animated TVC for Cadbury Mini.
The TVC Nanha Jadugar was worked on by 20 artists and was completed in 22 days.
Divided into three sections the story of the commercial revolves around a kid magician ‘Nanha Jadugar‘, who turns big things into small to entertain his friends.
The Creative Director, Famous House of Animation E. Suresh shared, "I was very clear that this will work very well with 2D. And 2D has once again become rare in terms of its presence in the TV ads. 3D and clay have become very popular lately, so I felt a need to showcase more variants within the 2D animation category to make people bold enough to go for this medium."
The first section has the Nanha Jadugar making his dad‘s car into a toy car but fails to get it back into its original size. Dad is furious, the kids run off.
The second situation is where the small kids play cricket against big bad boys and Nanha Jadugar comes to their rescue by making the opponent bats-man‘s bat really tiny like an ice-cream spoon and gets him clean bowled. The big bad boys get furious and the kids run off.
In the last section the kids feel like having Perk and other Cadbury products, but they have only Re 1 and 2. So, the Nanha Jadugar swings into action by making a section of Cadbury products smaller in sizes to make them available at the same price. The kids are all excited with the new twist in the story for once without any repercussions like the earlier situations.
Suresh said, "2D as a style seems to be very unimpressive when one has to take a client through to get him/her on board of a 2D animation production ship. It is comparatively easy with 3D and clay animation. Many clients view clay as a very exclusive medium to use and rightly so as the craftsmanship availability is rarer and that makes it very expensive too."
"But we in India, especially our TV audience are not oriented at all to the wide range of possibilities that 2D animation as a medium can offer. I would jump at an opportunity to make a stylized animated ad any day given the right amount of time, budget and patience" he concluded.

Watch the New Add of Radio City in flash animation

Be it movies, casting, daily soaps, or even marketing. Animation has always been a prolific medium of communication and of late, it‘s now being used in every possible aspect of marketing and branding.

Recently music major Radio City 91.1 FM has rolled out with its new marketing campaign ‘Fun ki Nayi Bhasha‘ where animation has been used intensively.

Click to Download Video

Click to Watch the Video

As part of the campaign, Radio City has taken idioms, added a fun twist to them and created a fun experience by using flash animation in viral ads and interpreting them literally to demonstrate a whole new refreshing take on life. "The idea behind the campaign is to get our audience to participate and add to the new language of fun on Radio City" said Rana Barua, National Marketing Head of Radio City.

Barua shared, "Animation is a very pertinent tool that we have decided to use to take our ‘Fun ki Nayi Bhasha‘ across to our listeners. I believe that animation should and can be used effectively to express thoughts and key messages that one would like to communicate."

The Bansuri webisode (viral) of duration 80 seconds has been conceived by the creative team at Meridian. As the future plans of Radio City, there are other webisodes which are in pipeline and will soon be out on the net.

On being asked about the response of the campaign, Barua said, "We are quite thrilled on the response we have received so far. It‘s really been very positive, be it from our listeners or other players across industries."

"Combined with Radio City‘s previous pioneering initiatives, the viral campaign will further enhance and amplify the communication listeners across the length and breadth of the country. Through the viral campaign listeners will be able to view and experience a sense of unshackled spontaneity and associate that with the brand Radio City" concluded Rana.

Watch the Video Here

Sony Online Entertainment announces a lineup of free online games

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), announced on 18 July ‘07 the redesigned company web site, www.station.com, will host more than twenty free games, a new look and improved functionality. Station.com is the user-friendly main portal for SOE’s games, communities and information. The newly revamped site will host free trials of the majority of SOE’s MMOs; casual games such as PopCap’s Bejeweled® 2, Jeopardy! ® and Wheel of Fortune®; and mobile games such as Q*Bert™, Snoop Dogg Cruisin’, and the recently released God of War™: Betrayal. In addition, the Station Pass has transitioned into a free online game service available to all players.

“As SOE continues to grow its business and acquire a wider variety of titles, it was only appropriate that the Station.com website be redesigned to offer a more user-friendly and immersive experience to our diverse player base,” said Torrie Dorrell, SVP Global Sales & Marketing, Sony Online Entertainment. “Players from around the world will be able to obtain news and information surrounding upcoming and live games, visit community sites, download a casual game or two and even check out SOE’s latest offerings for the PLAYSTATION® Store. The site is launching simultaneously in English, French, German and Japanese, with plans to role out more languages, services and games in the coming months.”

Players can obtain a Station.com account for free by simply registering on the homepage. From there they will have access to free online games and trials of SOE’s live games in addition to access to community discussion forums, podcasts and more.

Simultaneously, the Station Pass games have become free. The Station Pass consisted of the full versions of the three casual, online action-based strategy games: Tanarus®, Cosmic Rift™ Online and Infantry Online™. Each of these games has consistently maintained a steady fanbase for the more than five years they have been live, and this transition to a free service will allow new and current players to experience these titles.

Indian Artists` work on Digital Skin Grafting for `Sivaji`

At times VFX is about sheer technique, at times it is a lot of hard work!
Sample this: Rajnikanth starrer Sivaji-The Boss has a song sequence (Style song), where the wheatish skinned super star sports a European Complexion.Sounds like a case of color correction? or DI? It would have been so, but for a small thing, the makers of the movie wanted the star to not only have light colored skin but a soft fluffy texture as well!
Enter Chennai based studio ‘Indian Artists‘ which came up with the idea of Digital Skin Grafting.

"After the song sequence was shot with Rajnikanth, Cinematographer K.V.Anand and our team actually reshot the same song with an enchanting European belle who performed Rajnikanth‘s steps in the same lighting conditions. All the 630 shots with Rajni and the additional 630 shots with the European model were scanned in 4K resolution. Each of the 9000 scanned frames ware rotoscoped to separate the body parts (face, hands, legs etc.). The lady‘s skin was mapped onto the Rajnikanth‘s image using Eyeon "Digital Fusion" software. And finally the actor got his glowing white complexion with a soft fluffy skin texture" shared VFX Supervisor V. Srinivas M Mohan.
"There were two difficult aspects in this project. One was matching the girl‘s action with the hero‘s action and the second was matching both of their body proportions during mapping. The work involved was laborious and painstaking. Great attention was paid to detail right from the shoot until the final print. It has taken 25 dedicated CG technicians almost a year to achieve this 6½ min. feat" he added.
On being asked as to why not color correction or DI, Srinivas pointed out that, "The complexion would have changed, but the texture would have remained the same. Besides with fair complexion, there is a lot more translucency and hence very less shadows"
Why not CG? "With the full CG face, 3d tracking, matching expressions and lighting of the hero are again difficult and time consuming tasks and besides we are specialists in compositing" he elaborated.
The film ‘Sivaji-The Boss‘ starring Rajinikant is amongst the costliest film made in India. It has been Directed by S.Shanker, Music by A.R. Rehman and Produced by A.V.M Productions.

Take all the DVDs to your iPhone

So. You've got your iPhone and you've got your favorite movies on DVD. Now what? How do you bring the two together?

Innovative Solutions has got . . . well, an innovative solution for you. It's a piece of software called DVD to iPhone and it takes all manners of video content (DVDs, home movies, whatever you downloaded from the Internet, etc.), works some sort of "cyberspeed technology" voodoo magic on it, and gets it all nice and pretty for optimized viewing on the iPhone.

The best part? It takes just two clicks. Well, four clicks really because you have to head over to dvdtoiphone.com first and download the free trial, but let's not split hairs.

The full version of DVD to iPhone is available at an introductory rate of $30 and, ironically, is not Mac-compatible.

Animation as an industry, and its scope in India

Animation -- it's an art, it's a part of entertainment and it can be your career! Toonz Animation Academy has launched a professional animation training course in Mumbai, and at a series of seminars held in the city last week, dean of the academy Dino Cordero discussed both the course being offered and a career in animation. Philippines-based Cordero has worked with several animation studios across the world; he has been a part of popular cartoon series like 'Loony Tunes', 'Tom and Jerry', 'Winnie the Pooh' and 'Fantastic Four'. He has also worked on 'X-Men' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'.

Animated cell phone displays, commercials, cartoons and movies are a big part of life in today's modern world, but India so far has played a very small part in the global animation industry. There are about 10 animation studios across the country, and only around 3000 animators work for them. "The industry is bottlenecked when it comes to procuring skilled professionals for jobs. There are many people who are familiar with the software, but they are not qualified animators," says Binu Raj, marketing head, Toonz Animation.

Entertainment, though, is not the be-all and end-all of the industry. It has applications in various fields. Defence personnel use animation to design armaments, forensic scientists use it to recreate crime sequences and it is also used in the fields of space research and medicine.

Click to know about the variour institutes which offer animation courses.