CG Today - Animation News

Companies Collaborate to Bring Innovative Technology for Computer Generated Animation and Visual Effects to Digital Entertainment Creation Artists

Walt Disney Pictures and Autodesk Sign XGen Technology License AgreementAt SIGGRAPH 2011, Autodesk, Inc. and Walt Disney Pictures announced an agreement to bring an innovative animation and visual effects technology to the Digital Entertainment Creation community. Autodesk obtained a license with a five-year exclusivity period for the XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator technology (XGen), used most recently by Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS) in the hit animated film “Tangled.”

“A key challenge in the visual effects industry continues to be the need to constantly evolve creatively while somehow controlling rapidly escalating production costs”

Team completes custom development/integration project for Blur Studios

Thinkbox Software Launches Professional Services OfferingAt SIGGRAPH 2011, Thinkbox Software, a top provider of creative solutions for visual artists in entertainment, engineering and design, launched a new Professional Services offering. Thinkbox clients can now tap the company as outsourced R&D to customize Thinkbox software, integrate it into their pipelines and/or develop custom software tools.

Shotgun Increases Studios' Efficiency with V3.0, Rush & cineSync IntegrationAt SIGGRAPH 2011, Shotgun Software unveils Version 3.0 of the Shotgun production management and collaboration system, with new features that make it faster and easier for visual effects, animation and video game studios to manage productions and collaborate. The company also announced two new integration projects; with the Rush render manager and cineSync's new browser-based review tool cineSync Online. Shotgun is showcasing these new capabilities, along with existing integrations with RV, Deadline and Qube! at its exhibit booth, #963.

Company to showcase new version with unique renderfarm-in-a-box demo at SIGGRAPH 2011

Thinkbox Software's Deadline 5.1 Public Beta is Now AvailableAt SIGGRAPH 2011 Thinkbox Software is announcing the public beta of Deadline 5.1, the newest version of the company's popular render farm management solution for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX-based render farms. In addition to feature and performance enhancements, the new release includes integration with the Shotgun production management and collaboration system, and with Draft, Thinkbox's image templating and slating system. The software's full feature set will be showcased in demonstrations with a unique renderfarm-in-a-box configuration.

Dentsu Seeking Partners For North, Central & South America For This 'Battle-Ready' Japanese Hit

"LBX" Robots From Japan Come to the Americas via Dentsu Entertainment USA!The Little Battlers eXperience (a.k.a. "LBX"), a popular television series and franchise based on miniature customizable robots, is now heading straight for the Americas from Japan, it was announced today by Mr. Yuma Sakata, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc.