CG Today - Animation News

Chivas Regal 25 years Old - Euro RSCG London Euro RSCG London has launched an online film telling the story of Chivas Regal 25 Year Old, the world’s first ‘luxury’ whisky, over 100 years after it was first born. By creating 3D style imagery, the 3 minute film immerses people within the historic storyline of Chivas Regal 25 Year Old, from its debut in New York in 1909 through the 20th century until its rebirth in 2007.

The narrator Joseph Fiennes takes the viewer through the story of how Chivas Regal 25 Year Old was born, prospered and then disappeared due to Prohibition and the Great Depression. The film moves through historical black and white imagery to the colour of the present day where Master Blender Colin Scott whose passion re created the legacy of Chivas Regal 25 Year Old for it’s relaunch in 2007.

Angry BirdsRovio, the Helsinki-based developer of gaming sensation Angry Birds, announced Wednesday it had acquired Finnish animation studio Kombo for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock.

Rovio said it wants expand in all areas of the entertainment business, and Kombo will help with its long-term goal of becoming a “world-class powerhouse in animated entertainment.”

Groundbreaking Platform Empowers Users to Create Personalized Avatars and Additional Custom Content

Image Metrics, a leading provider of facial animation technology, today announced the availability of PortableYou™, a groundbreaking new platform for developers as well as online and mobile entertainment, social network and communications companies.

Image Metrics - Portable YouPortableYou provides end-users with the ability to instantly generate customizable 3D avatars from facial photos. Users can then add and share avatars seamlessly across enabled third-party applications, including social networks and other connected platforms.

The launch of PortableYou supports Image Metrics’ mission to provide both professionals and consumers with products for end-to-end character creation and animation across all digital media.

“With the growing demand for more immersive customizable online experiences, creators of digital media are seeking ways to provide users with increased creative control over their own identity and content,” said Robert Gehorsam, CEO of Image Metrics. “PortableYou creates a unique platform for developers to meet these growing demands head-on and in a cost-efficient manner, while creating a brand new catalog of virtual goods to offer users.”

Project Photofly is a cloud-based service that converts 2D photographs to 3D computer models. It is available as a free technology preview on Autodesk Labs.

Autodesk Project Photofly

Capturing the as-built reality  for purposes, e.g. renovation, energy analysis, add-on design,  is  now  possible  using  your  standard  digital  camera,  thanks  to  advanced computer  vision  technologies  developed  by  Autodesk  made  available  through “Project Photofly.”  

Project Photofly is  a  technology  preview  that  automatically  converts  photographs shot  around  an  object  or  of  a  scene  into  “Photo  Scenes,”  which  includes  a photorealistic 3D model, utilizing the power of cloud computing. To use the power of Project Photofly, a  standalone application  for Windows  called  the  “Photo Scene Editor” has been developed. This application  lets you  submit your photographs  to the Project Photofly web service and view the returned Photo Scenes. You can save your Photo Scenes and export the computed 3D points, cameras, and 3D geometry in various CAD formats.

 

Company Relies on Autodesk 3D CAD Software to Create New Class of Ocean Submersibles

Autodesk Inventor - HawkesThe deep sea, not space, is the latest frontier for achieving new records of exploration, and Hawkes Ocean Technologies (Hawkes) is leading the way with its series of winged submersibles that fly through the water, operating much like underwater aircraft. For its innovative research vehicles, Hawkes has been named May Inventor of the Month by Autodesk, Inc.

“Digital Prototyping enables Hawkes to make very effective use of its resources as it dreams up previously unimagined forms of underwater transportation”