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Epic Games partners with 'Hobbit' effects company Weta for VR tech
Last year, Epic Games Chief Technology Officer Kim Libreri and Unreal Engine 4 General Manager Ray Davis visited some friends at Lord of the Rings effects studio Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand. They only wanted a tour of the studio, but along the way they ran into Weta's head of R&D, Alasdair Coull. He mentioned that he was messing around with Unreal Engine 4, Epic's game development platform. Fast-forward to March 2015: Epic Games and Weta are showing off a virtual reality demo featuring the greedy dragon, Smaug, swimming through mountains of gold in the second Hobbit film, voiced in all his baritone glory by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Smaug speaks directly to the person in the headset -- Oculus Rift's Crescent Bay model -- and his daunting size is on full display; 500 feet of red-scaled, deep-speaking Smaug.
Industrial Research creates 3D crime scene/movie set scanner
New Zealand's Industrial Research looks to be attracting quite a bit of interest in its prototype handheld 3D scanner, snagging fellow New Zealanders Weta Digital to help put the technology through its paces and now hoping the police will hop on board to put the scanner to more grisly uses. According to the company, the scanner's equally adept at creating a detailed 3D model of a crime scene as it is of a movie set and, what's more, it can be done in only two minutes. The model can then be examined at will by police, presented to a jury, or be used to create the most disturbing Second Life avatar ever. The scanner itself consists of a digital camera with an on-board laser that determines the distance to the object, although it also apparently requires that targets be placed around the scene to properly scan the object -- or person, as the case may be. It also currently needs to be wired to a computer to work, although NZIR says the scanner will be fully wireless by the time its ready to hit the market two years from now. [Via The Raw Feed]
Travelers ad imitating Katamari: just coincidence
We got in touch with Todd Riddle, Group Creative Director at Fallon about the current Travelers commercial that bears a striking resemblance to Katamari Damacy. The spot (high-quality version) in question shows a mass enveloping people, trees, and cars, as it bounces through San Francisco. Riddle said that there's no Katamari relation, but the spot is connected to Peter Jackson's special effects house.Riddle has been in advertising for 20 years and has won of dozens of accolades including Cannes, Clio, and One Show awards. We asked him a few questions about games and the spot, titled "Snowball," via email.
