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New Furbolg form casting animation
Sure, this is hardly the most important change to come down in patch 3.0.2, but anything Furbolg is worth a mention in my book.Personally, a Furbolg casting is more than enough excitement for me, but you, our readers, are discerning people, and we know you'd like a little bit of insight tailored to your own expectations, so we're going "choose your own adventure" on this one. You can read either one of the next two sections of this post whether you're the sarcastic and cynical reader type or the excited, "can't get enough rumors and speculation" type:Meh: "So Blizzard improved an animation only used by lowbies (Alliance lowbies at that) with an obscure quest item? Is this why we can't have more battlegrounds?"OMG Rumorz: "Emerald Dream expansion confirmed, with playable Furblog races! I can't wait!"There you go: either you get a chance to whine that Blizzard isn't working on more important things, or you can extrapolate a ton of rumors from something that probably took a developer a few minutes to do. Enjoy.Thanks, Acyronius!
Microsoft says Silverlight on iPhone unlikely, G1 more likely
We all know it'll be a frigid day in Hades before Apple lets Silverlight into the iPhone, but for obvious reasons, things may pan out differently for the G1. According to Microsoft's Scott Guthrie, the outfit is still very interested in getting its Flash competitor onto Apple's darling, but as he so rightly points out, "at the end of the day, Apple ultimately controls what software runs on the iPhone." Speaking about Android, he noted that the "Google phone [you mean G1, Scott?] is slightly different," continuing on to say that it's "more of an open platform, [and] that is something we're going to continue to look at." In other words, don't get your hopes up too high that Silverlight will be making its Android debut in the very near future, but you can probably bet Microsoft will have an easier time dealing with Google than with Apple.[Via FierceWireless]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars gets box art, November 11th release date
Let's face it -- whenever a new Star Wars flick comes out, it's a massive deal. Granted, The Clone Wars didn't make nearly as big of a splash as any of the other non-animated versions, but true fanatics will likely be grappling for this one, regardless. We've just learned that said title will be making its Blu-ray debut day-and-date with the DVD release, and as expected, it'll be presented in 1080p with a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Also of note, "The Hologram Memory Challenge" and a "creative conversation" with those instrumental in making the film will appear as BD exclusive bonus features, and a Digital Copy will be included for those who care. Look for this one to crowd shelves on November 11th for $34.99 (MSRP).
Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray disc fully spec'd and ready for October 7 debut
As the flagship Platinum release, Disney is going all out with its Blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty. Surely you've pored over the BD-Live preview video, but with a fast approaching October 7 release date we finally have seen the full specs, including 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, full motion PiP commentary, interactive game and "living menu". Fans of the flick and Disney animation should also peep the HD special features, including a walkthrough of the original Sleeping Beauty attraction at Disneyland, deleted songs, alternate opening and "Four Artists Paint One Tree" featurette. Whether this will take BD-Live features mainstream -- especially while hardware prices remain static -- remains to be seen, but with a bonus standard DVD edition packed in with the Blu-ray, that sure-to-be-discounted $35.99 MSRP doesn't look bad at all.
DreamWorks CEO participates in live transatlantic 3D broadcast
While it's not quite a hologram interview, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg still managed to wow onlookers in Amsterdam by being the subject of a live 3D broadcast originating in Los Angeles. This isn't the first of its kind, mind you, but those involved are still patting themselves on the back and dubbing it the "first transatlantic HD stereoscopic 3D broadcast." Part of the demonstration was to showcase the bigwig's belief that 3D is the future of cinema, as he stated that it was "the most exciting thing to happen to the visual experience in 70 years." Over at IBC2008, 3D HD was being pumped up by firms such as 3Ality and Quantel, and as much as we doubted that this stuff could ever catch on, we can't say the marketing teams aren't doing their darnedest to make it so.[Image courtesy of PhotoBucket]
Zero Punctuation braves interstellar spreadsheets in EVE Online
Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee has reached geek culture superstardom by sacrificing sacred cows. By profanely slamming popular franchises such as Halo and Super Smash Bros., he's brought down the wrath -- and the web traffic -- of virtually the entire gaming community. There's a running joke through many of his animated reviews, though: he hates MMORPGs.Both Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan got the full treatment, and Yahtzee has even criticized some single-player games (such as The Witcher) just for sharing gameplay elements with MMORPGs. His fans apparently thought he was being a bit too harsh. "Not all MMORPGs are the same," they presumably said. "Try EVE Online. It's different!"And so he did. It turns out that "different" might be in the eye of the beholder. Or just as likely, MMORPGs can never be different enough for Yahtzee! The humorous (and as usual, NSFW) video review is embedded above, courtesy of The Escapist.
Wall-E Blu-ray details seep out, it's unsurprisingly getting the royal treatment
To say that Wall-E was a hit for Disney would be grossly understating it, and that's evidenced by the robust Blu-ray release that's being primed for a November 18th release. Unsurprisingly, Disney and Buena Vista Home Entertainment will be releasing this one just before the holiday shopping season really gets going, and we have a hunch it'll probably do some record smashing of its own. The 3-disc BD package will include Digital Copy, Burn-E with Boards (PiP), Cine-Explor with director Andrew Stanton, Axoim Arcade: retro suite of video games with a twist and a few Blu-ray exclusive features including at least one that taps into BD-Live. So, are you going to hand over $40.99 (MSRP) to hear that sweetheart utter "EEEEEVVVAAAAAA!" once more?
New modeling technology breathes life into animation
Ask any animation modeler about the "uncanny valley," and you're sure to get at least a grimace, if not a groan. Said term describes the long-standing barrier which refers to the perception that "animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness." Image Metrics is hoping that a newfangled approach used to create Emily (pictured) will finally allow animations to look more like humans and less like "corpses." As you could probably surmise, the secret is the tech's ability to survey and replicate the most subtle of movements, though even Raja Koduri, chief technology officer in graphics at AMD, doesn't see the line between reality and fiction being blurred before 2020. We'll see what Emily's posse has to say about that.[Thanks, Przemek]
Gettin' Siggy with it: Joystiq goes to SIGGRAPH
We headed into the wonderific CGI fray known as SIGGRAPH this year, and ultimately decided that we need to start checking this out more often. The technical conference just entered its 35th year, with the acronym being for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques. While it's evolved into a pretty glorified job fair, they still show off new and impressive technology, have a large section focusing on papers relating to innovation in the field of computer graphics (like this year's "Simulating Knitted Cloth at the Yarn Level") and feature a fun Computer Animation Festival component filled with dozens of short CGI films in competition.The only gaming companies we noticed in attendance were Activision, LucasArts, and THQ, which mostly offered "we want to hire you!" booths, but a lot of the tech behind games was being shown as well. NVIDIA was demoing "the world's first fully interactive GPU-based ray tracer," and the Mova Contour system was showing off their futuristic looking rig. Plus, it now seems like everyone and their uncle is creating 3D printers that pump out plastic models, but that doesn't mean we don't want one. Read on after the break to find out more, explore the gallery below, and be sure to watch the video that got the biggest laughs, just ahead.%Gallery-29646%
TUAW Hands on with FlipBook for iPhone
Josh Anon's $9.99 FlipBook [App Store link] offers a well-designed animation building tool. Like other flip book drawing products, it lets you create movement frame by frame. What makes FlipBook stand out from the crowd of iPhone drawing tools is its fine attention to interface details and the addition of the flipbook.tv sharing site for the animations you create. Read on for TUAW's take on this new AppStore offering, and see the gallery below for some screenshots of the delightful interface. %Gallery-29071%
Futurama's next flick will be the first on Blu-ray
As if the wait for Futurama's return wasn't bad enough, the wait for its Blu-ray debut has been almost unbearable. The good news out of Comic-Con is that the next movie, Bender's Game is coming day and date on Blu-ray November 4. /Film's early peek at the trailer brings word of jabs at high energy prices and Lord of the Rings parodies, no official release from Fox yet -- or hints about the previously released movies coming to HD -- but in the meantime check out the full ad and mark down 11/4 on your calendar.[Via TheHDRoom]
Re-animated: Dead Space movie cels itself via trailer
We know what you're thinking, and we're right there with you. The absolute best way to capture the intense horror and gore of EA's upcoming Dead Space for a direct-to-DVD (and Blu-ray) movie is with a cartoon. Oh, that wasn't what you were thinking? C'mon – as if the age gate on this trailer for the flick wasn't enough indication, it's not exactly a kid-friendly affair. No sir. It's nice and gory (as gory as cel animation can get, at least). Set for release on October 28 (hey, that's right around when the game's hitting ... coincidence?) the film follows the events that occurred on the mining ship Ishimura (the game's setting, in case you're just joining us) and the planet it's lifelessly orbiting (and why it's orbiting said planet lifelessly) before the outset of the game. Think of it kind of like Enter the Matrix in reverse. On second thought, don't think about Enter the Matrix.
38 Studios to use NaturalMotion's Morpheme engine
38 Studios, the star-studded development studio working on a mysterious MMO codenamed Copernicus, has announced that it will use an animation engine called Morpheme. Morpheme has also been used in EVE Online and Heavenly Sword. Its creator is a company called NaturalMotion, which also created the related and acclaimed Euphoria engine used in Grand Theft Auto IV and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.Jon Laff, 38 Studios' chief technology officer, was quoted in the press release saying, "Morpheme allows us to create very high-quality character animations quickly, cutting down on a lot of intensive animation design and implementation time." Uh, good! Wouldn't want you to pick middleware that slows you down instead!So for those who are keeping track: Copernicus now uses BigWorld, Unreal Engine 3, and Morpheme. It's got the trifecta!
Lab wants users to walk the walk
One of the things that strikes most users immediately about Second Life is the default avatar walk. It's been in there since forever, and it isn't a good one. Reactions range from mild hysteria to outright loathing. Thousands of new users every day are afflicted with this tragic ailment. 'For %*$%%@ sake! Why does my avatar walk like a duck?' Linden Lab is looking for an animator to bring a new, default walk animation to Second Life.
Lead artist-ing with Champions Online's Christopher Chamberlain
Would you believe that this week's edition of Cryptic's meet the team is all about Christopher "Absinthe" Chamberlain, the lead artist in charge of characters, animation and FX for Champions Online? Yeah? Good. We were sure you'd believe, but we still had to check. It's not that Mr. Chamberlain is some kind of famous developer, he's just a very cool individual -- which also makes him an interesting interviewee. That is unless he used is crazy backwards-talking skills whenever you asked him a question. Then he'd just be a startlingly confusing interviewee.As far as his workday goes for creating characters and animations, we're once again forced to feel a little jealous. Most grown-up men don't get to play with form swords all day anymore, but Christopher does just that. Then after getting to play around for who knows how long, the man gets to sit down and decide how villains in the game will look. It doesn't stop there, but we'll let you discover what other madness this man is involved with on a daily basis.
MGS animated short is 'Cold Blooded'
Fans are already filling our need for more Metal Gear post-MGS4. Created by The Duo Group, "Cold Blooded" is an animated short in the vein of the Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, with an almost story-board-like look and an intriguing twist for such a short ... short.Now that we've watched it, we're more eager than ever to hear anything new on the Digital Graphic Novel treatment of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty that was announced last year. The last we'd heard, the comic book adaptation is being slightly tweaked in order to better jive with the plot-bombs dropped in MGS4, in which case we're willing to wait a little longer.
Animation Watch: The Mini-Show of Krys
The Mini-Show of Krys is an animated Flash series based on gaming humor. It sports an engaging aesthetic and players will recognize their own experiences mirrored in the antics of the protagonists.Currently, there are six episodes translated into English from the original French, with eight more awaiting the same treatment. Episodes 4, 5, and 6 are connected, and concern themselves with World of Warcraft. If you find that you're bothered by having to read subtitled English, you can watch the original episodes instead. [Thanks, Krys!]
Meet Danny Southard and an 800lb flaming gorilla
Danny Southard is an animator for Champions Online who gets to help make all the cool superpower animations players are expecting to see -- when they eventually get their hands on the game. He works on both player powers and specifically NPC powers for characters with all types of limb combinations. From the sounds of it Danny just recently wrapped up some work on super strength and is now working on some martial arts powers. You gotta have the basics covered, y'know.As far as new Champions Online information goes, Danny does give us a nice hint when asked about his favorite character from the game world. He says, "I can't reveal his name, but he's the biggest flaming gorilla in the history of videogames." Images of the Human Torch combined with Gorrila Grod burst into our minds when thinking about this mystery character. You can never go wrong with pyrokinetic primates.
New CoX patch puts the wallop back in Martial Arts
City of Heroes Dev Back Alley Brawler has been a very busy guy of late. When he's not fending off incoming questions like a tank herding Rikti monkeys, he's working on animations and visual effects. Recently, several powers have seen improvements to their animation speed, allowing players to beat the tar out of stuff much faster than they used to. Katana was recently improved in this way, and now the set in the spotlight is Martial Arts, which hasn't seen any love for a long, long time. The little pauses have been shaved off, meaning that the kicks and punches now flow beautifully. Forum poster Tormentoso has put together a little demonstration.
MyToons.com first to deliver HD cartoons online
With more and more individuals flocking to the 'net to get their daily fix of original programming, we'd say MyToons is in a perfect position to attract the wandering eyes of cartoon lovers web-wide. The aforesaid website has just launched HD Animation, the first online portal for viewing community cartoon content in high-definition. Additionally, the new system will allow users to "embed and share HD animations at full resolution both on the MyToons site itself and on other pages throughout the internet." If you're an animator looking to have your material showcased in high-def, head on over to the MyToons website and have a look; as for all you viewers, the process is even simpler.
