Princess and the Frog

Thanks to all the Disney fans that joined us at the Princess and the Frog Screening last week.

ToonBoom Harmony was used in the creation of this Feature and its bringing in rave reviews.  Read more on how it was used for the first time at Disney's studios.

This is what some of our visitors had to say. :-

Really amazing experience! Disney pulled it off brilliantly once again.Thumbs up to the complementary popcorn and cola.

 

It was really nice, popcorn tasted great too :)

Very cool evening, didn't expect to get free coke and popcorn too - that was definitely a plus. Thanx for organising it.

It was awesome, the people were really nice and friendly, the cinema was clean and comfy and they gave us free popcorn and coke (woohoo!), got to meet some of my old buddies too... ... it was a nice and relaxing evening away from work... looking forward to the next one (hehe)...Big Thx to TouchVision

I went with my wife and kid (2yr). We really enjoyed it a lot. It was also our first time going to the movies since we moved to Cape Town. My son definitely loved it ‘coz he was unusually quiet during the movie. Thanks to Cape Film and Toon Boom for giving me and my family a wonderful first cinema experience in Cape Town.

 

 

Autodesk NAB Showreel

Show Off Your Talent in the Autodesk Best of the Best Show Reel 2010

Looking to show off your company’s talent? Be part of the Autodesk 2010 Best of the Best Show Reel. Submit your latest film, commercial, broadcast, music video and episodic projects created using Autodesk software, such as Autodesk® Inferno®, Autodesk® Flame®, Autodesk® Flint®, Autodesk® Flare™, Autodesk® Smoke®, Autodesk® Lustre®, Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® 3ds Max®, Autodesk® Mudbox™, Autodesk® MotionBuilder®, and Softimage® tools.

VRay

The newest build of V-Ray 1.50 Service Pack 4a for 3ds Max®, is  now available.

 

The upgrade is free of charge for all current V-Ray for 3ds Max customers of Chaos Group.The V-Ray® 1.50 Service Pack 4a is compatible with Autodesk® 3ds Max® 8, Autodesk® 3ds Max® 9, Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2008, 3ds Max® 2009, Autodesk® 3ds Max Design 2009, Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010, Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010.

 

Turtle 5.1 for Maya 2010

Illuminate Labs today proudly presents the release of the brand new Turtle 5.1

Gothenburg, Sweden – January 12th, 2010 – Illuminate Labs™, creators of world leading lighting solutions for the games industry, today announced the release of the new Turtle™ 5.1 version for Autodesk Maya 2010.

Read more: Turtle 5.1 for Maya 2010

Smoke OSX

Smoke 2010 -Now on the Mac.


Dont just edit..Finish

How many times have you had to outsource part of a project because you didn’t have the tools or time to finish a challenging composite or solve a technical problem? Maybe the schedule was too tight for your existing workflow; maybe you weren’t able to work fast enough; or perhaps your tools just didn’t have the creative capability you needed.

Meeting these challenges is what Autodesk® Smoke® software was designed for – and now it’s available on the Mac® computer.

Smoke 2010 for the Mac OS® X platform helps you keep entire creative projects in house with an end-to-end creative workflow that delivers the speed and interactivity you need to finish faster. With Smoke, you gain the advantage of an integrated finishing suite that lets you move easily between conform, visual effects, and color correction in a single application. And by adding Smoke to your existing creative cut workflow, you can unleash your creative potential and grow your business organically.

From award-winning keying to intuitive color correction to true 3D compositing – Smoke provides the tools you need to own the creative of any project that comes through your door.

 

Introducing Motionbuilder 2010

Autodesk Introduces MotionBuilder 2010 Real-Time 3D Character Animation Software.
Offering Faster Performance, Enhanced Animation Workflows, Expanded Physics Capabilities and Improved Interoperability.

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 3, 2009 — At SIGGRAPH 2009, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) announced a new version of its real-time 3D character animation software — Autodesk MotionBuilder 2010. This latest release offers faster overall performance, productivity-enhancing animation workflows and expanded real-time physics capabilities. MotionBuilder has been used to create numerous entertainment projects, including “Beowulf,” “Gears of War 2,” “Shaun White Snowboarding” and “Resistance 2.”

MotionBuilder 2010 will also ship as a part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites and the Autodesk Real-Time Animation Suites, leveraging the software’s improved interoperability with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max software and making it more affordable to incorporate the technology into digital entertainment workflows.

“Autodesk MotionBuilder is an ideal tool for high-volume game animation pipelines, director-driven virtual cinematography and real-time character simulations,” said Stig Gruman, vice president, Autodesk Digital Entertainment Group. “The enhanced capabilities and accessibility of the 2010 release will help to further reshape the creative decision-making process, as more and more creative visionaries adopt the technology for virtual cinematography and pre-visualization work.”
“I haven't been this excited about a MotionBuilder release since I was first introduced to the software in 2003,” said CJ Markham, lead animator at Rockstar Games London. “The physics tools and solutions are amazing, and it feels much faster than the older versions. Compatibility with my 64-bit processor and the ability to use all 12 gigs of my RAM makes plotting long scenes with multiple characters a breeze.”

New Feature Highlights

Accelerated Performance

• Improvements to and memory optimization of the core engine help provide superior performance when handling large scene files.
• The nonlinear editing capabilities of the Story Tool are now faster than ever, enabling more rapid handling of data for cinematics and motion editing scenes.
• Productivity-Geared Animation Workflows
• Enhanced pose control support enables animators to capture poses and apply them to another object for rapid reuse of animations.
• Support for user-defined keying groups enables animators to work more efficiently with custom rigs, props, cameras, and lights, as well as define their own methodology for setting keys.
• The Actor tool has been exposed in Python scripting language, helping users save time by automating the setup and transfer of motion-capture data onto a character.

Expanded Physics and Character Simulation Capabilities

• Joints can now be used to connect multiple simulated objects together for the purposes of a simulation. This means that users can hook props onto their character and have the secondary animation automatically solved by the physics engine.
• A new pose-to-pose workflow gives animators the ability to guide or match their ragdoll simulations to user-defined poses.

Enhanced Interoperability

• MotionBuilder 2010 has been integrated with the latest version of Autodesk HumanIK middleware. Also, the MotionBuilder pose controls, character controls and character definition list can now be used when working with the HumanIK plug-in.
• The character templates in MotionBuilder have been updated, providing improved support for 3ds Max Biped.
• Autodesk Softimage 2010 software now includes the MotionBuilder Template rig, facilitating character data exchange between applications.
• Support for Qt user interface elements within MotionBuilder enables developers to use an industry-standard user interface toolkit to help build Open Reality software development kit (SDK) plug-ins.

Mudbox 2010 launches.

Mudbox 2010 Digital Sculpting and Painting Software launches.
New Version Offers Increased Model Quality, New Presentation Capabilities and Easier Integration with Digital Entertainment Workflows

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 3, 2009 — At SIGGRAPH 2009, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) has launched Autodesk Mudbox 2010 software, the latest version of its digital sculpting and painting application. The 2010 release makes it easier for artists to use Mudbox alongside Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Softimage software. Mudbox 2010 now also features a host of new creative tools and workflows, as well as a software development kit (SDK) that enables production teams to customize and integrate Mudbox into pipelines.

Mudbox 2010 will ship as a part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites, making it more affordable to incorporate the technology into film, games and television workflows.

―Autodesk Mudbox gives artists the freedom to create 3D digital artwork as easily as working with clay and paint,‖ said Stig Gruman, vice president, Autodesk Digital Entertainment Group. ―The software empowers artists to add a level of detail to their 3D characters, objects and environments that can be difficult to achieve in traditional 3D modeling applications.‖
Christoph Schädl, character artist at RABCAT Computer Graphics GmbH, was a beta tester for Mudbox 2010. ―I love to work with Mudbox because the intuitive user interface lets me focus entirely on my creative vision,‖ said Schädl. ―My favorite feature in the 2010 release is the ability to paint across multiple texture maps, in different paint channels without any seams. That means you can paint really huge textures — up to 50K and more.

New Feature Highlights

Interoperability with Adobe Photoshop: New workflows make using Mudbox in conjunction with Photoshop easier. Mudbox 2010 can import PSD files to use as paint layers, as well as export paint layers as PSD files for touchup.

Simpler interoperability with Maya, 3ds Max and Softimage: Mudbox adds support for Autodesk FBX file transfer technology, enabling artists to import and export scene data containing more information than the usual OBJ file format. Painted texture maps, cameras and image planes can be retained, resulting in higher-fidelity transfers that help to save artists’ time.

Software development kit (SDK): Mudbox 2010 introduces a C++ SDK that production teams can use to customize and integrate Mudbox into pipelines.

New creative tools and workflows: The 2010 version also includes new brushes, support for reordering of paint layers, ambient occlusion map baking, new viewport filters as well as the ability to render images directly from the viewport – making Mudbox a great presentation tool.

Autodesk Maya 2010

Maya 2010 software gets a radical makeover.
One Affordable Product Offers Advanced Simulation, Compositing and Network Rendering Capabilities.
NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 3, 2009— At SIGGRAPH 2009, Autodesk, Inc announced Autodesk Maya 2010 software, which unifies the Autodesk Maya Complete 2009 and Autodesk Maya Unlimited 2009 feature sets with matchmoving, compositing and rendering capabilities into a single affordable offering.

Maya 2010 makes it easier for artists, designers and 3D enthusiasts to create compelling entertainment experiences, stylistic designs and evocative digital imagery from photo-real visual effects to believable characters. Maya 2010 is available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS operating systems.

“Artists need more creative capability than ever to attract viewers’ attention and engage their emotions in today’s fast-moving, prolific world of digital entertainment and design,” explained Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “Maya 2010 is designed to provide that creative capability, making it easier and more affordable for artists to build a cohesive computer graphics (CG) pipeline—integrating 2D and 3D, simulation and animation, rendering and compositing—so that they can create innovative entertainment more efficiently.”
Paal Anand, digital post supervisor for Bling Imaging and Maya 2010 beta tester, said, “Producers have become savvier with respect to computer graphics. They expect more work with additional complexity in less time than ever before. Maya 2010 gives us the total package to efficiently handle any challenge, whether it's heavy in tracking, modeling, animating, rendering or compositing.
Maya 2010 simplifies the workflow by integrating all the tools you need into a ready-to-go pipeline to get the job done from start to finish.” Hollywood-based Bling Imaging creates photo-realistic visual effects, motion graphics and animation for broadcast and motion pictures.
Maya has been used on every Academy Award winning movie for Best Visual Effects since 2001 and by all of the top 20 games publishers. In the past decade, Maya has become a creative tool of choice among many of the world’s top production companies and has been used to help artists around the world produce unique and innovative entertainment experiences—from independent productions like Chris Landreth’s “The Spine” to trend-setting visual effects blockbusters like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

Autodesk Maya 2010 Features

Maya 2010 has all the features of Maya Unlimited 2009 and Maya Complete 2009, including the advanced simulation tools: the Maya Nucleus Unified Simulation Framework, Maya nCloth, Maya nParticles, Maya Fluid Effects, Maya Hair, Maya Fur; in addition to its comprehensive modeling, texturing and animation tools, brush- based 3D technology, an integrated stereoscopic workflow, Toon Shading, rendering, an extensive Maya application programming interface/software development kit and Python and MEL scripting capabilities.

New features in Maya 2010 are Maya Composite, a powerful high-dynamic composting system based on Autodesk Toxik software, which is no longer available as a standalone solution; Autodesk MatchMover advanced 3D tracking and matchmoving system; five mental ray Batch render nodes* and the Autodesk Backburner network render queue manager.
“I use Maya Complete in my day-to-day work and have always had my eye on Maya Unlimited,” said Ivan Turgeon, Maya visual effects artist and Maya 2010 beta tester, Prairie Fire VE. “Now that Maya Complete Autodesk Subscription customers will receive Maya 2010, which contains the entire Maya Unlimited 2009 feature set plus mental ray Batch rendering capability and Maya Composite, smaller shops like mine will be much more viable.”
For more information about the features offered in Autodesk Maya 2010, visit www.autodesk.com/maya.

Autodesk Product Suites

Autodesk Crossgrade Suite promotions now on..click here for pricing.

The Autodesk product Suites gives artists, production facilities and educators access to more creative tools at a cost savings of more than 35 percent*, when compared to purchasing each product license separately. Used together, the products in these Suites help artists increase creative capability and optimize productivity.

―Autodesk is introducing affordable Suites of its popular 3D tools to better help artists create innovative entertainment in today’s tough economic conditions,‖ said Stig Gruman, vice president, Autodesk Digital Entertainment Group.
―The Suites significantly expand artists’ capabilities by providing them with an amazing range of creative tools – from highly-detailed modeling and sculpting to advanced real-time animation – so that they can tackle creative problems in new ways.
Autodesk is introducing the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites and the Autodesk Real-Time Animation Suites for commercial use.

The company has also launched the Autodesk Education Suite for Entertainment Creation for postsecondary educators, and Autodesk Animation Academy 2010 for secondary schools.

Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites
The flagship Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites offer customers a choice of either Autodesk Maya 2010 or Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 software, together with both Autodesk Mudbox 2010 and Autodesk MotionBuilder 2010 software. Mudbox helps artists to sculpt highly detailed models more quickly and intuitively. MotionBuilder provides artists with a real-time animation engine for more interactive creative feedback and efficient handling of large amounts of animation data. With Autodesk FBX 2010 data exchange technology, the Suites provide a cohesive, efficient pipeline. The complementary toolsets enable artists to better handle tough production challenges and achieve higher-quality results, more efficiently and cost-effectively. For more information, visit Entertainment Creation Suites.

Autodesk Real-Time Animation Suites
The Autodesk Real-Time Animation Suites are designed for animation-intensive productions. These Suites also offer a choice of either Maya 2010 or 3ds Max 2010 software, in addition to MotionBuilder 2010 software. MotionBuilder provides animators with a real-time 3D engine and specialized animation toolset to more quickly and efficiently create, manipulate and process large amounts of animation data. For more information, visit Realtime Animation Suites

 

Xena LHI from AJA released

The highly anticipated XENA LHi has now started shipping.

The XENA LHi is R15,340.00 inc vat, and its convenient and popular KLHi-BOX breakout box is R3,580.00 inc vat.
XENA LHi is a powerful PCIe card for SD and HD I/O on Windows, supporting the newest Adobe CS4 applications and workflows, as well as eyeon Fusion, and Autodesk Combustion. XENA LHi offers the highest quality analog and digital interfaces, including 10-bit HDMI 1.3, 3G/HD/SD SDI, component analog and much more. With this powerful connectivity, plus our 10-bit realtime up/down/cross-conversion, XENA LHi bridges your multi-format workflows on Windows XP and Vista.