News Stories

Walt Disney Imagineers turn to tablets for inspiration

5.30.2012

[Tab Times]

…

“What we’re doing with the Fantasyland expansion is using the tablet technology combined with the BIM, which is allowing us to take our project into the field like we’ve never done before,” said Warzecha. “It’s allowing us to take some of our partners who can’t read the two-dimensional plan.

“As an example, as we built our kitchen, we took our operating partners as well as the head chef, and we allowed them to walk through the 3D model to ensure the design layout was perfect. Before, we couldn’t do this until the kitchen was actually in construction.”

It’s also having a profound impact in the field. Imagineers can pull up the 3D recreation of a ride like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and use that for both pre-visualization and for cross-checking and problem-solving at the building site. …

That work is bringing 3D movies to life like the new Cars Land section of Disneyland, which opens June 15 and allows kids of all ages to actually drive Mater, Lightning McQueen and other popular characters from the hit films in a life-sized Radiator Springs.

See the full story here: http://tabtimes.com/feature/deployment-strategy/2012/05/29/walt-disney-imagineers-turn-tablets-inspiration

E3 needs a new product

5.30.2012

[CNET]

…

Now, here’s the landscape as it currently stands: The Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita have been fighting an uphill battle to reclaim a stake in the market from smartphones and tablets. The upcoming Wii U faces scrutiny and skepticism, both for its dual-screen gaming and for the cooling-off of the Wii brand in general. And, finally, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be seven and six years old, respectively, come November.

Meanwhile, Apple continues accumulating profit while building a massive, vibrant catalog of popular, cheap games. And Apple, unlike Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo, releases new hardware every single year. Processor speed, graphics, and screen resolutions keep getting better. The software improves. And, most importantly, the games keep getting more impressive.

We might be heading toward a post-hardware landscape for console games, where downloads are accumulated in cloud accounts like Steam, Android, or Apple’s App Store (or, the way PSN and Xbox Live already allow). Still, without new hardware or a new product, a new concept, interest is guaranteed to wane. No amount of new games can cover for this…because, except for very rare few exceptions, games just aren’t the killer apps they used to be.

Games are cross-platform. Most great games, apart from Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo exclusives, can be played on multiple consoles, and often on a PC. …

I could see other ways that E3 could make a bold move to stand out:

Launch micro consoles. A mini Xbox 360 at $150 could become a plug-in alternative to Apple TV and Roku boxes, …

Make a real gaming phone. Sony never did it with the Xperia Play, but maybe Microsoft could …

Make systems cheap, and sell content subscriptions. Maybe the “new product” is a new business model. Could games other than MMOs be subscribed to? Activision experimented with the idea via Call of Duty Elite. The amount of DLC floating around on consoles could warrant a subscription model if the content’s good enough.

Make something magical. Does that sound vague? Well, that’s because it is. ….

See the full story here: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-21539_7-57443145-10391702/e3-needs-a-new-product/

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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