News Stories

Asus VG278H review: Great 3D, but what about that price?

5.18.2012

[CNET]

When it debuted a few years ago, the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit required four components to work properly: 3D glasses, an Nvidia graphics card, a compatible display, and a separate, USB-connected 3D emitter.

In the time since that debut, not much has changed. But, while all four of those things are still required, some manufacturers have figured out how to make the process a bit more streamlined and instead of a separate USB-connected device, Asus builds the emitter into the monitor.

The VG278H also includes Nvidia’s 3D Vision Kit 2 glasses; a much better-designed pair of 3D glasses compared to the first gen specs. The glasses use LightBoost tech to achieve brighter images than are typical with 3D monitors.

Still, at $600 the VG278H needs something more than great 3D performance to justify its price.

Check the full review to see what else it offers.

See the original post here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57436360-1/asus-vg278h-review-great-3d-but-what-about-that-price/

3D Systems at Maker Faire

5.18.2012

[Philip Lelyveld comment: it will be interesting to see how the hacker community reacts to commercial intrusions into Maker Faire.]

[Press Release]

3D Systems Corporation announced today that it will showcase its maker and consumer solutions at the Bay Area Maker Faire, May 19–20, 2012, at the San Mateo County Fair Grounds, Expo Hall in booth #16.

Anchoring the exhibit is our exciting Cube Odyssey car, packed with our new Cube home printers, that has logged over 7,500 miles traveling across the country visiting schools, museums and maker spaces. We invite parents and their children to participate in our Kideville workshops, where children collaboratively design and print a village. We encourage everyone to enter our on-site My Robot Nation contest to create and win a full color 3D printed robot. Come experience first-hand our new, at home Cube printer and our maker special, triple print jet 3DTouch, the largest print area personal printer on the market today.

“We are thrilled to share with makers and their families our game-changing create and make tools,” said Cathy Lewis, Vice President of Global Marketing for 3D Systems. “Our fun 3D printers, cloud printing services and game-like creativity Apps are all available through Cubify.com.”

See the original post here: http://whattheythink.com/news/58136-3d-systems-maker-faire/

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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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