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Luma Pictures recently completed some 150 visual effects shots for the new Paramount Pictures release Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the largest 3D visual effects package contracted by the studio to an outside vendor.
Luma's work included the film's highly-praised underwater battle scene-one of the most extensive and creatively challenging CG sequences in the film-where a squadron of amphibious planes engages in combat with giant robots at the bottom of the ocean.
Luma's effects work is also featured in trailers for the film, including one consisting entirely of footage culled from the underwater sequence. Luma's work on Sky Captain marked the studio's biggest project to date, spanning six months and involving the efforts of more than 40 animators and visual effects artists.
The undersea battle sequence occupies nearly six minutes of screen time and consists almost entirely of 3D elements. The sequence involved a squadron of planes led by Captain Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie) who are attempting to reach an island via a route that takes them deep below the surface of the ocean.
The planes dive into the water where they are met by a group of giant crab-like robots and an enormous battle ensues in which several planes are shot down and the robots destroyed.
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By Bryan Eisenberg
User-centric design's (UCD's) aim is to enhance and improve the user's experience with software or a product. This principle has benefits, but can it translate seamlessly to the commercial Web design process? Do UCD principles result in a customer-centric Web site that satisfies the diverse needs of potentially millions of visitors?
UCD complements the process of designing and optimizing a site for conversion, but it was never conceived to address the intricacies of building a persuasive system.
For sound examples of user-centric design, stroll through the writing instrument aisle at an office supply store. There's an impressive array of dozens, even hundreds, of different pens, many of which sport designs and features that are the result of years of UCD processes and research. Gel ink for a smooth, fluid writing experience; ballpoints; felt tips; soft handles to ease fatigue; and more. The inventory is a prime example of UCD evolution.
UCD principles abound in the tech world. Designers at companies such as Apple and IBM religiously adhere to company manifestos on the subject.
Placing the customer at the center of the product and design process and improving the total experience aren't just noble goals. They can increase return on investment (ROI) and grow the bottom line.
So why wouldn't reta
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Microsoft today announced the Xbox Live Backstage Pass Sweepstakes featuring Halo 2, which will give 20 lucky winners from around the world the chance to play Halo 2 multiplayer before the most anticipated game of the year hits store shelves in North America on November 9, 2004.
With over a million members, Xbox Live is the premier destination for online console gamers. In order to be eligible for the sweepstakes, gamers must have a valid Xbox Live account as of October 15. Winners will be drawn on October 22 and will receive a three-day/two-nigh t trip for the winner and one guest to Bungie Studios in Redmond, Washington to play Halo 2 multiplayer.
Package includes round-trip air transportation to Seattle, Washington, hotel accommodations, roundtrip airport transfers, meals and a tour of Bungie Studios. For more information and official rules, please visit here.
Xbox Live, which launched in the United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers worldwide via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the ground up for online gaming. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends; talk to other players during gameplay through the Xbox Communicator headset; download current statistics and n
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The notion of intelligent machines rebelling against their masters is about as old as science fiction itself. If the human body is a machine-one of the ideas that comes up in the anime film "Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence"; then the story is as old as the Book of Genesis.
That may explain the Biblical references in the movie. Certainly, of all the many tellings of this story, few have considered the philosophical issues of creating intelligent, human-like machines as seriously as this film does. It's unfortunate that its philosophies are over-ambitious and its dialogue impenetrable, because visually, it's quite stunning.
The story picks up where the first film left off, following some of the same characters. You'll likely need to have seen the first film to understand some of the plot's finer points.
The movie is set in the year 2032, in a cyberpunk dystopia, where androids and cybernetic modifications are so common that purely natural humans are the rarity. Certain androids, made by an Evil Corporation with ties to the Yakuza, have been murdering their high-profile human masters. Inspectors Batou and Togusa, agents of a special anti-terrorism task force, are assigned to investigate the murders.
The androids, they learn, have been pre-programmed as assassins, while overtly (that is, covertly) sold as "sexaroids"
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A thin line separates Jennifer Garner's "Alias" character from reality.
It's a series of thin lines, actually - sketches that take her sexy superspy from the world of live action to the world of animation.
The seven-minute "Animated Alias" on the new third-season DVD of the ABC thriller is the latest example of a renaissance in the short-cartoon format inspired by the success of 2003's "The Animatrix."
The movies "Van Helsing," "The Chronicles of Riddick," and the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" also have tried to expand their reach through animation - from short stand-alone films to TV shows.
Short cartoons, like music soundtracks in the 1980s, are becoming popular movie and TV spin-offs that have an artistic legitimacy beyond simple merchandising.
And with 3-D computer animation such as "Shrek 2" and "Finding Nemo" taking over the feature film market, these shorts may be among the few places fans can see traditional hand-drawn animation.
"There are certain sign posts that you've broken through into the subculture," said "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams. "The idea of having the show animated, to me, was like crossing that threshold."
Although the cartoon is very brief, Abrams described it as a chance to dip his toe into ink and paint.
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