Czech Koruna given AA- rating

I rarely post news on economy (this is maybe first one), but these news are connected with reliability of investments and thus media post production companies and their well-being. Standard & Poor`s company raised the rating of Czech Koruna (Czech Republic currency, as we don`t use Euro) from A to AA-. This is quite rare today when many western governments have to deal with high debt.


http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/idINIndia-58952620110824

Advanced Character Pipeline and Tools

This is a bit old Maya tutorial on character pipeline (2003), but still quite unique and there are few of them on this topic. Originally sold as DVD by Autodesk (with video presentation at Siggraph Maya Master Class), but for long time it`s not available.

Advanced Character Pipeline and Tools

I happened to find this online. So if you want to learn about this and setting up your first animation pipeline, it`s worth having a look at this.

Spill.com Transformers 3 review

Those guys have hit it, exactly! "Some `ol bullshit" :)) Loved their ideas of chinese take-away stand transformer, mexican mowing machine and cashier box transformer!! You have to see it. Plus Michael Bay behind camera turned on shooting Rosie H-Whiteley (only caricature!)
_link_


btw. THOR got Full Price, which I think it really deserves. Quite underestimated movie which surprised by how well the comic book was converted into film (trailer).

Digital Domain CG feature

Digital Domain reveal info on their first CG feature project:


http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cgi/digital-domain-reveals-first-animated-feature.html

Maya 2011 bug fixes

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/maya2011fixedcustomerissues.pdf

Disney elastic collision skin deformer

This is simply awesome. Volume preservation and collisions, even with built in dynamics. And I guess not too difficult to setup. An algorithm developped by Disney in collaboration with two universities.

Which editor for Python programming?

Here is quite exhaustive discussion about best editors for makig python scripts:
linkedIn_discussion

My favourite is Eclipse Juno with PyDev extension. It makes programming in python really fast and also has either SVN or GIT versioning support if you have a repository.

more online math learning

Here`s what seems to be good online learning website on math. It`s sharing some videos with thinkwell.com which I posted before.
http://www.burgermath.com/

Angry Birds on Chrome

Angry Birds is a game primarily made for mobile phones. But you can give it a try on Chrome browser too, which is good if you`re not the smart phone owner or just thinking about buying one (Angry Birds are both on iPhone/iPad and Android phones).
http://chrome.angrybirds.com/


I think if this mania won`t stop, someone will buy the rights to produce a CG animated feature for this. Pixar could work on it under name "For the Angry birds" ;) Here is a little reminder of their short.

RAGE character animation

ID has recently released new video on Rage game showing some Maya scenes with facial and body rigs. It`s only quick views, but gives some idea.
(I recently added this embedded video and took out old link to list of videos on rage.com website as "The enemy" seems to be removed)

ImageMovers Digital back in the game?

According to Hollywood Reporter, Universal Studios might go for a new deal to put Robert Zemeckis` studio ImageMovers Digital back in the business.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-zemeckis-talks-launch-imagemovers-218149
In the meantime after finishing Mars Needs Moms and some tests for a cg feature (Yellow Submarine?) Zemeckis is a producer on Real Steel (DreamWorks), a robot arena fighting movie with Hugh Jackman.

Making skinny Captain America

Full article about Captain America VFX

Few people wondered how the skinny recruit was made before he became Captain America. Short version: very good compositing work.
Or the longer one here:
http://www.awn.com/articles/3d/captain-america-poor-mans-process