ITV

Tag: CGI

  • Tourism Australia’s new ad campaign invites India, the world to come and say G’day

    Tourism Australia’s new ad campaign invites India, the world to come and say G’day

    Mumbai: With the Twenty20 World Cup currently taking place in Australia, the eyes of cricket fans in India are down under. Looking to capitalise on this momentum, Tourism Australia has created a live-action short film with CGI animated characters. The short film, G’day, is part of a new global tourism campaign inviting international travellers, including those in India, to come and say G’day, and plan and book an Australian adventure of their own. Directed by Australian director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and produced by Finch, G’day, the short film shows the unlikely adventure of a plush souvenir kangaroo named Ruby, voiced by Australian actor Rose Byrne, and a toy unicorn, Louie, voiced by actor Will Arnett.

    The short film follows Ruby and Louie as they ‘break out’ of a gift shop on the Great Barrier Reef and take an incredible adventure around Australia, visiting iconic sites including Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s laneways, and stunning natural landscapes like Uluṟu and Nitmiluk Gorge. Along the way, they explore the magnitude of travel experiences Australia has to offer, connect with Australia’s Indigenous cultures, and learn why every great adventure starts with the unmistakably Aussie greeting, “G’day!”

    The campaign can be seen on YouTube, Meta’s properties Facebook and Instagram, and on other programmatic video platforms. The goal is to target high-yield travellers.  On 9 November, the campaign will launch on the OTT platform Disney+Hotstar for a one-month period. This deal could be extended. OOH and in-cinema advertising will also be used. Billboards across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru are being used. Print is also being used. For now, television is not being used.

    The campaign video is the first iteration of a campaign that will run for three years. In terms of marketing, 10 influencers from India have been taken down. They will see the India versus Pakistan clash on Sunday at the MCG and will partake in a variety of activities. They will create content around it for their followers to consume and promote Melbourne and Australia as a destination. Tourism Australia has also taken 20 travel agents to the country for the T20 World Cup. On the ground, there will be Ruby On Tour roadshows across seven cities in India next month and in December.

    The campaign video will be edited into nine minutes, one minute thirty seconds, and fifteen seconds. In some markets, like Japan, the campaign is being fine tuned through the use of local talent. Tourism Australia added that visitor arrivals from India have reached 86 per cent of pre-covid in the April-August 2022 period compared to the same period in 2019. The aim is to go to 100 per cent in the coming few months. Earlier, Tourism Australia had set a target of 18,000–20,000 visitor arrivals from the country to see the T20 World Cup. While the International Cricket Council (ICC) will officially reveal visitor figures at a later date, Tourism Australia is confident that its target will be achieved. The marketing programme is pretty robust, it added.

    In fact, visa processing is still going on for Indians who want to travel to see Sunday’s clash between archrivals India and Pakistan. In the long run, the goal is for one million Indians to visit Australia each year by 2030. For that to happen, direct aviation capacity will have to rise fourfold at least. In 2019, the number was 4,00,000. Moreover, since Australia re-opened its borders and commercial flights restarted, India has been the number two market. Earlier, it was number seven. Australia’s neighbouring country, New Zealand, is the number one market. Singapore, the UK, and the US round out the top five markets. China was earlier number one in terms of visitors to Australia, but it has been badly affected by the pandemic.

    Tourism Australia MD Phillipa Harrison said, “Come and Say G’day is unashamedly and unmistakably Australian. After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market.”

    The campaign activity will be further amplified by partnership activity with airlines, state tourism organisations, and key distribution partners, including Thomas Cook, SOTC, PickYourTrail, and Kesari Tours, among others.

    G’day, Indigenous cultures and peoples are at the heart of the story, and their warmth can be felt throughout, explains tourism in Australia. The musical score, written by Australian composers Jonathan Dreyfus and Amy Andersen, features Indigenous Australian musicians including William Barton, Frank Yamma, the Marliya Gondwana Indigenous Girls Choir, and the Iwiri Choir. Notably, the film features a fresh new cover of the classic Aussie song Down Under, which was produced in collaboration with Men At Work’s Colin Hay for the campaign and film.

    Harrison concluded, “Another hero of the campaign is the remake of the Australian classic song Down Under by up-and-coming Australian band King Stingray, who sing in both English and Yolŋu Matha, an Indigenous language from northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.”

    Tourism Australia regional GM South, South East Asia Brent Anderson said, “ The campaign is a genuine, warm Aussie welcome. It is about how the world sees us. What is appealing about us? We did a huge amount of research during COVID. Ruby is an absolute icon that cannot be used by any other country in the world. She comes through really quickly in the advertising. India, among other South and Southeast Asian (SSEA) markets have been critical in Australia’s recovery and I’m really excited to reveal our new campaign to inspire even more Indian travellers to explore Australia. Through Ruby and Louie’s adventures, we are inviting travellers to Come and Say G’day – where they can build new authentic connections with friendly Australian locals and communities, our incredible nature, wildlife, islands and beaches, and enjoy our delicious food and drink. We are ready and can’t wait to welcome back our valued travellers from India. We are excited to announce that we have Qantas as our major airline partner across multiple markets, including here in India. You might see Ruby hopping on a Qantas plane in the near future.”

    With issues like stagflation, inflation, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and interest rates going through the roof, the world is a bit messed up. The world is a strange place. It needs a bit of laughter, lightness, beautiful scenery, and wide open spaces. That is the result of research conducted. Tourism Australia, he explained, studied what people look for in a vacation. Therefore, in the campaign, one sees things like wide open spaces. He said the campaign also focuses on the indigeneous experience. He added that the reason why India is the fastest growing market for Tourism Australia is that the Indian team pushes hard. There is also healthy competition from the Singapore team.

    He also noted that the department of home affairs’ personalised and streamlined visa services offered for corporate incentive travel and the ICC’s official travel and hospitality agents will ensure sustained growth when it comes to MICE arrivals as well as for the on-going T20 World Cup. There has also been a tripling of direct aviation capacity. Besides India the other markets that Tourism Australia invests money in include Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the US and New Zealand.

  • Assemblage Entertainment strengthens team with three key hires

    Assemblage Entertainment strengthens team with three key hires

    MUMBAI: Indian 3D animation studio Assemblage Entertainment has strengthened its leadership team across the CGI process verticals.

     

    The company has hired three new professionals namely animation veteran Vivek Ram as CG supervisor, Saswat Sahoo as technical director & pipeline supervisor and Rakesh Patil as studio producer.

     

    Assemblage Entertainment COO Milind D. Shinde said, “We are proud to be in company of such esteemed talent. Being one of the largest congregation of Indian animation industry’s marquee talent, we at Assemblage are not only confident of designing and delivering world-class quality projects; but more importantly, are focused to carve a formidable niche in the global arena in the coming years. In doing so, I am sure our leaders in the organisation, including the new members – Vivek, Saswat and Rakesh will play a key role.”

     
    Ram has 15 years of experience as a senior industry veteran and VFX Supervisor with extensive experience across the CG animation process. He was engaged in projects such as Madagascar, Madagascar 3, Penguins of Madagascar, Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Incredible Hulk amongst others. He has also worked with studios such as DreamWorks Animation and Rhythm, and Hues.

     
    Sahoo holds more than a decade’s experience as senior technical director and CG pipeline architect. He has been associated with various projects including Puss in Boots, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, Incredible Hulkand The Golden Compass, which won his team an Academy award. Previously, he has worked at studios such as DreamWorks Animation, Rhythm & Hues, and Prime Focus.

     

    Patil is armed with a decade of experience in the animation industry as a production supervisor focusing on resource management and planning. He has previously worked with DreamWorks and Crest and has played a significant role in animated movies such as Puss in Boots, Madagascar, Dragons, Scared Shrekless and Casper.

     
    Assemblage recently appointed PMV Ramana as art director as well as Rahul Nair and Vaibhav Shah as the lighting and modeling supervisors respectively.

  • Miditech’s Pria Alva films Mangalyaan’s journey for Nat Geo

    Miditech’s Pria Alva films Mangalyaan’s journey for Nat Geo

    MUMBAI: Detailed interviews, extensive research, narrations, advanced animation and modeling will orchestrate Miditech executive director Pria Somiah Alva’s documentary on India’s Mars triumph Mangalyaan. The successful landing of Mangalyaan drove Alva to document the voyage.

     

    “India is the first country to succeed in the first attempt and just news headlines were not enough to describe such a great journey. So we decided to film a documentary on the entire journey,” Alva tells Indiantelevision.com.

     

    The research started in 2014 when Alva and her associate director Shivani Muthanna approached the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the proposition. ISRO’s reaction was fascinating for Alva and her team at Miditech. “Normally private bodies don’t get permission to film in ISRO, it’s always Doordarshan. But we got superior cooperation from them and we accessed many important properties of the research organisation,” says Alva.

     

    The project was commissioned by National Geographic Channel and will be aired on 5 November, 2015 – exactly two years after the entire mission was actually successful.

    Working on a tight budget, Alva and her team did the best they could with the means available to them for the Mangalyaan documentary.

     

    With ISRO’s nod, Miditech received access to archival footage, which Alva used in the documentary to explain the journey. “This is a post launch documentary so we had to narrate and create the dramatics of how it all came together and happened. In the documentary we have used archival footage as well as some live footage, which we shot,” informs Alva.

     

    The camera that was attached with the spaceship only had features of clicking imageries of its surroundings and not itself. Hence there were no images available of the scientific vehicle that travelled the distance and that’s where Alva made use of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).

    “We went for CGI, special effects and 3D modelling to give viewers an idea of how it was. We imagine the space vehicle to be a something humongous in size, but in reality it’s not even as big as an auto-rickshaw. We have left no stones unturned to make the images look as exquisite as possible,” Alva emphasises.

    Through the course of the hour long documentary, interviews with various stakeholder will narrate the on screen occurrences more often than not. However, wherever required, Andre Williams’ voice will chip in to educate the viewers.

     

    Alva had her share of memorable moments while directing the  documentary. Describing one of them she narrates, “I has asked the ISRO spokesperson if there were any women involved in the entire journey. He replied saying please don’t ask us stupid questions. We are scientists and we do not discriminate between genders.”

     

    It is said “We be what we see” and hence it was important to showcase women involvement. When asked if there are substantial presence of women in the documentary, Alva says, “We will see the Eves working in the background throughout the documentary, be it navigations, communications or in any other depertments their presence is prominent. Moreover, we have a few women in the list of people that we interviewed. We did not interview them because they are women but because of their noteworthy role in the success.”

     

    When a documentary is created on scientific projects, it becomes a presentation, which only people with immense knowledge in the field can interpret. And therein lay the biggest challenge for Alva and her team. Making the documentary easy to follow for people with basic knowledge of the happenings and at the same time factually correct and scientifically perfect was what kept Alva and her team on their toes.

    “We have kept it in such a way that people from across the stream can understand and enjoy the documentary. The dramatics will get people involved with the documentary and we have engineered a suitable sound to back that,” she informs.

    In recent times people flocked to the theatres in India when Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity were screened. Now it remains to be seen how the nation reacts to this one of a kind documentary – Mangalyaan – filmed on a one of a kind voyage marking India’s first venture into the interplanetary space.

  • DQE turns co-producer and licenser

    DQE turns co-producer and licenser

    MUMBAI: Synonymous with producing iconic properties like The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Lassie, The Little Prince, Charlie Chaplin and Robin Hood, DQ Entertainment is now all set to add its co-production line-up.

    Among the new titles, a CGI children’s animated series called Yonaguni will be co-produced by DQ with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and Rollman Entertainment, Burbank, USA. The production and distribution group will also co-produce 7 Dwarfs and Me and the second season of The New Adventures of Peter Pan, and 5 Children and It with Method Animation, France.   

    DQ sealed the deals during its second fiscal quarter ended 30 September, 2013 and at the recently concluded MIPCOM at Cannes.

    “The gross value of these co-production and licensing deals between partners is approximately Rs 2, 220 million, of which, approximately Rs 720 million is attributable to DQE and expected to be accrued as revenue over the next fiscal year ending 31 March 2015,” says DQ Entertainment CEO Tapaas Chakravarti.

    Sneak peek at the licensing deals:

    1. Discovery Children’s channel has acquired the broadcast rights for Robin Hood animated series for the Indian sub-continent.
    2. Nick India has acquired the broadcast rights for The Jungle Book season 1 & 2 for the Indian sub-continent.
    3. Nick India has acquired the broadcast rights for Suraj, The Rising Star and Galactic Football for the Indian sub-continent.
    4. Sky Italia has acquired the broadcast rights of Peter Pan season 1 for Italy.
    5. BBS has acquired the rights to produce Jungle Book party disposables and tableware for Italy, San Marino & Vatican City.
    6. Ranocchio Re has acquired the rights to produce Peter Pan Ceramic, Porcelain, Glass, Silver bi-laminate, Resin and Cardboard for the regions Italy, San Marino, Vatican City and Italian-speaking Switzerland.
    7. Tendenze srl has acquired the rights to produce Peter Pan apparel for Italy, San Marino and Vatican City.
    8. Rai Cinema has acquired the free to air broadcast rights of Peter Pan season 1 for Italy.
    9. Universal Music has acquired worldwide music publishing rights of Jungle Book season 2.
    10. Escalada has acquired Free TV broadcast rights of Iron Man 2 and Peter Pan for Malaysia.
    11. Simbasat, UK has acquired broadcast rights of Iron Man 2 for Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Mauritius and French-speaking Africa.
    12. 2 x 2 has acquired broadcast rights of Iron Man 2 for Russia.
    13. Green Narae Media has acquired Home Video rights of Jungle Book 2 and Peter Pan for Korea.
    14. Showtime Attraction, L&M partner in Australia for Jungle Book and Peter Pan for the category of Costume Character Appearance, have extended the term for Jungle Book by one year.
    15. Jungle Book Toy Deals:
    · Habuba Clip for Israel
    · TRU Dubai for Dubai
    · Hunter Leisure for Australia
    · Prima Toys for South Africa
    · Scandi Toys for Scandinavia
    · Ho’s Team- Shoprite for South Africa

    Like Yonaguni, 5 Children and It too is a CGI children’s animated series comprising 52 11′ episodes while 7 Dwarfs and Me, a combination of CGI and live action images, is a hybrid animation show. The second season of The New Adventures of Peter Pan rides on the success of the first season of the Peter Pan television series that was distributed in over 100 countries, being one of the highest rated TV series in France, Germany and Italy.

    Sky Italia, Discovery Kids, Nick India and Rai Cinema among others have acquired the broadcast rights for various properties produced by DQE says Tapaas Chakravarti

    But how does the new portfolio fit into the company’s profile? “7 Dwarfs and Me, The New Adventures of Peter Pan 2 and 5 Children and It, fit in very nicely with the DQ portfolio of iconic properties. Also Yonaguni is an underwater adventure with SeaWorld theme parks from the US,” says Chakravarti, adding that the company is expected to enter production shortly for delivery in 2015.

    Co-production apart, DQ has also concluded several licensing deals. “Various well-known broadcasters such as Sky Italia, Discovery Kids, Nick India and Rai Cinema, among others, have acquired the broadcast rights for various properties produced by DQE,” says Chakravarti and adds, “The categories of the licensing deals vary from broadcast and music rights to character licensing for manufacture of merchandise such as toys, clothes etc.”

    This year, DQ has entered Latin American countries through its flagship intellectual property, The Jungle Book. “Globosat-Brazil, Cannal Encuentro-Argentina and Televisa-Mexico have already acquired the broadcast rights of the property while DQE’s other properties are also expected to make entry into these markets soon,” says Chakravarti.

    In addition, DQ is working on ways to leverage its large library of properties through SVOD and mobile platforms. “We are currently in discussion with YouTube to find ways of monetising animated content through a dedicated channel showcasing our global and domestic properties. We believe these platforms will play a very significant role in reaching a large and diversified audience in the future,” says Chakravarti.
    The company has also launched a game app of its IP, The Jungle Book, called ‘The Great Escape’ for the android platform. “We plan to launch similar games and apps on android and iOS platforms for other IPs such as Peter Pan, 5 Children and It etc. soon,” he adds.

    It is learnt that the production deals will add to the bottom line of the company, first quarter of the next fiscal year onward, while realisation of the licensing and broadcast revenues is expected to continue through the subsequent quarters.

    In case you thought that’s it, the company has some more production and licensing deals waiting in the wings…

  • A fistful of digital ‘fury’

    A fistful of digital ‘fury’

    NEW DELHI: When digital technology meets martial arts, it can produce some really scary moments.

    Hear Mickey Stern and John Brenkus, executive producers for Fight Science, part of NatGeo’s upcoming series on the arts, Fists of Fury. They saw a samurai sword slice completely through a ballistics-gel torso.

    They tell indiantelevision.com in an exclusive interaction: “Watching the sword slice through the ballistics-gel torso, and knowing what it could do to a human body was the most scary moment for us. Examining the data of killer moves that had never been made on a human being, and realising what was possible… there is a frightening level of performance that some of these guys can go to.”

    But ‘examining the data of killer moves?’ What would that mean in terms of making a series on martial arts? Well, if Nasa technology can be used for making a TV serial, anything could be possible, they say.

    This is a series on martial arts in which NatGeo offers its viewers a riveting journey into the extraordinary world of martial arts.

    “A one-stop shop for all martial arts fans”, an announcement from the channel says that “Fists of Fury gives viewers an insight into what is martial art myth and what is not, an insight into what it takes to be a martial arts champion, a countdown of the best killing weapons, revealing the reality behind the deadly martial arts using scientific breakthroughs and gripping footage.”

    The series will be telecast from 12 February at 10 pm. Talking about the Nasa technology used to make the series, Stern and Brenkus told indiantelevision.com: “A company called Tekscan created in-shoe pressure sensors for Nasa space suits – sheets of plastic embedded with thousands of receptors.

    “These provided constant real-time feedback to the computer – a perfect topographical map over the surface of the foot, where we watched the centre of gravity and the base of support, and the exact amount of pressure being exerted over any part of the surface area.

    “Glen Levy, demonstrating a ninja technique of climbing plum poles (ever-ascending poles that become more pliant as they get higher), turned in a jaw-dropping reading. He told us that when he is doing balance techniques, he visualises his centre of gravity all the way down to his ankles, and that he uses all 10 toes as antennae.

    “On the read-outs, you can see his toes working like the fingers of a piano player. He was incredibly precise and incredibly quick and minute in his adjustments. He really did move like a cat. The scientists from Tekscan were looking at it and saying, “This is not a normal human reading.”

    It was a technologically back-breaking series to make. In all, 32 motion picture cameras were used. So how did it all add up to go into the creation of the series?

    The producers explained: “Ultimately, we took the data captured by the martial artists – wearing tight suits studded with reflectors, and duplicating moves they had already made for the live-action cameras earlier in the day – and imposed it on a 3-D model in three layers: one for bones, one for muscles and one for nerves.

    “The angles of motion, the velocity and acceleration of particular motion, the length of an arc through the air… all are things that are measured from the data points that are driving animation.

    “A third layer that we applied, which is very seldom done, is body scanning. So when you take perfect data, real high-end CGI, and scans of the person’s actual body, you’ve got as accurate a model of that person’s movement as you could possibly create using current technology.”

    The producers also said that they used crash dummy tests. But why? They say they wanted a government-certified system which could be held up as one not something that is experimental science.

    “We wanted to know with 100 per cent certainty what force these fighters were capable of generating. The experts in the crash testing industry know more about real-life impacts on the human body than anyone else in the world.

    “This isn’t “theoretical science” – this is about real trauma to real bodies, and we wanted to capture that. We insisted on a government-certified dummy so that there was nothing experimental about our findings.”

    In more than one ways thus is a unique series, brining together hitherto unconnected people and technologis. As they put it: “It’s the first time we’ve brought together the crash test industry, the sports biomechanics industry and the Hollywood animation industry in one place. We pooled their best technology and applied it to a single subject – martial arts performance. These are people from industries who have never looked at the martial arts field before. It was entirely new for them.”

    But is this a comprehensive and all-encapsulating series on the diverse arena of martial arts? Stern says: “There are actually scores or even hundreds of martial arts – we tried to have diversity in geographical and cultural origins. We chose the biggest categories, the archetypal styles – particularly ones that involved grappling, punching, kicking… some hard linear styles and some curving nonlinear styles. We also said let’s make sure we represent the “granddaddies,” so to speak – you’ve got to have kung fu, you’ve got to have tae kwan do, you’ve got to have jiu jitsu.”

  • Satyam’s BPO outfit bags $25 million contract, in talks for another $10 million order

    Satyam’s BPO outfit bags $25 million contract, in talks for another $10 million order

    MUMBAI: Nipuna Services Ltd, the BPO subsidiary of IT major Satyam Computer Services, has bagged a $25 million animation outsourcing deal. The company is also in negotiations to work on a $10 million contract for another TV series animation project.

    Earlier in the year, Nipuna signed a $9 million deal to provide services for a movie called First Fear which is set for release by June 2007. “We are expecting to bag a fresh contract for around $10 million. The German company will take a call based on the TV episodes that we come up with. We have already signed with this company for $25 million to produce TV series and a movie,” Nipuna chief financial officer M Satyanarayana tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Nipuna will engage UK-based 4K Animation Ltd for the execution and delivery of these projects along with its own battery of 120 professionals over a period of 18 months. The two ‘iconic’ European animation projects include the third season of “Marvi Hemmer Presents National Geographic World,” an award-winning, 52- episode TV series, and a movie, also featuring Marvi Hammer.

    “We will pay a fee to 4K for their services as they will be sending technical professionals from all over the world to work in India and help us in the project. The exact amount will be finalised when we know how many people and working hours we would need from them,” says Satyanarayana.

    For First Fear, Nipuna had paid 4K around $3.25 million. By partnering with 4K, Nipuna is able to source talent from across the world to execute the projects.

    The delivery period for the TV series will start from now and is expected to finish within nine months. The work for the movie will start from April and stretch over 12 months, according to Satyanarayana.

    The series and movie feature a combination of live action and animation. They include actual studio sets used as animation backgrounds, a furry computer graphics creature and 2D-animated characters. Hamburg-based YOUA Edutainment, National Geographic, and German broadcaster ZDF will co-produce the series and movie.

    Nipuna will provide VFX, CGI, 3D and 2D animation services, including pre-production, production, and post-production, from its studio in Chennai. Other animation artists will also collaborate from Hamburg and Berlin for this project delivery.

    Says Nipuna CEO Venkatesh Roddam, “This partnership reflects a growing trend toward ‘corporatization’ in the animation industry, which is leading to increasingly significant opportunities. Long-term contracts such as this one show that companies recognize Nipuna’s capabilities in an industry where ‘human resources’ are integral to quality, and thereby responsible for the success of creative ventures.”

    Nipuna has built significant VFX, CGI, and 3D animation skills by producing numerous global and domestic films. Among the more than 40 Indian films for which it has handled animation projects are Sainikudu, Stalin, Pokhiri, and Belly Full of Dreams. Nipuna also provides artwork and visualization services involving 2D and/or 3D animation techniques and processes to customers in the engineering, architectural, and medical industries.

    Nipuna expects to close this fiscal with a turnover of $40 million, out of which

  • Broadcast Asia 2007 to emphasise on Comgraphics and Animation 2007

    Broadcast Asia 2007 to emphasise on Comgraphics and Animation 2007

    MUMBAI: Organisers for Broadcast Asia 2007 have revealed that the show will increase its presence for Comgraphics and Animation 2007.

    Over 80 per cent of exhibition space has already been booked, testament to the event’s relevance and growing importance of the Broadcasting and Animation industries in Asia, asserts an official release.

    Singapore Exhibition Services chief executive Stephen Tan said, “This is in keeping with market trends and especially across Asia, where the animation industry is set to grow to epic proportions.”

    For the first time in its 12-year history, Broadcast Asia 2007, will dedicate extra floor space to accommodate this new focus area. In addition, the show floor at ComGraphics and Animation 2007 will be divided into four distinct physical areas.

    At the recruitment zone, aspiring digital artists can speak to the recruiters looking to hire talented individuals for their company, and those wishing to embark on an education in this area can obtain information from various leading educational institutions.

    At the interactive zone, visitors can get up close with the latest technologies on offer, while at the exhibitors’ tech talk zone, visitors can listen in to exhibitors who will be sharing insights and knowledge on CGI and Interactive Digital Media techniques and trends in a 45 minute presentation.

    As with previous years, the show will also include an Animation Screening and Digital Art Gallery, where visitors can watch screenings of selected animation entries and top-line award winning productions by other professional artists.

    Conference and artist workshops will also be held alongside the exhibition. The event will also be the venue to host the annual Comgraph Competition, organised by ACM Siggraph Singapore.

    Other improvements at Broadcast Asia 2007 include gentler hall lighting and an enhanced registration process where visitors only need to register once to access both CommunicAsia 2007 and Broadcast Asia 2007 halls.

    “We’ve listened to feedback from exhibitors and visitors and have taken steps to improve their overall experience at BroadcastAsia. With less light coming into the halls, products that are receptive to glare can be demonstrated with improved clarity, this would be closer to the environment found in production studios or editing rooms, where lighting tends to be a lot milder. A one-time registration also allows faster and easier movement of people between halls,” added Tan.

    Broadcast Asia 2007 will be held from 19 to 22 June 2007 and incorporates Professional Audio Technology 2007. The event is held in conjunction with ComGraphics and Animation 2007, Interactive DME, CommunicAsia 2007 and Enterprise IT 2007, adds the release.

  • Discovery to air special on hunter turned conservationist Jim Corbett

    Discovery to air special on hunter turned conservationist Jim Corbett

    MUMBAI: Humans are used to considering themselves at the top of the food chain, so when an animal turns man-eater and terrorises their neighborhood, it plays upon their most primal fears.

    Discovery will air the special The Man-Eating Leopard Of Rudrayag on 16 October at 8 pm. This is a true tale of the famous hunter-turned-conservationist Jim Corbett and the big cat that slaughtered 126 people over a period of eight years in the Himalayan foothills, shortly after the end of World War I.

    The special is part of the 13-episode series Discovery Marquee currently airing on Discovery Channel. Reconstructing some of the most fascinating historical epics, combining archival footage with recreated images generated using computer generated imagery (CGI) and latest animation techniques, backed by meticulous research, investigation and first-person accounts,

    Other programmes that are a part of the Discovery Marquee line-upare Deep Ocean. This airs on 23 October at 8 pm. This is an exploration of Earth’s final frontier seen through the eyes of its greatest inhabitant and the world’s largest predator, the sperm whale.

    Genghis Khan will airs on 30 October at 8 pm., It shows how an illiterate outcast turned the feuding tribes of Mongolia into a powerful nation controlling territories from the outermost reaches of eastern Asia to the heart of Europe.

  • ‘Barnyard’ uses Sun Technology for computer-generated animation

    ‘Barnyard’ uses Sun Technology for computer-generated animation

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon Movies’ computer-animated movie Barnyard, distributed by Paramount Pictures, features complex computer-generated animation that required unique and creative solutions from Sun Microsystems Inc.

    The film is Nickelodeon’s most challenging animated film to date and features vast landscapes with vivid details, realistic shading and lighting, and scenes that incorporate more than 200 characters that move with surprising fluidity.

    Leveraging a rendering farm based on Sun Fire servers and Sun StorageTek data management systems, Barnyard’s artists were able to quickly identify incomplete scenes, make necessary edits, and manage finished shots. The complex scenes were executed using 64-bit computing solutions from Sun that revolutionised how computer-generated imagery (CGI) is created and managed.

    “With a state-of-the-art computer-animated movie like Barnyard, a seamless interaction between the technology and artist is essential to make the characters come to life. Sun raised the bar by providing the only solutions that met this challenge and exceeded business expectations,” said Barnyard executive producer Aaron Parry.

    “We were thrilled that Sun was able to come up with a solution for us. Steve Oedekerk had some very specific and complex ideas that he wanted to see up on the screen, and Sun was integral in helping Steve and his team realize them,” said Barnyard executive producer Julia Pistor.

    Sun provided a 620-node server farm and storage solution that was crucial in the completion of the complex animation required. The solution is based on Sun Fire x64 enterprise servers powered by AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture, and 100-terabyte Sun StorageTek 3510 and 3511 FC arrays and a Sun StorageTek tape library for online storage and backup of shot files and other movie assets.

    Sun Customer Ready Systems helped migrate the production from its previous 32-bit render farm, and then configured, assembled and tested the new Sun render farm for the production. In addition, Sun provided continuous on-site consultation and support to the Barnyard production team.

    Barnyard’s producers believe their Sun solution may represent the first time a studio has relied entirely upon 64-bit technology to render a full-length animated movie.

    “Animated movies are evolving rapidly, demanding more and more lifelike characters and scenes that are challenging artists, directors and the technology industry to create better CGI in faster and easier ways. Sun is excited to meet these challenges with our expanded product line and range of service offerings,” said Sun’s x64 product line business driver Pradeep Parmar.

  • The History Channel celebrates ‘Pirates’ fever with special

    The History Channel celebrates ‘Pirates’ fever with special

    MUMBAI: With one of the biggest films of the year Pirates Of the Caribbean having opened in India, The History Channel takes a look at how real life pirates like Blackbeard, Calico Jack plundered ships and seaport towns offering retribution to those who offered resistance and seizing fortunes at will.

    The special True Caribbean Pirates airs on 22 and 23 July at 10 pm.

    The special features dramatic stories which separate real history from the notions that have been made popular in books and films. The special will have CGI animation, interviews with experts, archival imagery and artifacts. The special even looks at female pirates like Anne Bonny and Mary Read who were more sensational than their male counterparts and just as dangerous.

    The special allows viewers to understand the pirates’ true motives and dispel myths of treasure maps and buried booty. The History Channel senior VP programming Joy Bhattacharya says, “The History Channel’s endeavour has always been to put history in perspective in a manner that is engaging and entertaining. True Caribbean Pirates has the same appeal as that of a thriller movie probably even more so because it is based on real life events.

    “We believe that our audiences will be highly interested in finding out the pirates’ unique reality which was motivated by a true desire to be free and live their way.”