Mass Market is one of the top 3d and visual effects (vfx) studios in New York City. Created by Chris Staves and Justin Lane, Mass Market has grown in size and scope and is now capable of handling projects from around the world. Here’s an interview with Justin Lane, Executive Producer at MassMarket
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=34a21d37-b9ee-41e9-b4d2-614c8a99dbc0)
Google turns 10 this year – are you any better for it? How has Google helped you? Your comments are welcome.
Are people growing tired of a standard keyboard and mouse. Take a look at some of the weirdest input devices that you may find yourself using in the near future. Click here.
Sony announced three new all-in-one PCs on Thursday at the CEDIA show in Denver, complete with Blu-ray technology built in.
The Vaio JS, LV and RT each are designed for a certain piece of the PC experience: the JS is more of a traditional PC, focusing on networking and communication; the LV is intended for the living room; and the RT is tailored for video editing and content creation. Prices start at about $1,000 for the JS, while the LV will cost about $1,600. The RT, which Sony calls a “High Definition Studio PC,” will cost about $3,300.
All include a Blu-ray drive.
“These new all-in-ones address all your entertainment and computing needs– they’re an HDTV, Blu-ray Disc player and PC in a fashion-forward, clutter-free design,” said Xavier Lauwaert, product manager for Vaio product marketing at Sony Electronics, in a statement.
As one might expect, the showpiece technology of each is the display. The JS includes a 20.1-inch XBRITE-ECO Sony display, while the LV includes a 24-inch (diagonal) WUXGA (1920×1200) display. The high-end, flagship RT receives a whopping 25.5-inch (diagonal) LCD.
Shipping in black, silver and pink, the JS includes both an integrated microphone and Webcam, with face-tracking technology, so it can follow your movements. The AIO includes Windows Home Premium.
The LV sits in your living room, acting as a PC/TV. Features include a 1080p HDMI input, Windows Vista Premium or Home, and an integrated wireless LAN and power supply. According to Sony, the unit can also be mounted on a wall. A wireless keyboard and mouse is also included. Models include the VGC-LV140J, VGC-LV150J, VGC-LV170J, VGC-LV180J, VGC-LV190Y, VGC-LV110N.
The VGC-LV180J, as an example, includes a 3.0-GHz Intel Core Duo E8400, 4 Gbytes of DDR2-800 DRAM, a 500-Gbyte hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS GPU with 256 Mbytes of dedicated video RAM.
The RT series also includes the 1080p HDMI input, as well as built-in digital TV tuners. Features include a Core 2 Quad processor, up to 8 Gbytes of RAM and a terabyte hard drive, all paired with Windows Vista Ultimate.
An engineer that follows his passion, creating digital images. Dario Lanza is a 3d instructor and artist who also has experience in photography and film making. Due to his engineering background, his artwork tends to lend towards precision and creating artwork for visualization purposes is one of his specialties.
The Peugeot 888 is billed as the “personal vehicle for the future Metropolis.” For designer Oskar Johansen from Norway, that means a car with space for two with room for luggage, as well as a nifty shape-shifting body.
On the highway, the Peugeot 888 stretches itself out flat so that it’s stable and aerodynamic. In the city, however, it scrunches up for easier parking.
Just to make sure it’ll fit in with the eco-minded future, the 888 is powered by electric motors in each of its wheels running off lithium-ion batteries stored in the trunk, which, in turn, is covered with solar panels. Now that’s some green.
Here’s an interview with Geoffroy Thorens, illustrator and concept artist. Like all real artists, he does not look at his art as a job, but as a carrer, a pleasure and a passion. If you are looking for artistic inspiration, then this is one of the many artists that you can have a look at. Also, this interview provides you with a (speed painting) video of one of his works.
Strap on this Lunocet Monofin, and you’re instantly the fastest swimmer in the world. You’re not going to be moving through the water at 60mph like a sailfish, but its 8mph top speed would beat the measly 5mph of Olympian Michael Phelps.
Best of all, you won’t need Phelps’s size-14 feet or 12,000 calorie-a-day diet, either. Idea: Let’s have an Olympic swimming event featuring these Monofins, the next logical step in sports tech.
Despite its sturdy construction, the Lunocet Monofin is relatively light for its size, weighing just 2.5 pounds thanks to its silicone-encapsulated carbon-fiber structure and aluminum/titanium footplate. All that ultra-light tech makes it expensive, though, costing upwards of $1,800.
That steep price might be worth it, because Lunocet says this contraption lets you act like a jumping dolphin at Sea World, creating “propulsion so powerful it can breach a human out of the water.”
How do you make a movie where the main focus is on just one whimsical little robot and his adventures across the galaxy? The people at Pixar once again was faced with the challenge of creating a believable and entertaining CG story – that focused on one little character. In this interview, Neil Blevins talks about the challenges that they faced in the creation of this wonderful movie.
It wasn’t just a blockbuster success on its opening weekend. It wasn’t just the bigger than life comic book characters. It was creating and rendering the bigger than life IMAX resolution that the team at Double Negative accomplished so flawlessly, a task that required a complete overhaul of the pipeline. FX Supervisor Paul Franklin talks about the days before The Dark Knight.
All the CG creature features shine in the Hellboy Golden Army sequel. The HellBoy is back – with a bang. You’ve heard of creature features. Well Hellboy II: the Golden Army, is a creatures feature, with a decided emphasis on the plural. On display in the film is a huge assortment of some of the most freakishly bizarre characters to appear in a superhero movie.
Rob Cohen and Digital Domain talk about their part in creating the latest dusty blockbuster. Cracking open the process of animating the Terracotta Army, helping to resurrect The Mummy in its third installment, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Computer company Dell has created another line of computers – with an odd design. This time, they’re going “green” with a new line of PCs called the Studio Hybrid. Who knows how computer buyers will take to this new move? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Quote: “Award-winning VFX studio Frantic Films VFX, a division of Prime Focus Group, recently served as a lead visual effects provider for the forthcoming stereoscopic feature film, “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” produced by Walden Media and New Line Cinema. Based on the Jules Verne classic of the same name, the movie is directed by Academy Award-winning visual effects veteran Eric Brevig. The 3D film is slated for U.S. release on July 11, 2008.”
MythBusters: Free Energy
Can scientists recreate the big bang?
The DoomsDay Ark
I still want Windows XP
The Star Wars Exhibit Museum opened on March 5 on the “Porão das Artes” at the Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, where it will be until June 29.
Children can take a course at the “Jedi Academy” (and face Darth Vader himself at the end) and adults can take a guided/scheduled tour.
Loaded with official costumes, props and models that were used in all six Star Wars films, this traveling exhibit is second only to the archives of the Jedi Temple.
LucasFilm sent a squadron of Stormtroopers out to visit various tech offices in Brazil as a promotion for the exhibit. (I could think of a couple ex-bosses of mine who could use a visit from these guys.)
Need to get to another city really fast? Just drive your car to the nearest airport, take off, land in your destination city, and drive to where you want to go. That’s the scenario envisioned by Milner Motors as it unveils a prototype of its AirCar, coupled with its ElectriCar, at the 2008 New York auto show.
The AirCar prototype won’t fly you anywhere now, but you can drive it, and it could be your transportation of the future.
Shoe tycoon Nike, dipping into the auto industry may seem disastrous, but the Nike ONE is an undeniably sexy single-seater. The ONE design team was led by legendary car designer Phil Frank, who designed classics such as the Saleen S7 and the new Ford Mustangs.
Made to coincide with the release of racing game Gran Turismo 4, the Nike ONE looks a bit like what might happen if the monstrosity from Alien and one of the bikes from Tron had a baby.
Toyota is proudly showing off its iQ, a concept pocket car, at the Geneva Motor Show. After some design mainstreaming, the iQ is expected to enter production by late 2008.
It will go up against Mercedes’ micro car, the Smart Fortwo. Not a whole lot more is known about the iQ except that it looks monstrously cool, will have a low-emission engine (Toyota calls the car’s design techno-organic) and will boast a flat, under-the-seats gas tank.
Putting the gas tank under the seats has to be one of the unconventional changes that Toyota will make in order to fit three adults and a baby in the 9.75-foot-long city car.
The car’s original design will be toned down, but not the tech, which if anything is expected to grow significantly.
The company’s not saying anything about pricing – as yet.
Acts of desperation: Microsoft is planning on cutting the price of Windows Vista in the hopes that it will spur sales.
They are planning to drop the US price for Windows Vista Ultimate to $319 from $399 for the full version and cut the price for an “upgrade” version to $219 from $259 for consumers who already run Windows XP or another edition of Vista.
This announcement arose after sales data that showed a 30 percent drop in money spent for software at U.S. retailers in January.
This drop is planned for 70 countries.
But the bottom line is this: if you cut the price of crap, you still have … crap!
