VizWorld.com

G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra was one of the summer’s biggest VFX hits and fxguide has a great collection of interviews with some of the VFX studios involved.  Some tidbits:

Digital Domain:

Practical accelerator suits, constructed by Stan Winston Studio, were made available on set for reference and scanning. Digital Domain relied on 3D scanning company XYZ RGB, who used a combination of projected light and stereo reconstruction in a portable setup to create suit geometry.

CIS Hollywood & CIS Vancouver:

The Baroness, Storm Shadow and Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) attack the Pit in search of nanomite warheads. CIS created their subterranean approach using volumetric fluid dynamic simulations as they surprise a group of camels and a herder. “We called that the Tremors or Bugs Bunny gag as the characters hit the base with their mo-pods,” said Hoita. A small set was built for shots of the mo-pods piercing the Pit walls, which CIS augmented with a virtual environment. A massive fight ensues, with further digital environments, pulse weapons and a camouflague suit all part of the effects work.

Prime Focus VFX:

Prime Focus used its proprietary volumetric particle renderer, Krakatoa, to help create the nanomites and the plane’s disintegration. “Rather than rely on texture maps to make it look like something was eating away at the plane,” added Harvey, “we converted all our surfaces into full 3D geometry with volume so you would see metal being eaten away with internal structures and thickness.”

And more from MPC, CafeFX, and Framestore.

fxguide – vfx training – G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Graphics cis, digitaldomain, framestore, movie, mpc, prime focus, vfx

Stamen Design created a custom interactive animated “tweet tracker” For the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.  Tweets are categorized by subject and visualized as bubbles, gravitating toward the center as they become more popular and the edges as they drop from prominence.  As of this posting, the biggest ones seem to be (as shown in the picture):

• Kanye West
• Taylor Swift
• MTV VMA
• Beyonce
• Pink
• Lady Gaga
• Micheal Jackson

Check it out to see how it changes as the day goes on.

2009 MTV VMA Tweet Tracker | MTV.com.

Graphics infographic, interactive, mtv, stamen design, twitter

Neal Levene noticed something fishy with a recent collection of maps illustrating the effects of the H1N1 (Swine) Flu virus across the world, released by InformationIsBeautiful.  He dug deeper and found a bad combination of typos, inconsistencies, and poor choices in representation.

Note, there was a typo in the first map that I did not see until I saw it in the table. The UK value on the first map should have been 13,095 versus 13,019. When I sorted the table data, I was confused when both countries had exactly the same number of cases. I corrected the data in the table at the top of this post. This is a trivial example of how the graphical elements (unnecessary in my opinion) distract from seeing the data. In the third map, there are only 5 data points instead of six. It was very clear in the table, not so clear in the map.

via Misuse of Maps – Swine Flu Data — Simple Complexity.

Science flu, infographic

Indiana University has posted a huge list of InfoVis software, libraries, and algorithms that are all freely available.

This page provides pointers to commonly used data analysis and visualization algorithms. An ‘IVC Software Framework’ was implemented to facilitate the easy integration of diverse software packages and their menu driven usage. Many software packages are available in Java and hence can be run on any platform that supports Java 1.4.

via InfoVis CyberInfrastructure- Software.

Science algorithm, infovis, list, software

Alioscopy has released a new toolkit powered by Ignition, a real-time interactive engine from Applied Ideas Inc, called the User Generated Content platform that allows users to create 3D models or video for instant playback on their glasses-free 3D TV.

“Alioscopy is constantly offering its customers a way to create and edit autostereoscopic 3D content quickly and efficiently,” said Philippe Roche, CEO of Alioscopy USA. “Along with our preferred content producer and template programs, the User Generated Content tools are a strategic way for us to help our customers further extend their ability to quickly create, customize and edit their own 3D autostereoscopic 3D content.”

via Alioscopy Makes 3D Digital Signage Easier with User-Generated Tools and Templates for Autostereoscopic ‘No-Glasses’ Content | SYS-CON UK.

Graphics, Hardware alioscopy, ignition, lcd, software, tv

CGArtist.TV has just launched collecting demo reels, tutorials, short films, animations, and more.  Anything CG related, be it 2D or 3D, they have a huge collection of content already with more being added daily.

CG Artist: Computer Graphics Television.

Graphics animation, movie, short, Website

If you’re an avid Blender user then consider submitting a short video to the Suzanna Awards & Animation Festival at the upcoming conference.  Awards will be given in three categories (Best Short Film, Best Character Animation, and Best Designed Short Film) for entries generated completely within Blender.  A quick description of the categories:

1. Best short film

This covers the nominated work the audience likes best, because it is just the best experience to watch… whether it is for story telling, the jokes, the design or the cute characters.

2. Best character animation.

Covers only character animation. The submitted video does not have to be a finished product. Only the animation of the character(s) is looked at. It can be fully rendered, but may for instance also be a video capture from the game engine.

3. Best designed short film.

Covers only the visual aspects of the submitted video. Simply put, the prettiest short film.

Hit the website for full details and deadlines.

blender.org – Festival-announcement.

Graphics animation, blender, conference, contest

Over at IBC2009, StudioGPU has just announced the newest version of MachStudio Pro.

The MachStudio Pro workflow shows lighting, camera views and multi-point perspectives for a real-time view of frames as they will appear in the final rendered format. Users can easily manage and interact with complex lighting, caustics, cameras, shaders, materials, ambient occlusion, and color grading for real-time shot finaling and compositing.

New features of MachStudio Pro 1.2, include Displacement Mapping using hardware tessellation, full stereoscopic Camera Support, a cartoon Shader and custom Configurable Anti-Aliasing.

via CGSociety – StudioGPU ships MachStudio Pro 1.2.

Graphics ibc, machstudio, software, studiogpu

Over at Visualization Complexity, Manual Lima has written a fantastic Information Visualization Manifesto.  It’s a great collection of reasons why we need visualization and things to avoid.

Form doesn’t follow data. Data is incongruent by nature. Form follows a purpose, and in the case of Information Visualization, Form follows Revelation. Take the simplest analogy of a wooden chair. Data represents all the different wooden components (seat, back, legs) that are then assembled according to an ultimate goal: to seat in the case of the chair, or to reveal and disclose in the case of Visualization. Form in both cases arises from the conjunction of the different building blocks, but it never conforms to them. It is only from the problem domain that we can ascertain if a layout may be better suited and easier to understand than others. Independently of the subject, the purpose should always be centered on explanation and unveiling, which in turn leads to discovery and insight.

Once you read the Manifesto, make sure to read the followup which contains even more great ideas.

via VC blog » Blog Archive » Information Visualization Manifesto.

Science infovis, manifesto

Smashing Magazine has a great compiled list of 25 data visualization and infographic resources.

But visualizations and infographics can be used poorly, too. Putting in too much information (or not enough), using improper formats for the information provided, and other failures are common. Below are more than 25 useful resources for infographics and data visualization. Most are galleries of effective graphics though some also provide how-to information for information designers.

Unfortunately VizWorld.com didn’t make the cut.  Maybe next time.

via Data Visualization and Infographics Resources | Developer’s Toolbox | Smashing Magazine.

Graphics, Science infographic, list, visualizations