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2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa game tracker

Graphics, Science digest, infographics, list

With Toy Story 3 in theaters and continuing to set records for animated films and Pixar productions, this week’s recommended resource is a celebration of some of Pixar’s greatest work in the Short Films area: ‘The Art of Pixar Shorts“.

While Pixar Animation Studios was creating beloved feature-length films such as Monsters Inc. Ratatouille and WALLïE it was simultaneously testing animation and storytelling techniques in dozens of memorable short films. Andre and Wally B proved that computer animation was possible; Tin Toy laid the groundwork for what would become Toy Story; and Mike’s New Car exposed Pixar’s finely tuned funny bone. In The Art of Pixar Short Films animation expert and short film devotee Amid Amidi shines a spotlight on these and many more memorable vignettes from the Pixar archive. Essays and interviews illuminate more than 250 full-color pastels pencil sketches storyboards and final rendered frames that were the foundation of Pixar’s creative process.

This book and many others is available in the VizWorld Store.

Graphics feature, pixar, resource of the week

I just found the YouTube page for “WaveAnimations”, a user that is developing new flow simulations for ship hulls, who has several beautiful videos of simulation results.  Covering transom waves, plunging and breaking waves, asymmetrical waves, and several others, they are just beautiful and hypnotic to watch.

Disclaimer: I work for the lab that created the videos & visualizations, but not the Simulation.

YouTube – WaveAnimations’s Channel.

Science scivis, visualization

While I’m personally a fan of CUDA & OpenCL, you can’t deny Microsoft’s powerful impact on the GPGPU space with DirectX’s new DirectCompute capabilities.  Spend your lunch break brushing up on the capabilities of this, complete with examples and source code, in a series of Lectures available on MSDN.

DirectCompute Lecture Series | Tags | Channel 9.

Science directx, gpgpu, microsoft

It’s been 6 months since Microsoft first demonstrated their new visualization tool ‘Pivot’, but now it’s finally publicly available and free for all at their website.

The Silverlight PivotViewer makes it easier to interact with massive amounts of data on the web in ways that are powerful, informative, and valuable. PivotViewer lets us present thousands of things at once and visualize them in a way that exposes value from the group. PivotViewer experiences range in complexity to build. All involve the creation of a collection. PivotViewer is now available for you to begin building and embedding your collections directly onto your webpage.

They offer the offering software for free download, and it supports the ability to publish and embed your visualizations into the websites of your choosing.

via PivotViewer Home : The Official Microsoft Silverlight Site.

Science microsoft, pivot, software

The big scene of the new Twilight movie ‘Eclipse’ has 1200lb Werewolves taking on an army of 180lb Vampires in an epic hand-on-hand (and fang) combat scene.  But when it came time to pull it all together, one question remained: What happens when a person slams into a 1200lb critter at full-out-run?  The answer wasn’t pretty, and it took some VFX liberties to make it all work.

“We have to be true to Earth s specific gravity in the performance work to make it seem like the wolves are really there ” Tippett said. “But if a 1 200-pound object is slamming into a human being at 30 miles an hour it s going to have pretty severe consequences. And so there are these scenes where it s like Oh my God how are we going to pull this off ” Their solution was to sprinkle

via ‘Eclipse’ Werewolves: Five Secrets Revealed – Movie News Story | MTV Movie News.

Graphics movie, vfx

Adobe Systems Founders John E Warnock and Charles M. Geschke have just received the honor of being awarded the $100,000 Marconi Prize.  Of course, $100k is chump change to these titans of computer graphics industry, the honor is the main deal.  But while you may think it’s for Photoshop or AfterEffects, you would be wrong:  It’s for their development of Adobe PostScript, the worldwide printing and imaging standard used by print service providers, publishers, and corporations worldwide.

The duo will be awarded the $100 000 Marconi Prize considered the highest honor specifically devoted to information and communications science on October 15th at the annual Marconi Awards Dinner at the Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park CA. “The selection of Charles M. Geschke and John E. Warnock as co-recipients of the 2010 Marconi Prize signals the evolving nature of what we mean by communications technology ” said Jim Massey the 1999 Marconi Award winner and Fellow.

via Adobe Systems Founders Win 2010 Marconi Prize | Earth Times News.

Graphics adobe, award

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa game tracker.

infographics interactive, sports

Eyeon software has just released the new version of Fusion, v6.1, that greatly improves interoperability with other systems (via FBX) and adds several new features for GPU usage.

Fusion 6.1 accelerates from the starting line with astounding GPU optimizations, local file caches and particle solution caching. The creative horizon expands with new tools for managing grain, color correction and handling metadata. Scripters will rejoice at the inclusion of native python support, and everyone benefits from the many enhancements to particles.

Subscription customers get the upgrade for free!

CGSociety – Fusion 6.1.

Graphics eyeon, fusion, software

How Data Travels From a Wireless Device

Transparency: Where Will the Next Volcano Erupt?

Transparency: The Rise of Walking and Biking

Where do your favorite World Cup players Work?

Graphics, Science digest, infographics, list