With VisWeek starting in 2 weeks, those you are there should print this out and carry it around.
Just like any other bingo! You attend VisWeek and mark those squares that describe what is going on. When you get five in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), you yell “VisWeek!”
Sadly, I won’t be there (other work obligations conflict), but his bingo card is a good mix of inside jokes (Jock Mackinlay) and classic snafu’s (excessive animation, video’s won’t play, red on blue). Take it around, and then let us know how you scored afterwards!
Get the nice printable version via the link below.
One of the most popular infographics about Social media received a recent update:the Conversation Prism, by Brian Solis and JESS3. We them move on, taking a look at the Technology in the Classroom, form Online Colleges and Universities, and the effects of Piracy on the Music Industry, presented by Clickit Ticket. GOOD made another great infographic, this time about the growing E-Waste situation, and to close the week, Get Satisfaction reminds us of some of the worst Customer Relations Fiascos.
Fans of Renderman have a new version to love, RenderMan Studio 3.0. It has the usual performance boosts and UI improvements, but of particular note is the new consolidated user interface features and improved SLIM integration. In fact, the new SLIM integration even has scripting via MTOR-style and TCL. But that’s not all:
Better Intergration with Slim – RFM’s integration with Slim has been improved:
Slim sessions now “travel” with Maya scene files.
Bind Slim shaders to Maya nodes without the use of Maya ShadingGroup Nodes.
Hierarchical binding via the Maya DAG is now supported. A new binding strength attribute allows you to override lower-level bindings at higher DAG levels.
Slim can now initiate preview renders in Maya.
Slim networks can now generally imply extra rendering passes.
Remember that amazing video of the ‘Lagoa Multiphysics’ engine from a few months back, showing the dirt cascading down the cliff? It’s now made it into some of the latest Autodesk packages, and Autodesk just announced it’s now available in Autodesk Fotimage as part of the 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack.
“ICE affords developers greater speed and agility when it comes to creating custom effects. It is also fully multi-threaded making it unique among simulation capabilities integrated into other 3D animation applications,” said Stig Gruman, Autodesk vice president Digital Entertainment. “We’re tremendously proud that Thiago Costa seized the potential of ICE to design such an incredibly realistic simulation framework – one that also allows multiple physics solvers to operate at the same time in the same scene and even to interact.”
Thiago Costa participated in some of the first beta tests for Softimage ICE and began developing Lagoa Materials multiphysics simulation framework soon thereafter. He spent close to two years developing Lagoa before presenting it to Autodesk. “I had a solid pool of testers on my beta program, but once it was ready I wanted to make Lagoa available to the broader 3D community. Autodesk is an ideal partner to help me do that,” said Thiago. “ICE is revolutionary in many ways. It is an excellent platform to develop this framework because it’s the fastest, most flexible system I know. Developing a powerful multiphysics framework was relatively easy and extraordinarily fast using ICE.”
Subscription members can go download it now, or you can buy the advantage pack for $2995. Full release after the break.
Zygote has just announced the availability of their new Human Anatomy 5.0 collection, boasting completely new high-resolution Skeleton and Muscle models. Additionally, these new models required new models of everything else, with higher resolution and many more details.
The new skeleton is perfect for ultra-high resolution renders. Each bone has been painstakingly textured from high resolution photographs of each bone resulting in region-specific cortical textures that are true to life. Ten high-resolution texture maps were needed to create the ultimate surface and color detail. The end result is awe inspiring geometry coupled with amazing texture maps that will help your project be superior.
These are some of the best human anatomy models you can buy on the market. They support deformation and special care has been taken to eliminate interpenetrating surfaces, and the high-resolution makes them great for anatomical renderings and movies.
A clever new marketing campaign for the Fabra RS Rally car from Skoda allows you to take the car out for a fun test-drive using Augmented Reality technology. Simply print out the “steering wheel” while conveniently folding the AR marker onto the back, then take it for a spin. Post your best times on you Facebook wall, and challenge your friends to beat it.
The resolution of the system isn’t that great, but it’s good enough for the video-game style controls they give you. Not only that, but the audio and visuals really do a good job of making it more ‘video game’ than ‘driving simulator’. A clever PR maneuver, guaranteed to bring them some press buzz.
Universities in Ohio have some new toys to play with thanks to the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAED) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Boise State University, Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho all got a “immersive virtual reality” system that consists of a high-end computer and a 3D TV. In addition, it comes with some interesting optical tracking systems for interaction.
“Advanced visualization allows researchers to interact with and appreciate data on a different level. If a picture is worth 1,000 words then a 3D model or simulation is worth immeasurably more, from molecular modeling of proteins in cancer studies to enhanced development and testing of renewable energy technologies,” said Boise State Vice President for Research Mark Rudin. “For students the experience will bring what they’re learning dynamically to life, helping them grasp the significance of technical subjects in a unique way.”
Boise State already had people on staff for training, so hopefully these will actually wind up in some real uses soon.
Update 3:43pm: Don’t know why I originally had Ohio in the topic. Fixed.
Escape Studios has opened the search for the CG Whiz 2010, the winner of which will get a 12-week VFX course at Escape Studios, and a 4-week placement at The Mill.
“We’re very excited about this year’s competition that will find some of the industry’s brightest talent and give aspiring artists the chance to break into the VFX industry,” said Dominic Davenport, founder of Escape Studios. “Last year, the quality of entries we received was a testament to the hidden talent that exists in CG. We see it as our job to help anyone with a creative streak and a passion for computer graphics develop their skills and get them started on successful CG careers. We’re looking forward to checking out this year’s entries!”
It’s a huge prize that nearly guarantees a job if you can win it, booking a month of work with the Mill is a huge win on any resume. Entry rules are on their site, and the closing date is less than a month away! (November 12th)
I’ve always found NVidia’s ION system fascinating, but it doesn’t get a lot of respect from most people because it’s so underwhelming compared to the GeForce & Quadro lines. But I find this new motherboard design from Giada just impressive.
Giada MI-ION2 motherboard features Intel Atom D525 processors,Intel NM10 chipset,NVIDIA ION2 board-based graphics card,512MB DDR3 memory.There are two DDR2 SO-DIMM slots supportng up to DDR2-667 memory,with mamimun capacity of 4GB,and the card employs two SATA2 ports.
It’s basically an entire computer in a box, for only $221. It’s not super-powerful, but add in some cheap memory and maybe a DVD player and an SSD, and you’ld have a pretty nice PCTV rig that has just enough horsepower to drive 1080p I bet.
With VisWeek starting in 2 weeks, those you are there should print this out and carry it around.
One of the most popular infographics about Social media received a recent update:the Conversation Prism, by 
Fans of Renderman have a new version to love, RenderMan Studio 3.0. It has the usual performance boosts and UI improvements, but of particular note is the new consolidated user interface features and improved SLIM integration. In fact, the new SLIM integration even has scripting via MTOR-style and TCL. But that’s not all:
Remember that amazing video of the ‘Lagoa Multiphysics’ engine from a few months back, showing the dirt cascading down the cliff? It’s now made it into some of the latest Autodesk packages, and Autodesk just announced it’s now available in Autodesk Fotimage as part of the 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack.
Zygote has just announced the availability of their new Human Anatomy 5.0 collection, boasting completely new high-resolution Skeleton and Muscle models. Additionally, these new models required new models of everything else, with higher resolution and many more details.
A clever new marketing campaign for the Fabra RS Rally car from Skoda allows you to take the car out for a fun test-drive using Augmented Reality technology. Simply print out the “steering wheel” while conveniently folding the AR marker onto the back, then take it for a spin. Post your best times on you Facebook wall, and challenge your friends to beat it.
Universities in Ohio have some new toys to play with thanks to the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAED) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Boise State University, Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho all got a “immersive virtual reality” system that consists of a high-end computer and a 3D TV. In addition, it comes with some interesting optical tracking systems for interaction.
Escape Studios has opened the search for the CG Whiz 2010, the winner of which will get a 12-week VFX course at Escape Studios, and a 4-week placement at The Mill.
I’ve always found NVidia’s ION system fascinating, but it doesn’t get a lot of respect from most people because it’s so underwhelming compared to the GeForce & Quadro lines. But I find this new motherboard design from Giada just impressive.
VizWorld.com 
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