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Transparency: The Health of U.S. Teeth

Graphics, Science digest, infographics, list

AEtuts has compiled a nice list of 33 books to begin (or continue) your VFX education, several of which have already been the subject of a Resource of the Week post here at VizWorld.

How many books are in your library? I have some of the top rated books for our industry for you guys to pick and choose from depending on your interests! Whether you are into motion graphics or matchmoving… there is something here for everyone!

via 33 Books To Reference On Your VFX and Mograph Journey | Aetuts+.

Graphics book, list, vfx

AMD has opened a new area of their website focused on hosting OpenCL code samples.  While right now the offers are a bit spartan (a single Volume Rendering demo), their heart is in the right place.  They claim that the demos require the ATI Stream SDK, but the Zipfile offered is source-code and a Visual Studio project so presumably it would work on NVidia systems as well (though you may need to alter a path or two).

OpenCL™ Samples | AMD Developer Central.

Science amd, opencl

Transparency: The Health of U.S. Teeth – Transparency – GOOD.

infographics

Today Canon showed off an ‘engineering prototype’ of a possible 4K Camera under development, and while they are careful to state that this will probably never see the light of day without extensive rework, the various opinions around the device are heavily polarized.  This was just too interesting to pass up.

First, Gizmodo loves it, which is no surprise since they love just about any gadget.

I really hope Canon makes this concept compact 4k camera one day, even if it says it’ll never come out just like this. It’s like the looming future of cameras sculpted in black plastic, a photon blaster-cum-camera.

A mere 5.5 pounds, this working concept model shoots 4K video at 60 frames a second using a single 2/3-inch CMOS sensor.

Then, ProLost takes one look at it and struggles to hold back the vomit.

There’s so much wrong with this “concept camera” that I hardly know where to begin. It’s an atrocity of aesthetics and ergonomics. It has a fixed, not-very-special 20x zoom lens. The sensor is only 2/3”. It shoots 60fps. Nothing about this camera reflects any awareness of what digital cinematographers want. It’s as if Canon brass lifted the internet ban on the engineer’s dungeon just long enough for them to visit to RED’s web site, and then shut it down again after they’d read as far as “4K.”

Finally, Philip Bloom takes a look and gives us a more balanced response.

It was actually working and was crisp as hell…This concept camera had  a fixed 2/3″ 20x Zoom lens as the chip itself is 2/3″. I am not sure what the idea of it is, they mentioned something about medical something or other. It’s obviously not a cinema concept camera due to the fixed lens. The image out of it was actually really really nice. As I have said and I and am sure you all want to,  is to see an APS-C chip in camera like this and use all the current Canon glass or PL lenses…but Canon have a different marketing strategy to someone like RED. RED announce their road map and make it very public. Canon keep things close to their chest. If there is a cinema camera coming out or a new improved DSLR for video there is no way they would show a concept camera of it and show the competition what they have up their sleeve.

So all three of them are speaking of the same camera, but so many different views.  Those who love technology, those who use cameras on a daily basis, and those who cover the companies.  So, what do you think?

Hardware 4k, camera, canon

It seems Google has quietly released a new major upgrade for SketchUp that includes model geolocation, color imagery, and a new tool called ‘Building Maker’.  They’ve added improved tools for photo matching, and all around seem to have done a good job of adapting SketchUp to be a great tool for architectural modeling.

The pro version adds support for basic constructive solid geometry operations like union, intersection, and subtraction, as well as some CAD-like features such as angular dimensions and volume calculation.

Google SketchUp.

Graphics google, sketchup, software

At IFA2010, LG is demonstrating a new 31″ OLED-TV that is an astonishing 2.9mm thick, and capable of full HD at 600Hz.  It’s only a prototype, but LG is targeting a 2011 release.

Blends in harmoniously with any home interior, whether on a stand, or mounted on walls or even ceilings

• 31 inch OLED-Tv
• World slimmest depth with 2.9 mm
• 3D Crosstalk Free
• Infinite Contrast ratio
• Viewing Angle Fee

I mean look at that photo, there’s practically nothing there!

via Pictures from LGs 31 inch 3D-OLED-Television at IFA-2010.

Hardware ifa2010, lg, oled, television

MAIET Entertainment is working on ‘GunZ2: The Second Duel”, and WeMade Entertainment is working on a new MMORPG codenamed “LF”, and both have settled on Autodesk’s Kynapse AI middleware to drive the games.  It’s a no-brainer of a choice so that now they can dedicate engineering resources to more important systems, and leave the AI and pathfinding to a proven solution.

“We needed a middleware solution for the Unreal Engine that provided efficient data generation processing for path finding, solid AI for nonplayer characters and light run-time search costs,” said Joseph Ryu, managing director at WeMade Entertainment. “Autodesk Kynapse AI middleware was the obvious choice.”

Developers at MAIET Entertainment also adopted Kynapse middleware to help improve efficiency in their engineering efforts. “In the past, there have been many cases when we had to rewrite the AI code for new game titles,” explained Youngho Kim, vice president at MAIET Entertainment. “By eliminating that redundancy, Kynapse middleware will help reduce development time. The middleware offers the performance and flexibility we were looking for.”

Read the full release after the break.

Read more…

Graphics autodesk, kynapse, video game

VFX artists from Troublemaker Studios used high-powered 6-core AMD Opterons and FirePro V8800′s to bring all the post-processing work for Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Machete’, over 500 shots work, in a mere 6 months with 10 artists.

Shots from three different digital camera models, one film camera, camera tracking work using PFTrack, 3D special effects work using Softimage, and compositing work using Nuke, all came together through AMD hardware.

Such added effects include extensive set damage, a huge number of bullet holes, and wide-ranging set extensions. AMD hardware also played a part in sophisticated particle simulations helped more accurately render realistic blood spatters that interact with each other, the actors and objects in the environment.

via AMD CPUs and GPUs Used to Make ‘Machete’.

Graphics, Hardware amd, troublemaker, vfx

Animated Short no.1 from Yum Yum London on Vimeo.

There’s not much to say about this, other than it’s a cute animated short from Yum Yum London.  40 seconds of entertainment, and then be glad your day is going better than his.

Animated Short no.1 from Yum Yum London on Vimeo.

Graphics animation, short, yum yum