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If James Franco’s iPhone habit just didn’t give you the Oscar-worthy performance you hoped from this weekend’s annual awards show, then check out Tiago Veloso’s great list of Oscar-themed Infographics over at Inspired Magazine.

This year’s edition of the Oscars has passed, but we thought that it would be nice if we selected some of the most interesting infographics about the wonderful world of cinema.

And that’s a huge task, especially if we consider that some sagas – like Star Wars or Harry Potter – have so many infographics about them, that we could make an entire post just with them – just for you to have an idea, we have over 400 on Visual Loop!!!.

Even so, we selected some from all over the world, so we hope you enjoy it!

via Celebrating The 83rd Oscar Awards With 83 Amazing Infographics | Inspired Magazine.

Graphics academy awards, infographics, list, oscar

The recipients of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science annual Scientific & Technical Awards have been named, and it’s some well deserving projects.  Just some of the awards:

To Dr. Mark Sagar for his early and continuing development of influential facial motion retargeting solutions.

Dr. Sagar’s work led to a method for transforming facial motion capture data into an expression-based, editable character animation system that has been used in motion pictures with a high volume of digital characters.

and

To Tim Drnec, Ben Britten Smith and Matt Davis for the development of the Spydercam 3D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.

The evolution of the Spydercam technology has made it possible to move a camera safely and accurately anywhere through a three-dimensional space.

But most surprisingly, 4 awards to render queue technology in use in Render Farms:

To Greg Ercolano for the design and engineering of a series of software systems culminating in the Rush render queue management system.

Mr. Ercolano’s work has been influential across the industry, and has enabled scalable render farms at numerous studios.

To David M. Laur for the development of the Alfred render queue management system.

This system was the first robust, scalable, widely adopted commercial solution for queue management in the motion picture industry. Its user interface and support for multi-machine assignment influenced the design of modern day queue management tools.

To Chris Allen, Gautham Krishnamurti, Mark A. Brown and Lance Kimes for the development of Queue, a robust, scalable approach to render queue management.

Queue was one of the first systems that allowed for statistical analysis and process introspection, providing a framework for the efficient use of render farms.

To Florian Kainz for the design and development of the robust, highly scalable distributed architecture of the ObaQ render queue management system.

ObaQ has scaled from managing a few hundred processors in 1997 to many thousands today, with minimal changes to the original design.

10 Scientific and Technical Achievements To Be Honored with Academy Awards® | HollywoodNews.com.

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It’s that time again, and the Academy has announced the 15 candidates for the Visual Effects Oscar.  Check out the list and see which ones you think deserve.

• Alice in Wonderland
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Clash of the Titans
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
• Hereafter
• Inception
• Iron Man 2
• The Last Airbender
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Shutter Island
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
• Tron: Legacy
• Unstoppable – Out of control

Personally, I’m pulling for Iron Man and Tron:Legacy.  What about you?

via Oscar 2011: The 15 candidates for the visual effects.

Graphics academy awards, oscar, vfx

MAXON has issued a new press release congratulating the guys behind District 9, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and 2012 for their Academy Award Nominations, and is not so careful to point out their use of various MAXON software packages.

“We’re thrilled again this year to see our customers recognized at the highest levels for creative excellence in digital filmmaking,” said Paul Babb, president, MAXON USA. “This year’s nominees pushed the boundaries of 3D technology to new heights delighting audiences with both fantastic and realistic effects. We deeply appreciate their reliance on our professional 3D animation toolset to achieve these well-deserved milestones.”

Several studios are mentioned across the various projects, but it really looks like BodyPaint and CINEMA4D are getting a lot of use out of the major studios.  Read the full release after the break.

Read more…

Graphics 2012, academy awards, bodypaint3d, cinema4d, cloudy, crazy horse effects, district9, image engine, imageworks, maxon, uncharted territory