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Monday, 30 August 2010 20:13 |
US Army wants 2.3 gigapixel camera for aerial surveillance
DARPA may have already gone to the trouble of building a 1.8 gigapixel camera as part of its ARGUS-IS project (pictured above), but it looks like the US Army is setting its sights a little higher, and it's now soliciting proposals for a 2.3 gigapixel camera that would be used for some super-wide aerial surveillance. While obviously still quite a ways from becoming reality, the Army hopes the system will be both smaller and lighter than previous systems, work in the infrared range to boot, and capture images at a rate of two frames per second. The key bit, however, is of course that 2.3 gigapixel sensor, which should let the camera provide continuous coverage of a range of about sixty-two square miles at a resolution of 0.3 meters, or just enough to make out the outline of your tinfoil hat.
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Wednesday, 11 August 2010 00:13 |
Ninja Theory envisions that more studios will use performance capture in future.
Chief designer and co-founder Tameem Antoniades said that recording with separate performers is inefficient by today's standards.
"I think it's totally inevitable that [studios will] have to [use performance capture], because we get to the level of Avatar, anything less is not going to be good enough, and we will get to that level of performance," he told DS.
"You can't replicate that on realistic characters with animators, you just can't. Well, you can, but it would be grossly inefficient, it would take just too long.
"There are still games out there that voice separately in a recording studio, capture movements with different actors, and then they put it all together, and I just think that's just insane. Why would you do that? It's just ridiculous!"
Antoniades said that the technology is now affordable for big budget releases and he doesn't know why it is not used more often.
"If you're doing a fairly big budget game then it should be the way you do it, I think. I don't see any benefit or reason to do it any other way," he said.
"Hiring a massive team of animators to do it is not going to be cheaper than hiring some actors, a crew and a set to do it. So I don't know why it's not done more often. I think it's early tech, we're just at the cusp of it, the tech we developed at Weta was ahead of its time. Now, other games are catching up, and I think it will be used more."
Enslaved: Odyssey To The West follows Heavenly Sword in employing Andy Serkis and other actors for simultaneous motion and voice capture for its cutscenes.
The title will be released for Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 8.
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Wednesday, 11 August 2010 00:03 |
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 Take a look at Andy Serkis in the mocap suit he'll be sporting while he plots his domination over all of mankind. Rise of the Apes is the origins story of Caesar, the world's most devious ape.
Also in the shot is James Franco and Frieda Pinto, who appear to be Caesar's caretakers. Frieda is a primatologist.
Synopsis
Rise of The Apes is an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.
The tentative release date is set for June 24, 2011.
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Wednesday, 11 August 2010 00:02 |
CyberGlove Systems Announces Next Generation Data Glove for Motion Capture Industry
The leader in data glove technology is proud to announce the next generation CyberGlove product. New MoCap Glove designed to meet the needs of the motion capture and animation industry.
 We designed and built the new glove based on the feedback we received from our motion capture customers and partners 
CyberGlove Systems revealed its new data glove product, the MoCap Glove, at this past SIGGRAPH event that was held in Los Angeles, CA, from July 27-29. The glove was received exceptionally well by industry professionals that had the chance to experience the new product at the show, and was even touted as setting the standard for hand data motion capture.
“We designed and built the new glove based on the feedback we received from our motion capture customers and partners” says Faisal Yazadi, CEO of CyberGlove Systems. “We realized that the motion capture market was an area we wanted to grow in, and when CyberGlove Systems was in a position to work on our next generation product, we approached the motion capture industry and asked them exactly what they wanted for such a device. What we have here is the perfect hand capture solution for mocap studios and systems.”
Other features include:
- Onboard Portable Data Storage
- Jam Synch
- New Compact Housing Design and Arm Band
- 12-bit A/D Conversion
- Sensor Mount Option
- Active Palm Arch Sensor
- Backwards Compatibility
- Enhanced Command Set
The MoCap Glove officially ships by the end of Q3 this year. CyberGlove Systems is taking pre-orders now.
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Friday, 09 July 2010 06:36 |
Oscars Expands VFX Category to 5, Rules MoCap Isn't Animation
Beverly Hills, CA — The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finalized the rules for the 83rd Academy Awards at its most recent meeting (June 22). The most significant change is in the Visual Effects category, which will now feature five nominees rather than three.
Since 1963, when the Special Effects award was discontinued and new separate categories for achievements in visual effects and sound effects were established, the only period during which it was possible to have five visual effects nominees was 1977 through 1979. In only one of those years (1979) were five achievements actually recognized. Between 1980 and 1995, two or three productions could be nominated; since 1996 the rules have dictated there be exactly three nominees.
In the Animated Feature Film category, the rule governing running time for a motion picture to qualify was changed from at least 70 minutes to greater than 40 minutes, which is consistent with the running time requirements for feature films in all other categories. The running time for a motion picture to qualify as an animated, live action or documentary short film has been and continues to be a maximum of 40 minutes. The previous 70-minute threshold for an animated feature had left a gap for films that ran between 40 and 70 minutes, effectively preventing them from being able to qualify as either features or shorts.
Also in the Animated Feature Film category, a sentence regarding motion capture was added to clarify the definition of an animated film. The language now reads: “An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of greater than 40 minutes, in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique.Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique.
In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time.”
Other modifications of the 83rd Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor “housekeeping” changes.
Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
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Thursday, 01 July 2010 04:04 |
Andy Serkis is Lead Ape in ‘Rise of the Apes’
by Jeff Leins
 Andy Serkis has been cast as the lead ape in Rise of the Apes, also known as the prequel to Planet of the Apes.
We’ve known for a while that WETA, the special effects company of Peter Jackson, was creating CGI apes (rather than the practical, men-in-suit work of the previous versions), but everyone seemed to drop the ball on predicting Serkis for the motion capture suit. He provided the movements for both Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong in Jackson’s 2005 remake, which means he already has experience with lumbering and knuckle-dragging on set.
Serkis will play Caesar, an ape that develops intelligence after a scientist (played by James Franco) performs genetic experiments on him in an attempt to cure Alzheimer’s Disease. Once Caeser evolves he leads an uprising against the human population. Those damned dirty apes!
Freida Pinto is playing a primatologist working with Franco’s character and John Lithgow is set to play Franco’s ailing father. Marky Mark will not be making an appearance.
Rise of the Apes is expected to be released June 24, 2011.
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