Chalk is a Lost Medium

In a Capital One credit card commercial Alex Baldwin (tossed off plane for a kerfuffle about Words with Friends) stands by a likeness of himself in chalk and proclaims that , "chalk is a lost medium". Well... that is not exactly the truth. In fact, their is a lot going on in the Chalk world. I can across the site Visual Fun House which is filled with your favorite optical illusions. It's a neat site. One of the blurbs on the site is about 3D chalk drawings.



If you never seen one then you are in for a treat. They use 3d perspective to give the illusion of... well all sorts of things. Search the web "3d chalk drawings" and you'll be amazed by some of the work. There are even time lapse videos of a project from start to finish. Check some wild 3d chalk art here on YouTube

For those of you lamenting the end of the Realflow Magazine comes word of their new site. It's looks like they are trying to be the #1 source for all things Realflow. The magazine was a great read but petered out. The magazine business is brutal. Never-the-less if you are looking for a new clearing house for all your Realflow needs this could be it. Their new link is

http://www.rf-toolfactory.com/

I won't be silenced Arnold Renderer

Apparently, I can't just embed Vimeo Plus video's so here are the direct links

http://vimeo.com/15878348

http://www.vimeo.com/16155555


Sorry

Arnold Renderer where are you?

OK, by my count it has been about 15 years since we started talking about the Arnold Renderer. If I didn't know a little better I would call it vaporware grande ! But it's not. It's real. I swear. They swear. I've run it. It's been used in films. what else can I say. Here is the first really really really official unveiling of it. That was 2 years ago.

ARNOLD at "Softimage|UeberTage 2010" (Part I) from Oliver Weingarten on Vimeo.

Today, as I write this you can go to the makers website at http://www.solidangle.com/ and see for yourself. Oh wait... still nothing there. Damn you solid angle! Why do you taunt us?

I assure you it's real and this is not some kind of "faked moon landing video"

Part II

Softimage to ARNOLD plugin (SItoA) at "Softimage|UeberTage 2010" (Part II) from Oliver Weingarten on Vimeo.

Here are some Arnold renderings in film for ya !

Its been a long, long time since Pepeland.

For no other reason than it's neat #1

Arion Real Time Renderer Enters the Fray at V1.6

Real time renderers and renderers in general are all the rage. I think it's funny that so many companies are battling for the #1 slot if the "realest of the real" contest. Look I can't tell whats real anymore. Can you? Still they try and somehow succeed to add some new reality to our images that was heretofore unheard of. Real time in general sends a chill up my spine. It's almost uncanny that these images are more real than real. I think it's fitting that Arion from Random Control calls itself "real-time digital photography". Other than CG artists, the photographer suffers over the tiniest detail to make things "just right". Here is a little about Arion

What is Arion?

Arion is the hybrid-accelerated and physically-based light simulator developed by RandomControl. It inherits all our expertise in light simulation and makes it run on steroids, thanks to our very unique approach to massive CPU+GPU+LAN computation.

Arion is:

• an interactive WYSIWYG editing application.
• a super-high performance production renderer.

Arion's unique approach

Arion uses all the GPUs -and- all the CPUs in your system simultaneously, not wasting a single flop available. Additionally, Arion can use all the GPUs and all the CPUs in all the other computers in your network forming a cluster for massive computation.

In that regard, Arion is a grid-computing solution to the problem of light physics simulation. Simultaneous GPU+CPU+LAN, combined with our exhaustively optimized code, is what we call hybrid acceleration.

Some facts about Arion

• Uses all the GPUs -and- CPUs in your system simultaneously.
• Plugging an extra GPU delivers an immediate performance boost.
• 20x to 100x speed up per machine (hardware-dependent).
• Strictly physically-based.
• Fully unbiased (no cheats, no shortcuts).
• Does not need any kind of precomputations.
• Easy-to-use interactive WYSIWYG editing app.
• The real-time viewport -is- final quality.
• Production render engine features (commandline renderer, compositing channels, etc...)
• Compatible with NetWarrior for hyper-fast cooperative still frame and animation rendering.

Really? Are you kidding with me? I guess not.

http://www.randomcontrol.com/arion-gallery-miscellaneous

Siggraph 2012 Calls For Participation

(Chicago, IL) –SIGGRAPH 2012 seeks cutting-edge Real-Time Live! content to be presented as part of this year’s prestigious Computer Animation Festival. Examples of accepted real-time simulations and graphics submissions include:

Computer Games, Graphics & Demos Interactive Animation, Simulations & Rendering Techniques Military, Industrial or Scientific Visualizations Research Projects Real-Time Art Explorations Interactive Data Visualization & Information Graphics

All content that is interactively controlled and rendered in real-time will be considered. Submissions must be able to be demonstrated in front of a live audience.

“Since its debut in 2009, Real-Time Live! has featured some of the most innovative work presented as part of SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival,” said Jason Smith, SIGGRAPH 2012 Real-Time Live! Chair and Digital Production Supervisor at LucasArts. “Each year the quality and diversity in real-time submissions showcases the best work occurring in the industry. This year’s program will continue this trend of dynamic innovation.”

According to Smith, since debuting at SIGGRAPH in 2009, the quality of submissions continues to be more competitive and impressive each year. This program provides SIGGRAPH attendees access to the industry’s pioneering work in the Computer Animation Festival. "As a community we embrace the diversity and origins of real-time innovation; these breakthroughs enable many industries to re-imagine their production pipelines, development techniques and commercial opportunities on a regular basis."

The Real-Time Live! submission deadline is 9 April 2012. All real-time work will be reviewed by a professional jury of industry experts from traditional computer graphics, video games, and research organizations. Entries will be judged on creativity, innovation, performance, and most importantly, the ability to render in real time in front of a live audience as part of the Computer Animation Festival. The top selections will be played and demonstrated live on a PC or game console.

View detailed information on how to submit Real-Time Live! content.

Highlights from SIGGRAPH 2011 Real-Time Live!

###

About SIGGRAPH 2012
SIGGRAPH 2012 will bring thousands of computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles, California for the industry's most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, music, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web from Sunday, 5 August through Thursday, 9 August 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. SIGGRAPH 2012 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 7-9 August 2012. More details are available on the SIGGRAPH 2012 Facebook and Twitter.

Ruins... Another Destruction Plugin for Maya

From a developer somewhere in Asia comes Ruins. I will admit I have not run this plugin therefore I can't really attest to it's worthiness to blow stuff up ! The website at http://www.nshatter.com/ is not very helpful at all. In fact, there seens to be no videos on the site itself, may have other names it's going by ( nshatter, shatter, gone in 90 seconds.) Can anyone clarify any of this? Email me

Ruins 4.0:

1 Support OpenCL. what's openCL?

2 New algorithm system

3 Support super-complex models shatter.

4 Support windows, Linux, Mac OS. maya 2012.

5 If you have ruins3.5 , update to 4.0 + slit need 100$.

Nshatter ( which may or may not be the company's name ) also has another program/plugin for doing cracks and crevices in the ground. It's called Slit

Ruins Slit 1.0:

1 Ruins_Slit can simulate the effect of ground crack.

2 Ruins_Slit can simulate the growth of blood vessels.

3 Ruins_Slit can simulate lightning.

4 Support windows, Linux, Mac OS.

5 If you have ruins3.0, purchase slit only 100$.

If anyone has experience with this plugin please let me know.

Frozen Flame posts new price on MindTex

Overview

MindTex is a texture generation utility for game developers and 3d professionals alike. Built to match the competition in quality without the steep price, whether you want to generate a normal, height, specular, glow, or occlusion map, you can easily do it in seconds flat from a single source texture with MindTex.

Integrating MindTex into your 3d content pipeline will save you substantial amounts of time, money, and effort, allowing you to focus on what is really important: building immersive worlds and making your ideas a reality. And, at just $14.95 (you save over 75% off the original price of $64.95), you can afford it!

You can check outta video of this nice piece of software with a very nice price.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IGNswWLn0bY

Funny Name But Great Plugin Work

A group called Mootzoid has a set of plugins worth looking at if your a Softie XSI user. You just gotta love the organic squishiness that CG can provide, no matter what platform it's on.
Their plugins have been recently added or updated and include:

emFlock2 version 2.2
emNewton2 version 2.0
emTools version 1.25

They are currently in development on: emFluid5, emVolume, emTracker, emFuTools, emTree.

If you're a Softie then check them out. Their plugins may save you a heap of time.

Here's some pretty video to whet your appetite:

http://www.mootzoid.com/wb/pages/softimagexsi/emrpc4.php

http://vimeo.com/38444234

Speaking of IOS Apps

A fellow app developer has finally released her app for a slimmer and sleeker YOU. First off... hats off to Christine Chew for getting her app through the labyrinth that is the Apple App Store.

SlimKicker is a game that helps you lose weight and gain a fitter physique by turning it into a fun game. A great deal of effort has gone into this app and it really is fun. It was thoroughly thought through and deserves kudos for jumping into an already crowded market genre and finding a new angle on an old theme.

We wish SlimKicker and Christine all the best with her app. Get started here at

http://slimkicker.com/ and get her new app at the App Store here.

Die Pod struggles to become App

Die Pod - Yes that's currently what we are calling it, is still strugggling to make it into the Apple Appstore. We have gone through the trial and tribulation of submitting our app. After a year and a half of constant updating to fit the parameters set out by Apple for a permissible app, we are now in "Awaiting Review" status again. Anyone that knows the submission process is aware that it can be a hit or miss proposition based on everything from the planets aligning for you, to a merciful reviewer. We hope to have waylaid the concerns Apple had with our last submissions. 1.5 years later and the luster is definitely lost on the app as far as I'm concerned. If it fails again with major concerns. We are going to crack our own app and give it away. Stay tuned . . .

OH BIG HEADED KITTY SAVE US !

UPDATE: Get your free iphone app Read THIS