Audiences will experience the classic, adventure-mystery like never before from seats that move simultaneously with the onscreen suspense and intense action. With motion effects embedded frame by frame, sensations of motion occur during action scenes, while seats remain still during quieter, dialogue-driven sequences.

“With nine new releases, a fourth one with Warner Bros and 10 movie theatre locations to date, we are thrilled with how well D-BOX has been embraced by the industry and movie fans alike,” said President and CEO, Claude Mc Master. “Since introducing D-BOX Motion Code(TM) in Hollywood earlier this year, we have continued to experience rapid growth, offering the D-BOX experience to moviegoers in the Western United States and Midwest as well as in Canada. We look forward to adding new theatres and continuing to build on our strong support from Warner Bros. and many more industry leaders.”

In this dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, Sherlock Holmes sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country. The action-adventure mystery stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams and is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Guy Ritchie.

D-BOX motion seats are available at 10 movie theatres in North America including the Mann Chinese 6 Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif.; UltraStar Cinemas in Surprise, Ariz.; Theatres at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.; Galaxy Highland Theatre in Austin, Texas; Cineplex Odeon Queensway Theatre in Etobicoke, Ontario; Galaxy at the Cannery in Las Vegas, Nev.; UltraStar Apple Valley in San Bernardino, Calif.; Cinema Beloeil in Montreal, Quebec; Wehrenberg Theatres’ Ronnies 20 Cine in St. Louis, Mo.; and Emagine Theatres’ Canton Theatre in Canton, Mich.

Source: D-Box

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Assassin’s Creed II is Ubisoft’s sequel to the 2007 debut title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history. Set in an all new era, the Renaissance, Assassin’s Creed II features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble out to protect his dynasty from the power hungry, bloodthirsty Knights Templar. The project marks Image Metrics’ first title with Ubisoft.

“One of the most anticipated games of the year, Assassin’s Creed is renowned for its stunning art design and rich graphics,” said Brian
Waddle, executive vice president of Image Metrics. “Image Metrics is honored to have used our facial animation technology to help Ubisoft enhance the sequel even further through compelling cinematics that feature emotionally engaging characters.”

While Ezio’s identity is shrouded in a hood to avoid detection, Ubisoft wanted to develop believable facial animation for key supporting
characters in the game, including fellow assassins, priests, ladies and artists – and worked with Image Metrics for many of these characters.

Using performance capture and character rigs provided by Ubisoft Montreal, Image Metrics optimized the rigs and used character specific reference data to deliver 28 minutes of facial animation for 23 different characters in the game. The animation was completed within about eight weeks thanks to Image Metrics’ proprietary facial animation and rigging technology.

“With their track record, solid technology and very good service, Image Metrics quickly became our first choice for a facial animation partner for Assassin’s Creed II,” said Jean-Francois Boivin, Production Manager, Missions and Cinematics. “Timing was also crucial to the project. We had to deliver over two hours of cinematics, including 30 minutes of facial close-ups, within tight deadlines. Image Metrics was able to produce the quality and quantity of facial animation Assassin’s Creed II demanded in the short timeframe we had for the project.”

Source: Image Metrics

The much anticipated AVATAR trailer was released online last week and viewer traffic overwhelmed Apple.com’s trailer site. Almost immediately, reactions were posted on the internet with comments like “AVATAR = DELGO,” “AVATAR is Basically DELGO II,” and “The 7 Eeriest Parallels Between AVATAR and DELGO.”

USA Today’s Pop Candy Blog, New York Magazine and even Huffington Post joined in the discussion circulating the web for the past several days associating James Cameron’s new film, AVATAR, with the independently-produced, animated feature, DELGO, which was released in theaters last year.

S.T. Vanairsdale of Movieline said, “James Cameron seems to have been influenced by some similar visuals and themes,” going on to declare the two films share “uncanny parallels.” WorstPreviews.com cited that the “characters and the universes of both films are almost identical.” Online movie critic, JoBlo, said AVATAR and DELGO were “undeniably similar,” also noting that a side-by-side comparison of the two films was “pretty damn conclusive and practically warrant a likeness lawsuit from the lowest grossing movie ever to be filed against the director of the highest grossing movie ever.”

Fathom Studios, the Atlanta-based production company behind DELGO, was bombarded with emails as soon as the AVATAR trailer went live. A spokesperson for the studio said, “From what we have seen, we are amazed by the visual similarities between the two films and we are reviewing what legal options may be available to us.”

DELGO is an independent film that took over a decade from conception to release. The initial proof-of-concept was available on Delgo.com in 1998 with work-in-progress from the feature production accessible via the website’s Digital Dailies since 2000 (http://www.delgo.com). According to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, AVATAR began production in 2006 after a rewrite of the script.

DELGO was the first independently-produced CG animated feature made in the U.S. It was released on DVD on August 4, 2009.

Source: Fathom Studios

There are spoilers so I hope you’ve watched the film before reading.

Let’s go back to the first film which was a respectable blockbuster back in 2007. Because the budget was a bit limited, there were only a few robots which were showcased. But it compensated with a tight narrative and some compelling emotional interaction between the Autobots and humans.

Fast forward to today’s sequel, the Revenge of the Fallen tried to improve on what it lacked – and tried to forsake everything else. It gave us a staggering forty-six Autobots and Decepticons with some fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping CGI sequences. But it seemed to have a loose plot and a lack of human touch.

But let’s first give credit where credit is due. The 3D animation models used here for the robots were very top-notch. It really had no problem convincing people that the robots were in the actual environment, complete with shadows and physics-obedient silky smooth movement.

Apart from the 3D models, the choreographies of the action sequences are nicely executed. You’d think that these Autobots and Decepticons are so heavy because of their hulking figures. But they were made to appear as though they were smooth-moving ballerinas.

We do however have reservations with the way certain animation sequences were inserted into the entire plot. A Decepticon disguised as a woman? Is this Terminator? Didn’t Bumblebee even detect the radiation signature of the lady when he rode with Sam Witwicky, the lead star of the film as played by Shia La Beouf (this actor’s surname has all the vowels in it).

This is not to act all obsessive-compulsive and debate with realism and the likes. This is after all a science fiction film – but the best science fiction films frame the outrageous concepts of their movies in a realistic environment. Plus, some of the antics are just slapstick.

Moreover, most of the disappointment with the film seems to be with the way the story was built – if ever there is a story to speak of. In a narrative device to create a reason for a sequel, director Michael Bay with the permission of executive producer Stephen Spielberg allowed the dead Megatron to be resurrected, essentially debunking the first film.

This would be good and all if there was a consistent thread to tie up the entire story. No, it relied on the suggestive foxiness of Megan Fox and slapstick humor to keep us going. As for the plot, it was a bit robotic, so to speak. The performances of the actors are just go-with-the-flow motions which fail to register one memorable scene.

Yes, I don’t know if you can consider memorable when John Turturro showed his briefs and behind in front of the camera.

It seems the entire point of the movie was to showcase the 3D animation grandeur of transforming robots. It seems the priority here is the action-packed fight scenes. With the success of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen in the box office, even with the negative views of critics, well I guess that was indeed the priority.

It was nice seeing Optimus Prime speak in his cartoon voice and to see my childhood robots come to life again. But the problem with sequels is that it can easily break down into a tried and tested formula to cash in profits. I believe that is what happened in this film.

CARTOON GENE follows the extraordinary life of a teenage human boy who has extra random cartoon DNA. “It’s a metaphor for adolescence, lending a hightened empathy for the viewer.” says Tom van Waveren Partner & Creative Director, CAKE. Gene’s Mum is a computer-generated action game star, whilst his dad is a computer geek. As he hits puberty, his ‘cartoon gene’ kicks into action and his human body literally erupts in a variety of cartoon-like reactions under different circumstances. In addition to co-producing the series’ pilot – in association with TELETOON, CTF, Shaw and Rocket Fund – CAKE will also be distributing it to the international marketplace. Cartoon Gene is a Galakids original concept created by Louis Fournier and Natalie Dumoulin and directed by Adam Weissman (I CARLY/ZOEY 101/DRAKE & JOSH).

CAKE has also recently taken on the worldwide distribution rights to a live-action Irish series from Telegael, AIFRIC (26 x 30″), four times winner of best kids drama at the Irish Film and Television Awards. Aifric is a thirteen year old girl whose parents have made the fatal mistake of moving to a small village from the city. The comedy drama deals with the big issues facing all young teens, as a 13-year old girl tries to navigate her way in a new and smaller world where her weird and wacky family stand out in a big way.

Genevieve Dexter, Partner & Commercial Director, CAKE says, “CAKE is known as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all kids’ programming and our move into live-action is simply another step on the ladder. We have been co-producing for a while now and are thrilled to be involved in both the creative and distribution of such a fantastic comedy series; CARTOON GENE offers creativity, reality and fantasy to the tween market and is another great property to add to our ever-expanding portfolio.”

The announcement follows the recent news that CAKE has also landed the international distribution rights for the live-action comedy drama DEAD NORMAL (working title), produced by Coolabi Productions Ltd and Australian-based Burberry Productions Pty Ltd. Ahead of CAKE’s involvement, the series already has a plethora of international broadcast deals with CBBC, ABC Australia and Nickelodeon Germany, to mention a few.

CAKE’s experience in live-action and animation means that the children’s programming specialists are perfectly suited to creating projects that span both genres, with creative director Tom van Waveren having also invested in LIZZIE MCGUIRE, Disney Channel’s flagship and definitive show of the early 2000s.

The very first instance of the ability of humans to replicate their surroundings through drawings were already apparent as early as Paleolithic cave paintings. In these drawings, animals were represented with four legs and seemed to have a semblance of motion. The closest discovered artifact was a 5,200 year old bowl made of earth which was discovered in Iran. In the sides of the Persian pottery, an image of a goat can be seen while leaping up to a tree.

An Egyptian mural found in a burial chamber, estimated to be around 4,000 years old, contains a series of wrestlers, drawn with complexity while performing their moves on each other. Although it did not depict images in motion, as we know of animation today, the images surely had intentions of showing the wrestlers perform their match.

From hereon out, human civilizations have started to create the earliest instruments to convey animation – images played in rapid succession to convey movement. China, circa 180 AD, had the zoetrope, an invention of the genius Ting Huan. The zoetrope is hung over a lamp with translucent panels of paper. The panels would seem to move when the lamp was spun in fast motion. This zoetrope turned into the magic lantern in Europe (Thaumatrope in 1824, Phenakistoscope in 1831 and Praxinoscope in 1877). Eventually these devices became the blueprint for the modern day projector.

Animation slowly entered the consciousness of the modern-day civilization when it pervaded the mass media in the 20th century all over the globe. From the puppet animations of Russia in the 1910 to the work of Emile Cohl in France, animation slowly started to become a trend in communicating narratives and messages.

With the blossoming of Hollywood in California as the center of film entertainment in the United States of America, animation grew wings and developed further. Beginning with Koko the Clown and Felix the Cat, animation in Hollywood started as theatricals to complement the silent films of the 1900s to the 1920s.

Walt Disney and his Disney studios dominated in the 1930s with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Catching on the trend, Warner Bros. and MGM rose to prominence as well. Hanna-Barbera Productions took on the mantle in the 1950s with its animated titles such as Flintstones and Yogi Bear. The animation scene in Asia was also very active with the rise of the animé genre.

An important step in the evolution of animation was stop motion. Instead of using traditional animation wherein images are drawn on paper, stop motion animators would use actual physical objects. This methodology involved photographng the objects in successive motion and in varying angles to depict motion. Popular clay animations were Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit. Stop motion animation as also pivotal in the special effects of the classic films King kong (1933) and the 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

Animated movies took a revolutionary with the introduction of computer-generated images (CGI) in the 1990s. Toy Story by Pixar is being credited as the first film done entirely in CGI when it was released in 1995 (developed from 1991-1995). CGI animation is a very tedious process and still adheres to the principles of traditional animation – the primary difference is the use of 3D modelling to achieve a more realistic look for animations. It can be even considered as a virtual version of stop motion because of its 3D principles.

CGI animation is the current benchmark of animated movies. With technologies improving, such as the InTru 3D breakthrough of Dreamworks used in the film Monsters vs. Aliens, the prospects for 3D animation are growing even brighter throughout the years.
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Starting from today, we will be showcasing a series of animation projects we produced over the years.

The hit documentary Secrets of the Battleship Yamato produced by Bang Singapore was the very first documentary Mediafreaks produced CG for. It proved to be a most rewarding experience and project as Mediafreaks later went on to produce many more animation work due to our involvement in Secrets of the Battleship Yamato.

The CG involved a series of 3D and 2D animation sequences showcasing the majesty and technical prowess of the largest battleship known to sail the face of the earth – the Yamato.

Mediafreaks reconstructed the Yamato in 3D and animated various shots which displayed the Japanese Imperial Army’s gigantic battleship in its splendor. Flyby shots with realistic lighting and technical sequences which compared the Yamato to other famous battleships were created.

We used the Brazil rendering system on 3ds Max for the project and simulated the waves using a series of procedural cum displacement maps. Each frame of rendering averaged about 30 minutes. Modeling took up the bulk of the effort as there were no blueprints for the ship available and we went through an arduous task of building the ship through eyeballing archived photographs.

The documentary – which was broadcasted on the Discovery Network, Off the Fence and the Nova Channel – received spectacular ratings and viewership.

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