Building a Beguiling Bengal Tiger

December 14, 2012 by Thomas J. McLean 1 Comment

VFX supervisor Bill Westenhofer discusses some of the mind-blowing visual effects of Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Life of Pi is not a movie about mathematics, but numbers played a big role in creating the stunning visual effects for director Ang Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel. “If I [...]

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OptiTrack Introduces New Model in Prime Mo-Cap Series

August 22, 2012 by Ramin Zahed No Comments

OptiTrack has introduced a new family of mo-cap cameras designed for large-volume captures called the Prime Series. Offering capture volumes that extend up to 150’ with unmatched pixel-for-pixel tracking precision throughout, the 4.1 MP Prime 41 provides VFX studios, game developers, universities and labs with the tracking technology necessary for [...]

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‘Underworld,’ ‘Red Tails’ and ‘FMA’ Take on ‘Beauty’

January 19, 2012 by Thomas J. McLean No Comments

A pair of visual-effects-heavy battle movies from completely different ends of the spectrum take on Mark Wahlberg’s Contraband and the 3D release of Beauty and the Beast at the box office this weekend. Sony’s Underworld: Awakening, the fourth film in the vampires vs. werewolves series, has the week’s biggest opening. [...]

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‘Smurfs,’ ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ Try to Round Up Ticket Sales

July 28, 2011 by Thomas J. McLean No Comments

It’s time to get Smurfy, as the little blue forest-dwellers take on the combo of Cowboys & Aliens at the box office. Sony/Columbia’s stereoscopic 3D hybrid take on the classic comic-strip characters and Saturday-morning cartoon stars arrives in theaters this week. The Smurfs is set to open in almost 3,400 [...]

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