Here's the latest News and information on CG events, sofware release and new tutorial releases here at CG Academy. If you have any tib-bits that would be of interest, please send them in to... Just click on the link below to subscribe to the CGA RSS feed We have formatted our feed to give the best results in most RSS broswers. If you do find an issue with our feed, please contact via our news email address (see left panel). Alice's Gross Grows To Whopping $116 Million By: Thomas J. Mclean   Looks like Alice In Wonderland is raking it in for mr Burton (et al), and thats despite a rather nasty spat (initially) with some UK cinema outlets (ODEON!).... "Alice in Wonderland blew away expectations with a smash opening weekend gross of $116 million. The stereoscopic 3-D Disney movie, directed by Tim Burton and featuring extensive visual effects and animation, shattered the record for a March opening. It also set a record for the opening of a 3-D movie, previously held by Avatar’s $77 million opening weekend. Screenings across the nation were selling out, as audiences queued up for a chance to see the film. Alice also did extremely well overseas, grossing $94 million in 40 territories, for a worldwide weekend total of $210 million." Click the link to read more over at Animation Magazine......   Reported By On 09-03-2010 at 13:05:21   Hard Drive Evolution Could Hit Microsoft XP Users by BBC News   Here's a pretty useful heads up from the BBC. Aparently, hard disks are going to shift over to a new formatting system in the near future. If you are using Windows Vista, 7, OsX, Linux and so on, no problem. However, older XP installs will have some issues.... "Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years. By early 2011 all hard drives will use an "advanced format" that changes how they go about saving the data people store on them. The move to the advanced format will make it easier for hard drive makers to produce bigger drives that use less power and are more reliable. " Hit the link to read on at BBC News.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 09-03-2010 at 12:01:38   Valve Confirms Portal 2 For Holiday 2010 by Kris Graft   Hooray! The little engine that could (Portal) is to return to our small screens. We're so glad you survived! "After more than a year of ongoing rumors and more recent teasing from Valve Software, the Half-Life studio confirmed that Portal 2, the sequel to 2007's revered puzzle-shooter, is coming this holiday. The original Portal released with Valve's Orange Box compilation, which also included Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2 along with its two subsequent episodes. The Orange Box released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, although Valve did not confirm platforms or specific release dates for the sequel." Click the link to read more over at Gamasutra.....   Reported By On 08-03-2010 at 17:35:35   First Look: Wise Owls Fill A Fantastic World In Guardians   It looks like Zack (Slice em, Dice em) Snider has a new project on the go..... "The sultan of splat is scaling it back. Zack Snyder, who hasn't seen an on-screen bone he didn't want to crack or a neck he didn't want to slice, takes a break from the brutality to direct his first animated feature, Legend of the Guardians. Based on the 15-book series Guardians of Ga'Hoole (Warner Bros. changed the name, worried that the masses wouldn't know Ga'Hoole from a hole in a tree), Guardians is a cross between Watership Down and The Lord of the Rings. PHOTOS: Exclusive first look at 'Legend of the Guardians' The film, based on the first three books of Kathryn Lasky's series, follows Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess), a young barn owl who is kidnapped by the owls of the St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, or St. Aggie's. The academy is supposed to be an orphanage, but instead it brainwashes its pupils into becoming soldiers who will ultimately clash with the wise, peaceful owls of Ga'Hoole." Hit the link to read on at USA Today....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-03-2010 at 17:25:34   Montreal International Games Summit Speaking Opportunities   The tin, you know, eet say it all. "The Montreal International Games Summit is happening again this year on November 8th-9th in downtown Montreal (Canada). They’ve just put up the call for speakers, so if you fancy yourself speaking at the conference, head on over to the website and send in the speaker form!" Hi the link to read on at CG Channel.....   Reported By On 08-03-2010 at 17:25:25   Oscar Honors Up, Logorama In Animated Categories By: Thomas J. Mclean   Logorama, which we featured a few days back, has gone on to win the best animated short at this years Oscars. Nothing to do with us, we are quite sure of that...... "The surprises were short when it came to the animation-related categories at the 82nd annual Academy Awards. Up won the best animated feature Oscar, beating out Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog and Secret of the Kells. Director Pete Docter accepted the awards, saying the film “came from home” and dedicated the win to the filmmakers’ families. While Up’s victory was far from unexpected, Logorama defied expectations to win the best animated short film award. "I have to thank the 3,000 non-official sponsors that appear in the film,” said producer Nicolas Schmerkin in accepting the award. Logorama beat out a heavy favorite in the Wallace and Gromit short A Matter of Loaf and Death, as well as French Roast, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty and The Lady and the Reaper." Click the link to read moe over at Animation Magazine......   Reported By On 08-03-2010 at 17:08:28   And Then There Was Salsa   What can we say. Here is a great idea, excellently executed..... Now, where did I leave my Nachos?   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-03-2010 at 17:04:41   Stylo by Gorillaz   Yes, the best band that does not exist (Gorillaz) has just released a new album. Here is Stylo. Which features some CG band members, some doughnuts, and Bruce Willis. Say no more......   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-03-2010 at 16:57:09   Lara Croft Returns Without Tomb Raider Name by Eric Caoili   Lara Croft, unfeasibly large curves and all, lives on it seems (at Crystal Dynamics). "Crystal Dynamics announced Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, a new downloadable game from the Tomb Raidseries that cuts out the Tomb Raider name from its title for the first time in the franchise's 13-year history. This is also the series' first digital-download release and the first Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics since Square Enix acquired the developer's parent company Eidos Interactive last year and transformed the London-based publisher into Square Enix Europe. Crystal Dynamics' last Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider: Underworld, released in late 2008 for multiple platforms and received lower-than-expected sales, which Eidos blamed on the slumping economy and a Christmas schedule packed with high-profile releases. The publisher then laid off some 30 Crystal Dynamics workers and tasked the studio with concentrating its focus on the Lara Croft franchise." Click the link to read more at Gamasutra...   Reported By On 08-03-2010 at 13:07:11   Machinarium Production Focus   Have you played Machinarium? No? Well its a pretty cool inddependantly produced video game (PC), put together by a collective of artists and programmers. It's good to see smaller scale (and inovative) projects such as this, can make their own way in todays games market. The internet has finally made us all publishers, eh? "Jakub Dvorský started Amanita Design in 2003 when he finished Academy of Arts in Prague with a free online flash game called 'Samorost' as his thesis project. In 2005 animator Vaclav Blin joined the studio and 'Samorost 2' was created. Since then we have found several excellent collaborators - musician Tomas 'Floex' Dvorak, programmer David Oliva, painter Adolf Lachman, sound maker Tomas 'Pif' Dvorak and animator Jaromir Plachy. The gang was almost complete." Hit the link to read on at CG Society.....   Reported By Chris Thomas On 08-03-2010 at 13:00:32

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