Digital
Media FX News Archives
Note:
Digital Media FX content is legally ©copyright 2001 and may
not be republished or rewritten without the expressed written
consent of Digital Media FX and/or proper crediting and linking.
Thursday
- November 29, 2001
- Cell Phones Being Given Away
with Jurassic Park 3 DVDs
- South Park Goes
to Afghanistan
- Sun Microsystems Powers Pixar
- News Link of the Day
- Taking the Mickey Test
Cell
Phones Being Given Away with Jurassic Park 3 DVDs
(by digitalmediafx.com) Universal Studios Home Video (USHV)
and Hop-On have partnered to launch disposable cell phones in
connection with the DVD/home video release of Jurassic Park
III on December 11. The limited edition introductory phone,
a specially-designed "Jurassic Park Survival Cell Phone",
employs the latest hands-free, voice-activated communications
technology, and will be available only as an exclusive FREE offer
via inserts in thousands of Jurassic
Park III DVDs and videocassettes for a limited time.
A cell phone
plays an important role in the movie.
The exclusive
Jurassic Park Survival Cell Phones will offer 60 minutes of prepaid
calling time without the requirement of a cellular service contract
or monthly fee. Compact and lightweight in design as well as fully
recyclable, the cell phones require only two buttons: CALL and
END. Once activated, the phones are supported by 24-hour operator
assistance and last up to six months.
The limited
edition Jurassic Park Survival Cell Phone will also feature a
branded Jurassic Park faceplate to "enhance collectability."
"Because
a cell phone played such a crucial role in Jurassic Park III,
we were looking to find a unique telecommunications partner to
help celebrate the film's release on DVD," said Ken Graffeo,
senior vice president of marketing, Universal Studios Home Video.
"Our partnership with Hop-On is ideal and we are thrilled
to be bringing the next wave of cell phone technology to consumers."
> Return
to the top of page
South Park
Goes to Afghanistan
(by digitalmediafx.com) The irreverent and crudely animated
South Park gang are headed into controversy again as the show
tackles the subject of the Taliban and Afghanistan for its December
28 episode (in Canada). The show has the group of kids headed
to Afghanistan to confront Osmada Bin Laden only to be captured
by the Taliban. The kids use their wits to try and convince the
Taliban that they are really from Canada.
South Park
has long been in the center of controversy and its willingness
to so freely tackle and make fun of the war against terrorism
should come as no surprise to fans of the show.
> Return
to the top of page
Sun Microsystems
Powers Pixar
(by digitalmediafx.com) Sun Microsystems has announced that
Pixar used 250 of its Sun Enterprise midrange servers to render
Monsters, Inc.
According
to Sun, "Rendering is the time- and computationally-intensive
process in which the correct lighting, textures and shading are
applied to 3D computer models to produce sharp, colorful images
with photorealistic detail. It is the critical final stage before
a film reaches its audience. The rendering was completed in the
Pixar Renderfarm, which is powered by 250 Sun Enterprise 4500
servers, running the Solaris Operating Environment, each using
14 UltraSPARC II microprocessors, 14 gigabytes of system memory
and 196 gigabytes of local disk space for a total of 3,500 processors
in production with nearly four terabytes of main memory."
Pixar's Renderfarm
has run on Sun technology for nearly six years through the creation
of Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.
"We've
worked with Sun because their computers are powerful, reliable,
and easy to manage," explained Ed Catmull, President of Pixar
Animation Studios. "We also value Sun's binary compatibility
across product generations. By maintaining the continuity of their
SPARC chips and the Solaris Operating Environment, Sun makes it
easy for us to take advantage of their newest, most powerful technology."
> Return
to the top of page
News Link
of the Day - Taking the Mickey Test
According to The Scotsman:
"Today,
in Glasgow, a conference called Projector will explore the future
of animation. Meanwhile, Londons Barbican is gearing up
to celebrate its past. To mark the centenary of Walt Disney -
born on 5 December, 1901, in Chicago - it is screening the entire
canon of Disney animated features, from Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs (1937) to Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)..."
Click
here for the full story.
> Return
to the Top of the Page
> Click
Here for a Printable Version of this Page
> Return
to November News Archives
> Return to Today's
News
> Return to
the Digital Media FX Front Page
|