<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW119.t_trans.opener.jpg" rel="lightbox[35093]"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35098" height="348" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW119.t_trans.opener.jpg" title="TDW119.t_trans.opener" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Transformers week draws to a close with this video training from Dan DeEntremont. Master key animation skills in this Transformer-style tutorial as you rig a robot to animate its transformation from train to humanoid</p> <p>To celebrate <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/digital-tutors-releases-new-transforming-robot-tutorials/">Digital-Tutors&#8217; new Transformation training</a>, we thought we&#8217;d make an event of it and post online all things Transformery!</p> <p>We&#8217;ve already posted up two making-of Transformers articles:<br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/the-making-of-transformers/">The making of Transformers</a><br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/08/the-making-of-transformers-2/">The making of Transformers 2</a></p> <p>And you can also read a making-of article on the cult Transformers-style advert for Citroën &#8211; <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/13/the-embassy-the-art-of-robotics/">The Embassy: The art of Robotics</a></p> <p>To complete the Transformers roundup, here&#8217;s the train-transforming video tutorial from <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2009/07/02/3d_world_119_now_on_sale_in_the_uk/">issue 119 of 3D World magazine</a>.</p> <h3>Rig your own Transformer in LightWave</h3> <p>This article demonstrates the workflow for creating a transforming robot, similar to the designs in the live-action Transformers movies.</p> <p>The films’ director, Michael Bay, is well known for taking the level of special and visual effects over the top in his films. These Transformers are not the simple ones everyone has seen in the cartoon show, but a gigantic mass of moving metal that somehow manages to form a human-like (or sometimes animal-like) robot. The transforming train that you’ll rig and animate has about 300 moving parts.</p> <p>There are three videos available to show in detail the techniques described here. The first two videos focus on setting up the upper arms of the robot: you can take the principles you learn and apply them to the remaining parts of the figure. The first video will focus on rigging the upper arms. In this section, you will also be setting up the rig in a way that helps to cut the animation time nearly in half, using the useful Follower modifier. Bones will be used for moving the parts instead of separate layers.</p> <p>In Video 2, we will continue with the animation of the rigged upper arms. Here, I will demonstrate how to bring each piece to its destination position without causing geometry to intersect. I will also demonstrate a number of key techniques to help the movement of the different sections to be more realistic.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35099" style="width: 590px;"><p class="wp-caption-text">Discover how you can rig this robot to animate its transformation from train to humanoid</p></div> <p>Video 3 has a completely rigged transforming train. This video focuses on animating the transformation from a train to a robot, ending in a cool pose. A proxy version of the train will be used in this video. IK/FK Blending will also be implemented to allow smoothness in the transformation. If you get stuck at any point, the CD includes completed scene files you can study.</p> <p><em>Click Next to begin the train-transforming video tutorial</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d821264/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Video+tutorial%3A+Rig+your+own+Transformer+in+LightWave&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Video+tutorial%3A+Rig+your+own+Transformer+in+LightWave&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dvideo-tutorial-rig-your-own-transformer-in-lightwave" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200441230/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d821264/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200441230/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d821264/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200441230/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d821264/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/VscwAZ8sOVc" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr.jpg" rel="lightbox[35136]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35137" height="243" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr.jpg" title="ftr" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Find out how this atmospheric, painterly animated short was created using Maya, Photoshop and After Effects. Watch the film here too</p> <p>For the Remainder depicts the last moments of a house cat who bids farewell to its home before leaving to perish. The short was a graduation project created by Omer Ben David while studying at the <a href="http://www.bezalel.ac.il/en/">Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design</a> in Jerusalem, Israel. Ben David first began working on the plot in November last year. </p> <p>“I was dwelling on a concept of a cat that leaves his house and searches for his final resting place for some time before then,” he says. “I pondered on that notion since hearing the rumour that old cats sometime leave their home to die somewhere else unseen by their beloved ones or enemies. I felt that this essence of a story is very poetic and thus should be treated as a song rather than a narrative.”</p> <h4>First impressions</h4> <p>After developing the main plot, the director carefully considered the importance of the film&#8217;s characters and what role each would play. </p> <p>“From the beginning, the story was about a cat and a house,” Ben David explains. “The cat&#8217;s owner was also a main character but I wasn&#8217;t sure if he would be performing or his presence just suggested. The spider came somewhat in the middle of the storyboarding stage, when I was searching for a death motif to allow the cat to deal with.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;I was greatly inspired by sketches and calligraphy, and some colour blocking when searching for the look of the characters. I figured the house, as a character, should be mostly colour blocked while the cat should be wired so they were in contrast.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35136]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35138" height="243" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/ftr1.jpg" title="ftr1" width="580" /></a></p> <h4>Creating perfect brush strokes</h4> <p>The film’s unique style was inspired by a number of sources. “I was very moved by a series of paintings by <a href="http://lukpazera.blogspot.com/">Lukasz Pazera</a> called <a href="http://postcardsfromthezone.com/">Postcards from the Zone</a> and his brilliant <a href="http://lukpazera.blogspot.com/2011/06/dog-of-zone-animation-sample.html">Dog of Zone</a>, which I figured would be awesome animated,” Ben David says.</p> <p>While researching, the director also watched Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Stalker. “I thought it to be the exact poem-like atmosphere I was searching for both visually and musically. I love the ambiance and slow rhythm,” he says. &#8220;I was also greatly inspired by color block paintings such as <a href="http://www.gerhardmozsi.com/">Gerhard Mozsi&#8217;s</a>, and the dreamy feel and pace in animated films such as Tekkonkinkreet or Ghost in the Shell which I adore.&#8221;</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35159" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/remainder_infl.jpg" rel="lightbox[35136]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35159" height="389" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/remainder_infl.jpg" title="remainder_infl" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">One of the film’s main influences was a series of paintings by Lukasz Pazera called Postcards from the Zone. You can see similarities in tone and style between them and For the Remainder</p></div> <p>Ben David’s extensive research and inspirations helped him to develop the unique painterly style of the film. In order to achieve this in 3D, he turned to the powerful tools of Maya. </p> <p>“This software was vital to production,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;It was an inherent rendering method that got the look for my characters and objects, combined with the overlapping textures on the sets. Photoshop was of course crucial for painting the textures, but Maya allowed me to rig and control almost everything I needed.”</p> <p>The film’s style, however, also presented some technical challenges. “The whole sketchiness and painterly look was the biggest technical issue,&#8221; says Ben David. &#8220;I did a lot of research about NPR (non photo realistic) rendering before developing the technique for creating it, and it was pretty much an experiment throughout the entire process. I didn&#8217;t have a clear point of reference on a technical level on how to achieve this look, and so I did a lot of testing until I reached a certain point where I knew that the composited render would satisfy me.&#8221;</p> <p>Despite extensive research and testing, Ben David managed to complete the film within a fairly short time period. &#8220;It took me around nine months to finish the short,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I did some touch-ups, on and off, for a few months afterwards as I was not completely happy with some renders and I&#8217;ve worked some more on mastering the soundtrack with <a href="http://onili.com/">Onili</a>. I&#8217;m very pleased with the final result. Both on the aesthetics and the feel of it.&#8221;</p> <p></p> <h3>Like this film?</h3> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/">Check out the selection of other awesome animations on our shorts page</a></p> <p><em>Make sure you visit next week for more Friday Animation Fun!</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d81a18a/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+For+the+Remainder&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Ffriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+For+the+Remainder&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Ffriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-for-the-remainder" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200396320/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d81a18a/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200396320/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d81a18a/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200396320/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d81a18a/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/W9nf4RJbbCw" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_desert_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="Disney&#039;s John Carter movie still" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35150" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_desert_cinesite.jpg" title="Disney&#039;s John Carter movie still - opener" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Cinesite has completed 831 VFX shots and converted 87 minutes of film into stereoscopic 3D for Disney’s John Carter, which hit cinemas last week</p> <p>The 3D work in John Carter &#8211; Andrew Stanton’s first live-action feature film, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs &#8216;Mars&#8217; series of novels &#8211; was split between three leading London FX houses: Cinesite, Double Negative and The Moving Picture Company. </p> <p>Cinesite, renowned for its photoreal environment work, was responsible for creating and populating the majority of environments for John Carter. The team of 310-strong completed 831 visual effects shots, which included creating and populating the majority of environments for the film. They also converted 87 minutes of the film into stereo 3D.</p> <p>Cinesite’s VFX supervisor Sue Rowe spent several months on set in the UK and Utah. Due to the scale of the project, Rowe divided the work between four other VFX supervisors.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35151" style="width: 590px;"></p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_wireframe_helium_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter VFX shots" class="size-full wp-image-35151" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_wireframe_helium_cinesite.jpg" title="johncarter_wireframe_helium_cinesite" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Helium is shown from different angles throughout the film, and is used as the backdrop for the final battle sequence</p></div> <p>Christian Irles supervised work on Princess Dejah’s city, Helium. The city presented a challenge as it had to match the art department concept stills. While this was easy enough to do in matte painting, it was very time-consuming and render heavy to get actual full 3D renders. Projections were created for the terrain and these were worked up in matte painting to achieve the level of detail required. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35152" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_helium_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter Helium city" class="size-full wp-image-35152" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_helium_cinesite.jpg" title="John Carter Helium city" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Cinesite created a matte painting of the outside of the city of Helium and, using projections, built up the terrain using high-res stills taken on location in Utah</p></div> <p>The shots presented the city as a whole with both Helium Major and Helium Minor visible, resulting in a huge amount of texture maps and shaders. Render time was very high for these shots and all layers, such as crowds, terrain, etc were rendered separately. </p> <p>Helium stats:</p> <ul> <li>346 models in the city structure</li> <li>74 individual props created</li> </ul> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35153" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Zodanga_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35153" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Zodanga_cinesite.jpg" title="Zodanga_cinesite" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The mobile city of Zodanga crawls like a myriapod across the surface of Mars: giving the city a sense of scale and animating the digital legs was challenging</p></div> <p>Jonathan Neill supervised Cinesite’s work on the mobile city of Zodanga, a mile-long rusty metal tanker that crawls like a myriapod across the surface of Mars. The city was heavily textured using a combination of Photoshop, Mari and Mudbox in tandem with bespoke shaders and lighting development, to give an industrial look and feel.</p> <p>A handful of sets were built which were locations within the city, but these needed considerable extension work to make the depth and scale of the city believable. Cinesite modelled thousands of pieces of geometry for the city buildings, and created hundreds of CG props to dress the sets.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35154" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_city_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter VFX. Interior of city" class="size-full wp-image-35154" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_city_cinesite.jpg" title="John Carter VFX. Interior of city" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Cinesite filled the city with warships and troops, before dressing it with hundreds of CG props</p></div> <p>With 674 legs, the mobile city was technically challenging to animate: Timed animation caches were used to ensure the digital legs moved in a random fashion. &#8220;Variations in movement and secondary animation such as cogs and cabling were used to create interest in the leg movement,&#8221; says Cinesite.</p> <p>Zodanga City Model stats: </p> <ul> <li>291 structural element models</li> <li>Up to 20,000 objects in a single shot</li> <li>1-2 billion polygons, dependent on camera position and detail required</li> <li>242 CG props created to populate the city</li> </ul> <p>Zodanga City Legs stats:</p> <ul> <li>674 legs </li> <li>44 claws</li> </ul> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35155" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_airship_cinesite.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter" class="size-full wp-image-35155" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/johncarter_airship_cinesite.jpg" title="johncarter_airship_cinesite" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The texturing and detailing of the giant airships had to be spot on since they feature in many close up shots</p></div> <p>Ben Shepherd oversaw the huge aerial battle between Zodanga and Helium. His team created each side’s airships which use solar wings to travel on light, as well as explosions, fire, people and set extensions.</p> <p>The giant airships needed to be finely detailed for close-up shots. A challenge for look development was that they were required to be more like a 19th-Century sailing ship, than the type of spaceship which a modern-day audience might expect. </p> <p>For Sab’s flagship corsair, a partial set was created for the bridge/cockpit and one deck of a single ship. This was scanned and photographed for reference and recreated. The remaining areas were created as full CG models. </p> <p>Dejah’s ship and the flagship Helium ship, the Xavarian, were created in 3D also. Each ship had a full set of wings which were sized and laid out specifically for each ship. These were controlled by pulleys and ratchet-type controls to give a sailing look. Each of the wings was covered in hundreds of individual solar tiles which needed to be able to be controlled in animation. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35156" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_Final-Comp.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="John Carter movie" class="size-full wp-image-35156" height="242" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_Final-Comp.jpg" title="John Carter movie" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The entire Thern effect system was designed and built from scratch using a combination of Maya, Houdini and custom software developed in house</p></div> <p>Simon Stanley-Clamp directed work on the Thern sanctuary, a huge underground cave that forms around Carter and Dejah as self-illuminating blue branches as the characters walk through it. </p> <p>The entire Thern effect system was designed and built from scratch using a combination of Maya, Houdini and custom software developed in house. Based on the principles of nanotechnology, the system provided a semi-automated way to ‘grow’ Thern into any environment and geometry. It took a full year of development time to evolve and bring to the big screen.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35157" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_3_Final-comp.jpg" rel="lightbox[35145]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35157" height="247" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Thern-Sanctuary_3_Final-comp.jpg" title="Thern-Sanctuary_3_Final-comp" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">These ‘growing Thern’ shots were some of the most complex VFX shots Cinesite undertook, and can be seen to great effect in 3D</p></div> <p>In the sequence, as the tunnel itself ends, the main Thern Sanctuary room is seen to build itself, opening out within the Thern matrix of the pyramid interior. This shot required extensive Thern simulation and growing effects, blending multiple elements together in Nuke to build the shot up.</p> <p><em>John Carter is in cinemas now. We&#8217;ve not seen the film yet, and reviews so far seem to be fairly mixed, so if you do go, let us know what you think of it via the comments box below, or on Facebook or Twitter </em></p> <h3>The making of John Carter</h3> <p>This article focuses on Cinesite&#8217;s contribution to the film, but the 3D work was split between three leading London FX houses: Cinesite, Double Negative and The Moving Picture Company. </p> <p>Read the making-of John Carter article in issue 155 of 3D World magazine, where Renee Dunlop takes us behind the scenes of all three VFX facilities.</p> <p><strong>Issue 155 of 3D World goes on sale on 27th March</strong></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d801946/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Disney%E2%80%99s+John+Carter%3A+The+VFX+of+Cinesite&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fdisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Ddisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Disney%E2%80%99s+John+Carter%3A+The+VFX+of+Cinesite&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F16%2Fdisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Ddisneys-john-carter-the-vfx-of-cinesite" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200459259/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d801946/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200459259/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d801946/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200459259/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d801946/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/SAa9hvj4MmU" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin17_998034v28.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35134" height="247" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin17_998034v28.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin17_998034v28" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Weta Digital embarked on a new quest with The Adventures of Tintin, complete with crashing waves, pirate battles and an extremely stylish wardrobe. Renee Dunlop takes us behind the scenes</p> <p>As the Blu-ray of The Adventures of Tintin goes on sale, we thought we&#8217;d share this article from <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/01/07/3d-world-152-create-fire-water-and-more/">issue 152 of 3D World magazine</a>. </p> <p>If you haven&#8217;t watched the film already, we suggest you do &#8211; The Adventures of Tintin looks like a mix of live-action and CG, which adds up to something unique on screen. It&#8217;s possible that The Adventures of Tintin missed out at the Oscars this year because of this very thing, which is a real shame as we think the film has some of the best CG we&#8217;ve ever seen. </p> <h3>Weta&#8217;s Adventures of Tintin</h3> <p>Weta Digital is delving into a new world – that of the journalist. Enter Tintin, a popular post-World War One comic strip hero who travels about with his dog, Snowy, cracking cases with a little help from his friends. Created in 1929 by the artist and writer best known as Hergé, the stellar artists of Weta, led by director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson, have brought the story to 3D animated life on the big screen. </p> <p>It took some of Weta’s best to tackle the wide array of arduous effects required to complete the film. Keith Miller, one of five VFX supervisors, was among those appointed to the task. He was in charge of roughly 340 shots.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35113" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.opener_ships1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35113" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.opener_ships1.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.opener_ships1" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">An epic sea battle required Weta Digital’s team to simulate stormy ocean waves</p></div> <p>For Miller, the big challenge was the pirate battle. “It’s such a dynamic sequence,” he says. “There are nearly 60 pirates running about, two ships that are sailing in 60-metre seas complete with lightning storms, rain, hurricane winds, fire, explosions – you name it, it’s all there.” The most difficult challenge was the water, with 60-metre waves interacting with the ships that needed to compositionally match the representations provided by the pre-viz team.</p> <p>Miller’s team approached the work from a few different angles. “First, we updated our FFT [fast Fourier transform] library, a system of generating waves using measurements collected in oceanic research,” says Miller. They also completely rewrote their library using a more up-to-date spectrum that provided the ability to incorporate the ideas of the depth of the ocean and the fetch, or the distance that wind stays at a constant velocity. “We added those new variables into the system and we were able to generate much more realistic wave scenarios for the high wind systems,” he adds. </p> <p>Weta’s FX team did quite a bit of work approximating the surface velocity from the newly generated ocean surfaces and applied those to Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) particle simulations, much of which was used for the white water simulation, breaking waves that rode on top of the ocean surface. These were pushed through Weta’s in-house 3D effects solution, Synapse, a node-based system that’s a container for solvers. In some cases, Naiad data was also incorporated into Synapse for the initial bounded simulation elements.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35116" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.pirate1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35116" height="245" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.pirate1.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.pirate1" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The battle sequence combines water, fire, wind and lightning, and featured as many as 60 pirates in combat</p></div> <p>In addition to reworking the FFT system, senior water TD Chris Horvath updated Weta’s shading model for raytraced water, using an improved model for participating media for underwater light extinction and scattering. He also made improvements to the procedural texture foam system. </p> <h4>Creating the hands</h4> <p>While Miller and his team battled with the pirate ships, Weta’s digital creature supervisor Simon Clutterbuck focused on some of the smallest of details through his modelling department. “We build the animation puppets, the deformation rigs, we do all the cloth and hair simulations, muscle dynamics, flesh dynamics – anything that has to do with the monster or character,” he says. “We interact with all the departments in the studio to produce stuff for them to use, like the puppets or the baked light, and we work closely with shots and animation.” </p> <p>The creature department work includes providing all the puppets for the animators. “Our animation puppet isn’t the thing that gets cached and ends up in the shot,” says Clutterbuck. “The animation puppets are kind of an interactive, almost real-time version of the character. They don’t have to see amazing hand deformations to pose the hand correctly, so they’re just posing [and] animating this thing that’s much lower resolution.” Clutterbuck’s Creature Department provides the animators with approximations of clothes and low-res hands and bodies that allow for faster animation. “Then the animation data is cached off of that puppet and plugged into a high-resolution creature rig, which gets cached and given to lighting,” he says. “This way there’s no requirement for interactivity in our actual deformation models.” </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35111" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_013025261.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35111" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_013025261.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.new_013025261" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A single complex rig was used as the basis for all characters’ hands</p></div> <p>It’s hardly all low-res work, though. “There’s a big focus on faces and hands in the show, so a good deal of time was focused on building a detailed hand rig,” says Clutterbuck. “We had all these incredibly close shots of Tintin’s hands. It’s a treasure hunt, so there are all these clues that lead to the treasure, and there are lots of shots where he’s inspecting things. The shots are incredibly long, so you’ll have minutes focused on their face or hands. The stability of the cloth solve, the fidelity of the hands [and] the deformation all had to be very high. It was pretty unforgiving.”</p> <p>Weta Digital’s workflow uses a generic model called Gen Man as a baseline for building humanoid characters. This starting point is used for reference, scanning and motion capturing, tailoring clothes, and even cross-referencing MRI data. Clutterbuck explains: “We produced a whole bunch of life casts in all different poses that were used to build support moulds, 36 in all, that went into the MRI machine, so the character could put his hand into a similar pose and hold it there. Then we could derive the meshes of his joints from the MRIs.” The result was a series of high-resolution joint meshes of his actual skeleton in the selected poses. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35110" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_00402825.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="The story requires characters to grip and manipulate objects" class="size-full wp-image-35110" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.new_00402825.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.new_00402825" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The story is a treasure hunt, so there are lots of shots where the characters have to pick things up and be able to manipulate them</p></div> <p>“The metacarpals in the wrist do all these crazy rolling motions – it’s really complex,” Clutterbuck says. “We couldn’t build that complexity into the animation puppets because it would have been prohibitive to animate with, but we also needed the correct degrees of freedom in the wrist and joints to give us the right deformations of the hand.” It took nearly five months to get the hands working the way they wanted.</p> <p>“The hand rig looks pretty amazing,” says Clutterbuck. “The hand model propagates out into the show, procedurally warped into new shapes, so we built one hand rig and it was fitted to all the characters’ hands. We have a process that was developed on Avatar to transfer the rig and deformation data onto other models.” </p> <p>Weta Digital’s model supervisor Marco Revelant was responsible for all the assets created in the model department and was involved with grooming and developing the fur system from the user side for the dog, Snowy. However, it was the clothing that both Clutterbuck and Revelant found the most challenging. The multiple layers and the way the different fabrics fell and moved presented a daunting task. </p> <h4>Folding the clothes</h4> <p>Weta Digital set up a Tintin-specific costume department that helped define the design of the clothing, offering insight into how the fabric would drape and move over a character. “The problem is,” says Revelant, “when you do digital clothing and give it to a modeller, the modeller will try to put in features like wrinkles and folds, but won’t necessarily take into account the quantity of fabric.”</p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35114" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.other1_04800542SS_dist.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35114" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.other1_04800542SS_dist.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.other1_04800542SS_dist" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Care was taken with getting clothing folds to animate correctly</p></div> <p>To manage this issue, the Creature Department worked closely with modelling, providing tools that helped drape the character as they were modelling so that they could see how the fabric was behaving, rather than waiting until the Creature Department ran their simulations. Weta used NCloth in Maya, but spent a huge amount of time up-front shooting parameters and getting the topology in the models and construction correct, especially in cross-sections such as sleeves. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35124" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin8_020003215SS.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35124" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin8_020003215SS.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin8_020003215SS" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">There are eight principal characters, and several have multiple costumes. In all, there were 551 individual costumes to build for the film</p></div> <p>Several characters had multiple layers of clothing, requiring layers of geometry to simulate friction. There were eight principal characters, and several – including Tintin, Captain Haddock and Sakharine – have multiple costumes. In all, there were 551 individual costumes to build for the film. “Take the Captain,” Clutterbuck says. “He had a big woollen jacket, a woollen jumper, trousers, and socks and shoes.” Again, proper reference was key. Weta filmed a man running on a treadmill wearing a tailored suit they provided, and gathered reference on how cloth breaks across the seams, collecting data on details such as the effects of double versus single stitching. </p> <p>Weta first tried just solving the visible clothing, but found that it didn’t quite look correct. “We ended up going for full coupled solutions where everything was solved,” says Clutterbuck. “Tintin might enter with his trench coat on, then take it off and toss it onto the back of a chair, and continue the scene wearing the rest of his costume,” says Clutterbuck. “We had to handle this level of complexity where we had all these variations of costume elements and they had to solve coupled. We hadn’t really done anything that complicated before in terms of clothes.” </p> <p>Coupling affects even supporting characters such as Silk, who dresses in a formal jacket, a waistcoat and a shirt. “We didn’t solve the shirt, then put the waistcoat on, then the jacket,” says Clutterbuck. “We solved everything at the same time, so the solutions were all fully coupled. All the costume elements are plugged into one solver. Since they’re all plugged in, they all interact.”</p> <p>Weta defers everything to its render wall. The costumes were assembled as a master file that contained a costume description. During the baked simulation step that file would assemble the costume, plug it into all the solvers, bring it in, attach it to the character, then do the simulation. The result was a final sim and a series of files generated to show what Weta calls pre-files, which are pre-simulation. The individual costume assets are iterated in parallel as an ensemble of costume elements. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35130" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin14_03802770SS.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35130" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin14_03802770SS.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin14_03802770SS" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text"> “There’s a big focus on faces and hands in the show, so a good deal of time was focused on building a detailed hand rig,” says Clutterbuck</p></div> <p>The costumes took several minutes a frame to simulate, but there was no interactivity requirement because that’s all happening on the render wall and animation was working with real-time puppet versions. “So we have these two parts of every character, with the puppet which goes to animation and the creature deformation model that’s the thing the animation curves get plugged into that simulates on the wall,” says Clutterbuck. </p> <p>Weta’s flexible pipeline paid off, according to Miller. “I know a lot of facilities tend to lock down their technology, branch it off and continue developing it outside of current shows, but that’s very different from how Weta works,” he says. “It’s got pros and cons for sure, but it’s one of those things that helps us to stay at the leading edge of technology. We’re constantly throwing in new technology and updating and developing new aspects, and trying to get it pushed into production all the way through the course of the show.” </p> <h4>Setting the scene </h4> <p>The entire Tintin project was done in-house at Weta Digital, including the artwork for the environment and character studies. The translation of the environments from 2D to 3D was left to Weta’s modelling department under modelling supervisor Marco Revelant’s guidance. An internal art department was assembled to research information about the time when the film takes place. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35133" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin16_08900835.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35133" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin16_08900835.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin16_08900835" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">“Every element that was drawn in the book, we tried to find the respective real element from that period that could have been the inspiration for the Hergé drawing," explains Revelant. "Everything was checked against real period data.” </p></div> <p>“One important thing is [creator] Hergé was very careful in depicting a kind of reality that was around the 1940s,” explains Revelant. “Every element that was drawn in the book, we tried to find the respective real element from that period that could have been the inspiration for the Hergé drawing. Everything was checked against real period data.” </p> <h4>Creating the hair </h4> <p>Weta was working on Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Tintin at the same time. While the requirements for hair on Tintin weren’t anything near what they were for Apes, some of the aspects translated over. Tintin required wind effects, wet hair and a lot of development to get the hair to work coupled with the clothes. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_35125" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin9_030016v405.jpg" rel="lightbox[35108]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35125" height="246" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW152.f_tintin.tin9_030016v405.jpg" title="TDW152.f_tintin.tin9_030016v405" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Character hair in The Adventures of Tintin has to interact with objects and the environment</p></div> <p>With the hat on, the Captain has a groom, styled so his hair doesn’t stick through the hat. When the hat is off, the hair is groomed appropriately. Sometimes the Captain put his hat on or took it off, so transitional shots with appropriate grooms were needed. The Captain’s hair ended up having a very dense particle set on the hair and collision objects with the hat, and his hair would spring up a bit during the transition. </p> <p><a href="http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/design/3dworld-magazine-back-issues/3d-world-feb-12/">Buy issue 152 of 3D World magazine to read the full article</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Tintin-Two-Disc-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B0034G4P4Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&#38;qid=1331150699&#38;sr=8-3">Buy the Blu-ray of The Adventures of Tintin via Amazon</a></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d77d052/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Weta+Digital+on+the+making+of+The+Adventures+of+Tintin&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F15%2Fweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Weta+Digital+on+the+making+of+The+Adventures+of+Tintin&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F15%2Fweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dweta-digital-on-the-making-of-the-adventures-of-tintin" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200327135/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d77d052/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200327135/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d77d052/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200327135/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d77d052/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/D4s7vJZZjr8" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/19.jpg" rel="lightbox[35032]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35091" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/19.jpg" title="19" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Find out how this ultra photorealistic film was pieced together using 3ds Max and V-Ray. Watch the animated short here too</p> <p><span id="more-35032"></span></p> <p>The Accuracy of Time is a depiction of part of the process of building a watch, more specifically the ceramic crown. Created by art director Javi Martinez, the short was made as a case study for his upcoming <a href="http://lightrendergroup.com/">CGI training roadshow TAOT2012</a>.</p> <p>The idea was to replicate a real advertisement and the entire production process behind it. The film will be used as part of the roadshow training to highlight some of specific challenges currently facing digital artists.</p> <p>The project was created using a 3ds Max and V-Ray pipeline. &#8220;The decision to use this software was simply to make a technical demonstration of the many capabilities offered by the two working together,&#8221; explains Martinez. </p> <h4>3ds Max and V-Ray: an ideal combo</h4> <p>&#8220;3ds Max allowed us to develop the short very easily using the new MASSFX to perform physical dynamics and the ceramic particles and at the same time offered great performance in the modelling and animation of objects and cameras. The reason we chose V-Ray was the quality of representation of light, versatility, simplicity to recreate materials and the optimisation of production times.&#8221;</p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/14.jpg" rel="lightbox[35032]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35092" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/14.jpg" title="14" width="580" /></a></p> <h4>More-than-reasonable render times</h4> <p>Rather amazingly, The Accuracy of Time was created using only one workstation! It just goes to show what can be achieved if you&#8217;ve got the right amount of dedication: &#8220;The short includes the processing of raw materials [to create the watch], the material injection to obtain the piece itself, then it passes through the baking stage and ends with the exposure of the product with elegance and quality,&#8221; says Martinez. &#8220;But the whole film was in fact a very simple macro CG production playing with a basic geometric model, a virtual light and virtual camera. Given that the piece was produced using a single workstation, the render times were very manageable, ranging from five to 35 minutes per frame.&#8221;</p> <h4>Playing with the look</h4> <p>It wasn&#8217;t all plain sailing, however. Due to the style and close-up nature of the short, Martinez had to work out solutions in order to achieve the correct look. &#8220;The animation treatment and lens blurs were resolved by ZD channels and working on it in post,&#8221; Martinex explains. &#8220;The animation of the camera lens can easily change the meaning of a sequence so experimenting with this technique was very attractive to me.&#8221;</p> <p>Overall, the short took Martinez approximately just under a year to complete from start to finish. &#8220;The 10-month production time was an amazing experience,&#8221; Martinez says. &#8220;But it led to a lot of sacrifice and [it was a] joy to finally get my work out to reach the community of artists in an industry which is so difficult and exquisite.&#8221;</p> <h4>Watch the new animation short:</h4> </p> <p></p> <h4>Watch The Accuracy of Time making of video:</h4> <p> <p> </p> <h4>Want more animated shorts of the same calibre?</h4> <p>If you liked this film, check out a selection of other awesome animations on our <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/">Shorts page</a></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d6f8c5d/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=New+animation+short%3A+The+Accuracy+of+Time&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F14%2Fnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=New+animation+short%3A+The+Accuracy+of+Time&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F14%2Fnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dnew-animation-short-the-accuracy-of-time" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200299806/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d6f8c5d/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200299806/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d6f8c5d/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200299806/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d6f8c5d/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/HB_RZPTmu4k" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.ad_seq3.jpg" rel="lightbox[35067]"><img alt="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-35088" height="348" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.ad_seq3.jpg" title="TDW94.t_trade.ad_seq3" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Do you remember the original Transformers-style Citroën C4 spot? Five years ago it became a worldwide cult hit and we asked The Embassy’s CG team to reveal some of the ad’s technical secrets. Catch up as Transformers week continues&#8230;</p> <p>To celebrate <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/digital-tutors-releases-new-transforming-robot-tutorials/">Digital-Tutors&#8217; new Transformation training</a>, we thought we&#8217;d make an event of it and post online all things Transformery!</p> <p>We&#8217;ve already posted up two making of Transformers articles:<br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/07/the-making-of-transformers/">The making of Transformers</a><br /> <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/08/the-making-of-transformers-2/">The making of Transformers 2</a></p> <p>We plan to post up a <strong>train-transforming walkthrough tutorial</strong> this week too, so remember to check back.</p> <h3>Here&#8217;s the Embassy&#8217;s making of the Citroën ‘Runner’ spot</h3> <h4>ABOUT THE ORIGINAL AD</h4> <p>Created for the launch of Citroën’s C4 range, The Embassy Visual Effects’s original 2004 ad, ‘Alive with Technology’, opens with a hand-held camera shot of a car that transforms into a robot, performs an?impromptu series of dance moves and then reverts back to vehicular form.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35068" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.orig_ad.jpg" rel="lightbox[35067]"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35068" height="320" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/TDW94.t_trade.orig_ad.jpg" title="TDW94.t_trade.orig_ad" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The Embassy Visual Effects’s original 2004 ad, ‘Alive with Technology’, opens with a hand-held camera shot of a car that transforms into a robot, performs an?impromptu series of dance moves and then reverts back to vehicular form</p></div> <p>As well as making other VFX teams green with envy, the spot proved to have unexpected longevity. A full two years on, it was regularly appearing on TV, picking up fresh awards, and inspiring numerous spoofs and tributes, including a memorable parody replacing the C4 with a rather less glamorous Citroën 2CV and a viral for Danish bacon. The Mill even got a shot at producing a follow-up, before The Embassy itself jumped back on board for a third in the series.</p> <p>“It’s hard to say what it was about that original ad that hit people,” says studio president Winston Helgason. “Technically we did a good job, but something else struck a chord with them. While the ad has that geek factor, it’s just really fun to watch.”</p> <p>Television audiences got their first taste of vehicular dancefloor magic back in 2004. A?relative newcomer to the field of CG, Vancouver-based VFX studio The Embassy Visual Effects had already turned heads with its viral short film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1zGLx6H3f4&#38;feature=related">Tetra Vaal</a> and some impressively photoreal ads for the likes of Nike.</p> <p>But it was the Citroën ‘Alive with Technology’ ad that really put the studio on the map – and a spring in the step of CG?based car ads. Fusing perfectly believable virtual visuals, directorial flair, and some seriously cool dance moves, The Embassy created what is now regarded as a?genuine classic.</p> <h3>Watch the Citroën ‘Alive with Technology&#8217; spot</h3> <p></p> <p>Now the studio is back on board for the third spot in what is becoming an increasingly long-running campaign, and has been working hard to push the concept of a car that transforms into a robot to even greater heights.</p> <p>In contrast to the original spot, for which director Neill Blomkamp utilised a virtual camera and 3D environment constructed from photographs, the new ad’s director, Trevor Cawood, chose to undertake a live shoot in South Africa – a location chosen principally for its favourable lighting conditions. A new transforming CG vehicle was then integrated into the plates with the help of elements rebuilt in?3D to aid the creation of shadows and reflections.</p> <p>“The brief was pretty open,” says The Embassy president Winston Helgason. “The idea was to have the robot running, but other than that, it was simply ‘make it look cool’. The client did come back and ask if we could find something else for the robot to do, though, so we came up with the rail slide [which the bot performs along the restraining barrier by the side of the road].”</p> <p>Here, the studio’s 3D and compositing staff reveal just how their cybernetic star was rigged and animated to perform such a stunt. They also explore some of the shading and lighting techniques used to generate the photorealistic renders of the modified car necessary to composite it seamlessly into the background plate.</p> <p>Helgason reveals that the studio’s preferred tool for this kind of work is LightWave 3D’s own renderer, its raytracing proving particularly well suited to hard surface lighting. Dropping HDRI set data into the program and adding additional lights, the studio is able to get a scene fully lit in a matter of minutes. But ultimately, he says that the real secret of photorealism in the Citroën ads is simply attention to detail.</p> <p>“The most important thing is to understand how lighting really works, and then learn to match the way it reacts to metallic surfaces,” he says. “That, and then adding loads of extra model detail is what makes the results so effective.”</p> <h3>Watch the Citroën ‘Runner’ spot</h3> <p></p> <p><em>Click Next to read about how ILM had to rip apart the original robot design</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d689117/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=The+Embassy%3A+The+art+of+robotics&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F13%2Fthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=The+Embassy%3A+The+art+of+robotics&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F13%2Fthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dthe-embassy-the-art-of-robotics" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200298402/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d689117/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200298402/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d689117/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129200298402/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d689117/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/z_DGLpUWdbI" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" class="alignright size-full wp-image-35062" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" title="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Real-time 3D animation tool, iClone, has everything you need to set up your directorial ?debut. But is it too limited, asks Paul Champion?</p> <p>PRICE?: $200.? Upgrade from $120. ??Other editions: Standard, $80??<br /> PLATFORM?: Windows??<br /> MAIN FEATURES: <ul> <li>Real-time animation?</li> <li>In-screen motion editing and puppeteering?</li> <li>Advanced timeline editing with transition curve?</li> <li>Animate in real-time with motion-capture device??</li> </ul> <p>DEVELOPER: <a href="http://www.reallusion.com">Reallusion</a></p> <p>Converting your finished story idea into a pre-viz or polished animation often presents some daunting challenges, and selecting the right software applications to use can be a key factor in the time (and cost) spent completing it. </p> <p>iClone5 Pro offers a happy medium between high-end applications that have seemingly endless options to tweak, and frustratingly feeble, user-unfriendly low-end software. The latest version of iClone has new animation tools, is still a breeze to use and remains competitively priced.?</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35063" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.assets.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35063" height="463" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.assets.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Now you can create your own version of Pixar’s The Incredibles, in a park and on a merry-go-round!</p></div> <p>If you’re unfamiliar with iClone, it’s primarily a template-based hassle-free solution for real-time animation with plenty of bells and whistles. In terms of workflow, you’re limited to working with the rudimentary content supplied with the application, unless you’re prepared to buy additional assets via Reallusion’s Content Marketplace (which always seems to have some sort of deal on offer). </p> <p>Getting your own assets into iClone5 Pro is quick and easy, but it requires Reallusion’s 3DXchange4, which converts files from applications such as ZBrush, Photoshop, Blender, Poser, Daz Studio, Vue and Maya, and costs $80 for the Standard version. You’ll need 3DXchange4 Pro ($120) to use assets in FBX, 3DS, OBJ and SKP formats. ?</p> <p>Pre-viz users or anyone presenting a concept pitch to clients should find that the content provided is more than adequate for demonstration, where the actual look of assets is less relevant. End users, who will no doubt grow tired of the limited content provided, will be disappointed that they have to shell out for 3DXchange to import more material.?<br /> With the assets in place, it’s time to animate, and there are many new tools to help you with this.??</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35064" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.market.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35064" height="402" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.market.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Whether it’s sexy girls, gym kits or vampires you’re after, the marketplace has plenty of assets for you to buy</p></div> <h4>New features</h4> <p>?<br /> Direct Puppet lets you record your actor’s animation in real time, and if necessary lock body parts to locations. MixMoves enables seamless blending between motions. Body Motion Puppeteering enables the user to control the animation speed and direction. ?</p> <p>Simple floor contact is taken care of with Human IK Motion Editing for Actors, and allows props (which can now be animated in real time) to be held onto realistically. The Timeline has been updated so that animation curves can be varied in playback by adding curve adjustments such as Ease In and Ease Out. For physics animation there are Rigid and Soft Body options for simulation, and other uses such as game prototyping.?</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35065" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.effects.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35065" height="464" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.effects.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Effects can help to enhance your movies, but they are limited to a maximum of five within a project</p></div> <p>The premium new animation tool being touted for use with iClone5 Pro is the Mocap Device plug-in. With this you can act out your animations in real-time – the recorded mocap data is then applied to actors. </p> <p>At $140, this is a lot cheaper than buying your own professional mocap studio, although it requires you to have an Xbox 360 with Kinect. It’s also only compatible with the Pro edition. </p> <p>The plug-in is a significant add-on that falls outside the remit of this review. Judging by forum responses, however, it’s a successful product and great for anyone who wants to physically generate their own movement.</p> <p>?Other notable tools and settings, with which Reallusion is catching up with market competitors rather than introducing groundbreaking innovations, include Ambient Occlusion, which improves the quality of visual output with barely any impact on render times; post-FX tools for colour and blur, which are easy to apply; and cartoon rendering, which can be achieved with just a few clicks and some minor texture corrections. ?</p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35066" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.rigid_.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone5" class="size-full wp-image-35066" height="371" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.rigid_.jpg" title="iClone5" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Rigid body simulations can pep up high-speed chases. In iClone5 Pro they are easy to deploy</p></div> <p>There’s still plenty of room for improvement in the renderer. The options are minimal and simplistic – which is part of the general charm of iClone, but it doesn’t always do justice to the end result. Multiple cameras and Picture-In-Picture features offer greater control between shots. Much-requested duplication settings enable you to instance objects with ease, and adjustable pivots, snapping and aligning tools are now possible for objects.?</p> <p>More resource-hungry improvements include higher poly counts for actors, with notable increases to head meshes, which enable more natural deformations. In practice this works far better than before, and since faces are areas that most viewers’ eyes are naturally drawn to, it’s a clearly visible improvement. However, it can still be difficult and time-consuming to tweak. </p> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_35062" style="width: 590px;"><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" rel="lightbox[35061]"><img alt="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" class="size-full wp-image-35062" height="326" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/r_iclone5.hero_.jpg" title="iClone&#039;s new toon shader" width="580" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The new Toon Shader is found in the Atmosphere section of the Stage tab, and can be adjusted for your project needs</p></div> <p>Cartoon character facial controls have been advanced to include exaggeration. Height Map Terrains now allow bigger landscapes, but they are limited to just five. Smart iProps have been updated for game-like interaction.</p> <p>?During testing, these new tools all worked admirably, yet iClone crashed a number of times for no apparent reason. When pushed to reasonable extremes for any shot – such as 20 actors set up with different parameters and animations applied – iClone responded well. But other times it would crash with, for example, a fairly empty scene during terrain set-up. Ordinarily, this would only be a minor annoyance, but since there’s no autosave option in the program, it becomes more ?of a frustration. </p> <p>?Hardware-wise, iClone doesn’t require an overly demanding system. Rather misleadingly, it’s listed as being 32-bit and 64-bit Windows compatible, but it’s not actually a native 64-bit release, so it won’t take advantage of any extra memory installed over 32-bit limitations. It’s rumoured that a 64-bit update will be released, although this was unconfirmed as we went to press.?</p> <p>Overall, iClone5 Pro remains an easy-to-use application, and it can be a real time-saver for pre-viz work and presentations. The learning curve isn’t too steep, and setting up shots is intuitive. For existing iClone users, it should be a no-brainer to upgrade because content from previous versions is compatible, the upgrade price is good, and the new tools (and mocap plug-in, if you choose to buy it) will enhance its usability. New users will need to assess whether they have the funds for additional content and a copy of 3DXchange. </p> <h3>VERDICT</h3> <h4>PROS</h4> <ul> <li>Simple for novices without previous animation experience?</li> <li>Easily modifiable preset models?</li> <li>Ready-made animation categories?</li> <li>Intuitive editing?</li> <li>Options for advanced animators</li> </ul> <h4>??CONS</h4> <ul> <li>Facial profiles are difficult to tweak?</li> <li>Additional content incurs extra costs</li> <li>Rendering options still limited?</li> <li>Not a true 64-bit application??</li> </ul> <p><strong>A speedy solution for pre-viz but hampered by limited content options, basic render settings, and lack of true 64-bit support</strong></p> <h4>About the author</h4> <p>?Paul Champion is the demonstrator for undergraduate and postgraduate 3D and VFX courses at the National Centre for Computer Animation, Bournemouth</p> <h3><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/02/06/win-a-copy-of-reallusions-iclone5-pro/">Win a copy of Reallusion’s iClone5 Pro</a></h3> <p>Enter our <a href="http://http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/02/06/win-a-copy-of-reallusions-iclone5-pro/">iClone5 Pro prize draw</a> for your chance to win one of four packages featuring Reallusion’s real-time animation suite, <strong>worth $1,352 in total</strong></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d5d1225/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Software+review%3A+iClone5+Pro&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F12%2Fsoftware-review-iclone5-pro%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dsoftware-review-iclone5-pro" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Software+review%3A+iClone5+Pro&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F12%2Fsoftware-review-iclone5-pro%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dsoftware-review-iclone5-pro" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129168239143/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d5d1225/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129168239143/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d5d1225/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/129168239143/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d5d1225/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/FfSl8XDXlLw" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Mass_effect_3_trailer.jpg" rel="lightbox[35052]"><img alt="Mass Effect 3 trailer" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35053" height="325" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Mass_effect_3_trailer.jpg" title="Mass Effect 3 trailer" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Remember the phenomenal CG trailer that Bioware released a few weeks ago? Don&#8217;t worry if you missed it: as Mass Effect 3 goes on sale in the UK, we take a look at Bioware&#8217;s cinematic for the final installment of the massively popular RPG</p> <p>We&#8217;re so lucky that big budget games can&#8217;t be released without an accompanying cinematic teaser to go alongside the standard gameplay trailer, as the animations produced are truly stunning. </p> <p>Bioware&#8217;s Mass Effect 3 trailer is a fine example &#8211; the teaser features children, aliens and devastating lasers. The cinematic action really gets your adrenaline pumping. </p> <p>One YouTube user commented that if the video keeps going like it does, [the character you play] Shepard has only got about 30-35 minutes to take back Earth, tops, before it&#8217;s completely annihilated!</p> <h3>Watch Bioware&#8217;s Mass Effect 3 trailer online</h3> <p></p> <h3>Want to learn how Bioware created the cinematic?</h3> <p>So do we, that&#8217;s why we&#8217;ve asked Bioware to contribute a &#8216;making of&#8217; article for 3D World magazine. So look out for that in the next issue!</p> <h3>Want more like this?</h4> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/03/09/platige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video/">Watch Platige Image’s Witcher 2 trailer and making of video</a></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d4c5888/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Bioware%E2%80%99s+Mass+Effect+3%3A+Take+Earth+Back+trailer&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Bioware%E2%80%99s+Mass+Effect+3%3A+Take+Earth+Back+trailer&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dbiowares-mass-effect-3-take-earth-back-trailer" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698767040/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4c5888/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698767040/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4c5888/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698767040/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4c5888/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/NvLT8p93M8g" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-2.jpg" rel="lightbox[35045]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35047" height="244" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-2.jpg" title="Scene-2" width="580" /></a></p> <p class="strap">Find out how this new short about a fascinating sensory condition was created using a combination of Maya, After Effects and Photoshop. Watch the film here too</p> <p>Synaesthesia tells the life experience of a synaesthete; a person with a condition where two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together. Synaesthetes can experience sounds, tastes, smells, shapes, or touches in almost any combination. Synaesthesia features a character as a small boy, an adult worker and a retired man, who can see and feel shapes and depicts his different reactions to the phenomenon.</p> <p>The short was a final year project created by four students &#8211; Tien Hee, Kasumi Saito, Leo Chida and Nikko Hull &#8211; of <a href="http://www.massey.ac.nz">Massey University</a>, New Zealand. The quartet had to think of an idea to suit the brief of the school, which had a self-driven component as well as a pre-defined part. &#8220;This was basically to pick a topic and find a need or something that needs changing etc,&#8221; says Hull. &#8220;We chose Synaesthesia.&#8221;</p> <h4>Things shaped up nicely</h4> <p>In order to tackle such a complicated condition, the team spent a lot of time researching Synaesthesia and how it was going to affect their characters and set designs. &#8220;We decided during the research stage what we were going to do,&#8221; says Chida. &#8220;Each character was associated with a shape as were the environments. These were contrasting, for example, the first scene the kid was a circle, round and innocent and the environment was a triangle, sharp, scary and alert.&#8221;</p> <p>The team also used many sources of inspiration to achieve the look and style they were after. &#8220;For the environments, I looked at lots of animations, <a href="http://www.studio4c.co.jp/english/">Studio 4°C</a>, <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2825043">Team Cerf</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831888/">Tekkonkintreet</a> etc and mixed them all together to get the end result,&#8221; says Saito. &#8220;It was hard to simplify the forms to get it right. We ended up mixing all of these with our own ideas to get the style we came up with.&#8221;</p> <p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-1.jpg" rel="lightbox[35045]"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35046" height="247" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/Scene-1.jpg" title="Scene-1" width="580" /></a></p> <h4>Added Layers</h4> <p>With set and character designs completed, the team began creating the film&#8217;s assets in Maya and UV layout tool, <a href="http://www.uvlayout.com/">Headus</a>. &#8220;This software is pretty awesome, I was really happy with how Headus sped things up,&#8221; says Chida. They also adopted a rendering technique which helped with production times.</p> <p>&#8220;The process was quite simple, which also helped in a way,&#8221; says Hull. &#8220;Each layer was kind of easy, it was just a matter of putting it all together in After Effects. We found the technique demonstrated (kind of) on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">Deviant Art</a>, I can&#8217;t remember the specific artist, but then we tried to figure it out in Maya and it worked quite well. But we didn&#8217;t choose that because of its ease, we chose it because of the style.&#8221;</p> <p>The scenes were separated to make the whole process more manageable. &#8220;The old man walking down the hall is a good example,&#8221; says Hull. &#8220;We had the walls, which were all on different render layers. The background and walls were a single layer and frame. Then anything which was moving, so the phone and the character, were on their own layers and were the only sequences. There also had to be a sequence for the shadows so they could cast on the walls. Then we had diffuse, shadows, highlight, AO and particle layers. This all went into After Effects with some lights and colour correction.&#8221;</p> <p>After two semesters worth of work, the student team completed the film and are pleased with the final result considering their prior experience in animation. &#8220;Up until the end, you have no idea what it’s going to turn out like,&#8221; says Chida. &#8220;But it was so rewarding finding out that all the effort wasn&#8217;t wasted and the film actually looked OK. I mean, some was wasted but we&#8217;re learning so it’s all good. Our degree consisted of lots of general design and even fine art so we&#8217;ve only really had about a year of animation training (in total). With this in mind, I&#8217;m pretty happy with how it turned out.&#8221;</p> <p></p> <p>Like this film? <a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/">Check out the selection of other awesome animations in our shorts section</a></p> <p><em>Make sure you visit next week for more Friday Animation Fun!</em></p> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d4bec67/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+Synaesthesia&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Ffriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Friday+Animation+Fun%3A+Synaesthesia&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Ffriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfriday-animation-fun-synaesthesia" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698680485/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4bec67/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698680485/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4bec67/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698680485/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4bec67/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/_jN_z2Gm7AM" width="1" />

<p><a href="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/witcher2_09032012.jpg" rel="lightbox[35048]"><img alt="Witcher 2" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-35049" height="317" src="http://www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/03/witcher2_09032012.jpg" title="Witcher 2" width="580" /></a> <p class="strap">Watch the jaw-dropping animation in the trailer for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Then catch Platige Image&#8217;s &#8216;making of&#8217; video too&#8230; </p> <p>In January, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and CD Projekt RED released the epic and impactful CG intro trailer for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, produced by the award-winning animation studio, Platige Image. </p> <p>We were simply blown away when we watched this four-minute cinematic online at the start of the year. Directed by Tomek Bagi?ski and produced by Platige Image, this trailer is packed with stunning animation and effects. Watch it below.</p> <p>Now Platige Image has produced a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the trailer, from the early renders and mocap sessions to the final clip. You can also watch this three-minute video below.</p> <h4>Behind the scenes of Witcher 2</h4> <p>&#8220;The idea of the script came from CD Projekt couple years ago, right after the premiere of &#8216;The Witcher&#8217;. It was so called &#8216;soft&#8217; version and we used it as basis for the work. In spite of vast changes we made, the project went on hold for almost two years until it was brought back to life in Xbox 360 version.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;As it turned out these two years gave both parties necessary perspective. Once we started working on the script again we were able to create new, better and richer version very fast.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;What was left from the original is the ship and main characters. All the rest has been changed. For example in the first version a hornet&#8217;s nest was used in the attack. The ship was turned into chaos &#8211; all crew started running around. They looked like a group of crazy or electrocuted people. Well… we got rid of this &#8216;dance&#8217; but left the chaos and add a lot of steroids. It helped,” says director Tomek Bagi?ski.</p> <p>&#8220;It was one of the most demanding projects in Platige Image history. The script set up very high standards. As for such a short movie there were a lot of main, detailed characters, difficult face close-ups, very dynamic action full of special effects: cloth and particles simulation and hard slowmotion shots.&#8221;</p> <p>&#8220;The ship also became one of the main characters. First our graphic artists created a fantastic scenery and most of all great, very detailed sailing ship. Then the particles simulation team went rough with it. They created a vast interaction system covering the whole construction with milions of ice crystals and they smashed the whole thing,” adds CG Supervisor Maciek Jackiewicz.</p> <p>The team of 40 graphic designers and animators was involved in the project for couple moths.</p> <p>The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is due on on Xbox 360 on 17 April. The Windows version is shipping now.</p> <h3>Watch the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings trailer:</h3> <p></p> <h3> Watch the making-of video for the cinematic:</h3> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/the_witcher_2_cinematic">Read a longer interview with CG supervisor Maciej Jackiewicz on CGSociety</a></p> <h4>If you liked this, look out for our &#8216;making of&#8217; Mass Effect 3 cinematic, due in the next issue of 3D World</h4> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://3dworldmag.com.feedsportal.com/c/33151/f/538495/s/1d4b9af0/mf.gif" width="1" /><div class="mf-viral"><table border="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&amp;title=Platige+Image%E2%80%99s+Witcher+2+trailer+and+making+of+video&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" /></a></td><td valign="middle"><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Platige+Image%E2%80%99s+Witcher+2+trailer+and+making+of+video&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.3dworldmag.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Fplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dplatige-images-witcher-2-trailer-and-making-of-video" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698762514/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4b9af0/a2.htm"><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698762514/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4b9af0/a2.img" /></a><img border="0" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/127698762514/u/49/f/538495/c/33151/s/1d4b9af0/a2t.img" /><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/3dWorldrss/~4/b7YwnVrsgeA" width="1" />

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<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/holo/holo-final-days-on-kickstarter-digital-gifts-and-more/" title="Cerveau Morille, CAN, Neuchâtel, 2012"><img alt="HOLO - Final days on Kickstarter - Digital Gifts and More!" height="487" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/zimoun_spread_CAN.jpg" title="Cerveau Morille, CAN, Neuchâtel, 2012" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> Over the last 4 weeks you&#8217;ve served us a potent cocktail of enthusiasm, affirmation and disbelief. Each morning we woke up to surpassed expectations. When the 456th pledge pushed us over the 100% mark only five days into our campaign – the news broke in the middle of Monday night&#8217;s editorial meeting – we still [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/sCQXcjTX2qM" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/environment/woods-structured-landscape-of-responsive-light-by-nocte/" title="woods_01"><img alt="Woods - Structured landscape of responsive light by Nocte" height="425" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/woods_02-640x425.jpg" title="woods_01" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> Created by Nocte, a collaborative between Andrea Cuius-Boscarello and Hannelore Leisek, Woods is a responsive light installation commissioned by artistic director Heather Eddington of State of Flux DanceFilm Company for their Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Awards 2013 finalist performance A Study of Who. By using different lighting setups and dispositions for each consecutively revealed element, every  scene of the choreography [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/-hhxMueeoJ4" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/jobs-2/computational-designer-at-artcom/" title="_0000_Ebenenkomp. 4"><img alt="Computational Designer at ART+COM" height="180" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/0000_Ebenenkomp.-4.jpg" title="_0000_Ebenenkomp. 4" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> Company: ART+COM Location:  Berlin, Germany Type: Full-Time Category: Creative Code Description ART+COM designs and develops media installations and spaces motivated by the desire to shift boundaries through innovation and to develop new possibilities. We are looking to add a full-time computational designer to our interdisciplinary team. WHAT WE&#8217;RE LOOKING FOR # a perfect hybrid between a designer and a [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/lsUx5ttmkYc" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/android/energy-flow/" title="environment"><img alt="Energy Flow - Non-linear film experience by FIELD for the iOS and Android" height="360" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/life01-640x360.jpg" title="environment" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> Created by London&#8217;s digital art and design collective Field, Energy Flow is a non-linear film experience created for the iOS and Android platforms that explores the physical, social and spiritual tensions in our world. The film is composed of multiple story lines into an immersive, audio-visual experience that is unique every time it is played. [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/3AFLpB1JD9Q" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/javascript-2/every-day-of-my-life-by-marcin-ignac/" title="Every Day Of My Life 01"><img alt="&quot;Every Day Of My Life&quot; by Marcin Ignac" height="426" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Every-Day-Of-My-Life-08-640x426.jpg" title="Every Day Of My Life 01" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> Every Day Of My Life is a visualization of Marcin Ignac&#8217;s computer usage statistics from the last 2.5 years and presented at the Click festival in Helsingør. Each line represents one day and each colorful block is the most foreground app running at the given moment. Black areas are periods when his computer is not [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/7U_Ce8a-D8Y" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/jobs-2/front-end-interactive-developer-at-less-rain-ltd/" title="lessrain"><img alt="Front-end Interactive Developer at Less Rain Ltd" height="180" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lessrain.png" title="lessrain" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> Company: Less Rain Ltd Location:  London, UK Type: Full-Time Category: Creative Code Description (HTML 5, CSS3, JavaScript, Flash, AIR) No agencies You will be developing playful interactive environments, focusing on cross platform interactive content, including games &#38; apps. Every project we do has a great concept / idea behind it and pushes the boundaries of what is possible, so [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/kUSjs6rs25o" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/news/artists-in-laboratories-a-i-l-regine-debatty/" title="artworks-000025402928-5o22nh-t500x500"><img alt="Artists in Laboratories (#A.I.L) - Regine Debatty" height="306" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/0amechelsebresse-640.jpg" title="artworks-000025402928-5o22nh-t500x500" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> We have already seen what CAN would be like if it was a magazine but what about Radio? Well, we are quite confident that if we ever did that, Artists in Laboratories on ResonanceFM by our dear friend Regine Debatty from WeMakeMoneyNotArt would make a perfect precedent. (image above Koen Vanmechelen &#8211; via) Regine Debatty reports [...]<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/LsPJZ-RDz1I" width="1" />

<div> <a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/10-print-single-line-of-code-as-a-lens-through-creative-computing/" title="10PRINT_01"><img alt="10 PRINT - Single line of code as a lens through creative computing" height="480" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/10PRINT_01-640x480.jpg" title="10PRINT_01" width="640" /></a> </div> <br /> A collaboration between Nick Montfort, Patsy Baudoin, John Bell, Ian Bogost, Jeremy Douglass, Mark C. Marino, Michael Mateas, Mark Sample, Noah Vawter and Casey Reas, 10 PRINT is a book about a one-line Commodore 64 BASIC program.<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/jPT-zAg5McU" width="1" />

<p>Every emerging technology undergoes the test of fire which is a given fact and HTML5 is no exception in the strict sense. Touted to replace flash, HTML5’s proponents blew its capabilities out of proportion even while HTML5 was still in its nascent stages. This, over the past months, has been fueling a glaring gap between what’s expected of HTML5 and the actuals. Although developers are tearing ahead making considerable headway, it’s the browsers that need to catch up.</p> <p><center></p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37118" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37118 " height="448" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/hole-600x448.png" style="border: 0px;" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/vimeo.com">Source</a></p></div> <p></center></p> <h2></h2> <h2> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Browser Bottleneck</span></h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The developer community has always been head over heels about latest technologies and shows no inhibitions to embrace it with both hands. Developers have a clear idea about what HTML5 is capable of given the stance of certain platform vendors. Despite the official validation not expected before 2020, developers are in no mood to slow down. While this can be a problem of sorts when viewed from the standardization point of view, but for the developer community it’s a free world with no rules/guidelines.</p> <p><center></p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37119" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37119 " height="257" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/browser-600x257.png" style="border: 0px;" title="browser" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/infocustesting.net">Source</a></p></div> <p></center><br /> Keeping apace with the progress being made by the developer community, browsers are toiling day in and day out to support the capabilities acquired by HTML5. In the days to come, HTML5 support would be the key defining factor as far as browser capabilities are concerned. This is because the advancement in HTML5 is of little meaning if browser capabilities are not enhanced parallelly.</p> <p>The rampant use of HTML5 to build apps and sites have put tremendous pressure on browser developers to prepare browsers that are fast, light on resources and efficient. As of now Internet Explorer 9 &amp; 10, Firefox 7 and higher, Chrome 14 and higher, Safari 5 and higher, Opera 11 and higher, Mobile Safari 3.2 and higher, Opera Mobile 5 and Android 2.1 support HTML5 elements. However, in order for browsers to support all HTML5 elements, there’s still a long way to cover as revealed in the Ringmark test.</p> <p>Various studies, particularly by IDC, predict HTML5 to form a major portion (if not 100%) of mobile apps’ code in the near future. And the ratio of HTML5 in mobile apps can only be expected to go north. Having said that, the question looms large for adopters – has HTML5 matured enough? Well, this would need a collective answer from all the quarters.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="text-decoration: underline;">HTML5 Woes</span></h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>HTML5 is surely on its way to glory unless it gets over the woes that are a constant irritant for developers and users.</p> <ul> <li> Out of sync</li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">The offline and online nature of apps is an area of concern especially when it comes to syncing of data. While being connected, syncing is automatic but when not, syncing doesn&#8217;t happen. And when substantial amount of data is accumulated in the server, synchronization can be a major headache. It’s the same case when the app is accessed from a different device or location.</p> <ul> <li>Namesake database</li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">A salient feature of HTML5 is offline data storage, wherein the data is stored in the browser. This is one reason why HTML5 is adored because it gives a desktop type feeling to the user. But the flip side to this feature is that the user has no means to access the data like they do on a desktop. The user can’t see where the data is stored; they can&#8217;t know the contents, create copies or backup the data. Since the format in which the data is stored is unknown, the user cannot surf through the data if they need any information.</p> <ul> <li>Data insecurity</li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">HTML5 has limitations in storing data and that’s why we’ve the servers, be it cloud or not. Now the user pay for the app, the device, the service and even for the hosting, but what’s the right the user has on their data? The terms and conditions speak nothing about ownership of data. They&#8217;re more or less a virtual ownership of one’s data and occurrences of loss of data ain’t uncommon wherein the server people just wash their hands off the issue. Neither HTML5 nor the hosting company can guarantee that your data will stay.</p> <ul> <li>Compulsory upgradation</li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">Ever thought upgrades would be a problem? Upgrades for HTML5 powered apps are imposed on its users even if they don’t want it. This poses serious risks to the users in the form of corrupt allied programs or apps that worked well pre-upgradation.</p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;"> <h2><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Bridging The Gap</span></h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The tremendous pace at which changes are being introduced is a reason why developers and users aren’t on the same page. At times it is confusing as to what’s developed and for whom the development is being done.</p> <p><center></p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37121" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37121 " height="390" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bridging_gap11-600x390.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text"><a href="http://chasingtheperfectmoment.com/bridges/">Source</a></p></div> <p></center><br /> For users it is essential that they clearly put across what they expect from the HTML5 website or app to avoid any future discontentment. Users should know that the mind blowing capabilities of HTML5 is not something that is independent but a combination of various technologies tied to the browsers&#8217; capabilities. Needless to say that this technology is evolving and a clear cut timeframe about when all the proposed capabilities are realized is obscure</p> <p>Developers should have constant interaction with the users in order to have a clear idea about the expectations. Provide the users with snapshots of how their app or site would look like, since seeing is believing. Make them understand as to how much of their expectations can actually be met because no matter what potential HTML5 holds, the end product should reflect the users&#8217; needs and expectations.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table style="padding: 15px; border: 5px solid #5d5d5d; background-color: #30302f;"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img alt="Rohit Singhal" class="alignright" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0baada9baeb3c9cec4099a744f8dccc8?s=75&amp;d=identicon&amp;r=G" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;" width="100? height=" /></p> <h3>About the Author</h3> <p>Rohit Singhal is an emarketer working with PixelCrayons, a web development company. The company specializes in ecommerce solutions, CMS solutions, <a href="http://html.pixelcrayons.com/responsive-design-coding.html">responsive web design</a> implementation, <a href="http://html.pixelcrayons.com/">HTML5 Web Development</a> and more.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/guest-blogger/" rel="author">Guest Blogger</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/UI9svPxSUZ4" width="1" />

<p style="text-align: justify;">A lot of graphic designers and artists all over the world employ a number of elements in their designs and artwork making them extremely complicated and intricate. But as most people would say, the devil is in the details. And the mark of a true artist may usually be seen when his work is scrutinized to the smallest part of his masterpiece.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">That is the reason why it is very important for graphic artists, both novice and professional alike to pay attention to the details of their work as meticulously as possible. Every element, every layer and every stroke should be given an appropriate amount of attention. Background images and design accents for example play a pivotal role in tying up the overall look and feel of a design, which in turn makes for a well-polished and balanced work.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">We at You The Designer recognize this need, so today, we are giving you this amazing set of 7 starburst vector graphics that will definitely add some fine details into any design.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37112 aligncenter" height="1000" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/post-cover.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="600" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Download this stunning set of vector graphics by tweeting or sharing over Facebook. Click the button below and unlock the awesomeness! (Email subscribers, please visit the actual post page to download.)</p> <p><center></center></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">So there you have it guys. What other freebie do you want me to make for you in the future? Do tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also find us on <a href="http://facebook.com/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/cadencewu" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/116824150281780256954/" target="_blank">Google Plus</a> or subscribe to our blog through our <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner" target="_blank">RSS Feeds</a>. And please, do check out our <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/blank-print-templates" target="_blank">print templates</a> page and download any of our blank print templates for all your print designing needs.</p> <p> Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/geno/" rel="author">Geno Arguelles</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/X_5uWWbZZ7A" width="1" />

<p>Most live action movies today are based if not in best-selling books, are from classic comics and graphic novels. Major characters in comics especially most of our favorite superheroes have been transformed into major motion pictures today which appeal not only to kids and fans but across all ages.</p> <p>A successful superhero live action movie is mostly dependent on how the filmmakers have captured the exact character found on its two-dimensional, spandex-clad superhero origin. The classic look and style in comics combined with some modern aspects like slight changes in costumes and storyline is a common technique found in making movies today. To remember how much the comic stylings of the 60’s and 70’s have inspired modern films, Brazilian artist <a href="http://www.behance.net/butcherbilly"><strong>Butcher Billy</strong></a> created an awesome project which answers his thought about just how thin is the line that separate movies from comics.</p> <p>Butcher Billy, who focuses on graphic design and illustration created the series called &#8220;<a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Superhero-Media-Crossover-Project/6192521"><strong>The Superhero Media Crossover Project</strong></a>&#8221; which features a mash-up of images combining art from classic comic books overlapped on screenshots from the latest superhero films. The project makes us realize how often movie makers rely on the format of classic comic books and graphic novels, making them easy to translate them on the screen by interlacing cinematography with storyboard.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="size-full wp-image-37070 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/112.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="size-full wp-image-37072 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/210.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="size-full wp-image-37075 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/34.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="size-full wp-image-37076 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/42.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37077" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/52.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="size-full wp-image-37079 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/62.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37080" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/72.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37081" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/82.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37082" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/93.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="size-full wp-image-37084 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/102.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37085" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/113.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37086" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/122.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37087" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/132.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37088" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/142.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37089" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/152.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="The Superhero Media Crossover Project by Butcher Billy" width="600" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The series is a homage to various comic artists from the 60&#8242;s and 70&#8242;s such as  Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and John Romita Sr. and nice way of showing how their timeless works continue to inspire modern media and all of us. Check out more of the amazing works of Butcher Billy on his <a href="http://www.behance.net/butcherbilly">Behance</a> page.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr noshade="noshade" /> &nbsp;<br /> Which among the crossover designs is your most favorite? Share to us your thoughts and as well as your suggestions by commenting below. Find us on  <a href="http://www.facebook.com/youthedesigner"><strong>Facebook</strong></a>, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/youthedesigner"><strong>Twitter</strong></a>,</strong> <a href="https://plus.google.com/116824150281780256954/posts"><strong>Google Plus</strong></a> and <a href="http://pinterest.com/cadencewu/"><strong>Pinterest</strong></a> for more design awesomeness! Also, don’t forget to <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">subscribe</a> to our blog for the latest design inspirations, stories and freebies. Speaking of freebies, check out our <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/blank-print-templates">free print templates</a> page where you can download templates for calendars, brochures, business cards and more!  Stay awesome everyone!</p> <p> Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/kerby/" rel="author">Kerby Rosanes</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/lxahROMCX04" width="1" />

<p>Hello everyone! We&#8217;re now here to announce the 5 winners of our giveaway last week . But before that, we would just like to thank everyone who joined our giveaway which was sponsored by our friends from Themespectrum.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="328" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/superslide.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="735" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Here are the 5 winners of the 5 premium themes from Themespectrum that includes premium support and free future updates:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <h2>Susan Geiger</h2> </li> <li> <h2>Ricardo Gonzalez</h2> </li> <li> <h2>Michael Paul</h2> </li> <li> <h2>Naomi Estreicher</h2> </li> <li> <h2>Rony Mattar</h2> </li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>For our lucky winners, please accept our warmest congratulations and please wait for an email from a representative of Themespectrum as they will contact you shortly to instruct you on how to claim your prize. As for those who joined, again, please accept our sincere appreciation. For those who didn&#8217;t win, we have a new <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/12/10/im-creator-and-ytd-nexus-7-giveaway/" target="_blank">giveaway</a> on our site, so by all means, feel free to join.</p> <p>For any questions, suggestions, or sponsorship offers, please feel free to contact us using the contact form in our Contact Us page or just leave a comment below and we&#8217;ll certainly give you feedback. Lastly, please don&#8217;t forget to <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner" target="_blank">subscribe</a> to our blog or add us up on <a href="http://facebook.com/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/cadencewu" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/116824150281780256954/" target="_blank">Google Plus</a> for more design related news, features, <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/blank-print-templates" target="_blank">freebies</a> and of course giveaways. Stay Awesome everyone!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/cadence/" rel="author">Cadence Wu</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/K9ZrCrmD_1c" width="1" />

<p style="text-align: justify;">For most part of the world, Christmas is often associated with cold weather. This is probably because there have been many types of media in the past that mentions of a white Christmas, with houses covered in a layer of snow and people huddle near a fire place to drink coffee or hot chocolate. So in today’s You! Be Inspired! post, we decided to showcase 25 of the most creative mug designs that will certainly get you in the mood this holiday season.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Mugs have been around for more than 5000 years and were used by early civilizations for the sole purpose of drinking water or any form of fluid from it. Earlier forms of mug were produced by shaping clay or carved wood. However, these types of mugs were very hard to use especially with their thick walls that were unfit for the mouth. This changed upon the invention and discovery of different alternative materials like metal, porcelain and eventually plastic.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Today, mugs are produced in a variety of ways using different materials, sometimes even combining two or more materials in order to come up with the best result for a product. So without further ado, here are the 25 creatively designed mugs we’ve collected from the far reaches of the online world.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr noshade="noshade" /> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center></p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37020" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37020" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/r2d2-600x600.jpeg" title="r2d2" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">For the Star Wars fan <a href="http://www.bitrebels.com/geek/star-wars-r2-d2-coffee-tea-mug/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37021" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37021" height="522" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/biscuit-pocket.jpg" title="biscuit pocket" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">For the Biscuit Lover <a href="http://justamazingthings.blogspot.com/2012/07/top-10-creative-coffee-cup-designs.html#.UMfakuTYdSQ">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37022" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37022" height="508" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/chemist-600x508.jpg" title="chemist" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">For the Chemist <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/111658600/coffee-caffeine-molecule-etched-coffee">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37023" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37023 " height="420" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/tennis-player.jpg" title="tennis player" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">For the Tennis Player <a href="http://decorating-ideas-for.com/decorating-ideas-for-coffee-mugs/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37024" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37024" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/angel-and-devil.jpg" title="angel and devil" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Good vs Bad <a href="http://decorating-ideas-for.com/decorating-ideas-for-coffee-mugs/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37026" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37026 " height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/golfer.jpg" title="golfer" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">The Golfer&#8217;s Mug <a href="http://egotvonline.com/2011/10/06/25-awesome-mugs/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37029" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37029 " height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dog-lover-600x600.jpg" title="dog lover" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Dog Lover&#8217;s Mug <a href="http://dogmugs.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37031" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37031" height="637" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/musician1.jpg" title="musician" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Musician&#8217;s Mug <a href="http://dogmugs.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html&amp;quot">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37032" style="width: 600px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37032" height="483" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/poop.jpg" title="poop" width="590" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poop Mug <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/cool-coffee-mugs">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37033" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37033 " height="574" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/spill-proof-mug.jpg" title="spill proof mug" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Spill Proof Mug <a href="http://ilovecoffee.co.za/2011/02/17/cool-coffee-cups/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37039" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37039 " height="339" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/knuckle.jpg" title="knuckle" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">The Knuckle Mug <a href="http://bifty.com/cool-stuff/thabto-coffee-mugs/2204/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37040" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37040" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ninja-600x600.jpeg" title="ninja" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Ninja Mug <a href="http://thecooleststuffever.com/ninja-coffee-mug">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37041" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37041" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/cookie.jpg" title="cookie" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Cookie Mug <a href="http://www.barnorama.com/cool-coffee-and-tea-mugs/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37042" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37042 " height="447" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Gun-Handle-Mug.jpg" title="Gun-Handle-Mug" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Gun Handle Mug <a href="http://www.likecool.com/Gun_Handle_Mug--Office--Gear.html&amp;quot">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37043" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37043" height="519" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/twitter-600x519.jpg" title="twitter" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Twitter with Hashtag Mug <a href="http://www.forkparty.com/28384/ten-cool-tech-company-coffee-mugs-gallery/coffeemugs001">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37044" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37044" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/keyboard-600x600.jpg" title="keyboard" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Programmer&#8217;s Mug <a href="http://www.shop4juan.com.ph/Cool-Unique-Keyboard-Design-Coffee-Mug-Set_p_19.html">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37045" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37045" height="591" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/cow-600x591.jpg" title="cow" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Cow Mug <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005QB9TEQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl? ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B005QB9TEQ&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=squid0d8-20">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37046" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37046 " height="641" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/camera.jpg" title="camera" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Photographer&#8217;s Mug <a href="http://www.flavorwire.com/96838/design-porn-coffee-mugs?all=1">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37047" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37047" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/behind-600x600.png" title="behind" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">The Behind Mug <a href="http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2011/12/unique-and-creative-mugs.html">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37048" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37048" height="564" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/creature-cups-600x564.jpeg" title="creature cups" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Creature Cups <a href="http://creaturecups.com/store">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37049" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37049 " height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/animal-nose.jpg" title="animal nose" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Animal Nose Cup <a href="http://www.designrulz.com/product-design/2011/07/creative-clever-coffee-mug-designs/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37050" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37050" height="552" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/gameboy-600x552.png" title="gameboy" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Gameboy Mug <a href="http://churchm.ag/2012/02/page/3/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37051" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-37051" height="558" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/rubix-cube.jpg" title="rubix cube" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Rubix Cube Mug <a href="http://1oet.com/funny-coffee-mugs-pictures/">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37064" style="width: 610px;"><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/self-stirring.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-37064" height="449" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/self-stirring-600x449.jpg" title="self stirring" width="600" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Self Stirring Mug <a href="http://find-gift-ideas.net/tag/creative-coffee-mug">Source</a></p></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37052" style="width: 610px;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-37052 " height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/toilet.png" title="toilet" width="600" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Toilet Mug <a href="http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2011/12/unique-and-creative-mugs.html">Source</a></p></div> <p></center></p> <hr noshade="noshade" /> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">And that concludes today’s edition of You! Be Inspired! So which mug design did you find most interesting? Tell us by leaving a comment below. For other design related news, features and freebies, do <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner" target="_blank">subscribe</a> to our blog or drop by our <a href="http://facebook.com/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/cadencewu" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/116824150281780256954/" target="_blank">Google Plus</a> social profiles.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Lastly, if you’re currently working on a project that involves a print product, don’t forget to check out our <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/blank-print-templates" target="_blank">print templates page</a> and download any of our 1,100 templates completely FREE!</p> <p> Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/zyril/" rel="author">Zy Gonzales</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/NgrBxr9kNvE" width="1" />

<p>Typography techniques are improved by constant practicing and when given the challenge of competition. This idea inspired the new website called &#8220;<a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/"><strong>Lettering vs. Calligraphy</strong></a>&#8221; which features two amazing Berlin based designers in a unique challenge celebrating the creative process of hand drawn lettering and  penned calligraphy.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Lettering vs. Calligraphy" class=" wp-image-36963 aligncenter" height="1038" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lvsc1.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Lettering vs. Calligraphy" width="524" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The type designers involved are <a href="http://www.martinaflor.com/">Martina Flor</a> and <a href="http://www.resistenza.es/">Giuseppe Salerno</a> who are both exceptionally talented and have been in the industry for more than a decade. The duo create a design each day based on a keyword provided by a moderator. Then they post their work online and let the viewers vote for their favorite. The two go head to head each day &#8211; the unique hand drawn lettering of Martina Flor versus the exquisitely penned calligraphy of Giuseppe Salermo. The adventure aims to explore and showcase the capabilities of the two technical approaches in type design. Below are some of the latest designs featured on their website (left &#8211; lettering, right &#8211; calligraphy):</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/distinguished-u/"><img alt="DISTINGUISHED “U”" class="size-medium wp-image-36966 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/U-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="DISTINGUISHED “U”" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Distinguished &#8220;U&#8221;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/v-for-vendetta/" target="_blank"><img alt="&quot;V&quot; for Vendetta" class="size-medium wp-image-36967 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/v-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="&quot;V&quot; for Vendetta" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>&#8220;V&#8221; for Vendetta</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/j-bizarre/" target="_blank"><img alt="Bizarre &quot;J&quot;" class="size-medium wp-image-36969 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/j-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Bizarre &quot;J&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bizarre &#8220;J&#8221;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/swashy-t/" target="_blank"><img alt="Swashy &quot;T&quot;" class="size-medium wp-image-36970 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/t-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Swashy &quot;T&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Swashy &#8220;T&#8221;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/dynamic-n-2/" target="_blank"><img alt="Dynamic &quot;N&quot;" class="size-medium wp-image-36971 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/n-600x300.png" style="border: 0px;" title="Dynamic &quot;N&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Dynamic &#8220;N&#8221;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/b-happy/" target="_blank"><img alt="Happy &quot; B&quot;" class="size-medium wp-image-36972 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/B-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Happy &quot; B&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Happy &#8220;B&#8221;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/simple-z/" target="_blank"><img alt="Simple &quot;Z&quot;" class="size-medium wp-image-36973 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Z-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Simple &quot;Z&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Simple &#8220;Z&#8221;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/art-nouveau-9" target="_blank"><img alt="Art Nouveau &quot;9&quot;" class="size-medium wp-image-36974 aligncenter" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/92-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Art Nouveau &quot;9&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Art Nouveau &#8220;9&#8243;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/sophisticated-3/" target="_blank"><img alt="Sophisticated &quot;3&quot;" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-36975" height="300" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/33-600x300.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Sophisticated &quot;3&quot;" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Sophisticated &#8220;3&#8243;</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/shop/time-to-fight-postcards/" target="_blank"><img alt="Time To Fight postcards" class="aligncenter wp-image-36978" height="318" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/time-600x318.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Time To Fight postcards" width="600" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>&#8220;Time To Fight&#8221; postcards</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Which of the type designs is your most favorite? Vote for them on their official <a href="http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/">website</a>. This amazing project is not just a design challenge but an opportunity to discover the various styles and possibilities in type design in both lettering and calligraphy. Moreover, the series will be a huge source of inspiration for typography addicts out there as the battle continues.</p> <p>Tell us your thoughts as well as your suggestions by commenting below. Find us on  <a href="http://www.facebook.com/youthedesigner"><strong>Facebook</strong></a>, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/youthedesigner"><strong>Twitter</strong></a>,</strong> <a href="https://plus.google.com/116824150281780256954/posts"><strong>Google Plus</strong></a> and <a href="http://pinterest.com/cadencewu/"><strong>Pinterest</strong></a> for more design awesomeness! Also, don’t forget to <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">subscribe</a> to our blog for the latest design inspirations, stories and freebies. Speaking of freebies, check out our <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/blank-print-templates">free print templates</a> page where you can download templates for calendars, brochures, business cards and more!  Stay awesome everyone!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/kerby/" rel="author">Kerby Rosanes</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/oU1Onf6UAXY" width="1" />

<p>This week, <a href="http://depositphotos.com/">Depositphotos</a> and <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytdcon_0612">UPrinting</a> are collaborating to give you an international giveaway! Here you can win a 20-day free stock photo subscription where you can download 10 images a day (the normal setup is 7 days and 5 images a day), and $50 worth of print credits to spend however you like too!<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Here are the various means of entry:<br /> &nbsp;<br /> - Follow <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Depositphotos">@Depositphotos</a> on Twitter<br /> - Like the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DepositPhotosEN">Depositphotos (English)</a> Facebook page<br /> - Tweet about this giveaway &#8211; you can find the premade tweet in the PunchTab app<br /> - Like the You The Designer blog (we know you do, it&#8217;s just that sometimes we need reminding!)<br /> - Leave a comment on this post saying what you&#8217;ll use the subscription and the print credits for<br /> - Visit (and join, if you like!) the <a href="http://www.ucreative.com/?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytdcon_0612">UCreative Network</a>, the social network for creative professionals!<br /> - Give the <a href="https://plus.google.com/116824150281780256954/">You The Designer Google+ page</a> a +1</p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> <strong>Make sure you do all that via the PunchTab app</strong> so all your entries are counted! As usual, the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> Giveaway ends on <strong>Saturday, June 16, 2012, midnight PST. International except where prohibited.</strong><br /> &nbsp;<br /> Print credits do not include shipping costs. If the print job costs less than $50, the remaining print credits may be subtracted from the shipping costs.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Once the giveaway ends, the PunchTab widget will reflect this, and we’ll publish another post to announce the winners as well as notify the winners privately.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Now that you&#8217;ve read all that, start submitting your entries and good luck, everyone!<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <em>In case you need some printing done right now and can&#8217;t wait for this giveaway to end, UPrinting has a <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/coupons.html?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytdcon_0612">summer marketing sale</a> going on &#8211; that&#8217;s up to 20% off selected products until the 28th. <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/coupons.html?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytdcon_0612">Check it out!</a></em><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <em>If you are looking for quality images, and the subscription you can win isn&#8217;t enough for you, feel free to join Depositphotos. You will have an ability to use <a href="http://depositphotos.com/free-photos.html">free images</a> with their Free Trial Program!</em></p> <p>&nbsp; Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/cadence/" rel="author">Cadence Wu</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/6V4eEMK19_M" width="1" />

<p>This week, as I was browsing <em>The New Yorker</em> magazine&#8217;s site for covers</a> (thanks to the curiosity sparked by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/06/06/the-art-of-the-new-yorker-magazine-covers/" target="_blank">one of our articles</a>), I saw this <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/06/loving-ray-bradbury.html" target="_blank">tribute</a> to Ray Bradbury written my Junot Diaz. It was an intimate look at how he is well-loved by his fans and friends. Of all the tributes I read about him this week, one that discussed his answer to a question on passing a legacy to future generations is my favorite &#8212; </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>&#8220;If you don’t read or write, you can’t be educated, you can’t care about anything — you’ve gotta put something in people’s heads so the metaphors bounce around and collide with each other and make new metaphors. That’s the success I’ve had of daring to put different metaphors together, mashing their heads together, saying, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t think of that — how wonderful!’&#8221;</em></p> <p>&nbsp; </p> <p>Continue learning and discovering new things by signing up for our <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/signup/" target="_blank">monthly newsletter</a> and subscribing to our <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner" target="_blank">RSS Feed</a>. Enjoy this week&#8217;s edition of You! Be Informed! </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Bonnaroo 2012</strong></p> <p>Four days of camping out in Manchester, Tennessee with more than 10 stages for music performance is what the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is all about! Mingle with fellow revelers and explore the different options for food and entertainment! Know more about what you can bring, how to behave yourself during the festival, and more useful things <a href="http://www.bonnaroo.com/festival-info/" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Bonnaroo2012-via-YouTheDesigner.com_.jpg"><img alt="Bonnaroo2012 via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26585" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Bonnaroo2012-via-YouTheDesigner.com_.jpg" title="Bonnaroo2012 via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Gallery 1988 &#8211; &#8220;Excuuuuuse Meeeeeeeee&#8221;</strong></p> <p>One of our favorite galleries is holding an exhibit that&#8217;s beyond awesome for words. Gallery1988 Venice will be holding <strong>&#8220;Excuuuuuse Meeeeeeeee,&#8221;</strong> a tribute to one of my favorite funnymen, Steve Martin. Artists participating in the exhibit created pieces inspired by Steve&#8217;s work in movies, books, TV, and music. The opening gala will be held on June 8, Friday, and the gallery will be up until the end of June 2012. If you&#8217;re a Steve Martin fan, or you just want to unwind by looking at contemporary art pieces, take time to drop by Gallery1988 Venice!</p> <p><em>Images from <a href="http://g1988.tumblr.com/post/24405864636/this-friday-at-g1988-venice-we-open-excuuuuuuse" target="_blank">G1988</a></em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Steve-Martin.jpg"><img alt="Gallery 1988 Steve Martin Exhibit via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26524" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Steve-Martin.jpg" title="Gallery 1988 Steve Martin Exhibit via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Michael-DePippo.jpg"><img alt="Gallery 1988 Michael DePippo via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26526" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Michael-DePippo.jpg" title="Gallery 1988 Michael DePippo via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Jason-Edmiston.jpg"><img alt="Gallery 1988 Jason Edmiston via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26525" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Jason-Edmiston.jpg" title="Gallery 1988 Jason Edmiston via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Nicole-Gustafsson.jpg"><img alt="Gallery 1988 Nicole Gustafsson via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26527" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gallery-1988-Nicole-Gustafsson.jpg" title="Gallery 1988 Nicole Gustafsson via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>WordCamp New York City 2012</strong></p> <p>WordPress users in New York, rejoice! WordCamp New York City 2012 is upon you, and it will be held on June 9-10, 2012 at Baruch College in Manhattan. Gear up for two whole days to learn the latest about everything and anything about WordPress. If you&#8217;re planning to attend the event, learn more about it <a href="http://2012.nyc.wordcamp.org/" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/WordCampNYC.jpeg"><img alt="WordCampNYC via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26531" height="500" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/WordCampNYC.jpeg" title="WordCampNYC via YouTheDesigner.com" width="500" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Asketic Riga &#8211; getCirulis</strong></p> <p>We&#8217;re all about discovering and learning new things here at You the Designer, that&#8217;s why finding something graphic designers will find useful excites us. Asketic Riga is a design office from Riga, Latvia that&#8217;s taking a bold step to turn one of the region&#8217;s most unique typefaces, Cirulis, into a usable font family. <a href="http://getcirulis.com/" target="_blank">Sign up</a> and be among the first designers to receive Cirulis Pro Bold! </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/getCirulis.jpg"><img alt="getCirulis via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26538" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/getCirulis.jpg" title="getCirulis via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Cirulis-poster.jpg"><img alt="Cirulis-poster via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26541" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Cirulis-poster.jpg" title="Cirulis-poster via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Cirulis-book.jpg"><img alt="Cirulis-book via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26540" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Cirulis-book.jpg" title="Cirulis-book via YouTheDesigner.com" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>AFA &#8211; Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit</strong></p> <p>On the day before what would have been Maurice Sendak&#8217;s 84th birthday, AFA (Animazing Fine Art) will be opening a retrospective exhibit featuring his art. The exhibition will open on Saturday, June 9, and will be up until Labor Day. Original artwork and published pieces that celebrate the life of Maurice Sendak will be on display. Learn more about the exhibit by visiting the <a href="http://afanyc.com/" target="_blank">AFA website</a>. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maurice-Sendak-Retrospective-Exhibit-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg"><img alt="Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit via YouTheDesigner" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26561" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maurice-Sendak-Retrospective-Exhibit-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg" title="Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit via YouTheDesigner" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maurice-Sendak-Retrospective-Exhibit-02-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg"><img alt="Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit 02 via YouTheDesigner" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26559" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maurice-Sendak-Retrospective-Exhibit-02-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg" title="Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit 02 via YouTheDesigner" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maurice-Sendak-Retrospective-Exhibit-03-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg"><img alt="Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit 03 via YouTheDesigner" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26560" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maurice-Sendak-Retrospective-Exhibit-03-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg" title="Maurice Sendak Retrospective Exhibit 03 via YouTheDesigner" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The Innovation Whiteboard</strong></p> <p>A month ago, The New York Times invited readers to share innovations that would make daily life easier. They called this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/magazine/innovation-whiteboard.html" target="_blank">The Innovation Whiteboard</a>, a repository of ideas that features lifehacks. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Innovation-Whiteboard-via-YouTheDesigner.com_.jpg"><img alt="Innovation Whiteboard via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26570" height="55" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Innovation-Whiteboard-via-YouTheDesigner.com_.jpg" title="Innovation Whiteboard via YouTheDesigner.com" width="600" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Innovation-Whiteboard-02-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg"><img alt="Innovation Whiteboard 02 via YouTheDesigner" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26569" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Innovation-Whiteboard-02-via-YouTheDesigner.jpg" title="Innovation Whiteboard 02 via YouTheDesigner" /></a></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>Also share and discuss graphic design news with other You The Designer readers through our <a href="http://facebook.com/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Twitter</a> accounts! </p> <p>&nbsp; Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/chin/" rel="author">Chin de Vera</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/a6hvP3cXl_w" width="1" />

<p>Logo design is made up of different defining aspects – from the designer’s influences and personal whims, to the design’s colour and its shape. We’ve discussed how logos are defined by colour and shape in our <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/06/05/logo-design-the-color-and-the-shape/">previous post</a>. This time we’d like to talk about the file types and the things that you ought to know when you’re designing a logo for different media.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As technical as these two graphic design terms may sound, they’re actually very simple. Raster graphics are basically made up of pixels, the things you see on your screen, the rough edges that you see on an image when you zoom in too much. On the other hand, vector graphics are made up of lines and anchor points that are auto-adjusted by Adobe Illustrator (or any other vector software editor you’re using) when you’re resizing your work. That’s the basic gist of raster and vector graphics, but let’s delve deeper into the abyss and know where and when to use them, and on what project, aside from logo design, you can use them.<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><center><img alt="Sample Raster Logo via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26546" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/full_ps.jpg" title="Sample Raster Logo via YouTheDesigner.com" /></center><br /> <em>Upon first inspection, raster and vector graphics will basically look the same way. The difference becomes apparent once reproducing the design becomes an issue.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><br /> <h3>Raster Graphics</h3> <p></strong></p> <p>If you’re going to zoom in on an image, you’ll notice that the edges become more pixelated. This is because most images (JPEG, JPG, PNG, etc.) are rasterized to allow an artist or photographer to manipulate the image using a graphics editing software, like Adobe Photoshop.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>A raster graphic image is made up of pixels, with each pixel having only one colour. This means that if you have fewer pixels in your image, you’ll have lesser colour and a low quality image. Otherwise, you’ll have a perfectly crisp and sharp image.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Why it’s not for any logo project</strong></p> <p>The primary concern in using raster graphics to create your logo design is the resolution. As I’ve mentioned before, rasterized images tend to be more pixelated or jagged on the edges. Resizing will be the main problem when it comes to reproducing a rasterized logo. You may be able to produce high resolution image on Photoshop, but you’ll never know how big the logo needs to be in actual production.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><center><img alt="Sample Raster Logo via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26546" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/zoom_ps.jpg" title="Sample Raster Logo via YouTheDesigner.com" /></center><br /> <em>A logo design that&#8217;s created using Photoshop will show pixels once you zoom in within the image. This becomes an issue when you need to create a larger design from your original.</em> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Another issue is professional quality. If you’re designing logos as a professional, you’d aim for the best quality and using a raster file for your project doesn’t help your cause. As mentioned earlier, upon closer inspection rasterized images would eventually produce pixelated images. This’ll reflect your knowledge about industry standards and practice, which is better that you know it now, than later.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>What’s it for?</strong></p> <p>Photos and graphic rendering are done in raster graphics. Because of the extensive colour manipulation capabilities of raster graphic editors, they’re apt tools in adding and editing colours, tones, and textures on images, and photos. Usual projects done in Adobe Photoshop are web design, promotional graphics, and your usual illustration colour rendering.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><br /> <h3>Vector Graphics</h3> <p></strong><br /> In simple terms, vector graphic images are collections of lines and anchor points that make up a whole image. The lines serve as your drawing’s outline and the anchor points control where your lines should go. It’s similar to how the Photoshop pen tool works. If you’re familiar with it you’ll be fine, if not it’s time you work on it.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> The anchor points and lines that make up a vector graphic image are manipulated through mathematical calculations (done by the software you’re using, no worries), which make the image done in vector to be scalable to any size.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Why it’s used in creating logos</strong><br /> Because of the ease in resizing a vector graphic image, logo designers find it easier to reproduce a logo in any size, any time, without losing quality. Aside from resolving sizing issues on a logo design, editing it will be a lot easier. Logos made in vector graphics are more adaptable and streamlined when applied to different media – from promotional prints and corporate stationery, like <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/business-cards.html?utm_source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youthedesigner.com%2F&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytd_0612" target="_blank">business cards</a> and letterheads, to web design applications and other media.<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><center><img alt="Zoomed in Vector Logo via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26549" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/zoom_vector.jpg" title="Zoomed in Vector Logo via YouTheDesigner.com" /></center><br /> <em>Vector Graphics&#8217; primary strength lies on its scalability. Since you&#8217;ll be applying the logo on different media, you&#8217;ll have to create different sizes of the same design. But if you&#8217;ve created the logo design as a vector graphic, size and scaling issues are easily resolved.</em><br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Other applications</strong></p> <p>Most conceptual artists directly sketch their work on vector graphic editors and just render them on Adobe Photoshop, or other raster graphic editors. Because of the power combination of Adobe Illustrator’s intuitive drawing tools that work best with a tablet – this makes it easier for artists and illustrators to create sketches, concept designs, or adding details to a drawing easier.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Look out for our other logo design posts for the month of June. Make sure that you’re subscribed to our <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner" target="_blank">RSS Feed</a> to receive awesome design news and inspiration. If you’ve got any questions, topic suggestions, or some love to share, just hit us up on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Facebook </a>or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. </p> <p>&nbsp; Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/cadence/" rel="author">Cadence Wu</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/NbyxvDmYX_E" width="1" />

<p>As you’ve seen in our recent posts, we’re cooking up a series of articles focusing on logo design and the issues and elements concerning the design process as well as the technicalities that come with it. Watch out for this week’s upcoming posts – we’ll be featuring illustrated covers of The New Yorker magazine, we’ll also publish another logo design post discussing the difference between raster and vector graphics.</p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> Going into the things I dug up the past weekend, here are some amazing graphic design samples, illustrators, and their artwork:</p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Emma Block – Illustrator</strong></p> <p>We’ve seen some amazing illustration from <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/05/30/you-be-inspired-0007/" target="_blank">last week’s Be Inspired</a> post, this week we’ve got another female illustrator in <a href="http://emmablock.co.uk" target="_blank">Emma Block</a>. Her work has a touch of 1930s jazz and 1950s lifestyle, some of her works somehow reminisce the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s and a little hint of Dorothy Parker’s era.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Emma Snow via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26481" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/emma01.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Emma Snow via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26482" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/emma02.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Emma Snow via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26483" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/emma03.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Emma Snow via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26484" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/emma04.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Emma Snow via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26485" height="580" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/emma05.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Chibi Tarot – A Cute Take on an Ancient Tradition</strong></p> <p>A project by artist Adam Bodgett, the <a href="http://chibitarot.com/" target="_blank">Chibi Tarot</a> project aims to recreate the major and minor arcana of the Tarot deck, through the lens of chibi. If you’re not familiar with the term chibi meaning “Short Person”, it’s used to describe a thing or person as cute or small.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Chibi Tarot by Adam Bodgett via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26469" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chibitarot01.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Chibi Tarot by Adam Bodgett via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26470" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chibitarot02.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Chibi Tarot by Adam Bodgett via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26472" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chibitarot03.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Chibi Tarot by Adam Bodgett via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26473" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chibitarot04.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Chibi Tarot by Adam Bodgett via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26474" height="1111" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chibitarot05.png" title="" width="600" /></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Conrad Roset – Illustrator</strong></p> <p>A common muse among graphic artists and illustrators is the image of a woman. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/conradroset" target="_blank">Conrad Roset’s gallery</a> of works exemplifies this appreciation of the female form – from his muse collections to his commercial works. Though Conrad’s work primarily focuses on the sensual form of a woman, his portfolio boasts an assortment of different projects, from photography to <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/postcard-printing.html?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytd_0612" target="_blank">postcard prints</a>, and children’s books.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Conrad Roset via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26476" height="925" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/conrad01.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Conrad Roset via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26477" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/conrad02.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Conrad Roset via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26478" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/conrad03.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Conrad Roset via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26479" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/conrad04.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Conrad Roset via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26480" height="830" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/conrad05.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Movie Posters by Neil Kellerhouse</strong></p> <p>If you’re into films and <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/poster-printing.html?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&#038;utm_medium=referral&#038;utm_campaign=gdm_ytd_0612" target="_blank">movie posters</a>, you’ll love <a href="http://kellerhouse.com/" target="_blank">Neil Kellerhouse’s work</a>. He has worked on the posters for <em>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</em>, <em>The Social Network</em>, and <em>I’m Still Here </em>among others. His unique, sleek, and compact style in photography, and the typography he uses together in the movie posters provide a unique character to each film’s promotional media.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Neil Kellerhouse via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26486" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neil01.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Neil Kellerhouse via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26487" height="888" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neil02.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Neil Kellerhouse via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26488" height="944" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neil03.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Neil Kellerhouse via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26489" height="888" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neil04.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Neil Kellerhouse via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26490" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neil05.jpg" title="" /></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>The Great Showdowns – Scott Campbell</strong></p> <p>Everyone has a favorite scene from a film – from the first Matrix’s bullet time fight scenes to Gandalf’s epic confrontation with the Balrog. These have been memorable scenes from our most beloved movies. Now, Scott Campbell recreates all the battle scenes, the close encounters, and the conversations into cute and cuddly illustrations. Check out his project, <a href="http://greatshowdowns.com/" target="_blank">The Great Showdowns</a> on tumblr for more action!<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="The Great Showdowns via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26496" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/scott01.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="The Great Showdowns via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26497" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/scott02.jpg" title="" /></center></p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Project: Rooftop</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.tencentticker.com/projectrooftop/about/" target="_blank">Project: Rooftop</a> aims to promote and expand the founders’ idea of superhero costume and character redesign as a skill. It’s being spearheaded by comic book artist Dean Trippe and journalist Christ Arrant. The project was inspired by reality shows and other related superhero literature, and by the trend of costume redesign on different superheroes.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Project: Rooftop via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26491" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rooftop01.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Project: Rooftop via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26492" height="330" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rooftop02.jpeg" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Project: Rooftop via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26493" height="423" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rooftop03.jpg" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Project: Rooftop via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26494" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rooftop04.jpg" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Project: Rooftop via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26495" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rooftop05.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Vintage Book Collection by Mallory McInnis</strong></p> <p>“In the Thrift Shop we trust” – that pretty much sums up my affection for thrift shops that sell pre-owned and cheap curiosities. One of the nice things that you’ll never regret buying off thrift shops are books. Now, Mallory McInnis, a curious online case of a curator, has compiled more than a hundred vintage books and posted their prints online. The prints from her collection have a unique and eerie feel (well, most vintage books have eerie illustrations), and somehow transport you back in time. Check out her collection at <a href="http://myvintagebookcollectioninblogform.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">My Vintage Book Collection</a>.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Vintage Book Collection by Mallory McInnis via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26498" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/vintage01.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Vintage Book Collection by Mallory McInnis via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26499" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/vintage02.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Vintage Book Collection by Mallory McInnis via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26500" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/vintage03.png" title="" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Vintage Book Collection by Mallory McInnis via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26501" height="948" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/vintage04.png" title="" width="600" /></center><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <center><img alt="Vintage Book Collection by Mallory McInnis via YouTheDesigner.com" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26502" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/vintage05.png" title="" /></center></p> <p>Got something awesome to share, or a topic you want us to discuss? Hit us up on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. Also be more amazing and subscribe to our <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner" target="_blank">RSS Feed</a>. </p> <p>&nbsp; Read more posts by <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/author/victor/" rel="author">Victor Pontejos</a></p><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/MVnVWKIh9To" width="1" />

Cinesite, one of the world&rsquo;s leading digital visual effects houses, today announced that Firtina Ozbalikci, a second year computer science student from the University of Bath, is the winner of its 2012 Inspire Internship programme. Firtina is the winner of Inspire&rsquo;s first technical effects internship which was launched this year to encourage skilled computer programmers to consider a career in the visual effects industry. &nbsp; Firtina was chosen from hundreds of applicants. &ldquo;Firtina&rsquo;s application showed a real determination to investigate graphics programming beyond what he&rsquo;d been taught in his computer science course,&rdquo; said Alexander Savenko, head ...

Hello! SIGGRAPH Asia 2011 Student Volunteers - Call for Participation is now open! Imagine having the opportunity to go behind the scenes and become an integral part of the creation of one of the world's biggest conference in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH Asia 2011 marks the 4th Annual Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia that draws thousands of people who share a passion for these advanced technologies together. As a Student Volunteer, you get the unique opportunity to meet and learn directly from industry professionals, artists, and teachers while assisting conference attendees and supporting conferen...

Artistic Image, (AI) the multi award-winning full-service creative/production/CGI company, swept the Telly Awards for the third consecutive year, garnering six awards in the 3D + Graphics Category for a mix of innovate design-driven work. Partner and director of animation + design Ed Dye helmed each project, raising the creative bar with AI&rsquo;s seamless concept-through-completion collaborative approach, which tapped into the company&rsquo;s full scope of design, CGI, 3D modeling, animation, live-action production, editing, compositing and color correction services.The Atlanta-based firm took home top honors for its photorealistic animated/CGI multi-screen series of short films for Fer...

Industry Giants 2011: June 25-26, 2011 Industry Giants 2011: Ten in Texas10th Anniversary Event June 25-26, 2011A BUNCH OF SHORT GUYS Hosts INDUSTRY GIANTS 2011: Ten in TexasVisual Effects, Animation and Game ForumA Bunch of Short Guys are proud to announce this year&rsquo;s Industry Giants 2011: Ten in Texas, the tenth anniversary event of Texas&rsquo; premiere Visual Effects, Animation and Game Forum. The two day conference features id Software co-founder and lead programmer John Carmack, along with many other presentations from creative professionals around the world. The tenth annual event takes place Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26, 2011 at the Kessler Theater, 1230 W....

Tali Krakowsky, founder of experience design studio Apologue, will be speaking at the Eyeo Festival on June 27th and June 28th in Minneapolis, and at the 2011 PromaxBDA Conference on June 30th in NYC. &nbsp; At the Eyeo Festival, Krakowsky will be moderating in two panels. On June 27th is a panel that wonders "WHY" and features Golan Levin, Natalie Jeremijenko, and Zach Lieberman. Why do we do what we do?&nbsp;Why should our spaces be infused with the digital?&nbsp;Why data?&nbsp;Why code?&nbsp;Why generative?&nbsp;Why collaborative? Why interactive?&nbsp;Why color? Why sound? Why touch?&nbsp;Why do frameworks have to be open?&nbsp;Why design?&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; June 28th will fea...

Cinesite creates First Class visual effects &nbsp; London, UK, June 10, 2011 &ndash; Cinesite, one of the world&rsquo;s leading film visual effects houses, has completed more than 115 visual effects shots for Twentieth Century Fox&rsquo;s X-Men: First Class, which hit cinemas last week. Among the effects Cinesite created were a retro version of the Cerebro Room, Azazel&rsquo;s fight sequences, a military parade in Red Square and Washington, DC devastated by nuclear war. &nbsp; Directed by Matthew Vaughn, the prequel takes the viewer back to the beginning, before Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) took the names Professor X and Magneto, and when they w...

Cinesite announces four winners of its 2011 Inspire internship program &nbsp; London, UK, June 1, 2011 &ndash; Cinesite, one of the world&rsquo;s leading film visual effects houses, today announced that it has awarded places on its 2011 Inspire internship program to four exceptional candidates &ndash; Luke Armstrong, Ruairi Twohig, Eleanor Bond and Tom Flavelle. The winners were chosen from more than 200 applicants for their exceptional compositing, modeling and texturing skills. The placements will commence in June and run for six weeks. &nbsp; Luke Armstrong is from Reading, Berkshire, and is graduating from Portsmouth University this summer after studying for a Bachelor of Science ...

Wild(child) Editor Yvette Pineyro Cuts Givenchy&rsquo;s&nbsp; &lsquo;Play,&rsquo; A Romantic Escapad Featuring Justin Timberlake, Filmed In The City Of Light &nbsp; Pineyro Cuts Movie Director Pierre Morel&rsquo;s Film Noir Footage Of Paris, Giving Form + Continuity To The Global HD Spot, Which Earned Her A Nod From The AICE In The Fashion + Beauty Category &nbsp; New York: Wild(child) Editorial principal Yvette Pineyro recently cut &lsquo;Play,&rsquo; a&nbsp; film noir-stye spot featuring Justin Timberlake in a romantic m&eacute;lange of intrigue and stunning imagery heralding the launch of Givenchy&rsquo;s new fragrance. The award-winning editor, who recently received a nod fro...

Pascal Leister, Director/Editor of Lodestar Films, was recently invited to &ldquo;IdeaJam,&rdquo; a series of collaborative projects in association with Ashton Kutcher&rsquo;s Katalyst and Intel. IdeaJam is a series of brainstorm sessions, held over a weekend in early April in Hollywood, that brought together 48 digital content filmmakers in an array of creative fields, including video, music, comedy, and animation. The select group of filmmakers was divided into six teams to develop, shoot and edit a 2-3 minute project within 48 hours. A $20,000 grant was given to the final winning idea.Leister brings over a decade of experience in creating original web and viral content. In 2000, he dev...

New York: A new 30-second spot for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, produced by Charged Studios, challenges the phrase &ldquo;Guns don&rsquo;t kill people, people do.&rdquo; Delivering a no-holds-barred message against those slippery semantics, the spot asserts a strong opening argument: &ldquo;A magazine that allows a gun to fire 32 shots in 16 seconds is only good for one thing: killing a lot of people &ndash; fast." Charged Studios&rsquo; team took the spot from script to final ad in five-days. They designed and built the set in studio and worked as a collaborative unit to meet the tight deadline and still deliver an innovative, compelling spot. The commercial features a m...

<div> <section class="page"> <p> One of my all-time favorite Mac utilities was <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1151306/maxmenusliteswitch.html">MaxMenus</a>, a System Preferences pane that let you create multiple custom menus, each containing your choice of apps, files, folders, volumes, and other frequently accessed items. Unfortunately, MaxMenus appears to have been abandoned—you can no longer download it, its website is dead, and while it currently works under Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8.2), I suspect some future update to OS X will render MaxMenus useless. </p> <p> I’ve tried—and quickly discarded—a number of alternatives, but one that works well is PointWorks’s $2 <strong><a href="http://www.pointworks.de/software/custommenu/index.php">CustomMenu</a></strong> (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/custommenu/id572551593?ls=1&amp;mt=12">Mac App Store link</a>). Launch CustomMenu, and its systemwide menu icon appears on the right-hand side of your menu bar. Click this icon and choose Customize Menu, and you can choose the items you want to appear in the menu. </p> <figure class="right small"><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/custommenuprefs-100017360-orig.png"><img align="right" alt="" height="180" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/custommenuprefs-100017360-small.png" width="140" /></a><figcaption>CustomMenu's configuration window</figcaption></figure> <p> Click the Add (+) button next to Group on the left to create a new group—a section of the menu that’s separated from other sections by a divider line. I don’t know if there’s a limit to the number of groups, but I had ten groups in my menu while testing CustomMenu, and the utility still let me add another. These group names and dividers take up space—and you can’t add items to the menu without using groups—but they make the menu much easier to navigate than if all your items were in a single, uninterrupted list. </p> <p> Select any group, and you can add items to that group by either dragging apps, files, and folders from the Finder into the group’s item list, or clicking the plus-sign (+) button next to Items to use OS X’s standard file-navigation dialog box. You can also move an item between groups by dragging it. Select an item and click the minus-sign (-) button, or press the Delete key, to remove the item from the list. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2019731/mac-gems-custommenu-provides-quick-access-to-your-favorite-apps-files-and-folders.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> The holidays are once again in full swing, and what’s more festive than loading up the Mac with some fun games? No problem! There is a veritable avalanche of games to choose from, ranging from kid’s fare to casual games to challenging action titles. </p> <p> Finding games in boxes on store shelves is, frankly, a difficult task, thanks to dwindling shelf space in Apple retail stores. But that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of games available. In fact, we’re in the midst of a renaissance of Mac game publishing, thanks to Apple’s Mac App Store, Valve’s <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/">Steam</a> game service, and many other places to get Mac games online, like <a href="http://www.gamersgate.com">Gamersgate.com</a> and <a href="http://www.macgamestore.com">Macgamestore.com</a>. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. </p> <h2>For kids</h2> <p> Feral Interactive’s latest addition to the Lego Mac game pantheon is <a href="http://www.feralinteractive.com/en/mac-games/legobatman2/">Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes</a> ($30; <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2011404/review-lego-batman-2-features-the-dark-knight-s-super-friends.html">read the review</a>). The game brings players to the DC Universe, to a Lego-fied version of Gotham, home city to Batman and bad guys like the Joker. Batman teams up with other superheroes including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Aquaman (all as playable characters, of course), fighting the forces of evil before they overrun the city. </p> <figure class=" large"><img alt="" border="0" height="328" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/lego_batman2-100016527-large.png" width="580" /><figcaption>Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes</figcaption></figure> <p> Players wield super powers and use incredible gadgets like Green Lantern’s Power Ring or Batman and Robin’s array of nifty utility belt items. What’s more, the game features cooperative two-player support, so another player can drop in or out (from the same computer) to lend a hand at any time. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2019196/give-a-mac-game-this-holiday-season.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> Apple and four other e-book publishers have settled an antitrust battle with the European Union. </p> <p> After a year of <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1165825/eu_apple_publishers_must_address_all_e_book_allegations.html">investigations into allegations of cartel price-fixing</a>, the European Commission has decided to accept commitments to alter e-book pricing practices from Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon &amp; Schuster, Penguin, Macmillan and Apple. </p> <p> The Commission concluded that an infringement had very possibly taken place when the publishers together with Apple jointly switched to an agency sales model to set e-book prices. </p> <p> Despite this, the competition watchdog decided not to impose fines, instead opting to accept promises from the companies that they will terminate the current agency agreements and, for a period of two years, will not hamper e-book retailers, such as Amazon, from setting their own prices for e-books or from offering discounts and promotions. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020203/apple-ebook-settlement-with-eu-will-allow-amazon-to-set-prices.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p>A federal jury in Delaware has found Apple’s iPhone infringes on three patents held by MobileMedia, a patent-holding company formed by Sony, Nokia and MPEG LA. </p> <p>The jury’s verdict in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware was announced on Thursday and came after a seven-day trial and just a day of deliberations. </p> <p>The jury found that the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 directly infringed claims in U.S. patent 6,070,068, which was issued to Sony and covers a method for controlling the connecting state of a call, U.S. patent 6,253,075, issued to Nokia and which covers call rejection, and U.S. patent 6,427,078, also issued to Nokia and which covers a data processing device. </p> <p>A copy of the completed jury verdict form was seen by IDG News Service. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020207/apples-iphone-found-to-infringe-sony-nokia-patents.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> Despite its aesthetic achievements, Apple’s Maps app in iOS 6 <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020187/google-maps-arrives-in-app-store.html">left a lot of users unhappy</a>. Turns out that the years Google spent building out its mapping data were hugely important; Apple’s data—which powered its new Maps app—didn’t have the real world, real user testing that Google Maps benefited from. That’s why <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2010186/opinion-ios-6-maps-is-great-and-its-not.html">Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized</a> to customers over his company’s Maps app. And that’s why customers are now so excited about <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020187/google-maps-arrives-in-app-store.html">Google’s new, free mapping app for iPhone</a>. And you know who else is excited about Google’s new app? Apple. </p> <h2>Why abandon Google?</h2> <figure class="right medium"><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/googlemaps-100017269-orig.png"><img alt="" border="0" height="533" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/googlemaps-100017269-medium.png" width="300" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <p> Apple hasn’t commented on the record about exactly why it chose to sever its relationship with Google for the Maps app in iOS 6. The most public explanation the company offered came in Cook’s public apology letter, when he wrote “We wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.” </p> <p> The implication there—and the rumor mill’s conclusion—is that Google wouldn’t allow Apple to offer features like turn-by-turn navigation with voice assist or vector-based map imagery, at least not without substantially hiking licensing fees. Some have also suggested that Google wanted to insert ads into the Maps app, and that Apple wouldn’t allow such promotion within a stock app. </p> <p> Let’s say that’s why Apple felt forced to roll its own Maps app solution. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020192/why-google-maps-for-iphone-is-good-for-apple.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> The furor over Apple’s Maps app has diminished somewhat since it peaked shortly after the release of iOS 6, but there are still people who have been holding out on upgrading to Apple’s latest mobile operating system, worried about what they might lose. </p> <p> As of Thursday, those people have nothing left to wait for: After months of speculation, <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020187/google-maps-arrives-in-app-store.html">Google has released its own Maps app</a> for the iPhone. (There’s as of yet no native version for the iPad, but as Google also <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1168488/hands_on_with_googles_youtube_iphone_app.html">launched its YouTube for the iPhone</a> several months before <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2018942/the-week-in-ios-apps-good-grief.html">it brought the app to the iPad</a>, that’s not a huge surprise.) But if you’re expecting a carbon copy of the app that graced home screens in iOS 5 and earlier, you’re going to be surprised. </p> <p> On first launch, you’ll be greeted with a splash screen asking you to help improve Google’s Maps by submitting anonymized location data to improve traffic and other services (you can opt out if you wish). That’s not surprising: Apple does much the same thing with its own Maps. </p> <p> Google, however, next offers a feature that Apple doesn’t: By signing into your Google account, you can retrieve your favorite places and past searches and directions that you’ve used with Google Maps on the Web while logged into that same Google account. That said, you can instead opt not to log in by tapping a Skip button in the top right corner. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020193/hands-on-with-google-maps-for-iphone.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> Smule’s back with another music-themed iOS app. The company behind App Store hits like I Am T-Pain, Glee Karaoke, and Magic Keyboard on Thursday <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strum/id562793878?ls=1&amp;mt=8">released Strum</a>. </p> <p> Though it’s an easy analogy to fall victim too, the easiest way to describe Strum is as (another take on) Instagram for video, but with soundtracks tacked on. Indeed, Strum offers an Instagram-like scrolling newsfeed of videos and gives iPhone videographers the ability to take their 15-second or shorter videos and apply all sorts of visual filters to them. </p> <figure class="right medium"><img alt="" border="0" height="533" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/strum-timeline-100017011-medium.png" width="300" /><figcaption>The Strum timeline </figcaption></figure> <p> But the filters in Strum go beyond the visual. True to Smule’s form, they offer a mix of audio-processing options as well: Some filters autotune your video’s soundtrack, others add effects like reverb, and others work to convert spoken word into rap or song. The key question, I suppose, is: <em>Why?</em> </p> <p> “We always wanted to do something with video,” Smule’s chief scientist, Parag Chordia, told <em>Macworld</em>. Smule, Chordia explained, is well-accomplished at fostering “ubiquitous social expression through music.” But with the exception of a few apps that offered video as a “kind of buried” afterthought, he said, none of Smule’s apps—which have combined for more than 75 million installations across devices—have focused on visual expression. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2019764/smules-new-social-app-strum-mixes-video-with-visual-and-audio-filters.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/10/us-apple-tech-tax-idUSBRE8B911120121210?irpc=932">Writing for Reuters</a>, Chris Taylor is overturning a semi full of truths on One Infinite Loop! (Tip o’ the antlers to <a href="https://twitter.com/publicfarley/status/278312984827269120">publicfarley</a>). </p><blockquote> <p>With the “fiscal cliff” looming, taxpayers are wringing their hands about all sorts of things. </p></blockquote> <p>Pff, people are so sensitive with their concerns about their jobs and their incomes and whether or not they can buy shoes for their kids! So stupid! </p><blockquote> <p>Income taxes might rise, dividends might get walloped, lifetime gift-tax exemptions might get slashed. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2019726/macalope-taxing-analysis.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020175/report-google-set-to-release-ios-maps-app.html">Google’s new Maps app for iPhone arrived in the App Store</a> late Wednesday, in a move likely to please users disappointed with Apple Maps in iOS 6. While the new app leverages Google’s robust mapping data, it has a few weak spots of its own—most notably the lack of an iPad-optimized version. </p> <p> That said, Google’s new app may well soothe some of those iOS 6 users who find themselves frustrated by <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2010067/hands-on-with-ios-6-maps.html">iOS 6’s built-in, Apple-powered Maps</a>. Some users in some locations have found that Apple’s Maps data is <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2010577/how-to-report-problems-in-ios-6s-maps.html">seriously lacking</a>. <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2010783/apple-ceo-tim-cook-were-extremely-sorry-for-ios-6-maps-frustration.html">Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the Maps issues</a> in September. </p> <figure class="right medium"><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/google-maps-100017268-large.png"><img align="right" alt="" height="533" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/12/google-maps-100017268-medium.png" width="300" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <p> The new, free Google Maps app launched Wednesday offers features that the iOS 5 version of the Maps app—built by Apple, powered by Google—lacked, making this new Google-powered Maps app more on par (in terms of functionality) with Apple’s Maps app in iOS 6. Among those features: vector-based maps for faster loading and panning, and turn-by-turn navigation with spoken directions. </p> <p> And Google Maps offers some functionality completely lacking in Apple’s app: public transit directions, synced searches between the iPhone and your computer via your Google account, and Google’s <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2010577/how-to-report-problems-in-ios-6s-maps.html">Street View</a>. Though Google’s app offers its satellite view data, it unsurprisingly doesn’t offer a direct match for the Flyover feature Apple introduced in its own app in iOS 6. And Google Maps doesn’t (yet) work natively on the iPad. </p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2020187/google-maps-arrives-in-app-store.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here</a></p></section></article>

<div> <section class="page"> <p> Since shell cases protect only the iPad’s back, they are best paired with a stand-alone screen cover, like the Apple Smart Cover or the Miniot MK2. However, not all back cases are compatible with a cover—they need to have openings on the side for the cover’s magnetic hinge. <a href="http://www.incipio.com/cases/ipad-cases/new-ipad-cases/ipad-retina-new-ipad-smart-feather-ultralight-hard-shell-case.html" target="_blank">Incipio’s Smart Feather</a> is an excellent shell case to pair with a cover. This super lightweight case is only 1.22mm thick, and its soft polymer shell is comfortable to the touch. You’ll barely notice the Smart Feather is even there. </p> </section> </div>