Pixar Announcements - Siggraph '06

Pixar Reveals Latest RenderMan Technology at SIGGRAPH 2006

New products include RenderMan Studio 1.0, RenderMan for Maya 2.0, and RenderMan Artist Tools 7.0

EMERYVILLE, CA – (July 28th, 2006) Pixar Animation Studios today revealed the next stage in RenderMan development at the SIGGRAPH 2006 conference in Boston, where the studio will demonstrate the latest upcoming RenderMan products, including version 2.0 of its popular RenderMan for Maya plugin, the latest RenderMan Artist Tools 7.0, and the debut of its next generation successor: RenderMan Studio.

Available later in 2006, RenderMan Studio 1.0 combines the ease of use of RenderMan for Maya with the advanced capabilities of the existing RenderMan Artist Tools and can be used either standalone or as an interface to render farms using RenderMan Pro Server 13.0. Consisting of a Pro version of the RenderMan for Maya plugin with RIB output, plugin shader functions and procedural geometry support, together with the latest versions of Slim, “it”, and Alfred, along with an embedded RenderMan renderer built into Maya, RenderMan Studio is the most comprehensive and powerful rendering solution available anywhere.

At SIGGRAPH 2006 Pixar will demonstrate the latest version 7.0 of RenderMan Artist Tools including major feature and GUI upgrades to Slim, enhancements to “it” and support for Maya 8. As RenderMan Studio will ultimately replace RenderMan Artist Tools, all users on current maintenance will be offered the option of a free transition to RenderMan Studio at a time of their convenience.

Pixar will also reveal RenderMan for Maya 2.0, the latest version of Pixar’s acclaimed Maya rendering plugin bringing RenderMan’s peerless feature film quality to all Maya artists. Version 2.0 incorporates multiple enhancements including multi-threading, ray-tracing optimizations, and Maya 8 compatibility. In addition, from the first day of the SIGGRAPH 2006 tradeshow, all new purchasers of the current RenderMan for Maya 1.2 will be offered a free upgrade to version 2.0 when it is released later in 2006.

“Pixar is investing heavily in both the core RenderMan renderer and its supporting software for artists and TDs. RenderMan Studio in particular brings all our artist tools together in one comprehensive solution,” said Dana Batali, Development Director for RenderMan at Pixar Animation Studios. “RenderMan Studio also unifies the RenderMan product family by providing a natural upgrade path from RenderMan for Maya.”

Relied on by artists and technical directors worldwide, RenderMan is the recognized industry standard for CG feature animation and visual effects rendering and has been used in each of the last 30 movies nominated for a Visual Effects Oscar® by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.

SIGGY 2006

And off to Siggraph 2006!
Waking up early every day and catching all the latest stuff! :P

Cool things to check out from Pixar, Autodesk, Pixologic, Massive Software and all the rest of the gang!
Yeah, there will be some time for fun, but as with every year, it's mostly run, run, run! Too many things too see at the same time in too short a period of time!

Yep! That's Siggraph! Not for the faint of heart...
I'll keep posting pics and news from there! Stay tuned! ;)

Cheers!!

The Fountain

A new movie with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz is coming up...

"The Fountain" is an odyssey about one man’s thousand-year struggle to save the woman he loves. As a 16th century Conquistador, a modern-day scientist, and a 26th century astronaut, he searches for the secret to eternal life.



The movie's trailer shows some spectacular visuals and effects. The art direction seems particularly original and vibrant. Let's wait and see...


"The Fountain" will be launched in the US in October 2006.

Mike Mignola's antologic Hellboy is coming in an animated series soon.
The website is already online showcasing some info about the show.

I like the character designs... but let's wait and see if the overall quality makes justice to the character's depth.

Still drawing!

Gotta keep drawing!...
I feel like I'm getting rusty... you spend too much time with a computer, and you end up loosing some of your "analog skills"... Heheh

I miss drawing more, I miss photographing, sculpting, acting, singing...
Gotta find myself some time to get back to these things, get back to doing art!

I'll slip some pages of my sketchbook here once in a while... maybe just as a reminder to me that I've gotta keep filling those pages more frequently!

And hopefully, in time, I'll brush most of the rust off!! ;)

Yeap! We've been beta testing Mudbox too! :)
It is Beta and I can't say anything about it apart from showing some of the work I'm doing with it...

This is my very first Mudbox model, and it is NOT finished...
Actually, I am not sure if I'll finish it or not. I might just keep on doing more and doing different things to push my skills with the software.

I'll keep posting new tests as I progress...

Cheers!

A New Blog!

Ok, I got rid of my previous blog in favour of a lighter and more graphics and art-oriented space.
All those in favor, raise your hands!!...

Well, since I can't really see you, it doesn't matter how many raised hands or not. Here we go with a fresh start!

For those who may wish to keep roaming my rants and sighs, the previous blog is still available...
You are still welcome in my mind.

I'll try and post more frequently here, and do my best to keep this strictly to the topic.
Maybe I can make this more interesting and useful to most visitors. At least, that's my goal!

Check back soon, as I'm preparing some cool info and news!

CHEERS!!