Saturday, July 3, 2010

Minveli Media Works working on IP ‘Mahabharata - The real epic story‘

Chennai based studio Minveli Media Works is working on its maiden animation feature titled ‘Mahabharata - The real epic story‘. The 120 minutes traditional 2D animation feature produced and directed by Dhanapal Padmanabhan will hit screens in 2011. This full length animation feature explores all possibilities to tell this great epic in a visual form with ever long standing traditional values of Indian culture.Minveli Media Works have recently completed a 2 min trailer for the film with a small but passionate team which completed the trailer in 2 months. The team headed by Creative head Vijay Amarnath includes Compositing & SFX by Chalapathy, Senior animator Anikartick, BG/Layout by Pandian, Animator Loganathan, Shamil, Junior Animator Babu, Premraj, Senthilkumar, Raman and Jagan.Minveli Media Works Creative head Vijay Amarnath said "We believe that an animation feature from India can excite the global audience in this form primarily because of the fact that 2D domain is driven by creative strength. It is not driven by huge investments and multiple technologies. We stick to some basics of animation feature like style, new visuals, exciting characters and engaging screenplay. The grand scale of ‘Mahabharata‘ is captured with due respect and sensibility in this film. 
 

The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by the Kuruclan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are the Kaurava and the Pandava. Although the Kaurava is the senior branch of the family,Duryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, is younger than Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava. Both Duryodhana and Yudhisthira claim to the first in line to inherit the throne. The struggle culminates in thegreat battle of Kurukshetra, in which the Pandavas are ultimately victorious. The battle produces complex conflicts of kinship and friendship, instances of family loyalty and duty taking precedence over what is right, as well as the converse.

Friday, July 2, 2010

WB to premiere ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘ TV series in India

WB India will launch George Lucas‘ much-anticipated STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS animated television series on July 3, at 6:00 p.m. With new characters, new worlds and new excitement, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS series recreates all the thrill of the epic cult science fiction saga through the medium of animation.Transporting viewers to the gripping Star Wars galaxy and set between Star Wars: Episode II and III, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS reveals the untold stories within the epic battle. Each week, a new ‘mini-movie‘, in the galaxy-changing Clone Wars takes center stage, promising a STAR WARS adventure never seen before! The series will continue the tradition of rousing stories, astonishing visuals and extraordinary music that have always been the hallmark of the Star Wars saga.Commenting on the premiere of the television series on WB, Monica Tata, Vice President and Deputy General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia, Turner International India said, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars showcases an entirely new look and feel to the galaxy far, far away, combining the expansive scope of the Star Wars saga with state-of-the-art computer-generated animation. The series is a perfect addition to WB‘s already incredible line up of Hollywood blockbusters, and is sure to inspire some action-packed evenings of entertainment for new and existing Star Wars fans alike."

"The Clone Wars is really a continuation of the feature films, and I wanted it to have the same look, feel and depth of the movies. I think we‘ve succeeded in making it visually very different than anything else on TV. We‘ve put a lot of emphasis on the story and character, because we wanted to make a series that everyone could enjoy. Young people can enjoy the characters, the action and the humor; older kids will like the depth of the story and the quality of the animation. For parents and adults, and for people who have been Star Wars fans for a long time, the series is exciting because it‘s one-of-a-kind - a dramatic, action-oriented animated series, done in an interesting style," said executive producer George Lucas. Recognized globally for their talent and creativity, an Indian‘s presence was inevitable in the talent force behind STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. Akanksha Sahu, a software engineer, was a part of the software programming team that is behind the amazing visual effects and series‘ animation. In the signature style of Lucasfilm  animation, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS chronicles the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Ahsoka Tano and other favorite STAR WARS characters as they struggle against the dark side during the divisive, action-packed Clone Wars.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

3ds Max 2011 Review: Easier Workflow

Spring means warm weather and the annual release of the newest version of 3ds Max. This year's release, 3ds Max 2011, builds on many of the features that were new in 3ds Max 2010, improving both usability and performance. 3ds Max 2011 also adds welcome features such as a new material editor, in-viewport modeling manipulations, the ability to save a .max scene file that is backwards compatible with 3ds Max 2010 and a video compositing tool.There are now two choices for material editing in 3ds Max; the well-known older material editor, now known as the Compact Material Editor, and Slate, a new node- based schematic material editor. Anyone who has used the NodeJoe schematic material editor plug-in for previous versions of 3ds Max will instantly recognize Slate, as it is based off of NodeJoe. Slate allows for the creation and editing of numerous materials within one workspace and without having to understand the older Max concept of multi-materials. You can have as many materials within a Slate workspace as you want. You can also mix the different Max material types, mental ray, Max Standard, architectural, within a single workspace.
Slate also exposes the 1,200 new Autodesk Materials that are included with 3ds Max 2011. Autodesk Materials replace the ProMaterials that were introduced in 3ds Max 2010. These materials can be shared with numerous Autodesk products like AutoCAD, Revit and Inventor. Using Slate's integrated context sensitive search makes it easy to find these or any other material within your scene or material library. To help with organizing this wide selection of materials you can create new material groups within the browser to hold you commonly used materials and material parameters for quick reference. Groups can be color coded for easy recognition and you can have as many groups as you need.Along with the material editor the material browser has been reworked in 3ds Max 2011. The redesign gives it a less cluttered interface and UI that is consistent with Slate.Having a non-linear schematic based material editor in Max is a welcome addition. Slate is something I have been personally hoping for a number of years now. My material creation and editing workflow is noticeably easier with 3ds Max 2011.


Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Johnny Depp Transforms Into a Chameleon in 'Rango

The past two weeks have revealed more than a few things in the world of Gore Verbinski's Rango. The announcement piece delivered a long stretch of desert highway and a broken, orange toy fish, while a website update gave us our first look at characters like the gophers, a mariachi owl and and a large toad. But curiously absent from all of this is promotion has been the film's namesake, the chameleon voiced by Johnny Depp. The first poster for the film delivers this missing piece. First Showing, via the site's Twitter account, has revealed the first Rango poster and it's beautiful. Between the Acapulco shirt, the twisty neck, the desert background and the bugged-out eyes, the poster is obviously modeled after the poster of Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, one of Depp's most famous films. The tweet also comes with the announcement that a new teaser trailer will appear online tomorrow. Until then, check out the poster (as well as its inspiration) below and click it to see it full size.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Not only IT, city becoming a hub of animation films as well

HYDERABAD: Who said that the T-movement has hit Hyderabad’s high tech image? When India’s most expensive 2D animation movie ‘Luva Kusa’ hits the screens worldwide in July 2010, it wouldn’t be a Disney or a Pixar creation but one ‘Made in Hyderabad’, or more specifically Uppal. The $ 5 million dollar (Rs 25 crore) 70 mm animation adventure based on the Ramayana to be released in English, Hindi and Telugu, has been made (and also produced) by Hyderabad-based Rayudu Media Vision Limited (RMVL), which is just one among a rash of animation firms in Hyderabad that have big budget releases lined up for release.City-based Data Quest Entertainment (DQE) plans to produce two stereoscopic films, The Jungle Book and Charlie Chaplin at an estimated cost of Rs 315 crore, reportedly. This even as Rayudu Media Vision is busy with six animation ventures currently to be released over the next few years. But then these films are only the tip of Hyderabad’s success story in the animation industry. Experts estimate more than 25 production houses have set shop in Hyderabad in the last five years and not without reason. Partnerships with global networks, co-production ventures with international animation firms are now routine developments unfolding in their offices. “More and more production houses in Hyderabad have shifted from doing outsourced work for international companies to making in-house ventures for television and the big screen,” says Rudra Matsya, founder of R M Entertainment. With the animation industry in India estimated to cross the billion mark, Hyderabad is proving to be a major hub for 2D and 3D animation companies in India and world-wide. Take for instance, DQE which has tied up with the popular broadcast group Neo Network to produce a 2D episodic series called ‘Qpiz.’ Star Features, another Hyderabadi firm, tied up with Canada-based Toon Boom, for a new television series for the global audience.

Makers of these animation films insist on just how ‘international’ their approach is to these projects. A case in point is ‘Lava Kusa’. “The film involved almost four years of work by more than 400 artists in our studio at Hyderabad and at Manila. We stuck to the story line which is based on the Ramayana but the visual treatment is different,’’ said Harsha P, the inline producer of Lava Kusa, which has songs rendered by the best names among Indian playback singers — Shankar Mahadevan, Chitra, Yesudas and Sadhana Sargam. The lyrics were penned by the late L Vidyanath and Veturi Sundaramamurthi. Hyderabad’s animation journey is actually over a decade old, just that its making its presence felt globally now, note industry observers. In the past the city has offered television series such as ‘Krishna & Balram’, ‘Chotta Bheem’, both telecast on Cartoon Network and made by Hyderabad-based Greengold Animation. Another local firm, Sun Animatics, has brought ‘Ghatotkach’ into the living rooms of every Indian house. Fuelling the animation trend are the training institutes dotting the city, churning out qualified animation artists, according to Uttam Kumar, managing director of Star Features. What next? An Avatar at Ramoji?