The new Transformers Movie will be hitting the big screen in 2 weeks, so I wanted to include a trailer here. This is the official US movie release trailer, but you will also want to check out the SFX link to the Japanese Premier…
According to Wales Online, there will be a Torchwood Experience Exhibition opening in July in Cardiff Bay. It is being built by the same folks who created the Doctor Who Exhibitions, the team from Experience. The Cardiff Council is currently reviewing the application for the exhibition, but Who are they fooling; the Torchwood Exhibition would bring serious additional revenue to their city, and in this economic environment that should be a done deal.
There is a sneak peek available for Stargate Universe, which looks just like they have been watching a LOT of the new Battlestar Galactica. If you missed the full extended Torchwood trailer for Children of Earth, here it is thanks to a heads-up from Cat at Fancy Fembot. Be sure to check out (or better yet, join in) her podcast at Sci-Fi Party Line; watch your favorite TV show, then call in to talk about it.
For the last few decades, one of the major players in the graphics/3D modeling/rendering/animation arena has been Caligari Truespace. Their all-in-one 3D software suite sold for $600 and required nothing else to take you from start to finish on creating your own models, movies, animations and commercials. You can download it here for free, and you can see the full specification list to get an idea of just how powerful this tool set is.
While not completely free (you have to buy the magazine), you can get Realsoft 3D 5.1 on the disk that comes with this months 3D World Magazine. Another industrial grade software suite, this one normally sells for $750, and again covers every aspect of the 3D modeling and animation process from beginning to end.
Both of these are professional fully featured animation packages, actually used to create things you have seen online, on TV, and in the theaters. If I had to choose between them I would go with Truespace, but that is probably because I have used it for the last decade or so and was always impressed with the results it gave. I don’t have the same hands-on experience with Realsoft, so I have no basis of comparison so far. Thanks to Vesa (a name, not a credit card) in their Tech Support group, who helped solve my registration issues, I now have the chance to find out, and will report back here about it.
Caligari’s Truespace was bought about a year ago by Microsoft, who changed the price to free. The idea was to make this the core tool for creating content for their Virtual Earth project in their ongoing battle with Google. The economy train wreck means Microsoft has pulled back support for the product a few weeks ago, so you should download all the software, plugins, and training materials for your archives now, as at least some of them may be going away.
With Realsoft 3D, they have released version 6 for the full money amount, and are offering an upgrade deal (just under $400) for those who install 5.1 from the magazine. Basically a variation on Trialware without actually crippling the software before making it available; it is only missing the new bug fixes and features of the more recent version. The June issue of 3D World actually leaves the stands on June 24th, so you still have 2 weeks to go out and find a copy; after that it will be gone.
The movie Offline began life as a cyberpunk short, put together by Matthew Santoro and released in 2007. According to the folks at The Quiet Earth it is now being extended into a full length feature film. After looking at the trailer, I tend to think this one is worth waiting for, and the Offline home page shows promise as well.
O F F L I N E from Matthew Santoro on Vimeo.
AMC has remade that 60s cult classic The Prisoner. It will start airing in the US in November, and you can get more information here.