| Rob Legato advances motion-capture technique
With Bob Zemeckis' "Beowulf" currently in theaters and James Cameron's "Avatar" now filming in New Zealand for 2009 release, the art of performance capture is finally making its next evolutionary leap. Left behind are the dead-eyed elves, robotic movements and murky teeth of the first performance capture feature, "The Polar Express." Visual effects master Rob Legato, who put the first motion-capture humans on the deck of the Titanic and pioneered a new mo-cap technique for "Avatar," is an ardent believer in harnessing the technology within -- not apart from -- the live-action realm. The VFX maverick has quit working for major FX houses like Digital Domain, where he spent six years supervising effects on such pics as "Apollo 13" and "Titanic." A passionate believer in the do-it-yourself approach, Legato is no longer willing to stay within the corporate confines of VFX behemoths like Digital Domain or Sony Imageworks, where shots are so rigidly pre-planned, storyboarded, pre-approved and budgeted that any changes down the line cost serious extra money.
More Obama substance!
But so far Obama isn't close to meeting the Joe Klein Piss-Someone-Off Test, despite the efforts of his press boosters to claim he has. Tom Maguire points to a comical attempt by the New York Times, where a mini-profile by Jefff Zeleny declared: He has demonstrated an occasional willingness to break from liberal orthodoxy, including his vote to confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, which at the time infuriated liberals (13 Democrats opposed her). Wow! As Maguire notes: "So Obama boldly stood with a mere 86 fellow Senators .... " P.S.: What's the word for trumped-up contrarianism? Sister Fauxjah? ... **--Thanks to commenter "Trevor" on bloggingheads for the link. 2:08 P.M. link Sunday, December 24, 2006 On to New Hampshire! The mighty Hillary juggernaut closes its vise-like grip on the post of Senate Majority Leader.
On a screen near you
Halfway through the animated Tom Hanks film, they left the theater."It wasn't an upbeat Christmas movie, and I could tell he was bored," the Twin Falls woman said.Walker isn't alone in her struggle to find films she considers appropriate for children. Across Magic Valley, parents eye the movie listings and have to make a choice: Do they rely on word of mouth, critics' reviews or detailed ratings before giving Junior the OK?That decision is harder when theaters are full of sex and violence. Hollywood is turning out lots of PG-13 and R-rated movies, and fewer rated G or PG."I've been wanting to take (my son) to a movie for the last month or so but there isn't anything out there I would take him to see," Walker said. The selection isn't a problem for teens or adults, she added. "For the size of the town that we are, there's enough of a variance in the type of movies that they show."Theaters in south-central Idaho are currently playing five PG-rated movies and one G-rated film ("Mr.
Ministers find Word spreads farther on air
"Jesus told us to go forth and spread the word to the entire world," said the Rev. Randy Morrison of Speak the Word Church in Golden Valley. "I can't physically do that, but my TV signal can." And it does. Morrison's sermons are beamed by satellite to every continent except Antarctica. But while his church has one of the most ambitious TV ministries in Minnesota, it is not unique. The days in which a handful of televangelists ruled the airwaves are gone as a growing number of churches here and across the nation take their messages to the masses via cable-access TV and Internet video. About 200 Minnesota congregations now have their own TV shows, ranging from "talking head" lectures to elaborate, multi-camera church service broadcasts. Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka hopes to have its services on the Metro Cable Network today or next Sunday.
HTC TyTN II (P4550 Kaiser) Review
The HTC TyTN was considered to be at launch the best Pocket PC on the market. Crammed with lots of features, it made you think there could not be anything more to desire from a PDA. HSDPA connectivity, big screen, sliding keyboard, two cameras, fast processor made the TyTN a hit. And now HTC has come with an improved version which includes all of the features of its predecessor and even more. The most noticeable additions are GPS, which should get rid of the need for an external GPS unit, an OS upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 of course, a 3 megapixel camera and other improvements you are about to find out. The device was initially announced under the codename Kaiser and now it is known as the HTC TyTN II (P4550). Mobile operators have already started to sell rebranded versions under different names, such as MDA Vario III from T-Mobile and AT&T Tilt 8925.
Seinfeld was just kidding, lawyers say
Justin Timberlake will induct Madonna into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has been working with Madonna on her upcoming album. Other inductees at the March 10 ceremony in New York include Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp, The Dave Clark Five, The Ventures, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and Little Walter. Anderson files for an annulmentCourt documents show that Pamela Anderson is seeking an annulment from husband Rick Salomon. The one-time Baywatch star is seeking to annul the two-month marriage based on fraud. In court papers filed Friday in Los Angeles, she asked the court not to award spousal support and to keep her income and property separate from Salomon's. He and Anderson, both 40, married Oct. 6 and separated Dec. 13. Salomon was previously married to actress Shannon Doherty.
Universal: We're staying with HD DVD
However, ZDNet technical director George Ou says the picture quality on the HD downloads is not as good as the PQ on a DVD 1080p upconverter player. In a column just posted at ZDNet, Ou writes that high-def downloads has become an industry "big lie," meaning they really don't offer HD-quality images. Apple's Net TV device now offers HD downloads. He contends that HD downloads must be compressed so that the bit rate used in the transmission is typically just 1.5 to 4 mbps for 720p H.264. In layman's terms, that means that the signal strength -- and picture quality -- is far lower than what you'll see on a Blu-ray or HD DVD high-def disc. It's even lower than what's offered by cable and satellite operators and a good DVD upconverter player. "There's just one minor little problem (with HD downoads), it's not HD," Ou says.
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