Hasta La Motion!

The research company, SuperData has recently released their April 2016 report on the position of digital videogame sales. As seen, the sales went up by 5 per cent than April 2015. The mobile and console games’ performance cooled off a bit compared to last month by an average of $100 million, it still managed to have a rise of 23 per cent than last year’s April figures and even the number of audience rose by 15 per cent PC games soared high on the list, contributing to $2.9 billion of the overall sales.

Social gaming saw a dip of 10 per cent although SuperData reports that consumers moving from desktops to mobile gaming is the potential cause.

But there is one player who has been pretty much a winner this month, its Supercell and their ‘Clash’ games. Both Clash of Clans and Clash Royale earned over $100 million each. Though, the revenue of Clash Of Clans dipped to $4 million from $5 million per day. This puts the two games in the chart right after Mixi’s Monster Strike, which holds the top spot in the category.

Mobile revenue dipped by six per cent from the previous month to an average of $2.6 billion.

Interestingly, Bandai Namco’s Dark Souls III accumulated a fair $45 million from PC revenues itself, while the console version brought in $27 million making it the top ranked game in the PC charts, but failed to make it to number one in the console charts.

Here’s the full list of top selling games in accordance to the SuperData report:

Digital console
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
2. FIFA 16
3. Tom Clancy’s The Division
4. Grand Theft Auto V
5. Dark Souls III

PC
1. Dark Souls III
2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
3. StarCraft II
4. Minecraft
5. Fallout 4

Mobile
1. Monster Strike
2. Clash Royale
3. Clash of Clans
4. Game of War: Fire Age
5. Puzzle & Dragons

Social
1. DoubleDown Casino
2. Slotomania
3. Candy Crush Saga
4. FarmVille 2
5. Jackpot Party Casino — Slots

Pay-to-play MMO
1. World of Warcraft
2. Lineage I
3. Star Wars: The Old Republic
4. TERA: Online
5. Blade & Soul

Free-to-play MMO
1. League of Legends
2. CrossFire
3. Dungeon Fighter Online
4. World of Tanks
5. Dota 2

The post Digital videogame sales soar up by 5 per cent to conclude at $6.2 billion in April: SuperData report appeared first on AnimationXpress.

‘Knowledge has a beginning but no end’ and when it comes to sharing knowledge- Imparting education and creating a platform for learning is the ideal way. Sathish Narayan who has been in the creative industry for over 22 years has taken a step to encourage this initiative by starting his own Design Media & Edutainment School (DMES) at Pune.

With a vision to create the next generation of design thinkers, Design Media & Edutainment School was officially unveiled by Mumbai University, Vice Chancellor, Sanjay Deshmukh today at Pune. Venu Vemula (Serial Entrepreneur also working at Google), Professor Arularasan (Kumbakonam College of Arts & Crafts), and Ashish Kulkarni (Chairman, FICCI AVGC) were the chief guests at the launch of the school while, filmmaker Ramesh Sippy sent his wishes to the new school as he could not be present.

DMES will provide a wholesome system of education with their current offering of six courses namely Diploma in Digital Filmmaking & TV Production, Visual Effects Design, Communication Design, Industrial Design, Animation Film Design and Textile and Fashion Design. All these courses are Advanced Diploma Programmes and constitute of a term of two years generally with few short term and long term courses too. “The courses are more practical than theory as the students have to constantly perform in various projects and assignments both individually and in groups,” explained Sathish Narayan.

As Sathish Narayan has been an industry stalwart working with Reliance Animation (ADA Group), Reliance Animation – BIG AIMS (ADA Group), BIG Animation (I) and Penta Media Graphics in the past, the teaching faculty consists of professionals from the industry. Moreover, the visiting faculty will also consist of animation and VFX supervisors. He added, “The teaching faculty are mainly professionals from JJ school of Arts and other renowned art and design institutes. It is a professional environment entirely for we want to enhance the education system in this field.”

Design Media & Edutainment School, founder and director, Sathish Narayan

In terms of the facilities and services, the design school has an area of around 5000 sq. ft. with iMac, Cintiq and Dell machines available for the students. Softwares like Photoshop, Maya, Toon Boom, Fusion, Nuke and other latest softwares will be taught to the students.

Speaking on the new school, Ramesh Sippy said, “The ability to bring a design idea to life and the thought process behind it makes all the difference between an ordinary and extraordinary idea. Sathish’s expertise and passion for mentoring and nurturing young design talent will surely bring out some of the next design stars.”

Mumbai University, Vice Chancellor, Sanjay Deshmukh added, “Coming from a background of education, we are always aiming to build industry-ready professionals. Design has found importance in every aspect of business, and there is, indeed, a dearth of talent in this domain. I applaud Sathish and DMES on the endeavor to create the next generation of design thinkers as DMES hopes to change this, and I wish them all the best!”

Design Media & Edutainment School, founder and director, Sathish Narayanan highlighted, “Today, storytelling has grown to such an extent that we use it in every aspect from business presentations, filmmaking, and animation VFX – design being the essence of all. This school will enable solutions for an array of courses that emphasise design in every facet. We want every student to take advantage of the courses in a creative environment. We want to create a world of design enthusiasts to design thinkers and doers.”

Various workshops and seminars will help students gain knowledge and interact with the industry on a personal front. “We do not aim to create a franchise model but I want to impart and share knowledge. In the future, I want to build more centres at different places and cater to more students,” concluded Narayan.

The post Sathish Narayan’s Design Media & Edutainment School aims to create creative designers from young aspirants appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Love this new short film from Valere Amirault called Symphony of Two Minds. My piece also has the exclusive premiere at Cartoon Brew.

philmCGI looking for Talented Artist – Animation, Texturing & Matte Painting

Come and join ever-growing, young and talented team of philmCGI to boost your career and live a new experience!

philmCGI is looking for talented artist to join our team for working ona slate of productions for several National & International CGI Projects

We have immediate openings for the following positions:

3D ANIMATORS (Experience 01 to 04 Years)

Do you have a passion for animation and enjoy the challenge of creating beautiful animations?

philmCGI is Looking for an exceptionally skilled and highly motivated 3D character animators to join our talented team.

Knowledge Required:

•  Fully proficient with Maya software skills, preferably on a long form animation series/feature film.
•  A strong grasp of the basic animation fundamentals and a great work ethic.

Skills:

•  Acting skills required
•  Enthusiastic attitude and good communication skills.
•  Must have good creative vision and be detail orientated.
•  Must be flexible, willing to learn and self-motivated.
•  Be able to work within a Production Schedule.

3D TEXTURING ARTIST (Experience 01 to 04 Years)

The position of Texture Artist requires someone with a thorough knowledge of 3D software, with 1 to 3 years of experience in a similar role working on broadcast or film projects.

philmCGI is looking for an exceptional artist with a well-developed ‘eye’ and excellent working knowledge of colour, art and design.

Knowledge Required:

• Experience on feature film projects or TV series.
• Knowledge of industry-standard texture packages such as Mari, Zbrush, Mudbox, or 3D Coat
• Good knowledge of displacement map and normal map generation.

Skills:

• Enthusiastic attitude and good communication skills.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize
•  Must have good creative vision and be detail orientated.
•  Be able to work within a Production Schedule.

DIGITAL MATTE PAINTER (Experience 01 to 03 Years)

The position of matte painting Artist requires someone with a thorough knowledge of 3D software, with 1 to 3 years of experience in a similar role working on broadcast or film projects.

philmCGI is looking for an exceptional artist with working knowledge of photoshop, maya and nuke.

Knowledge Required:

• Experience on feature film projects or TV series.
• Knowledge of industry-standard texture packages such as photoshop, maya and nuke.

Skills:

• Enthusiastic attitude and good communication skills.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize
•  Must have good creative vision and be detail orientated.
•  Be able to work within a Production Schedule.

Candidates who are interested can send their resumes to jobs@philmcgi.com

The post philmCGI appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all?

Seems like mirror has finally found something more to do than just filling somebody’s ego. And this could be witnessed in Disney’s latest live action movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass. Over here, instead of the rabbit hole, the mirror becomes the route to Alice’s way between Wonderland and London.

As opposed to what we witnessed in the first part, Alice in Wonderland, which although had a strong visual appeal, lacked one of the crucial crux of filmmaking, and that is, storytelling. But, Alice Through the Looking Glass has craftily worked on the prequel’s shortcomings. The sequel to Alice in Wonderland, has a lot to offer and makes one glued to the seats anticipating how the movie would unfold.

With low expectations from the film due to its predecessor’s failure, this carries the potential to take the viewer by the storm. The film saw many of the ‘firsts’ from the franchise: Alice’s back and forth between not just Wonderland and London but also time, Red and White queen’s backstory (the reason behind the anguish of The Red Queen), Mad Hatter’s whole new different persona and most importantly ‘The Time’ himself.

With the face of the cat Cheshire turning into the moon, the movie right from its opening scene tells the viewers that they are in for a visual escapade. The movie that’s based loosely on the adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass showcases the evolution of Alice as a character on: how she learns to accept the past, take lessons from it and make peace with the present. Many lessons are imparted upon the viewers in a jabbering puzzling manner.

Throughout the movie, various elements of Alice and Hatter are connected to one another. From the start, we see a headstrong Alice believing that nothing is impossible, however, this thought wavers when Hatter says that she’s the only one who can bring his family back. In the quest to ail his dying friend, Alice goes on a journey to stop what happens years ago via the help of the chronosphere thus disrupting the flow of time which adversely affects Time’s health. In this journey, it’s conveyed that one cannot change the past, and if they try to, the consequences will be dire.

Certain dialogues that are worth mentioning are: “Everyone must part from it (past)” by the Time himself, “The last thing I want is to end up like my mother/father” by Alice and Hatter respectively and “The only thing worth doing, is doing for others” by Alice.

Being a fantasy adventure film, just like Alice in Wonderland, this movie wouldn’t have been possible without the wonders of the CGI and VFX. Sony Pictures Imageworks and Double Negative have yet again proved that why are they the leading VFX and CGI studios. The water stimulation which was required during the time travel scene, Hatter’s changing skin and hair colours, the travel between the two worlds via the mirror, the portrayal of the body of Time which is half-clockwork and half-human; all have been flawlessly showcased. Hats off to special effects supervisor Neil Corbould who has successfully delivered a masterpiece of visual extravaganza.

Final verdict: If you were left with disappointment while watching Alice in Wonderland; Alice Through the Looking Glass will be the table turner. Directed by James Bobin, written by Linda Woolverton and produced by Tim Burton, the movie is for a mature audience and should be witnessed on the large screens at least once.

Cast
Mia Wasikowska – Alice Kingsleigh
Johnny Depp – Tarrant Hightopp, the Mad Hatter
Anne Hathaway – Mirana (White Queen)
Sacha Baron Cohen – Time
Helena Bonham Carter – Iracebeth (Red Queen)
Rhys Ifans – Zanik Hightopp (Mad Hatter’s father)
Matt Lucas – Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Lindsay Duncan – Alice’s mother
Leo Bill – Hamish Ascot
Andrew Scott – Dr. Addison Bennett
Ed Speleers – James Harcourt
Richard Armitage – King Olureo
Voice cast
Alan Rickman – Absolem (Caterpillar)
Stephen Fry – Cheshire (Cheshire Cat)
Michael Sheen – Nivens McTwisp (White Rabbit)
Timothy Spall – Bayard (Bloodhound)
John Sessions – Humpty Dumpty
Barbara Windsor – Mallymkun (Dormouse)
Paul Whitehouse – Thackery Earwicket (March Hare)
Matt Vogel – Wilkins (Time’s long-suffering manservant)

The post Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass – Movie for a mature audience appeared first on AnimationXpress.