March 11, 2008

SBS Who Do You Think You Are?: FACE

Click on image to look closer.

Advertising Agency: RazorJunior, Sydney, Australia
Art Director: Josh Moore
Copywriter: Nigel Clark
Photographer: Andreas Smetana
Agency Producer: Danielle Solden
Retoucher: Electric Art

Trippy Star Wars Poster

UK-based company Synthetic Dimensions has gotten the rights to create a fully licensed lenticular 3D recreation of the original Star Wars Poster. I’m not exactly sure how they’ve done it, but they used the Synthetic Dimensions’ proprietary Syndimation process to convert the original 2D painting used in 1977 to promote the Star Wars. This unique, deep 3D lenticular poster is 47cm x 67cm (18.5″ x 26.5″ approx) requires no 3D glasses. I’ve seen some incredibly dimensional 3D posters in my day, so don’t let that crappy Speed Racer one-sheet scare you away from the lenticular processes. The company plans on selling the poster for only £12.99, or what translates into around $25 American (I’m sure there will be some shipping feeds as well). I’ll keep you guys updated on when this becomes publicly available. But for now check out the YouTube video after the jump to see some of the depth and detail Syndimation is hoping to show in the poster. Via slashfilm.com



See the cool Quicktime loop here.

White Rabbit


BEST THING EVER!

Flash Animators Go Here:


This guy is a genius, if you work in Flash Animation,
visit this guy's blog and read his rants, they are
priceless and bang-on accurate!

March 10, 2008

Magic Cube Heralds the Future of Gaming and Human Interfaces



Nobody really knows what the future of human interfaces and gaming will look like, but Andrew Fentem—who went from working on classified missile systems to developing multi-touch human interfaces, kinetic surfaces and motion sensing technologies before almost anyone else in the planet—gave us a fascinating vision on where we are headed in this exclusive interview. Work like his Fentix Cube, a motion- and touch-sensing cube which can play Pac-Man among other games, have all the big companies taking notes. The videos speak for themselves.

The Fentix Cube is just the tip of the iceberg of his stunning work. Many of his inventions are still ahead of current technology, things which we are only starting to get familiar with now. I talked with Andrew about his inventions and the future of human interfaces.



Jesús Díaz: We are big fans of multi-touch technology and think it's the future of adaptive user interfaces. Do you see them replacing the keyboard and mouse in many applications? I'm just looking at your sequencer now...
Andrew Fentem: Touchscreen and 'multi-touch' technologies have a bright future, and will certainly replace the keyboard and mouse in *some* applications. However, the keyboard and mouse have some BIG advantages that have proved hard to overcome: A physical keyboard provides great tactile feedback - meaning that you don't have to look at what your fingers are doing while you type. And the great thing about a mouse pointer is that it doesn't obscure what it's pointing at on the screen (unlike your fat dirty fingers - this is why the buttons are so big on touchscreen ATMs - wasting valuable screen real estate).

Another issue with touchscreen technologies (and multi-touch systems in particular) is their inability to track rapid finger movements. This not only puts many applications (especially certain types of games) off-limits, but can also interfere with gesture recognition.

The key future developments of touchscreen/multi-touch systems will be:

1. faster touch sensing hardware and firmware
2. improved (i.e. more intelligent) gesture-sensing software
3. improved tactile feedback
4. larger touchscreens



Via gizmodo.com

Picture of the Day

March 09, 2008

What the?

The Kidman & Lemon Show

A Great Flash Animated Film by Mike Geiger

Aurora

Funny Flip Chart

King of Fighters XII is a 100% Hand Drawn Video Game!!!

That means that an actual human hands lovingly drew and colored in everything in the game. Every single frame, every character and every background. Everything — down to the game's in-game title.
When SNK showed off The King of Fighters XII at arcade show AOU in Japan and industry event GDC in San Francisco, the unanimous reply was: Nice cell shading. That, or it's "just" hi-res 2D. Thing is, that's totally incorrect. And for SNK, who's been working on the game for the past three years, frustrating! Today, I checked out the game's latest build at SNK's Osaka office and saw a few stages that haven't been revealed. Screens weren't available, but there was a French stage, complete with fat, rich women and an Egyptian one that had loyal subjects worshiping before the Pharaoh. Colorful stuff and classic SNK. The company set out to make the ultimate 2D fighter — unparalleled by anything else out there, attempting not only to raise the bar, but snap it in half. KOFXII producer Masaaki Kukino tells Kotaku:

The game is one hundred percent hand drawn. There is zero cell shading in The King of Fighters XII.



SNK gave us the full rundown, so here's how it worked: The original character drawings were modeled into 3D. Those 3D models were then rendered back into 2D. That way the 2D characters could have a greater depth of motion. Since the 2D models were devoid of color and details, artists went through each character, background, image and painstakingly added colors and drew in details pixel-by-pixel on a tablet PC. In one day, one artist would be able to draw one frame and a half for whatever image he or she was working on.
"We knew it was going to be hard going in," says Kukino. "But we wanted to make the ultimate 2D fighting game." Up close, that meticulous attention to detail becomes apparent, and you're always noticing a flourish here or a nice touch there. Every inch of the screen has something interesting going on. "We wanted the look of the game to have more in common with manga or anime," Kukino adds. With KoFXII, it looks like SNK hasn't only created another stylized 2D fighter, but this time, a genuine work of art.

Via kataku.com

If Valentine's Day Cards Were Honest ...


Click image to see lots more.

Are America's Rich Falling Behind The Super-Rich?

March 08, 2008

10 trends that will define logo design in 2008:


Click image to
see full article.

New Iron Man Trailer!


Looks like lots of fun movies coming up, with this, Indiana Jones and Dark Knight, all competing with each other. It's gonna be great.

Picture of the Day

The Modern Warrior

Coolest Fire Making Tricks

1. Using a potato: potatoes are great. They’re very tasty, and apparently quite helpful when it comes to making fire. All you need is a potato cut in half, some wires and a lot of ambition.

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2. Using coke & chocolate: if you don’t have a potato, you can always try a can of coke and some chocolate bars. I know that sounds like a great recipe for a party, but it can also be used to make fire in a really neat way.

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3. Without matches or a lighter: Now here’s the real treat. You don’t have matches, or a lighter (or coke, chocolate and potatoes. This means you’re in real trouble and this might actually be useful to you). What you can do is use a simple battery and some fine steel wool. Next thing you know you’re caveman with some amazing fire surrounding you.

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4. Using friction (the Masai way): Friction, the ancient method our ancestors used, is still not forgotten. It’s effective, cheap, *always* available and very straight-forward.

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5. Using a condom: Mmm. This is the sexy way. If your girlfriend dumped you, or you’re a lonely wolf reading blogs at night, this one’s for you. Finally something to do with the old dusty condoms of yours. Be careful though, it keeps your most important organs safe.

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That’s it, now go burn up your house!

Via jefferickson.wordpress.com & 5min.com

Child Bankrupts Make-A-Wish Foundation With Wish For Unlimited Wishes