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Montreal lands ‘Snow White 3D’

Montreal has netted its first big Hollywood 3D film shoot — a new version of the classic Snow White fairy tale.

It’s a major coup for Mel’s Studios, which is billed as the country’s largest film production facility.

The project is backed by media company Relativity Media (American Gangster, 300) and will be directed by Tarsem Singh, who recently filmed Immortals with Mickey Rourke in the city.

Production for Snow White is expected to take over five studios at the Montreal production facility between February and April next year.

“The crew will literally build Snow White’s village over a 100,000 square foot area,” said Mel’s Studio owner Michel Trudel from L.A., where he sealed the deal.

The film shoot is scheduled to run from April to June. The actors have yet to be cast but Trudel said the backers want big stars on the bill.

“We were competing with the best in the world for this film,” Trudel said. “It really confirms Montreal is a destination for U.S. productions.”

Snow White is slated for a 2012 release. It is expected to respect the original, much darker Brothers Grimm fairy tale than the Disney version.

By MICHELLE COUDE-LORD, QMI AGENCY

source: http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/2010/11/15/16150721.html

Samsung 3D streaming service described (video)

A video appeared today on YouTube explaining the new online services provided to SAMSUNG 3DTV  owners. Among those services, a new “Explore 3D” is in Beta test.

The service is only available in the USA for now. Watch the video here on YouTube. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySFNanOObWU )

source: http://stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/history/tv-channels-a-experiments/1047-samsung-3d-streaming-service-comes-to-usa.html

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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