Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/5474
December 2009 1 O N TH E C OVE R S E E IT I N James Cameron's sci-fi adventure Avatar takes us far away to another world, where virtual sets and digital actors inter- mix with live actors and real objects—a feat accomplished through cutting-edge CG technology, including that used to generate these synthetic beings. See pg. 12. • Post's year-end issue looks at industry trends from the past 12 months and looks ahead to 2010. • Peter Jackson on The Lovely Bones. • Media Composer 4 review. Features CG In Another World 12 Weta Digital helps James Cameron achieve his long-awaited vision, Avatar, pushing digital fi lmmaking into new worlds. By Barbara Robertson Here Comes Oscar 22 The Oscars are just around the corner. Find out which movies—visual effects fi lms, animated fi lms, and stereo 3D features —are generating buzz around the industry. By Debra Kaufman Hair-raiser 38 Could werewolves become the new "it" creatures? For New Moon, Tippett created realistic shape-shifting CG wolves that steal the scene. By Karen Moltenbrey Creating a Dynasty 42 Studios from around the globe contribute CG effects to the Chinese epic Red Cliff. By Debra Kaufman Open for Business 50 The Khronos organization rolls out a new OpenGL release. Find out what this means for the industry. By Kathleen Maher COVER STORY Enhanced Content You will fi nd icons at the end of certain stories. A camera indicates there is video or animation that accompanies the piece, while a pen means there is additional story information. These items can be found on the CGW Web site at www.cgw.com. 3D! CGW once again has gone 3D, this time using the cutting-edge ChromaDepth process. Put on the glasses and enjoy, while we take you to a new dimension. Thanks to American Paper Optics and William Chiles for assisting us in this endeavor. December 2009 • Volume 32 • Number 12 I n n o v a t i o n s i n v i s u a l c o m p u t i n g f o r t h e g l o b a l D C C c o m m u n i t y 12 38 22 42 Departments Editor's Note 2009's Highs and Lows 2 Will 2009 be considered a vintage year for CG and visual effects? Possibly, considering the quality of work in fi lms that are getting Oscar buzz. Even though the industry struggled against the economic downturn, with low trade-show attendance, studios remained busy in production. Some of that work found its way into the stereo 3D movies that fl ooded theaters this year. Spotlight 6 Products Autodesk's Lustre. Vicon's Bonita. AMD's Eyefi nity, ATI Radeon HD 5800 cards. News Graphics add-in board market rebounds. Viewpoint 8 Making big strides in small CG fl uid fl ow. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx Portfolio 54 Generative Fabrication xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Back Products 56 Recent software and hardware releases. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx x