Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/8034
March 2010 • Volume 33 • Number 3 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 D C C p r o f e s s i o n a l s Features COVER STORY 12 30 22 Departments Editor’s Note Electronics Evolution 2Not long ago HD TVs, which promised to deliver a theater experience Spotlight 4 image processor. User Focus Rhythm & Hues tackles Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Blur Studios hooks audiences with animated Goldfi sh spots. Products Luxology’s SLIK. Nvidia’s RealityServer. Review 46 Pixologic’s ZBrush. x Back Products 48 Recent software and hardware releases. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx x Enhanced Content Get more from CGW. We have enhanced our magazine content with related stories and videos online at www.cgw.com. Just click on the cover of the issue (found on the left side of the Web page), and you will fi nd links to these online extras. JVC’s IF-2D3D1 to at-home audiences, were the big rage. Recently, stereo 3D TVs have nudged out HD as “the next big thing” for the home. Television manufacturers are getting ready to roll out their wares, while content creators are preparing to take advantage of the technology. 40 Curiouser and Curiouser! 12 Sony Pictures Imageworks takes audiences down the rabbit hole for a trippy By Barbara Robertson Commercial Appeal Bleeding Edge Shattered 22 Many tune in to the Super Bowl to watch the high-priced commercials, some of which employ digital effects to deliver their message. By Debra Kaufman 30 Researchers and scientists are rewarded for their industry contributions with Sci-Tech Oscars. By Barbara Robertson 34 A production facility breaks the mold with a stereo 3D commercial. In the Middle By Christine Arrington By Karen Moltenbrey 36 Middleware adapts to the growing interactive entertainment market. Above Par By Karen Moltenbrey 44 Augmented reality makes an appearance at the Winter Games. By Barbara Robertson SEE IT IN • Making audio for games an all-encompassing experience. • New media projects embrace social networking. • The challenges of posting reality TV. ON THE COVER “Wonderful” is just one of many adjectives that describe the fantastical environments, the odd-looking human characters, and the unique CG creatures that appear in the magical journey of Alice as she visits Wonderland in stereoscopic 3D. See pg. 12. March 2010 1 40 A multiplayer online golf title avoids the traps of typical Internet games. Olympic AR stereo 3D experience in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, thanks to cutting-edge digital techniques that meld manipulated photographic elements and CG characters and environments.