Printed from www.digitalmediafx.com
Digital Media FX - The Power of Imagination

Digital Media FX News Archives

Note: Digital Media FX content is legally ©copyright 2001 and may not be republished or rewritten without the expressed written consent of Digital Media FX and/or proper crediting and linking. If you would like republishing permission of certain stories then contact joetracy@earthlink.net for the easy to follow republishing guidelines. (The reason for this additional notice is because a small number of sites are currently involved in copyright infringement by taking dFX articles or a portion of the articles and republishing them without properly crediting Digital Media FX as the source of the article). dFX does have legal representation and takes copyright infringement very seriously.

Sunday - October 28, 2001
- Disney's Beauty and the Beast Shines on IMAX
- LA Times Praises John Lasseter
- Helix Digital - Overseas Animation Problematic
- News Link of the Day - Manga Monsters Guard Sakaiminato

Disney's Beauty and the Beast Shines on IMAX
(by digitalmediafx.com) Disney's Beauty and the Beast hit's IMAX screens on January 1, 2002 and early word is very positive on the film's transition from widescreen to IMAX. Disney recently screened Beauty and the Beast for managers of IMAX theater chains and several other employees have viewed a select 15 minute segment of the film. One person, who saw the 15 minute segment, told Digital Media FX the following:

"The images are crisper and more saturated than ever seen before, and there is absolute no distortion of any kind apparent due to the format change - not to mention the sound quality."

The comments are in line with audience viewings of a Beauty and the Beast theatrical trailer now airing in front of several IMAX movies.

> Return to the top of page

LA Times Praises John Lasseter
(by digitalmediafx.com) The Los Angeles Times had high praise for John Lasseter on Sunday in a feature story titled, "Another Monster?". In the story, the Times stated that Lasseter is described as "the Walt Disney for the 21st century."

The article also states that Monsters, Inc. was derailed 18 months ago with some story problems that were readdressed and fixed. The same problem occurred with Toy Story 2, which is Pixar's most successful film of all time.

> Return to the top of page

Helix Digital - Overseas Animation Problematic
(by digitalmediafx.com) Helix Digital, trying to become one of Canada's leading provider of digital
production services to the global classical animation industry, is touting the problems with companies sending their work overseas.

"The trend in recent years has been to send more and more work overseas to studios in the far east where labour is extremely cheap," says Richard Lorway, General Manager of Helix Digital Inc. "But working overseas comes with big risks, and mistakes can be very expensive. In terms of contract price, we can't match the overseas studios but we are lower than other studios in North America. And if producers look at the real cost of working overseas, we're fairly competitive"

Helix Digital also ways that below-the-line production costs, such as long-distance phone bills, courier fees, overseas directors, travel, and administration are higher when production is sent overseas. Additional hidden costs, Helix Digital says, may be lower production standards, late delivery and non-response to producer concerns.

Helix Digital is located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

> Return to the top of page

News Link of the Day - Manga Monsters Guard Sakaiminato

According to the Daily Yomiuri:

"About 10 years ago, Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, a city with a population of 38,000, transformed its nostalgic shopping arcade into a street dedicated to Gegege no Kitaro, a famous manga by Shigeru Mizuki, a native of the city. Today, the 800-meter street boasts dozens of bronze statues of loveable monsters from the manga that have converted the 'virtually deserted arcade'--as the old district was referred to by locals--into a popular sightseeing spot that welcomes 600,000 visitors each year..."

Click here for the full story.

> Return to the Top of the Page
> Return to Today's News
> Return to the Digital Media FX Front Page

These news articles and all digitalmediafx.com content are ©copyright 2001 by Joe Tracy and may not be reused for any purpose without expressed written consent of the author and Digital Media FX. All rights reserved.