The walking dead

Ever wonder how everything you see and touch is designed before it was created? From the buildings on the street, to the infrastructure of your city, to the latest gizmos and appliances you buy in stores everywhere. All professional designers, engineers, architects and artists watch out every year this month for Autodesk to come up with an upgrade to their main software products, giving them the tools to look ahead, envision and build the world the way itll look like in a couple of years.


It takes years to design, plan and create a brand new shopping mall or cruise ship to its minute detail, but it also takes a lot of time to develop a full length animated feature or video game, or a theatrical movie. So, while Autodesk may have introduced their latest software versions today, with all new features and such, it may take some time for you to catch up with all the cool stuff people will be creating with it.

Check out the videos below and get more information on the new features in Maya 2013, part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite 2013 (playlist contains 5 videos).



The Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite will be available later this year, usually in April. Heres a  complete list of all the new features found in the Maya 2013:

Maya nHair:


New Node Editor:
Create, edit, and debug node networks more easily with the new Node Editor. Choose from three levels of detail. Rewire nodes in a more intuitive environment than the Connection Editor with drag-and-drop connection editing. Distinguish different data types at a glance through color coding.


Enjoy a more accurate initial binding of geometry to skeletons in Maya 2013, thanks to a new Heat Map Skinning method that is better able to assign skin to the intended bone as opposed to an adjacent but unrelated one and requires less manual refinement.

Trax Clip Matching:

Alembic Caching:
Read and write the Alembic open source computer graphics interchange framework format, initially developed in 2010 by teams from Sony Pictures Imageworks and Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. Distill complex animated and simulated data into application-independent baked geometry. Reduce the overhead and loss of interactivity associated with transferring fully editable scene data between disciplines.

ATOM Animation Transfer:
Transfer animation between characters via the new ATOM (Animation Transfer Object Model) offline file format, in order to repurpose existing animation data as new characters are created. ATOM natively supports keyframes, constraints, animation layers, and Set Driven Keys.

As Writer Paul Cornell and artist Jesus Merino conclude their Black Ring story arc, DC brings in Richard Donner, Gary Frank and Geoff Johns as Action Comics hits the 900 issue mark!

If youve never heard of Superman, you might have been in cryogenic sleep for the past several decades, or your name is Dr. Walter Bishop and you fell victim to your own experiments involving brain surgery. Anyway, the flying hero fighting evil mankind couldnt possibly face on its own will have a small party this month celebrating its landmark issue! DC Comics invites you to the party with a special 100 page celebration issue, due April 27th! (right, cover by David Finch).

He may have started out as a simple comic book character but has since grown into a pop culture icon. The S logo on his chest has propably become one of the most prolific symbols of the last seventy years. But not everybody may be privy to the fact that he started out as a character in the first issue of Action Comics, in April 1938.

Action Comics became one of the longest running comic magazines in history, along with DCs other juggernaut Detective Comics (starring Batman), whos currently running Scott Snyders Hungry City story arc in issue # 875.

Superman, named Kal-El (meaning star child), the last survivor of his home planet Krypton, was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe shuster prior to WWII. Seeing his popularity in Action Comics, publisher National Periodical Publications (as DC was known back then) decided to give their hero his own self-titled monthly series a year later, in June 1939. Superman issue 710, featuring Michael Straczynskis Grounded goes live this April 13.

The first issues of  Action Comics (left) and Superman (right) went for $ 0,10 cents each at the time. Mint condition classics are rare these days, only a handfull remain. In 2010, an unknown A grade copy of the premier issue of Action Comics was auctioned for a record $ 1.5 million dollars through ComicsConnect.  This one had layed unnoticed tucked inside an old movie magazine for 50 years. Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had sold the rights to Superman for $ 130 dollars at the beginning of their careers.

New Superman movie.

Today, Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures announced that Michael Shannon will play Supermans enemy General Zod, in the new upcoming movie Superman: Man of Steel directed by Zack Snyder (Sucker Punch, Watchmen, 300) and produced by Christopher Nolan.

Henry Cavill (The Tudors) will star as Clark Kent/Superman and Amy Adams will portray Lois Lane. Budget has been set at $175 million Dollars, a little under the 209 million for Bryan Singers Superman Returns (2006). Diane Laine and Kevin Coster co-star as Kents parents.
Snyder has stated that anything Superman will do, will be visual effects enhanced CGI. The story will focus on Supermans early days, and will not be linked to previous movies.
General Zod first appeared in Action Comics # 283 (april 1961) and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. Dru-Zod as hes actually named, was a general in charge of Kryptons military forces and attempted to take over the planet. Zod created an army of robotic duplicates but was sentenced to live in exile in the Phantom Zone.

Before Man of Steel will hit the theatres in December 2012, Christopher Nolans third and final Batman film will be released on July 20. Entitled The Dark Knight Rises the movie will not feature unused footage of the late Heath Ledger (as rumored). Christian Bale will reprise his role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The Post Gazette confirmed last tuesday that TDKR will be shot this summer on location in Pittsburgh. Nolans previous Batman film, The Dark Knight (2008) currently holds 7th place in the top ten highest grossing movies to date, crossing the 1 Billion dollar mark.

Yes, the news was all over the internet yesterday, as The Wrap created a buzz based on information from a reliable source, but this morning its officially confirmed: J.J. Abrams, creator of TV series Fringe and Lost will be directing the next installment of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars VII. Previously, Abrams directed movies like Super8 and Star Trek: The Future Begins, giving fans hope that the new trilogy will definitely receive a proper treatment.

A few months ago, Abrams said he wouldnt take the job of helming the first movie in a new trilogy, because he himself had been a life long fan of the characters and stories Lucas created and thought that it would interfere with his ability to direct. It was already confirmed that the next two sequels Star Wars VII and VIII, will be written and produced by Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: The Last stand and X-Men: First Class). Last year October, Disney bought Lucasfilm for a reported four Billion Dollars, acquiring the rights to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Check here for the official story.

Disney also said it will release Star Wars VII in 2015, and plans to bring a brand new Star Wars movie to the theatre every two to three years. George Lucas will remain available as creative adviser. By owing Lucasfilm Disney now also owns all the rights to Indiana Jones. It is uncertain whether or not Disney is planning a new movie with the character at this point. Disney already bought Pixar in 2006 and Marvel Comics in 2009. In the official press release Lucas stated:

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm.

“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

So, good or bad news for Star Wars fans? Theres certainly tons of material from all the comic books and games that would make for some interesting new movies. But I need to remind you that Disneys recently released sci-fi movie John Carter of Mars, based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bombed at the box office and was heavily criticised for being fake and too campy while it used all the visual effects and 3D graphics money can buy. Well see what the future brings...May the force be with us!