Powering the Scenes Administrative Search Results

News: The Avengers (2012) Poster and Fan Art

After his fall from Asgard into space, the Asgardian Loki meets the Other, the leader of a warmongering alien race known as the Chitauri. In exchange for retrieving the Tesseract,2 a powerful energy source of unknown potential, the Other promises Loki a Chitauri army with which he can subjugate the Earth. Nick Fury, director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility during an evacuation. Physicist Dr. Erik Selvig is leading a research team experimenting on th...

News: Killing American Citzens

US can legally kill Americans in terror groups You read it right. The US can now target Americans who are supposedly part of terrorist groups. Here's my analysis of Attorney General Eric Holder points (keep in mind though, these are point's brought up by MSNBC, original article here):

News: Canon's 5D Mark II Invades Hollywood

Since its release three years ago, Canon's EOS 5D Mark II has been the most sought out digital SLR for photographers everywhere. But it's also becoming a favorite amongst cinematographers, thanks to its compact size and high-def video recording mode, seeing action in everything from independent features to Hollywood blockbusters and even big network TV shows.

News: Amazing Solar-Powered Printer Uses Sunlight to Sculpt 3D Objects Out of Sand

No matter if you've used one or not, you've got to admit that 3D printers are pretty darn awesome, especially the self-replicating ones that extrude molten plastic and the shoebox-sized versions that use mesmerizing stereolithography to build tiny objects layer by layer. But what's even cooler? A solar-powered printer that uses the sun's energy to melt sand and make 3D objects out of glass.

News: Microsoft Releases Sneak Preview of Touch-Friendly Windows 8

Microsoft recently released the first sneak peak of their new operating system, Windows 8, and it's a pretty big departure from the last few major updates. The new Windows 8 was built from the ground up, and is designed primarily as a touchscreen interface, which is perfect for the expanding tablet market. They've ditched the clunky start screen that's dominated Windows 95 through Windows 7, replacing it with grids of application tiles, similar in functionality to an iPad or Android tablet, a...

Breakfast Interrupted: Tangled Food Captured Midair at 1,000 FPS

They're not the fastest in the world, but Vision Research's line of Phantom high-speed cameras produce some of the best slow motion effects on the web. They can turn violent punches into a chaotic scene of distorted skin and repulsive sweat, or make a night's stay in a hotel room more exciting. Now breakfast gets the Phantom treatment in Breakfast Interrupted, where America's favorite meal gets captured in midair at 1,000 frames per second.

How To: Prevent Post-Earthquake Nuclear Meltdown in the US

After getting slammed with a crazy-big earthquake/tsunami, the Japanese nuclear plant Fukushima Daiichi might be on the brink of meltdown. Not as bad as Chernobyl, but maybe as bad as Three Mile Island. Nobody wishes such a disaster on anyone...anywhere in the world. In the US, there are about 100 nuclear facilities, about 8 of which are located near hot beds of seismic activity.

News: Carnivorous Furniture Eats Flies and Mice for Energy

PETA wouldn't consider James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau's ingenious flypaper clock very eco-friendly, but I might beg to differ. The clock doesn't require any electricity or batteries. Instead it captures flies and converts the bodies of the dead insects into energy. Eight dead flies makes for roughly twelve days of power. Not bad.

News: The Witcher Quick Look

Besides Killing Floor, I played a bit of The Witcher over the weekend. If you're curious about the game now is the perfect time. It's on sale on Steam, and the sequel is being released early next year. Though the game is three years old, it's still one of the best western rpgs on the PC. Here are some quick impressions on the game:

How To: Create underwater lighting in 3D Studio Max

See how to simulate underwater lighting and caustic illumination within 3ds Max 2010. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the application, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, and to get started creating realistic lighting your own underwater scenes, take a look! Create underwater lighting in 3D Studio Max.

News: Sound Advice

Last week I talked about the video / image side of things, and as promised here is the audio side. Sound is integral to all studio productions, but for most student and low budget production, it's the last thing filmmakers seem to think about, and one of the most noticeable problems with low budget stuff. Sound IS half the experience, and yet it is usually all but forgotten come production.

How To: Cast magic spells

Magic. Does it really exist? Can you really put a hex on somebody… or a love spell? Can you really cast supernatural spells? Believing is up to you, but anyone can be bewitching with the help of a little black — and white — magic.

How To: Create a rainbow in Photoshop

Open the picture you wish to place a rainbow within. A good scene has clouds that are receding into the distance and the light angle coming in from the front of the scene. A rainbow effect appears when by the sun is shining from behind you into the mist-filled air where it is refracted by raindrops.

How To: Draw and paint rock cliff mountain cliff environment

How to draw and paint rock cliff mountain environmental concept background. This landscape scene is created in a video demonstration using Photoshop. his step by step video shows you laying down the base color, blocking in shape for painting, assigning value and color composition, and refining detail for the final concept painting.

How To: Create a 3D shadow matte in 3ds Max

In this tutorial, we learn how to create a 3D shadow matte in 3ds Max. If you have a scene where you need a realistic looking background, you can trick doing this by using 3ds Max. First, go up to the rendering and go to environment. Add an environment map and then click on bitmap and find the image that you want to use. From here, make sure your map is highlighted, then right click and show the background. If you render this out, you will have a picture of the background you want. After this...

How To: Light digital home videos like a professional

Shooting home video is fun, and is a great way to get started on the path to a film career. But one thing that can kill your video is poor lighting. Not everyone is rich enough to a professional light kit, so what do you do to compensate? In this video you will get some great low budget, and even some free, tips on how to create proper lighting both in-doors and outdoors and tips on what to avoid in your scenes.

How To: Create Lady Gaga's thick, graphic cat eyes from "Telephone"

Many of us can't even pick up a telephone these days without being reminded in some way of Lady Gaga's now famous tune, "Telephone." While the song itself isn't at all scandalous - it's about an annoying guy who keeps calling her at the club - the music video made entire pockets of the internet stand still and then implode into a mess of discussions and outage.

How To: Create a "True Blood" Bon Temps swamp makeup look

Out in Bon Temps, the town in which "True Blood" takes place, everything you thought couldn't exist comes alive. Vampires and werewolves roam the town, so is it any surprise that the Bon Temps swamp is a character all its own? While not a living and breathing character, the swamp provides a murky, dark backdrop for the show's most harrowing scenes. And in that sense, it tells you a lot more about the characters than you'd get just out of their performance.

How To: Control hair & fur settings with UV maps in Cinema 4D

In this tutorial, you will learn how to utilise UV maps for both root colour and hair length. This guide also offers a quick look at polygon selection tags and organising a scene with hair objects as well. Whether you're new to MAXON's popular 3D modeling application or are just looking to get better acquainted with Cinema 4D and its various features and functions, you're sure to enjoy this free video software tutorial. For more information, and to get started using this trick in your own Cin...

How To: Defeat the Griever in the game Darksiders

If you're having a tough time with a certain enemy in the game Darksiders, this tutorial might be what you need. In this hit PS3, Xbox 360 title, you face off against a variety of angels, demons, insects, and much more. For one of the boss battles, you'll face an enemy called the Griever. This bug is huge and can be difficult to kill.

How To: Shoot an engagement photo

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to shoot an engagement photo. An engagement shoot should be a lot more special and personal. To do that, you need to find meaning to the photo. Finding a scene with a deep meaning will help make the photo much more special. A challenge when shooting an engagement photo is to get the couple to be comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera. Try to get the couple to interact with one another to make the photo look honest and real. This video will ben...

How To: Create a motion blur camera effect with Mental Ray

Learn how to create a motion blur effect with Mental Ray in 3ds Max 2010 or 2011. See how to control the camera's shutter speed, the quality of motion blur, and how to decide if a single mesh has motion blur or the entire scene. You'll also take a look at fast motion blur option using Scanline Fast Rasterizer option. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the application, you're sure to be well served by...

How To: Create rigid & soft body meshes with 3ds Max's Reactor

This tips tutorial takes a look on how you can use Reactor's dynamic features to simulate a scene with rigid and soft body meshes. See how to configure it and how to use the constraint to animate it. Whether you're new to Autodesk's popular modeling software or a seasoned 3D artist just looking to better acquaint yourself with the application, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, watch this Max user's guide.

How To: Make Clone Troopers Jek and Rhys Lego minifigures

Jek and Rhys are two of the named Arc Trooper characters from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. Have you ever wanted to have your own pocket-sized likenesses of these two bit characters from the show? Now you can. This video is a demonstration of building Lego minifigures of Jek and Rhys. Follow these instructions, and you can use these two characters in any Lego Star Wars scene you want!

How To: Draw a fantasy world

Drawing fantasy worlds is a very enjoyable activity for many artists because of the freedom that comes with not having to draw naturally occurring things while still remaining within the confines of realistic depiction. This three-part video demonstrates the drawing of a fantasy scene featuring a castle on a lonely hilltop with some very ominous Misty-Mountains-like mountains in the background. It is rendered entirely in pencil, but still conveys the sense of loneliness that most castles of t...

How To: Manipulate text within animated GIFs in Photoshop CS4

This video describes how to use Adobe Photoshop CS4 software to create and manipulate text in animated .GIFs. GIF stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a type of image file which allows short animated sequences to be displayed. A preselected scene from a television show is opened as a GIF in Photoshop CS4. Animation window is opened by selecting window then animation. The text tool is selected and a textbox is drawn by clicking and dragging. Photoshop CS4 then applies the text to the frames ...