Visual effects luminary Syd Dutton, co-founder of effects/matte paintings house Illusion Arts, has come aboard Zoic Studios to help helm its digital matte painting and feature film endeavors. Zoic’s relationship with Dutton began during the shop’s filming of the feature film Serenity.
Launched in 1985, Illusion Arts created thousands of shots and matte paintings for more than 200 feature films. The studio’s body of work included effects for Milk, Aeon Flux, Narnia, The Bourne Identity, The Fast and the Furious, X-Men, Batman, Total Recall, Mad Max and the just released Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Dutton made his first industry mark in the matte department at Universal Studios where he learned the technique of motion picture matte painting from resident matte artist Albert Whitlock. Following the retirement of Whitlock, Dutton and visual effects cinematographer Bill Taylor set up the independent effects studio Illusion Arts. When Taylor and Dutton decided to close Illusion Arts, both Dutton and Zoic embraced the opportunity to collaborate, with Dutton becoming a part of the Zoic team.
Chris Jones, Zoic CEO/creative director, said of Dutton, “As a mentor, he will be able to bring classic ideas and techniques to a whole new guard of visual effects visionaries. Zoic Studios has always embraced new technology while continuing to evolve the classic techniques of visual effects creation and we feel that Syd Dutton is the perfect complement to this philosophy.”
Digital studio Zoic, with operations in Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C., is involved in commercials, viral advertising, episodic TV, feature films and the gaming industry.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More