Director Robert Logevall is joining bicoastal Anonymous Content….Director Nick Brandt, formerly of Los Angeles-based Palomar Pictures, has come aboard bicoastal/international Believe Media….Film Roman, the independent animation studio best known for The Simpsons and King of the Hill, has acquired VanHook Studios, a Hollywood CG/special effects house, which now becomes Forum Visual Effects, a division of Film Roman. Kevin VanHook and his staff, including effects artists Chadd B. Cole and Vince Di Meglio, form the core of Forum Visual Effects, which is based on the Film Roman premises in North Hollywood. The deal enables Film Roman’s spot division to access Forum’s 3-D/visual effects talent and resources. Film Roman Commercials continues to be headed by VP/exec producer Kathee Schneider….Editor Terence Ziegler has joined Rhinoceros Editorial, New York. Ziegler was most recently freelancing; prior to that, he was with now defunt Invisible Dog….Mad River Post, Dallas, has added editor Gigi Cone Welch….The Cutting Room floor is now also home to newly formed creative concept/production/design company Room, which features executive director Flavio (Kampah) Campagna, creative directors/designers TJ Webber and Ladzarus, senior producer Sabrina Mance, producer Jill Henrich and founder/director Victor Ginzburg. The Room and editorial/post house The Cutting Room are based in the same Venice, Calif., complex….Mark Hukezalie, Daniel LeBlanc and Bob Johnston have launched Goldfish Music, Toronto…. Composer Jason Steele has joined HUM Music+Sound Design, Santa Monica….Headroom Digital Audio, New York, has added audio engineer Scott Persson to its roster….
Vatican, Microsoft Create AI-Generated St. Peter’s Basilica–For In-Person and Virtual Visitors
The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world's most important monument's while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. Using 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs, taken with drones, cameras and lasers over four weeks when no one was in the basilica, the digital replica is going online alongside two new on-site exhibits to provide visitors -- real and virtual -- with an interactive experience. "It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued," Microsoft's president Brad Smith told a Vatican press conference. The project has been launched ahead of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more than 30 million pilgrims are expected to pass through the basilica's Holy Door, on top of the 50,000 who visit on a normal day. "Everyone, really everyone should feel welcome in this great house," Pope Francis told Smith and members of the project's development teams at an audience Monday. The digital platform allows visitors to reserve entry times to the basilica, a novelty for one of the world's most visited monuments that regularly has an hours-long line of tourists waiting to get in. But the heart of the project is the creation of a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica through advanced photogrammetry and artificial intelligence that allows anyone to "visit" the church and learn about its history. The ultra-precise 3D replica, developed in collaboration with digital preservation company Iconem, incorporates 22 petabytes of data — enough to fill five million DVDs — Smith said. The images have already identified structural... Read More