Pixeldust Studios, an Emmy Award-winning digital animation and visual design company with studios in the Metro D.C. area and New York City, has produced original animations for National Geographic Channel’s upcoming mini-series event Untamed Americas. The show premieres June 10-11 on the National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo MUNDO.nnPixeldust Studios produced highly detailed animations depicting the geography and topography of the North and South American continents, as seen by the viewer from above. Based on detailed satellite imagery and extensive research of these continents, the work was designed to embellish the above-the-Earth photography shot by the show’s producers. nnnTo view some of this work online, click here.nnAshley Hoppin, Executive Producer of Untamed Americas for National Geographic Channels, said, “”Pixeldust’s stylistic aerials are both real and other-worldly. They make the viewer feel like he/she is flying up, down, and above the Americas, like Superman.” nn”The challenge for us on this massive project was how to best recreate the vast terrain of North and South America using reference materials from satellite data and maps while keeping it manageable in a 3d animation software,” states Ricardo Andrade, Founder/Executive Creative Director of Pixeldust Studios. “We wished to present a photorealistic look to the terrain on the Earth but didn’t want to create the look of traditional maps,” comments Andrade. “Instead, we spent a good deal of time ensuring that the true colors, and the densities of the colors and the terrain, ranging from clouds to snow capped mountaintops to ground landscape to oceans, would match the video plates that were shot. Our CGI work had to blend in seamlessly with the actual video footage that the producers brought to us.”nn”We used E-On’s Vue 10 software, which offered us billions of polygons, to depict the various elevations of the Earth’s terrain featured in this show,” adds Andrade. “We also incorporated Autodesk’s Maya 2013 software to create the camera moves as a viewer POV ‘fly-over,’ so there would be seamless transitions from the actual video plate projections, to our CGI terrain, and then back to the outgoing video plates.”nnSamar Shool, Pixeldust Studios’ Technical Director, oversaw the challenge of creating an accurate and seamless look. “We had to present high-altitude travel scenery over everything from Alaska to Patagonia, while depicting every mountain and every detail of the Earth’s actual terrain,” comments Shool. “Our goal was to recreate these details exactly, based on the satellite imagery and other materials. We delivered digital set extensions that were both technologically and artistically correct, matching the starting point and ending point using video plates that were shot on location. We took our ‘look and feel’ references, colors, tones, and densities, from the beautiful footage that was presented to us by the producers of this program.”nnIn other Pixeldust Studios news, the company has significantly updated much of its technology with the addition of E-On Software’s Vue 10 product and with Southpawtech’s Tactic creative management software, joining the company’s long existing Autodesk’s Maya 2013 product. Pixeldust has also integrated GameCaster True Virtual Cinematography product into its production mix to help produce natural and organic camera moves inside any 3D package. Also, a new 3D Stereo edit room has been added expanding their 3D Stereo suite of tools. In addition, Pixeldust continues to regularly increase and expand its overall render farm capacity. nnAbout Untamed AmericasnPremiering Sunday, June 10–Monday, June 11, at 9 p.m. ET/PT in the U.S. and globally this summer, the four-hour high-definition miniseries event marks the first U.S. simulcast on National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo Mundo. Narrated by Academy Award-nominated actor Josh Brolin, Untamed Americas reveals the grit and glory in the wild of North America, Central America and South America. Each hour explores some of the greatest wildlife spectacles, delicate dances, unbelievable endurance and against-the-odds survival in episodes dedicated to the continent’s Mountains, Deserts, Forests and Coasts. nnThe Untamed Americas team spent almost two years in the field, traveling thousands of miles from Alaska to Patagonia, to capture the extreme wildlife of the continent. To film the rare moments, Untamed Americas cameramen and producers rappelled down Peruvian cliffs in sea lion territory with bruised shins and battered heads; endured jellyfish stings in Monterey Bay, Calif.; slipped down mud paths and stumbled through dark, dense underbrush in the Ecuadorean cloud forest; faced subzero temperatures (-22°F) as well as extreme heat with 100 percent humidity; maneuvered through freak out-of-season hurricanes; grasped for breath in high altitudes; lost sleeping bags (and sleep!) in 80 mph winds in Chile; and were even stalked by a puma.nnFor more information, please visit: www.natgeotv.com/untamedamericasnnUntamed Americas is produced by National Geographic Television for National Geographic Channels. For National Geographic Television, series producer is Karen Bass, senior producer is Anne Tarrant and executive producer is Jonathan Halperin. For National Geographic Channels, executive producer is Ashley Hoppin, and executive vice president of programming is Michael Cascio.nnAbout Pixeldust Studios:nFounded in 2004, Pixeldust Studios is an Emmy Award-winning digital animation and visual design firm with studios in the Metro D.C. Area and New York City. Pixeldust Studios specializes in creating innovative motion graphics, animations and visual effects for television, film, new media and corporate clients. For more information, please visit www.pixeldust.tv or call 301-656-0050.
Dan Harary The Asbury PR Agency Beverly Hills, CA 310/859-1831 Contact Dan via email
Asian World Film Festival Reveals Asian Vision Program Lineup, Snow Leopard and Bruce Lee Honorees, and Jury Members
The 10th Annual Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) is proud to announce the lineup for its inaugural Asian Vision program, which was conceived to showcase new and exceptional Asian features that have participated in major A-list film festivals and/or garnered international acclaim. The program of eight motion pictures (see list below) will be held November 17-19, 2024, with the top film receiving the Asian Vision Best Film Award. The 10th Annual Asian World Film Festival takes place November 13 - 21, 2024, at the Culver Theatre in Culver City, CA. This year’s Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award, the Festival’s highest honor, will be presented to acclaimed director, screenwriter, and producer Sergei Bodrov in celebration of his remarkable 50-year career. Bodrov established his reputation as a visionary filmmaker with “Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan” (2007), nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film, and “Prisoner of the Mountains” (1996), also an Oscar® nominee as well as a Cannes Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize-winner. The Snow Leopard Outstanding Cinematic Achievement Award will be presented to director, producer, and screenwriter Peter Ho-Sun Chan, one of Hong Kong’s most critically acclaimed and accomplished filmmakers. Known for his versatility and the scope of his work, Chan’s landmark films, including “Comrades: Almost a Love Story” (1996) and “The Warlords” (2007), have earned him a remarkable 233 awards from more than 400 nominations. As previously announced, AWFF will screen “Comrades: Almost a Love Story,” followed by a Q&A with Chan. Multi-award-winning actress Kathryn Bernardo will receive the Snow Leopard... Read More