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NVIDIA
and Jim Henson's Creature Shop to bring cinematic computing to life
Courtesy
of NVIDIA
January
8, 2004
NVIDIA Corporation
announced that it has teamed up with Academy Award-winning Jim Henson's
Creature Shop, one of the pre-eminent character-building visual effects
facilities serving the international film, television, and advertising
industries. By way of this collaboration, The Creature Shop is using NVIDIA
Quadro graphics technology to assist in the creation of digital versions
of its characters, which are some of the most complex 3D characters in
the film and television industry today.
For CES,
NVIDIA and The Creature Shop will introduce "Dawn". Introduced
in conjunction with the NVIDIA GeForce FX graphics processing unit (GPU),
"Dawn", the world's most detailed realtime, 3D human character,
was developed to showcase what is possible with cinematic computing. With
the Henson Digital Performance Studio, "Dawn" will be controlled
using puppetry to interact with show attendees.
"By
having the ability to control characters down to eyelid blinks and
facial animations, we're able to bring a whole new meaning to 'cinematic
computing'."
-
Dan Vivoli, executive vice
president of marketing at NVIDIA
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"For
more than 20 years, The Creature Shop has produced amazing characters
for film, TV, and advertising," said Dan Vivoli, executive vice president
of marketing at NVIDIA. "By using the unique skills of Jim Henson's
Creature Shop we were able to add a new dimension to our demos, allowing
us the ability to "perform" expressions of computer generated
characters in real-time. By having the ability to control characters down
to eyelid blinks and facial animations, we're able to bring a whole new
meaning to 'cinematic computing'."
The Henson
Digital Performance Studio (HDPS) is the patented performance animation
technology based on Henson's award-winning control systems. Through this
technology, a digital character can converse live and give dynamic interactive
performances that can be used for both entertainment and educational purposes.
Character performances can be broadcast live or recorded, generating a
very high yield of animation per minute-while using digital "puppets"
to communicate.
"NVIDIA's
vision is much like ours, to deliver something fantastic, something that
makes people smile," stated Jeff Forbes, Computer/Electronics Supervisor,
Jim Henson's Creature Shop. "With the power of NVIDIA graphics technology,
we now have access to state-of-the-art computer graphics to combine with
our animatronics, puppeteering technology to delivering stunning realtime
computer generated characters for everything from live events and promotions,
television, online, and game development."
MORE
HENSON NEWS
• Jerry
Nelson tribute at The Moving Image Museum October 27
• Jim
Henson's Pajanimals debuts on NBC Kids Saturday July 7
• The
New York Pops play The Muppets at Carnegie Hall April 14
• Henson
announces "Sid the Science Kid: The Movie" in 3-D
• The Jim Henson Company Puppets to perform at the 2011 Grammys
• "Pioneers of Television" special
to honor Jim Henson
• Classic "Henson's Place" special
arrives on DVD August 3
• Frank
Oz unveils tribute to the "Henson Pipes" at NBC Studios
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