Village Gamer

Merging Media Productions Inc. and CMPA-British Columbia are delighted to launch their Merging Media Conference + Masterclass 2011: X-ENGAGE website and program for Canada’s Premier Cross-media Showcase on October 27^th and 28^th at the SFU Woodwards Cinema, SFU Woodwards Goldcorp Centre in Vancouver. They announced today that 38 Conference Speakers and Panelists will be participating in the highly anticipated two-day event, including world thought leaders from Lionsgate, YouTube, Amazon.com, Al Jazeera, Starlight Runner Entertainment and Microsoft.

Merging Media will offer a $10,000 Development Award for the best cross-media project at its Pitch 360 Sessions on October 28th. For information on how to apply or to exhibit at the VEDC Innovation Gallery, please contact Merging Media. Register now for the Merging Media Conference and Masterclass 2011: X-Engage – early bird pricing ends September 30th.

Heavy-hitting investors and business elite from across North America heard pitches from Canada’s youngest entrepreneurs yesterday, and are evaluating the first business ventures created through game-changing program, The Next 36. An initiative supported by more than 50 Canadian business leaders – including Galen Weston, Paul Desmarais Sr. and Jim Pattison as founding patrons – The Next 36 aims to transform the country’s most promising undergraduates into high-impact entrepreneurs and nation builders.

“For years, I have been looking for the best way to help young entrepreneurs,” explains Anthony Lacavera, a director of The Next 36 and Chairman and CEO of Globalive. “The Next 36 is the perfect formula.”

Yesterday’s ‘Venture Day’ marked the culmination of the program’s inaugural year. The accomplished young co-founders (aged 19 to 23) spent the last eight months working in teams and together with CEO mentors, top business school faculty, and others to seize opportunities in mobile application technology. These ventures include mobile apps relating to local bartering, customer feedback, exercise rewards, flirting and virtual clothing.

Monday’s graduation ceremony featured the presentation of three highly-coveted awards. The 2011 Valedictorian, selected by his peers, was David Berkal, a Peace & Conflict Studies graduate from The University of Toronto. Emily Dimytosh, who is entering her final year in Commerce at Queen’s, was chosen by the program’s co-founders as winner of the Satchu Prize, named in honour of Founding Chair, Reza Satchu.  “In terms of raising the bar, The Next 36 has taken me from varsity high jump to Olympic pole vaulting,” states Dimytosh.  The recipient of the Outstanding Venture Award was Tradyo, a swapping application that allows users to buy & barter on a local level through their smartphone.  Tradyo’s co-founders come from McGill, Western, Guelph and Toronto.

“Canadian prosperity depends on our ability to generate more seasoned entrepreneurs to drive this country forward.” said Claudia Hepburn, co-founder and executive director of The Next 36. “Entrepreneurs who see opportunities where others see challenges have the ability to change our community and our economy. We can’t wait to see how they build on this experience in the real world.”

As the first cohort of The Next 36 makes plans to forge ahead with their businesses – some while juggling their studies – the program is gearing up to welcome its next wave of students. The application process is open until October 7, 2011.

Calgary Scientific has announced a strategic partnership with the CyberSKA project. This project provides scientists and researchers around the world a platform to access and collaborate on the massive data sets coming from newer and bigger radio telescopes. CyberSKA is using PureWeb® from Calgary Scientific to web- and mobile-enable the astronomy viewer so the data can be analyzed without being moved and the results can be accessed anywhere in the world, on any device. It also allows researchers on different sides of the globe to interact and collaborate in real-time on the same information about the origin, structure and evolution of the universe.

“PureWeb provides the ability to analyze large multi-dimensional data sets from modern telescopes through our web portal without having to download these enormous files,” said University of Calgary Professor Russ Taylor, Director of the Institute for Space Imaging Science and CyberSKA Project Leader. “This eliminates the need to move these massive amounts of data to individual users, and provides the unique ability for researchers across the globe to collaborate with each other on the analysis of these data using whatever device they have – whether a desktop, laptop or tablet.”

Traditional approaches will not be able to process and move this massive amount of data as output will be in the range of 60GB per second – totaling terabytes in hours and petabytes in days. This includes the Square Kilometer Array – an international multi-billion dollar project to build the largest radio telescope in the world. With a total collecting area a million square meters (one square kilometre), it will be 50 times more sensitive and 10,000 times faster for imaging the sky than the most powerful telescopes today. Information collected will be shared around the world creating huge technical challenges.

“The partnership with the CyberSKA project is another example of how Calgary Scientific continues to demonstrate that PureWeb is a powerful, enabling platform that can uniquely address the most challenging issues related to high performance cloud computing. This project faces the ‘big data’ issue on an extreme scale and PureWeb is the answer,” emphasizes Byron Osing, CEO and Chair of Calgary Scientific. “PureWeb also maintains the highest degree of security as the data is never copied or moved across any network to the user. This is true whether it is a single user or a large group collaborating in real-time with the same data.”

PureWeb is the first software platform that allows multiple users to interact with the same instance of an application simultaneously. This new capability allows geographically distributed users to access any PureWeb enabled application and collaborate with other users in real-time. PureWeb allows existing software applications to be used in new ways and places, for less time and money, while maintaining high performance and security.

Canadian funding for the CyberSKA project is provided by CANARIE, Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network.  Within Alberta, CyberSKA partners also include Cybera, a not-for-profit organization that spurs and supports innovation, for the economic benefit of Alberta, through the use of cyberinfrastructure.

Canada ended the second quarter of 2011 on a high note as one of the top 10 countries for corporate technology mergers and acquisitions, with numbers increasing from 21 deals in Q2 2010 to 30 in Q2 2011, according to Ernst & Young’s Global technology M&A update.

“Average global deal value skyrocketed to US$194 million in the second quarter of 2011, and the numbers here at home were just as strong,” says Tony Ianni, leader of corporate finance in Ernst & Young’s Transaction Advisory Services practice. “Canada saw the second-highest number of cross-border deals, behind the United States — an uptick in volume and value we’ve seen developing over the last several quarters.”

Big-ticket deals drove the total value of global tech M&A to US$52.1 billion in Q2 2011, nearly doubling the deal value from an already strong first quarter. Global cross-border deal volume also increased 16% from Q1, while domestic deals declined by 11%. Not only that, cross-border deals showed a 32% increase over Q2 2010 numbers.

The total value of global deals with disclosed values increased by 92%, from US$27.1 billion in Q1 to US$52.1 billion in Q2 — a 69% increase from Q2 2010 (US$30.8 billion). While 61% of all disclosed value was concentrated in the top 10 deals, there was also significant deal-making strength at the opposite end of the spectrum, in deals of less than US$100 million.

This surge was powered by industry consolidation and ongoing disruptive innovation in the following areas:

• Cloud computing
• Smart mobility
• Internet and mobile video
• Smart grid and solar energy

“New waves of innovation, especially around smart mobility, cloud computing and social networking, are driving large and small deals across the globe,” says Ianni. “Not only did Q2 have the highest quarterly average since the first quarter of 2000, it also had the 20th-largest global technology deal ever by dollar value.”

Technology companies that continue to stockpile cash will have the flexibility to act when strategic M&A opportunities arise. Cash and investments held by the sector’s top 25 companies grew to US$591 billion by the end of Q2 2011 — an 18% year-over-year increase from US$499 billion at the end of Q2 2010.

“Interest in the technology sector continues to rise as information technology evolves into an increasingly valuable component of all products and services,” says Ianni. “But the question on everyone’s mind is whether deal-making will lose momentum or continue to overcome increasing divergence between buyers and sellers over valuation, geopolitical unrest and global debt issues.”

It appears that there were loads of news announcements made while we were at SIGGRAPH with very sketchy wireless. The media room where we could have had a wired connection was two floors and a long walk away, but we wouldn’t have had long enough on the wired connection to catch up on everything. Here are just a few of the stories that broke during the past few days:

The Montreal International Game Summit announced its keynote speakers. The conference will open with Jason Rohrer, an independent Game Designer, and Richard Lemarchand, Lead Game Designer for Naughty Dog, on November 1st and 2nd respectively. Yves Guillemot, Co-Founder and CEO of Ubisoft, will have the honour of delivering the conference’s closing keynote.

Other featured speakers at MiGS 2011 include David Hego, Artistic Director for Rocksteady Studios, who will be presenting in the Arts & VFX Track. Alain Tascan, President & CEO at Sava Transmedia will be participating in the Business track while Lee Perry, Senior Gameplay Designer for Epic Games will be on the Design track. Over on the Technology track, attendees will find a presentation by Stefan Boberg, Technical Development Director at EA DICE, while the Production track will feature a presentation by David Anfossi, Producer – DX: HR at Eidos Montreal. A new track has been added for 2011, and Tom Salta, Music Composer known for producing scores featured in popular franchises such as R.U.S.E. and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will be the featured presenter for the brand new Audio track. Please visit the MiGS site for an up-to-date speaker list.

Ubisoft announced that PlayStation^® gamers will be able to test their assassination skills beginning on September 3rd with a multiplayer beta of the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed Revelations that will run until September 11th. PlayStation^®Plus members and Uplay members will enjoy exclusive access to the multiplayer beta on PlayStation^®3. The multiplayer beta offers access to nine characters – The Sentinel, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Vizier, The Thespian, The Deacon, The Bombardier, The Trickster and The Champion, three maps – Knight’s Hospital, Antioch, Constantinople, and four playable modes – Wanted and Manhunt, as well as two new modes, Deathmatch and Artifact Assault. The rest of us will apparently have to wait until the game’s release on November 15th.

Bioware’s Dragon Age franchise has expanded to Google+ games. Dragon Age™ Legends, the popular dark fantasy Play4Free® RPG developed by BioWare San Francisco (formerly EA 2D) has launched, and is the only game of its kind on Google’s new real-life social project. Dragon Age Legends extends the award-winning Dragon Age franchise and reinvents it for social play on Google+. The game blends accessible and engaging tactical combat, progression and exploration in the Dragon Age universe, and is perfect for co-operative and competitive gameplay across players’ Google+ Circles and Hangouts.

Vancouver’s WordLogic Corporation, a provider of advanced predictive text software for smartphones, PCs and other devices, has announced the availability of WordLogic Intelligent Input™ technology for licensing to manufacturers and software developers. The technology is ideal for mobile app developers, search providers, and device OEMs looking for the best possible predictive text or search technology.

WordLogic Intelligent Input™ helps make text input on touchscreen smartphones, tablets, and other consumer electronics devices faster, more accurate and helpful. Devices like smartphones, tablets, automotive infotainment systems, Internet TV, and game consoles are proliferating by the billions. They enable the Internet and employ touchscreens, body motion, infrared controllers or other non-mechanical keyboards to enter text, search and control applications. WordLogic Intelligent Input™ brings next generation text input to these text-hungry devices.

Current predictive text methods, which rely upon adjacent key prediction or misspellings, are frequently so inaccurate use that people simply turn them off. Alternatives require too much of a learning curve for mass adoption. Voice input has improved, but even server-based voice recognition is frequently insufficient in environments subject to background noise, such as groups where conversation is taking place, in vehicles, and on the street.

Gorilla Nation Media Canada has announced that it will exclusively represent the online advertising sales for European news site Figaro Medias in the Canadian market.

“Group Figaro is enthusiastic to join the Gorilla Nation family. We share the same vision of the digital business, which is to guarantee premium, innovative and engaging contents (video, chat session, etc.), to join our audience on all devices and platforms and to respond with care to our advertisers the same way we care about our content. The adaptability and the service quality of Gorilla Nation bring a new dynamic to the Figaro Medias offer in Canada,” says Eileen Lemuet, International Commercial Director at Figaro Medias.

“With the addition of Figaro Medias to our roster of sites, it shows our commitment and seriousness in increasing our offer in the French Canadian market, while complementing some of the new business sites we have recently added,” says Jean-Sébastien Tremblay, Director of sales, East of Canada, at GN Media Canada.

Game On Audio has taken the first steps towards launching its newest offering: studios capable
of simultaneously recording the highest quality audio while also capturing the full-body and facial performances of video game actors. Game On Audio has tapped Organic Motion’s new “OpenStage” markerless motion capture mo-cap technology, which is making its debut at Siggraph 2011, purchasing three systems.

Organic Motion’s new markerless, suitless mo-cap system delivers many innovative features including multiple actor tracking, fundamental prop tracking, larger scanning space, increased accuracy, as well as eliminating the need for a backdrop. Construction on these precedent-setting studios begins mid-September 2011 in Game On’s Venice facility and is due to be completed January 15th 2012, while the Montreal facility installation will begin in July 2012 and finalized by October 2012. The performance studios will be exact duplicates of each other to maintain quality control in all aspects of the performance capture. Internationally renowned architectural firm, Boto Design will handle the design and construction for the new studios.

The installation of Organic Motion’s “OpenStage” will enable Game On Audio to provide clients in both the gaming industry, and the entertainment industry as a whole, with the ability to simultaneously capture the performances of actors vocally and physically. Standard motion capture stages aren’t outfitted and equipped to capture high-quality sound, which leads to costly dubbing sessions where actors have to add voices to the physical action. With Game On’s new “Performance Studios,” which are fitted to Game On’s company-wide audio specifications, this has been consolidated into a one-step process.

“We’ve seen how costly it can be for clients forced to capture their actors’ motion imagery and voicework separately,” said Sam Girardin, CEO and Founder of Game On Audio. “Organic Motion’s new system allows for actors to immerse themselves in the scene and not worry about the confinements and restrictions that the traditional motion capture process entails. This is a completely different approach that makes sense on many levels, for us and for our clients. We’re proud to be the first company to design studios specifically for this purpose.”

Game On has already been working with facial motion capture, having provided the service on Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and many yet to be announced AAA titles. With offices in Montreal and Los Angeles, Game On Audio is a recognized leader in voice recording, casting, direction, facial motion capture, game mixing and audio post-production for the global video game industry. In addition, through a network of partner studios in New York, Paris, Toronto and Vancouver, the company provides clients with access to the most diverse pool of talent in the industry.

For those of you visiting the site today and wondering where all of the great Canadian news is that I usually share with you, well, we’re at SIGGRAPH 2011 with limited internet access, so posting any news is going to be a challenge. That said, there are lots of awesome Canadian companies (or international companies with a Canadian location) at SIGGRAPH this year, so I hope you stop by to visit. I’ve listed those with booths below.  We are in Booth 1018 – please stop by for a visit and an interview.

In the meantime, we have soft-launched our new project. Right now you can only look at our announcement, because there just aren’t enough hours in the day for the two of us to work on the new project, work on Village Gamer, get ready for SIGGRAPH and put in appearances at our paying day jobs. So, without further ado, please visit Canadian Creative and sign up for email notifications (we won’t be selling, renting or giving away your addresses) so that you know when the front door is unlocked and the coffee is on.

Canadian Companies on display at SIGGRAPH 2011:

3D3 Solutions – Booth: 879

Autodesk, Inc. – Booth: 429

British Columbia Film Commission – Booth: 889

Campbell River Creative Industries Council – Booth: 580

Capilano University – Booth: 807

Centre for Digital Media – Booth: 938

cebas Visual Technology Inc. – Booth 250

Digital Domain – Booth 343

Emily Carr University of Art + Design – Booth: 947

Eos Systems Inc. – Booth: 273

iDesign Solutions Booth: 609

MPC – Booth: 463

Measurand Inc. – Booth: 252

Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment Booth: 890

Muuun Technologies Inc. – Booth: 690

NDI – Booth: 969

Nelvana Studio – Booth: 708

NorPix Inc. – Booth: 1017

PO-MO Inc. – Booth: 808

Peer 1 Hosting Booth: 283

Pixar Animation Studios Booth: 235

Point Grey Research Inc. Booth: 255

Rainmaker Entertainment Booth: 971

Sheridan College Booth: 813

Side Effects Software Inc. Booth: 712

Simon Fraser University School of Interactive Arts and Technology – Booth: 151

Southpaw Technology Inc. – Booth: 158

Think Tank Training Centre Booth: 944

Toon Boom Animation, Inc. – Booth: 710

Ubisoft World – Booth 955

VanArts – Vancouver Institute of Media Arts Ltd. Booth: 490

Vancouver Animation School Booth: 381

Vancouver Film School – Booth: 739

Vancouver Motion Capture: Animatrik and Alastair Macleod – Booth: 968

Waterloo Region – Canada’s Technology Triangle – Booth: 480

Note:  booth numbers are as of August 1st, hopefully they weren’t moved – let me know if I missed anyone

Have you made Vancouver home for the next six days? If so, that must mean you’re planning to be at SIGGRAPH 2011, which opens tomorrow at the Vancouver Convention Centre and runs until Thursday evening. The Conference and Computer Animation Festival goes from August 7 right through until the 11th and the Exhibition floor with (200+ displays) is open from August 9th through 11th. It is still possible to pick up single day passes, and at just $45.00, they are too good of a deal to miss out on. If you prefer, there are passes still available for the entire week. We got a sneak peek at the expo floor last evening, and it looks awesome. Check out your options on the SIGGRAPH 2011 Registration Info page.

This is the first time the flagship conference for the ACM SIGGRAPH organization has been held in Canada, and is an incredible opportunity for the Canadian digital media and film industry sectors. There are, at my count, 37 Canadian companies – or international companies with a Canadian location – with exhibit booths on the conference floor, including ourselves in Booth 1018. This does not include the number of Canadian companies who may have a booth in the Job Fair area of the conference, nor those like Corel who will be working out of LightBox’s booth. Nor does it include the Canadian studios who will be represented in our booth with their trailers and games or those being highlighted through the DFAIT and provincial economic development booths. There is without a doubt going to be lots to see, lots to learn, and many people to meet at SIGGRAPH 2011.

SIGGRAPH 2011 highlights the full spectrum of the $67 billion annual computer graphics industry, showcasing the world’s finest technology exhibits, interactive displays, and the best in animation and visual effects. Numerous cutting-edge research and commercial products are shown to the public for the first time in interactive exhibit areas. Examples include:

• Displays: Watch attendees interacting with cutting-edge 3D displays that will change their home theaters and video game experiences.
• Robotics, Wearables, and Haptics: See people engaging with robots and stimulation devices such as a wearable pregnancy jacket that allows the user to feel a fetus’s temperature, movements, and heartbeat.
• Mobile Devices: Interact with the next wave of advancements in mobile technological devices such as a “watch” that turns your hand into a mini-keyboard.

You can get a look at the expo floor map (PDF) on the SIGGRAPH web site, it is current as of August 1st, and for those who are not aware, the expo hall is on the lower level of the new convention centre.

PwC has released the 2011 Big Table of Film and Video Incentives that are available across Canada. Use them to your development benefit. The following information is from the PwC site.

Filmed Entertainment

Canadian film and television productions now account for about $5 billion in annual revenue and employ more than 117,000 people (Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office – CAVCO, 2010). The Canadian industry continues to grow with the support of federal, provincial and territorial governments, which encourage investment by domestic and foreign producers through incentives that help offset the cost of productions in Canadian locations. The big table is your guide to these incentives.

PwC’s Global entertainment and media outlook forecasts that global spending on filmed entertainment will reach $113.1 billion in 2015. North America will continue to be the largest region, and will grow at 5.2% (compounded annually) from $39.0 billion in 2010 to $50.3 billion in 2015.

The Entertainment and Media practice at PwC provides solutions to critical issues facing the Canadian film industry. We welcome the opportunity to put our industry expertise and resources to work for you. Please contact us to find out more.

View the  Big Table of Film and Video Incentives in Canada — August 2011 (PDF 426kb)

Digital Media and Animation — Gaming

Canadian businesses in the digital media and animation sector have tremendous opportunities for growth as markets continue to emerge and expand. Global console games, the largest category, with revenues of $28.1 billion in 2010, will expand at a 4.4% compound annual rate to $34.8 billion in 2015.

The online market will benefit from increased penetration of broadband households combined with growing digital distribution of content. The increasing popularity of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), with their subscription fees and micro-transactions, is also aiding the expansion of the market. Casual games and social network games are important components as well. In addition, smartphones and tablets—such as the iPad® —with improved graphic capabilities, will raise the bar for the quality of wireless games and drive demand. At the same time, new application stores will increase the number of gamers willing to purchase games. Burgeoning 3G/4G networks will enable wireless games to approach the quality of console games.

To meet this demand, digital media and animation companies can take advantage of credits and incentives from two broad categories. First, several provinces offer refundable interactive digital media tax credits, based on eligible labour expenditures and eligible marketing and distribution expenses claimed by qualifying corporations with respect to interactive digital media products. The other, generous tax incentives under Canada’s scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) program, reward companies advancing science or technology in the gaming industry.

View the Big Table of Digital Media and Animation Incentives in Canada — August 2011 ( PDF 324 KB)

RTDNA Canada – The Association of Electronic Journalists – continues to change its DNA as it prepares to celebrate its 50^thanniversary. Earlier this year the Association changed its name to include digital media and now it announces that Andrew Lundy, Director of Globalnews.ca, has accepted the new role of Digital Chair.

In making the announcement RTDNA Canada President Andy Leblanc says Lundy’s experience “will help shape the future of the Association as it embraces the reality of digital and social media in news gathering and news broadcasting.”

Lundy says he’s “thrilled to be part of the RTDNA’s digital transition. It’s truly an honour to be part of an organization that’s served its members so well for decades, and is embracing the future with open arms.”

“A recent Angus Reid survey shows almost half of Canadians would give up watching TV before giving up surfing the web,” Lundy added. “There’s no doubt digital is here to stay. Online keeps growing in prominence and looks poised to become a major force in the next few years.”

Across Canada, radio and television networks and stations are enhancing their online operations and using social media to engage their audiences in tandem with their broadcast operations. Lundy says “For most conventional media, audiences are not growing, but Canadians aren’t shying away from news; they’re just moving to digital platforms and in numbers that really matter.”

RTDNA looks forward to developing its digital journalism partnership with radio and television news. The Association will be a voice for all platforms. Digital Chair Andrew Lundy and RTDNA President Andy LeBlanc are available for interviews on the many issues confronting Canadian journalism in the age of Twitter-based news.

RTDNA Canada is the voice of electronic journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTDNA Canada recognize the responsibility of broadcast and digital journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions and ideas. The RTDNA Canada Code of Ethics, adopted by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, is used to measure fairness and accuracy in the profession.