Village Gamer

From Unite 2013 in Vancouver: American 3D character animation pioneer Mixamo has announced the launch of Face Plus, a technology that brings facial animations to 3D characters with just a simple webcam and the Unity editor. Independent developers can now enrich their games with emotional experiences without the high cost and complexity of existing facial animation solutions.  With Face Plus, developers are now able to capture their own facial expressions via standard webcams and transfer them in real time onto a 3D character. A Unity plugin, Face Plus leverages the upcoming Unity 4.3 blendshape technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal-based eXploranceTo help channel the innovation shaping the face of education, Desire2Learn today kicked off the Desire2Learn Edge Challenge 2013 by announcing a $10,000 grand prize for the best custom-built application that improves the education experience for teachers, students or administrators. The Desire2Learn Edge Challenge is a development competition for post-secondary students to create a mobile, web or desktop application that enhances the experience of students, instructors or administrators in an educational context. Participants work in teams to create real-world solutions that will shape the future of education. Read the rest of this entry »

TickleVault is a project formed by Fort Technology, an Alberta based technology company, to provide a secure alternative to Dropbox hosted on Canadian soil. The TickleVault system allows users to backup and synchronize files between their PC, Mac, Android, and iPhone and have the files stored encrypted in a secure location in downtown Edmonton. The easy to use web interface allows other devices to access files stored in the encrypted TickleVault storage, providing users access to their data anywhere. Read the rest of this entry »

SIGGRAPH 2014 will take place next 12-14 August in Vancouver, and if you book your space now, you’ll pay only $37.00 USD per square foot with a 10% deposit due on booking. The price goes up on September 4th to $38.00 per square foot, and a 50% deposit will be required to secure your space if you apply after September 12th. Exhibit applications submitted after February 15, 2014 will require payment in full. SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver is an incredible marketing opportunity for Canadian companies – this is your chance to show off Canadian talent and innovation to a global audience – on our own turf. Personally I hope to see a much higher percentage of Canadian companies exhibiting at SIGGRAPH 2014 than in 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

Zevrix Solutions has released BatchOutput Server 4.9.1, a maintenance update to its powerful output workflow automation solution for Adobe InDesign. Developed originally for a major magazine publisher in the United States to free up their operator computers from outputting InDesign files, the software automates InDesign workflow by processing files from hot folders. The software offloads printing and exporting to PDF and PostScript to a central system leaving operator workstations free from the output process. Read the rest of this entry »

Broadcasters, producers and their advertising partners who invest in research and development, as well as in extensive promotion of their second screen apps, will benefit the most from this rapidly growing market. This is just one of the conclusions to be found in The Second Screen and Television — Production and Deployment, which completes a series of white papers exploring the second screen phenomenon and interactive TV apps. Read the rest of this entry »

Talent INC Canada has quickly become a hot bed for the entertainment industry by providing quality training and the unique opportunity to network with top industry professionals. The Canadian National Conference hosted by Talent INC is celebrating it’s second season of success by announcing the overall winners of full scholarships to the next showcase. Read the rest of this entry »

LevelUp, The Vancouver Island game industry association, will be welcoming dozens of video game developers from across North America this fall for the fourth edition of OrcaJam as part of the inaugural Thinklandia Festival. So what’s an OrcaJam? Simply put, it’s an event where a group of like-minded people get together and work on what they love; making games for 48 hours straight. Programmers, artists, audio engineers, board game designers… anyone interested in game development is welcome. Kicking off Friday, September 6th (6pm), and running through Sunday September 8th (6pm), OrcaJam lasts the entire weekend and includes a series of panel discussions, keynote speakers, a game showcase and judging panel and prizes at the end! Read the rest of this entry »

On August 15, 2013 come check-out demonstrations of some of the latest games and chat with indie developers and game designers about their work researching, planning, designing and developing all aspects of games.  You will also get to explore Game On 2.0 in its final weeks in Toronto. The exhibit runs tomorrow from 10am until 8pm at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto and is presented in association with triOS College. Read the rest of this entry »

Merging Media Productions Inc. and The Canadian Media Production Association – BC Producers’ Branch (CMPA-BC) are pleased to announce an impressive international lineup for the Global Edition of the 4th Annual Merging Media Conference, on November 6th and 7th, 2013 at The Arts Club on Granville Island in Vancouver. If you want to attend Merging Media 2013, and if you’re a #MM2013 ‘Early Adopter’, here’s your chance to win a free pass! Two lucky individuals will be picked from the first 50 people who register online to win 2-Day Full conference passes. Don’t wait – register now.  Early Bird pricing ends September 20th. Read the rest of this entry »