EON Reality, the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider, and Darwin Dimensions [from Montreal] — creators of Evolver, the world’s first 3D Avatar Portal, today announced a partnership on two important projects which serve customers through provision of rich and compelling 3D immersive experiences.

The projects deliver breakthroughs in several aspects of 3D collaborative applications and will enhance users’ abilities to communicate more effectively online, and help to revolutionize the way organizations leverage their digital assets. EON Reality’s technology delivers the highest quality real time rendering solutions for 3D immersive applications, while Evolver puts high fidelity avatar creation and customization into the hands of everyday web users. Together, EON Reality and Evolver will enable users to optimize their 3D digital experiences with great customization and incredible ease of use. […]

Read the rest of the article on AJAX & RIA Journal…

PIEDMONT, QC, Jan. 28 /CNW Telbec/ – Hybride Technologies, a division of Ubisoft Montreal, has produced 114 stereoscopic shots for James Cameron’s AVATAR, released December 18, 2009. The creators at the Piedmont VFX studio, located in the Laurentians, also provided numerous graphic and technical elements used in a large number of shots produced by other vendors involved on the project.

In concrete terms, Hybride’s contribution include set extensions, animating on-screen computer data as well as designing and animating virtual characters mostly for the Link Room.

"We are very grateful to Director James Cameron and Producer John Landau for giving us the opportunity to be a part of the world of Pandora" said Daniel Leduc, VFX Producer at Hybride. "We feel extremely privileged to have played a part in the creation of one of the biggest movies of the decade, and by doing so, allowing us to put forward our creative team’s talent and production team’s efficiency. Once again, Quebec’s 2D and 3D artists’ expertise and knowhow are at the heart of a worldwide commercial success."

James Cameron’s 3D blockbuster has surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing movie of all time, grossing a worldwide total of $1.86 billion.

Since its release on December 18th, James Cameron’s epic adventure, considered as the most lucrative film of all time, seems to sweep everything in its path, and continues to shatter records along the way.

Crowned Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes while James Cameron collected the Best Director Award, Avatar, which also counts 8 nominations at the upcoming BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Art) Awards, could also be the big winner at this year’s Oscars for which the nominations will be announced, Tuesday, February 2nd.

About Hybride

Hybride Technologies, division of Ubisoft, is a Quebec-based production company that specializes in digital visual effects for film and television visionaries from around the world.

Founded in 1991, the company is comprised of a team of professionals divided into five specialized creative units offering a complete range of services including digital editing, 3D animation, compositing and DI colour grading. It has contributed significant 2D and 3D work for several studio blockbusters, including 300 and Sin City, as well as for the popular Assassin’s Creed: Lineage film series. Now a specialized division of Ubisoft, Hybride continues to innovate with the same passion and commitment that have guided them from the very beginning.

All brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. (C)Copyright 2010 Hybride Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.

For further information: Sylvie Talbot, Hybride, (450) 227-4245; Source: Brigitte Chabot, Brigitte Chabot Communications, (514) 861-7870

Despite the box office records of James Cameron’s recent CG-heavy film Avatar, Ubisoft Montreal’s corresponding video game failed to make much of an impact as either a critical or commercial success — not placing in the all-formats Top 20 for December 2009. […]

"We knew we were taking [some risk]," Guillemot said. "The fact that the movie was coming in December was a potential problem, and it did result in a problem." […]

"It will be difficult in the future to buy rights to a movie that comes in December, because it’s too risky, and it cannot [capture] Christmas season [sales]," the CEO added. "It doesn’t work as well for a video game company."

Still, CFO Alain Martinez was quick to point out that James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game can’t be seen as a genuine failure. "Avatar is not a loss-making project," he stressed. "When we lose 1 million sales [from our projections], that’s about 30 million euros in sales and 65 or 70 percent of gross margin that has been lost."

Read he full article at Gamasutra…

Though it sounds intriguing and exciting on the outside, there’s something about the X-Play interview with James Cameron we put after the break that kind of bums us out. The director recently told the show, "I’ve got a lot of stories and I don’t have time to make them all as movies. That’s something I’m exploring with Ubisoft, to see if there’s maybe a relationship around just getting some of these story and world ideas into games."

It’s good news if you’re a fan of Ubisoft or Cameron, but bad news if you’re not a fan of watching a man entering his twilight years, fully aware that his own mortality may keep him from sharing all the stories he wants to with mankind. That’s kind of a total bummer. Look for James Cameron’s Grim Realization and Acceptance of the Inevitability of His Own Death coming to PS3 and 360 in 2011.

Video after the break.

3D character model and avatar tool developer Evolver [from Montreal’s Darwin Dimensions] said Thursday that its service will be integrated into game engine provider Emergent’s Gamebryo LightSpeed development system.

"Our partnership with Emergent provides LightSpeed developers with an easy way to integrate custom 3D characters into their latest projects at a fraction of the production time, effort and costs of traditional modeling and rigging methods," said Brian Nilles, Evolver CEO.

Evolver’s system is a web-based application that allows users to design and customize 3D models. Users choose from a library of facial and body characteristics from Evolver’s website, or they can use a photograph. They can then export the avatar.

Update: switched to GameTrailers’ video review.

Here’s a video review of Ubisoft Montreal’s movie based game.

Does anyone care to comment on how the development went for this game?

Does Avatar represent the big blue hope for movie games? GameTrailers video review puts it to the test.

At this year’s London MCM Expo PlayStation LifeStyle managed to talk to Kevin Shortt, the lead script writer for Avatar: The Game about everything from the title, to the movie, to fighting cosplayers. The game is set two years before the events of James Cameron’s heavily anticipated movie, giving the game far more creative freedom than the average movie game tie-ins.

 

Source

Ubisoft Montreal’s Kevin Shortt has confirmed that Far Cry 3 is in development, with the game looking ‘pretty exciting’ at this early stage.

Shortt worked as a writer on the second game, and confirmed the existence of a third in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine UK (via CVG). Whether it will remain in Africa or take on an all-new setting remains open to speculation.

Far Cry 2 was an impressive sequel to Crytek’s groundbreaking original, with Ubisoft Montreal creating one of the most thoughtful blockbusters of 2008, earning an 8.4 in our original review.

Several members of the Far Cry 2 team are working on the upcoming Avatar: The Game – which uses the same engine as last year’s open world shooter.

Does anymore already working on this title care to comment on how the project is going so far?