AWN Headline News

Sheridan College is using Side Effects Softwares Houdini package in its one-year-old educational program aimed specifically at training technical directors (TDs). The complexities involved in technical animation are much greater than can be taught in a single year, so I developed the technical director program as an optional second year to our Computer Animation program, said Avrim Katzman, a former TD and current director of the Visualization Design Institute at Sheridan College.

7th LEVEL has released Agent 7, software that utilizes voice recognition and RealAudio to create talking animated characters. Users select from a pre-made cast of animated characters, speak into a microphone or add an existing voice track, and Agent 7 automatically animates the character's lips and facial expressions using "phoneme" (voice) recognition. The resulting animation can be streamed in the same manner as RealAudio. 7th Level is offering a free, two-character trial version on the web site, www.real.com/products/tools/5.html.

MICROSOFT has renewed its contract with TOTALLY HIP SOFTWARE for the licensing of GIF animations used in Microsofts software. Randall McCallum, CEO of Totally Hip, said, Using our own technology to develop content for Microsoft products provides our development team with feedback that has helped make WebPainter an award-winning Web design tool. Read a review of WebPainter in the April 1997 issue of Animation World Magazine.

THE University of Washington has obtained a patent for its pen-and-ink illustration software developed by INKLINATION, a young Seattle-based company started by people in the schools Computer Science and Engineering Department. The technology, which was presented in two papers at SIGGRAPH 94, is now available for worldwide licensing.

* Wednesday, October 14 - Thursday, October 15. Pasadena, California, U.S.A.

The D.Film Festival, a showcase for independent digital media, will have two shows during the DV Expo: one on Wednesday at 12 p.m. and the other on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.. For information visit www.dfilm.com.

* Thursday, October 15 - Saturday, October 17. Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.

The D.Film Festival will have a show at UC Santa Cruzs Kresge Town Hall. For information visit www.dfilm.com or call (831) 459-2159.

* Thursday, October 15. North Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

The Women In Animation Writers Group presents Collaborating With Musicians: From Scratch Tracks to Final Production, a panel discussion featuring Alex Rannie from The Simpsons and Bambi Moe, vice president of music at Walt Disney TV Animation. Admission is $10 for members, $20 for non-members. The event takes place from 7-9 p.m. at Film Roman, 12020 Chandler Blvd., Suite 200, in North Hollywood. RSVP is essential. Call (818) 623-0020 or e-mail kellie-bea@women.in.animation.org.

By special arrangement with Nielsen Media Research, AWN publishes the Nielsen ratings for animated programs on a monthly basis in the Animation Flash. The ratings included herein are only for U.S. national network television. The following list of animated national network programs is ranked by Household Ratings. A Rating is the percentage of households that tuned into the program. This percentage can provide us with the number of households that tuned into the program on average during the month. The universe estimate for the 1997-98 television season is 98 million TV homes.

CARTOON NETWORK will debut two new "World Premiere Toons" shorts on November 6 at 8:00 p.m. "Mike, Lu & Og" by Chuck Swenson is about a girl named Mike who leaves her home in New York City and ends up on a remote island where the natives are friendly. "Kenny and the Chimp" by Tim Warburton is about an awkward 11-year-old and his best friend, a primate named Chimpy.

The German broadcaster RTL has purchased four Nickelodeon animated series for broadcast in its weekend morning kids programming block. Hey Arnold!, Rockos Modern Life, CatDog and Angry Beavers will be introduced to the networks program line-up over the course of the next year. The sale comes on the heels of Nickelodeons withdrawal from the tough German market [AF 6/2/98] as a network. Nickelodeon ceased broadcasting on German airwaves in May, a decision motivated by weak ad sales and increased competition for viewers.

* Tuesday, October 13. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

The Goethe Institute of Los Angeles presents a screening of abstract animated films by German artist, Bärbel Neubauer. The artist will be in attendance and a wine reception will follow. A chronological selection of films will be screened, including her latest film, Firehouse. The Goethe Institute is located at 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100. For information, call (213) 525-3388.

The International Teleproduction Society (ITS) has issued its call for entries for its 20th annual International Monitor Awards, which will be presented in New York, July 24, 1999. The awards are mainly for the teleproduction and digital media industries, honoring excellence in various fields of production and post-production. The 20 categories include Short Subjects, Children's Programming, Commercials and On-Air Promotions. The early-bird deadline (discount entry fees) is December 11, 1998 and the final deadline is January 15, 1999. For information and entry forms call (703) 319-0800.