On March 14th, Severance aired episode nine of its second season on Apple+. The science fiction dystopian thriller series follows employees of Lumon Industries, a mysterious corporation where select workers undergo a procedure called severance, which surgically divides their work and personal memories. The story centers on Mark Scout (AdamScott), a grieving man who begins to question the true nature of the company and the ethical implications of the severance procedure.Still from "Severance" S2 E9 with James Eagen (Michael Siberry), filmed inside theTaghkanic House. Image credit: Apple+Still from "Severance" S2 E9 with Helena Eagen (Britt Lower), filmed inside the Taghkanic House. Image credit: Apple+Keen architectural viewers of episode nine may have noticed that the home of Lumons CEO James Eagen (played by Michael Siberry) is not a fictional film set, but a real award-winning residence by American architecture firm Thomas Phifer and Partners. Located in rural upstate New Yo...

Portrait photography continually evolves, and creative photographers constantly seek innovative techniques to distinguish their work. One standout approach is the Brenizer Methodalso known as the bokeh panorama. This technique merges multiple images into one panoramic portrait, creating a cinematic aesthetic with an exceptionally shallow depth of field. By mastering this method, you can capture portraits that combine the expansive viewpoint of a wide-angle lens with the elegant bokeh typically associated with longer focal lengths.Understanding the Brenizer MethodThe Brenizer Method, popularized by wedding photographer Ryan Brenizer, involves capturing a scene through a series of overlapping photographs and stitching them together digitally. The result? Portraits boasting wide-angle views with pronounced subject separation, producing an impactful, cinematic effect impossible with traditional lenses.Equipment and SetupTo effectively utilize the Brenizer Method, consider the following:Lens Choice: Typically, prime lenses between 50mm to 135mm with wide apertures (f/1.4f/2.8) produce optimal results.Camera Settings: Shoot in manual mode, locking exposure, white balance, and focus to ensure consistency across all shots.Tripod Use: While handheld shooting is possible, a tripod provides stability and consistency, simplifying stitching during post-processing.Step-by-Step Shooting TechniqueFollow these steps to execute the Brenizer Method successfully:Begin by photographing your subject clearly, setting your desired aperture and focal distance.Capture surrounding shots systematically, ensuring each new image overlaps the previous one by approximately 30%.Cover the entire intended scene, expanding both vertically and horizontally.Advanced Tips for Stunning ResultsEnhance your Brenizer panoramas with these advanced strategies:Plan for Stitching: Leave additional space around your composition to facilitate cropping and adjustments during the stitching process.Manage Subject Movement: Minimize movement between shotsthis method works best with static poses to ensure seamless stitching.Consider Background Depth: Choose backgrounds that amplify depth, such as distant landscapes or architectural settings, enhancing the panoramic effect.Post-Processing and StitchingThe true magic of the Brenizer Method emerges during post-processing:Use software like Adobe Photoshops Photomerge feature or specialized programs like PTGui.After stitching, carefully refine the panoramacrop, adjust exposure, and fine-tune colors for visual consistency.Apply subtle edits to enhance depth and contrast, further emphasizing the cinematic appeal.40+ Beautiful Bokeh Images That Capture Your ImaginationCommon Mistakes to AvoidWatch out for these pitfalls:Insufficient Overlap: Not overlapping enough can create stitching gaps or misaligned elements.Inconsistent Focus and Exposure: Ensure all images maintain the same settings to avoid uneven sharpness or exposure variations.Subject Too Close to Edges: Keep your main subject central to avoid distortion or cropping issues during stitching.Final ThoughtsMastering the Brenizer Method opens doors to creative portrait possibilities, delivering visually stunning results that stand out in portfolios. By carefully planning your shots, managing your camera settings, and perfecting your stitching technique, you can consistently produce cinematic portraits that captivate viewers and elevate your artistic expression.The post Crafting Cinematic Portraits with the Brenizer Method appeared first on 500px.

Back when the Nintendo Switch was first launched, it was received by the gaming audience at large quite positively. A few months later, however, issues started arising with players noticing that their Joy-Con analogue sticks would occasionally drift.According to IGN, the company has continued to stay quiet about the issue potentially popping up again on the Nintendo Switch 2. In a roundtable Q&A, general manager at Nintendos Technology Development Division, and senior director at its Technology Development Department, Tetsuya Sasaki, spoke at length about how the Joy-Con 2 controllers saw a major ground-up redesign.As you may have witnessed and felt, the new Joy-Con 2 controllers for the Nintendo Switch 2 have been really designed from the ground up, from scratch, and theyve been designed to have bigger movement and also smoother movement, Sasaki said. However, he didnt say anything about stick drifting being a potential issue again.Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto also spoke about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller, emphasising that they have been made much quieter when compared to the previous iteration of the Pro Controller.Aside from the color, the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller may look indistinguishable from the previous controller at first glance, but it was also redesigned from scratch, said Kawamoto during the Q&A. In particular, the left and right control sticks are quieter and dont make noise, even when theyre moved quickly to the edge. Also, they glide very smoothly, so weve taken to calling them smooth-gliding sticks.Sasaki also spoke about the smooth-gliding sticks, talking about how there have been concerted efforts at Nintendo to design what could be considered the pinnacle of all controllers. Whether this ambition has played out in the way the company would hope, however, will only be seen once the console is out.As theyre calling them smooth-gliding sticks, we made efforts to reduce the feeling of bumping when you tilt them, said Sasaki. In fact, theres been a long-running project at Nintendo with the grand ambition of developing the pinnacle of all controllers, and weve been researching it hard for a long time now.While we dont yet know what kind of technology is being used for the Switch 2s analogue sticks, a patent application from back in 2023 indicates that we might be seeing a major upgrade in that regard. The patent described a technology that would make use of a magnetorheological fluid somehow.The patent also indicates that the viscosity of this fluid can be changed depending on how the player uses the joystick. This could be technology similar to what we see in third-party controller with Hall Effect joysticks, which make use of magnetic fields to detect the position of the analogue sticks.The Nintendo Switch 2 will be hitting stores on June 5. The console will be launched alongside quite a few games, including first-party title Mario Kart World. There will also be a console bundle that includes a copy of Mario Kart World, priced at $499.99, while the base console itself will be priced at $449.99.

Nintendo, in a hardware-centric roundtable Q&A, has revealed that the Switch 2 is capable of making use of Nvidias DLSS technology for upscaling images, as well as ray tracing. As caught by IGN, senior director of the Programming Management Group Entertainment Planning & Development Department at Nintendos Entertainment Planning & Development Division, Takuhiro Dohta, spoke about some of the capabilities of the con sole.We use DLSS upscaling technology and thats something that we need to use as we develop games, said Dohta, confirming that rather than making use of its own custom AI-based image upscaler, Nintendo is instead teaming up with Nvidia to use its well-developed and relatively mature technology.Dohta does reveal that the Switch 2 is also quite a capable machine, since it can go all the way up to 4K resolutions on the right TV. This power, however, is up to game developers to use. It will also be up to the developers to figure out if they want to try and run at higher resolutions natively, or if they want to use DLSS.And when it comes to the hardware, it is able to output to a TV at a max of 4K, Dohta continued. Whether the software developer is going to use that as a native resolution or get it to upscale is something that the software developer can choose. I think it opens up a lot of options for the software developer to choose from.Dohta also confirmed that the Switch 2 is capable of hardware-based ray-tracing for improved lighting He does emphasise, however, that it will ultimately be up to developers to see what they can do with it when it comes to not only the technical costs, but also how it would help them realise their vision for their games.Yes the GPU does support ray tracing, he said. As with DLSS, I believe this provides yet another option for the software developer to use and a tool for them.When asked about more technical details on the Switch 2s hardware, however, Nintendos Tetsuya Sasaki maintained relative silence on the matter, saying that the company isnt yet ready to divulge more details on that front.Nintendo doesnt share too much on the hardware spec, said Sasaki. What we really like to focus on is the value that we can provide to our consumers. But I do believe that our partner Nvidia will be sharing some information.Nintendo had previously confirmed through an update to its website that the Switch 2 is powered by a custom SoC (system on chip includes CPU and GPU) developed by Nvidia. Previous rumours have indicated that this chip might be based on Nvidias Tegra 239.The Nintendo Switch 2 will be hitting store shelves on June 5. For more details on some of the technical aspects of the console, check out the companys engineers explaining what prompted the decision to give the Switch 2 an LCD display rather than an OLED one which we last saw on one of the later Switch models.

Thursday, April 3rd, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerNekki releases Cascadeur 2025.1 with AI-based Inbetweeninghtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Nekki has released Cascadeur 2025.1, the new version of the AI-assisted animation app.The release adds a new AI-powered Inbetweening system, for automatically generating believable motion between two key poses, updates to other key toolsets, and glTF support.Create animations based on real-world physics, aided by AI-based toolsLaunched in 2019, Cascadeur is intended as an artist-friendly alternative to conventional animation software for game development, motion graphics or visual effects work.Although it has standard tools for rigging, posing and animating characters, its unique selling point is a set of AI-assisted, semi-automated toolsets.Key poses can be quickly established for a character via the AutoPosing system, which lets users reposition a small number of joints, and have Cascadeur take care of the rest of the body.For a jumping character, the software can then calculate a physically correct trajectory between the key poses.For other types of motion, a separate AI-trained system, AutoPhysics, converts an existing keyframe animation into a physically accurate version of itself.Once generated, animations may be exported the FBX, Collada or USD format for use in other DCC applications, or game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine.Cascadeur 2025.1: new AI-based Inbetweening systemCascadeur 2025.1 introduces another AI-powered tool: Inbetweening.As the name suggests, it takes two keyframed poses and generates motion between them, but unlike conventional inbetweening, it can fill in the time with complete, repeating motion cycles.The animation is generated locally, on the users computer, not in the cloud.The interval being automatically inbetweened can be of any length, but there needs to be fewer than 88 frames between the key poses selected and the nearest neigboring keys.Updates to AutoPosing, AutoPhysics, Animation Unbaking and Ragdoll physicsUpdates to existing toolsets include improvements to the AutoPosing algorithm to increase stability, and improve the behavior of the spine and pelvis controllers.AutoPhysics gets a new control slider for the Physics Corrector, and improved Geometrical Constraints logic to help preserve the original poses.Animation Unbaking, for reducing keyframes in raw mocap data, now supports animations that are only partially baked.The new Ragdoll physics system added in the previous release now supports interactions between characters and props; and supports convex and kinematic mesh colliders.Workflow and pipeline integration improvementsOther changes include the option to import or export animation in glTF/GLB format.FBX support has been improved, with the option to select which take to use when importing an FBX file containing multiple takes, and better interoperability with Blender and Daz Studio.Workflow improvements include a right-click contextual menu in the viewport, providing quick access to common operations that can be performed to the object selected, like setting a pivot.New pricingThere have also been minor changes to pricing since the release of Cascadeur 2024.3.Indie users anyone earning under $100,000/year get new $12/month monthly subscriptions, while the price of annual subscriptions has been changed from $99/year to $8/month billed annually: that is, $96/year.The price of annual Pro subscriptions has been changed from $399/year to $33/month billed annually: that is, $396/year.Price, system requirements and release dateCascadeur 2025.1 is compatible with Windows 10+, Ubuntu 20.04+ Linux and macOS 13.3+.For users earning under $100,000/year, Indie subscriptions cost $12/month or $96/year. Pro subscriptions cost $49/month or $396/year and add advanced features.Both are rent-to-own plans, with users qualifying for a perpetual license after one year.There is also a free edition, which is not licensed for commercial use, and saves animation in its own .casc file format, making it impossible to use in other DCC apps.Read a full list of new features in Cascadeur 2025.1 in the release notesHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsNekki releases Cascadeur 2025.1 with AI-based InbetweeningInnovative animation app gets new AI system for generating realistic motion connecting two poses. Check out the other new features.Thursday, April 3rd, 2025Maxon releases Redshift 2025.4Big update to the renderer adds OpenPBR support. See the other new features for 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Houdini and Maya users.Thursday, April 3rd, 2025Maxon releases Cinema 4D 2025.23D animation and motion graphics app gets integrated Spline Modifiers and updates to particle simulation. Liquid simulation 'coming soon'.Thursday, April 3rd, 2025Maxon releases ZBrush 2025.2Check out the changes to the digital sculpting tool, including updates to poly modeling system ZModeler and new Redshift materials.Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025Maxon adds ZModeler and UV Master to ZBrush for iPad 2025.3Significant update to the new iPad edition of the digital sculpting app adds long-awaited poly modeling and UV unwrapping toolsets.Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025Adobe releases After Effects 25.2Check out the new features in the compositing app, including High Performance Preview Playback and updates to 3D workflows.Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025More NewsAutodesk releases Mudbox 2026Otoy releases OctaneRender 2025.1Poly Hammer releases Meta-Human DNA add-on for BlenderCheck out virtual cinematography tool Radical VCamChaos launches Chaos ArenaLumion unveils Lumion ViewMaster the art of Virtual Makeup Design with Neville PageAutodesk releases Arnold 7.4.13DGS Render 3.0 lets you paint 3D Gaussian Splats in BlenderAdobe releases Photoshop 26.5Autodesk releases MotionBuilder 2026Autodesk releases 3ds Max 2026Older Posts

Dont miss our talented partners on the show floor at NAB 2025, where theyll be showcasing cutting-edge applications, virtual environments, and innovative projects powered by Unreal Engine. Read on to find out wholl be there this year.

Art Meets ScienceCan A.I. Resurrect a Delacroix Mural That Was Destroyed in a Fire More Than 150 Years Ago?A new project called Digital Delacroix is training cutting-edge technology on the French painters style to unravel the lost artworks secrets Delacroix mural at the Palais Bourbon, home to the French National Assembly Sorbonne UniversityIn the final days of theParis Commune of 1871, a radicalexperiment in self-governance and insurrection that started after the nations humiliatingmilitary loss to Prussia, the Communards realized that their cause had gone up in flames.The French Army, initially pushed out of the city by the Communards, returned to Paris with a vengeance. In the mayhem, the Communards set fire to the city, including theTuileries Palace, thePalais de Justice and theHtel de Ville, which served as the city hall of Paris and the seat of the Communard government.Eventually, the army retook Paris, and the stately buildings were reconstructed. But the archives and art within the Htel de Ville were forever lost. Among the most devastating losses were a series of allegorical murals by theRomantic painterEugne Delacroix.At their center was Peace Descends to Earth, a vivid panel that 19th-century French criticThophile Gautier described as the earth weeping, raising her eyes to heaven to plead for an end to her sorrows, per theNew York Times Frank Rose.Napoleon III gave toQueen Victoria in 1855.Now, researchers are hoping to unravel the murals secrets. Virtually recreating Peace Descends to Earth with the help ofartificial intelligence is among the goals ofDigital Delacroix, an ambitious project led by Barthlmy Jobert, an art historian at Sorbonne University in Paris. The Htel de Ville after the fires of 1871 Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsAs Jobert sees it, well-trained A.I. can help infer links between Delacroixs existing studies for the mural and his distinctive style.We wont give you an exact reproduction of the room as it was. Thats impossible, Jobert tells the Times. But we will give you what it could have been.Schmidt Sciences, a philanthropic venture by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, announced this week that Digital Delacroix was the first recipient of its Humanities and A.I. Virtual Institute (HAVI) grants. The funding is in the high six figures, according to the Times. A sketch forPeace Descends to Earthcreated in 1852 Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsWe study humanities for much the same reason we study science: to gain knowledge of our world and our role within it, Wendy Schmidt says in astatement. She explains that the initiative seeks out projects that marry emerging technologies with deeply intertwined human histories and cultures.Joberts project fits the bill. In addition to the mural reconstruction, Digital Delacroix also promises to digitize some 2,500 of Delacroixs letters and make murals painted at thePalais Bourbon and thePalais du Luxembourghome to the French National Assembly and Senate, respectivelymore accessible to the public.Because letter digitization is a relatively straightforward process, the first order of business is to take high-resolution photos of the murals and, using photogrammetry, build virtual rooms that visitors can tour. A 3D rendering of a Delacroix mural at the Chapel of the Holy Angels at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris Sorbonne UniversityWith these high-quality photos, Jobert and his team can then begin their secondary goal: determining which sections of the murals were painted by Delacroix himself and which were made by his assistants.This question of multiple authorship is a really tricky one,Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky and the director of HAVI, tells the Times.Seales recently led the A.I.-assisted effort todecode 2,000-year-old scrolls charred by Mount Vesuvius eruption. Now, he hopes that A.I. will be able to discern faint stylistic differences between Delacroix and other artists.Evidence of authorship is subtle and individualizeda constellation of small things tied to the specific behavior and training of a unique person, Seales tellsArtnets Jo Lawson-Tancred. While individual things might be a weak indicator, like a stroke style or a color selection, the aggregation of a number of these things makes for a unique signature.Technology that can identify different brushstrokes is experimental. Instead of generative A.I. like ChatGPT, which has advanced byleaps and bounds since its launch in 2022, this phase of the Digital Delacroix project relies onanalytical A.I.Progress in that field is slower. Still, We think theres a high possibility it will work, Xavier Fresquet, deputy director of theSorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence, tells the Times.Eventually, the researchers hope that the A.I. will become a Delacroix expert, able to instantly pick out his brushstrokes from existing works and subsequently determine how the painter might have crafted the murals in the Htel de Ville.A.I. is a new lens through which we can view master works, Seales tells Artnet. Anything that resurrects our appreciation of such a significant artist is a great reminder of the genius of the past and the promise of the future.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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Roblox is launching a handful of new parental controls that can be used to limit who and what children interact with on the UGC platform.Detailing its latest measures in a blog post, Roblox said three new tools will grant parents the ability to block specific experiences or people on their child's friends list, while also letting them track which experiences have captured their attention.The company said it wants to provide flexible tools for parents so it can accommodate their individual "comfort levels.""We know children develop on different timelines and parents have different comfort levels regarding how much time their kid spends online, where they spend it, and who they spend it with. In developing parental controls, we prioritize transparency and ease of use to make it as simple as possible for parents to implement them," reads the blog post."It's also important to note that, regardless of whether parents use these controls, we consider the safety of our youngest users paramount to the Roblox experience."The new feature set will give parents the power to report anyone on their child's friends list if they believe they're violating Roblox policies.When it comes to blocking specific experiences, parents will be offered "granular" controls that can be used to review or change the content maturity level associated with their child's accountwhich ultimately determines which experiences they can access.Related:"For example, they may want their child to have access to Moderate content in general, but not to a specific experience that appears in the Moderate category," continues the blog post. "Experience-level blocking empowers parents to block any specific experiences that they don't want their child to access."Screen time insights have also been bolstered so parents can view the 20 experiences that have consumed the majority of their child's time.The new tools have been introduced a few months after Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki suggested parents with safety concerns should simply avoid the platform.Despite that rather blunt slice of advice, Roblox has been working to bolster its child safety measures in response to a perceived lack of protections for younger players.Case in point: last year Bloomberg published an extensive report based on testimonies from 20 current and former Roblox employees who alleged the company was failing to curb predatory behavior.By contrast, Roblox said it rolled out over 40 safety updates in 2024 alone and will continue to bolster its tools, policies, and systems to keep children safe.Related: