A new security strategy has been revealed by the EU Commission, with E2EE backdoors at its heart.

It always starts with a deadline. Eye-catching VFX shots, lifelike animation, breathtaking architectural visualizations that need to be rendered at the highest qualitybut time is running out. You push your local workstation to the limit, listening to the fans whir at full speed as your GPU strains to keep up. Hours pass, and youre still waiting. Then, a crash. Your machine just cant take it anymore.This is the reality that many 3D artists face daily. The demand for high-quality, photorealistic rendering has never been greater, but local machines often fall short of the power required.That is where online render farms like iRendercome in. A solution that eliminates the barriers of hardware limitations, giving artists the power they need without the burden of costly upgrades.Rendering a C4D scene with Redshift on iRenders 6 x RTX 4090 serverThe Struggles of Local RenderingRendering locally is a battle against time and hardware.The Hardware BottleneckIt doesnt matter if you have a high-end GPU or a workstation with maxed-out RAM, complex 3D scenes will eventually push your hardware to its limits. High-resolution textures, volumetric lighting, and intricate simulations require massive processing power, and even the most powerful local machines can slow to a crawl.The Never-Ending Upgrade CycleJust when you think youve built the perfect workstation, software advancements and hardware improvements make it obsolete. Newer versions of Redshift demand more VRAM, more processing power, and faster GPUs, leaving artists in a constant cycle of expensive upgrades.The Cost of TimeTime is money, and nowhere is this more true than in the 3D industry. Rendering on a local machine means waitingsometimes for hours or even daysto complete a single animation or still frame. Missed deadlines, slow iteration cycles, and frustration become the norm rather than the exception.Heat, Wear, and Power ConsumptionProlonged rendering sessions put enormous stress on GPUs, leading to overheating, component wear-and-tear, and high electricity costs. A workstation running at full power overnight can significantly spike your energy bills, which makes local rendering not just time-consuming but expensive.These are the challenges that cloud render farms like iRender are solving. They eliminate hardware bottlenecks, reduce rendering times, and give artists access to enterprise-level computing power without the enterprise-level cost.iRender: A New Era of Cloud Rendering for RedshiftiRender isnt just an ordinary render farm; its an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform that gives artists full control over dedicated high-end GPU servers. Unlike traditional render farms, iRender allows you to interact with your projects in real time, just as if you were working on your own machine, but significantly faster.Key Benefits of iRender for Redshift Users High-Speed Rendering with High-End GPUsWith access to up to 8x RTX 4090 or RTX 3090 GPUs, iRender delivers lightning-fast rendering times. This allows artists to go from hours to minutes without compromising quality. Whether its an animation sequence or a high-resolution product visualization, speed is no longer a barrier. Flexible, Cost-Effective PricingNo more spending thousands on hardware upgrades. iRender operates on a pay-as-you-go model, ensuring that you only pay for what you use. For long-term projects, rental plans offer even better pricing and custom hardware configurations tailored to your needs. Scalability Without LimitsNeed more power? iRenders scalable infrastructure means you can instantly upgrade from a single GPU setup to an 8x RTX 4090 / RTX 3090 powerhouse, ensuring that you never run into hardware limitationsno matter the project size. Full Creative Control Over Your WorkflowUnlike traditional render farms that process jobs in a queue, iRender gives artists full remote desktop access to their dedicated GPU servers. This means you can:Pause and resume renders at any time.Make last-minute adjustments without starting over.Install any Redshift version or software (Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya, Houdini, etc).Work as if you were on your own local machine, just with way more power. Reliability & 24/7 Professional SupportRendering failures can be a nightmare. With iRenders optimized high-performance servers, crashes are minimized, and artists can count on stable, uninterrupted rendering sessions. Plus, 24/7 expert support ensures that help is always available when you need it.Whats Coming in 2025?In short, iRender will give you the competitive edge you need in 2025.Best performance-to-price ratio for Redshift usersFull control over powerful GPU servers (no queue waiting)Perfect for both freelancers and large studiosSeamless remote access & real-time renderingThe industry is moving faster than ever, and 2025 is going to be a game-changing year for all. iRender continues to lead the way in innovation, first to provide cutting-edge solutions that make rendering faster, easier, and more affordable. One of its recent innovations is the Staking (Stake to Earn) feature, artists can stake unused iRender Points and earn bonuses.With the latest NVIDIA RTX 5090 launch, can you guess what exciting upgrades are coming up next at iRender? But heres a little secret: iRender is also expanding with a brand-new Data Center in South Korea. Stay tuned!Rendering Redshift with iRender today and never let hardware limitations hold you back again!Brought to you by iRender:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post Breaking Hardware Limits: A Render Farm Solution for Redshift Users appeared first on befores & afters.

Im going to be merciless when it comes to the CG parachute.Seth Gordons Back in Action contains a dramatic aerial sequence featuring a plane crash in the mountains, an avalanche and a thrilling parachute jumpall within a matter of minutes. It occurs as CIA agents Matt (Jamie Foxx) and Emily (Cameron Diaz) are ambushed on the plane for a key device they hold, and must fight off their attackers and then escape the crashing aircraft.Interestingly, the initial version of the sequence was to take place on a train. Locations were scouted in London and previs was produced for that version of the scene. However, when another Netflix film also featured a train action moment, it was decided to switch to the plane approach.We previsd the plane shots with MPCs visualization team, outlines production visual effects supervisor Erik Nash. We didnt previs all the interior action because that was done as stuntvis by the stunt team. The previs and stuntvis then helped us work out how to shoot everything.Back In Action. Behind the scenes on the set of Back In Action. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix 2024.Nash narrowed in, at first, on the parachute jump side of the sequence, since the visual effects supervisor is himself a trained parachutist (he had previously lent his expertise in that area at Digital Domain on the skydiving scene in Iron Man 3). I got to talking to second unit director J.J. Perry, who is former airborne military, and he said, You know what? You do this. This is right up your alley. You worry about the parachute part of it.Looking to film as much of that parachute section practically, Nash worked out that the unusual orientation of the jump could be donein the film, it is effectively a tandem jump where Matt and Emily are facing each other holding on, rather than one behind the other. Having seen it done a few times and knowing you can do it face-to-face, I know we could stage it so they would survive, relates Nash.The next step was to establish where to film a jump. It needed to be a snowy Alps-type environment. Production secured permissions to film in Slovenia which featured the desired mountainous location. We found a small town called Bovec that is a ski resort but also has a grass airstrip where they do skydiving from in summer, says Nash. There was also this grass landing area which was a meadow with this very steep granite mountain face that had snow all over it. It was perfect.Back In Action. BTS (L to R) Jamie Foxx as Matt and Cameron Diaz as Emily on the set of Back In Action. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix 2024.Parachutist Dave Emerson cast two stunt performers for the jump, Yolanda Lee and Christian Botakwame. Nash was then part of the helicopter shoot over Bovec to film the jump. We had a Shotover helicopter camera rig with a long lens on it. We had an even longer lens on a ground-based camera, and we had a second parachutist with a helmet mounted-camera who jumped with our stunt players. And then we had a drone camera, too. We did two jumps in one afternoon and got tons of amazing footage, and it worked better than I ever could have dreamed. No visual effects were applied to any of that footage other than the first shot where we tie in the avalanche and the explosion from where the jet cratered in. Ironically, I get a kick out of doing stuff that doesnt involve visual effects every now and then.Close-ups of Foxx and Diazs characters did involve two bluescreen inserts. I thank Seth in my head for not playing a bunch of close-ups, because theyre often really hard to do, shares Nash. I made sure that we could shoot these outside. I did not want to fake daylight on a sound stage.Similarly, Nash was adamant that the practical parachute seen in these close-ups also not appear fake. Ive seen a lot of these types of bluescreen parachuting shots just not work out. So, I had pitched an idea of doing it rigged off a flatbed truck so that theyre actually moving through space, not hanging static in place. However, it was logistically and budgetarily prohibitive. We ended up doing it the old-fashioned way by hitting them with a big rush of air. There were only two of those shots, and I thought they turned out pretty well.Part of the crash, from the films trailer.Thankfully theyre short shots, continues Nash. Its really tough to fake all of the complex dynamics of that kind of shot in terms of, okay, what is the camera platform thats photographing these? So, we have to imagine that theyre traveling through space at 30 miles an hour. If the cameras in any proximity, then really youre implying that its another parachutist that shot it. I think sometimes when these shots fail, its because the camera is often doing something it cant do. But to really shoot these close-ups theres not a lot you can do if you really had to shoot them for real.The actual deployment of the parachute was achieved digitally. I had a heart-to-heart with Malte Sarnes, MPCs visual effects supervisor for this sequence, and I told him upfront, We have to do a CG parachute for the deployment and for the landing, and it has to be great. This was because we couldnt shoot these parts with a real parachute. I said, Im going to be merciless when it comes to the CG parachute. Im going to be a hard ass. Ive seen so many unconvincing to downright bad CG parachutes over the years, and it just bugs me to no end.I think thats one of the places where CG parachutes often break down is that theres not enough transmitted light, Nash adds. Its all reflected. If you hold the fabric up to a bright sky, you can almost see through it, and theres multiple layers. So youve got the upper layer affecting the light, hitting the lower layer, but theyre both semi-translucent.Back In Action. (L to R) Cameron Diaz as Emily and Jamie Foxx as Matt in Back In Action. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix 2024.Nash arranged for the props department to send the practical parachute to the assets team at MPC in London for them to examine it. I said, Take it outside, have all your asset guys feel the fabric, hold the fabric up to the light, see what its like. We also had about 20 minutes of actual parachute jump footage from flying around in that valley. I said, Here, this is all the reference you could ever ask for.Whats more, Nash arranged for free-fall camera operator Andy Ford to deliver some parachute deployment footage of unfolding and inflating for further reference. What he did was take his helmet-mounted camera, which normally faces forward, and put it on backwards, so that when he jumped out of the plane and opened the chute, the camera was pointed in the direction of the parachute unfurling. He did several of those and then gave all of that to MPC. It let the team see all the cloth dynamics, which are incredibly noisy and erratic and random.One thing to note, says Nash, is that free-fall cameramen typically pack their parachute to open slowly because its easier on their neck with all that weight on their head from the camera. The issue was, while we got great reference, it took way too long for the parachute to inflate, in terms of what we needed to see in our scene. They pull the chute and get yanked out of the plane, so it had to happen really quickly. So, I did a re-timed, cut down version of the deployment, and it all paid off because I think MPC nailed it.Fight on a planePrior to the parachute jump, and the actual crash, a fight ensues on the plane between Matt and Emily versus a rogue crew. The fight even continues once the plane hits the side of the mountain and ends up sliding down the snowy slope. Interior scenes were filmed on a large gimbal that held a plane mock-up. It could roll 360 degrees, advises Nash. The original sequence as shot was actually quite a bit longer. There was a whole stretch in the middle where the plane was rolling down the mountain like a pencil on a sloped table. In the finished sequence, the plane rolls up on its side and then rolls back.Back In Action. (L to R) Jamie Foxx as Matt and Cameron Diaz as Emily in Back In Action. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix 2024.For background environments, production was able to film mountains, skies and clouds from a helicopter, as well as with a drone. Says Nash: We went up the ski lift to the top of the mountain, had one of those snow cats that could get us a certain distance away from all of the ski gear, and then we had a drone up there that we shot plates with. We werent able to utilize as much of that plate photography as I had hoped, partly because the lighting conditions were constantly changing on the top of this mountain.Ultimately, the bulk of the exterior shots, including the avalanche, were realized as fully CG environments by MPC. We used some of the plate photography to build some of these environments, describes Nash. Wed pick some of the plate photography, which maybe didnt do what it needed to do in terms of camera moves, and then we said, This is the lighting condition that we want to build into all our CG environments. We did use plate photography for all the air-to-air shots preceding impact with the mountain. I think there were four or five of those, including a sunset shot that Seth absolutely loved. And Im like, Oh, but theres no sunset in any of the other shots? I think you get away with it and its a gorgeous shot.Back In Action. Behind the scenes on the set of Back In Action. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix 2024.The jet itself was CG and had to match a practical jet that was filmed for a hangar scene of the characters boarding the aircraft. In that hangar, however, the jet was plain white. When it was modelled and textured and placed into the white-ish mountainous environments, the plane was deemed too nondescript. So, recounts Nash, I did a quick little Google search and looked for a simple two-color stripe scheme that we then put on our CG jet, which meant we then had to add to the practical jet in the hangar in a handful of shots for continuity.As the plane slides down the mountain, a further consideration became the amount of damage to represent on the digital fuselage. We wanted to imply that there was a lot of scraping and denting going on outside the plane while were inside covering the fight, states Nash. So, we went to 11 on the plane damage dial and had to track the progression of it all. What helped was that I had done a CG Air Force One for Iron Man 3, and in reality that is the cleanest plane ever! Which is hard to do convincingly in CG. It does not look real. So even there we had to add dirt and oil streaks on the wings.Back In Action. BTS Jamie Foxx as Matt on the set of Back In Action. Cr. Parrish Lewis/Netflix 2024.Inside the plane, as it crashes, became a messier and messier environment of ice, snow and debris. All of it was simulated, notes Nash. We did some early tests with the special effects team but found it was really hard to control and get enough airflow through the airplane set that the stuff would enter the gash and travel all the way out the far end and not settle somewhere in the middle. So it became all-CG. That was another thing where we did a first pass and the director said, More. Okay, second pass. More. There were some things like napkins and paper that were practical. Ironically, the thing that we kept seeing over and over were these red napkins and we wound up painting most of them out because they were so distracting!The post Behind the scenes of that crazy plane fight, plane crash and parachute jump in Back in Action appeared first on befores & afters.

With the release of his latest book, Bill Gates is enjoying fawning profiles meant to set him apart from other tech billionaires, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, who have all come under increased scrutiny for their recent turn to the right. While he may not be using technology to further political divisiveness, Gates does have an important kinship with his fellow billionaires, past and present: the paternalistic belief that his fortune, no matter how ill-gotten, is a good thing, because hes using it to save the world.This philosophy was first laid out in 1889 by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest Americans in history, in an influential essay titled the Gospel of Wealth. Carnegies response to the rising progressive sentiment of his day was to argue that wealth concentration is beneficial to society because it incentivizes innovation, efficiency, and economic growthand it also provides a further social good through philanthropy. The harsh treatment of workers and environmental degradation became worth the price of thousands of libraries.Sound familiar? Todays tech leaders provide almost the exact same logic for the legitimacy of their fortunes and as a justification for inequality. Influential venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, for instance, explicitly refers to this as a deal he believes exists between Silicon Valley and society, such that tech moguls should be given significant freedom to generate wealth through the innovations they create, and any negative societal or environmental impacts that result will eventually be offset by their future generosity.Andreessen says Joe Bidens breaking of this unspoken compact is what led to his and other tech leaders rightward turn and support of fellow billionaire Donald Trump.But of all the philanthropists following the neo-Carnegie deal, Gates is the pacesetter, despite the fact that there has been significant criticism of this model. Carnegies ideas are so discredited that when I taught a class on philanthropy at Harvard Kennedy School a number of years ago, we read Carnegies Gospel in the first session as an example of what not to do. Not only is the idea that business success somehow gives individuals both the right and the expertise to determine solutions to vexing social issues problematic, the Carnegie model is a blatant guidebook for philanthropy-washing and undermines democracy by concentrating decision-making in the hands of unelected billionaires rather than public institutions.Like Carnegie, the start of Gatess philanthropy was closely tied to significant critiques of his business practices and the source of his wealth. Twenty-five years ago, Microsoft was sued by the U.S. government for bundling Internet Explorer with other products in anti-competitive ways. When videos of Gatess deposition for the case were made public, his image took a significant hit. He came across as evasive and arrogant, refusing to acknowledge basic facts, denying understanding of common words like concern and support, and often dodging accountability.While at the time he and other tech moguls were known as the cyber-stingy for their lack of giving back, like Carnegie he came to see philanthropy as a way to restore and eventually burnish his reputation. Today there are many public testaments to the work of the Gates Foundation. For instance its funding of vaccines for polio, rotavirus, and COVID-19 and its work on malaria and HIV prevention have been estimated to have saved well over 100 million lives.But like Carnegie, Gates work has also come under criticism for a selective focus, and reflecting a billionaires know best ideology. While Carnegies interest inbuilding libraries and museums was laudable, it reflected his own biases and priorities, not the needs of the communities he sought to serve. At the time, the working-class and immigrant communities that suffered from his businesses employment practices often had little access or interest in these institutions, and would have benefited more fromlabor protections, housing, or public health infrastructure.Some of the Gates Foundations most well-known failures also illustrate an underlying imperial style that reflects Gatess own idiosyncratic interests rather than grassroots, democratic solutions, resulting in questionable outcomes.The Foundations education reform efforts pushed for standardized testing and charter schools in the U.S., which ignored teacher expertise and worsened inequality. In Africa, it has promoted industrial farming and genetically modified cropsoften against the wishes of local farmers who advocate for sustainable, small-scale agricultureand a number of reports have shown that these activities have not provided food security. Similarly, Gatess focus on addressing climate change centers on questionable technologies like direct air capture and geo-engineering that require extensive financial support rather than addressing emissions reductions solutions that consider climate justice needs.Many of my students who had worked in nonprofits expressed significant frustration about the dominance of the Gates Foundation in skewing the nonprofit landscape to Gatess personal interests, and further, how its bias toward quantification reflects a rigid, engineering-style approach to problem-solving that ignores the cultural, social, and historical contexts that shape human behavior. This is seen as a root cause of its educational reform failures. A focus on creating measures of teaching effectiveness and tracking them in detail led to stress for teachers, and contributed to teaching to the test, as opposed to more meaningful learning.This overly data-driven approach to philanthropy also closely tracks with effective altruism (EA), a philosophy that has wide resonance among the tech-elite. EA advocates a strict utilitarian logic to ethical decisions and treats problems as optimization puzzles rather than complex moral or social dilemmas. For example, its focus on assessing the outcome of charity based on the metric quality-adjusted life years ignores how such measures implicitly devalue certain groupssuch as the disabledand any approaches that dont fit into a neat cost-benefit framework.Disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was an effective altruist, and Elon Musk has described EA as a close match for his own personal philosophy.The level of hubris exhibited by Gates, Musk, and Andreessen when rationalizing their actions hasnt been seen since the Gilded Age. But we cant forget that theres a reason why these 19th-century industrialists were known as robber barons.Our current era has much in common with Carnegies day, when leaps in industrial, communications, and transportation technologies transformed the ways that people lived, and also led to extreme income inequality and the rise of a new class of ultrarich entrepreneurs. There was political gridlock and significant backlash against immigration too. Eventually, outrage at the widespread and systemic injustice of the Gilded Age led to the Progressive Era.But will todays polycrisis of climate change, economic inequality, public health challenges, and more create enough momentum for a fundamental shift in how we assess wealth and its sources? During the second Trump administration, it may be tempting to rely on Gates and his cohort of good billionaires, as newly elected Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin recently suggested. But there will be no 21st-century Progressive Era unless we start to question how one person is able to amass such wealth in the first place.

Its telling that the plot premise of the first episode for the new Apple show The Studioepisode three drops todayrevolves entirely around the notion of a Kool-Aid movie.Created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the entire show revolves around the elevation of Rogens character Matt Remick to studio head, a job he got only because he committed to getting into bed with the brand IP of a 98-year-old beverage. How the premiere episode subsequently ties in Martin Scorcese and a film about Jonestown to the Kool-Aid brand is both hilariously absurd and somehow absolutely believable.Speaking of believable, watch the scene in which filmmaker Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Captain Underpants, Neighbors) pitches Remick his Kool-Aid script idea and tell me it couldnt be hitting theaters next summer.There is a scene in the first episode that undoubtedly had marketers of all stripes howling with laughter and cringing with recognition. It takes place in a boardroom of the fictional film studio Continental Studios, in which newly promoted Remick tells the studios head of marketing (played by Kathryn Hahn) that they will be making a movie based on Kool-Aid brand IP.Lets fucking go! exclaims Hahns character, holding a giant Stanley cup. I could sell the fuck out of that!Kathryn Hahn and Chase Sui Wonders [Photo: Apple TV+]We then get a very short, yet incredibly accurate, summary of the current tension in Hollywood when it comes to brand IP. Remick details why Barbie was successful. It had Greta Gerwig, a writer-director behind it, he says. It had a filmmakers vision. Thats what were going to do with Kool-Aid. Were going to make the auteur-driven, Oscar-winning Kool-Aid film.Hahns character groans. Oh fuck me, you want to make a fucking fancy Kool-Aid movie? she says. Why? Nobody even fucking watches the Oscars anymore. Did Mario Bros win an Oscar? No, it didnt. But you know what it did win? $1.3 billion.Rogen said last week on the podcast Armchair Expert that prior to writing the show, he and Goldberg interviewed just about every studio head, and their heads of marketing. As profanely hysterical as this show is, its depiction of the relationship between Hollywood, marketing, and brands is rooted in an immediately recognizable reality.I spoke to sources that include execs and creatives who work across brands and entertainment, studio marketers, and yes, Kool-Aid parent Kraft Heinz, to see just how recognizable it really is. Here are three things The Studio gets right.[Photo: Apple TV+]The MarketerKathryn Hahn is both brilliant and brilliantly over-the-top, but her characters role in the studio decision making process is illustrated perfectly. The modern studio marketer is now a part of the project approval process for films, given the ongoing challenges of getting our attention and convincing us to actually go to the movie theaters.But just as Remick initially ignores her advice, the marketers are also at the mercy of those above them in the studio food chain. In his Armchair Expert interview, Rogen said (starting around 50-minute mark), even though the marketer is on the greenlight committee, Often they get directly overruled, he said. They would say, We should not make this movie! We cannot sell it! And then theyre told (by studio execs) Guess what, we made it anyway and if it fails youre the one whos going to get fired. That was just a really funny dynamic to have in the show.Of course, sometimes that dynamic works incredibly well. Back in 2023, I spoke to Universals CMO Michael Moses about Cocaine Bear, which went on to make $88 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. Moses department helped boost the hype around that film by making fun social posts like the bear snorting the chalk lines of the football field, and creating a 8-bit, Pac-Man-style online game called The Rise of Pablo Escobear.Rogen told the podcast that the studio marketers he spoke to view themselves as more creative than the executives. Theyre like, We actually make stuff. We create things. Were making commercials, content, posters, were thinking of little ads, while these guys (execs) are just sitting in rooms and giving notes, said Rogen.Studio marketers I spoke to on background told me that the show has been a hot topic in their office hallways. They said that the balance between how recognizable and farcical it is, is a ton of fun, and they love Hahns sweatily trendy marketer and her willingness to tell the truth.Bryan Cranston [Photo: Apple TV+]The Brand TensionPatient zero of Hollywoods latest Great Brand IP Experiment is obviously Barbie, and the iconic doll subsequently catches some hilariously vulgar strays in The Studio.While the hype around brands and Hollywood is very real, there is really a small number of companies like Superconnector Studios, ACE Content, and Modern Arts that have been able to bridge the two in a meaningful and consistent way.Modern Arts cofounder and cochief creative officer Zac Ryder says The Studios first episode nails how hungry Hollywood is for IP that it believes audiences already know and love. And I think it nails how hungry brands are to be part of pop culture in a real way, says Ryder. Now more than ever, they need each other if theyre going to survive. Theres a sense of desperation to the episode, which I think is spot on.In the wake of Barbies success back in 2023, Mattel announced plans for more IP-driven film projects that sound straight out of The Studiolike a Polly Pocket movie directed by Lena Dunham, or a Barney movie produced by Daniel Kaluuya. Dunham dropped out of the former last year, but Mattel confirmed to Fast Company earlier this month the film is still in development. The Barney project is very much in progress, written by Ayo Edebiri and co-developed and produced by A24. This sounds straight from the Remick playbook.Ryder says a lot of studio execs still think of brands as a blank check. That a brand will just go along with anything for an opportunity to be involved in a project, he says. The connection between Kool-Aid and the Jonestown massacre is an insanely far fetched, hilarious example. But I do think theres some truth to it.However, as evidenced in the dramatically slowing pace of brand IP projects being announced since the initial Barbie afterglow, that attitude towards brands has evolved. There are a lot more executives and producers in the business who see the value a brand can bring to the table, especially when it comes to marketing and understanding an audience, says Ryder.Ryder says there are insights for brand marketers watching The Studio. Make sure you arent just getting your brand involved in a project because you want to tell people about your movie at a cocktail party, he says. Be very clear and very intentional with what you want the brand to get out of the deal. Also, know what you bring to the table. In many ways, the studios need you more than you need them.Martin Scorsese [Photo: Apple TV+]The Kool-Aid MovieWhile Martin Scorceses repurposed Jonestown film is so very clearly miles over the line, Stollers treatment is entirely believable.Superconnector Studios cofounder Jae Goodman says that its believability extends beyond the fictional world of The Studio. Despite the hilarity of the brands role in the studio, no chance any reasonable brand manager stays officially connected to the studio once the Jonestown idea appears, says Goodman. If the storyline veers away from Scorceses Jonestown, then I think theres an opportunity down the line to do an actual Seth-and-Evan-led Kool Aid movie.One thing that nagged me while watching this episode was just how visible and upfront Kool-Aid was in all the jokes. The iconic Kool-Aid Man character even makes an appearance in a quick TIKTok dance diversion created by Hahns marketing team. Could the real Kool-Aid brand actually be involved here?Sources close with the brand and its parent Kraft Heinz say that Rogen and Goldberg did approach the brand, including sharing scripts and rough edits, in the hopes Kool-Aid would be officially involved. Obviously, the Jonestown plotline and jokes got in the way of that.But sources also said that Kraft Heinz has been in discussions with Apple to explore potential paths forward. While the shows portrayal of Kool-Aid may not always align with its brand ethos, the company recognizes the value in having its brands in the cultural zeitgeist.Its refreshing to see that a brand has enough self-awareness and confidence to not freak out over its portrayal in a subversive comedy. Ive got a feeling that Kool-Aid isnt the last IRL brand to get name-checked and more as the show goes on.As much as Mattel must be doing its best Lloyd Christmas impression while watching the show, do you think the folks at Kraft Heinz are cautiously optimistic for where all this could lead? Mr. Kool-Aid has a catchphrase for that.

We check our phones thousands of times daily, running our fingers across smooth glass and metal surfaces that have become extensions of ourselves. This constant tactile relationship with our devices makes the texture we feel just as important as the visual design. While most manufacturers focus on sleek, minimalist aesthetics, dbrand has taken a wildly different approach with their latest product release thats equal parts bizarre and brilliant.In what might be the most literal interpretation of the internet meme touch grass, dbrand has unveiled a new line of device skins that bring actual (fake) grass textures to your favorite gadgets. The aptly named Touch Grass skins transform the back of your smartphone, laptop, or gaming console into a miniature lawn that you can carry everywhere. Its a tactile experience thats simultaneously ridiculous and oddly satisfying.Designer: dbrandMost smartphone accessories prioritize visual appeal over tactile sensation, treating texture as an afterthought rather than a central feature. dbrands grass skins flip this concept upside down by making the physical feeling the main attraction. According to the company, each square centimeter contains over 1,000 individual strands of synthetic grass that create a surprisingly realistic sensation against your fingertips. The resulting texture provides both novelty and a unique grip that standard cases simply cant match.The concept of grass-covered technology might seem strange to many, especially those who associate lawns with weekend chores and allergies. Yet theres something undeniably appealing about bringing a touch of nature to our digital lives. The contrast between natural textures and high-tech devices creates an interesting juxtaposition that makes these skins stand out from the sea of boring cases and covers that dominate the accessory market. Its weird, but in the most intriguing way possible.What makes this product launch particularly amusing is dbrands decision to release it on April 1st, traditionally reserved for fake product announcements and corporate pranks. Unlike most April Fools Day jokes that disappear after generating some social media buzz, these grass skins are actually real products you can purchase right now. The company has a history of turning seemingly ridiculous concepts into legitimate products, and Touch Grass continues this tradition of blending humor with genuine innovation.The practical benefits of these grassy textures extend beyond mere novelty. The raised surface provides additional grip for devices that might otherwise slip from your hands. The unique texture also makes your gadget instantly recognizable by touch alone, eliminating those moments of fumbling through identical black rectangles. Of course, these practical advantages come with potential downsides, including the possibility of the fake grass collecting dust or triggering allergic reactions in sensitive individuals.Despite the potential drawbacks, dbrands Touch Grass skins represent a refreshing departure from conventional accessory design. In a market saturated with products that look virtually identical, these textured coverings offer something genuinely different. The sensation of running your fingers across the miniature lawn might be exactly what your tech-weary brain needs after hours of staring at screens. Its a small reminder of the natural world, cleverly integrated into the devices that often disconnect us from it.The post dbrands Grass-Textured Skins Let You Literally Touch Grass Without Going Outside first appeared on Yanko Design.

Some pieces of furniture are meant to be used as they were originally created for. Others are meant to be admired design-wise although theyre not always as functional. Some are meant to mimic furniture but are actually designed as sculptures or art installations. Then there are those pieces that seem to be all of the above. This series of conceptual furniture falls into that category.Designer: Michael JantzenThe Moving Furniture series takes that fleeting thought of the ghosts of chairs and tables as they move through time and space and solidifies it into tangible, thought-provoking art. This collection of conceptual furniture, designed for both indoor and outdoor spaces, isnt just about a place to sit or set down a drink; its a visual exploration of how objects occupy and traverse the realms of space and time. Its like youre imagining them as stop motion animation but theyre actual pieces of furniture that you can use once you stop admiring them. The pieces are crafted from painted wood for the interiors and then robust painted steel for the exteriors. They begin with the simple and archetypal forms of chairs and tables but are then reimagined in traces of movement either through linear streaks, fragmented shapes, or echoes of their original form. The result is a dynamic composition, a frozen moment that hints at a past trajectory and perhaps even a future one. You might encounter a chair with an ethereal extension suggesting its in the process of being pulled away, or a table with layered segments that imply a shift in position over time. While the primary goal is artistic expression, some pieces remain usable in the traditional sense. Imagine sitting on a chair that visually embodies the act of sitting, or placing your coffee cup on a table that seems to be in a perpetual state of gentle drift. This blend of the practical and the conceptual adds another layer of intrigue to the series.The aesthetic intention behind Moving Furniture is clear: to forge a novel sculptural art form. By crystallizing the ephemeral traces of movement, the artist creates objects that are both familiar and utterly unexpected. These arent just pieces of furniture; they are visual narratives, prompting viewers to consider the unseen forces and histories that shape our physical world. They invite us to see the everyday with fresh eyes, to perceive the inherent dynamism in even the most static of objects. In a world often obsessed with stillness, Moving Furniture offers a vibrant and insightful perspective on the beauty of implied motion.The post Moving Furniture visualizes chairs and tables in time and space first appeared on Yanko Design.

Art director Whitney Clayton and animation director Mike Jungbluth reveal how the Xbox game's eye-catching look is made.

I'm so excited to find out more about this new console (and hopefully its price too).

While almost no Chinese EVs are legally sold in the US, these are the workarounds that could allow eager enthusiasts to get them onto American roadsat a price.