Cartoons have come a long way since the hand-drawn moving pictures of decades past. Now, the animated films at your local cineplex are made possible by sophisticated computer software created by engineers. Modeling the realistic textures and movement of such things as fur, hair and fabric, for example, takes serious computing power.

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Filed under: Computer, e-News | Comments Off on Engineering Is: Making Movies

Tags: Animation, Art, CGI, Computer, Entertainment, Movies

Last year software engineers developed new ways for animators to mimic the movement of swaying trees, and this year another programmer has created a brilliant new physics engine.

The software, called Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0, was created by Thiago Costa, a programmer and technical director for Ubisoft games. Watch as it realistically simulates falling dirt, crumpling silks, and other animated marvels in the eye-popping demo above.

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Filed under: e-Videos | Comments Off on Video: Animusic: Instruments of the Future

Tags: Animation, Art, Computer, Music

Animusic. Video after the jump.

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Filed under: Computer, e-News | Comments Off on Animusic: Instruments of the Future

Tags: Animation, Art, Computer, Music