Go Steelers!

Jiyoung hosted a Superbowl party today that was well attended by west coast ETCers, past and present. She also had an ample supply of 3D glasses for the half time commercials. Thanks Jiyoung!

Last Thursday, we were invited to a special event which was hosted by Dreamworks. The speaker, Jeffery Katzenberg, who is CEO of DreamWorks, was giving a presentation of select 3D footage from the animated film, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS (It will be released this March).

He started by saying that “3D film is the evolution of cinema, following sound film and color film.” A 3D film makes the audience feel a three-dimensional effect significantly with 3D glasses, based on the principle of using two different images. Actually, this technology isn’t completely brand-new, we feel somewhat familiar with it. Most people have experienced watching a 3D movie wearing glasses with blue and red color lenses.

But what makes this 3D movie special is, while the traditional way of making 3D movies is to develop 2D first then convert it into 3D, this 3D movie is developed on the base of 3D technology at the very beginning. In order to support this new technology, DreamWorks had to collaborate with Intel which has a well known reputation for making graphic chips, embedded processors, and other devices.

Even though we didn’t finish the whole movie, the scenes from MONSTERS VS.ALIENS were very exciting. Various sizes of monster characters made a dramatic landscape and maximized a three-dimensional effect. And since the background of that movie is San Francisco downtown, where we were at that time, we enjoyed it even more.

According to Jeffery, it seems like 3D films are going to be the big shift in the near future. Popular movie directors, such as James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, and Peter Jackson are focusing on developing this kind of film currently. But the important thing is that 3D technology cannot make a bad movie good but can make a good movie special, as Jeffery emphasized.

Welcome ETC SV Spring of 2009!

Classes started up again last week, and we're welcoming five new students, four returns from last term, two returnees from last Spring, and an alum!

Here's the entire group, including Jiyoung and me


Team Seesaw - researching some interesting ways to do skill balancing in MMORPGs. And rooting for the Steelers.


Team Trino - continuing development of the Trino game from Spring '08

Trino on Official Xbox Magazine ( February Issue )

End of last year, Trino did an interview with Xbox Magazine. The article is out in the February issue. Go and grab a copy! Trino team, go go go!

Thanks for Carl taking this great team picture for us.

Final Presentations - Done!

Congratulations to our Fall 2008 class! Yesterday were final presentations, and the teams presented to about 40 guests in the audience, including our own Don Marinelli. Great jobs, all the way around.

Tea & Sugar Train Team


Team Hatch

A Visit from CMU President Cohen

During his visit to the West Coast, CMU President Jared Cohen dropped by EA and spent some time with our teams.

First stop was Team Hatch, where he protected the north pole from aquian invaders.

Then, on to a tour of the Tea & Sugar Train, where he got an earful about the life of a butcher straight from the source.

More importantly, we all appreciated his interest in the students themselves. He met them all individually and learned about their roles on the projects and their backgrounds before coming to the ETC.

And check out the the T&S Train team - all wearing their CMU colors. Smart in many dimensions.

The Eye of Sauron in action

Or its marketing name, Generic Evil Sorcerer King Burning Eyeball.



It's terrifying, and it really works! No mocking-up or fakery in this video, it's all done with camera vision. Movie magic (read: camera angles) prevents you from seeing the camera we used to watch the user, but it's all for real! Why not buy an Eye of Sauron to top your Christmas tree this year?

I can think of several reasons why not! Principally: weight!