Friday, March 9, 2012

Houdini helps John Carter get to Mars

John Carter, Disney's big budget adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' seminal sci-fi classic, A Princess of Mars, hits theaters today. I've seen the film and I think it's pretty darn good! I also now have a mad crush on Dejah Thoris. But what the heck does this have to do with Houdini, you ask?

Well, if you stay through the credits and have eagle eyes, you'll notice a credit for "Lead Houdini TDs" near the end.

This refers to the Houdini 3D animation software developed by Side Effects, which has been used on many big budget Hollywood films, and helped the company win an Oscar for Scientific and Technical Achievement. On March 1st Side Effects released the latest version of the software, Houdini 12.

Looks like Houdini made it big in the movies after all!

For those who understand this kind of stuff, here is a video explaining the advances in Houdini 12. I just like that they say "Houdini" over and over.

at

2 comments:

  1. JessikaMarch 12, 2012 at 2:44 PM

    "...I just like that they say 'Houdini' over and over."

    Ha! That reminds me of me! Houdini research has become my new obsessive hobby, and I'm just now starting to see him everywhere. About a week ago, after literally just discovering the existence of the film 'Death Defying Acts' through a Google search, I turned on the TV to find that that exact film was on O_O

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beth S.March 16, 2012 at 8:45 AM

    That "Houdini" software has been around for a long time now! I remember years ago, I'd try to Google "Houdini" for more info on his life or whatever, and half of the links were for Houdini software. :p

    BTW I did watch the little video, and although I understand almost NONE of the lingo, I think the effects they can produce now, using such tools, are pretty awesome! Houdini would be gobsmacked, I think. (But I wonder how he'd feel about his name being used for software? Hopefully pleased!) :p

    ReplyDelete