Gizmodo: effects"

Chinese TV Ink Ad Is Just Beautiful to Watch

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:40:00 EDT

Directed by Niko Tziopanos, and azzparently starring a wholalotlot of Harry Potter's Death Eater wannabes, this advertising for Central China Television has me completely mesmerized today. I just can't have enough of that ink-in-water effect. [Likecool]

Take Five Minutes to Watch 100 Years of Visual Effects

Rosa Golijan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:30:00 EDT

Let's take a five minute break from Food Week to watch this compilation of some incredible moments in the history of visual effects, from silent films to recent blockbusters. Oh, and pay attention to the background track. The tune's nice.

The movies included in this clip span over 100 years of cinema history:

1900 - The Enchanted Drawing

1903 - The Great Train Robbery

1923 - The Ten Commandments (Silent)

1927 - Sunrise

1933 - King Kong

1939 - The Wizard of Oz

1940 - The Thief of Baghdad

1954 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

1956 - Forbidden Planet

1963 - Jason and the Argonauts

1964 - Mary Poppins

1977 - Star Wars

1982 - Tron

1985 - Back to the Future

1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1989 - The Abyss

1991 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day

1992 - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

1993 - Jurassic Park

2004 - Spider-Man 2

2005 - King Kong

2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

2007 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

2007 - The Golden Compass

2008 - The Spiderwick Chronicles

2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Did your favorite visual effect get left out? The comments allow for videos and pictures for a reason, so show us! [YouTube]

Tascam GT-R1 Guitar Recorder Lets You Capture Those Brilliant Solos

Kit Eaton — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:27:00 EDT

Tascam—last heard of here on Giz with a portable MP3 guitar "trainer"—has come up with another gizmo that may interest you if you're a guitarist. The GT-R1 is a portable MP3 recorder for capturing your axe work, capable of recording to MP3/WAVE at 48/44.1 kHz 24-bits uncompressed. That's not bad quality, and since it works with SDHC, you'll have plenty of recording time. Better yet it's got multiple effects built-in, and also has a "trainer" function which allows you to play along with your fave tracks at your choice of speed—without changing the pitch. Sounds pretty handy, and it'll be out August 26th in Japan for around $310. [Akihabaranews]

The World's Most Effective Speed Bump

Charlie White — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST

Here's the perfect way to slow down those doggone kids driving their noisy pocket rockets, invading the neighborhood at high speed without regard to the peace and personal safety of the local inhabitants. This Deutsch-speaking dude has created an unusually powerful gadget that will teach those whippersnappers a lesson. Profoundly satisfying. If only these expertly crafted special effects could somehow be practically translated into the real world. [YouTube]

HP R927 Camera Adds Slimming Effect, Makes Girlfriend Happy

Travis Hudson — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 16:42:42 EDT

Here's a new camera from HP that'll help you answer that age-old - but always tricky - question from your girlfriend: "Do these jeans make me look fat?" Instead of stepping onto a verbal landmine, take her picture with the 8.2MP Photosmart R927, one of several new digital cameras from HP that boasts a special "slimming feature." Before you show her the picture, hit the slimming effect in the Design Gallery in playback, and she'll look as much as 10 pounds thinner on the camera's 3-inch LCD.

"It's a pretty subtle change we've built into the camera," Karl Wardrop, HP's digital imaging product manager told the New York Post. "It's not dramatic. It slims the center of photos and slightly widens the outside to maintain perspective. It's like the (fun-house) mirror from the fair, but not as exaggerated."

While there are many ways to slim (or fatten) a person's physique in Photoshop and other image editing programs, HP is the first manufacturer to offer the effect in-camera. The R927 is available this month for $399.99. Boyfriends of the world can now breathe a sigh of relief. — Dan Havlik

Focus Pocus [New York Post]