Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year to all our readers from the Black Dragon Studio , We hope you all have a great 2013.

‘The Hobbit’ Passes the $500 Million Benchmark

Warner Bros. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has surpassed the $500 million benchmark at the worldwide box office in less than two weeks at the box office. To date, the blockbuster has earned an estimated $189.73 million domestically. In addition, on the heels of its record-breaking release in Australia — the biggest Boxing Day opening of all time — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has grossed an estimated $373 million internationally, for a staggering global total of $562.8 million, and still steadily climbing.

“We are extremely gratified by the response of moviegoers who love the film and, in many cases, are taking this terrifically entertaining ‘Journey’ to Middle-earth more than once,” said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. “We anticipate that positive word of mouth and repeat viewings will continue to result in strong returns well into the New Year.”

The Hobbit follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild.

Starring Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ian McKellen, the first installment in Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s epic The Hobbit Trilogy, based on the timeless novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, opened wide in the U.S. on December 14.

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2012

On 15 December 2012, I had the opportunity to visit the largest book fair in the world of the Big Bad Wolf 2012 held at the Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre. The exhibition runs from 7 to 23 December 2012. There was 3 million books will be sold with a discount of 75% - 95%. This is my few catch from this year.

Mondo Celebrates ‘Hobbit’ with Olly Moss Prints

Mondo, the collectible art division of the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX, is celebrating the impending release of Peter Jackson’s latest Tolkien adaptation The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with the unveiling of gorgeous new “The Lord of the Rings” poster art prints from famed artist Olly Moss.The perfect collectible gift for the biggest Hobbit fan in your life (even if that’s you!), the Olly Moss print will be available in two versions (both measuring 15” x 36”) of limited runs: a Regular Edition of 580 priced at $50, and a Variant Edition of 285 for $90. The prints go on sale today, visit www.mondotees.com to purchase.Based on the classic fantasy work The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, An Unexpected Journey kicks off Jackson’s planned Hobbit trilogy with its release this Friday, December 14. The film is set in the fictional world of Middle-Earth and follows young hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is tasked by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) with accompanying Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on a dangerous quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the terrible dragon Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch). The cast also includes James Nesbitt, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Fry, Billy Connolly, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and more.Olly Moss is a British artist famed for his poster design work, recently creating unique graphic posters for Marvel’s Captain America and Thor and the cover of Insomniac Games Resistance 3. Learn more about his work at www.ollymoss.com or on Twitter @ollymoss.

Olly Moss Star Wars Series Poster

Olly Moss (born January 20, 1987) is an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator. He is best known for his re-imagining of movie posters. His work is regularly featured in the Empire magazine.Moss was commissioned by Marvel Entertainment executives Craig Kyle and Kevin Feige to create a poster for the cast of Thor.Other notable works include the cover artwork for the Resistance 3 video game,which prompted a trailer to be created in with artwork style.He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2008 having studied literature. Moss is a regular guest on the IGN UK podcast as well as the A Life Well wasted podcast.

Pixar’s Lamp Recreated Using Arduino Technology

The Lamp named Pinokio has been developed by students at Victoria University of Wellington, and has been built using six servos, an Arduino processor, a web camera and OpenCV. Check the results out in the video after the jump.It’s not the first time that developers have tried to recreate the famous Pixar Lamp which can be seen at the beginning of Pixar’s movies, in real life using Arduino technology,As you can see in the video below Pinokio just doesn’t like being turned off. The student development team behind recreating the iconic Pixar Lamp explain:“Pinokio is an exploration into the expressive and behavioral potentials of robotic computing. Customized computer code and electronic circuit design imbues Lamp with the ability to be aware of its environment, especially people, and to expresses a dynamic range of behavior,” its creators explain. “As it negotiates its world, we the human audience can see that Lamp shares many traits possessed by animals, generating a range of emotional sympathies. In the end we may ask: Is Pinokio only a lamp? – a useful machine? Perhaps we should put the book aside and meet a new friend.”

Pinokio from Pinokio on Vimeo.

Book of This Month

The first new book this month is 3D Artist : Create Striking Characters issues 47.Publish by Imagine Publishing Ltd. Can obtain in the market price of RM 39.90 per copy. CD also comes with free content.

The second new book this month is Fantasy Art : Fantasy Lighting issues 38.Publish by Imagine Publishing Ltd. Can obtain in the market price of RM 49.00 per copy. CD also comes with free content.