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For the 14th consecutive year, every film nominated for the Best Visual Effects Academy Award was shaped with Autodesk, Inc. digital filmmaking tools. Autodesk congratulates Matte World Digital for its Oscar-winning visual effects work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
“This year’s Academy Award nominees continued to push digital imagery to new heights — from intricate and complex computer-generated characters to pyrotechnical marvels to invisible effects so realistic they deceive the eye,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the artists and technologists who enthrall audiences with spectacular visuals. We are honored that these filmmakers utilize Autodesk digital technology from planning and previsualization right down to final grade.”
Autodesk technology was used to shape Oscar-winning and Academy Award nominated films in the following categories:
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
India, China, and Brazil saw bigger growth in the millionaire population last year than anywhere else, and wealth in the Asia-Pacific is expected to grow nearly 8 percent a year to 2012 despite a slowdown in the world at large, a survey showed. The number of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific grew 8.7 percent from a year ago to 2.8 million people and their combined wealth soared 12.5 percent to $9.5 trillion US dollars, excluding the value of their homes and consumables, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said at a news conference in Singapore recently.
Asia was home to some of the world’s fastest-growing populations of millionaires, their annual World Wealth Report said, with India, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore in the top ten in terms of growth.
The number of millionaires in India rose 22.7 percent to 123,000 people, the fastest growth in the world, and millionaires in China grew 20.3 percent to 415,000, making it home to the fifth-largest number of millionaires in the world, displacing France in that position.
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Li Ka-shing, who controls a vast telecoms and property empire in Hong Kong and China, ranks as the world’s 11th richest man, according to Forbes.
Globally, millionaires grew 6 percent to 10.1 million people and their wealth rose 9.4 percent to $40.7 trillion in the same period, the Merrill/Capgemini report said.
“This year’s report found that the number of high net worth individuals (with net assets, excluding primary residences, of at least US$1.0 million), and the amount of wealth they control, continued to increase in 2007, with the greatest wealth being created in the emerging markets of India, China and Brazil,” said Mr Robert McCann, president of Global Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch in Paris.
Kong Eng Huat, Merrill Lynch’s Southeast Asia head of wealth management, said that in five years millionaires in Asia would have more combined wealth than those in Europe.
“Notwithstanding the recent dislocation in global markets, the robust economies in Asia are increasingly being driven by the domestic consumption story and continue to spur wealth creation in the region,” he said.
Asian millionaires’ wealth would grow annually by 7.9 percent to $13.9 trillion in 2012 against $13.5 trillion among Europe’s wealthiest, or 4.9 percent annual growth, the report said.
China’s consumer price index(CPI) rose 8.5 percent in April, mainly driven by uncurbed food costs, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said recently.
The figure, compared with 8.3 percent in March and a nearly 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February, was broadly in line with most forecasts.
The NBS attributed the figure to a low base of comparison: the CPI rose just 3 percent in April 2007. Another factor was the rapid increase in world grain and commodity prices.
“Price rises are stable in general. Compared with March, the CPI in April was not substantially higher and prices of some items even fell,” said Zhang Liqun, a macro-economist with the Development Research Center of the State Council, China’s Cabinet. “That means fewer new driving factors for price rises.”
Following the release of consumer prices, China’s Central Bank announced a raising of the reserve requirement for another 0.5 percentage point to 16.5 percent on yuan deposits, effective on May 20.
The consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 8.1 percent in cities and 9.3 percent in rural areas last month.
“The CPI figure remains high because of a low base last year and the soaring prices of primary food on the international market to push up domestic food costs,” said a statement on the bureau’s Website.
Food prices, which make up around one third of the CPI basket, soared 22.1 percent in April.
The cost of pork rocketed 68.3 percent from a year earlier while edible oil jumped 46.6 percent and vegetables grew 13.6 percent.
The non-food sector saw a growth of 1.8 percent last month, compared to 1.6 percent in February. The March figure was not available.
“The growth is in line with our estimate ranging between 8.3 to 8.5 percent for April. It is still a stable growth and the inflationary pressure will gradually ease in the coming months,” said Li Maoyu, an analyst with Changjiang Securities.
Tao Dong, a Credit Suisse economist, shared that view but cautioned about price increases in the non-food sector.
“We believe the CPI is likely to moderate over the next few months, as food inflation can be curbed by a higher base and improved pork supplies. However, we are cautious about non-food inflation fueled by wage hikes in the medium term,” Tao said.
The producer price index, the factory-gate inflation gauge, jumped 8.1 percent year on year in April to reach a record high in more than three years, boosted by accelerating energy and raw material prices.
Chinese media industry revenue is expected to increase 13.1 percent to 554 billion yuan (about 79.14billion U.S. dollars) in 2008, said a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently.
The figure was 481.1 billion yuan (over 68 billion US dollars) in 2007, up 13.6 percent year on year, according to the report, which was based on data collected up to February 2008.
Book publication revenue, which continued to top the revenue list with more than 110 billion yuan (nearly 16 billion US dollars) turnover for three consecutive years since 2005, was declining because of the introduction of new media. So are other traditional media such as television advertising and newspapers.
Mobile and online media saw rapid growth, earning a revenue of 105.3 billion yuan (around 15 billion US dollars) and 29.7 billion yuan (almost 5 billion US dollars) in 2007. The proportion of new media, especially mobile televisions and mobile phone videos, grew to 28.07 percent of the industry. The report did not provide historical figures as a comparison.
The mobile media market would reach 124.9 billion yuan (nearly 18 billion US dollars) in 2008, said the report.
Shanghai, the most powerful economic hub of China, achieved Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$1.2 trillion in 2007, up 13.3% from a year earlier, marking a double-digit growth for 16 consecutive years, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau announced recently.
The city’s 2007 GDP per capita stood at US$8,594 in the local calculation method, said Pan Jianxin, director of Shanghai Bureau of Statistics. And in accordance with the international standards, the figure would hit US$8,949, said Pan.
The growth rate was 1.3 percentage points higher than in 2006. As for comparison, the city’s consumer price index – a main gauge of inflation, jumped 3.2 percent in 2007, powered by food prices — climbed 9.4 percent last year.
The fast growth in the service sector which accounts for 51.9% of Shanghai’s GDP is the main pushing power for the city’s development last year. And steel production, petrochemical industry and Olympic-related projects will further boost Shanghai’s economy this year.
Fixed asset investments, a main measure of spending on roads, factories and other large investment projects, were also a major contributor, making up 445 billion yuan.
Inflation of 3.2 percent remained well under the national average of 4.8 percent, despite leaping prices in food items, as in much of the country.
The bureau’s consumer inflation calculations do not include real estate, which has been roaring ahead for years at double digits, although many are now predicting a slump in sales amid tighter credit conditions.
“We should tackle inflationary pressure and try to reduce pollution and the consumption of energy,” said Pan Jianxin.
