Makers

Ubisoft tool brings 2D art into video games

Unlike many video game studios that hire animators and 3D artists with backgrounds in game design, Ubisoft reports that it can now recruit traditional painters, illustrators, and graphic designers to design a video game world.

The game studio did just that in creating Rayman Origins, a game for which it translated traditional 2D art into video game scenes via its new digital-art tool, UbiArts. Rather than having to reinterpret 2D art into 3D-rendered imagery, UbiArts lets 2D talent directly create a game.

Rayman Origins, set for a November 15 release, is the latest game in the long-running franchise. Rayman was Ubisoft's first hero and the first major franchise for the publisher in 1995. Since then, Ubisoft has released three more games in the franchise and positioned it as an art-centric game with picturesque graphics and environments.

According to UbiArts inventor and Rayman creator Michel Ancel, Ubisoft wanted to return to the roots of visual creation.

"We wanted to work with people who haven't typically worked in the gaming industry to get a fresh perspective," Ancel said from France. "So we found artists of all kinds--people in animation studios, painters--and we used a scanner to take their home drawings and put them directly into an engine." … Read more

The ultimate utility bike? Maybe it's an e-bike

PORTLAND, Ore.--For years, the cycling industry has wrestled with creating a bike convenient enough for the masses.

A new effort from the Palo Alto, Calif., design consultancy Ideo and Santa Cruz, Calif., bike builder Rock Lobster Custom Cycles may have pushed the industry a step closer to achieving the goal. The team created a bike for the Oregon Manifest 2011 Constructor's Design Challenge, a bike building competition pitting three teams of designers and handcrafted bike builders. Their goal: create the best utility bike for urban living.

This summer, CNET visited with the three teams--including the pairing of Portland … Read more

Sifteo's hot Cubes born of ubiquitous computing heritage

SAN FRANCISCO--Can toys be part of a computing movement?

At Sifteo, a start-up here launched by two MIT Media Lab graduates, the answer is an emphatic yes. And while the world may be focused on the innovative play offered by the young company's motion-aware Cubes, the founders have higher aspirations than just being a toy company.

This evening, at a party in San Francisco, Sifteo is publicly launching its first product--a set of small electronic cubes (see video below) that communicate with each other wirelessly and enable a wide variety of casual digital games. The cubes come in sets … Read more

A tour of 600 years of watchmaking history

GENEVA, Switzerland--If you're the kind of person who understands that watches can be art, you would be wise to make your way to this city of the world in order to check out what has to be one of the best collections of historical timepieces on the planet.

Housed at the Patek Philippe Museum, hundreds of watches spanning nearly 600 years greet visitors to this stately early-20th century mansion. While much of the museum is dedicated to famous watchmaker Patek Philippe's own works, it is the historical archives that truly reward those who take the time to visit. … Read more

At the BMW Museum, 82 years of carmaking shines

MUNICH, Germany--I might have thought I was in Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Guggenheim Museum, but that was just a visual trick brought on by the spiral ramp.

Actually, I was at the BMW Museum, the car-maker's homage to its eight decades of making automobiles, motorcycles, and engines. And with 125 of its most beloved machines displayed for its biggest fans and most loyal customers, it was hard not to be taken in by the history of what the company long called the "ultimate driving machine."

As part of Road Trip 2011, I took some time to … Read more

How Lego changed the world of toys

BILLUND, Denmark--Though it's hard to imagine a time without Lego, the world-famous plastic bricks didn't exist until 1949. And today's brick, with its three little tubes that ensure a snug fit with other bricks, didn't come on the scene until 1957.

But the Lego company has been around much longer than that. It may be something most people have never even heard about; Ole Kirk Kristiansen's little outfit began in this small Danish town as a one-man operation turning out wooden toys. Being a world-famous brand was surely not on Kristiansen's mind at the … Read more

The Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge

MILLAU, France--You first see it from miles away. And after an afternoon spent driving toward it and weeks of planning a visit here, it's fair to wonder if it will live up to expectations. And there it is. And it's awesome.

This is the Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge, which spans the Tarn River and the Tarn Valley here, in the central-south region of France. At 1,025 feet tall, and 8,071 feet long, it is a stunning architectural and design feat. And it is beautiful to look at as well.

Opened in 2004 to … Read more

Heineken's 147 years of making beer in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM--Its green bottle is instantly recognizable. Its brand name is known throughout the world. It may not be the best beer on Earth, but it certainly is one of the most popular.

It, of course, is Heineken, and for many people a visit to the Dutch capital is not possible without taking a tour of the big brick building with "Heineken Brouwerij" emblazoned on the side: The old Heineken brewery.

Though the building no longer houses the actual brewery, today it is home to what is known as the "Heineken Experience," a self-guided tour through the … Read more

Where the Swiss Army knife gets made

IBACH, Switzerland--If you thought it might be cool to see how Swiss Army knives are made, I'm here to tell you, it's even cooler than you imagined.

Picture, for example, dozens and dozens and dozens of bins full nearly to overflowing with some of the little tools that anyone who has ever had one of the famous knives knows so well: the tweezers, the corkscrew, the toothpick, and even the key ring. Or boxes stacked up with long spindles of Swiss Army knife scissors. Or even better, long rows of the blades that make up half of the … Read more