Cyberworld 2000

[Saraid Madnick]

CyberWorldis a 2000 American 3D[3] animated anthology film shown in IMAX and IMAX 3D, presented by Intel. Several segments originally filmed in 2-D were converted to 3-D format by IMAX. As presented on its website, it was labelled the first 3D animated film in IMAX.

A guide named Phig commences the movie by showing the audience the "CyberWorld", a futuristic museum of infinite possibilities. Meanwhile, three computer bugs (Buzzed, Wired, and Frazzled) try to eat the CyberWorld through its number coding. When Phig learns about them, she goes on the hunt for the destructive computer bugs while presenting various short stock clips of computer-animated productions, such as scenes from Antz and Homer from The Simpsons.

In the end, Buzzed, Wired and Frazzled create a black hole (the one seen in "Homer"), which kills them. Phig got almost swallowed up in the hole, but not before her "knight in cyber armour," technician Hank, reboots the entire system just as she gets sucked up into the vortex. Phig concludes the movie by explaining to the audience that none of the events caused by the bugs ever occurred. She attempts to summon her battle gear to prove her point, only to receive a pink bunny outfit in return (a similar trick the bugs played on her in the film's midsection).

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 55% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.18/10.[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53/100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5]

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, praised the film for accurately presenting what 3D technology is capable of. He particularly singled out the size of the IMAX screens the film was projected on. He wrote, "(The film) takes advantage of the squarish six-story screen to envelop us in the images; the edges of the frame don't have the same kind of distracting cutoff power they possess in the smaller rectangles of conventional theatres."[6]

Contrarily, Paul Tatara of CNN.com was displeased with the film's over-reliance on 3D effects, continuing to say, "Unfortunately, you can't escape the sensation that you might end up wearing the contents of your stomach while you watch it."[7]

"CyberWorld 3D," shown in the giant-screen IMAX format, is remarkable not only for what it shows us, but for the wider world of 3-D animation it predicts. It looks better than most other 3-D films I've seen--clearer, brighter, more convincing. And it uses new software and technology to take existing flat animation, from such sources as the movie "Antz" and the Simpsons TV show, and process it into convincing 3-D.

This is not a makeshift transfer, but a fundamental re-use of the original material; everything in this movie looks made from scratch for 3-D, even though only about half of it really was. What the movie is telling us is that many animated films can be reconfigured into 3-D while retaining the elements of drawing and visual style that made them distinctive in the first place (indeed, "Shrek," a 2001 animated feature from DreamWorks, will be retrofitted for the IMAX 3-D screen after its conventional theatrical run).

Like the recent retread of Disney's "Fantasia/2000" and earlier IMAX 3-D efforts, "CyberWorld 3D" takes advantage of the squarish six-story screen to envelop us in the images; the edges of the frame don't have the same kind of distracting cutoff power they possess in the smaller rectangles of conventional theaters. Then IMAX adds its custom-made headsets, which flicker imperceptibly so we see first out of one eye, then the other, while tiny speakers next to our ears enhance the reality of the surround sound. I have been watching 3-D since "Bwana Devil" (1952), and not until I saw it in IMAX did I consider it anything other than a shabby gimmick.

How does "CyberWorld 3D" take a 2-D source like "The Simpsons" TV show and convert it into 3-D? With animation, it's more direct than it seems. Begin with the fundamental method of 3-D, which is to shoot each image twice, with cameras spaced slightly apart, just as our eyes are. Project both images on the screen, and view them through glasses that create the illusion they are one 3-D image instead of (take the glasses off) two slightly out-of-register 2-D images. Our eye-mind system is tricked by the stereoscopic illusion into reading the two flat images as one image with depth.

Now move on to the building blocks of animation. While live action's POV resides in the camera, animation has a virtual camera--the point of view supplied by the animator. Using new software developed by Intel and IMAX, filmmakers are able to break the animation materials down into separate elements and re-shoot them, in a sense, from two points of view, allowing the separation necessary for 3-D. It's more complicated than that, but the effect is astonishing.

More than one kind of animation is used in "CyberWorld 3D." The separate self-contained segments are animated with the new system, which takes existing film and gives it three dimensions. They float within a linking story that has been done with conventional computer-generated 3-D.

This story stars a sprightly young girl named Phig (voice by Jenna Elfman), who takes us on a tour of a vast high-tech virtual space in which the individual segments seem to reside inside self-contained modules. Open one portal and find the Simpsons; open another, and find a thrilling futuristic city with sky trains, and so on.

Phig, meanwhile, is harassed by three cyber nuisances named Frazzled (voice by Matt Frewer), Buzzed (Robert Smith) and Hank the Technician (Dave Foley). This linking story is as inane as IMAX can make it; there's an unwritten rule that the hosts or other narrative devices of IMAX films condescend to the audience. Phig is shallow and silly, but she does at least figure in some wondrous animation, as when she glides through the interior space, has a vertiginous fall, and eventually journeys down a black hole.

"CyberWorld 3D" gathers several impressive stand-alone works of animation; to describe every one would be beside the point. It's more of a demo than a stand-alone work, and lacks even the unifying concept of "Fantasia 2000." No matter; the point is to show us what can be done with recycled traditional animation in the IMAX 3-D process, and the demonstration is impressive. I'm looking forward to the IMAX version of "Shrek" and, eventually, classics like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The only animation that's probably IMAX-proof is "South Park," which is 2-D and proud of it.

It was released on October 6, 2000, in theaters and was a box office success, getting over $16.7 million.[1] While most of the short films shown in the film can easily be found on the Internet (as well as their respective DVDs), two of the short films, as well as the majority of the transition segments, have yet to surface online.

Any current screening information for the film is scarce. However, the original 15/70mm 3D print has been screened at least once in several IMAX exhibition theatres and museums since 2010, occasionally as projection tests. Recently, it screened at the BFI IMAX in Waterloo, London in the United Kingdom on July 19th, 2017, two days before the theater commenced its 70mm showings of Dunkirk, followed by another screening on November 15 that year.[2]

The main character, Phig, played by Jenna Elfman, introduces to the audience CyberWorld, a museum of infinite possibilities. Three computer bugs (named Buzzed, Wired, and Frazzled) appear and try eating the coding of CyberWorld. When hunting, Phig presents to the audience stock clips of computer-animated productions.

In the ending, the three computer bugs create a black hole that leads them to their supposed deaths for the trouble they caused. Phig is almost swallowed up, but is saved after "knight in cyber armor" technician, Hank, reboots the vortex.

From developer Cyberworld International Corporation, Pokmon 2000 Adventure used its proprietary technology to display 2.5D environments in a specialised browser. The player selects their name, their Pokmon team and the difficulty.

Then, they set off on a journey to travel to three islands that are home to Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos to retrieve an Ancient Sphere from each of the locations. The reward is unlocked as long as the player answers a set of trivia questions correctly.

Please do not rename a page in an attempt to force it to be deleted. The redirects that are left behind from pages being renamed can take a long time to clean up and make sure links don't get broken in the process.

CyberWorld (also known as CyberWorld 3D), is a 2000 3D animated anthology film that was released in theaters and never got a home media release. It is the first computer animated 3D film presented in IMAX and IMAX 3D by Intel.

The book is in a word beautiful. 222 pages of black and white photos of people playing in the larp environment. and the layout was clear concise and logical. but this is where the good news stops. The rules for cyberworld are an obvious cross, between cyberpunk 2020, and White Wolf's Mind's eye theatre system. Character creation starts by choosing a role ala cyberpunk with roles like Cop, Executive, Mercenary. in fact with the exception of two classes (Powerarmor pilot and Power armor tech) the roles are all carbon copy Cyberpunk roles. In fact converting CP characters to Cyberworld is almost a simple matter of changing symantics. calling a net runner a Virtech for example. each role has a specified number of skills and one role exclusive skill just like Cyberpunk and stats run from 1-10 just like cyberpunk. Skills also run on the cyberpunk skill of 1-10. but here is where the differences end. The matters of task resolution are handled almost identically to those in any White wolf larp. the main way of contesting something is doen via paper, rock, scissors (even the Bomb is included) the only real difference is that the system does not include the whole concept of bidding stats. The stats are used instead to decide both static tasks (if your stat skill is higher than the GM based dificulty you succeed, easy huh?) The problem is that these two systems make a really clunky system, which is not really suitable for either larping or sit down gaming. Too much record keeping for the larpers and not enough system for the sit down crowd. The genre is very much generic cyberpunk no real flavor to set it apart. It's pretty apparent that the boys at Dark age games have read Cyberpunk 200 second edition, on even a cursory reading. which is my biggest problem with the system. there si almost nothing original here, and what is original has the feel of being changed just enough to keep thier buts out of litigation. all in all a disapointing larp. Product SummaryName: Cyberworld: Dark Ages of The 21st Century

Publisher: Dark Age Games

System: Generic / One-Off System (1e)

Setting: 2000s

Author: Jeffery S. Waters

Category: RPG

Cost: $25.00

Pages: 222

Year: 1995

SKU: 2050

ISBN: 0-9650648-0-8

View [ Printable Review ] Review SummaryReview

January 1, 2001

Edited: August 28, 2017

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