Latest news with #AnimationResearchLtd
Otago Daily Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Not-so-secret reply to . . . Steve Braunias
Steve Braunias. Photo: supplied Dear Steve, How are you? Good, I hope. Here I am on a train to Paris, staring at your "Secret open letter of ... Sir Ian Taylor," which is staring right back at me. I think I'll be the one to blink first. You may be wondering why I'm on a train instead of a plane. Silly me! I thought de Gare meant airport in French. At least there's a seat on the train ... and I can see my bag. SUNDAY Dear Steve, Sorry I'm a bit late getting back to you. I got distracted by the obese conspiracy theorist sitting beside me on the train yesterday. All he wanted to talk about was the All Blacks. I tried to change the subject to Jacinda, but he was having none of it. "Sacre bleu," he said, "that was our C team." I said, "You need to have more empathy." He ordered another wine. MONDAY Dear Steve, I'm finding this open letter harder to write than the ones I send Jacinda, because I suspect you might actually read it. I made a coffee to steady myself. It was terrible. I blame you. I haven't touched coffee in 20 years, but your writing is so persuasive I couldn't help myself. TUESDAY Dear Steve, I'm at my desk in my Airbnb in Paris. My thoughts are still somewhere over New Delhi, wondering how I ended up on a flight to India when I was meant to be heading to Dubai to see if Jacinda's picture was still on the Burj Khalifa. It reminded me how easy it was to end up in odd places trying to get home to New Zealand during those Covid lockdowns. That thought came back to me when I saw her cover photo at Auckland Airport. Not that I blame Jacinda, of course. I probably just forgot where I was going. I did turn 75 last week and my mind isn't what it used to be. WEDNESDAY Dear Steve, Do you ever get mental blocks when you write? I don't, usually, but today I'm stuck in the middle of my own thoughts. Not the animated ones that come with being founder and managing director of Animation Research Ltd. More wedged between admiration for your craft and mild resentment that you read my mind better than I do. You gave me a whole new perspective on my letter to Jacinda, one I simply failed to see. I still have no idea how I missed it. THURSDAY Dear Steve, On reflection, rather than another open letter, I think I owe you a drink, or at least a half-decent coffee, assuming we can find one between Tihar Prison and the Koru Lounge. I might even bring A Different Kind of Power. We can put it on the table between us and stare at the cover together. Sometimes it's better to look at the photo than open the pages. FRIDAY Dear Steve, Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a huge fan of your writing. I never imagined I'd end up the subject of one of your columns. Thank you for your piece. Thank you for the mischief. Long may you keep us honest, and just uncomfortable enough. Yours, not so secretly, Sir Ian Taylor PS. Do you think it was possible that when Jacinda said "Be Kind" she meant that we had to be kind to her for the decisions she was making otherwise we weren't part of the Team of 5 Million, and we would be thrown off the waka? I remember feeling quite wet during Covid. By Sir Ian Taylor
Newsroom
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsroom
Ian Taylor's open letter to Steve Braunias
There was a lot of laughter last night as a friend read 'The Secret Open Letter of Sir Ian Taylor' by Steve Braunias out loud to the entire dinner party. I thought it might be a bit of fun to reply. SATURDAY Dear Steve, How are you? Good, I hope. Here I am on a train to Paris, staring at your 'Secret open letter of Sir Ian Taylor,' which is staring right back at me. I think I'll be the one to blink first. You may be wondering why I'm on a train instead of a plane. Silly me! I thought de Gare meant airport in French. At least there's a seat on the train … and I can see my bag. SUNDAY Dear Steve, Sorry I'm a bit late getting back to you. I got distracted by the obese conspiracy theorist sitting beside me on the train yesterday. All he wanted to talk about was the All Blacks. I tried to change the subject to Jacinda, but he was having none of it. 'Sacre bleu,' he said, 'that was our C team'. I said, 'You need to have more empathy.' He ordered another wine. MONDAY Dear Steve, I'm finding this open letter harder to write than the ones I send Jacinda, because I suspect you might actually read it. I made a coffee to steady myself. It was terrible. I blame you. I haven't touched coffee in 20 years, but your writing is so persuasive I couldn't help myself. TUESDAY Dear Steve, I'm at my desk in my Airbnb in Paris. My thoughts are still somewhere over New Delhi, wondering how I ended up on a flight to India when I was meant to be heading to Dubai to see if Jacinda's picture was still on the Burj Khalifa. It reminded me how easy it was to end up in odd places trying to get home to New Zealand during those Covid lockdowns. That thought came back to me when I saw her cover photo at Auckland Airport. Not that I blame Jacinda, of course. I probably just forgot where I was going. I did turn 75 last week and my mind isn't what it used to be. WEDNESDAY Dear Steve, Do you ever get mental blocks when you write? I don't, usually, but today I'm stuck in the middle of my own thoughts. Not the animated ones that come with being founder and managing director of Animation Research Ltd. More wedged between admiration for your craft and mild resentment that you read my mind better than I do. You gave me a whole new perspective on my letter to Jacinda, one I simply failed to see. I still have no idea how I missed it. THURSDAY Dear Steve, On reflection, rather than another open letter, I think I owe you a drink, or at least a half-decent coffee, assuming we can find one between Tihar Prison and the Koru Lounge. I might even bring A Different Kind of Power. We can put it on the table between us and stare at the cover together. Sometimes it's better to look at the photo than open the pages. FRIDAY Dear Steve, Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a huge fan of your writing. I never imagined I'd end up the subject of one of your columns. Thank you for your piece. Thank you for the mischief. Long may you keep us honest, and just uncomfortable enough. Yours, not so secretly, Sir Ian Taylor PS. Do you think it was possible that when Jacinda said 'Be Kind' she meant that we had to be kind to her for the decisions she was making otherwise we weren't part of the Team of 5 Million, and we would be thrown off the waka? I remember feeling quite wet during Covid.
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Virtual Eye wins 4th Sports Emmy
Winning Emmy awards never gets old, it seems. Virtual Eye, the sports division of Dunedin company Animation Research Ltd (ARL), has just won its fourth Sports Emmy award at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony in New York. And Virtual Eye commercial and production executive vice-president Ben Taylor said, given the company's trajectory, there could be more in the future. It collaborated with several other technology companies around the world to provide groundbreaking cover of the 2024 PGA Tournament using drones. For that, it won the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award, beating other companies working on other large-scale sporting events, including the XXXIII Olympic Games (Immersive Audio at Scale), the NFL (StatusPro Visualizer VR Technology) and Thursday Night Football (AI Feature Latency). The award recognises the biggest leaps ahead in technical achievement in sports broadcasting. Mr Taylor said its new technology allowed golf viewers to get up above the trees and see the makeup of the course and where the ball was going — all in real time. "So, in the event, we would fly the drone up above the trees, and about three seconds after the player hits the ball, there's a predictive circle that animates where the ball's going to land. "It allows viewers to get above the trees and see around the corner of the dog leg." The technology allowed the company to "tell the whole story of the game", and it had resonated with the viewers, he said. "Although it was a very, very technical achievement, the whole thing for us is around storytelling. "And that's the reason I think it won, because what it allowed the broadcaster to do is to show all of the graphics people are used to seeing, but from a live drone. "That's never been done in golf before." None of the companies involved in the project went to the awards ceremony in New York, Mr Taylor said. The award was accepted on their behalf by representatives from the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA). "Getting one Sports Emmy is an amazing achievement. Getting our fourth — it's incredible. "Again, I think it's kind of recognition of the work that the team is doing down here, that we can stay so consistent and so relevant on the leading edge of innovation, from here in Dunedin. "I think it's a blueprint for other companies working in Dunedin, working in New Zealand and working globally. "I think that's probably the most satisfying thing about it." The team were "very proud" of the achievement, Mr Taylor said. "And I don't think we're done yet either. "The team continues to push the boundaries and I think that's why we've been recognised these four times, and why hopefully we'll be recognised again in the future as well. "Winning awards like this never gets old."
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Virtual Eye wins fourth Sports Emmy for groundbreaking tech
Winning Emmy awards never gets old, it seems. Virtual Eye, the sports division of Dunedin company Animation Research Ltd (ARL), has just won its fourth Sports Emmy award at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony in New York. And Virtual Eye commercial and production executive vice-president Ben Taylor said, given the company's trajectory, there could be more in the future. It collaborated with several other technology companies around the world to provide groundbreaking cover of the 2024 PGA Tournament using drones. For that, it won the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award, beating other companies working on other large-scale sporting events, including the XXXIII Olympic Games (Immersive Audio at Scale), the NFL (StatusPro Visualizer VR Technology) and Thursday Night Football (AI Feature Latency). The award recognises the biggest leaps ahead in technical achievement in sports broadcasting. Mr Taylor said its new technology allowed golf viewers to get up above the trees and see the makeup of the course and where the ball was going — all in real time. "So, in the event, we would fly the drone up above the trees, and about three seconds after the player hits the ball, there's a predictive circle that animates where the ball's going to land. "It allows viewers to get above the trees and see around the corner of the dog leg." The technology allowed the company to "tell the whole story of the game", and it had resonated with the viewers, he said. "Although it was a very, very technical achievement, the whole thing for us is around storytelling. "And that's the reason I think it won, because what it allowed the broadcaster to do is to show all of the graphics people are used to seeing, but from a live drone. "That's never been done in golf before." None of the companies involved in the project went to the awards ceremony in New York, Mr Taylor said. The award was accepted on their behalf by representatives from the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA). "Getting one Sports Emmy is an amazing achievement. Getting our fourth — it's incredible. "Again, I think it's kind of recognition of the work that the team is doing down here, that we can stay so consistent and so relevant on the leading edge of innovation, from here in Dunedin. "I think it's a blueprint for other companies working in Dunedin, working in New Zealand and working globally. "I think that's probably the most satisfying thing about it." The team were "very proud" of the achievement, Mr Taylor said. "And I don't think we're done yet either. "The team continues to push the boundaries and I think that's why we've been recognised these four times, and why hopefully we'll be recognised again in the future as well. "Winning awards like this never gets old."
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Emmy to Animation Research
Animation Research Ltd has won its fourth Emmy Award at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony in New York. The Dunedin company won the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award for its 2024 PGA Tour coverage on CBS and NBC, using drones. It was up against companies working on other large-scale sporting events, including the XXXIII Olympic Games (Immersive Audio at Scale), the NFL (StatusPro Visualizer VR Technology), and Thursday Night Football (AI Feature Latency). — APL
