Robert Gehorsam, CEO of Image Metrics, and his team are working on making face animation a quick and easy process, available to even the most casual technology user.

“Animation is done still by hand or its done by a process called motion capture…it’s very tedious, its very slow and its not real time. Image Metrics figured how to do this directly from video, and that’s basically what we do,” explained Gehorsam.

The company’s recent program, Portable You, allows users to instantly animate their own face from a video or photo that they can take on their phone.

“If you know how to take a picture, you know how to use the product,” said Gehorsam.

Allowing users to make a real time avatar of themselves will change the way people use the Internet, according to Gehorsam. He expects his technology to infiltrate online gaming, social media outlets and video chatting.

“A large part of what goes on in online entertainment is immersion, believing you are in it,” said Gehorsam. He described it as a “look ma, no hands” feeling.

With Portable You, users can transport their avatar to any compatible program via their cell phone, iPad, home computer or any device with the Internet and a photo of the person on it.

“Portability is a key feature,” Gehorsam said.

Instant avatars also allow personal branding on a more advanced level. While the person is busy at a meeting or an event, his or her avatar can continue branding on the virtual level.

Image Metrics has been involved with animation in major motion pictures such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and many video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed.

The company strives to make animated characters as real as possible without being “creepy.”

“There’s a concept in animation called the uncanny valley. As you get closer and closer to being realistic it creates a creepy effect,” according to Gehorsam.

Image Metrics has bridged this gap, however, with something called the Emily O’Brien Project.

The Emily O’Brien Project is a series of YouTube videos that features a woman who is animated from the neck up. The animation, however, is not detectable.

Gehorsam said that virtually nobody can detect the animation, yet Emily is not a real person, and not at all creepy.

Image Metrics continues to revolutionize animation and has some projects on the horizon. Although Gehorsam could not identify the projects just yet, he said it’s an “exciting time” for the company.

Look out for their future work, or maybe you’re looking at it everyday and just can’t tell.

To vocally craft the characters within the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, DC Entertainment, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation say they went to the best in the business – on both sides of the microphone.

While winners of Oscars, Emmys and Tonys alike provide the voices behind some of the world’s best known comic book characters, it is the super hero of voice directors that guides these unique talents – Andrea Romano.

Perhaps the top animation voiceover director in the business today, Romano has been instrumental in orchestrating the vocal tones behind the first 10 DCU animated films, including the anticipated February 22 release of All-Star Superman.

The eight-time Emmy Award winner (with 30+ nominations) has a voiceover casting/direction resume that spans more than a quarter century, covering the genre gamut from action (Batman: The Animated Series) and humor (Animaniacs) to contemporary (The Boondocks) and timeless (Smurfs).

Romano paused between her many current projects – including a few upcoming DC Universe Animated Original Movies – to discuss the cast and recording of All-Star Superman.

QUESTION: Are there certain writers’ scripts you find easier to direct or get an instant feel?

ANDREA ROMANO: There are several writers I’ve worked with over the years whose words I can recognize without even seeing a title page, like Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Bob Goodman and especially Dwayne McDuffie. And because I’ve worked with them for so long over so many different projects, and once they know I’m on a project, it’s almost as though they write for me – because they know exactly what information I need to know to give to the actors. So I love working with all those guys. Dwayne works so hard on being true to the source material, and yet translating it into something that can be acted. He’s really good at making that transition of honoring the material, but bringing the words off the page to make it actable and dramatically interesting.

QUESTION: You’ve directed your share of voices for Superman. How did James Denton rank in his first foray in animation?

ANDREA ROMANO: Jamie was a voiceover virgin, or he hadn’t done much, but he was outstanding to work with. Once an actor trusts that I will not let their voice go out sounding bad, and that their performance will be nothing less than the best, it becomes a very pleasant experience for all involved. Jamie was like that. He reminded me of Jensen Ackles – both are good actors, I’d seen their on-camera work, but because this form is different than what they’re used to working with, there is some insecurity with the territory. But once they don’t feel threatened, they relax into the role. Jamie was a really interesting choice – it can be difficult to cast some of these Superman films – and he brought some unique interpretations and sensitivities to the role. And that’s interesting for a director – to hear somebody else’s thoughts on what a man like Superman would sound like.

QUESTION: What are you seeking in a Superman voice that differentiates from all other voices?

ANDREA ROMANO: Superman is such an interesting character because, while he isn’t human, he has so many human qualities. He’s interesting because without the effects of certain kryptonites, his instincts are always going to be to do the right thing. But you don’t want that to come off as being a Boy Scout or one note. And so you need kind of the white knight, but to still keep him interesting. It’s like when we girls first start dating, it’s never the clean-cut nice guy that attracts us – it’s always the bad boy with the extra dimensions. That’s why I like Batman so much. But when we can give Superman some layers, that makes him interesting. And every actor I’ve used for Superman has brought some amazing layers.

QUESTION: How did you choose Christina Hendricks to play Lois Lane?

ANDREA ROMANO: I am such an admirer of her work, and I love what she does on Mad Men. It was cute because she was quite nervous coming in with no prior voiceover experience, but her acting instincts are so good, she has the ability to adjust to acting to a microphone as opposed to camera very quickly. I always give people positive feedback, but I was telling her “terrific job” and you’ll see the evidence when you see the piece. This is a very unusual, different story between Lois and Superman, and she captured everything we were looking for and then some. She was so enthusiastic about the role that she found a way to squeeze the recording into her schedule – right after getting married – and she gave us a terrific Lois Lane. I would use her again in a minute.

QUESTION: I’m guessing you’ve been angling to get Anthony LaPaglia behind the microphone for a while?

ANDREA ROMANO: The actors I tend to bring in are people I’ve admired from afar and have been looking for a specific character for them – as with Anthony LaPaglia for Lex Luthor. He is such a versatile actor, and his dialect work is so good. Moreover, he was so directable. If something confused him, he asked just the right questions – he wouldn’t blindly do it 10 times to make it be right. He’d ask a very specific question, and that makes it easy to direct, because you can answer those direct questions.

QUESTION: Do you hold actors in any higher esteem when they are able to perfectly portray an accent foreign to their own?

ANDREA ROMANO: I admire anyone who is a dialectician in addition to acting. Doing dialects is very technical, while the acting is more organic, so when they can marry those two things convincingly, it’s golden. What I find more often is that British actors can do a spot-on American accent – I think that’s often because they come to America to find work and there’s lots of casting to be done for American characters, so they’re just smart to do it. And it’s not that easy to do an American accent because there are so many regional versions – the deep south, the northeastern variations, even Southern California. They each have their own twists. Greg Ellis can do just about any accent you throw at him. Robin Atkin Downes is just amazing. Jason Isaacs does some stunning accent work – he perfected a Rhode Island accent for Brotherhood. Miriam Margolyes is another brilliant dialectician – I adore her accents.

QUESTION: At one point in the LaPaglia session, he wasn’t understanding your direction no matter how many different ways you worded it – and Brcue Timm was able to communicate your direction with a simple drawing of Lex’s face. Has Bruce done that previously/often over your 20-plus years working together?

ANDREA ROMANO: When Bruce did that for Anthony, I thought that was one of those great moments where a picture is actually worth ten thousand words. One of the things Bruce has done a million times before is, when someone comes in to play a role, he’ll draw the character right there on the spot. That almost always helps an actor establish a voice.

QUESTION: What’s the most unconventional casting of a villain you’ve ever done?

ANDREA ROMANO: Bill Macy as a villain in Batman Beyond. I thought I’d do it just to let him be the bad guy, because at the time he was getting all the hapless, milquetoast, endearing good guy roles. So I thought it would be fun to switch it around and, of course, he was brilliant.

QUESTION: This film has a lot of smaller that make an impact, and you spared no expense in bringing in some lofty talent like Matthew Gray Gubler as Jimmy Olsen, Frances Conroy as Ma Kent, Ed Asner as Perry White and even cult favorite Alexis Denisof as Dr. Quintum. What was your thinking behind some of those casting choices?

ANDREA ROMANO: I think Matthew is such a talent. He just did an episode of Criminal Minds where his character was suffering a migraine throughout the entire episode, and he was so good that you actually felt his headache. What I love about Matthew’s voice is that it’s got a naturally youthful quality, and there’s something interesting he does naturally where he almost ends every sentence with a question mark. It’s a very specific speech pattern. His sentences tend to go up at the end. He’s a perfect Jimmy Olsen – sweet, endearing, slightly nerdy. If I had a role for him in every project, I would always hire him.

Frances Conroy – first, let me say that she is not related to Kevin Conroy, which is kind of funny because they know each other very well, and they even went to Juilliard together. I’ve admired her work on everything from Six Feet Under to Maid in Manhattan, and when I heard she was doing voiceovers, I was so jealous somebody else got her before I did. While there weren’t many lines for Ma Kent, it’s always a pivotal role – it’s the woman who helped shape Superman’s sense of right and wrong. And Frances just has that quality about her voice that is mothering and warm and thoughtful, and what she did with such few lines of dialogue was wonderful and exactly what I was hoping to get.

Alexis has such an interesting quality to his voice. I loved Dr. Quintum, he’s such an odd character, and the voice matches perfectly. I’m never 100 percent sure when doing the casting if I made the right decision. It’s not until it comes back in animation that we really know that it actually did work. Alexis as Dr. Quintum is definitely one of those circumstances that worked well.

QUESTION: Beyond the on-camera actors, you tend to appear to have the best times directing when you have a room full of full-time voiceover actors – like on this project with John DiMaggio, Kevin Michael Richardson, Robin Atkin Downes, Steve Blum, Fred Tatasciore, Michael Gough and so on. What’s that group session like?

ANDREA ROMANO: Often when I cast my ensemble players for some of the secondary characters, and that is to say secondary characters by the number of lines they must perform, I treat it almost like a casting party. I want to put together people who enjoy being in a room together, that are going to bring something to the party, and that they’re somebody with whom I want to spend a few hours locked in a room together. Okay, sometimes it should be a padded room. I find that I get a core group of actors and I almost want to carry them with me to every different project I’m working on – the end credits of my films and series probably back that up. When I get the chance, I also like to cast those guys in major featured roles, like John DiMaggio as the Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood. The thing about these actors is that they’re so versatile that I could assign three roles to each before they walked into the room, and I could change it when we walked into the room and they’d have no problem playing the other characters instead. It’s always fun to work with that group, but sometimes it is like being a kindergarten teacher with an over-crowded class.

Bruce Greenwood and Andrea Romano

Romano has been instrumental in orchestrating the vocal tones behind the character’s non-live appearances for more than two decades. From Kevin Conroy and Rino Romano to Jeremy Sisto and William Baldwin, Romano knows precisely what voice will best fit the tones of a particular story or series.

Enter “Batman: Under the Red Hood” and all of its deep, emotional undertones. Romano has outdone herself once again, balancing the veteran acting chops of Bruce Greenwood as Batman with the youthful, pained intonations of Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, and tossing in Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing for humorous resonance.

All in a days work for Romano, who recruits the best in the business — winners of Oscars, Emmys and Tonys alike — to provide the voices behind some of the world’s best known super heroes for the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

“Batman: Under the Red Hood” is the next entry in the popular ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies from Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The full-length film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on July 27 as a Special Edition version on Blu-Ray and 2-disc DVD, as well as being available on single disc DVD, On Demand and for Download.

Romano took a few minutes to offer her perspective:

QUESTION: Let’s take the cast one member at a time. What made Bruce Greenwood right for the role of Batman in this particular film?

ANDREA ROMANO: One of the coolest finds of this past year for me was Bruce. I’ve seen so much of his work over the years, and he can do so many things so convincingly. I knew I’d have to offer him a big role. Something with meat. And I knew he would really sink his teeth into the material and make it his own. I don’t need to tell you what a wonderful actor he is — but for this film, he gives a terrific, sensitive performance. This is the most tortured we’ve ever seen of Batman and, without overplaying it, Bruce really showed us a lot of the guilt and issues Batman has in his luggage. It’s an exhaustive, emotional piece, and he carried it perfectly.

QUESTION: How did Jensen Ackles perform in his maiden voyage in animation?

AR: When you get a first-timer in the booth, there are often risks involved, particularly in understanding the techniques involved in working with the microphone. Jensen picked it up so quickly and was so effective in this very difficult role. Red Hood is written as such an embittered, angry, verging-on-insane character, and it can so easily be overplayed. But Jensen found just the right level of energy and flair. I loved his acting. His quality was dead-on, and he really offers a perfect balance with Bruce (Greenwood).

As a director, you live the emotions with the actor. There’s one scene where Jensen has to let his emotions completely bubble to the surface. I had to work really hard to see my script through the tears that I was crying with him as he let his emotions come through.

QUESTION: Who better than Neil Patrick Harris to break up all the emotional drama of this film?

AR: Who doesn’t love Neil Patrick Harris? He’s charming, talented, friendly, and remembers everyone he works with. He can sing and dance, not that I need that talent for Red Hood (she laughs). And in this instance, he did the unthinkable — he came to record for us on his way to the airport as he was going to New York to host the Tony Awards. Nightwing really does give a comic balance to this intense story, and Neil brought that spunky, funny instinct to the character with his usual effortless performance. He’s completely believable whether he’s doing drama or comedy, and he really added to this film. If I could, I would use Neil on every single project I do.

QUESTION: Jason Isaacs is such a nice guy. Why’d you have to make him play a villain again?

AR: Jason Isaacs is a delight. And you’re right (she laughs) — nice guys sometimes make the best villains. I’ve worked with Jason several times, and he’s absolutely fantastic. For Ra’s, I needed something slightly exotic. He’s a great, unusual character, but we had to fight against him getting too cartoony — and I knew Jason had the chops. He’s also a wonderfully intelligent actor — during the recording session, he had so many ideas, and would so respectfully suggest them to Bruce (Timm) and I — and I honestly don’t know that there was one we didn’t use. He helped edit the copy, he added beats where we didn’t even see them, and really nuanced the performance.

QUESTION: The Joker has had some very memorable live-action and animated performances from some notable performers. How did John DiMaggio fit into that legacy?

AR: If I weren’t in love with my husband, it would be John. He’s such a versatile, talented voiceover actor. The Joker is such an intense character, and I knew I needed somebody with great range — and John was delighted to come in and play, and he gave it some beautiful new twists. Because he has such a deep gravely voice, and he’s good at comedy, and he’s a good actor, I knew John already had covered most of the points of the Joker. But I didn’t want a light, thin reedy voice, I wanted a voice with some mass to it. That’s John.

QUESTION: You’ve placed Vincent and Alex Martella as the Young and Younger Robin voices. Had you ever cast brothers in the same film?

AR: This is the first time I’ve ever cast brothers in the same film. I was familiar with Vincent’s work and had been looking for something for him, and this was a great, interesting opportunity because I needed to cast the younger version of this character at two different ages. Vincent has a younger brother named Alex, who has only just begun in the industry, but because siblings tend to have very similar qualities to their voices, it was kind of a no-brainer to cast his younger brother as his younger self. And they were terrific — Vincent was pure dynamite in his performance, and I actually think Alex learned from watching his older brother record before him.

What really surprised me was in their attention to detail. They had to set up this character’s life for another actor that they weren’t even going to act in the same room with, and I thought the transitions were seamless.

QUESTION: What set this cast apart from the first seven DC Universe films?

AR: Each one of these actors had something to bring to the party above and beyond what was required of them. They had questions, they had input, they had ideas and, because the piece is so adult, complex, intense and dark, they knew they weren’t coming in to play The Smurfs. In order to make sure they were in the right head space and had the right tone, they asked a lot of questions. And that’s always a good sign. When the actors are that involved with their characters and the story, that challenges Bruce (Timm) and I to truly think through everything even more thoroughly, and then it becomes a much more collaborative effort. I’m not above telling an actor how to read a line. But I’d prefer that the actor comes up with the idea himself and I’m able to just tweak things here and there. We all need a challenge, something that keeps us on our toes, and recording this film was one of those experiences. A very, very positive experience.

For more information, visit the film’s official website at www.BatmanRedHood.com.

Roughly 540 years in the future, the human race is at war with an intergalactic alliance of alien races called the Covenant. A genetically engineered warrior — the last of his kind — fights fervently to drive back the advancing alien force. Soldiers of the United Nations Space Command fight at his side, know his name, and spread his legend, Master Chief John -117. Welcome to the universe of Halo. Climb deeper into it — or explore it for the first time — with the animated feature that hit shelves last week.

The seven animated stories in “Halo Legends” unfold over eight episodes. The artificial intelligence Cortana narrates “Origins,” the first two animations in the set. The plot gets somewhat labyrinthine as she explains the origins of all life in the fictional universe. A trip to the Halo Wiki might help, if you get lost.

“Origins 1″ — narrated to the unconscious Master Chief — details the rise of what are called the Forerunners. Cortana tells Master Chief that these advanced beings reached technological heights thousands of years ago. It was all fun and games until they met a biological terror called the flood. The flood was to the universe what a really bad virus is to your hard drive; to wipe it out you have to wipe out your hard drive. The Forerunners fixed the problem by wiping out all living things in the galaxy. But they were smart. They backed everything up and started from scratch. Once the universe was rebuilt, human history could begin.

“Origins 2″ picks up were the first one left off. Humanity, it turns out, was rather good at making war. Once humanity spread to the stars the ability to blow itself to kingdom come became cool on a whole new level. Fighting over land and resources was equally fun in space. When the Covenant joined the party, humanity turned their attention away from killing each other and toward killing the aliens. Then the flood showed up again, and the real fun started. These two stories bring you nicely to a place where you have some idea of what is going on if you are unfamiliar with Halo.

“The Duel” quickly puts places you in unfamiliar surroundings, where you have no idea what’s going on. The story takes place on the alien world of the Elites. The water-color style animation follows the Arbiter, a general of his species, as he defies the Covenant. The Covenant has another Elite fight him in a Samurai-style duel. By this point, it would be nice to see some Spartans kill some aliens.

“Homecoming” gives you just what you are thirsting for: alien blood, and lots of it. The story intertwines with a flashback. Daisy, a Spartan who wears red close-quarters battle armor, is helping some soldiers escape an over-running Covenant force. As she assists them, by blowing aliens of various sizes away with a shotgun, she remembers attempting to escape from the facility where she was turned into a Spartan.

“Odd One Out” raises a new question for Halo fans. What if Halo was more like Dragon Ball Z? A Spartan falls out of a passing ship. When he hits the ground he encounters kids dressed like cavemen whose dinosaur tries to eat him. The children have a big brother and big sister who help the spartan fight a crazy Brute creature. Just when you can’t stand any more ridiculous antics it ends.

“Prototype” provides some relief by being pretty awesome. This sergeant is trying to get his men to safety after executing a mission. He does this by using an armor suit of high-tech weapon systems to blow tons of Covenant forces off the face of the planet.

“The Babysitter” details a mission where Orbital Drop Shock Troopers deploy with a Spartan. In the course of their sniper mission together the team and the Spartan earn each other’s respect. The Spartan has to buy a Gravity Hammer in the face to do it, but there has to be some downside to being a super-soldier.

“The Package” delivers the goods. It does this by answering an important question. Where the hell is Master Chief in these stories? Not only is there quite a bit of Master Chief, there is quite a bit of shooting aliens and even some first person animations.

Overall the feature contributes to the lesson of Halo. Generations to come will learn that if there is one thing aliens need it is to be shot in the face, or stabbed in the side of the head with a close-combat knife, or even smashed in the skull with the butt of a rifle.

If you’re into the creation of professional animated graphics or you’re an artist looking to design your very own masterpiece using live-like animation, Smith Micro’s Anime Studio Pro 6 for both Windows and Mac is an impressively powerful tool.

Smith Micro’s Anime Studio Pro 6 ($199) is a vast update over the previous versions and adds many great new features. Enhancements to version 6 include motion tracking, integrated lip-syncing, a scatter brush, auto shading, morph targets, a new sequencer, HD video support along with the ability to export to more video formats and better scripting. This edition also adds speedier production times, improved drawing and design enhancements, the ability to directly upload content to YouTube right from the application and a large collection of predesigned graphics, sounds and templates.

I decided to put Mac version of the product to the test and the results stacked up well. One thing to note is this is a very large piece of software. The installation took about 578 megabytes of disk space, so I would recommend you have plenty of space before you go ahead and decide install this product. Other than that, the installation was smooth and took only about two minutes.

Anime Pro sports a sleek, clean interface, reminiscent of Photoshop or Flash. Performance-wise, everything seemed to run smoothly and I never ran up on any errors. Because this product is designed for professional use, there’s a bit of a learning curve and training may be necessary to fully utilize the capabilities of the software, but those who have used this product before will be satisfied with the interface, commands, tools and navigation of the application.

The applications preloaded content is especially useful for people who are just starting off. Within fifteen minutes I had my own animation going (AnimeStudioPro sample). It’s simple, but it just shows that in less then fifteen minutes, someone who has never used this product can get right to work with the simple, yet familiar interface.

The product retails for $199 new or $129 to upgrade from a previous version. If you currently use previous versions of this software, the new features are definitely worth the upgrade cost.

You can purchase this product online from Smith Micro’s online store.

WOBURN, Mass. — Disney makes a hit with their latest movie Bolt by using the Pixar talent it acquired in 2006 to bring back‚ their‚ successful animated movies. Bolt, a cute white German Sheppard who was raised in a TV set and believes has superpowers, was charming, funny and appreciated by young and old audiences alike.

What made Bolt such a good film to watch was just that; everybody at the theater laughed at the same moments, there were no masked jokes for the kids or boring cheesiness for the children. John Lasseter, the executive producer of the film, put his experience from Toy Story to good use. The CGI animation was fantastically good, as was the plotline and character development.

Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is an acting dog who stars in a hit action television show and has never been let out from the studio. Because of this he was raised thinking that he truly has heat vision and a super bark. His costar, Penny (voiced by Miley Cirus) is kidnapped in one of the show’s climatic ending scenes, which freaks out the dog. Without understanding what is going on, Bolt decides to go rescue the tween girl and discover he is just another dog once he is in the real world.

Along the way of disheartening realizations about his fake powers Bolt takes a sassy cat, Mittens (by Susie Essman), hostage and meets a hyperactive hamster in a ball, (13-year Disney animation veteran Mark Walton). Together they venture on a cross-country quest to find Penny and the imagery that accompanies them is beautiful. In the first minutes of the film where an action scene from Bolt’s show is taking place this detail to the images is established.

Through the entire film viewers can see and feel the racing cars Bolt escapes from, the change of weather and the wind blowing or the sun shining. It all works in creating authenticity that draws people in. What makes them stay is the dialogue. By far the best one-liners and laughs were provided by the hamster in the ball.

Rhino is one of Bolt’s super fans and just as the dog thinks he has powers that have suddenly disappeared, Rhino believes he will be the sidekick for his hero. Eventually both the dog and the hamster come to the conclusion that the powers are nothing more than special effects but learn (Disney couldn’t miss the morale of the story) that they are special no matter what. Created for all audiences Bolt will be a holiday hit and a Disney video classic.

To make your Bolt experience better folks at Disney graced us with a super prize pack to give to one lucky reader. It includes the movie’s plush toys, movie-themed doggie‚ treats and the film’s Wii game amongst other goodies. Email your contact information to Giveaways@BlastMagazine.com‚ by January 1st to enter! Bolt gifts for your little ones are also available at all Toys “R” Us.