With a reinterpretation of its downtown offices, Toronto-based Spin Productions has expanded its space and potentially its sphere of influence in the post and production process, with strides toward increasing its role in traditional animation.

The high-end animation and effects shop has moved its complement of animators to new space on the first floor of its King Street facility. In addition to possessing that usual Spin aesthetic, the new floor – a mix of private and interactive space designed by Toronto’s II By IV Design Associates – is designed as a creative environment intended to facilitate the company’s increasing activity on the production side of the business.

Known for its 3D animation, effects and compositing work, the shop is making moves toward gaining more traditional animation and design work. The new space will include a camera room to allow some on-premises animation and package shooting.

Creative director Rob Jones handles traditional animation, graphic design, and live-action and motion-control shooting.

Jones is currently working on an animation job for BP Gas out of WB Doner in Detroit. The spot features a shot of a car at the side of a country road, with swirling, pink-toned skies, clouds and snow composited in and Jones’ animated type layered over the scene. Compositing was done by Keith Adams on Spin’s Inferno system.

Along with the expansion, Spin has upgraded to R10000 processors on sgi gear and is making preparations to put itself online to ultimately allow high-volume data transfers to clients.

-The medium isŠ

Attention all filmmakers and filmmakers manque and/or computer and/or media geeks. A new Web site, developed by Toronto-based Xybermedia and WARP 10 Technologies, will allow users to indulge any or all of their passions by allowing them to become associate producers on a film about the sometimes incomprehensible but always weighty Canadian communications guru Marshall McLuhan.

For a subscription fee of $49.95 (due only after the film is officially in production and a completion guarantee issued), subscribers gain access to every stage of the production process, from casting and location scouting to screening of dailies and soundtrack selection to worldwide gross figures. And it’s a perfect holiday gift idea!

The site was conceived by Bill Marshall, filmmaker, partner at Xybermedia and chairman emeritus of the Toronto International Film Festival, and Xybermedia partner Stan Davidson, with WARP 10 providing compression technology and the server for the site. Messenger – The Marshall McLuhan Movie will chronicle the life and times of McLuhan and, while no production or distribution details have been decided, Davidson says the film may have up to eight directors.

All information from all departments on the set of Messenger will be filtered through Marshall, the film’s executive producer, via laptop and will be passed on to the online associates.

In addition to being able to complain about poor craft services and too many takes, subscribers will receive copies of the shooting script, budget estimates and details of financial participation, foreign sales and tv prebuys via the site. They will also receive an invite to the film’s sneak preview and, after theatrical release, a vhs copy of the film with an associate producer credit. Davidson says about 10,000 subscribers are expected for the site.

-Innovation in aisle five

With the opening of its new store in Aurora Ont., Toronto-based Canadian Tire has become one of the first retailers in the world to employ wide-screen tv technology for in-store advertising.

The Aurora outlet, which opened in mid-November, uses 42-inch, three-inch thick screens from Fujitsu, which offer large-scale image display with color plasma display panels. All screens are linked to a network that allows static messages to be updated continually and controlled from a single location.

WOW Media of Calgary developed and operates the network and currently creates the messages, which include the store’s image spots and ads for suppliers. Ultimately, a computer system at Canadian Tire head office will create ads and wow will handle scheduling.

wow vp of network development John Stewart says the company recently completed trials in Canadian shopping malls to test the network delivery and scheduling and transferring creative from ad agencies.

The network is expected to be rolled out in January using flat, plasma-screen digital billboards mounted vertically on site.

wow is currently working with ad agencies Leo Burnett and bcp, and Stewart says the system will eventually allow virtually same-day design and implementation of an advertising campaign.

-Coming soon

Look here for upcoming news from Montreal’s Miranda Technologies and Bell Canada regarding an update on Intermedia, a collaborative project which will allow post and production houses to transfer uncompressed film and digital video over fiber optic cable.

-Digital recording studio

Sausalito, California-based Metalithic has launched Digital Wings for Audio, a complete digital recording studio. Suited to project recording and multimedia content development, the hardware and software system provides 128 tracks of hard disc-based editable digital audio recording on pcs running Windows 95. Software with audio board is priced at us$1,695.