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Lights, Camera, Data!

In today's digital Hollywood, cameras capture scenes in bits, not frames—and computer wizards conjure up everything from impossible beasts to cliff-top battlegrounds. Film is dead. Long live the movies.

Industry

Top 10 F/X Scenes in Movie History

Today, many digital effects are so subtle that movie audiences often don't notice them — but it wasn't always so. We asked industry insiders to pinpoint the biggest breakthroughs in digital F/X history.

Technology

The Digital Movie Pipeline: From Set to Theater to Your Living Room

Choose your own adventure in tracking a motion picture from digital camera to home screen — without film.

The Popular Mechanics Show

PODCAST: Talking Digital Hollywood with ILM's F/X Head

We interview one of the moviemaking magicians at Industrial Light and Magic, Effects Supervisor Colum Slevin, and find out how digital production is fundamentally changing the way films are made.

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Making 3D: Behind the Scenes with the New Nightmare Before Christmas

How George Lucas' special effects house and new digital projection technology are manipulating images so fast your brain can’t tell the difference — and how Hollywood can.

Industry

Big Shots: FX New & Old Make Movie Magic

Digital special effects create cool and convincing movie magic. But not every jaw-dropping effect comes out of a computer. Traditional FX tricks were behind some of last summer's wildest scenes.

Technology

Backyard Filmmakers Are Hollywood's Greatest Fear: Glenn Reynolds

The entertainment industry's real threat isn't piracy, it's backyard Spielbergs armed with digital moviemaking gear.

Technology Clinic

Hi-Def Surround-Sound Setups for Any Budget

You can create a theater-quality experience in your own living room. Here are two setups that match your A/V needs to your budget.

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Digital Camcorders: Lab Test

Digital video cameras are changing fast. To shed some light, PM brought six popular camcorders into our lab for an uncompromising analysis.

How-To Central


Tech How-To Central

Log in to the technology clinic for expert advice on all your gizmo needs and frustrations, from identity theft via RFID credit cards to troubleshooting a dual-layer DVD drive.

Home How-To Central

Learn fundamental skills you're afraid to ask about (read: drywall), then choose from dozens of DIY projects illustrated by how-to masters, such as installing a sliding door.

Reader Projects Wanted

Show Us Your Woodworking Project!

Are you a woodworker? We are looking for examples of reader woodworking projects, with a focus on creativity, ingenuity and inventive spirit. We're open to anything, so send us your best!

The Popular Mechanics Show


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Technology

10 Tech Terms You Need to Know for 2007

From garbage turned gold at 10,000 degrees (left) to sensors that you swallow, here are the technologies you’ll be talking about next year.

9-11 Myths

9/11: Debunking the Myths

PM's investigation, greatly expanded in book form. Plus, new myths debunked.


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