Green Bay, November 17, 2005: Darren Lutz, President and Creative Director of Balance Studios, ranks right up there with Mel Gibson. That’s because he is the proud recipient of the same award that Gibson received last year for “The Passion of the Christ”. Lutz received two Unity Awards that were presented by the United Catholic Music & Video Association (UCMVA) on Saturday, November 12, 2005 at the O’Shaughnessy Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Like Gibson, Lutz won “Video Producer of the Year” for “Like a Train”, a music video he produced and directed for Ceili Rain, an International Irish Rock Band. Lutz and Executive Producer, Tina Lutz, took a more literal approach and chose to shoot the video at Green Bay’s National Railroad Museum, a setting that was a perfect compliment to the metaphoric song. Their choice and work paid off because the video also won “ Music Video of the Year”.

Watch the video here!

Balance Studios began working with Ceili Rain in September 2001 when Bob Halligan, Jr., the band’s lead singer commissioned them to redefine their entire visual presence in the marketplace. The transformation was initiated with a new website and web log or “blog” and was followed by four music videos (three of them shot in Ireland) and a DVD Anthology that was released earlier this year. Ceili Rain was founded in 1991 and tours internationally with a unique blend of rock’n’roll and Celtic flavors, a sound that is exciting, danceable, joyous and musically unique. The band is currently wrapping up year’s tour but they made sure Titletown was on their map. Ceili Rain helped Balance Studios kick off their “First Annual Half-Way to St. Patrick’s Day” Celebration that was held on October 15, 2005 at the Sports Corner in De Pere.

Darren and Tina Lutz established Balance Studios in Green Bay in 2001. The company specializes in animation, advanced interactive media, special effects, and broadcast productions. Some of their clients include: OCP/Spirit and Song, Screen Magazine-Chicago, The Karma Group-Green Bay, and Lindsay, Stone & Briggs-Madison. They are located at 1263 Main St., Suite 212 in the Main Street

“SLANE” NEEDS NO LYRICS, INSTRUMENTAL IMAGES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Green Bay, November 17, 2005: Darren Lutz, President and Creative Director of Balance Studios, ranks right up there with Mel Gibson. That’s because he is the proud recipient of the same award that Gibson received last year for “The Passion of the Christ”. Lutz received two Unity Awards that were presented by the United Catholic Music & Video Association (UCMVA) on Saturday, November 12, 2005 at the O’Shaughnessy Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Like Gibson, Lutz won “Video Producer of the Year” for “Like a Train”, a music video he produced and directed for Ceili Rain, an International Irish Rock Band. Lutz and Executive Producer, Tina Lutz, took a more literal approach and chose to shoot the video at Green Bay’s National Railroad Museum, a setting that was a perfect compliment to the metaphoric song. Their choice and work paid off because the video also won “ Music Video of the Year”.

Watch the video here!

Balance Studios began working with Ceili Rain in September 2001 when Bob Halligan, Jr., the band’s lead singer commissioned them to redefine their entire visual presence in the marketplace. The transformation was initiated with a new website and web log or “blog” and was followed by four music videos (three of them shot in Ireland) and a DVD Anthology that was released earlier this year. Ceili Rain was founded in 1991 and tours internationally with a unique blend of rock’n’roll and Celtic flavors, a sound that is exciting, danceable, joyous and musically unique. The band is currently wrapping up year’s tour but they made sure Titletown was on their map. Ceili Rain helped Balance Studios kick off their “First Annual Half-Way to St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” that was held on October 15, 2005 at the Sports Corner in De Pere.

Darren and Tina Lutz established Balance Studios in Green Bay in 2001. The company specializes in animation, advanced interactive media, special effects, and broadcast productions. Some of their clients include: OCP/Spirit and Song, Screen Magazine-Chicago, The Karma Group-Green Bay, and Lindsay, Stone & Briggs-Madison. They are located at 1263 Main St., Suite 212 in the Main Street Commons.

Green Bay, February 1, 2005: Balance Studios is extremely proud to announce the release of “The Ceili Rain Anthology: 1995—2005″, a new DVD compilation of highlights chronicling the decade-long history of this international award-winning band.

Content for the Anthology (produced with full support of Ceili Rain, who provided open access to their archives) has been culled from a diverse range of original source material accumulated over the past ten years. Sections on the DVD include: Live Concerts, Television Appearances, Music Videos, and even three live performances of previously-unreleased songs.

For any fan of Ceili Rain, this Anthology is a special treat of historical and anecdotal insights. And for the previously “unin-CeiliRain-itiated”, the DVD provides a marvelous starting point for getting to know the band.

In featured interviews, Bob Halligan, Jr., founder and primary song-writer for Ceili Rain talks of his experiences — from aspiring musician, through a successful career as a heavy-metal and pop song-writer for artists such as KISS, Judas Priest, Michael Bolton, and Cher, right up to his current role as the rollicking band leader. Live performance pieces range from small, intimate venues to super-sized arenas where Ceili Rain has played before tens-of-thousands.

Says Halligan about the DVD, “So thrilled to see some of this myself after many years, like a high school reunion. Sad to see Hunter, who has passed away, but great to note his talent and that of everyone else who’s walked thru the Ceili doors. So MANY of us! Somewhere along the way, I lost a foot of length on my hair!! God Done Good!”

Darren Lutz, President / Creative Director for Balance comments, “This is one a one of a kind DVD. Ceili Rain has such a rich history — it took some time to get through all the footage! What made this project unique was that we had a collection of clips acquired through a multitude of mediums — DV, Film, Beta, VHS — so getting all of those formats to live in harmony on a single DVD was quite an undertaking. And ‘Anthology’ is unique for the sprawling fashion in which the content is presented. It shines light on so many of the nuances in the life of Ceili Rain; a song from each year, different venues, music never released on CD, footage of talk shows and more”.

Although it has just been released, the Ceili Rain Anthology DVD has already generated a significant amount interest. Copies can be ordered through the Ceili Rain Web site at:
http://www.ceilirain.com/en-Us/merchandise/default.aspx , or
http://www.ceilirain.com

Green Bay, January 10 , 2005: Utilizing similar visual fx techniques as seen in feature films such as Gladiator and Braveheart, the animation/visual fx team at Balance Studios was contracted to co-produce a series of New Year’s promotional television spots for WG&R Furniture, Northeast Wisconsin’s largest retail furniture chain.

With other furniture stores using the same “New Year’s Sale” handle, WG&R hoped to create a dynamic piece of work that would stand out from the rest. “The creative treatment called for a New Year’s Eve Times Square theme, and the final scene had to really make an impression in order to sell the whole concept,” said Alan Hotchkiss, Producer for WG&R Furniture. “To simulate the Times Square experience in front of a WG&R store, many elements had to come into play, including the famous dropping crystal globe, fireworks, confetti, and thousands of merry revelers.” Small groups of WG&R employees were shot on green screen and the rest was up to Balance.

Complex scenes, such as the Times Square crystal globe and the sea of people, were constructed, animated, and composited primarily within Lightwave 3D and discreet Combustion software. For the crowds, varying shots of people counting down the new year in different groupings and changes of clothing were shot on a green screen, then duplicated, manipulated and distributed onscreen to create a “mob” that filled the entire WG&R parking lot.

“With so much going on in these shots, rendering was another major challenge given the short production timeframe,” recalls Darren Lutz, president and creative director for Balance. “Ultimately it was ‘MULE(tm)’ the render-management engine engineered by epicsoft (a software division of Balance) that came through for us. MULE(tm)’s technology monitors and distributes frames over a network of rendering systems – so while one machine is busy, another system can pick up the next frame in the cue. In fact, one of our primary machines crashed during the final render, yet every shot still came out pristine and ready for the client.”

The whole WG&R project was coordinated through INSPIRE(tm), a communication hub, also created by epicsoft. INSPIRE(tm) provides a single point of reference for the development process, so elements such as requirements-gathering, scheduling, design previews, feedback, and approvals are facilitated and preserved, and are accessible for everybody involved in the process no matter where they’re located. This helped the project to be completed just as envisioned by all – and right on schedule.

“Working through INSPIRE(tm) was a time-and-resource-saver for this spot, and the success of WG&R’s New Year’s Sales event was very positive” Hotchkiss added. “Another great collaboration between WG&R Furniture and Balance Studios.”

Balance Studios was established in Green Bay in 2001 and specializes in animation/visual fx, advanced interactive development, and post-production for B-to-B, commercial, and feature film clients. Other Balance Studios clients are Screen Magazine, KD Dance Enterprises and Lindsay, Stone & Briggs. Additional information about Balance Studios can be found on the Internet at www.balancestudios.com.

Green Bay, December 20 , 2004: Balance Studios was chosen by SCREEN Magazine, a renowned Midwest trade magazine that covers creative news in 10 Midwest states and has subscribers from all 50 states and 6 foreign countries, to turbocharge its online presence. “They’re experts at creating innovative and intuitive design and have a brilliant approach to the development process” comments Robert Gauldin, SCREEN Magazine’s Production Manager, “Balance was with us from conception to creation – actively involved in every aspect of the creative process of developing our new site. They ingenuously created a customized website that repositioned our magazine in a dynamic way. Bringing to life something that, in all honesty, I didn’t think was possible.”

“It is remarkable how much content is accessible through the interface and archives of the new SCREEN Web site,” comments Ryan Moore, Technical Director of Balance Studios, “Balance has worked hard with SCREEN to design and engineer a very useable and manageable creative resource. The database is huge and perpetually growing. Thoughtful content layout is what makes navigating through so much information a possibility. Not only did Balance create the new website, but also a completely customized back-end application giving Screen full control of content updates.”

With a tightly organized layout, the site is equipped for diverse interaction, such as displaying video clips, posting classified ads, presenting all different sorts of articles and columns, and selling products online. The entire content archive is searchable — which is critical with so much available information to be drawn from.

The site’s architecture was created with the future in mind. As the magazine grows and their online needs also increase, the back-end architecture will allow for seamless future expansions for features like, SCREEN Magazine’s famous Production Bible online, user log-in for featured information, and on-line chat forums.

In the first post-launch week, SCREEN Magazine reports that they have received more hits than they averaged per month with their old website.

SCREEN Magazine was founded in 1979 to report on and market the creative community in Chicago, and today SCREEN covers creative news in 10 Midwest states and has subscribers from all 50 states and 6 foreign countries — and reaches worldwide with this popular site on the Web. Additional information can be found at www.ScreenMag.com.

Green Bay, December 20 , 2004: When KD Dance, the New York-based designer and manufacturer of stylish dancewear decided to toe step into the virtual marketplace and make purchasing easy for their national and international customers , they turned to Balance Studios of Green Bay, WI, to create and engineer a Web showcase for promotion and sale of their garments.

“The alliance between Balance Studios and KD Dance is based on a shared passion to support creative artists the world over through specialized design and technology,” said Darren Lutz, President and Creative Director of Balance Studios.

An apparel industry leader for the yoga and dance disciplines since 1980, KD Dance has introduced innovative collections recognized for their modern styling using flexible and durable materials that are very comfortable to wear. The KDDance Web presence was conceived specifically for and around their unique product line.

KD Dance garments are frequently modeled in magazines such as Shape, Ladies Home Journal, and Self and currently can be seen, larger than life, in the Miramax blockbuster film “Shall We Dance?” starring Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere.

Through the Web site, www.KDDance.com, enthusiasts worldwide can now easily purchase the same items they’ve seen in print or on-screen.

Green Bay, December 17 , 2004: Balance Studios was chosen by Ceili Rain, an international award-winning Celtic rock band to write and produce the global music video for “Like a Train,” the featured single from the band’s newest album, “Change In Your Pocket.” (Watch it here!)

Designed and directed by Darren Lutz, co-founder and president of Balance, “This is such a powerful, full-on song,” comments Lutz, “so I envisioned a driving, hard-edged appearance for the video. All the color was stripped from the HD footage and then re-introduced digitally to give a pre-Technicolor look. Film grain, enhanced lighting, lens flares and volumetrics were also added for a juxtaposing grunge and ethereal treatment. The band was excited about the look and I am very happy with the result, too.”

The video was shot entirely on location at the Green Bay National Railroad Museum and features, the “Big Boy,” the world’s largest classic steam locomotive, known as the Union Pacific No. 4017. This world-wide attraction provided the ideal backdrop for the upbeat video.

Bob Halligan Jr., lead singer, songwriter, and founder of Ceili Rain, says the video is more than he could have dreamed and comments that “Balance Studios is like balance in life — you need it! These folks are warm, generous and very talented, a combo to die for. People love our video and that’s because it’s so ‘balance’d! Anyone would be lucky to have them!”

Footage was shot by famed cinemaphotographer, Alan Hotchkiss with the Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema camera in 24 frames progressive scan. The AJ-HDC27 VariCam features CineGamma(tm) software that permits Panasonic’s HD Cinema camera systems to more closely match the latitude of film stocks. Edits were then off-lined through Final Cut Pro, finished in discreet Smoke, and ultimately, discreet Combustion was employed to enhance the visuals.

Ceili Rain’s “Like a Train” video is being released by Compendia Records. It will air internationally on over 100 television stations and through DISH satellite network throughout December, January and February. Currently it can be viewed online at: http://www.ceilirain.com .

Ceili Rain was founded in 1991 and tours internationally with a unique blend of rock’n'roll and Celtic flavors, a sound that is exciting, danceable, joyous and musically unique. For more information, or to purchase the CD “Change in Your Pocket”, visit Ceili Rain’s Web site ( http://www.ceilirain.com ).

Green Bay, August 25, 2004: Balance Studios, was hired by Lindsay Stone and Briggs (LSB), a national advertising agency specializing in integrated brand development, branded new product development, and brand communications to create and design Chiquita Brand, Inc’s new product launch website.

Known for their creative talents and sophisticated application development, LSB approached Balance Studios for the national assignment after recognizing the high quality of the studio’s design, programming talents, ability to understand the “brand” concept, and innovative project collaboration application.

The purpose of this Web site was to introduce and launch Chiquita’s newest product innovation, Fresh Cut Fruit. Targeted at females between the ages of 25 and 54 who are concerned about their health, love fruit, appreciate convenience, and are “on the go,” the Fresh Cut Fruit site required a friendly, engaging, and interactive user interface. This type of website is a forte’ of Balance Studios because of the necessity for a unique and “fun” interface designed combined with cutting edge web technologies.

“This was a challenging and exciting project,” says Darren Lutz, President/Creative Director of Balance Studios, “because LSB provided us with the project requirements, objectives, and the Fresh Cut Fruit brand concept, then let us develop and design this fun, attractive website that integrates some of the newest web applications.”

Balance Studios was established in Green Bay in 2001 and specializes in animation/visual fx, advanced interactive development, and broadcast productions for feature film, B-to-B, and commercial clients. Other Balance Studios clients are Screen Magazine, Discovery Channel and Birds Eye Foods. Additional information about Balance Studios can be found on the Internet at www.balancestudios.com.

Green Bay, July 7, 2004: Ryan Moore, Technical Director for Balance Studios, has published an article entitled “.NET FlashOrb”, which discusses the practice of using Macromedia Flash and the .NET FlashOrb to enhance the user-interface, or presentation tier, of web-based applications.

“ASP.NET has done an exceptional job of evolving the 3 and n-tier web model, in particular the business logic layer. .NET server controls such as DataGrids, DataLists, and Calendar controls provide adequate presentation- tier elements, but their reliance on outdated Web technologies limits their potential. The Macromedia Flash Player, in conjunction with the .NET FlashOrb, provides an engaging presentation layer that can seamlessly interact with the powerful .NET business logic tier.”

Moore, a .NET programmer and Certified Macromedia Flash Developer, splits his time between Web and desktop application development.

Green Bay, July 14, 2003: Balance Studios, is the recipient of the 2003 Corporate Award by the American Red Cross – Lakeland Chapter. The award recognizes the company for its creative redesign of Lakeland Chapter’s new multi-faceted web site. The American Red Cross Lakeland Chapter Corporate Award is given to one corporation or business each year that has proven its commitment to the public through exceptional support of the Red Cross through contributions of time, talent, finances, and volunteerism. The new website, www.arclakeland.org, enhances Lakeland Chapter’s ability to incorporate news stories, pictures of events, upcoming blood drive schedules, disaster preparedness information, volunteer opportunities, and online registration for classes and programs. It also enables visitors to link to the Red Cross national site for information about national news, activities and opportunities.

The purpose of the new site is to offer the community an engaging and easy to navigate avenue through which to discover and access information about the local and national Red Cross. Since the launch of Lakeland Chapter’s new site, it has had nearly 10,000 visitors, a significant increase in activity that supports the chapters hope to reach more people and provide the community with valuable information that can save lives.

Mark Minsloff, Chairman, Board of Directors presented the American Red Cross Corporate Award for the Lakeland Chapter. Accepting the award for Balance Studios were Darren Lutz, President/Creative Director, Tina Mocco, Vice President, and Ryan Moore, Technical Director.

Balance Studios was established in Green Bay in 2001, specializing in animation, interactive development, and broadcast for feature film, B-to-B, and commercial clients worldwide.