Video Of Child-Snatching Eagle An Animation-Student Fake

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Alas for those excited by a [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CE0Q904gtMI"]video seemingly showing an eagle's unsuccessful attempt to carry off a child[/url]: it's not real.[/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]
"A shadow analysis revealed some pretty severe inconsistencies," said Kevin Connor, president of [url="http://www.fourandsix.com/"]Fourandsix[/url], an [url="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57515265-92/fourandsix-releases-image-authenticator-software/"]imaging forensics specialist[/url]. "It appears to be a fake."[/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]
Just as Fourandsix was digging into the matter, a Montreal school said animation students were behind the video. It "was made by Normand Archambault, Loic Mireault, and Felix Marquis-Poulin, students at [url="http://www.centrenad.com/"]Centre NAD[/url], in the production simulation workshop class of the Bachelors degree in 3D Animation and Digital Design," a [url="http://blogue.centrenad.com/2012/12/19/centre-nad-reassures-montrealers-no-danger-of-being-snatched-by-a-royal-eagle/"]statement from the center[/url] said. "Hoaxes produced in this class have already garnered attention, amongst others a video of a penguin having escaped the Montreal Biodome."[/size][/font][/color]

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Fourandsix co-founder Hany Farid has made a name for himself using a collection of methods to discern when imagery has been faked or modified. A [url="http://www.fourandsix.com/blog/2011/6/22/photo-forensics-from-shadows.html"]shadow analysis[/url] looks to see if all shadows in an image could be traced to the same light source, in this case the sun.[/size][size=4]
"You can clearly see that these shadows are not consistent with one another. The most likely scenario is that the baby and eagle are computer generated and were inserted into a real-world scene," Farid said in a [url="http://www.fourandsix.com/blog/2012/12/19/the-baby-snatching-eagle-real-or-fake.html"]blog post[/url] today. "Because this scene is outdoors and illuminated with a single light source (the sun), there is no physically plausible explanation for this inconsistency in shadows."[/size][size=4]
The video was posted on YouTube yesterday and so far has been watched more than 2.7 million times. [url="http://www.newstatesman.com/media/2012/12/literally-unbelievable-video-golden-eagle-snatching-baby-literally-unbelievable"]Skeptics pounced on the video[/url], though, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjOljUMc-Nc&feature=player_embedded"]scrutinizing it for problems[/url].[/size]
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Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57560082-1/video-of-child-snatching-eagle-an-animation-student-fake/[/size]