Computer Graphics World articles from April 2002

Computer Graphics World archives from April 2002

How to grow--not! (editor's note).
April 1, 2002... It's no secret that the mechanical CAD/ CAM/CAE industry has slowed to a standstill. The latest report from market research firm Daratech shows that as a result of market saturation and price erosion of CAD/ CAM/CAE software and services, this...

Looking ahead to retrospectives. (letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... I was pleasantly surprised to see an excerpt of one of my abstract images on pg. 21 of Computer Graphics World's"25 Year Retrospective" in the January 2002 issue. The retrospective had a lot packed into it, but I'd like even better to see an...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
April 1, 2002... In a news brief on pg. 10 of the January 2002 issue, Cambridge Animation Systems was incorrectly referred to as Cambridge Animation Studios.

More on WireGL. (letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... The visualization article "Meeting of the Minds" on pg. 28 of the January 2002 issue refers to the WireGL distributed graphics API. Where can I get more information on this topic? Howard Watkins Abingdon, UK Editor's Reply: ...

Media 100 debuts editing and effects system. (product spotlight).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The 844/X is Media 100's new nonlinear editing and effects system for short-form, effects-intensive work such as television commercials, teasers, and interstitials. The 844/X costs less than $70,000 and can process eight streams of data...

Fluent's improved multiphase modeling. (product spotlight).(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... Fluent 6.0, the latest version of Fluent's computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, comes with improvements in three major areas: modeling, parallel processing, and usability. Modeling advances include the ability to handle engineering...

Enhanced graphics for IBM IntelliStations. (product spotlight.(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... IBM has introduced new Unix-, Linux-, and Windows-based graphics workstations that are optimized for applications such as engineering, financial services, digital media, and petroleum exploration. The new IntelliStations, some of which are...

New video toaster from NewTek. (product spotlight).(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... More than 10 years ago, NewTek introduced Video Toaster, a combination of hardware and software for the Amiga platform that made video post production possible on the desktop. Two years ago, NewTek introduced Toaster for Windows and this year,...

Object capture with ShapeCam. (product spotlight).(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... ShapeCam is a new, portable 3D object capture system from Eyetronics. The system consists of a digital camera and a flash device mounted on a lightweight frame. ShapeCam's portability allows users to move freely around an object, capturing its...

Nvidia unveils new graphics processor. (news).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... In a move toward the high end of the 2D and 3D graphics market, Nvidia (Santa Clara, CA) has released the Quadro4 line of graphics boards and processors. The Quadro4 comes in two flavors; XGL, for the 3D digital content, MCAD, and viz/sim...

Okino releases VRML2 converter. (news).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Okino Computer Graphics (Toronto) is making the VRML2 import converter for its PolyTrans 3D data translation product and NuGraf Rendering System software available on an open basis. The company, noting that VRML2 supports meshes, hierarchy,...

Nvidia Quadro4 tops ProCDRS performers. (benchmark).(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... Nvidia's new Quadro4 900XGL bested other graphics accelerators in the latest round of ProCDRS-03 benchmarks. Pro/Designer ProCDRS-03 is a subset of the SPECviewperf 6.1.2 benchmark that is based on PTC's CDRS industrial design software. The...

Ice pack: a group of prehistoric CG animals becomes a family in Blue Sky Studios' first 3D animated feature. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
April 1, 2002... It's too early to tell whether moviegoers will think the latest 3D animated film is as cool as the other films in this new genre of feature animations, hut Ice Age could he the quirkiest. The prehistoric animated stars of this film are a moody...

Commercial potential: NLE systems, and their users, are taking on new roles in the creation of TV advertisements.
April 1, 2002... As the capabilities of high-end non-linear video editing systems have evolved over the last several years, so have the roles of video editors. No longer do they use NLE systems just to cut and paste frames and clips from one spot in video...

Broadcast retrospective: Part 4: our 25-year anniversary celebration continues with broadcast highlights.
April 1, 2002... PART 4 Computer-generated imagery showed signs of becoming a viable competitor on the small screen during the 1980s, although most of the innovation at the time was reserved for Olympic moments. Since then, digital imagery on television...

E.T.'s new look: computer graphics help make the classic film and its star a little brighter.
April 1, 2002... When E.T. phoned home in 1982, the space ship sent to retrieve him did so without the help of computer graphics. At that time, CG visual effects were nearly as alien as was the odd little extra-terrestrial three-toed botanist himself. Twenty...

Stalking the mainstream: next-generation MMOGs explore uncharted waters using state of-the-art graphics. (Art 2: two-part series).
April 1, 2002... When Mythic Entertainment released Dark Age of Camelot last October, it threw down the gauntlet in massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) development by implementing rich, detailed images and innovative game play. Since then, companies such...

Console connections. (Art 2: two-part series).
April 1, 2002... PCs have thus far enjoyed a monopoly in the massively multiplayer game market, but they're now encountering competition from not only the Macintosh but consoles as well. "Massively multiplayer games require a large network community, and that...

The life of Bennett. (portfolio).
April 1, 2002... In the eyes of digital artist David Bennett, art imitates life. So rather than adhering to a certain style, Bennett creates images that reflect his life experiences, environment, biases, and preferences. "The quirks of my behavior determine the...

The main route: engineers virtually configure and test routing designs for the new Airbus. (User focus: 3d design).
April 1, 2002... When it takes to the sky in 2004, the new Airbus A380 from Airbus SAS (Toulouse, France) will be the most spacious commercial passenger aircraft ever built, measuring 80 meters from nose to tail and from nose to wing tip. Despite the plane's...

SoftimageIXSI Version 2.0.: integrated compositor leads the lists of new features.(Evaluation)
April 1, 2002... SOFTIMAGEIXSI, released a little more than a year ago, represented a complete rewrite of Softimage|3D, the venerable 3D modeling, animation, and rendering suite. The initial version of XSI had promise, and the subsequent release of Version 1.5...

Radical compositor. (Miscellaneous).(RadTIME's 3dFilm)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 3dFilm from RadTIME enables users to quickly composite and animate layers of resolution-independent digital media, including film and broadcast-quality video. RadTIME Inc.; www.radtime.com; Booth #S-7919 and S-6327 infoNOW 100

Telecine toolbox. (Miscellaneous).(First Art's Primal)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... With First Art's Primal, users can create image treatments in real time in HD or SD resolutions. Some features include "Infinity defocus," lens flares, painterly effects, and a color warper. First Art; www.firstart.co.uk; Booth #11777 ...

Next-generation Ultimattes. (Miscellaneous).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Ultimatte's matte extraction tools for Adobe, Avid, Discreet, and other effects and NLE products include an intuitive user interface and a separate shadow channel, smart matte sizing, and image decompression. Ultimatte; www.ultimatte.com;...

A Maya for everyone. (Modeling And Animation).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... [WIN MAC UNIX] The latest versions of Alias|Wavefront's Maya include Maya Real-Time Author (RTA), which enables users to trigger Shockwave animations, configure Shockwave cameras, and control 3D sound from within Maya; and Mental Ray for Maya,...

Image manipulation plug-ins. (Modeling And Animation).(RE:Vision Effects' RE:Flex and ReelSmart FieldsKit)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... With RE:Flex, from RE:Vision Effects, users can create warps and morphs using After Effects' drawing and masking tools. RE:Flex sells for $495. RE:Vision also offers ReelSmart FieldsKit, which sells for $89.95. FieldsKit provides smarter...

Nonlinear editing systems. (Video/Multimedia).(dpsVelocityQ)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... A multistream nonlinear editing system based on the dpsQuattrus hardware, dpsVelocityQ features real-time simultaneous playback of four video streams (uncompressed or compressed), six dynamic graphics streams, and four channels of real-time 3D...

Powerful pixels. (Video/Multimedia).(Pixel Power's Clarity2 SD character generator)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... Pixel Power's Clarity2 SD character generator features dual AMD Athlon MP1900+ processors and multiple pixel processors for rapid delivery of on-air graphics. The Clarity2 features two channels of live push-back and full-frame animated...

Virtual-set rendering. (Video/Multimedia).(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... [WIN] New from Radamec, Scenario XR renders virtual sets in real time, including reflections of live inserted elements, and imports 3D set designs from industry-standard 3D packages, including 3ds max. The system uses Radamec's new 436VR camera...

More fire from Discreet. (Video/Multimedia).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... [UNIX] The Fire 5 HD editing and finishing system from Discreet offers real-time, high-resolution digital cinema and HD capabilities, as well as extended integration with Discreet's Inferno 4.6. New features include Open Media Framework...

Digital playback; film grading. (Miscellaneous).(5D Cyborg 2.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... An uncompressed film and video playback solution, 5D Cyborg v2 is designed to improve workflow by centralizing digital content and reducing the need to output to film. Capable of playing up to 2K 8-bit RGB in real time, the device features a...

DV hardware and software. (Miscellaneous).(Matrox Video Products Group)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Matrox Video Products Group offers several digital video hardware and software solutions for real-time editing, DVD authoring, and Web streaming applications, including the Matrox DigiSuite MAX, the Matrox RT2500, and the Matrox RTMac. ...

Storage appliance. (Miscellaneous).(DataDirect Networks S2A 3000)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... The newest member of DataDirect Networks' Silicon Storage Appliance family, the S2A 3000 is designed for workgroup and departmental use. A plug-and-play S2A 3000 workgroup SAN with 1TB sells for $49,995. DataDirect Networks;...

Portable switchers. (Miscellaneous).(Brick House Video VTB-1D)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... A 10-bit SDI switcher, Brick House Video's VTB-1D comes as a portable stand-alone or rack-mounted unit with separate remote panel and integrates auto/manual dissolve and wipe, 4x4 SDI input/output, analog composite program output for...

Intelligent mocap. (Motion Capture).
April 1, 2002... Vicon's 8i optical motion-capture system works with up to 24 cameras, and can capture for any duration up to 24 hours. And with the company's Vicon iQ software, users can capture extreme movements of multiple characters that traditionally would...

Boxx bonanza. (Systems).(Boxx Technologies HDBoxx)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... HDBoxx is an uncompressed nonlinear HD editing and compositing system for Windows 2000 offering 10- and 8-bit YUV and 8-bit RGB support as well as the ability to render a 1-second uncompressed 1080i dissolve in 2.4 seconds. Supporting all HD...

Broadcast, post, and storage. (Systems).(from Avid Technology)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Avid offers several broadcast products, including Avid Unity LANshare, an Ethernet-based shared media solution; and Avid NewsCutter 3.0, which now works with Avid's iNews products and features new Web publishing tools and XP model support for...

On-air with Orad. (Systems).
April 1, 2002... Orad's CyberGraphics on-air graphics system features seamless integration of pre-recorded and live rendered scene portions and plug-ins to main authoring tools. CyberSet is Orad's line of virtual-sot solutions offering a range of camera...

Content design system. (Systems).(Media 100 844/X)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... Media 100's new digital system for content design, the 844/X delivers real-time image processing, along with internal precision to support the arrangement and editing of complex audio-visual content incorporating many layers. Media 100;...

Black hole jets. (Insight).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... No one has ever seen what a black hole looks like or how it sucks in all forms of space matter from hundreds of light years away. But scientists believe that images from the Hubble Telescope showing jets mysteriously shooting from the center of...