Computer Graphics World articles from August 2004

Computer Graphics World archives from August 2004

Gaming: 2010.(Editorial)
August 1, 2004... It may come as no shock to learn that video and computer gaming will continue to be the hottest market the in the entertainment industry, at least for the rest of this decade. Even mainstream market researchers are now making this bold...

Dell expands Precision family.(workstations)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Dell has amended its workstation line with the addition of two new desktop products, the Precision 470 and 670. Through the incorporation of Intel's Xeon processors with Extended Memory 64-bit Technology (EM64T), the Dell Precision 470 and 670...

Discreet debuts 3ds max 7.(3D modeling)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... During SIGGRAPH 2004 in Los Angeles this month, Discreet is showcasing the latest version of its popular 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software, 3ds max. Making its public debut at the show, 3ds max 7 now boasts Normal Mapping, a...

Kaydara upgrades MotionBuilder.(animation)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Kaydara has announced its plan to unveil MotionBuilder 6--an updated version of its 3D character animation software for games, film, the Web, and broadcast--during SIGGRAPH. Version 6 incorporates interchangeable character setups with...

Avid premieres Xpress Studio.(video)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... At SIGGRAPH, Avid is introducing the latest version of its DS Nitris non-linear video editing solutions, as well as its new Avid Xpress Studio system. Version 7.5 of Avid DS Nitris and Avid DS Nitris Editor finishing systems are designed...

Nvidia releases PCI Express cards.(graphic cards)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... While at SIGGRAPH, Nvidia is demonstrating its latest graphics accelerators, including four additions to its Quadro family of professional graphics solutions. The Quadro FX 3400, FX 1300, and FX 330 are based on PCI Express, whereas the Quadro...

Smooth sailing.(SyFlex Cloth (simulation software))
August 1, 2004... In mythology, Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships and sparked a war between the Trojans and the Greeks, But for the computer-generated armada in the feature film Troy, digital artists at Framestore CFC used SyFlex's...

Build a 'Bot.(Web)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... In the 20th Century Fox sci-fi film I, Robot, set in 2035, robots like the NS-5 are commonplace (see "Hot 'Bots," pg. 24). To get U audiences in the proper mindset for this futuristic concept, Fox teamed with Adobe to build the I, Robot...

Double exposure.(mocap)
August 1, 2004... The feature film Van Helsing is full of amazing effects, but from a technological standpoint, none can compare to the groundbreaking motion-capture work by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). To create a trio of hybrid vampire...

Virtual swimming.(interface)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Computer-user interfaces have taken many forms over the years, but few have made use of a person's entire body. Now a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia has developed a swimming simulation that enables a user to navigate...

The balkanization of animation.(view point)
August 1, 2004... Outsourcing has become an election-year battleground, as the American economy adjusts to a globalized world, where location is no longer a major factor in the search for the lowest-priced goods and services. While "Benedict Arnold CEOs" are...

Hot 'bots: Digital Domain and Weta Digital create animated CG robots for the film I, Robot.(Film)(related article: Real-time on-set compositing)(Cover Story)
August 1, 2004... The Three Laws of Robotics A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law....

Visual notes: musicians 'band' with CG artists to release inventive video hits.(Music Videos)
August 1, 2004... The sound, and look, of music changed forever in the 1960s when British bands started the pop-music revolution and, unwittingly, jump-started the music video craze. Initially, groups such as The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Procol Harum, and...

Mobile gaming: prepares for takeoff: a huge potential user base, a standard API, and some hot new hardware fuel an emerging market.(Wireless)(application program interface)
August 1, 2004... Attitudes toward mobile gaming have amounted to a kind of gold fever over the past couple of years, with the media describing the technology in terms such as "set to explode." Certainly growth looks substantial, if not explosive. According...

PCI Expressway: now making its debut in a number of products, PCI Express technology is well on its way to becoming an industry standard.(Technology)(Peripheral Component Interconnect)
August 1, 2004... Workstations and servers in the graphics community are well known for being the fastest machines on the market. Graphics professionals demand of their systems cutting-edge speed. Whereas processor, graphics, disk, and networking speeds have...

SIGGRAPH 2004 Electronic Theater.(Portfolio)
August 1, 2004... During the past three decades, the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival has evolved from informal screenings by a handful of artists showing their own films to one of the industry's top international venues for CG animation and visual effects....

HP xw6200 workstation: the xw6200 provides an excellent price-performance ratio.(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... With its new line of workstations, Hewlett-Packard enters the world of PCI Express (PCIe), a serial bus technology with much higher speed than conventional PCI. Although it initially will benefit graphics performance, PCI Express can be used...

Artbeats clip collections: Artbeats delivers impressive royalty-free content.(Royalty-Free Stock Footage)
August 1, 2004... Many situations can require the use of stock film and video footage, and many sources from which to acquire it exist. Few companies, however, offer the wealth, breadth, and quality of selections provided by Artbeats. Established in 1989,...

Maya 6: Version 6 is flush with customer-requested features.(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... A longtime professional user of Alias's Maya, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Version 6. Soon after I began using the upgrade, it was evident that Alias packed 6.0 with a wealth of user-requested features. The Hair system (Maya...

Quite a Character.(Plug-In)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... [Win] Di-O-Matic has unveiled Character Pack, a suite of character animation plug-ins for use with Discreet's 3ds max. Targeted at 3D animators, the new software bundle integrates several of the company's award-winning plug-ins: Facial Studio,...

Alienbrain SDK.(Asset Management)(Software Development Kit )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... [Win] Avid has unveiled a new software development kit (SDK), called Windows Integration Framework, for its Alienbrain Studio 7 digital asset management solution. Windows Integration Framework enables content creators to infuse virtually any...

RealViz by subscription.(Motion Tracking)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... [Win * Mac * Linux] RealViz has introduced Absolu, a new monthly subscription scheme designed to provide access to the company's MatchMover Professional 3.0 motion-tracking software, including all upgrades. With RealViz Absolu, postproduction...

In SD and HD.(Stock Footage)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... SIGGRAPH attendees will be among the first to view the latest addition to Artbeats' standard- and high-definition collections of stock footage. For film, video, and multimedia professionals, the new titles include Cloud Chambers, Majestic...

Events.(products)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
August 1, 2004... AUGUST 8-12 SIGGRAPH 2004, held in Los Angeles. Visit www.siggraph.org. 15-27 2004 Oregon3D Film Camp, held in Portland, OR. Contact Oregon3D at 866-626-9100, www.oregon3d.com/filmcamp.html. SEPTEMBER 9-13 ...

Filmmaker's bundle.(Stock Footage)(Reelhouse)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Reelhouse, producer of royalty-free footage and video effects, has amended its product line with a new bundle: Film Makers FX Suite. Targeted at DVD and video editors, Film Makers FX Suite includes more than 815 film effects offered in NTSC and...

Touch-screen Tablet.(Tablet PC)(Sand Dune Ventures)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Sand Dune Ventures has developed the Sahara Touch-it Tablet PC to meet professionals' mobile computing needs. Well suited to the entertainment sector, the slate Tablet PC features a 12.1-inch Resistive Touch Screen with 1024x768 resolution, a...

Training treasures.(Book Corner)(Many Worlds Productions)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Many Worlds Productions has released a new book and DVD from Michele Bousquet. Character Studio 4 Training DVD provides more than six hours of training on DVD at full-screen, 1024x468 resolution. The DVD teaches viewers how to use the Discreet...

Interactive stories.(Book Corner)(AK Peters, Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... AK Peters, Ltd. has introduced Interactive Storytelling: Techniques for 21st Century Fiction by Andrew Glassner, a writer, director, and consultant in story structure, interactive fiction, and computer graphics. Composed of more than 500 pages,...

Essential for ActionScript.(Book Corner)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... O'Reilly has begun shipping Essential ActionScript 2.0, a new book by Colin Moock on object-oriented development with ActionScript 2.0, introduced in Macromedia Flash 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004. In the roughly 500-page text, Moock...

Kona Card.(Video)(AJA Video Systems)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... AJA Video Systems' lo FireWire Interface for video editing on Apple Power Mac G5 and G4 systems has been qualified by Apple for use with the company's Final Cut Pro HD editing software. Using a single FireWire interface, Io connects 10-bit...

Portable NLE.(Video)(1 Beyond)(Non-linear Editing)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Provider of digital video editing and compositing systems, 1 Beyond introduced a 64-bit laptop configured for non-linear editing (NLE) and graphics applications. The 1 Beyond Power Pro 6434-X is designed to run 32-bit applications now, and...

Portable NLE.(Workstation)
August 1, 2004... Alienware has introduced its latest workstation for mobile professionals, the MJ-12m. With the MJ-12m, Alienware combines desktop performance with the convenience and mobility of a notebook computer. The new Alienware system is designed to meet...

Arena Maxtronic: professional RAID solutions: we make RAID solutions easy ...(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... company profile Arena-MaxTronic, Inc. founded in 1995, is a dedicated maker of top-of-the-line, user-friendly and cost-effective RAID solutions. Our team of seasoned professionals has wide-ranging know-how in the information-technology...

Workstation graphics accelerators.(Company Profiles)
August 1, 2004... As a leader in graphics technology for almost 20 years, ATI Technologies Inc. has been delivering powerful, proven technology to designers, animators and engineers all over the world. Today ATI is proud to deliver the latest in graphics...

Ciara Technologies.(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... Our mission is to solve customer problems with scalable and high-performance solution where high-density, reliability, affordability, security and unsurpassed quality are required. This is our focus and our differentiation versus other...

D2 Software[TM]: a subsidiary of Digital Domain[R].(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... D2 Software, Inc., a subsidiary of Digital Domain, Inc., the Academy Award[R] winning effects house, has one simple mandate: To provide the high-end visual effects community with the most powerful and production proven software solutions on the...

3D scanning ... Cyberware: rapid 3D scanning solutions 20 years the leader and still ahead.(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... For two decades our customers haven't asked for much. They simply demanded the very best in 3D scanning technology: * High Speed * Accurate: up to 0.05 mm * Capable of Scanning Complex Surfaces * A Range of Scanners *...

Connect with Discreet.(Company Profiles)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
August 1, 2004... Discreet[R] connects today's--and tomorrow's--complex production requirements via the industry's most advanced workflow solutions. Our solutions allow artists to connect with their clients, artists to connect with each other, and systems to...

eyeon.(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... "Digital Fusion is awesome. It is an irreplaceable part of our post-production pipeline and we could not get through a single day or a single shot without it!" Tim Miller, Creative Director--Blur eyeon Software has been developing...

NewTek.(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... The Vision NewTek, founded in 1985, set out with a mission to make it possible for anyone to realize the dream of creating broadcast television and film. The NewTek team, a group of frustrated filmmakers, has a passion for creating the...

NVIDIA Corporation.(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... NVIDIA[R] is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. NVIDIA solutions are found in a wide variety of computing...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: ILM uses SOFTIMAGE[R] IXSI[R] to triumph over dementors in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.(Company Profiles)
August 1, 2004... Given the success of the first two installments of the Harry Potter series, it might seem surprising that the producers decided to change their proven formula for the third film. But that is exactly what they did on several levels of...

Communicating design with 3D printing.(Company Profiles)(Dimension 3D Printing Group)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
August 1, 2004... >From furniture and lighting to cosmetic products and packaging, Karim Rashid is a high-profile industrial design firm with an esteemed reputation for communicating a contemporary view of the world through its unique designs. The firm's 10...

Verari Systems[TM].(Company Profiles)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2004... Corporate Overview Verari Systems is the leading independent provider of powerful, flexible and scalable blade computing systems that deliver the industry's highest performance with improved utilization of IT resources and lower...

Mobile gaming goes 3D: given new handset technologies, mobile gaming may soon approach and even transcend the console experience.(backdrop)(Interview)
August 1, 2004... Q What is the state of the art of mobile gaming graphics? A Currently, 2D sprite-based graphics--reminiscent of the 16-bit and 32-bit games of the late 1980s and early 1990s--are primarily being used in mobile games. But by the end of this...