Computer Graphics World articles from January 2007

Computer Graphics World archives from January 2007

A good year for CG.(computer graphics industry)(Editorial)
January 1, 2007... By now, you should have unwrapped and, hopefully, put to good use all those holiday gifts you received. Be honest, you probably even returned one or two things. In terms of apparel, perhaps you were unhappy with the color, fit, or the item...

NEC widens MultiSync 90 Series.(NEC Display Solutions of America launched new 24- and 26-inch wide liquid crystal display monitors)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... NEC Display Solutions of America, stand-alone provider of flat-panel desktop and large-screen displays, rolled out new 24- and 26-inch wide LCD displays--the MultiSync LCD2490WUXi and LCD2690WUXi wide-screen monitors, respectively--as part of...

Nvidia rolls out Quadro FX 3500M for mobile machines.(graphics processing units)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Nvidia announced the Quadro FX 3500M, a high-performing mobile workstation graphics solution geared for the CAD, DCC, and scientific visualization markets. Engineered to deliver performance for accelerated workflow and shortened design...

Autodesk Toxik Extension 1 released.(multimedia asset management software)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Autodesk has unveiled the first creative tools extension for use with its Autodesk Toxik 2007 software. For the creation of feature-film visual effects, Toxik provides users with 2D and 3D compositing tools, built-in collaboration, and the...

Autodesk announces AliasStudio 13.5.(CAD software)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Autodesk has upgraded AliasStudio, its industrial design software, to Version 13.5. Autodesk AliasStudio supports the industrial design workflow, from initial sketches to concept visualization to production modeling. Version 13.5 is designed to...

Nvidia presents drivers for Autodesk applications.(device driver)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Nvidia has announced the availability of Nvidia MAXtreme 9 Direct3D (D3D) and PowerDraft 2007 performance drivers for its Quadro FX graphics boards. The new drivers were developed in collaboration with Autodesk for use with the company's 3ds...

Dance lessons.(FreeStyleGames Partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe developing break-dancing game)
January 1, 2007... Computer gaming is no longer limited to shooters, puzzles, and sports themes. Recently, a handful of game developers, such as FreeStyleGames, an independent studio in the UK, have sidestepped these tried-and-true genres, moving instead to a...

Millennial effects.(Warner Bros.'s new movie 'The Fountain' using graphics technology)
January 1, 2007... Warner Bros.' live-action/science-fiction film The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky, explores the themes of life, love, death, and rebirth during a 1000-year time frame, as one man struggles to save the woman he loves. The movie...

The Photoshop Healing Brush.(Adobe Systems Inc.'s innovation in image processing software)
January 1, 2007... I travel around the world talking with Photoshop users, and one question that users repeatedly ask me is, "How do you keep coming up with new features?" While we've come a long way over the years, there has never been more we can do to enable...

Night vision: Rhythm & Hues and other visual effects studios bring museum exhibits to life using CG tools and techniques.(Visual Effects)
January 1, 2007... The premise is simple: At night, everything in the Museum of Natural History comes alive--the skeletal T. rex, the animals in the African pavilion, Egyptian gods, and, in the dioramas, tiny Roman centurions, Civil War soldiers, Mayan warriors,...

A design with heart: CAD tools and a collaborative effort bring a new medical design to life.(Medical Viz/CAB)
January 1, 2007... On the whole, product designers enjoy their work--after all, it's fun to create a sleek new cover for an electronics device or all innovative children's toy. But their job gets even more satisfying when they're able to design something that...

Supersized: CG-animated films hit the third dimension in a big way.(Stereoscopy)
January 1, 2007... IMAX and CG animation are natural partners. Animation creates immersive worlds of fantasy; with its almost eight-story-high screen, multi-channel digital surround sound, and 15-perf 70mm prints, IMAX creates the ne plus ultra of immersive...

Dinosaur dynamics: digital dinos blend seamlessly into live-action scenes alongside humans in a unique television series.(Modeling/Animation)
January 1, 2007... In books, movies, and more, cavemen often are shown living alongside dinosaurs--a situation that is absolutely contradicted by archaeological and paleontological evidence. In fact, dinosaurs were long extinct by the time Neanderthals walked the...

Lessons in filmmaking: student animators make the grade on their short-film projects.(Student Animations)
January 1, 2007... If these student films--sampled from among those that had the honor of appearing in the SIGGRAPH 2006 Electronic Theater and Animation Theater--have any common thread, it is their sense of playfulness and humor. That playfulness is apparent...

Greg Vilk.(and computer graphics works)
January 1, 2007... Professional digital artist Greg Vilk believes in the marriage of high-end CG and fine art. He unites the two in his work visually and methodically, creating his own shaders and graphics networks to create a specific look, just as the old...

Enter AIR Space.(SHADING AND LIGHTING)
January 1, 2007... [Win] SiTex Graphics, maker of the AIR rendering software, has released AIR Space, a stand-alone software tool for shading and lighting 3D models to be rendered with AIR. AIR Space aids users in importing 3D models, assigning shading and...

New VTour version.(3D ENVIRONMENTS)
January 1, 2007... [Win-Mac] RealViz is shipping its latest software, VTour, on the Macintosh platform. VTour assists users in creating photorealistic 3D environments from digital photographs or 360-degree panoramas, such as those developed in RealViz Stitcher....

50 more FX.(VIDEO)
January 1, 2007... [Win-Mac] Boris FX has upgraded its Boris FX 2D and 3D compositing and effects plug-in for industry-standard nonlinear editing (NLE) systems. Boris FX 9.0 boasts more than 50 new filters, a revamped user interface design, and a new library of...

Easy animation.(MODELING/ANIMATION)
January 1, 2007... [Win-Mac] Braid Art Labs announced GroBoto, 3D art and animation software for novices or professionals wanting to create complex, dynamic, lyrical forms and animation easily. This is accomplished by combining artistic expression with...

Nvidia's newest.(GRAPHICS CARD)
January 1, 2007... Nvidia has unveiled its GeForce 8800 graphics processing unit (GPU) and nForce 680i SLI media and communications processor (MCP), both designed for high-resolution, high-performance gaming, and high-definition visuals. The GeForce 8800 GTX...

Inside Alienware.(WORKSTATIONS)
January 1, 2007... Alienware is infusing its high-end Area-51 7500, Aurora 7500, and ALX desktop systems with new Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX graphics processing units (GPU) in single or dual-GPU mode. The industry's first GPU to be fully compliant with...

Blending traditional and digital.(PAINTING SYSTEM)
January 1, 2007... [Win] Light Strokes' OptiPaint system is reportedly the first product to enable artists to use traditional paint brushes and painting tools with today's computer graphics software. The solution includes optical and electronic hardware and...

Encoding with NCODE.(VIDEO)
January 1, 2007... Bluefish444 is shipping the Bluefish444 Rage NCode real-time encoding HD MPEG-2 video compression system. For use with all HD video resolutions, Rage NCode is well suited to such applications as digital content creation, post-production, live...

Adobe wins Emmy for Flash Video.(Adobe Systems Inc. awarded by National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Adobe Systems has won a Technical and Engineering Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its Flash Video technology. Adobe Flash software was recognized as having a pivotal role in bringing television content...

Tripling display space.
January 1, 2007... Matrox Graphics' TripleHead2Go is a palm-sized piece of hardware that stretches the Windows desktop, with a resolution of up to 3840x1024 pixels, across three displays, each with full acceleration. TripleHead2Go is a Graphics Expansion Module...

Southwest flavor.(STOCK OPTIONS)
January 1, 2007... Artbeats has unveiled Ground Rush 3--Southwest, the newest addition to the company's ground rush stock footage series. Shot with the HD Gyron camera for high stability and resolution, Ground Rush 3 offers imagery of the Painted Desert, red rock...

SATA solution by Sonnet.
January 1, 2007... Sonnet Technologies has introduced a new model in its line of Serial ATA (SATA) host adapters. The Tempo host adapter for ExpressCard/34, designed for laptop computers, includes two external 300MB/sec SATA ports. The new controller also...