Computer Graphics World articles from July 2002

Computer Graphics World archives from July 2002

Far-reaching effects. (editor's note).(Reader survey rates special effects of Star Wars: Episode II)
July 1, 2002... As is our habit every year about this time, the staff members of Computer Graphics Worm slipped quietly out of our offices one Friday afternoon and met friends, coworkers, families, and other computer graphics enthusiasts in the lobby of our...

Zero toleration for discrimination. (letters).
July 1, 2002... Kudos for noting the entertainment industry's sour history of unethical ethnic portrayals in "Reel Arabs" on pg. 2 of the March 2002 issue. In recent decades, and for far too many years, Arabs and Muslims have been routinely victimized...

Long time no ski. (letters).(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... It was a pleasant surprise after all these years to see the Olympic skiing glyph in Part 4 of your Retrospective series (April 2002, pg. 20). The caption did not mention that this image was produced at the Motion Picture Project of Information...

Growth-stunting bugs. (letters).(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... "How to Grow--Not!" (April 2002, pg. 2) was a great article about the need to innovate CAD products. You forgot one major issue as part of the price war paragraph, which reads "... develop products and technologies with greater functional...

Veepers: Web folk from Pulse. (product spotlight).(Veepers interactive program animates digital photographs)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... With a literal take on the concept of talking heads, Pulse has introduced Veepers, an interactive Web technology that turns 2D images into 3D characters who can talk. By assigning data points to the eyes, nose, and mouth of a person in a...

Flix video encoding from Wildform. (product spotlight).(Flix Pro Flash Video Encoder)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... The Flix Pro Flash Video Encoder from Wildform formats Flash video so that it can easily be viewed on the Web with no need for users to download a player or viewer. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Version 2.0, recently released by Wildform,...

Kaydara's filmbox becomes Motionbuilder. (product spotlight).(animation software)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Filmbox, Kaydara's six-year-old character animation package, will ship under a new name at the end of the summer. The company is calling the software Motionbuilder 4.0, and the name change emphasizes the product's new drag-and-drop interface,...

Discreet intros Plasma Web tool. (product spotlight).(create 3D Web content)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Discreet's new Plasma software builds on the company's background in 3D modeling and animation by offering tools for creating 3D Web content. The software can be employed by Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Director users, as well as by Web...

New boujou from 2d3. (product spotlight).(Boujou2 camera calibration and tracking system)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... 2d3 has updated boujou, the company's automated camera calibration and tracking system. Boujou allows users to derive camera tracks and calibration data from film or video material so that 3D imagery can be incorporated into it. The updated...

Anark and Turbo Squid form alliance. (news).(marketing and distribution agreement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Anark Corp. (Boulder, CO) and Turbo Squid (New Orleans, LA) have announced a co-marketing and distribution agreement for further expanding the companies' sales and marketing channels. Anark develops interactive multimedia platforms for digital...

Opticore and Immersion Graphics announce agreement. (news).(distribution and marketing agreement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Opticore (Troy, MI), a provider of graphics software systems to manufacturers, and Immersion Graphics (Columbus, OH), a developer of visualization systems, have agreed to combine product lines to deliver turnkey viz systems to corporate...

Nvidia 900 XGL leads new 3ds max benchmarks. (benchmark).(Evaluation)
July 1, 2002... The Nvidia 900 XGL bested other cards, including 3Dlabs' Wildcat III, Nvidia's own 700XGL, and the ATI FireGL 8800 in recent benchmark tests based on the new 3ds max-01 subset of the SPECviewperf 7.0 benchmarks that is based on Discreet's 3ds...

The next wave for Web 3D. (market outlook).
July 1, 2002... The use of 3D content in mainstream media is no longer confined to the upper echelon of the professional development community. Given the investment by large companies such as Discreet, Intel, and Macromedia to propagate 3D into the mass...

Larger than life: a gothic cathedral stars in Siggraph's award-winning animated short. (Cover Story).
July 1, 2002... Although any studio can enter the competition, and this year there were 640 entries, Siggraph has given its Best Animated Short award in 2002 to "The Cathedral," created by an individual artist from a small studio. Tomek Baginski of Platige...

Attack of the clones: ILM crafted performances for digital humans and all-digital environments for Star Wars: Episode II. (The second of a two-part series).
July 1, 2002... Ironically, although they have the title role, the CG characters no one talks about in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones are the clones. "In all the critical reviews of Episode II, I have never heard any criticism of the clones," says...

Modern classics: digital technology breathes new life into nostalgic commercial characters.
July 1, 2002... The Pillsbury Doughboy, Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, and a handful of other iconic television commercial "spokes characters" have an extra spring in their step. That's because these popular product "pitchmen," who have...

Movie retrospective: celebrating our 25th year with digital visual effects and scenes from animated features: Part 7.
July 1, 2002... Although Looker (1981) was the first film with shaded 3D computer graphics, Tron (1982) was the first with 15 minutes of computer animation and lots of shaded graphics. Some believe Tron's box office failure slowed the adoption of digital...

The power of previz: studios and directors use simplified animations to make good scenes great.
July 1, 2002... Most builders won't construct a house without a detailed blueprint to help them visualize how their client's needs and desires will fit into a predetermined footprint and budget. Likewise, most effects facilities, and, increasingly, directors...

Card wars: graphics accelerator vendors play a serious game of leapfrog.
July 1, 2002... Many battles have been lost and won in the graphics chip arena over the last half year, but none of them conclusively. And though the main combatants haven't changed--ATI, Nvidia, and 3Dlabs continue to vie for marketshare and benchmark...

Art and innovation. (portfolio).(Siggraph's 2002 Computer Animation Festival)
July 1, 2002... Siggraph's annual Computer Animation Festival is a celebration of art and innovation, where significant advances in technology, interactive techniques, and creativity in computer graphics are illustrated through compelling visualizations,...

Creative spirit. (portfolio).(Siggraph 2002 Art Gallery)
July 1, 2002... The Siggraph 2002 Art Gallery celebrates the creative spirit by examining the behind-the-scenes processes used to generate digital and electronic fine art, including 2D, 3D, interactive, and installation works. Some of these presentations...

Space-age construction: IMAX uses a digital sequence to set the stage for its live-action space film. (user focus).
July 1, 2002... From Kazakhstan to the Kennedy Space Center to 220 miles above the Earth, the live-action 3D IMAX film Space Station takes moviegoers on the journey of a lifetime as they witness firsthand one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of our...

Houdini Version 5: an overhaul for Side Effects Software's flagship program.(Evaluation)
July 1, 2002... HOUDINI HAS been around for a number of years, and has earned wide acclaim from technical directors the world over who use the modeling and animation software to create a broad range of stunning effects. With Version 5, Side Effects Software...

Quadro4 900 XGL: Nvidia's professional-grade accelerator.(Evaluation)
July 1, 2002... IN A SHORT time, Nvidia's graphics technology has become a staple for content creators and 3D animators. The company's cards are reasonably priced and perform well. Still, until now, most of its professional cards have simply been faster...

Flash MX: Macromedia's Web authoring tool.(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... FLASH MX, Macromedia's Flash authoring tool, creates a "rich client" browser, where "rich" means graphics, animation, video, and sound, as well as text and XML-formatted information. For now, however, two problems hinder most Web users from...

Biz viz. (Miscellaneous).(Binary Research International's Liquid Media)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... [WIN] Liquid Media is a presentation package that enables users to manipulate 3D objects around custom-made paths. Besides controlling the behavior of text, video, and sound, users also can perform various graphics "embellishments," such as...

New tracking systems. (Miscellaneous).(2d3's boujou2)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN|LINUX] The boujou2 automated tracking system from 2d3 includes adaptive feature acquisition algorithms that identify features in regions of the frame obscured by low lighting levels, poor contrast, or other shooting conditions. The...

Capture to animation. (Miscellaneous).(Vicon Motion Systems' Vicon iQ)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Vicon iQ provides a unified software application for seamless data handling from motion capture to animation. The primary benefit that iQ delivers is the automatic processing of tough multi-character moves with lots of close interaction....

Assembly line autos. (Miscellaneous).
July 1, 2002... ArchVision's RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content) Automobiles Volume 1 is a collection of automobile models of the following eight vehicles: BMW 328, Peugeot 406, Ford F150, Toyota Celica, Volkswagen Beetle, Volkswagen Golf, Jeep Grand Cherokee,...

Digital suite. (Miscellaneous).(RealViz ReTimer 2.5, Stitcher 3.5, MatchMover 2.0 Professional and ImageModeler 3.0)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... From RealViz come four products for creating and manipulating digital imagery. ReTimer 2.5 ($3500) enables users to change the pacing of any footage by up to 1000 percent, speed up, slow down or create variable speed clips from standard-speed...

Pliable display technology. (Miscellaneous).(Idelix Software lens technology)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... [WIN|LINUX|IRIX] Pliable Display Technology (PDT) is Idelix Software's patents-pending lens technology that enables users to explore, analyze, and interpret large information sets such as images and maps. According to the company, PDT reduces...

Face first. (Modeling and Animation).(Eyematic Interfaces' FaceStation softwARE SUITE)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN] Eyematic's FaceStation is a suite of software tools for creating 3D facial animation for film, TV, games, Web, and wireless projects. The product uses Eyematic's patented computer vision technology to automatically locate and track human...

Help with 3D. (Modeling and Animation).(Digital Anarchy's 3D Assistants and Gradient!)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN|MAC] Available from Digital Anarchy, 3D Assistants ($199) is a collection of keyframe assistants that enable After Effects designers to manipulate and arrange layers in 3D space. The company also offers Gradient!, a $49 application that...

Houdini select. (Modeling and Animation).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Houdini Select features the modeling, animation, texturing, shading, and Mantra rendering tools found in the full version of Side Effects Software's Houdini. The company will also introduce two new applications at Siggraph, a stand-alone...

The next LightWave. (Modeling and Animation).(NewTek LighatWave 7.5 animation software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN|MAC] Key among the new features in NewTek's LightWave 7.5 are Sliders, which provide a faster and easier way to control animatable objects. Users can create their own slider banks to facilitate character animation and the creation of...

Events.
July 1, 2002... July 15-19 Macworld, held in New York. Contact: IDG World Expo; www.macworldexpo.com 21-26 Siggraph annual conference, held in San Antonio, Texas. Contact: www.siggraph.org 10-11 Classic Gaming Expo, held in Las Vegas. Contact: CGE...

Entropy for 3ds max. (Modeling and Animation).(Exluna ships Entropy rendering software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN] Exluna's Entropy is a rendering system based partially on the company's freeware product, Blue Moon Rendering Tools (BMRT). Unlike BMRT, Entropy has a new and unique architecture, allowing for high-quality rendering of complex scenes. At...

Rendering system. (Modeling and Animation).(SplutterFish's Brazil Rendering System)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... The Brazil Rendering System from SplutterFish is a fully integrated high-end rendering suite for Discreet's animation software programs 3ds max and Autodesk Viz. The rendering system is used in the creation of feature film, commercial...

New version of 3ds max. (Modeling and Animation).(Discreet ships 3ds max 5.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN] 3ds max 5, the latest version of Discreet's modeling, animation, and rendering software, offers new floating licensing options, Spline IK, a Dope Sheet Editor, and a new character-based animation system. In addition, new rendering...

About face. (Modeling and Animation).(Singular Inversions service turns photos of faces into 3D face models)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... With Singular Inversions' Internet-based FaceGen Photo Service, users can turn standard consumer-camera images into 3D face models and then morph the models by age, race, and gender as well as export them to various formats, complete with...

Revamped MotionBuilder. (Modeling and Animation).(Kaydara ships MotionBuilder 4.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN|MAC|LINUX] Previously named Filmbox, Kaydara's MotionBuilder 4.0 real-time 3D character animation software features a newly redesigned drag-and-drop interface as well as several additional new features. Some of these include automatic...

Eovia enhances Carrara. (Modeling and Animation).(Carrara Studio 2.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN|MAC] Several new features highlight the release of Carrara Studio 2, Eovia's modeling, animation, rendering, and special effects application. For instance, with the software's Photon Maps feature, users can compute the global illumination...

Weta to release Massive. (Modeling and Animation).(animation software used in The Lord of the Rings)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... WIN|LINUX|IRIX Massive, the behavioral animation system that Weta used to create digital extras in The Lord of the Rings, will soon be available for commercial purchase. Massive can be used to generate tens of thousands of 3D characters, or...

Creating victory gardens. (Modeling and Animation).(Digital Element ships WorldBuilder 3.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN] WorldBuilder 3.0 from Digital Element provides a variety of tools for generating realistic 3D outdoor landscapes and animations for use in movies, games, land scape architecture, and design applications. New features in version 3.0...

New version of Avid/DS HD. (Modeling and Animation).(Version 6.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... A new Media Composer-style interface, enhanced conform capabilities, and broader support for Avid Unity MediaNet are some of the features in the new Avid|DS HD v6. Scheduled for release in the SIG-GRAPH timeframe, Avid|DS HD v6 comes with 40...

Eye on Eyeon. (Modeling and Animation).(Eyeon software announces Digital Fusion 4.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Eyeon Software has announced Version 4 of its Digital Fusion compositing software. The ninth major release of Digital Fusion, Version 4 boasts such features as fuji floating-point pixels and image processing, a new real-time caching system with...

Maya and StudioTools enhanced. (Modeling and Animation).(Alias/Wavefront ships new versions of modeling tools)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... WIN|MAC|LINUX|IRIX Alias|Wavefront has announced a new version of Maya that will feature integrated fluids technology, among other new tools. No additional details were available at press time. Also new from AIW is StudioTools 10, which...

Interactive multimedia presentations. (Video/Multimedia).(Anark Corp's Anark Studio Web authoring software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... [WIN] With Anark Studio, artists and developers can produce interactive multimedia presentations featuring broadcast-quality, full-motion graphics and real-time playback. The authoring software, available from Anark Corp., enables users to...

New effects from Adobe. (Video/Multimedia).(Adobe After Effects 5.5)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... WIN|MAC After Effects 5.5 editing and effects software from Adobe Systems features Zacwerks 3D Invigorator, an effects palette, color correction, and support for Mac OS X. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Booth #16075 Adobe; www.adobe.com...

Next-generation digitizers. (Input/Output).(InSpeck 3D Capturor II digitizer)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... The new 3D Capturor II line of digitizers from InSpeck features a FireWire data transfer that eliminates the use of a frame grabber card, and enables users to connect the digitizer directly into their lap tops. The series also offers mega-pixel...

3D printer system. (Input/Output).(3D Systems inVision si2 3D Printer System)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... 3D Systems has announced the InVision si2 3-D Printer System. 3D Systems' products utilize patented technologies that create physical objects from digital input. Additional details on its forthcoming InVision si2 system, along with pricing...

3D laser scanner. (Input/Output).(Surphaser 3D)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... With the Surphaser 3D scanner from Surphaser, users can produce complete 3D models that describe both the geometry and the color of the object being scanned. A laser-based, single-line-of-sight system, Surphaser uses phase-shift ranging to...

Spatial 3D display. (Miscellaneous).(Actuality Systems Perspecta)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... According to Actuality Systems, its Perspecta spatial visualization platform enables 360-degree visualization and collaboration. Based on Mesa, an open source graphics library similar to OpenGL, the Perspecta platform supports a range of...

Hemispherical display. (Miscellaneous).(Elumens VisionStation 1280)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Elumens Corp, has expanded its VisionStation family of hemispherical display systems with the VisionStation 1280. Each VisionStation comes with a projector, a 1.5-meter hemispherical screen, and various software packages, including one for...

3D viewing without the glasses. (Miscellaneous).(StereoGraphics' SynthaGram Autostereo 3D display)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... StereoGraphics' SynthaGram Autostereo 3D display, powered by DDD's TriDef 3D System, enables 3D video content to be shown in 3D, without glasses. A 23-inch version featuring 1600 by 1200 resolution, a 500:1 contrast ratio, and 250 cd/m2...

A bird in the hand. (Motion Capture).(Ascension Technology Nest of Birds tracker)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... A plug-and-play tracker with a USB inter face, Ascension Technology's new Nest of Birds features four sensors that simultaneously track the location of arms, heads, bodies, or objects in real time. Because the product uses DC magnetic tracking...

HP x4000s. (Systems).(Hewlett Packard workstations)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... WIN HP's x 4000 workstations are being bundled with a variety of digital content creation programs, such as Alias|Wavefront's Maya, Discreet's 3ds max and combustion, Softimage XSI 2.0, Kaydara's Filmbox, Silicon Grail's Rayz, and Side Effects...

Outside the Boxx. (Systems).(Boxx Technologies' 3dBoxx workstation and RenderBoxx rendering system)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... WIN The new single and dual AMD and Intel versions of Boxx's 3DBoxx workstations and RenderBoxx rendering systems feature an enhanced system architecture optimized for use with software such as 3ds max, Maya, Softimage, and LightWave 3D. In...

SGI hardware. (Systems).(Silicon Graphics' products)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc, manufactures a line of servers, including the SGI Media Servers, and the MIPS and Irix-based Origin 200, 300, 2000, and 3000 series. Visualization systems from the company include the SGI Reality...

Hewlett-Packard Company: Workstation Global Business Unit Headquarters 3404 East Harmony Road 6 Fort Collins, CO 80525. (Advertisement: Siggraph profiles).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... hp workstation mission statement Improve the productivity and effectiveness of power users by offering a family of systems that ore the most Internet enabled, most reliable and the most pervasive for addressing the market's biggest...

Cross Media Production ... welcome to a new world. (Advertisement: viewpoint).(Viewpoint Digital)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... For the past 15 years, Viewpoint Digital has provided high quality digital content to the 3D graphics industry. We earned a reputation as the source for 3D models-whether from our vast catalog of pre-developed models or custom created to our...

Anark Studio[TM]: turning your design visions into reality. (Advertisement: Anark).
July 1, 2002... Create visually stunning content with Anark Studio, a powerful interactive multimedia authoring solution that integrates 3D and 2D graphics, video and audio into a compelling interactive experience using drag-and-drop based effects. ...

Bringing the third dimension to life. (StereoGraphics).
July 1, 2002... Who We Are StereoGraphics Corporation was founded by Lenny Lipton in 1980 to provide a variety of technologies to enable the realistic viewing of three-dimensional computer graphics and video images. StereoGraphics' technology provides a...

Immersion. (Advertisement: Siggraph profiles).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Immersion is revolutionizing the way people interact with technology, enabling them to become more immersed in their systems and applications through 3D digitizing, simulation, and the sense of touch. A LEADER IN 3D CAPTURE AND INTERACTION...

Corporate overviews. (Advertisement: Alias Wavefront Technologies).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias|Wavefront[R] develops award-winning solutions for the film, video, game development, interactive media, industrial design and visualization markets. These solutions, Maya[R] for...

Quick facts: Maya[R]. (Advertisement: Alias Wavefront Technologies).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... * Maya played a role in three of the 2002 Academy Award winning films: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Shrek and For The Birds. * Alias|Wavefront software has been used in almost every film nominated by the Academy of Motion...

Quick facts: StudioTools[TM] (Advertisement: Alias Wavefront Technologies).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... * StudioTools is used by virtually every major automotive manufacturer in the world. * StudioTools software was used to design the Olympic[TM] torch for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. * AliaslWavefront employees were honored with a...

Revealing new approaches to character creation. (Advertisement: Siggraph Profiles).(Curious Labs)
July 1, 2002... Curious Labs[TM] was founded in April, 2000 to digitally empower the creative artist community. The company currently delivers essential 3D-character solutions that are easy to master, affordable, and yet rich in professional features. ...

Experience superior color and precision with NEC-Mitsubishi monitors. (Advertisement: Siggraph Profiles).(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... Combining R&D and engineering expertise, manufacturing power and unrivaled service, NEC-Mitsubishi Electronics Display innovates, produces and delivers high-quality, competitively priced visual display products that help its customers see their...

Produce detailed, durable, compelling physical models--quickly, affordably, right in your office. (Advertisement: Siggraph profiles).
July 1, 2002... Add unprecedented presentation power to any design office with 3D Systems' new InVision[TM] 3-D printer system Put affordable, automated modelmaking capabilities at your fingertips. The InVision 3-D printer system makes modelmaking easier...

Birth of a star. (Insight).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... A STAR IS BORN: This visualization, from a sequence depicting how our sun was created in a massive nebula of dust and gas, can be seen in a 23-minute animation called "The Search for Life: Are We Alone?" that premiered in March at the American...

Creating digital content with Intel: real solutions for real-time rendering, compositing and playback. (Special Advertising Section).
July 1, 2002... Modelers, graphic artists, animators, and programmers everywhere--from independent gaming shops to Hollywood production studios--all share one basic need: More computing power. To create and render high-end 3D special effects and...