Computer Graphics World articles from March 2005

Computer Graphics World archives from March 2005

We could be heroes.(forecast of video games)(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... Most of us would not be surprised to learn that video games have had a significant impact on a whole generation of young people who grew up playing them, simply because of their enormous popularity. Recent studies show that in the US alone,...

Discreet releases 3ds max 7.5.(modeling and animation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Discreet, a division of Autodesk, has upgraded its 3ds max modeling and animation software application to Version 7.5 for its subscription customers. Of benefit to creative professionals working on feature films and game cinematics,...

Sharp unveils the Actius AL3D.(new laptop computer from Sharp Systems of America)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Sharp Systems of America has announced the availability of its Actius AL3D, a new mobile workstation targeted at the professional market. The latest addition to the Sharp Actius Notebook line of computer systems, the Actius AL3D takes...

Alias upgrades Maya to version 6.5.(modeling and animation)(Alias Systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Alias has released Maya 6.5, the latest generation of its software developed for professionals in the game, film, broadcast, and digital publishing markets. Maya 6.5 has been redesigned for enhanced performance with large datasets, such as...

HP presents the xw9300.(workstation)
March 1, 2005... Hewlett-Packard has introduced its latest high-end workstation, the HP xw9300. Hewlett-Packard's first workstation to be powered by AMD Opteron processors, the HP xw9300 looks like the company's xw8200, but the similarities end with the...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2005... "Lemony Aid" (January, pg. 22), an article about the film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, describes the innovative work performed on the character Sunny. The article reported that ILM used the Panoscan MKIII, when it actually...

Talk with the animals.(use of animation in the live action film 'Racing Stripes')
March 1, 2005... The live-action film Racing Stripes is all about overcoming obstacles to reach an ambitious goal. In the movie, when a young zebra named Stripes first lays his eyes on the Turfway Racetrack bordering his farm home, he believes that if he trains...

HD format wars.(about high definition digital videodisks)
March 1, 2005... Undeniably, high definition is becoming increasingly prominent in just about all areas of the video production world. Maybe it's due to the FCC's mandated migration to digital television. Maybe it's an altruistic desire for higher image...

Thriving on chaos: breakthrough graphics in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory add a new level of realism to gaming.(Gaming)
March 1, 2005... While most big-name computer game franchises are plagued by seemingly interminable gaps between releases, Ubisoft, creator of the hugely popular Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series, has been the only developer to deliver a standard-breaking...

Mech believe: Fox/Blue Sky creates a watchmaker's world with mechanical CG people for its latest feature film, Robots.(computer graphics)
March 1, 2005... They don't follow Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics. They don't have to. The bots in Fox/Blue Sky Studios' film Robots live in an alternate world, a ball-and-socket, wheels-and-gears, mechanical universe where lampposts walk home in the morning...

Death becomes them: artists create effects 'to die for' in the Showtime series Dead Like Me.(Showtime Entertainment Inc. series the 'Dead Like Me')
March 1, 2005... Recently ending its second and possibly final season, Showtime's original series Dead Like Me livened up cable television with its dark humor and Emmy-nominated visual effects that place a new spin on life, death, and what might follow. ...

Game-day graphics: Digital Dimension opens this year's Super Bowl with legendary effects.(Broadcast)
March 1, 2005... For decades, the Super Bowl has crowned world champions and football legends. This year, visual effects studio Digital Dimension kicked off Super Bowl XXXIX with a dazzling 80-second animated/live-action segment featuring a new legend in the...

The Art of Oddworld.(Portfolio)(new four games from Oddworld Inhabitants)
March 1, 2005... For more than 10 years now, the digital artists at Oddworld Inhabitants have been making far more than game imagery; they have been creating digital fine art that just happens to appear in interactive environments. That accomplishment has been...

Graphics boards.(Snap shot)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The digital content creation and video markets are aflood with the latest advancements in computing technology, especially with regard to chipsets and graphics boards. The heart of any graphic arts workstation, the graphics board (and, in some...

ATI.(Snap shot)
March 1, 2005... ATI Technologies has introduced the FireGL V5000, its latest graphics accelerator for the mid-range workstation market. The ATI FireGL V5000, targeted at design professionals, is certified for such leading 3D applications as Discreet's 3ds max,...

Nvidia.(Snap shot)
March 1, 2005... The hottest news from Nvidia surrounds the availability of its Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology, enabling a single computer system to employ two SLI-certified graphics cards, and its nForce Professional media and communications...

3Dlabs.(Snap shot)
March 1, 2005... 3Dlabs' only PCI Express-based graphics card, the Wildcat Realizm 800 begins shipping this month (see Review, February, pg. 40). Priced at $2799, this professional graphics accelerator boasts a Wildcat Realizm vertex/scalability unit (VSU),...

PNY Technologies.(Snap shot)
March 1, 2005... PNY Technologies has introduced its Verto GeForce 6600 GT PCI Express graphics card. The new offering, priced at $250, provides support for Nvidia SLI technology, up to 128MB of DDR3 memory, and Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0. The card...

Matrox Graphics.(Snap shot)
March 1, 2005... Matrox Graphics has launched its Millennium P650 PCle 128 graphics card. Designed for creative professionals, the new PCI Express x16 graphics board offers DualHead and Dual-DVI support for enhanced productivity, 128M8 of onboard graphics...

HP xw9300: Hewlett-Packard debuts top-of-the-line system with advanced components.(Workstation)(Hewlett-Packard Co.)
March 1, 2005... Hewlett-Packard has been in the workstation market for decades. Its merger with Compaq a few years ago left the company with two lines of professional workstations. Last year, HP combined the lines and introduced a series of graphics...

Modo 102: Luxology's software packs power, customization, and efficiency in an easy-to-use package.(Modeling)(Product/Service Evaluation)
March 1, 2005... While Luxology is a new company in the world of 3D software, many principals of the company are seasoned veterans, many of whom created NewTek's venerable LightWave 3D. The company's first product, Modo, is a robust, easy-to-use 3D polygonal...

LightWave update.(Modeling And Animation)
March 1, 2005... Win * Mac NewTek has announced LightWave 3D Version 8.2, a software update with roughly 150 new and enhanced features. LightWave 8.2 sports a redesigned UV mapping engine, which provides UV Map Interpolation modes and a UV tear-off...

Poser preview.(Modeling And Animation)
March 1, 2005... Win * Mac Curious Labs has announced the latest upgrade to its flagship product, Poser 6. Version 6 boasts such new features as image-based lighting, OpenGL hardware acceleration, and shadow rendering options with Ambient Occlusion, Soft...

Anark enhancements.(Modeling And Animation)
March 1, 2005... Win Anark has upgraded Anark Studio to Version 3.0. This latest version of the company's 3D visualization authoring environment aids users in designing and producing 3D applications--such as multimedia presentations and communications--for...

Character content.(Mobile Graphics)
March 1, 2005... Turbo Squid and Face2face Animation have introduced a series of 3D mobile content delivered in a real-time streaming format to mobile phones. Coinciding with the release of its AniTones Mobile Character Player, available via the Turbo Squid...

Widescreen Wacom.(Displays)
March 1, 2005... Wacom Technology has unveiled the Cintiq 21UX, an interactive pen display that features a 21.3-inch color-accurate LCD. In the new Cintiq 21UX, Wacom combines the functionality of its cordless pressure-sensitive tablets with a UXGA (1600x1200)...

Pelican for PlayStation 2.(Displays)
March 1, 2005... Pelican has unveiled the GameGlass monitor for Sony's slimmer PlayStation 2 game console. The GameGlass is a poGable audio/visual system equipped with a high-resolution, 7-inch TFT LCD. Designed to transform the PS2 into a mobile entertainment...

AMD-based Boxx.(Workstations)
March 1, 2005... BOXX Technologies has begun shipping its latest workstation, the Boxx 3200. Designed for professionals involved in 3D graphics or digital video editing, the new desktop system is based on AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 processors and the...

Sun upgrade.(Workstations)
March 1, 2005... Sun Microsystems has announced upgrades to its Sun Blade 1500 and Sun Blade 2500 workstations, based on the UltraSparc processor. Both models offer a 40-percent increase in performance, as well as twice the memory and improved graphics...

Mobile graphics.(Workstations)
March 1, 2005... ATI Technologies has announced that its Mobility Radeon X300 and X600 PCI Express mobile graphics processors have been selected to power two new lines of high-performance, multimedia notebook PCs from Hewlett-Packard. The HP Pavilion zd8000...

Calling all cars.(Stock Options)
March 1, 2005... Dosch Design has released Dosch 3D: Cars 2004, a collection of 3D car models for use in CG artwork and animations, as well as architectural visualizations. The offering includes 15 detailed, textured models of US-brand cars provided in multiple...

Events.
March 1, 2005... MARCH 14-16 CTIA Wireless 2005, held in New Orleans. Contact CTIA: The Wireless Association, 800-421-6338, www.ctia.org. APRIL 16-21 NAB2005, held in Las Vegas. Contact National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 888-740-4622,...