Computer Graphics World articles from November 2002

Computer Graphics World archives from November 2002

What are `veople' for? (editor's note).
November 1, 2002... In his novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. describes a scene in which a man about to die says he is looking forward to asking God, "What are people for?" Like this character, who was never able to find an explanation to the...

The future is now. (letters).
November 1, 2002... I enjoyed reading "Getting Personal" on pg. 4 of the October 2002 issue, and I appreciate the attention that you have given to what seems, in sonic of our eyes, a key issue for the future of the industry. I would like, however, to push harder...

Athletic training software. (letters).
November 1, 2002... I wanted to let you know that I enjoyed reading the article "Virtual Course, Real Sweat" on pg. 48 of the July 2001 issue of Computer Graphics World. I noticed that there was never any mention of the persons who actually created the courses and...

Welcome back, porter. (letters).
November 1, 2002... We would like to welcome back Stephen Porter to the pages of this magazine. Steve served as our editor-in-chief from 1991 to 1997, and as managing editor for six years prior to that. During the past five years, he was chief editor for both...

Correction.
November 1, 2002... The "Bodies in Motion" caption under the collision simulation images on pg. 16 of the December 2001 issue refers to London researchers, but should refer to Miami researchers.

Messiah:animate evolves to standalone program. (animation).
November 1, 2002... Messiah:animate 3.0 from pmG Worldwide has been redesigned as a standalone animation tool to replace its former self, messiah:animate the LightWave plug-in. It also now runs in conjunction with Discreet's 3ds max, Alias|Wavefront's Maya, and...

E-on issues three product upgrades. (animation).
November 1, 2002... Version 4.1 of e-on software's 3D natural scenery program, Vue d'Esprit, adds a number of import/export features that make the product more compatible with NewTek's LightWave, Maxon Computer's Cinema 4D, Curious Labs' Poser, and Caligari's...

Rendering engine adds power to poser. (animation).
November 1, 2002... Version 5 of Poser, Curious Labs' popular character animation tool, comes with features including dynamic cloth, strand-based hair, and photo-based facial mapping. Some additional new features made possible by Curious's new FireFly Renderer, a...

Eovia makes vector plug-in for Carrara. (rendering).(VectorStyle)
November 1, 2002... The VectorStyle plug-in from Eovia Corp. offers 3D vector rendering for Carrara Studio 2, Eovia's modeling and rendering program. The ability to convert Carrara scenes to scalable, vector-based animations should provide users with a streamlined...

Actuality offers 360-degree viewing. (displays).(Perspecta spatial 3D platform)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Though a variety of technologies exist for viewing 3D data "in the round" without glasses, many are still in the development stage. One 3D display that is already shipping commercially is Actuality Systems' Perspecta, which looks like a crystal...

Lunar landscapes. (film).(created by Riot)
November 1, 2002... Many consider space to be the final frontier--an untamed, unsettled realm holding the promise of adventure. In the futuristic-themed feature film The Adventures of Pluto Nash, the first city on the moon is untamed indeed. But, it is far from...

Alien invasion. (broadcast).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Realm Productions (Santa Monica, CA) helped pave the way for an invasion of Earth by pint-size creatures bent not on world domination, but on getting a hamburger and fries. The hungry aliens appeared in a 30-second TV spot for Burger King in...

Matter of life or death. (user focus: DV).
November 1, 2002... Would you know what action take if you were faced with a life-or-death scenario? For instance, would you know the correct way to land if you fell from a rooftop, or how to tuck and roll if you leaped from a moving vehicle? Every Wednesday...

A New York state of mind. (user focus: web graphics).
November 1, 2002... It all started when someone hung a photograph of the World Trade Center attack in an empty storefront in downtown Manhattan during the dark days of last September. Crowds gathered to see the photo, and people began posting their own pictures of...

Points of light. (technology: lighting).(University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies' innovation)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... A new approach to lighting the live performance of an actor and compositing him or her into a real or virtual set has been developed by a team led by Paul Debevec at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies....

Interactive windows. (technology: interactivity).(developed by MIT Media Lab)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... A new interactive display device developed by researchers at the MIT Media Lab could redefine window shopping as we know it. The new technology enables knocks or taps to be characterized by type and localized to within two to four square cm...

Lightscape winners. (benchmark).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
November 1, 2002... The Nvidia Quadro4 900XGL graphics card edged out 3Dlabs' Wildcat III 6110 in the latest SPEC/GPC Lightscape benchmark tests. Both cards in the top two positions were paired with a 2.8GHz IBM M Pro workstation. For information about the...

Microsoft Corp.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, WA) has acquired game developer Rare (Warwickshire, UK) for $375 million. Rare will develop game titles for Microsoft's Xbox... Game developer Factor 5 (San Rafael, CA) has released the DivX for GameCube SDK, which...

Siggraph 2003 call for participation.
November 1, 2002... The Siggraph 2003 Conference Committee is now accepting submissions for papers, panels, courses, and more for the next annual Siggraph conference and exhibition. The event will take place in San Diego, California, from July 27 to 31. For...

A little goes a long way. (viewpoint Film).
November 1, 2002... It was inevitable, hut it's a surprise to see it happen so soon. This year, the first year after deciding to award an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences will be asked to determine whether a...

Shooting like a pro. (viewpoint DV).(camcorders)
November 1, 2002... It wasn't that many years ago that you needed a video camera costing upwards of $25,000 to shoot professional-quality footage. In fact, cameras costing $40,000 or even $100,000 were standard pieces of equipment for video pros and production...

An enchanted village: a character-driven ride film transports audiences to a Celtic wonderland. (Ride Film).(Corkscrew Hill)
November 1, 2002... Ride films, given their reliance on unrestricted camera motion, freedom of character movement, spectacular imagery, and stereoscopic creativity, have benefited greatly from recent advances in computer graphics. Yet, the combining of digital...

Spy game: a super spy is `super fly' in the new No One Lives Forever game sequel. (Gaming).(No One Lives Forever 2)
November 1, 2002... The '60s are back, baby! And, the shagadelic spy Austin Powers isn't the only groovy British agent to re-emerge for a cloak-and-dagger sequel. The beautiful, hip UNITY operative Cate Archer has returned to the spy scene, investigating a...

Arabian sights: digital techniques help create a Lawrence of Arabia-style commercial of epic proportion: using inferno, digital artists replicated and composited live shots of approximately 100 actors dressed in traditional Saudi garb to generate the large armies of charging horsemen required for the commercial. (Digital Video).
November 1, 2002... Using digital technology, Playground, a production and effects studio in Santa Monica, California, recently created a television commercial for the Saudi-Arabian National Agricultural Development Corporation (NADEC) that has the look and feel...

Speaking for Scotland: a virtual Webcaster becomes the voice of Scottish government.
November 1, 2002... In 1999, the year Scotland's Parliament met for the first time in three centuries, the Scottish Executive was created to run the country's day-to-day operations. The new government body--technically Scotland's "devolved" government--handles...

Art studio one. (Adobe Design Contest).
November 1, 2002... During the past few years, students have significantly raised the bar in digital content creation, producing professional-level work that is winning accolades throughout the industry. Recently, Adobe Systems--through its second annual Adobe...

Photoshop 7.0: an update for Adobe's venerable image processor.(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2002... Photoshop has been around "forever" in computer graphics years. The software long ago became the de facto standard for cutting-edge image processing and manipulation. With Version 7.0, Adobe Systems continues to keep Photoshop at the forefront...

3DBoxx S3: Boxx Technologies' Intel-based workstation.(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2002... Boxx Technologies manufactures several workstations for 3D graphics professionals. The S3 reviewed here is a dual-processor, Intel-driven machine that is part of the 3DBoxx family, which also includes dual-AMD powered machines and single...

HDR image editing. (Image Editing).
November 1, 2002... Win-Linux According to Idruna Software its Photogenics HDR is the first 32-bit-per-channel floating-point High Dynamic Range (HDR) paint package for Windows and Linux. With the product, users can paint filters directly on an image, using...

Upgraded WorldBuilder rendering. (Modeling And Animation).
November 1, 2002... Win A free upgrade for Digital Element's WorldBuilder 3D modeling and rendering software is now available. Featuring a re-architecture of some key rendering systems, along with A-buffering, the upgrade makes WorldBuilder 3.2 more fully...

Easy suite. (Video/Multimedia).
November 1, 2002... Mac eZediaMX is a cross-platform media integration and editing program that can be used to compile storyboards as well as create digital portfolios, multimedia presentations, animations, and interactive CD-ROM projects. Available from eZedia,...

Wireless mocap glove. (Motion Capture).(Fifth Dimension Technologies 5DT MoCap Glove)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... A data glove optimized for use in motion capture and puppeteering applications, the 5DT Mocap Glove from Fifth Dimension Technologies features two sensors per finger for flexure measurement and a sensor between fingers to measure abduction...

Events.
November 1, 2002... NOVEMBER 16-22 Comdex, held in Las Vegas. Contact: Key3 Media Group, www.comdex.com/fall/ 18-23 IAAPA (international Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) 2002 Convention and Trade Show, held in Orlando, FL....

Being there: a renowned ride-film maker describes how immersion enhances entertainment. (Back drop: a behind-the-scenes interview with a digital content professional).(Interview)
November 1, 2002... Q Jeff, what attracted you to creating computer graphics ride films? A The fun thing about rides, especially CG rides, is that you have this open door to create worlds where you can make just about anything happen. There are no rules about...