Computer Graphics World articles from October 2003

Computer Graphics World archives from October 2003

Diversity in gaming.(editor's note)
October 1, 2003... In case there was any doubt about it, a new poll from the Entertainment Software Association (www.theESA.com) shows that computer gaming is not just for the boy next door anymore. In fact, the survey reveals that computer game players are...

Discreet releases combustion 3 and lustre.(DV and compositing)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Discreet recently unveiled its two latest software releases, combustion 3 and lustre. Targeted at professionals producing films, videos, and Web content, combustion 3 is the latest version of Discreet's visual effects, motion graphics, and...

Macromedia launches MX 2004 product line.(Web)
October 1, 2003... Macromedia announced its new MX 2004 family, complete with enhanced versions of existing MX products (Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks) and new additions, such as Flash Professional MX. Now shipping, the Macromedia MX 2004 product family...

AMD premiers its Athlon 64 FX processor.(hardware)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... With the release of the AMD Athlon 64 processor, AMD brings 64-bit computing to desktop and notebook PCs. Reported to be the only Windows-compatible 64-bit PC processor, the AMD Athlon 64 improves the appearance, performance, and...

Demystifying Mystique.(Follow-up: compisiting)
October 1, 2003... Further to "x-cellent FX" in the July issue, Kleiser-Walczak contributed to the innovative eye replacements for Mystique, an X-Men mutant portrayed by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. According to Frank E. Vitz, visual effects supervisor,...

Adobe debuts Creative Suites.(content creation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Adobe premiered two comprehensive software packages for creatives: Adobe Creative Suite Premium and Standard. The Standard version encompasses Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, and InDesign CS, whereas the Premium edition adds GoLive CS and Acrobat...

Contemporary living.(broadcast)
October 1, 2003... A series of television commercials for cable/Internet service provider Bright House Networks features all elegant, contemporary--style home that is loaded with sophisticated high end consumer electronics. The setting--used as a metaphor for the...

Suspended animation.(gaming)
October 1, 2003... Using motion-capture technology to animate digital characters can he a weighty decision, but not so for Asian game developer Digital Frontier. That's because the studio used motion capture to accurately record human performers whose actions...

Digital delivery.(DV)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... When boutique restaurant chain Straw Hat Pizza wanted a unique look for a series of regional television commercials, Delaplaine Creative delivered with a set of animated cartoon spots containing 1950s comic book-style imagery enhanced with 3D...

Color me natural.(Technology: rendering)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Rendering natural-looking hair is key to creating realistic virtual humans. But the process is turning out to be a lot more complicated than it looks. Not only must the geometry of thousands of strands be determined, but the scattering of light...

Previs on the rise.(market outlook)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Roughly 40 percent of all visual effects/dynamic media studios in the US cited previsualization among the top tasks that they perform, according to a survey from TrendWatch. This figure has risen five percent during the past six months. Previs...

Nokia (Irving, IX) has introduced the N-Gage Arena service, a worldwide virtual community for gamers to play, share, and compete online via the Nokia N-Gage mobile game deck.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Nokia (Irving, IX) has introduced the N-Gage Arena service, a worldwide virtual community for gamers to play, share, and compete online via the Nokia N-Gage mobile game deck. GameSpy (Irvine, CA) also has launched a new section of its Web site...

Vertical editing.(DV)
October 1, 2003... In the late '90s, things were going well for Media 100. Along with Avid and Adobe, it was one of the most dominant players in the nonlinear editing market. Sales were strong, and the market was hot. By 2000, in addition to its standard video...

Offshore 3D.(Film)
October 1, 2003... Something in the latest TrendWatch report caught my eye recently, reminding me that only a few months ago in this column Phil Vischer, founder of Big Idea, which was acquired by Classic Media LLC, predicted that 3D work would begin moving...

Made for mobile: the World's Smallest Film Festival merges state-of-the-art technology, creative video and animation, and the mobile medium.
October 1, 2003... Mobile technology is advancing at a rapid rate, and computer graphics professionals are taking full advantage of it and the audience it provides. "The market is huge, with a current market potential of a billion handset risers," insists Beau...

Witches' brew: Mainframe Entertainment mixes up a wide range of graphic styles to create a unique look for Scary Godmother.(Broadcast)
October 1, 2003... On a scary, scary night one recent Halloween, a spirited little girl named Hannah Marie is tricked into visiting a spooky old house by Jimmy, her nasty older cousin, who wants to free himself of the pint-size tagalong so he can continue...

Making tracks: film editors modify racing venues to give Seabiscuit a period look.(Digital Video)
October 1, 2003... Even though the setting for the feature film Seabiscuit is the 1930s, the movie's premise is timeless. Based on a novel by Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit is a story about a down-and-out racehorse that transforms itself from an underdog to a...

Films from the next generation: student-made shorts demonstrate the evolution of CG animation.(Film)
October 1, 2003... College-based computer animation programs have proliferated in recent years, as have computer animation students and their films. Judging from this sampling of work from pupils at Ringling School of Art and Design and the Vancouver Film School,...

Audre Vysniauskas.(Art Studio)
October 1, 2003... From top to bottom: Hairy Hook This multi layered image, created solely with Ultra Fractal software, illustrates the chaotic style inherent in much of the artist's work. "A particular shape, texture, or theme may strike me at a certain...

Nvidia Quadro FX3000: with its latest graphics accelerator, Nvidia caters to the high-end market.(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 1, 2003... Nvidia, a driving force in the consumer market for many years, is now becoming a huge player in the workstation market. Its Quadro series of graphics cards are popular with studios, and even the consumer-level GeForce cards work well in a...

Apple Final Cut Pro 4: Apple upgrades its editing solution with powerful new tools.(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 1, 2003... There was a time, back when anything creative was done on a Mac, that any serious computer-based, non-linear video editor would have been Apple-based. That was before the great Wintel migration of the late 1990s, when editing companies and...

Sapphire for burn.(Effects; Sapphire Plug-ins )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Win*Linux Gen-Arts unveiled its Sapphire Plug-ins for burn, a new Linux-based background rendering application from Discreet. Priced at $2000 for a dual-processor work station, Gen-Arts' Sapphire Plug-ins are available to companies purchasing...

Wireless character animation.(Wireless)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Face2face animation introduced the wireless industry's first animated talking characters for 2.55 and 3G cell phones The new face2face mobile character player enables the delivery of full-motion, audio-synched character animation to wireless...

AV editing for Mac OS X.(Arboretum Systems' HyperEngine-AV 1.2.1 for Mac OS X)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Mac Arboretum Systems recently upgraded its award-winning video and audio editor, HyperEngine-AV (formerly called Montage), to Version 1.2.1. Built from the ground up for Mac OS X, the editing tool offers Mac users an alternative to Apple...

50-inch plasma.(JVC Professional Products GD-V501)
October 1, 2003... JVC Professional Products amended its product line with the new GD-V501 U, a 50-inch plasma display. Offering a 160-degree viewing angle and high-contrast imagery, the GD-V501U is designed for use in multiscreen, business, communications,...

Storage.(Verbatim Store 'n' Go USB Drive)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Win*Mac*Linux Verbatim debuted its latest data storage solution, the Store 'n' Go USB Drive. Measuring roughly the size of a single AA battery, the portable drive is a non volatile flash memory device designed to plug directly into the USB 2.0...

Events.
October 1, 2003... October 21-23 CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2003, held in Las Vegas. Contact: CTIA; www.ctia.org, www.wirelessit.com 28-30 Digital Arts World and LEAF (London Effects and Animation Festival), held in London. Contact:...

Three-minute movies: The World's Smallest Film Festival could spark an explosion of made-for-mobile movies and animations.(backdrop)
October 1, 2003... Q How did The World's Smallest Film Festival come about? A Juliette Deinum--BigDigit's vice president of creative development--and I were brainstorming about what was next in the evolution of mobile devices, what would drive sales of...