Computer Graphics World articles from October 2005

Computer Graphics World archives from October 2005

Caught in the game.(editor's note)
October 1, 2005... Whatever happened to Pong? As a child of the '70s, I remember seeing Pong, on the Atari Game System, for the very first time at my neighbor's house. All it took was a few spins of the dial and blips of the paddle, and I was hooked. Who needed...

Autodesk announces software upgrades.(VIDEO)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Autodesk Media and Entertainment has unveiled upgraded versions of its video editing and visual effects tools. The company's SGI IRIX-based Discreet Fire 7.0 and Discreet Smoke 7.0 editing systems, and Discreet Inferno 6.5 and Discreet...

Softimage ships XSI Version 5.0.(MODELING/ANIMATION)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... A subsidiary of Avid Technology, Softimage has debuted Version 5.0 of its XSI 3D animation software, capable of running on 32-bit and 64-bit CPUs. With the release of Version 5.0, Softimage re-architected XSI to take advantage of the...

Maxon debuts Cinema 4D release 9.5.(MODELING/ANIMATION)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Maxon Computer has upgraded its Cinema 4D and BodyPaint 3D programs. Now shipping, Cinema 4D Release 9.5 incorporates more than 50 new features and enhancements that focus on lighting, rendering, and work flow. Lighting setup is easier and...

Alias ugrades SketchBook Pro.(ILLUSTRATION)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Alias has announced the availability of its SketchBook Pro Version 2. SketchBook Pro 2 paint and drawing software now offers creative professionals the ability to save a layered .psd file for use in Adobe Photoshop. Users also are provided...

Side Effects Software presents Houdini 8.(MODELING/ANIMATION)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Side Effects Software has posted a public beta of its Houdini 8 modeling and animation software to its Web site at www.sidefx.com. Side Effects Software focused on the application's dynamics, lighting, and character animation feature sets...

Digital intermediates.(view point: Video)(Editorial)
October 1, 2005... I was proving to Annette that box turtles don't have teeth, and are therefore harmless, when it nipped off the fleshy tip of my finger. It was an embarrassing comeuppance for an eight-year-old boy eager to impress an eight-year-old girl. Still,...

Collada: game on.(view point: Tech)(Editorial)
October 1, 2005... Whether the publishers admit it or not, the game industry is in crisis. The costs associated with creating games are rising, deadlines are slipping, and the reality is that consumers are not going to pay much more than $50 for a new game. At...

The art of the deal: the battle for exclusive rights to sports franchises pushes gaming's creativity.(Gaming)
October 1, 2005... Not long ago, the biggest names in video game publishing--from Electronic Arts to 2K Sports--would race frantically to ready the latest season of their officially licensed pro sports titles and compete for the largest share of the marketplace....

Craking clay: artists add 3D to Aardman's traditional claymation recipe.(Film)(Editorial)
October 1, 2005... Horrors! A giant vegetable-ravaging rabbit monster is attacking the gardens in a small northern England village. Who will save the day--and the carrots, tomatoes, and courgettes? Why, Wallace and Gromit, of course. The intrepid inventor...

Big, bad wolf: artists transition a man into a wolf for the film The Brothers Grimm.
October 1, 2005... Nearly everyone grew up reading the edgy fairy tales from Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm: "Hansel and Gretel," "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Snow White," and many more. In the feature film The Brothers Grimm, digital and practical effects...

Bruce Price.(biography)(Biography)
October 1, 2005... In 1988, professional painter/writer Bruce Price of Norfolk, Virginia, made his foray into the world of digital art. Since then, he has spent more than 6000 hours exploring concepts and ideas using the medium, which has become his exclusive...

Corel Painter IX: Corel updates Painter with speed, stability, and creative control.(PAINTING)(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 1, 2005... As digital artists and content creators, we're longtime users of Painter, Corel's painting and illustration software solution. Like no other program we've used, it provides us with digital materials--paints, brushes, inks, pencils, papers, and...

Siggraph 2005 Editors' picks.(Snapshot)(Editorial)
October 1, 2005... The staff of Computer Graphics World recently ventured to Los Angeles for SIGGRAPH 2005, from which the editors returned with information about a wealth of new products. Upon its return from the show, the editorial staff, including contributing...

CAT2 debut.(3D CHARACTER ANIMATION)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Win Character Animation Technologies Ltd. has unveiled Version 2 of its CAT (Character Animation Toolkit) plug-in for Autodesk Media and Entertainment's 3ds Max. Designed for game development, film, and television artists, the newly upgraded...

Wide-angle artwork.(PANORAMA)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Win-Mac RealViz has begun shipping Version 5 of its Stitcher professional-level panorama software, designed for multimedia and 3D artists, photographers, and architects. Stitcher aids users in creating wide-angle panoramas for 3D, film, Web,...

Canopus Codec.(VIDEO)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Canopus has previewed its third software codec option for its Edius Pro 3 nonlinear editing solution, the Canopus HQ+. The new software codec is specifically designed for such quality-critical applications as compositing and 3D animation. By...