Computer Graphics World articles from September 2002

Computer Graphics World archives from September 2002

Back to the present. (editor's note).(Siggraph)(Editorial)
September 1, 2002... In years past, the Siggraph convention has been a forum for visionaries to speculate wildly about futuristic technologies and applications. But this year, the futurists were decidedly more interested In the present. Nowhere was this more...

Reality bytes. (letters).(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... I found the letter "Star Wars Flaws" on pg. 6 of the August 2002 issue interesting, and I agreed with its points. However, these comments come from someone who wants things to make sense. I'm a baby boomer, weaned on The Three Stooges and...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2002... The review of Side Effects Software's Houdini on pg. 58 of the July 2002 issue incorrectly refers to a package called Houdini Complete. The product is in fact 'called Houdini Master, and lists for $17,000 rather than $6995, as stated. The...

Discreet ships 3ds max 5. (product spotlight).(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... Discreet is now shipping Version 5 of 3ds max, its popular 3D animation and modeling software. The new 3ds max features enhancements designed specifically for the film, game development, and design visualization markets. For film, the software...

SplutterFish introduces Brazil r/s. (product spotlight).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... The new Brazil Rendering System (Brazil r/s) 1.0 from SplutterFish is a rendering suite designed to integrate with both 3ds max, Discreet's modeling and animation software (see above) and Autodesk Viz, a visualization package also from...

Immersion's portable digitizer. (product spotlight).(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... MicroScribe G2 is the name of the latest line of 3D digitizing products from Immersion Corp., a developer of 3D and force-feedback products and technologies. The new MicroScribe G2 products provide faster data transfer and more portability than...

Updated ZBrush 1.5 offers high- and low-poly meshes. (product spotlight).(Pixologic)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... Pixologic's ZBrush is a product more or less in a category of its own. It is both a painting and a sculpting tool that enables image creation in 2D as well as 3D, and includes a real-time rendering engine for instant feedback. ZBrush artists...

Alias/Wavefront unveils Maya 4.5. (product spotlight).(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... Alias|Wavefront has introduced Maya 4.5, the seventh major release of the company's flagship 3D modeling and animation software. Among the major new features is a fully integrated method for creating accurate fluid effects--traditionally one of...

Facial animation vendor LipSinc no more? (news).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... LipSinc (Morrisville, NC) a maker of automated voice-driven facial animation software, was reported by The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, to have ceased business operations shortly before the Siggraph conference and exhibition in...

Exluna merges with Nvidia. (news).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Rendering software maker Exluna announced that it has merged with graphics manufacturer Nvidia. Exluna had recently introduced Entropy, a rendering program for professional digital artists, and the subject of a lawsuit by Pixar, from which...

Wildcat III tops 3dsmax-01 performers. (benchmark).
September 1, 2002... Wildcat III graphics cards from 3Dlabs recently earned top performance numbers for the 3ds max subset of the SPECviewperf 7.0 benchmark. The 3dsmax-01 benchmark is based on Discreet's 3ds max modeling and animation software and consists of 14...

Spidey's newest leap: the webbed avenger is transformed into a 3D comic book character. (Cover Story).
September 1, 2002... A compelling computer-generated rendition of Spider-Man certainly proved its mettle at the box office this summer. But for decades, a stylized, hand-drawn version of the webbed avenger captivated and enthralled readers as the superhero battled...

Spy: animators reveal the secrets behind Spy Kids 2's digital effects.
September 1, 2002... The theme of Spy Kids 2: 7he Island of Lost Dreams is one that most kids love. The fun filled family film. which was released in August, highlights the amusing exploits of pint-sized spies Carmen and Juni Cortez as they embark on a zany mission...

The way we were: scientists make no bones about the value of 3D imaging in studying our distant ancestors.
September 1, 2002... they a good man is hard to find. Change that to "a good fossil hominid," and it's just about impossible to find one of those. It's not that there aren't plenty of human fossils in museums. But museum curators would have to have rocks in their...

Welcome to Flatland: a new environment lets users interact with the software driving their simulations.
September 1, 2002... As visualizations have become more dependent on intricate computer code running on large arrays of parallel processors, users have benefited from software tools that allow them to graphically depict complex natural or technical processes. Now,...

Collectable art. (portfolio).(artist Joel Payne mainly uses NewTek's LightWave 5.5 for modeling, LightWave 7.0 for rendering)
September 1, 2002... 3D computer graphics was still in its infancy when formally trained artist Joel Payne of Santa Clarita, California, began generating digital artwork. So Payne parlayed his traditional skills and the knowledge he obtained while studying, film,...

Revealing graphics: an animated character gives Siggraph attendees quite a show. (short film).
September 1, 2002... The audience certainly got an eyeful at this year's annual Siggraph Computer Animation Theater with "Washed Up," a humorous animated short created by Vinton Studios (Portland, OR). The 90-second spot, which opened several of the Animation...

After Effects 5.5: more 3D for Adobe's motion graphics and effects software.(Evaluation)
September 1, 2002... ADOBE SYSTEMS' After Effects motion graphics and effects package has had a long history in the animation and motion graphics community. The software is the de facto standard for motion graphics designers, but After Effects has also found a...

SketchUp for Mac users. (Design Engineering).(@Last Software's SketchUp 3D design)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... MAC @Last Software's SketchUp 3D design software is now available for Mac OS X users. Featuring a variety of tools for creating, viewing, modifying, and communicating 3D AEC designs, SketchUp for Mac OS X includes component editing and built-in...

QuarkXPress updated. (Miscellaneous).(QuarkXPress 5.01 DTP software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... WIN|MAC QuarkXPress 5.01, available for download from Quark's Web site at no charge for current users of QuarkXPress 5.0, features performance enhancements designed to provide faster and more reliable operation of the software. For instance, if...

Natural scenery in 3D. (Modeling and Animation).(Vue d'Esprit 4.1 from e-on Software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... WIN|MAC e-on Software has announced a downloadable update to its 3D natural scenery product, Vue d'Esprit 4. The new 4.1 version includes LightWave 6+ LW02 file format import, Cinema 4D terrain exports, direct static Poser scene imports for the...

Apple intros QuickTime 6. (Video/Multimedia).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... WIN|MAC QuickTime 6, the latest release of Apple's digital media software for Mac and Windows-based computers, features MPEG-4 digital media technology, enabling users to author professional-quality, ISO-compliant MPEG-4 audio and video files...

Flat desktop display. (Input/Output).(KDS USA's 17-inch XF-7b)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2002... The latest in its line of Xtreme Flat pureflat desktop displays, KDS USA's 17-inch XF-7b boasts a 0.22mm dot pitch, thanks to a proprietary dot pitch technology that allows the screen to be extremely flat when compared to other standard CRT...

Events.(Calendar of Events)
September 1, 2002... september 7-12 Ars Electronica, held in Linz, Austria. Contact: Ars Electronica Center; www.aec.at/takeover, 13-17 IBC, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Contact: IBC; www.ibc.org october 9-11 Digital...

Virtual Accelerators. (Insight).(Department of Energy has instituted the SciDAC (Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing) project)
September 1, 2002... VIRTUAL ACCELERATORS: Atomic science holds great promise for producing a safe and virtually inexhaustible supply of energy. But a major barrier to achieving this goal has been the high price of the accelerator systems that are necessary to...