Computer Graphics World articles from September 2004

Computer Graphics World archives from September 2004

Music video hybrids.(editor's note)
September 1, 2004... It's obvious that video hasn't killed the radio star, as foretold by the Buggies in the band's song that kicked off the age of music television. But lately it seems that video isn't doing the radio star any favors, either, at least judging from...

Sharp debuts 3D LCD.(display)
September 1, 2004... During SIGGRAPH 2004 in Los Angeles last month, Sharp Systems of America unveiled its first stand-alone display based on the company's TFT 3D LCD technology. Well suited to several applications, including gaming, entertainment, education,...

Verari Systems unveils NemeSys X64.(workstation)
September 1, 2004... Verari Systems, formerly RackSaver, recently introduced S1GGRAPH attendees to the latest model in its family of NemeSys professional workstations, the NemeSys X64. Targeted at digital content creators in the film making and...

NewTek releases LightWave 8.(3D animation)
September 1, 2004... NewTek has upgraded its LightWave 3D animation software for film, broadcast, print, game development, and Web development to Version 8. Adding to the production program's modeling, animation, and rendering capabilities, NewTek LightWave has...

Sun Microsystems expands workstation offerings.(workstation)
September 1, 2004... Sun Microsystems has launched two new professional products, the Sun Java Workstation Wll00z and W2100z. Designed to maximize productivity, the Sun Java Workstation Wll00z and W2100z are 64-bit systems based on AMD Opteron processors and...

Leitch announces VelocityQ 0x4.(video)
September 1, 2004... Leitch Technology has amended its family of award-winning VelocityQ multi-stream, non-linear editing systems with an entry-level model, the VelocityQ 0x4. The new standard-definition postproduction editing system combines the company's...

Virtual restoration.(lighting)
September 1, 2004... One of the most stunning animations premiering in the Electronic Theater at SIGGRAPH 2004 was a computer graphics tour de force, titled "The Parthenon," which, in two and a half minutes, visually restores to its original glory the ancient Greek...

Visual notes: Part 2 of a two-part series: digital art heralds a new generation of music videos.(Cover Story)
September 1, 2004... In 1981, the debut of MusicTelevision (MTV) helped spin the obscure music video medium into a new entertainment genre. Initially, innovation was relatively easy to achieve, as nearly every type of visual element was deemed inventive because it...

Like in the movies: visual effects wizards apply filmmaking techniques to enhance gameplay while creating a more cinematic look.(Gaming)
September 1, 2004... With the increasingly powerful real-time graphics capability of game consoles and PCs giving game developers the tantalizing possibility of creating ever more sophisticated graphics, the word "cinematic" is frequently used to describe the...

Child's play: the painterly and realistic backdrop of wartime Korea is an ominous world of wonders for Birthday Boy's stylized main character.(Animation)
September 1, 2004... "Birthday Boy" is a timeless story set in a specific place and time--Korea in 1951. As the young protagonist of this nine-minute CG movie meanders home through a nearly empty town, we observe the bombed-out buildings and the ravaged landscape...

SIGGRAPH 2004 Animation Theater.(Portfolio)
September 1, 2004... The 2004 SIGGRAPH Animation Theater featured a selection of projects illustrating revolutionary ways of implementing the still-young medium of computer graphics within the diverse fields of visual arts, entertainment, and science. Some of the...

Breaking barriers: EFilm enlists storage area networks and low-cost disk storage in its quest to redefine the state of the art of digital mastering.(Special section: storage in the studio)
September 1, 2004... In Hollywood, pushing the envelope beyond what's been done before can bring high praise from critics and industry peers. According to EFilm, a leading digital intermediate film company and subsidiary owned by Panavision and Deluxe Laboratories,...

Scaling up: the Orphanage adopts a shared file storage system to manage explosive growth.(Special section: storage in the studio)
September 1, 2004... The Orphanage, a San Francisco-based special effects studio, is no stranger to explosions. In fact, the company's nearly 200 artists--whose credits include the creation of 2D and 3D special effects for such feature films as HellBoy, The Day...

Keeping it simple: although the trend is toward networked storage, Stargate Digital relies on direct-attached disk arrays.(Special section: storage in the studio)
September 1, 2004... When it comes to managing the many terabytes of visual effects content produced by Stargate Digital for TV productions such as Spartacus and ER, the studio's director of IT Joseph Meier says that his staff's job is twofold: It must ensure...

Growing pains: documentary producer turns to disk arrays to handle rising storage needs.(Special section: storage in the studio)(Cry Havoc uses disk arrays)
September 1, 2004... Going from garage-style start-up to producer of TV documentaries for stations such as The Discovery Channel and Fine Living can cause a few growing pains along the way. This was certainly true for Cry Havoc Productions, which had to upgrade its...

Softimage/XSI 4: Softimage expands the feature set of XSI, bolstering productivity.
September 1, 2004... Version 4 is likely the most substantial upgrade Softimage|XSI has seen, and the new release contains a wealth of new features and improvements that adds significantly to the depth of the software. One new feature is the competitive price....

Premier Pro 1.5: the latest version of Adobe's NLE premieres on Windows.
September 1, 2004... Although Mac users won't benefit from this upgrade, PC-based video editors will be thrilled with Adobe's latest release, Premiere Pro 1.5. Premiere Pro's many new features include support for all standard HD resolutions (480p, 720p, and 1080i),...

Curious gFx Pro 2.5: the new 16-bit version performs admirably under test conditions.
September 1, 2004... Curious Software ups the ante with an update to its desktop compositing program, gFx Pro. Curious gFx Pro 2.5 is suitable for painting, animation, rotoscoping, and digital effects for film and television, in up to 6K resolution and full 16 bit....

Workstations.(Snapshot)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Intel recently unveiled its latest innovations, including Xeon processors with Extended Memory 64-bit Technology (EM64T), triggering a number of announcements from industry-leading workstation vendors. Moreover, Intel's PCI Express graphics bus...

Hewlett-Packard.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... Hewlett-Packard has launched three new personal workstations: the xw8200, xw6200, and xw4200. All three models boast the company's latest advancements, including an innovative tool-less design for faster service and improved acoustics via new...

Verari Systems.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... Verari Systems, formerly RackSaver, unveiled its latest graphics workstation: the NemeSys X64 during SIGGRAPH 2004 in Los Angeles last month. Attendees were among the first to witness Verari Systems' new dual-processor workstation designed for...

Dell.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... Dell has launched the Precision 470 and 670, which employ Intel Xeon processors with EM64T. Able to power 64-bit as well as 32-bit programs, the company's new dual-processor-capable systems incorporate DDR2 memory and the PCI Express bus to...

Boxx Technologies.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... Boxx Technologies has introduced its 4200 and 8200 series of digital content creation workstations. For 2D, 3D, and digital video, the 4200 family offers single-processor Pentium 4 systems. The 8200 series, designed for animators and video...

Alienware.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... Alienware has announced the MJ-12 3100 workstation based on the Intel Tumwater chipset, PCI Express, and DDR2 memory. The MJ-12 can accommodate up to two high-performance video cards; as a result, it can support four displays. Starting at...

Apple.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... Apple has premiered the Power Mac G5, equipped with a 64-bit desktop processor and 1GHZ front-side bus. The workstation, powered by the PowerPC G5 processor from IBM and Apple, features 64-bit processing technology, enabling users to benefit...

IBM.(Workstations)
September 1, 2004... IBM has infused its ThinkCentre A51p workstation with a tool-less enclosure, front airflow cooling, IBM Rescue and Recovery, and the IBM Embedded Security Subsystem. The new model incorporates the Intel 915G Express chipset, a Pentium 4...

RealViz for previz.(Previzualization)
September 1, 2004... Win RealViz announced two innovations during SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, StoryViz 1.0 and ImageModeler 4.0. Interactive 3D previz software, StoryViz aids directors, visual effects supervisors, 3D animators, graphic artists, and filmmakers in...

Silhouette news.(Rotoscoping)
September 1, 2004... Win*Mac*Linux Silhouette FX unveiled the first release in a new family of products, Silhouette+roto. Created by artists, the new rotoscoping solution offers OpenGL-accelerated rendering and real-time shape preview, integrated motion trackers,...

Now with Nuke.(Compositing)
September 1, 2004... Win Boxx Technologies has entered into a co-branding agreement with D2 Software, makers of the award-winning Nuke compositing and effects software. Nuke 2D and 3D digital compositing software assists users in combining and manipulating scanned...

Speeding chromakey.(Video)
September 1, 2004... Reflecmedia unveiled Mattenee, a new plug-in for today's non-linear editing and compositing applications, during SIGGRAPH. Priced at $395, Mattenee is designed to speed and simplify the chromakey process. Developed by The Pixel Farm, Mattenee...

FireWire file storage.(Storage)
September 1, 2004... Iomega, a leader in data storage, has introduced a new model in its family of Iomega Rev drives. The Iomega Rev 35GB FireWire drive achieves read and write speeds of up to 25MS/SeC. Housed in a white and light grey enclosure, the drive features...

Events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
September 1, 2004... SEPTEMBER 9-13 IBC2004 Conference held in Amsterdam. Contact International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), 44-0-20-7831-6909, www.ibc.org. OCTOBER 23-30 2004 Savannah Film Festival held in Savannah, Georgia. Contact Savannah...

Broadcast-ready and royalty-free.(Stock Options)(Hypereye Motion Graphics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Producer of broadcast-ready, royalty-free animation and special effects, Hypereye Motion Graphics has announced the availability of a whole new line of commercial-grade, royalty-free animation. The company offers animations designed from the...

Arena Maxtronic: professional RAID solutions.(Company Profiles)(Company Profile)
September 1, 2004... company profile Arena-MaxTronic, Inc. founded in 1995, is a dedicated maker of top-of-the-line, user-friendly and cost-effective RAID solutions. Our team of seasoned professionals has wide-ranging know-how in the information-technology...

A new twist on reality.(Company Profiles)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Welcome to reality with a twist... 3Dlabs[R] new Wildcat[R] Realizm[TM] family of professional graphics accelerators puts the power of the industry's most advanced visual processing right at your fingertips. Wildcat Realizm offers design...

Infortrend[R]: RAID controller and subsystem specialists since 1992.(Company Profiles)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
September 1, 2004... Background Infortrend was founded in 1992 by a team of engineers with extensive experience in storage subsystems. Our mission is to provide OEMs, system integrators, and select distributors with the highest performing product line...