The 27th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) explored creative trends as well as discussion of such developments as recreating human characters via CGI (SHOOT, 8/4, p. 1). But the confab, recently held in New Orleans (7/23-28), also saw its share of product-related news made by technology companies. Among the highlights:
•Toronto-based Alias/Wavefront, a subsidiary company of Mountain View, Calif.-headquartered SGI, announced plans to port the entire Maya 3-D software product line to the Linux platform. This will deliver Maya on Red Hat Linux in early 2001. Alias/Wavefront also previewed Maya Fusion 3 software, which will ship in the fall for $5,000. Features include an integrated paint tool that means that artists no longer have to switch between compositing and paint applications in order to complete shots; a flow layout system which introduces a simplified way to manage complex tool arrangements; and a text tool which gives artists additional control of text for titling and font animation.
•Alias/Wavefront also revamped its management team. Former president Warren Pratt has been named chairman of Alias/Wavefront and senior VP of SGI. Doug Walker, who had been VP of worldwide field operations for Alias/Wavefront, takes the presidential reins. Peter Mehlstaeubler has been promoted to VP while continuing to serve as general manager of the company’s design business unit. And Dave Wharry, formerly president/CEO of SGI Canada, has joined Alias/Wavefront as VP of worldwide field operations and marketing.
•Richmond, Calif.-based Pixar Animation Studios purchased 250 Silicon Graphics Octane2 visual workstations to complete production of its fourth animated feature film, Disney/ Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., slated for release in late 2001.
•Discreet, which has major centers in San Francisco and Montreal, announced several upgrades to existing products, including the launch of character studio 3, the newest version of the extension to 3d studio max 3. Discreet has also started shipping combustion, the visual effects application for the desktop. The company has shipped well over 1,000 units since the product—which sells for $3,495 in the U.S.—was released on July 19.
•Softimage Co., a Montreal subsidiary of Tewksbury, Mass.-based Avid Technology Inc., has gone into global beta-testing for its Softimage/DS system, version 4.0, with the expectation that it will ship in the fall. Additionally, Softimage announced that Toonz version 4.4 software has started shipping. Toonz is 2-D cel animation software used by animators to create cartoons that retain the quality of hand drawings, while increasing productivity. The latest version extends the platform support to Linux and Windows 2000 operating systems, and offers a new plug-in called Scintillae, which promises to accelerate usability and efficiency.
•Montreal-based Reflex Systems, a developer of high-resolution human modeling, rendering and animation software products for the digital content creation market, unveiled the beta-version of its Reflex/ DRAMA software. The 3-D software package can be used for modeling, animating and rendering realistic human characters. It claims to offer a faster and easier way to develop, render and animate 3-D human models with an unprecedented degree of realism. While the company president/founder Jean Nicholson Prudent has been working on the software package for the past eight years, he only recently patented it, under the Reflex/DNA name. He said that he had met with the major feature film and animation studios while at SIGGRAPH to discuss how the software could be incorporated into their pipeline, and has set up meetings for a fall tour. While skin recreation still needs some work, Prudent explained that Reflex/DRAMA’s internal musculo-skeletal generation engine builds successive layers of graphical tissues—bone, cartilage, tendons and fat—from scratch. Prudent added that building from the "inside out" rather than from the traditional "outside-in" has considerably reduced the time frame for project completion. The product is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2001.
•Milpitas, Calif.-based Quantum has entered into several partnerships based on the use of the Atlas 10K 11 10,000 RPM high-end disk drive. The key partnership is with the San Rafael, Calif.-based Industrial Light+Magic (ILM), to build a high definition video server for use in the production of Star Wars, Episode II, currently being shot in HDTV format. ILM and Quantum first started talking at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in April, and within two months Quantum had developed a prototype for the disk storage system that would allow for easy integration with ILM’s in-house developed software and hardware for the capture, edit and playing in real time of 24-frames-per-second high resolution HDTV content. A system was built which allowed for the storage of 80 minutes of digital images.
•RAYZ—a cross-platform compositing tool developed by Hollywood-based Silicon Grail—was released at the show. Daniel Novy, technical director of Los Angeles-based Flash Film Works, cited RAYZ’s speed and the fact that it can be customized to the individual user. Additionally, Silicon Grail received a vote of confidence from the Entertainment Imaging Division of Eastman Kodak Company to incorporate specific Cineon software code into RAYZ.
•And Brian Keane, VP/CFO of Harrison, N.Y.-based Blue Sky Studios, said he had met with Compaq Computer Corporation while at SIGGRAPH to determine how the two companies could expand their relationship. Just prior to SIGGRAPH, Blue Sky announced that the two companies had signed a deal, which enables the studio to have 50 times its previous computing power. The new equipment dramatically reduces the wait times for finished frames of animation, allowing for the production of ray-traced, fully animated CGI features, which will be derived from 512 Compaq AlphaServer DS10L systems configured into 13 render walls. Keane did not rule out extending the relationship further via Compaq buying into the studio. "It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility. We make film; our goal is to make it as cost effective and high quality as possible. It is mutually beneficial that we have a long-term relationship," he stated.
