Press Release from StudioGPU

LOS ANGELES -- StudioGPU announced today that MachStudio Pro, a professional 3D-workflow and rendering package created by artists for artists, now offers free exporters for Google SketchUp Pro and McNeel Rhino 3D modeling and animation software. With these new exporters, 3D assets from SketchUp Pro 7 and Rhino 4 can easily be transferred into MachStudio Pro, where users can create and manipulate lights, materials and HDR cameras in a real-time non-linear environment to achieve cinematic-quality results.

Press Release from Shotgun Software and Tweak Software

Press Release from Autodesk

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., July 23, 2009 - At SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans, Autodesk will showcase its latest Digital Entertainment Creation solutions and demonstrate how studios can make the creative process a more interactive, collaborative and efficient experience. The company will host a number of live events including Tech Talks and presentations on new and upcoming projects, such as "9" and "Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning."

Go behind the scenes of Zack Snyder's WATCHMEN as part of the extended Computer Animation Festival panel discussions at SIGGRAPH. The adaptation of the legendary graphic novel is a diverse CG marvel to behold, building layer upon layer of riveting pop cultural info. The panel explores the making of Dr. Manhattan, the all-powerful, all-CG blue man, the inkblot-stained mask of Rorschach, the 3D environments and CG Owlship and the CG enhancements for the bravura opening title sequence, which intricately sets up the history of the masked superheroes.

Press Release from e-on software

e-on software, the leader in Digital Nature solutions today announced it will be showcasing key new features of its upcoming Vue 8 professional solutions (scheduled for release later this year) in New Orleans, during the SIGGRAPH show, August 3-7, 2009, at booth 2909.

Vue 8: Digital Nature

Vue is the premiere solution for creating, animating, and rendering natural 3D environments, providing:
-- Unrivaled Natural Scenery Creation
-- Precise Artistic Control
-- Leading Edge Performance

At SIGGRAPH this year, an added focus will highlight music and audio in their significant relationship with computer graphics and interactive techniques.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE opened with a record five-day domestic gross of $158 million, and we have in-depth coverage of the impressive vfx, which has taken a decidedly naturalistic turn, thanks to director David Yates. We provide an overview in Part 1 with Tim Burke, the overall vfx supervisor, and the diverse work supplied by Double Negative, MPC and Rising Sun Pictures. In Part 2, we explore ILM's great fire and water simulation along with the eerie Inferi character animation.

Press Release from MAXON Computer

Newbury Park, CA -- July 21, 2009, MAXON Computer, a leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, today announced that two of its customers, Nucleus Medical Art, and artist Betsy Kopmar, have created projects using MAXON software that have been selected for inclusion in SIGGRAPH's prestigious 'Computer Animation Festival', taking place during the SIGGRAPH 2009 Conference, August 3 - 7, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

Press Release from Vicon

Vicon, developer of motion capture and image understanding systems, for the entertainment, life science and defense industries, has today announced that it will be showcasing a pre-release version of its eagerly awaited boujou 5 at the SIGGRAPH conference this August in New Orleans, LA. boujou is the industry leading camera matchmoving software allowing 3D professionals to automatically derive complex camera motion and calibration data from image sequences.

Press Release from Intel

Mass Animation, Sony Pictures and Intel Corporation today announced that the ground-breaking animated short film "Live Music," a worldwide collaboration by animators using a unique application built on the Facebook Platform, will be attached to TriStar Pictures' animated feature "Planet 51," scheduled for a Nov. 20 wide theatrical release in North America.