If you've heard rumors that the San Antonio Convention Center has been washed away by pesky flooding, pay no heed! While the record rainfall has caused flooding in the San Antonio area, downtown San Antonio where SIGGRAPH 2002 will be held 21-26 July has been unaffected. SIGGRAPH 2002 attendees and exhibitors will be able to enjoy their usual SIGGRAPH activities. To see a current picture of the riverwalk and the convention center go to the SIGGRAPH Website.

Phoenix Tools and Areté
Entertainment recently released Psunami 1.0, a plug-in for
Softimage|XSI v. 2.X that allows photo-realistic animation of wave
surfaces including all the tools for simulating and visualizing a
variety of water surfaces. The company is currently in an advanced
development phase of its volumetric cloud/smoke effect Psyclone for
Softimage|XSI. By adding Psyclone to Softimage|XSI, the user can
create evolving cloud/smoke simulations, including fly-through and

Digital content creation systems provider BOXX
Technologies is now featuring the AMD Athlon MP processor 2100+ with
QuantiSpeed architecture and Smart MP technology in its 3DBOXX R1
series of workstations and the RenderBOXX R series of rendering
systems. Available in dual processor configurations running Microsoft
Windows 2000 or Linux, the 3DBOXX R series includes enhanced system
architecture and accelerated graphics capabilities, and utilizes the
new NVIDIA Quadro4 XGL graphics adapters with NVIEW multidisplay

A Web-slinging superhero, fire-breathing dragons and bite-sized chocolate with a hard candy shell.
What do these things have in common? They were all created using
Houdini 3D animation software. Side Effects Software, developer of
the Houdini family of software, will be presenting visual effects
artists from Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPIDER-MAN), Walt Disney
Feature Animation (REIGN OF FIRE) and Rhinoceros Visual Effects
(commercials for M&M's) at its annual Houdini meeting in San Antonio,

Vinton Studios has created a computer animated short that will screen at the opening of the SIGGRAPH 2002 Animation Theater. WASHED UP stars a scruffy looking beach bum who is shown getting spruced up for his trip to Texas for SIGGRAPH 2002. He puts on his cowboy hat and boots, and even a Texas star embossed pocket protector. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that he is actually stranded on a desert island and in his haste has forgotten the most important part of his outfit -- his pants.

ACM SIGGRAPH has announced the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival's Best Animated Short and Jury Award winners for SIGGRAPH 2002. The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival showcases films documenting significant advances in technology, interactive techniques and the creative potential of computer graphics. The two award winners were selected from 640 entries. Poland's Tomek Baginski won the Best Animated Short award for THE CATHEDRAL, based on Jacek Dukaj's novel of the same name.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:

"Small Shop, Big Punch" is the theme of the February 12 meeting of the Los Angeles Chapter of SIGGRAPH. Featuring artists from several southern California-based boutique effects houses, the meeting aims to explore the rise of boutique CGI houses and how they manage to work alongside industry giants on blockbuster feature film and commercial effects projects. The event is co-sponsored by Side Effects Software and the Art Institute of Los Angeles and will take place on February 12, 2002 at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the Leonard H.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include: Animation Dreams VII: Awake to an Exhibition: Monday, February 04 - Wednesday, February 13, 2002, New York, New York USA . . . Creative Career Symposium 4: Saturday, February 09, 2002, Portland, Oregon USA . . . LA SIGGRAPH Presents: Small Shops, Big Punch: Tuesday, February 12, 2002, North Hollywood, California USA . . . An Evening with PIXAR: The Making of Monsters, Inc.: Monday, February 25, 2002, San Francisco, California USA . . .

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include: Third Annual Scandinavian Film Festival: Friday, February 01 - Sunday, February 03, 2002, Beverly Hills, California USA . . . Tom Yakutis Services and Wake: Wednesday, February 06, 2002, Los Angeles, CA USA . . . Portland SIGGRAPH Organizational Meeting: Wednesday, February 06, 2002, Portland, Oregon USA . . . Toy Manufacturers of America International Toy Fair: Sunday, February 10 - Thursday, February 14, 2002, New York, New York USA . . .