Side Effects Software has released Houdini 5, the newest version of the company’s 3D animation and visual effects software and Houdini Select, a lesser-priced selection of the same tools. In conjunction with the launch, Side Effects Software has also made available a free non-commercial, 4-month license of Houdini Select to be offered to individuals attending the launch events. Side Effects Software will be hosting Houdini launch events in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and London featuring guest presenters from effects studios Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues.

Electric Rain, Inc. has released a special edition of their Swift 3D plug-in line, which includes Swift 3D MAX and Swift 3D LW. This special edition offers an additional rendering format allowing users of Discreet 3ds max and NewTek LightWave 3D to export their scenes to a format that imports natively into USAnimation.

Toon Boom Technologies Inc. has released the Toon Boom Studio Importer (TBSi) for Macromedia Flash MX. TBSi provides integration between Toon Boom Studio and Macromedia Flash MX, resulting in a streamlined workflow for adding interactivity to professional quality 2D animations. And what is this Flash MX you ask? Read on.



Eric Oldrin reviews a new way to create animation for the Web. Toon Boom Studio brings USAnimation's expertise to vector-based animation.

First Alias|Wavefront offers their Maya graphics software for free and now, not to be outdone, Softimage has announced the availability of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI Experience. This free two-CD pack includes the full feature set of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.2.0 Advanced system, the complete searchable SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.2.0 Online Documentation Library and a comprehensive video-based training module. The SOFTIMAGE|XSI Experience CD gives unlimited, free access to the company's nonlinear animation system and tools and is available to order from www.softimage.com/experience.

Macromedia has unveiled Flash MX, the latest version of its Macromedia Flash development environment. Available March 15, 2002, this upgrade to Flash 5 has over 45 new and enhanced features including new graphic design, pre-built components and templates, a customizable ActionScript editor, timeline enhancements and video support. The integration of video support in Flash MX and Macromedia Flash Player 6 uses the Sorenson Spark codec, which enables designers and developers to deliver compressed video as part of Macromedia Flash content and applications.

Adobe Systems LiveMotion 2.0 software, the company's professional Web graphics and Flash (SWF) animation tool is now available. It debuted at the MacWorld Conference earlier this year. The new version provides expanded content creation features, improved integration with Adobe's Web and dynamic media tools, and new scripting capabilities.

Di-O-Matic's new facial modeling and animation tool Facial Studio for 3ds max 4.x is now shipping. With a regular price tag of US$699, Facial Studio is now available at the introductory price of US$499 until March 25, 2002. Facial Studio is a suite of plug-ins featuring more than 500 controls over the head creation process, allowing the user to deform anything from the facial features to the overall head shape including teeth and tongue, as well as controlling the shading, textures, wrinkles, deformations and muscle animation.

NewTek’s Video Toaster 2, a Windows 2000-based live video production environment, is now available. The Video Toaster 2 includes a real-time nonlinear editor, live Web streaming, character generation, 2D painting and compositing, 3D animation and effects, real-time keying, video and audio processing, and a full range of production tools in an integrated package. It retails for US$2995 with a switcher expansion module available for US$1995. The upgrade from Video Toaster 1 is US$495. For more information about the Video Toaster 2’s capabilities, visit www.newtek.com.

San Francisco-based interactive 3D media provider Pulse has incorporated the ProductionSync and InstantSync technologies from Automatic Sync Technologies into their Pulse Animation Studio v. 5.03. ProductionSync is used in the Pulse Creator module as an off-line animation tool. Speech is converted into animation as a production step that an animator can then enhance with expressions, gestures and behaviors. InstantSync is used in the Pulse Player to animate a face in real-time in response to the speech, which can either be downloaded or streamed to the player via streaming audio.

Alias|Wavefront has made a personal-use, non-commercial version of its award-winning Maya software available free to users of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Maya Personal Learning Edition 3D animation software can now be downloaded from the Alias|Wavefront Website. Maya Personal Learning Edition gives 3D graphics and animation students, current industry professionals, and those interested in breaking into the world of computer graphics an opportunity to explore Maya Complete software in a non-commercial capacity.