Cambridge Animation Systems has released Animo 4.0 software for the Mac OS X allowing Mac OS X users to have the same functionality as users running on the Windows operating system. The Animo software package integrates 2D and 3D animation and is used for feature films, animated television series, commercials, games and multimedia development.

After the successful launch of Maya Builder, Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited for Linux in March 2001, Alias|Wavefront has now made Maya 4 for Linux available. Senior Maya product manager Chris Ford said, "Interest in Linux continues to grow, especially among customers with large Maya installations, and this much requested new version comes in response to a huge number of inquiries.

Anzovin Studio's beta of The Setup Machine, a software tool devoted exclusively to rigging a 3D character is now available for Windows and Macintosh. The Setup Machine is a 3D animation application that installs a high-quality animation rig -- the skeleton that allows control of a 3D character -- into any humanoid model created in Hash Inc.'s Animation:Master software. "A well-rigged character with efficient and accurate skeletal control systems is essential for successful 3D animation," said Steve Anzovin, co-founder of Anzovin Studio.

Black Belt Systems announced the release of WinImages R6 - a major new upgrade to their effects and image-processing suite. The new release boasts a complete overhaul of the "layering" system often found in image editing packages such as PhotoShop. Black Belt have added a broad range of new layer tools including a new "warp layer mode," which allows users to incorporate image distortions (such as ripples) in separate "warp layers" so that the actual pixel data in the layered image is never changed. This means that distortions can be stacked and slid around with instant results.

3D software provider Alias|Wavefront plans to assemble 3D artists from the film, video, game development, Web design, visualization and industrial design sectors in seven separate host cities around the world on December 3, 2001. The 3December event is an annual celebration designed to build a community amongst computer graphics professionals and those with an interest in learning from the industry's top talent and seeing the latest technological advancements. This year the free of charge event will take place in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, London, Tokyo and Seoul.

Exluna is currently beta testing Entropy 3.1, the first major upgrade for Exluna's groundbreaking new rendering system. The release, available in January 2002, will include a number of improvements such as a plug-in that integrates Entropy directly with Discreet's 3ds max and 3D Studio VIZ software, allowing advanced programmable shading and lighting, in addition to 3ds max network rendering.

Pepper's Ghost Productions (PGP) has inked an agreement with Cambridge Animation Systems whereby Cambridge will be the exclusive worldwide distributor for PGP's production management software tool, PG Studio. PG Studio was developed by PGP to manage all facets of production for its 3D CGI properties. The software was an integral part of the award-winning television series, TINY PLANETS, which was co-produced with Sesame Workshop, and is already on air in Australia, sold to territories throughout the world, and with a U.K. version to be seen on CiTV in the spring of 2002.

Digital content creator BOXX Technologies has announced the release of Juggler, a powerful, easy to use network render management solution supporting Alias|Wavefront's Maya on Windows 2000 or Linux. To help promote Juggler to animators and creative professionals, BOXX is offering a free, fully functional two-node evaluation version for download from the BOXX Website at www.boxxtech.com. Juggler is optimized to high performance and ideally suited for RenderBOXX, BOXX's suite of rendering systems, which utilize the newest AMD and Intel processors.

Toon Boom Technologies has released the LightTable module upgrade, which is compatible with USAnimation V5 and runs on Windows 2000. The LightTable module allows animators to work remotely and send their drawings electronically to their partner studio anywhere in the world. With the LightTable module, animators can hand-draw animation with a pressure-sensitive pen and graphic tablet based on the classical light table approach and use these vector drawings with all of the other USAnimation modules.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Team Soho has been hard at work creating THE GETAWAY, a highly anticipated game for Sony's Playstation 2 console. In THE GETAWAY the player takes on the role of Mark Hammond, a retired bank robber who is forced back into the world he left to save his son from an evil mobster. To animate the game’s characters, Team Soho used five motion-capture performers at once, in real-time. Each motion-capture performer wore an Ascension CyberSuit outfitted with 11 sensors and had a separate backpack and receiving base station.