Discreet announced that Ultimate (Ultimate Video Int.), The Netherlands, has installed high-performance digital color correction and digital intermediate (DI) capabilities based on lustre, Discreet's award-winning, realtime color grading system.

Digital Anarchy announced the availability of Primatte Chromakeyer 2.0, a chromakey compositing plug-in for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Primatte allows users to use blue and greenscreen masking technology with Photoshop and digital still images to create complex layered effects.

Patricia Beckmann, chair of the animation department at Savannah College of Art and Design, has been named Education Chair for SIGGRAPH 2005. In addition, Matthew Munn, a second-year graduate student in animation from Calymont, Delaware, won the 10 Second Club monthly Character Animation Competition for the month of November 2003. This online international competition posts a 10-sec sound clip at the beginning of each month.

Brazilian magazine, SET, has posted an interview with THE LORD OF RINGS actor Sean Astin, where he mentions being in the running to direct the FANTASTIC FOUR feature. Upon the success of his short film, THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT, which he filmed while making LORD OF THE RINGS, he has had interviews to direct 20th Century Fox's feature adaptation of the Marvel comic classic. The article quotes the budget between $100 to $130 million.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival Presents the 6th Annual Digital Days, an interactive showcase and forum featuring screenings, presentations, seminars and classes to be held Feb. 7, 2004.