Motion capture systems developer Vicon has shipped their latest, most powerful mo-cap camera MCam2. With 1.3 million pixels and frame rates of up to 1000 frames per second, MCam2 builds on the success of MCam, the motion-capture industry's first million-pixel camera. More than 1500 MCams have been installed by Vicon users such as ILM, Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) and House of Moves.

Graphics studio and publisher Marlin Studios released PEOPLE N MOTION, two new libraries in its series of texture libraries created for use by 2D and 3D graphics artists. The texture maps can be used in any 3D program that makes use of animated textures, and can be composited onto backgrounds in 2D programs. No special software is required beyond the user's particular 2D or 3D program. Each PEOPLE N MOTION library has a set of sequential animation files that allows the graphics user to create the illusion of moving or standing people.

Adobe Photoshop 7.0, the latest version of Adobe's image-editing software, is now available. Major enhancements to the new version include the File Browser, an image organization tool that allows users to browse image thumbnails, quickly rotate, sort, rank and batch rename images as well as view EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) information from digital cameras. The new Healing Brush feature simplifies the photo retouching process by allowing users to remove flaws while preserving the shading, lighting and texture of the original image.

Rhythm & Hues has made its first investment in motion capture technology -- a dedicated facial capture system from Vicon. Rhythm & Hues plans to use a multiple camera Vicon configuration to develop a facial capture pipeline that will support the creation and animation of CG characters for forthcoming projects. "We have already installed and used our new Vicon system for full-body capture tests with very good results," said Rhythm & Hues visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer.

Digital Production Management (DPM) systems provider NXN Software has begun shipping an upgrade to the NXN alienbrain plug-in for the Softimage|XSI v.2.0 nonlinear animation system (NLA). Using the advanced NetView technology of the XSI system, users can access many of the asset and workflow management features found in NXN alienbrain 5.0 directly from a pop-up window in the Softimage|XSI interface. This will enable users to access, edit, rollback and version control their scenes, textures and animations using NXN alienbrain's secure client/server environment.

Adobe Systems has announced a new Plug-In Power Pack for Adobe After Effects 5.5 incorporating 16 new effects and Advanced Windows Media support. The After Effects 5.5 Plug-In Power Pack works with Adobe After Effects 5.5 software to produce motion graphics and visual effects for film, video, multimedia and the Web. The new Windows Media output module offers a comprehensive set of controls to create Windows Media streaming video content. Users can customize settings, embed metadata, create multi-stream movies and independently optimize audio and video.

At the 2002 NAB show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Discreet announced details of inferno 5, flame 8 and flint 8, the most powerful versions of the company's visual effects software to date. Offering enhanced feature sets, such as mixed resolution support, extended editing capabilities and support for background rendering on Linux, the new releases will also support the FBX file format from Kaydara, creating improved integration of 2D and 3D workflow and extending the 3D model support across different vendors writing with this industry standard.

At the 2002 NAB show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Discreet announced plasma -- its professional 3D animation software for creating 3D content for Web interface, graphics and interactive 3D. Discreet's plasma software will provide a 3D-animation toolset to create imagery for both Macromedia Flash Player and Shockwave Player. plasma has integration with all versions of Macromedia Flash including the recently released Macromedia Flash MX and Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio.

Pixar Animation Studios has announced it will release RenderMan Release 11 with support for ray tracing, global illumination and deep shadows. These new features, combined with significant performance gains, represent a major enhancement to the 3D rendering system.

Effective April 4, 2002 worldwide, Alias|Wavefront will drastically reduce the standard list prices of its Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited 3D animation software packages. Maya Complete, formerly priced at US$7,500, will sell for US$1,999 and Maya Unlimited, which formerly sold for US$16,000, will be priced at US$6,999 (list prices for node-locked licenses). Maya is well known for its use in the film, commercial and games industries by companies including Blue Sky Studios, ILM, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Weta Ltd.