Alias|Wavefront, an SGI company, has announced that its Maya Complete software for Mac OS X is scheduled to ship on or before September 25, 2001. Beta tester and 3D artist, Kevin Baille, said, "All of us here at The Orphanage are ecstatic about the progress Alias|Wavefront has been making with the OS X implementation of Maya. Being a completely Mac-based visual effects and production studio, we are extremely impressed by how easily Maya for OS X fits into and enhances our existing production pipeline.

Toon Boom Technologies, a leading supplier of 2D animation software, announced the commercial release of Toon Boom Studio v1.0 for Mac and PC. Toon Boom Studio increases productivity for digital animators with improved drawing accuracy, an automatic lip-sync feature, 3D scene planning and compact Flash-compatible file rendering for greater scene complexity. The software package also incorporates the feel of traditional animation with a rotating light table, "X" sheet visual representation of the work and a "flip-book" feature.

Caligari Corporation, a provider of 3D authoring technologies, has announced that its 3D modeling and animation package trueSpace 5.1 now supports Macromedia Flash. This is in addition to Caligari's existing support for Macromedia Shockwave3D, Director8.5 and Viewpoint Experience Technology. Web developers can now convert their trueSpace5.1 objects (including NURBS) and scenes to Flash format, including all trueSpace geometry, materials, lights, views and even advanced animation techniques such as script animations, bones and key-frame animations.

Macromedia, Inc. has teamed with Intel Corporation to optimize the Macromedia Flash Player for the Intel XScale microarchitecture utilizing the Intel Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP). As a result of this partnership, users will be able to experience high quality MP3 audio when playing Macromedia Flash content on devices built using Intel applications processors. The optimized code will be available to device manufacturers for use with the Macromedia Flash Player Software Development Kit (SDK) later this year.

Alias|Wavefront has shipped StudioTools 9.7, the company's latest upgrade to its CAID (computer-aided industrial design) family. Through a new filleting tool, StudioTools speeds the process and adds modeling power for rounding edges between adjoining surfaces in the model. By combining this function with StudioTools advanced evaluation tools, such as reflection maps, curvature maps, draft angle evaluation and cross-sections, designers can interactively manipulate the fillet and evaluate results immediately.

Discreet has posted a downloadable update to version 4.2 for 3ds max. This update includes enhancements across the entire product that will ensure quality, workflow, performance and stability. Some of these enhancements include overall memory efficiency; performance increases in TrackView, TrackBar, Particles, RPF and ActiveShade; workflow enhancements in Skin, Custom Attributes, Render Elements, Subdivision Surfaces (HSDS, Meshsmooth), Parameter Wiring, Groups, ActiveShade and PolyObjects. The 3ds max update is downloadable from the Discreet Web site at www.discreet.com.

Corel Corporation has announced Bryce 5, the latest version of its 3D landscape creation and animation application. Available for the Macintosh and Windows platforms, the program, part of Corel’s creative collection, is scheduled for shipment in July 2001. Bryce 5 is Corel’s first application designed specifically for Apple’s new Mac OS X platform. Corel plans to release a number of products for the new operating system over the coming months.

Eovia has announced the release of Carrara Studio, a re-branded and souped up version of MetaCreations Carrara, a 3D graphics application for the Macintosh and Windows platform. Billed as the successor to Ray Dream Studio and Infini-D, the new program includes numerous bug fixes, as well as Amapi 3D v5, a complete NURBS modeler, Smart Pack, a set of 25 new plug-ins and Carrara QuickTour, an interactive tutorial.

A leading professor of orthodontics has announced the development of a process for animating a patient’s planned orthodontic treatment. The process, called 3-D CIMAS, three-dimensional craniofacial imaging and motion animation system, allows both the patient and clinician to see the exact propsed treatment and outcome before work is ever begun. The brainchild of Dr. Orhan C.

Animation software developer DigiCel, Inc. has released FlipBook SE (Standard Edition), a 2D animation software program. The program give animators the ability to scan or shoot their drawings under a camera, in addition to drawing them on the computer itself using the program’s built-in light table feature. As the drawings are captured, they are automatically positioned in a traditional style exposure and can be played back the moment capturing is completed. An editable exposure sheet lets animators experiment with timing changes while the scene is being played.