This week, Adobe has been teasing us with a taster of what's to come in their long-awaited upgrade to their compositing software After Effects. In order to compete with other packages on the market (namely Discreet combustion), Adobe has broken After Effects into two packages - a Standard version and a Production Bundle.

On March 6, 2001, U.K.-based Kelseus will release Version 1 of CLOTH, a new plug-in for 3D Studio MAX. CLOTH produces highly realistic animation of clothes on animated figures and objects, taking into account all of the cloth geometry that collides with another object - not just the vertices. It also boasts complete integration with Max Dynamic Effects such as the Wind and Gravity Space Warps, and it can maintain libraries of cloth materials, which can be re-used between scenes.

REALVIZ and Alias|Wavefront are now offering REALVIZ's award-winning ImageModeler to all new customers of Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited. ImageModeler provides computer graphics professionals with more intuitive and innovative image-based solutions to complex production challenges for the creation of graphics and visual effects for film, broadcast, game development and the Internet.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America has recently installed a 16 M-Series Camera (MCam) Real-Time Vicon 8 system in their 5,000-square-foot motion-capture studio. The system, which can capture the nuances of multiple actors simultaneously, will be used in the development of games for Sony's new PlayStation 2 system. "Vicon 8 motion-capture technology is a state-of-the-art hardware and software system with no equal in the industry," stated Jason Parks, motion-capture manager, Sony Computer Entertainment America.

The Web3D Consortium has announced the Rich Media 3D (RM3D) initiative, which is developing an open standard to enable rich media content containing 3D graphics, video and audio to be sent over the Internet and used in broadcast applications. RM3D is intended to enable an emerging category of media-capable Internet and broadcast devices and appliances to receive and present advanced content optimally while simplifying the media authoring process.

Alias|Wavefront is celebrating due to the fact that their award-winning 3D animation system Maya was used to create the top four selling December 2000 titles for the PlayStation 2. Research by PC Data Inc. shows Electronic Arts' MADDEN NFL 2001 leading the list of top-sellers with SSX: SNOWBOARD SUPERCROSS (EA) second, TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT (Namco) third, and NHL 2001 (EA) fourth. All of these titles were developed by companies using Maya for the creation of game graphics such as characters, environments and effects.

Digital Film Tools has released Composite Suite 1.5, a comprehensive set of special effects plug-ins for Avid Editing Systems and Adobe After Effects. Composite Suite includes 14 effects plug-ins that were until recently, only available in-house at Digital FilmWorks. It features selective color correction, matte generation, natural lighting effects, as well as specialized tools for combining imagery such as fire, smoke and explosions.

Screamline Rendering Services, provided by Intel's Internet Computing Services, is offering the 3D animation and visual effects community a special trial of their Web-based rendering services and project management software. Those wanting to take advantage of this free trial offer can download a copy of the JobAnalyst management tool from the Screamline Website. Then, at no cost, rendering projects can be uploaded and artists can enjoy free rendering services for the first 1000 frames of their work. Robert J.

Caligari has started shipping trueSpace5 - the long-awaited new version of their affordable and powerful 3D modeling and animation program. The new version adds features such as NURBS modeling, new lights and rendering tools, and output for the Web. Caligari has built upon trueSpace's distinctive "hands-on" user interface, optimizing it for use with the latest hardware (including the new Intel Pentium 4 processor), and adding new tools for easier manipulation of 3D objects.

Discreet has started shipping a new version of their real-time broadcasting graphics system frost. Along with other Discreet digital workflow solutions, frost has been used by eight major networks (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, CNNi, CNN Headline News, Fox News and ABC) for live-coverage graphics during the surprise developments in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election. Now, version 2.5 streamlines on-air graphics development and workflow even further.