In continuing to define a new collaborative design and production strategy with the Rockwell Group, IOMEDIA has produced a series of presentations combining 3D animation, interactive design and video production for the Starhill Shopping and Entertainment Center located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Vancouver Canada-based Global Mechanic has expanded its operations to the United States in order to serve its increased business in commercial, television production, and independent film work.

The International 3D Awards returns for its second year, with the ceremony to be held May 5, 2004 at the 3D Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. The 2nd annual International 3D Awards is now calling for entries.

Awards will be given in the following categories:
- Feature Film Visual Effects
- Animated Feature Film
- Television Visual Effects
- Commercials
- Music Videos
- Short Films
- Logos and Idents
- 3D Game of the Year
- Game Cinematics (non-interactive)
- Technological Innovation

nPower Software launches v. 2.0 of Power Solids and Power Translators for 3ds Max/ Viz. Power Solids 2.0 supports 3ds max 6 in an effort to enhance 3D modeling. Power Solids introduces a state of the art precise CAD geometric modeling kernel into 3ds max. It performs dynamic tessellation at render time to generate the most precise and efficient representation. Power Solids and Power Translators data is very well suited for export back to CAD systems through nPower's STEP, IGES, SAT, Rhino data translation.

Vfx artist and editor Jay Tilin has joined R!OT Manhattan. Tilin, employing both Quantel's Henry and Discreet Logic's Fire, is known for his award-winning spot work as well as his long-form and music video finishing.

Academy Award-winning director James Cameron will present the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Visual Effects Society (VES) to George Lucas at the 2004 VES Awards ceremony.

Cameron, acclaimed director of such visual effects powerhouses as TITANIC, ALIENS, THE ABYSS and the first two films of the TERMINATOR trilogy, will be a featured presenter at the second annual VES awards event which will be held at the Hollywood Palladium on Feb. 18, 2004.

LA SIGGRAPH Hosts Visual Effects of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
North Hollywood, California, USA
January 13, 2004

Andy Boyd is on board the Framestore CFC commercials team as senior technical director. Boyd joins the company after several highly successful years at Glassworks, where he worked on a broad variety of projects, from conventional CG character animations such as the Kit-E-Kat cat, through edgier avant-garde work for Chris Cunningham's Monitor-award winning MONKEY DRUMMER video, to more abstract work such as the extraordinary faux-microscopic life forms seen in the award-winning video for Bjork's NATURE IS ANCIENT.

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted to award Douglas Greenfield the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation. The medal will be presented during the Scientific and Technical Awards dinner at The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena on Feb. 14, 2004.

Greenfield will receive the Bonner Medal for his longstanding support of and service to the Academy and the motion picture industry.

Early bird registrations and pricing are now available online for 3D Festival 2004 (www.3dfestival.com), which will be held May 3-6 at Bella Center, Copenhagen. The festival features a noteworthy line up of showcases, master classes, workshops and speakers. Early Bird pricing is available through April 4.

An impressive list of speakers for the conference, organized by CGNetworks and Gnomon School of Visual Effects, has already been announced, with more to be confirmed before the event in May. These include:

- Alex Alvarez, Gnomon School of Visual Effects