Instant Effects announced the company's first product, OfficeFX, which will become available later this month from www.instanteffects.com for $149.95. A seamless addition to the popular presentation software package, Microsoft PowerPoint, OfficeFX allows users to deliver effective presentations with the tool they already know. Instant Effects is also proud to announce that a trial version of OfficeFX will ship with all desktop products from ATI Technologies Inc., a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative visual processor solutions.

NewTek Inc. announced the release of the first update for VT[3], the company's integrated production suite for live and post production and editing. The update is free to registered owners of VT[3], and includes enhancements to DV support and DVD authoring program support, enhanced integration with Adobe After Effects, and integration with Discreet's forthcoming combustion 3.

Crowd!, a behavioral animation system built on a realtime engine called Neuro!Machine, will be released to the general consumer in November by Vital Idea. Retailing for $9,995, Crowd! 1.0 Suite -- Windows may be pre-ordered at http://store.vitalidea.com. With Crowd! digital artists can integrate SynThespians into shots.

Sonic Solutions has released Sonic PrimeTime Deluxe, the premium version of the PrimeTime line of DVD creation software, for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Launched in conjunction with Microsoft's release of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, PrimeTime Deluxe expands upon the Media Center experience by making it easy to archive personal digital media such as recorded TV shows onto DVDs that can be played on set-top DVD players and multimedia PCs.

Kaydara has included NXN alienbrain asset management functionality to MOTIONBUILDER 5 Professional Edition, the latest version of its powerful realtime 3D character animation software that is currently shipping. The integrated support of NXN alienbrain allows MOTIONBUILDER 5 users to operate in a secure, version-controlled environment without having to leave their application.

e-on software, the developer of award-winning 3D natural scenery products, has released Vue 4 Professional for MacOS X and Windows, the newest addition to its line of products for professional 3D designers and digital video production houses.

Boris Red 3GL, an ideal solution for editors that require broadcast-quality features for titling, effects, compositing and 3D directly inside their nonlinear editing system, began shipping Sept. 17, 2003. With more than 40 dynamic new filters, enhanced tools and innovative technologies, Red 3GL offers OpenGL in an expanded compositing and effects environment to maximize creative potential.

Discreet has announced it is collaborating with Eastman Kodak Co. to bring Kodak's expertise in film color science and color management to emerging digital intermediate and film workflow solutions.

ResPower Inc. has announced the free beta release of the ResPower Uploader Plugin for Discreet’s 3ds max and Alias’ Maya. This allows users to upload their 3D source files to ResPower's render farm directly from 3ds max or Maya without using FTP software.

Pinnacle Systems Inc. announced a new product aimed to help consumers enjoy their PC-based music, photos and video on the television in their living room. Pinnacle ShowCenter is a set-top device that connects to wireless and wired home local area networks (LAN) and enables streaming of multimedia files from any PC on the network to any television or home entertainment system in the house.

Spiral Graphics announced the release of its anticipated Genetica seamless texture maker. Genetica, the industry's first node-based texture maker to specialize in the generation of seamless textures, intends to dramatically improve the productivity of game designers, 3D artists and others.

Discreet will begin shipping combustion 3, the latest version of its award-winning visual effects and 3D compositing desktop software, in fall 2003 for Windows XP and Windows 2000 and early 2004 for Macintosh OS X. Suggested price for combustion 3 software is $995. Upgrade price from combustion 2 or combustion 2.1 will be $199.

As part of its incremental free upgrade program, MAXON Computer is offering CINEMA 4D release 8.2 and BodyPaint 3D release 1.1.

Greenworks’ Xfrog organic modeling system has been rewritten from scratch for the release of Xfrog 4. With the new version, all parameters in Xfrog 4 can be animated and combined with the objects in MAXON's CINEMA 4D, allowing artists to create trees or other plants, which grow and follow the sun as well as leaves and branches, which move in the wind. Additionally CINEMA 4D XPresso diagrams can be combined with Xfrog to create photoreal parameter-driven organic effects.

HP has announced the HP Workstation zx2000 now includes the new low-voltage Intel Itanium 2 1.0-gigahertz processor with 1.5 megabyte L3 memory cache. The enhanced workstation provides up to a 10% increase in application performance. In addition, HP plans to introduce entry-level servers with the new low-voltage Intel Itanium processor in early 2004.

Strata, the trail-blazing company dedicated to adding a creative new dimension to the designers toolset, plans to publish ANGELMAN, a children's book completely illustrated using Strata 3Dpro. French artist Matthieu Roussel once worked in traditional materials – until he discovered Strata.

ANGELMAN concerns a retired superhero who longs to take to the skies again – and the young boy who discovers and inspires him. Like Mr. Angel, Roussel also found his wings, but in the form of 3D graphics software from Strata.

NXN Software has joined Intel's Developer Dispatch Program. Under the terms of the deal, NXN will provide a special trial version of its NXN alienbrain Engineer configuration management system to all participating developers. As part of the program, NXN will also present its offering for software developers at Intel's ECTS booth 1240.

Bauhaus Software Inc. has announced the launch of its flagship product, Mirage, a unified environment for creating animated graphics and special effects. Mirage seamlessly integrates realtime video paint, animation and effects functionalities into a single product. Designed for projects of any resolution, ranging from HDTV and film to web video, Mirage provides a common sense, powerful alternative to expensive proprietary solutions and complex software workflows. Mirage is based on technology formerly distributed as NewTek's Aura Video Paint.

Electric Rain Inc. has launched Swift 3D version 3.0 for Mac OS X. Swift 3D is a standalone application for designers to build and export 3D animations to the Macromedia Flash (SWF) file format, as well as other major vector and raster formats.

"Electric Rain is proud to broaden its support for the Mac community by making Swift 3D available for Mac OS X," said Electric Rain president Mike Soucie. "Swift 3D is a powerful 3D authoring tool that becomes even more compelling when paired with Mac OS X and its advanced capabilities."

Automatic Duck Inc., a software company providing workflow solutions to digital media artists, has released Automatic Duck Pro Import 2.0. Available for both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, this new translator offers all of the functionality of the company's Automatic Composition Import (ACI), ACI DV and ACI FCP software products for Avid editing systems, Final Cut Pro 3.0, After Effects and Boris RED, with additional features that significantly extend the power and interoperability of these editing and graphics effects applications.