Sausalito, California-based Puffin Designs has announced Commotion DV, a
professional image editing and effects program for digital video artists.
Commotion DV is ideal for creating original stylized motion graphics and
fixing image problems such as video dropouts. The SuperClone brush allows
users to move and duplicate objects such as mountains, trees or clouds to
create just the right background; fill in crowd scenes; or remove visual
distractions such as power lines or a wayward microphone. Playback controls

A.D.V. Films is releasing the following anime titles in the US. On November
9: MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO VOLUME 1 - INVASION! - An unorthodox crew
fights to save Earth from annihilation by Martians; COMPILER 2 - It's
Compiler versus Compiler in deadly showdown!; and ORIGINAL DIRTY PAIR
VOLUME 4 - Kei and Yuri stumble upon a child who is the sole survivor of a
mass murder committed over twenty years ago. November 23: BUBBLEGUM CRISIS
VOLUME 2 - TRIAL BY FIRE - Sylia's brother Mackey joins the team as the

San Jose, California-based Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced Adobe After Effects 4.1. After Effects is a tool for motion graphics designers and visual effects artists working with film, video, multimedia and the Web. Among the new features are: support for enhanced media exchange, performance enhancements, workflow refinements, and extended creative options and control. Adobe After Effects 4.1 will be available in September 1999 in the US and Canada for an estimated street price of US$699 for the standard version and US$1,499 for the production bundle.

New York-based studioNEXT.com Corporation and Voyager Entertainment, Inc.
have announced a partnership to bring the Japanese television series, STAR
BLAZERS, to the Internet. The series first appeared on US television in
1979, and lasted for three seasons. The story of STAR BLAZERS is about a
group of heroic voyagers who, in order to save Earth from invasion, journey
on the starship Argo to battle the diabolical forces of Gamilon, the evil
stellar empire. "There has been further interest to bring back STAR BLAZERS

Santa Barbara, California-based SANTA BARBARA STUDIOS, a visual effects
company that produces CGI for motion picture, commercial, television and
special venue markets, has hired PETE TRAVERS as CGI supervisor and VIVIEN
MINTON as sales and marketing manager. Travers is returning to the studio
where he previously worked on AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS, after which he
left to form his own company, ShadowCaster, through which he worked as
computer graphics supervisor for Oscar winner WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Minton

San Francisco, California-based Macromedia, Inc. has announced Macromedia Flash
Writer, a free downloadable plug-in for Adobe Illustrator, which will
enable Illustrator users to save their artwork natively to the Flash Player
file format (SWF). Illustrator users will now be able to deploy their
artwork to the Web immediately without having to reformat it as a bitmapped
file. Flash is the industry standard for high-impact, vector-based Web
sites that deliver motion, sound, interactivity and graphics. Flash Writer

San Francisco, California-based Macromedia, Inc. has announced that its
Flash Player, which enables internet browsers to play web animations, will
be available free on September 1, 1999 for Linux, Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s
Solaris, and Silicon Graphics Inc.'s Irix platforms. Flash is the standard
for creating high-impact, vector-based Web sites that deliver motion,
sound, interactivity, and graphics. Flash Player versions for UNIX will be
available for download at no charge from the Macromedia Web site.

Computer graphics industry leader PDI (Pacific Data Images) will participate in a variety of presentations at SIGGRAPH 99. They include the following:


- PDI Co-founder and Chairman Carl Rosendahl is featured in the new
ACM SIGGRAPH produced feature-length documentary, THE STORY OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS. The documentary "chronicles the history of the industry, its impact on society, and the excitement of future possibilities."


- Electronic Theatre: For the fourth consecutive year, PDI is proud to

Actor Leonard Nimoy, who has gained worldwide recognition portraying the legendary character Mr. Spock in the science fiction juggernaut "Star Trek," narrates the new feature length documentary film "The Story of Computer Graphics."


"The Story of Computer Graphics" which premiered Sunday, August 8th at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, will also be shown during SIGGRAPH 99 in Room 501 of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Screening times are: 9-12 August at 9 am, 10:45 am, 12:30 pm, 2:15 pm and 4 pm; and 13 August at 9 am, 10:45 am and 12:30 pm.

The Visual Communication Design department of Austin Community College offers a work intensive program in the areas of Graphic Design and Multimedia production. The two year Associate of Applied Science degree includes classes in Computer Production Art, Typographic Design, Illustrative Techniques, Graphic Design and Basic Drawing. The Applied Multimedia Technology certificate offers extensive training in 2D and 3D Computer Animation, Motion Graphics, World Wide Web Design, Multimedia Authoring, Interface Design and Photoshop Techniques.

This list of upcoming home entertainment releases includes some new titles,
but most of them are new only to DVD. Disney has just re-released ROBIN
HOOD and ALICE IN WONDERLAND; their live-action RETURN TO OZ, which
includes some stop-motion by Will Vinton Studios, will be released on DVD
and VHS on August 10. Touchstone's WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? will be
released on DVD on September 28. Warner Bros. has just released 1999's
animated THE KING AND I on both VHS and DVD; WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE

A.D.V. Films is releasing the following titles in the US. CITY HUNTER: BAY
CITY WARS, and SORCERER HUNTERS VOLUME 5 - FORBIDDEN DESIRES, are being
released on October 12, while SAKURA WARS 2, SAKURA WARS DVD, and VARIABLE
GEO, are being released on October 26. All of these titles will be released
in both English dubbed and Japanese with English subtitles. A.D.V.'s
Softcel division, which specializes in titles with nudity, sex, and adult
situations, is releasing CAN CAN BUNNY and COUNTDOWN: AKIRA on September

Taking advantage of the buzz around the upcoming release of the English
version of PRINCESS MONONOKE directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which is due to be
released on October 29, 1999, Stone Bridge Press and Miramax Press are both
releasing tie-in books. Stone Bridge Press is publishing HAYAO MIYAZAKI:
MASTER OF JAPANESE ANIMATION by Helen McCarthy. The book mixes film-by-film
summaries with insider interviews and discussions of art, plot, production
qualities, and themes. It is a 216 page, 7x9" paperback with more than 70

Affiliated with the World Science Fiction Convention, the North American
Science Fiction Convention which takes place in Anaheim, California, August
26 - 29, 1999, is held whenever the WSFC is outside of North America (as it
is this year in Australia). The convention includes hundreds of authors,
artists, and filmmakers as speakers; an art show; a dealers room; films;
costume competition; dances; parties and more. The film competition accepts
entries in 16mm and VHS (NTSC only), to be judged by a panel of working TV

Houston, Texas-based ADV Films is releasing GALAXY FRAULEIN YUNA RETURNS on
July 13 and QUEEN EMERALDAS on July 27 in the US. Both ADV Films titles
will be available in subtitled and dubbed versions. For more information
visit www.advfilms.com. New York City-based Central Park Media is releasing
RECORD OF LODOSS WAR: CHRONICLES OF THE HEROIC KNIGHT - A NEW LEGEND
BEGINS, MIDNIGHT PANTHER: GENERAL RELEASE VERSION, and THE SLAYERS NEXT:
THE FORBIDDEN DANCE? on August 8 in the US, and RECORD OF LODOSS WAR:

The second part of UCLA's tribute to Japanese anime takes place May 8 -
June 1, 1999. (The first part of the series, titled MAGICAL BOYS & GIRLS,
took place in January 1999 and was devoted to children's animation.) The
tribute includes the following programs:


THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1999 - 7:30 PM

PRAISE BE TO SMALL ILLS (NAMU ICHIBYO SOKUSAI) (1973, 35mm, 18 min.)
Directed by Tadanari Okamoto. In Japanese with English subtitles.

THE DEMON (ONI)(1972, 35 mm, 8 min.) Directed by Kihachiro Kawamoto. In

This issue #40 is Animato!'s special 15th Anniversary issue with 144 bound
pages. Featured articles include: Gerry Anderson, The McKimson Brothers,
Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Jay Ward Voices, Flip the Frog, Bartlett,
Rose, Quakenbush, Fogel, Simensky, Tartakovsky, McCracken, Mulan, a huge
Anime section and more. There's just too much to list everything! Order
your copy in AWN's Newsstand, where you can subscribe to your favorite
animation publications directly from the Internet 24 hours a day! Already

The School of Visual Arts in New York City will offer a course for credit on "Japanese Animation: History and Style" as part of its Continuing Education program. Instructor Brian Camp, author of several articles about anime, will focus on the recent history and stylistic development of anime, from the pioneering work of Osamu Tezuka in the '60s, to the epic space sagas of the '70s, to the visionary achievements of a host of innovative animators in the '80s and '90s.

BOO WONG has been promoted to head the CGI Department at
Curious Pictures, the bi-coastal, live-action, graphics, special effects
and animation studio, it was announced today by Executive Producer/Head of
Production Richard Winkler. Wong, 33, succeeds Tammy Walters, who recently
left the company to pursue a career as a producer. In her new post, Wong
will be responsible for the overall operation of the CGI department
including scheduling, media flow, resource management, evaluation and

Encore Media Group's five-year-old Action Channel has established a new late-night Saturday programming block devoted to adult Japanese animation called Anime. Encore has acquired ten Japanese animation titles, and will launch the show with anime distributor A.D. Vision's TEKKEN: THE MOTION PICTURE on April 3. In addition to TEKKEN, five additional titles are from A.D. Vision: BATTLE ANGEL, BLOOD REIGN: CURSE OF YOMA, GSC GUNSMITH CATS, SOL BIANCA and the cult series BLUE SEED.