REALVIZ S.A. has announced the availability of its MatchMover softwaresolution for animation and special effects professionals on Microsoft,Windows, NT and GI IRIX platforms. Using MatchMover, computer-generated 3Dimages can be easily integrated with video or film to create SimulatedReality. Using computed 3D coordinates and geometric constraints,MatchMover transforms original live-action footage into an accurate 3Dspace. The transformed 3D live-action space can be precisely matched to 3Danimated scenes and new virtual 3D objects can be created or imported intothe space to compose a scene. By capturing 3D points from this scene andexporting them to animation software, mattes can be accurately constructedfor occlusions. Using MatchMover, virtual 3D objects can be easily insertedinto live-action footage at the proper scale, position and orientation. Inaddition, MatchMover captures 3D coordinates of moving real objects fromthe original footage. Using these dynamic coordinates, computer-generated3D objects can be attached and synchronized with moving real objects in theoriginal live-action footage to create special effects. With its fast,accurate tracking features and robust editing features, MatchMover enablesanimation and special effects personnel to create image sequences of mixedlive-action footage and computer-generated 3D animation. MatchMover can beinstalled for an initial investment of $200 for the Windows NT platform and$350 for the IRIX platform. Export keys can be purchased at $1,000 each or$5,000 in packages of ten - Full Use Licenses may also be purchased for$10,000. The Full Use License provides unlimited export of projects toanimation software. MatchMover fits into current production andpost-production software environments and workflows, as projects can bedirectly exported to commonly-used animation software including 3D StudioMax, SOFTIMAGE|3D, Maya and LightWave 3D.
