Ascension Technology has announced the addition of the X-IST FaceTracker to their line-up of motion-capture tracking devices. The X-IST FaceTracker is a lightweight, head-coupled facial expression tracker using 36 reflective markers to collect real-time motion data on strategic locations such as lips, cheeks and eyelids. Its automatic search, labeling and marker tracking are designed to accelerate production time. The real-time data, transferred to an animation workstation, integrates with Filmbox, Maya, Typhoon, Softimage and other leading software programs.

Toon Boom Technologies, a leading supplier of 2D animation software for major film and television studios, announced Toon Boom Studio 1.0, a new software program the brings high-end 2D animation tools and capabilities to the Web. Targeted at Web designers, advertising agencies and other online content creators, the software is designed to simplify the creation process by automating traditional animation tasks. The new software derives its high-end features from Toon Boom Technologies' acknowledged expertise in the animation market.

On April 4, 2001, Cambridge Animation Systems, makers of Animo software, announced the upcoming release of Swiffworks, a new plugin that delivers Macromedia Flash format output to Alias|Wavefront's Maya users. The newsoftware is based on the Maya scene interpreter developed for Cambridge's Inkworks plugin, used in the feature film RUGRATS IN PARIS. The new plugin allows users to choose Swiffworks material or use the default Phong material provided by Maya.

Electric Rain announced the development of a plugin version of their Swift 3D product that will allow LightWave 3D users to export content directly to the Macromedia Flash file format, as well as other types of vector-based formats. Scheduled for a late Spring, 2001 release, the plugin will support both PC and Macintosh platforms, and will accurately render complex models as vector outlines, 1-4 color shaded cartoon files and realistic gradient shaded files.

Alias|Wavefront announced on April 10, 2001, that next month it will be releasing a Maya exporter plugin that will transfer content into Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio software. The Maya Shockwave 3D Exporter plugin will provide an export solution for the rapid refinement of content for the soon-to-be-released 3D version of the Shockwave Web platform. The plugin will be available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Macromedia, Inc. and Intel Corporation announced on Tuesday, April 10, 2001, that the coming release of Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio will include new jointly developed 3D authoring capabilities, as well as a new version of the Shockwave Multiuser Server and support for both Flash5 and streaming RealMedia content. According to the announcement, the new software is integrated with existing 3D solutions to ensure developers do not have to abandon their 3D authoring software of choice, but rather import that content into Director.

On April 1, Testarossa ToolsInMotion, a developer of human motion editing applications for the 3D content creation market, announced the release of VROOM FOR MAYA, a motion-capture plug-in library for Alias|Wavefront's MAYA 3D animation software. The library includes plug-ins that let users read
and write skeletal animation in the Acclaim ASF/AMC, Biovision BVH,
and Motion Analysis HTR mocap file formats, as well as import the
motion of a mocap skeleton into a MAYA skeleton regardless of the
reference pose and skeletal structure. The library also provides

Electric Image announced that its
Universe 3.0 3D modeling, animation and rendering system is shipping
for Windows NT/2000. Universe is an upgrade and a replacement for the
award-winning ElectricImage Animation System (EIAS), which has been
available on the Macintosh for over ten years. Universe 3.0 is
available for $1,995. "There has been a consistent demand for a
Windows version of Electric Image software for several years now, and
we are very proud to release Universe 3.0 in this market," said

Digimation has started shipping Cluster-O-Matic, a new clustering and animation plug-in for Discreet's 3ds max 3 and 4. Developed by Di-O-Matic, Inc., Cluster-O-Matic is designed for clustering collections of vertices together and linking them to other objects directly within 3ds max scenes. According to the company, Cluster-O-Matic can be used for modeling and animation, and it is especially suited for doing facial animation and touching up 3D models. "Cluster-O-Matic is a very handy tool! This plug-in gives you so much more control over your models than anything 3ds max provides!

Dosch Design has just released several new products, including version 2.0 products from its state-of-the-art Dosch Textures line. Rust & Metal, Stone & Concrete, Skin, Industrial Design, Broadcast-Design and Special-Effects now include many additional textures, plus a large number of textures which are provided in even higher resolution than in the previous version. The products have been expanded for a wider variety of contents and will soon be supported by the new Dosch Design InfoBase, which will be established on the Dosch Design Website.

Apple introduced artists to the new version of their award-winning video editing software, Final Cut Pro, late last week. Final Cut Pro 2 is an all-in-one editing solution, featuring real-time editing, breakthrough Power Mac G4 performance and a scalable architecture that allows users to output content into any video format. With Final Cut Pro 2, real-time editing and compositing functions are integrated into the video production workflow seamlessly.

Visual effects powerhouse Tippett Studio has recently purchased 10 Silicon Graphics Octane2 visual workstations, 25 Silicon Graphics 230 and Silicon Graphics 330 Windows NT OS-based and Linux OS-based workstations, an SGI 2100 visualization server and a 2TB SGI TP9400 storage system. The company has been using SGI systems since opening its doors in 1983, and continues to choose Silicon Graphics machines to realize their award-winning work.

U.K.-based Criterion Software recently announced its new RenderWare Platform - a middleware solution offering game studios a tightly integrated game development framework incorporating 2D/3D graphics, audio and physics modules. The RenderWare Platform builds on Criterion's highly successful 2D/3D graphics toolkit RenderWare3 to provide developers with a powerful, truly multi-platform development environment. Built on an open and flexible architecture, the RenderWare Platform initially incorporates 2D/3D graphics, audio and physics modules, with additional modules to follow.

Numerical Design Ltd. (NDL) has announced NetImmerse 4.0, the latest version of its 3D game-development toolkit. The new version will boast support for Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube, a new tool for previewing keyframe animations, new rendering capabilities and performance increases for the core product and free plug-ins. Already two titles for the much hyped Microsoft Xbox are in development: ODDWORLD INHABITANT'S MUNCH'S ODDYSEE and an as yet unannounced title from Totally Games.

pmG (project:messiah Group), the producers of the award-winning project:messiah 3D animation package, have recently revamped the company Website. The re-launch expands greatly on the previous version, adding strong news and informational components, a library of 25 easy to download MPEG-1 sample animations and promotes and sells online the company's full line of products, including project:messiah 1.5, the messiah:studio suite, messiah:animate and messiah:render.

Ascension Technology Corporation will preview their new infrared active-optical motion-capture system, the Ascension ReActor, at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose this month. The ReActor delivers extremely smooth, real-time optical data for a broad range of animation applications at less than half the price of existing systems. ReActor captures the motions of an untethered performer free to spin, kick or jump in a capture area delineated by modular snap-together bars.

Japanese software developer ExpressionTools, Inc. has released ExpressionToolsShade Professional R4/E (ETShade Pro R4/E), an English language version of their high-end 3D graphics application. With a fifteen-year history behind it, Shade offers an outstanding and intuitive user interface, leveraging Bezier curve modeling and high speed/high quality rendering. In Japan, Shade has been the leading tool for professional graphics, 3D design, industrial design and architecture, with user-base numbers in excess of 200,000.

Alias|Wavefront has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to become an official tools and middleware developer for the Xbox Video Game System. Xbox, Microsoft's next-generation gaming system scheduled for release this fall, is positioned to become one of the most advanced on the market. Alias|Wavefront's Maya software, with its powerful modeling and animation toolsets and its open, extensible API is strongly established in the game development market as the package of choice for top quality interactive entertainment with many of the top-selling next-generation games producers.

Giant Studios' new animated short film FRUITS OF LABOR premiered this week in San Jose, California, and received a warm and enthusiastic response. The film features a cast of simple computer graphics characters - a shiny red apple, a man and a fly - animated in a stylized way and rendering with startling photo-realism. Rudy Poat, creative director for the project described the look as being, "something that looks like stop-motion and that fooled both the mind and the eye.

QEDSoft's QEDStream product line now natively supports the Kaydara FBX format. QEDStream users are now able to read FBX files, simplifying their production pipeline and enabling Web-content creation from the Kaydara suite of real-time 3D authoring tools. Designed to provide an authoring hub between major 3D packages, FBX provides a centralized working file format for vendors wishing to acquire, author and retarget 3D data and animation. "Using FBX and QEDStream in combination provides a superb channel for streaming both current and legacy content on the Web," said Michel Veys, COO of QEDSoft.