Sony Pictures Imageworks will be highlighting its major forthcoming project Stuart Little, a live action film whose star is a fully digital photo-realistic character. Imageworks is
also engaged in production on Hollow Man, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath and What
Planet Are You From, working with such directors as Rob Minkoff, Paul Verhoeven,
Robert Zemeckis and Mike Nichols. Imageworks is home to some of the industry's
top talent, including visual effects supervisors Scott E. Anderson, Rob Legato,

BOXX, manufacturer of high-performance, high-bandwidth Windows NT-based systems for 3D, animation, film, and HD broadcast markets, has introduced the first NT-based
compositing/editing system for HD as well as RenderBOXX, a completely scaleable NT rendering solution. The BOXX suite of solutions, which are designed to increase productivity and performance, include workstations and complete systems for 3D,
rendering, film, and HDTV.

Kaydara Inc. has announced the launch of FiLMBOX version 2.0, its real-time production system. Incorporating an advanced suite of interactive character animation, motion capture and audio/video tools FiLMBOX v2.0 hosts a variety of new on-line production tools, such as camera tracking, real-time video input/output, and improved character mapping. FiLMBOX v2.0 provides live integration of 3D elements for game, film and TV production into a unified digital environment,

CGSD has debuted the E-Town Building Library, the first in a series of libraries of buildings and other structures ready to use in visual simulation, virtual reality, games, urban planning and visualization, flight simulation, and other interactive simulations. E-Town Building Library is a set of 100 three-dimensional computer models of residential, industrial, and public buildings, water towers, electrical transmission towers, and landscaping elements.

CGSD unveiled its DS-100 Virtual Reality Driving Simulator for the first time at this year's SIGGRAPH. Those visiting the CGSD booth often saw a person staring at a black screen while driving. That is because the DS-100 is a virtual reality driving simulator, in which the computer generated scenery appears on a head mounted display as a bright image against the black background. In fact, most of the interior of the car, including the instrument panel, the rear view mirror, and a front seat passenger all appear in the display.

Animators in the TV, Film, and Video Game industries are achieving realistic 3D character animation economically and quickly using the suite of motion capture tools available from Motion Analysis Corporation of Santa Rosa, California. At SIGGRAPH 99, the company demonstrated the latest versions of its products.


"We have customers using our ExpertVision system to capture 1,000 moves a
week to produce a 22-minute TV show in only 10 days using just a dozen
animators. The economy and efficiency of producing digital entertainment

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

Nothing Real, a leading Los Angeles-based software provider of
high performance tools designed for the digital image creation market,
is showcasing its flagship compositing software product Shake at this year's SIGGRAPH.


Shake is a next-generation compositing system that offers a broad range
of 2D features for film, broadcast, interactive games and multimedia
effects applications. Shake offers dramatic speed and efficiency
advances over traditional compositing packages, without the need for
specialized hardware.

Gnomon School of Visual Effects has announced the members of their newly established Advisory Board. The panel of respected and experienced industry professionals have agreed to commit their time and expertise to guiding the future development of Gnomon's curriculum and program direction.


The Board will include:

Point Richmond, California-based Pixar Animation Studios has announced that
it is releasing version 3.9 of PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its Academy
Award-winning visual effects software, and version 4.0 of the complete
RenderMan Artist Tools suite. The new software version, scheduled for
shipment in September, makes RenderMan easier and more powerful for
creative artists, and for the first time provides support for rendering on
render farms running the Windows NT operating system. Some other advanced

An Evening with the Professionals: TV Animation. Takes place at Walt Disney
TV Animation Studio, Frank Wells Building. The speakers will include Cindy
Marcus who (with her husband Flip Kobler) wrote POCAHONTAS II: JOURNEY TO A
NEW WORLD and THE LION KING II: SIMBA'S PRIDE. Cost per monthly event is
$10 for Women In Animation members, $20 for non-members. RSVP required to
Kellie-Bea Cooper at e-mail: kellie-bea@kellie-bea.com; or Tel:
818-623-0020. The events takes place Thursday, August 19, 7-9 pm in
Burbank, California.

Women In Animation's Computer Animation Group meets at the Rhythm & Hues
Studio. For more information contact Pauline T'so at Tel. (310) 448-7500.
This month's meeting takes place Saturday, August 21, 7-9 pm in Los
Angeles, California.

A lively evening of discussion with the women directors at Klasky-Csupo
including Becky Bristow, Sylvia Keulan, Cathy Malkasian, Carol Millican,
Bonita Versh, and special guest Jeff McGrath, creative producer for THE
WILD THORNBERRYS. Location: Klasky Csupo, 6353 Sunset Blvd. RSVP: Tel.
(310) 535-3838. The event takes place Wednesday, August 25, 6:30 pm in
Hollywood, California.

This October MIPCOM and MIPCOM Junior will once again bring together the
television producers, distributors, buyers, and programmers of the world in
Cannes, France. MIPCOM Junior takes place October 2-3, and MIPCOM takes
place October 4-8. MIPCOM will also include for the first time a three day
conference on the convergence of TV and Internet from October 4-6.
Featuring special keynotes, strategic panels and case studies/workshops,
MIPCOM will bring together players from the TV industry, new media networks

Cinequest San Jose Film Festival is accepting submissions of features and
short films (16mm & 35mm all genres) of artistic, social, or stylistic
merit. The festival is celebrating Maverick Films, Filmmakers and
Technologies. The festival takes place in San Jose, California from
February 24 to March 5, 2000. The entry deadline is October 29, 1999. For
more information contact Cinequest 2000, P.O Box 720040, San Jose, CA
95172-0040, USA; Tel: (408) 995-5033; Fax: (408) 995-5713; E-mail:
cineqst@wenet.net; or visit www.cinequest.org.

Pratt Institute's Department of Computer Graphics & Interactive Media (CGIM) has begun the development of a Research Lab to explore the development of virtual worlds, stereoscopic 3D imaging, and other outside-the-box possibilities.


CGIM is also pleased to announce that Professor Claudia Herbst joined our fulltime faculty. Prof. Herbst's previous position was at the Walt Disney Company, where she trained the company's computer graphics artists.

Key members of Pratt Institute's Department of Computer Graphics & Interactive Media (CGIM) faculty and student body will be participating at SIGGRAPH 99 as follows:


Prof. Michael O'Rourke has been invited to conduct a full-day 3d computer animation workshop at SIGGRAPH 99.


Two of Prof. Don Ritter's interactive installations have been accepted into the Millennium Motel program at SIGGRAPH 99. The installations are "Intersection" and "TV Guides," described at:


www.users.interport.net/~ritter/intersection.html

The six month Bristol Animation Course is now available at the University of the West of England, Bristol. It is supported by several animation studios in the region, including Aardman Animations. The course aims to train animators in the craft skills of character and performance animation, enabling them to work in a professional animation studio. The course delivers a Post Graduate Certificate in Extension Studies. According to UWE, 85% of past students have been employed in the industry. There are five places for 2D and five for model animation.

One of the fastest growing areas of the booming entertainment technology industry is special effects, and with standards being raised daily by innovative uses in TV, film, and computer games the need for qualified effects artists increases. The Center for Digital Imaging and Sound (CDIS), a private technical arts college celebrating 20 years in operation in British Columbia, has jumped on the opportunity.

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.