As part of VFXWORLD’s continuing international coverage Gianluca Dentici reports on The Virtuality 2004 Conference about the current state of the Italian visual effects industry, where they strive for invisibility. On the other hand, Italians wouldn’t be Italians without some sort of ode to carnal lust, so the winner of the first Miss Digital World contest, Katty Ko, designed by Flavio Parra from Chile, was recognized as the best icon of virtual beauty by the online jury.

And speaking of the digital world, later in the week we continue our focus on current industry trends with Karen Raugust’s fascinating look at the digital production artist in transition. A host of business, creative and technological forces are transforming the role of the artist, and you’ll want to read what several distinguished artists have to say.

Bill Desowitz
Editor