AWN Headline News

We all knew it was going to be big out of the gate, and STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH delivered a record-breaking $158,449,700 for its first four days in release, Thursday through Sunday, May 19-22, 2005. That number eclipses SPIDER-MAN 2s $130.5M. Along the way, SITH (with eye-catching vfx from ILM) also racked up records for midnight showing, opening and single day, two-day and three-day. For the weekend, SITH collected $108,435,841: the second-best weekend ever next to SPIDER-MANs $114.8M.

Alias announced its intention at E3 to join the Sony Computer Ent. Inc.'s Tools and Middleware Program for PlayStation 3 (PS3) when it launches in spring of 2006. This will enable Alias to tailor the roadmap for software products such as Maya, Alias MotionBuilder and Alias|HumanIK middleware to the needs of developers working on Sonys PS3 titles. These three Alias products are development musts for the leading current-generation console titles.

The Force is already with REVENGE OF THE SITH, as EPISODE III of the STAR WARS saga grossed an estimated $17M for the special midnight screenings on Thursday. Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution for Twentieth Century Fox, told THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, "It seems like the industry got kick started last night at midnight."

REVENGE OF THE SITH began playing midnight shows in 2,900 theaters in North America. Snyder could not give a firm screen count, but noted that it could be significantly higher because of interlocking prints.

Airbus Germany has recently purchased a second Vicon motion-capture system for tracking human interaction with virtual models of proposed new planes, including the Airbus 380. Airbus Germany's Virtual Reality department is using both Vicon VCam (0.3 million pixel camera with powerful strobes) and SVCam (low-impact, unobtrusive small format camera) systems to enable engineers to interact with new planes before building practical prototypes. This is the same motion-capture system used on THE POLAR EXPRESS, TROY and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

Alias now offers two new Learning Tools: PIPELINE TECHNIQUES|MAYA AND ALIAS MOTIONBUILDER and MAYA TECHNIQUES|MAYA FLUID EFFECTS examine areas of Maya relatively unexplored by Learning Tool authors prior to now. Both tools further complete a full range of Learning Tools that offer 3D professionals, students and enthusiasts a collection of books and DVDs for self-paced learning.