REALVIZ Team Hits Road for 2005 SFX Tour
REALVIZ has confirmed that the first leg of its 2005 SFX tour will kick off in the U.K. at the beginning of next month. The tour will run from September through to November 2005, and will visit a selection of towns and cities internationally in the U.K., France, Sweden, Greece and Australia, with additional countries being added over the course of the next few weeks. During the tour, the team will be showing the very latest additions to the REALVIZ software portfolio, an award-winning range of production-proven applications, which offer vfx artists the most advanced professional solutions for 3D tracking, storyboarding/ previs and motion-based effects.
At the recent SIGGRAPH 2005 show in Los Angeles, REALVIZ launched a new range of tracking products Powered by SMART, a powerful automatic tracking kernel, based on new generation algorithms. This product range includes version 4 of the companys acclaimed tracking software, MatchMover Pro 4, MatchMover Pro 4 Mocap and two automatic 3D tracking plug-ins, MMTrack for Autodesk 3ds Max & MMTrack for Maya. At SIGGRAPH 2005, REALVIZ also introduced version 2 of their 3D previs and storyboarding software, StoryViz, slated for shipment in fall 2005.
SMART (Scalable Matching Architecture for Tracking) is a powerful newautomatic tracking kernel, based on new generation algorithms, which brings radical performance increase to the REALVIZ tracking products. This new technology provides 2D tracking up to six to 10 times faster than previous engines, whilst simultaneously making optimum use of available processing power. SMART also produces much higher quality feature tracks than previously, more steady, with a longer lifespan and fewer interruptions and drops. The SMART tracking engine also automatically places significantly more tracking points on footage, as well as enabling users to adjust the tracker quantity factor for smarter and more reliable solves than ever before.
In addition, the SMART technology, integrates seamlessly with existing REALVIZ features, such as Motion Capture, 3D Mesh-based Tracking with Elastics, Survey Data & Motion Control Support.
Commonly regarded as the weapon of choice by post-production professionals worldwide, MatchMover Pro 4 offers a powerful new central automatic tracking engine, based on the power of SMART. In addition to providing radical new performance levels, MatchMover Pro 4 boasts a brand new look, with redesigned icons, colors and a slick, minimalist feel. A complete re-writing of export formats allows a perfectly smooth import of results, as well as additional features such as direct non-linear distortion management within Maya, 3ds Max, XSI and LightWave 3D. Script interpreters are now included as standard (PERL/PYTHON/TCL), and full interoperability with REALVIZ ImageModeler is provided through an XML-based/rzml file format.
MMTrack for 3ds Max and MMTrack for Maya are two brand new automatic tracking products, which draw on the power and speed of SMART. The plug-ins slot seamlessly into the workflow of any 3ds Max or Maya user, and combine new-generation matchmoving technology with an unbeatable range of features, enabling 3D artists to access the best automatic 3D tracking engine on the market, without the need to actually leave their 3D application.
MatchMover Pro Mocap also benefits from the powerful new automatic tracking engine central to SMART, offering users radically improved performance levels for faster and more efficient motion capture.
StoryViz is an indispensable application, which enables directors, visual effects supervisors, 3D animators, graphic artists, and filmmakers of all levels to create detailed animated storyboards in real time. The result of years of development efforts at the famous Duran Duboi Studios in Paris, the application is based on a powerful 3D rendering engine and a complete set of non-linear editing tools, and enables moviemakers to prototype each individual scene with an amazing level of detail. At SIGGRAPH 2005, the company confirmed a new pricing structure for StoryViz, with the product now available for purchase at a revised price point of $1,200.
REALVIZ technology has been used to create stunning visual effects in many recent major movies, including: BEWITCHED, FANTASTIC FOUR, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, SIN CITY, KUNG FU HUSTLE, 'THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, MILLIONS, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, THE FORGOTTEN, THE ADVENTURES OF SHARK BOY AND LAVA GIRL IN 3-D, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, THUNDERBIRDS, ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, KING ARTHUR, as well as the forthcoming AEON FLUX and HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.
REALVIZ (www.realviz.com) is a leading developer of image based creation software based in Sophia Antipolis, France, with U.S. operations in San Francisco and a satellite sales office in London, Paris and Berlin. REALVIZ develops a suite of image-based content creation solutions for the film, broadcast, gaming, digital imaging, architecture and Internet communities.