Test-Drive 3D Motion Controllers at CGI Festival 2004
3Dconnexion, a Logitech company, has announced that visitors to CGI Festival 2004 will be able to test-drive its award-winning line of 3D motion controllers as part of a free, no-obligation 21-day evaluation.
CGI Festival 2004 reconvenes at the Business Design Centre in London from Dec. 7 to 8 after commencing last month in Leeds.
The event has been launched to give creative artists in the U.K. a showcase of the latest CGI work in film, television and games development. It will provide visitors with an opportunity to see the latest in the industry and participate in master classes, technical presentations and technique-based sessions from some of the worlds leading artists.
Visitors to 3Dconnexions stand will be able to take advantage of a special try-before-you-buy offer and test-drive a SpaceMouse, SpaceBall or SpaceTraveler for 21 days. The devices will then be available for purchase at a special promotional rate of £299 (list price: £399).
There are two key benefits to using a 3D motion controller: a significant reduction in hand fatigue and the faster creation of visually compelling content. These benefits are of particular importance to digital content creation (DCC) artists because of the nature of their work, which requires repetitive and precise modifications of models and scenes in the quest for realism and entertainment.
3Dconnexions range of motion controllers now supports key DCC applications, including 3ds max, Cinema 4D, BodyPaint 3D, Maya, MotionBuilder, SOFTIMAGE|XSI and Photoshop. The devices also now support the ability to rapidly create motion paths in 3ds max and SOFTIMAGE|XSI by allowing users to simultaneously dolly, track and tumble cameras.
Using a six degrees-of-freedom device from 3Dconnexion, animators can position cameras at keyframe locations along the six axes in one simple movement with the motion controller in one hand. The other hand stays on the mouse to activate the software and auto-generate intermediate camera positions, quickly creating smooth animations. Positioning in 3D space, and therefore setting keyframes, is faster leading to quicker creation and viewing of animations. In this way, the motion controller reduces the time needed to prototype and try out various animations before settling on the final one.
The software drivers with this capability are available for download from 3Dconnexions Website at: www.3dconnexion.com
For more information and to register for CGI Festival 2004, visit: www.cgifestival.co.uk.