Alias has appointed former Kaydara president Michel Besner as vp, business development - emerging markets. Besner's appointment follows the recent completion of Alias' acquisition of Kaydara, renowned for MotionBuilder and FBX character animation technology. As a member of the Alias executive management team, Besner will be responsible for identifying strategic opportunities in the growing market of 3D interactive applications.
"We are very pleased to welcome Michel Besner to the Alias executive management team," said Alias president Doug Walker. "As Kaydara's president and co-founder, Michel garnered a strong technical and business acumen that will be very valuable to Alias as we look at expanding our presence and leadership in the 3D interactive solutions marketplace."
In his new role at Alias, Besner will help define the appropriate set of software and service value propositions, and develop a recommended strategy for Alias to increase its penetration in the market of 3D interactive applications. Besner will also play an instrumental role in completing a smooth and successful business transition process, following Alias' recent acquisition of Kaydara.
"I'm very honored to be part of the Alias executive management team, and excited to spearhead strategic developments in the burgeoning 3D interactive applications market," offered Besner. "Alias' world-renowned innovation and commitment, combined with my longstanding experience in realtime 3D and character animation technology, is a perfect combination for ensuring future growth and success for the company."
Under Besner's direction, Kaydara (founded in 93) became a leader in the development of realtime 3D animation software solutions for the entertainment industry while paving the way for motion capture as a viable production method and simplifying 3D character animation.
Additional appointments from Kaydara's key management team include André Gauthier (former cto /co-founder of Kaydara), who will act as director of engineering for Alias' core technologies, and Laurent Ruel (former director, product development of Kaydara), who will serve as director of Engineering for the Alias MotionBuilder product line. Besner, Gauthier, Ruel and many other team members will remain in Montreal as part of the Alias MotionBuilder product development group.
Alias Montreal (formerly known as Kaydara) and Alias MotionBuilder will continue to support all current industry platforms and will be sold as stand-alone products under the Alias brand name. Alias MotionBuilder 6 is expected to ship in November 2004.
As a leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias (www.alias.com) develops award-winning software, custom development and training solutions for the film and videogames, Web, interactive media, automotive, industrial design, education and visualization markets. Alias is headquartered in Toronto with a Custom Development Center in Santa Barbara. Alias was recently purchased by Accel-KKR, a technology-focused private equity firm, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
