American Cinematographer - November 1999 - 14

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SIGGRAPH '99: Poised for
a

Digital Millennium

by Debra Kaufman

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Compared to the heady years of
early '90s, Siggraph '99,

the late '80s and

Downloads time and

and calibrates internal

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its intention to create Red Hat Linux

Computer Graphics and Interactive
Techniques, was underwhelming. Many
of the 42,690 people who wandered the
aisles of the Los Angeles Convention
Center from August 8-12, examining the
wares of 337 exhibitors, complained that
there was nothing new or exciting at a
show known for explosive steps forward
and exciting, unheard-of technologies.
To these naysayers, we say quit
your bellyachin'. After all, it's possible
that this seeming "lack of innovation"
was simply the inevitable result of a
maturing industry. What knocked your
socks off in

crystal using

Motion capture or, as some

prefer to call it, "performance anima¬
tion,"

was

also

a star

conference concept paper

is

and renders live characters in Avid Soft-

now a

product that is

image, Discreet 3-D Studio Max,

at work in

Hollywood and elsewhere.
Rather than exciting new tech¬
nologies, what was evident at Siggraph
'99 was the development of trends. Most
obvious is the fact that desktop technol¬
ogy has dramatically increased its domi¬
nance, causing some to worry about the
future of Silicon Graphics, Inc., the
computer-platform manufacturer that
has made much of this revolution in digi¬
tal imaging possible. SGI, which also
produces an NT platform, used Siggraph
to take a plunge into virtual reality,
debuting plug-and-play solutions called

Alias/Wavefront Maya and Kaydara

Reality Center Desks.

Engine under the direct control of the

ware

gaining momentum
operating system, Linux, a free¬

equivalent, has also gained

a

sign-

ficant toehold in Unix-based houses.

popularity was evident at Siggraph

FilmBox.
The trend of

integrating 2-D and

3-D also bore

more

announcement

that

application

runs on

and

technol¬

the Open Render

Quantel workstation.
among

One debut has piqued interest
those who produce and postpro¬

duce for the broadcast world. Boxx Tech¬

nologies unveiled FusionBoxx HD, the
for uncompressed

TEL +49 89/6518535
FAX:
6518558

strated Houdini 4.0

HDTV

Angeles, Trew Audio in Nashville, ASC in Toronto

a

partnership to further develop inte¬
gration between their respective 2-D and
3-D toolsets. Quantel's Open Render
Engine, which debuted at NAB '99, will
provide the link between the two envi¬
ronments. With Maya on Quantel,
expected to ship in December, the Maya

first NT-based system

info@ambient.de

Quantel

ogy

'99, where Side Effects Software demon¬

running Red Hat

fruit with the

Alias/Wavefront have formed

KONRADINSTR. 3
D-81543 MUNCHEN

www.ambient.de

of the show.

Motion

real, affordable, user-friendly and already

That

LSC in Los

a

10 years ago

Maya Batch Renderer and
Composer Renderer.

Analysis,
demonstrating
ExpertVision's live real-time camera/
character tracking, can now simultane¬
ously capture actors and the position of
a roving camera in areas up to 40' x 50'.
Also on display was multiple-actor
capture using up to 32 cameras in areas
over 100' long. Meanwhile, Vicon intro¬
duced Vicon 8Rt, which produces accu¬
rate optical motion capture in real-time

While NT is

mouse

generic Intel-based work¬

versions of its

on

as an

position

on a

station. Alias/Wavefront also announced

the 26th annual International Conference

indentifies all timecodes
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editing and compositing. Fusion-
American Cinematographer - November 1999

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 1999
