***QuickNews
SoftImage + Mental Images
On January 15, SoftImage and Mental Images GmbH & Co. KG (a privately-
held company based in Germany) announced strengthened partnership
efforts. The two companies have worked together since 1993, during
which time SoftImage has made use of Mental Images' Mental Ray
rendering technology. Under the new agreement, SoftImage and Mental
Images will work together to create new cross-platform versions of
Mental Ray for the Softimage 3D product line including Sumatra (code
name for the new generation of Softimage 3D) and Digital Studio. In
addition, SoftImage has announced a special promotion that will run
until the end of March, including a free additional Mental Ray license
to the licensees of Softimage 3D Extreme and a reduction of 50% on the
unit price per CPU of Mental Ray.
www.softimage.com
New Model Libraries From 3D/EYE
3D/EYE has released four new separate volumes of TriGallery, a
collection of "professional-quality" 3D objects. Each volume contains
1,000 models and sells for $54.95. In addition, the model galleries
also ship with a "mini-3D application" that allows users to view and
even render 3D objects, along with output capabilities in a variety of
formats including DXF, 3DS, OBJ, VRML, BMP, GIF, Photo CD, PCX, TGA and
TIFF. The TriGallery volumes can be purchased directly from 3D/EYE at:
(800) 946-9533
www.eye.com
Number Nine Ships 9FX Reality 772
Last week, Number Nine Visual Technology Corp. announced the shipment
of their 9FX Reality 772 2D/3D accelerator. The stats are:
Chipset: S3 ViRGE/VX (64-bit 2D, 3D, video)
Memory: 2 or 4 MB of VRAM
API: DirectX 3.0
3D Features: Bilinear & trilinear filtering, MIP-mapping, depth
cueing
& fogging, alpha blending
Cost: $199 (2 MB), $279 (4 MB)
Other: Certified by Microsoft - "WHQL Approved"
www.nine.com/products/772/
Gateway 2000 Boosts ATI
Gateway 2000, one of the largest consumer PC manufacturers in the
world, has announced that ATI's 3D RAGE II technology will power their
next line of PCs. Under the terms of the agreement, Gateway will
feature ATI's 3D RAGE II chips in many of their home PCs and ATI's
accelerator board in their business product lines. Gateway joins a
growing list of OEM wins for ATI, which already includes IBM's Aptiva,
NEC's Ready PowerPlayer, Sony's VAIO and Acer's Aspire Ultimate
Solution.
www.atitech.ca
PDI To Use Viewpoint's Models
This week, Pacific Data Images (PDI) announced that they have signed a
multi-year agreement with Viewpoint Datalabs, formalizing the ongoing
relationship between the two companies and naming Viewpoint as the
primary provider of modeling and digitizing services for PDI's first
full-length computer-animated feature film, Ants (being co-produced by
DreamWorks Feature Animation). PDI, which has been involved in over 700
commercial, feature film, music video, broadcast and interactive
projects since 1980, has agreed to use Viewpoint as their primary 3D
modeling source.
www.viewpoint.com
www.pdi.com
MPEG for QuickTime
Apple has announced the immediate availability of it's QuickTime MPEG
extension, which enables software-only playback for MPEG-1 files on the
Macintosh platform. The extension may be used with QuickTime 2.5 as
well as with the QuickTime plug-in for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft
Internet Explorer. The QuickTime MPEG extension is available now from
Apple's QuickTime Web site at:
quicktime.apple.com
National Design Engineering Show
Coinciding with National Manufacturing Week, the National Association
of Manufacturers is sponsoring the National Design Engineering Show &
Conference. The conference is being held 10 - 13 March 1997 at
McCormick Place South in Chicago, IL. The show will feature CAD, CAM,
CAE, and other engineering components and materials with an entire
pavilion dedicated the CAD/CAM.
nmw.reedexpo.com
Rikk Carey Interview Available
WAVE's interview of Rikk Carey regarding the current and future status
of the VRML Consortium is now available online at:
www.fourthwave.com/wave/carey.html
Electric Cafe, Inc. - ModelShop 2.5
ModelShop 2.5 for PowerMac, which is a 3D modeling, rendering, and
animation package tailored for interiors, buildings, sites, and cities
has been just released.
www.eleccafe.com/
Microsoft - Multimedia Strategy Day Set
Microsoft announced the final date, time and place for Multimedia
Strategy Day.
When: Tuesday, February 25, 1997
From 3-7:30 p.m.
Where: The Spectrum Gallery
511 Harrison Street, San Francisco
(South of Market at 1st)
By invitation.
Contact: e-mail: ruthwilliams_ima@msn.com
Wave Issue 9702 2/3/97 Article 1-01