Software Vault: The Diamond Collection/The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO/cdr16/tess505.zip/TESS505.TXT

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From [e-mail] Mon Mar 27 16:21:21 1995
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 17:08:40 -0600
From: 3D Artist magazine <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
    [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
    [e-mail]
Subject: TESS#505

==================================================
 THE   T E S S E L L A T I O N   T I M E S   #505
     Issue #5 of 1995, for Monday, March 27th
==================================================

TESS is Columbine, Inc.'s weekly electronic publication usually posted
Monday evenings to supplement 3D ARTIST magazine.

See the end of this file for contact information for companies whose
products are mentioned here.
_______________
TESS on the Web
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area: http://tgax.com/resource.htm
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Published by and (c)Copyright 1995, all rights reserved
  Columbine, Inc.
  P.O. Box 4787, Santa Fe, NM 87502 USA
  505/982-3532 voice - 505/820-6929 fax
  505/820-6929x3 voice mail
  E-mail: [e-mail]

Staff:
Alex Kiriako, Editor, TESS & Sysop, 3dartist.com <[e-mail]>
Bill Allen, Publisher & Pres., Columbine, Inc. <[e-mail]>
Sally Beach, Vice Pres., Columbine, Inc. <[e-mail]>
Carol Williamson, Admin. Asst. <[e-mail]>

This issue was assembled primarily by TESS Publisher Bill Allen.
________
CONTENTS
505.00 - Heads Up
505.00.01 - The Coming Week in 3D
505.00.02 - Price Cuts & Special Offers
505.00.03 - Shows Soon
505.00.04 - Artists' Call Deadlines
505.00.O5 - Galleries & Art Shows
505.01 - Digi-ography for Sale
505.02 - PhotoFusion 2.0
505.03 - Cyberspace Developer Kit World Viewer
505.04 - 3D Online
505.04.01 - 3D Sites
505.04.02 - Web Sites for 3D by Eric Haines
505.05 - More News
505.05.01 - Getting Ready for NAB
505.05.02 - User Groups
505.06 - Follow-Ups
505.07 - What's Up in Santa Fe
505.07.01 - TESS
505.07.02 - 3D ARTIST
505.08 - Contacts

505.00 - Heads Up
Here's the stuff you need to know the soonest...

505.00.01 - The Coming Week in 3D

AutoCAD r13 On the Road tour: Cleveland 3/29/95, Denver 4/4/95, and Los
Angeles 4/6/95. $99 one-day class held by the AutoCAD Helpline
(800/373-3284, fax [phone]).

505.00.02 - Price Cuts & Special Offers

Through 4/15/95: See TESS#501.01.01 about Byte by Byte's competitive upgrade
offer available for SoftF/X for Windows 3.1/95/NT.

505.00.03 - Shows Soon

April 10-13, NAB, Las Vegas: see 505.05.01 below.

April 18-20, Convention Ctr., Long Beach, Calif.: Direct Response TV Expo &
Conference, exhibit hall noon to 6pm, except 11-3 on 4/20. Contact Advanstar
Comms., P.O. Box 6429, Duluth, MN 55806; 800/331-5706.

505.00.04 - Artists' Call Deadlines

April 13th for New Mexico-based artists for the "Binary Vision" juried
exhibit for 2D and 3D computer art. Contact The Printmaker, 1807 - 2nd St.
#40, Santa Fe, NM 87501; 505/425-9456.

April 24th for the Electronic Cinema at the Int'l. Symposium on Electronic
Art, Sept. 17-24, Montreal, Que., Canada. Call 514/990-0229, fax
514/842-7459, E-mail [e-mail].

April 26th for the Computer Animation Festival/Electronic Theatre at
Siggraph 95 (Aug. 6-11, Los Angeles, Calif.) Contact: Frank Foster,
310/280-7603, or E-mail [e-mail].

505.00.O5 - Galleries & Art Shows

Through March 31, 9-5pm Mon.-Fri., New Mexico computer artists/Rio Grande
Siggraph show, KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave., Albuquerque, N.M.
505/982-3532, [e-mail].

505.01 - Digi-ography for Sale

We learned 3/15/95 (and last week got permission to tell you) that computer
map maker Magellan Geographix and 3D model foundry Viewpoint DataLabs are
jointly developing a new product line described as "the first comprehensive
library of 3D maps available." Viewpoint will develop the 3D maps from
Magellan's data, and both companies will distribute both 2D and 3D versions.
  More than 600 ready-to-use maps are promised, "cartographically
accurate...of every continent, country, state, and many great cities." The
maps will come in low and high resolutions, and range in price from $100 to
$1,000, slated to ship in June.
  Magellan reportedly has been supplying digital maps to publications, the
broadcast industry, and other businesses for three years now. Its products
can be purchased directly from CompuServe (go magellan).

[OK, so did we just coin "digiography" for the first time, or does someone
own that already?]

505.02 - PhotoFusion 2.0

First time we heard of this software was when a longtime reader called and
asked if there was anything like it for PCs. Sorry, the answer is no.
PhotoFusion is a $695 Mac Photoshop acquire plug-in dedicated to compositing
bluescreen foreground images with backgrounds without having to deal with
tedious edge definition. It reportedly eases significantly working with
shadows, hair detail, and getting background colors to come correctly
through smoke, water, and transparent objects. An example shown in their
literature has correct matting for a cast fish net and its shadow!
  Per the announcement received 3/16/95, and answers we got today 3/27,
version 2.0 has a new interface and is easier to use than v1.2, and also has
some additional controls.

505.03 - Cyberspace Developer Kit World Viewer

On 3/22/95 we received from Autodesk the following forwarded 3/21/95 message:

Subject: Cyberspace Developer Kit World Viewer
Author: Brian Blau <[e-mail]> at smtpcc2
  I have placed a demonstration program for the CDK r2 out on the Autodesk
Information system. This program will showcase the basic capabilities that a
developer can take advantage of when using CDK to build virtual worlds.
Please distribute this demo to anyone interested in CDK and virtual reality
technologies.

The basic feature list includes:
* Windows 3.1 with win32s v1.2 OR Windows NT 3.5 operating system
* Requires WinG (for both Win 3.1 and NT)
* Reads .DXF and .3DS files
* Plays animations that exist in the .3DS file format
* Texture maps (.GIF, .JPG, and .TIF) can be applied to geometry
* Interactive realtime navigation of the models using the mouse
* Shaded and wireframe display modes
* Windows compatible help system that gives the user information about how
to use the program, CDK r2 highlights, and some Autodesk information.
* Can be used as an Internet helper application when using Netscape and Mosaic

All of the files and instructions can be located on the information server,
just enter
http://infosys/MultiMedia/Products/cdk/cdkwv.html
into your favorite html browser to find the CDK World Viewer home page. This
is the preferred distribution method. I can also make individual disks.
  These files will be uploaded to the CDK asoft CompuServe forum as soon as
I can get to a modem. CDKWV will also have a home on the real Internet soon
as well. Please test things out and let me know if any problems are found.

505.04 - 3D Online

505.04.01 - 3D Sites

On 3/25/95 we heard from artist Bob Mannle <[e-mail]> about his Web
site for stereograms and other forms of stereoscopic imaging:
http://www.tisco.com/3d-web
"Most of my work can be found in the '3D Gallery' and/or under 'Yellow
Pages/New Vision Technology'. You'll see that stereograms are just a small
part of the specialized 3D services I offer. I've been doing 3D for about 12
years now."

Thanks to Todd Wiedemann, we received forwarded on 3/21/95 the following
message dated 3/17/95 from Richard Tilmann <[e-mail]>, much
abridged here:
  Announcing MeshMart at:
http://cedar.cic.net/~rtilmann/mm/index.htm
  This is a WWW site dedicated to providing meshes, textures, and tools--a
source of both shareware and commercial products. MeshMart will provide a
WWW graphics front end to public domain ftp sites, such as Avalon. Also, we
will work to develop a consignment market for 3D artists. There are several
technical problems to solve--the means of building and managing a catalog of
object listings [and] providing a secure and reliable means of buying and
selling meshes over the Internet. In the meantime, we will provide what
service we can.

505.04.02 - Web Sites for 3D
By Eric Haines <[e-mail]>

I finally got access to the World Wide Web in a non-stupid form and am now
wasting time clicking on colored words. A number of interesting computer
graphics sites exist, and here are some of my finds from watching Usenet
traffic and just general searching. I haven't been around long enough to be
critical and judge what are the "best" sites; rather, this is a list which
encompasses different facets of computer graphics. Educational, commercial,
hobbyist, BBS related sites, and others are listed, many of which are
jump-off points for other worthwhile pages.

http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk:/Ray.Tracing/
Actually, an old site, but it bears repeating. Points to all sorts of
raytracing related things. A great place to start explorations.
Contact: Ian 'The Grim' Grimstead <[e-mail]>

http://mambo.ucsc.edu/psl/cg.html
A great jump-off spot for other computer graphics programs and sites.

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/
A good place as any to jump off and see what's going on in research at
various computer graphics programs around the world.

http://www.mcs.com/~bcleach/www/illusions.html
"Illusions - a computer graphics/animation related magazine"
Covers 3D Studio, LightWave, Alias & Wavefront as well as SGI in general.
Contact: Brian Leach <[e-mail]>

http://www.lightside.com/~dani/
"3D Web," a site about the computer graphics industry. Includes resumes of
computer graphics people interested in various sorts of work, pointers to
various production houses, etc.

http://www.tgax.com
The Graphics Alternative BBS now has a Web home page. Under construction,
but has some nice bits to it.
Contact: Adam Shiffman <[e-mail]>

http://www.sgi.com/
Silicon Graphics, Inc. home page. Pretty, but annoying if you have a slow
link, so here are some direct addresses:
http://www.sgi.com/grafica/
  GraficaObscura, an eclectic collection of images, hints, and essays
related to graphics.
  Contact: Paul Haeberli <[e-mail]>
http://www.sgi.com/tech/openGL/openGL.html - OpenGL related

http://www.algorithm.com/~cwatkins/algor.html
Chris Watkins' company's home page, also includes a number of pointers to
other pages worth checking out.

http://metallica.prakinf.tu-ilmenau.de/GOOD.html
The "GOOD" raytracer and modeler and whatnot (see Ray Trace News v7n1 and
RTNv7n3).
Contact: Ekki Beier <[e-mail]>

http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~lulli/xray/xray.html
The XRay raytracer, a new one in pre-pre-release for MS-DOS and Windows
(code is portable to others).
Contact: Christian Schnell <[e-mail]>

http://www.eecs.uic.edu/~malic/
Various MPEG animations, including one on 3D morphing.
Contact: Mihailo Alic <[e-mail]>

http://archpropplan.auckland.ac.nz
For things related to the Radiance program:
  http://archpropplan.auckland.ac.nz/Graphics/radiance/radiance.html
Contact: Paul Bourke <[e-mail]>

http://siggraph.org/library/bibliography/bibliography.hmtl
WWW version of Siggraph online bibliography.
Contact: Stephen Spencer <[e-mail]>

http://info.acm.org/~joyces/homepage.html
Shawn Joyce's home page, a nice little jump-off point for various commercial
renderers and other stuff.

http://www.petech.ac.za/~kon
Yet another images site; interesting in that it's based in South Africa.
Contact: Kon Wilms <[e-mail]>
______
The above is reprinted from author Eric Haines' *Ray Trace News* v8n1. See
previous issues of TESS for his reports about 3D online.

505.05 - More News

505.05.01 - Getting Ready for NAB Las Vegas 4/10-13

Booth
 1715 - Digimation with HSC & Positron: new 3DS IPAS programs
 1731 - ElectroGIG: GIG3DGO new v3 plus lower-priced package for NAB
 1818 - Immersion Corp.: digitizers
S-233 - In:sync: Razor Pro
17280 - Ultimatte Corp.: PhotoFusion (see 505.02 above)

NAB announcements are starting to come in and we'll have more previews in
the next two issues.
  In a fax received today, 3/27, Digimation announced they will be showing a
new 3D Studio explosion plug-in, and "the next generation land editor"
called World Builder.

505.05.02 - User Groups

On 3/22/95 we received the following message from Terry Cotant <CIS 70313,1103>:
  TESS#504 asked about trueSpace user groups. Reliable Software Solutions
has been attempting to start a tS UG for awhile, so now seems like an
appropriate time to make it "official." Our UG will be multi-national, as we
have a ton of customers and contacts thanks to CompuServe. Since I am the
section leader for the trueSpace Users Group and Technical Support areas on
CompuServe, this will be sort of an extension to that existing group.
CompuServe and our trueSpace-devoted BBS (313/453-7639) will initially be
the "meeting place" for the Users Group, and we'd like to extend that to a
newsletter sometime soon [and even a semiannual CD] depending on how much
participation we can get... Heavy emphasis will be placed on performing
total "projects" with trueSpace (ie: developing a game, multimedia
presentation, etc.).

505.06 - Follow-Ups

502.01.04: Sculptor Walter Arnold's correct E-mail address is [e-mail]

3D ARTIST errata:
Page 4 ad in both 3DA#17 and #18: The Xaos Tools fax number is 415/558-9886.

505.07 - What's Up in Santa Fe

505.07.01 - TESS

Deadline for TESS#506 is 1pm Mountain Time (3pm New York time), Monday,
4/3/95. (Deadline usually is Monday, but will be 4/7/95 for TESS#507 because
NAB starts 4/10.)

505.07.02 - 3D ARTIST

Editorial and space deadline for 3DA#20 is 4/18/95. The issue focus will be
hardware for 3D graphics.

3DA#21 will have as its focus 3D medical illustration, and we're looking for
related articles.

"I see the new issue on the newsstand, so why don't I have my copy?" That's
a question we started hearing again last week, and the answer is that
newsstand copies truck out to distribution centers soon after leaving
bindery, but subscriber copies have to wait to be stuffed into envelopes and
addressed, which happened to take much longer than usual on 3DA#18. Then
they get turned over to the post office for delivery (or storage?). The
postal wait can be as little as four to eight days, or as long as three or
more weeks. Mid-Atlantic states seem to take longest.
  If you move and don't tell us well in advance, the post office trashes
your copy, and only sometimes sends us notice. We have to ship via a class
of mail that does NOT get forwarded. Too many copies are lost this way, so
we have stopped replacing them for free after the last mailing of an issue
goes out.

505.08 - Contacts
The following companies have products mentioned in this issue of *The
Tessellation Times*. When you contact companies, please BE SURE to say you
heard about them from TESS.
> Autodesk, Inc.; 111 McInnis Pkwy., San Rafael, CA 94903; 800/879-4233;
415/507-5000, 491-8311 fax; autodesk.com
> Byte by Byte Corp.; 8920 Business Park Dr. #330, Austin, TX 78759;
512/795-0150, -0021 fax; bytebybyte.com; http://bytebybyte.com
> Magellan Geographix; 6464 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara, CA 93117;
800/929-4627; 805/685-3100, -3300 fax
> Ultimatte Corp.; 20554 Plummer St., Chatsworth, CA 91311; 800/993-8046;
818/993-8007, -3762 fax
> Viewpoint DataLabs Intl.; 625 S. State St., Orem, UT 84058; 800/328-2738;
801/229-3000, -3300 fax
__________________
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[end]