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==================================================
 THE   T E S S E L L A T I O N   T I M E S   #509
     Issue #9 of 1995, for Monday, April 24th
==================================================

*The Tessellation Times* (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.
_______________
Tell it to TESS
Send your 3D news tips and forward interesting messages to
[e-mail]. Anonymity will be honored if requested.
_______________
TESS on the Web
http://tgax.com/resource.htm
 >in the Multimedia Resources area of The Graphics Alternative BBS Web server
http://www.lightside.com/~dani/
 >in the Literature, Reference section of 3DSite
__________________
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Send an E-mail message to <[e-mail]> stating simply "subscribe" or
"unsubscribe".
_______
DETAILS
This file may be passed between individuals and can be reposted in any
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  Reposting to *mailing lists* is _not_ recommended.
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are the latest corrected copies, and the only TESS files for which we can
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  This file's contents are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in or with
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  Any trademarked names mentioned in this file are the property of their
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  Columbine, Inc. and its publications are totally independent. No companies
or products are endorsed.

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]>
________
CONTENTS
509.00 - Heads Up
509.00.01 - The Fortnight in 3D
509.00.02 - Special Offers
509.00.03 - Upgrades
509.00.04 - Galleries & Art Shows
509.00.05 - Computer Shows Soon
509.00.06 - Hardware
509.01 - NAB Report, Part 2
509.01.01 - More Reports & Ruminations
509.01.02 - New Market Spotted for 3D Art
509.02 - Multiple Moscone Multimedia Meetings
509.03 - Other News
509.03.01 - Caligari TrueSpace 2.0
509.03.02 - Publisher's Notes
509.04 - 3D Online
509.05 - What's Up in Santa Fe
509.05.01 - TESS
509.05.02 - 3D ARTIST
509.05.03 - 3dartist.com Internet Site
509.06 - Continuing Listings
509.06.01 - Special Offers
509.06.02 - Galleries & Exhibits
509.06.03 - Shows & Exhibitions
509.06.04 - Artists' Calls
509.07 - Contacts

__________
509.00 - Heads Up

See also "Continuing Listings" (509.06 below).

Here's the stuff you need to know the soonest...

509.00.01 - The Fortnight in 3D

April 26, Los Angeles, Calif.: Seminar on copyright for digital artists,
$60, American Film Institute, 213/856-7600.

April 26 on NBC TV, 8pm EDT/PDT, 7pm CDT/MDT: "The Making of Jurassic Park."

May 1: SGI reportedly will announce "a set-top box for home VR netcruising,"
according to a reliable anonymous source. This presumably will be hardware
that facilitates traveling the World Wide Web using the new VRML language
(3D ARTIST#18).

May 2, Detroit, Mich. & May 4, Chicago, Ill.: AutoCad on the Road training
series for Release 13. One day class ($99), 800/373-3284.

May 2, Los Angeles, Calif.: Cutting Edge Salon, introduction to the latest
hardware and software used in digital production in Hollywood, American Film
Institute, 800/999-4234, 213/856-7690.

May 5, Santa Fe, N.M.: Opening reception for Binary Visions '95 art show.
See 509.00.04 below.

509.00.02 - Special Offers

Vibrant Software's Liquid Speed, a display speed enhancer for 3D Studio
priced at $295, is available for $195 until 6/15/95. Use reference #207 when
ordering by phone, U.S. 800/937-1711, Europe 44 (0) 91/478-1016.

Macromedia has another special going, besides the ones mentioned in
TESS#504.00.02 and 509.06.01 below. "Graphic Design Studio" for Windows or
Mac includes FreeHand, MacroModel, Renderman, Fontographer, and Fractal
Painter at $995 retail. It can be ordered from Macromedia vendors such as
Audio Images 415-957-9131 and PC/MAC Mall 800-222-2808.

509.00.03 - Upgrades

AddDepth 2 for Mac has been announced by Ray Dream, expected for June, 1995.
Version 2 adds native support for Power Macintosh and automated processes
for creating quick 3D images from Illustrator and Freehand files, as well as
Postscript and TrueType fonts. At $99 you get a CD with lots of clipart and
fonts. Current Mac users can upgrade for $39 until 8/31/95. Orders:
800/846-0111.

509.00.04 - Galleries & Art Shows

May 5 to June 16, Santa Fe, NM: Binary Visions '95, a juried show of digital
art hosted by The Printmaker Ltd., 1807 - 2nd St. #40, 505/425-9456.

509.00.05 - Computer Shows Soon

May 11-13, Los Angeles, Calif.: Electronic Entertainment Expo, L.A.
Convention Ctr., 10-6pm except 9-4pm May 13. Held by Knowledge Industry
Publications, 800/787-3976, 914/328-9157, -2020 fax.

May 14-17, Anaheim, Calif.: Interactive '95 conference & expo. Contact: Ziff
Institute, 10 Presidents Lndg., Medford, MA 02155-9865. 800/348-7246,
617/393-3322 fax.

May 16-17, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Symposium of computer visualization & digital
production technologies, 9-7pm, College of Aeronautics, La Guardia Airport,
$15/day. Contact Lee Palmiter: 212/741-2320, 201/226-9105; 212/206-6759 fax;
[e-mail].

509.00.06 - Hardware

Are you making hardware purchase decisions today and expect to use that
equipment to run the big new NT 3D software packages that should start
arriving in late 1995/early 1996?
  An anonymous source working on one of those programs tells us that nothing
less than a Pentium 90 and 64Mb RAM will do. Lesser machines won't be useful
even for render farms.
  Multiple CPUs and 128Mb RAM will be common. If you need 32Mb or 64Mb to
get your work done today, double that for NT. Systems with multiple fast
CPUs will drop in price quicker than RAM, so dual Pentium, Alpha, and
PowerPC machines will help get more out of such large RAM investments.--B.A.

509.01 - NAB Report, Part 2

509.01.01 - More Reports & Ruminations
By Bill Allen, TESS Publisher <[e-mail]>

It was great to meet 3D ARTIST writers at NAB, most of whom we had known
only by voice until then.
  Jeff Paries' first task with his new job at Hash, Inc. was to help demo
Animation Master to the crowds. The rest were there as reporters and
artists/producers: Rob Glidden, Wallace Jackson, Kevin Kilbride, and Peter
Plantec.
  There was lots to report on, as I started to say last week. Here's some
more...

CrystalGraphics was selling a pre-release version of their Windows product,
Flying Fonts Pro 3.0. The full $245 title/logo animator for Windows
3.1/95/NT is promised for late May. (Owners of Flying Fonts 2 and Pro 2 will
be able to upgrade for $49, or free if you purchased after Oct. 15th last
year). Features include field rendering, 32-bit output, resolution to 8Kx8K,
NTSC/PAL color correction, TrueType and Type 1 font support, and AVI and FLC
output.
  Crystal also announced a repackaging of Topas Pro 5.1 at $1,995 as Crystal
Kaleidoscope. This is a suite of packages that includes Kai's Power Tools
2.0 SE, Elastic Reality 1.01, Fractal Design Painter 3, Leadview 3.0, three
CDs of textures and models, and more.

A surprise announcement was NewTek's Video Toaster for Windows 95/NT. Unlike
the original revolutionary low-cost board for Amiga computers, this is a
separate box with many additional capabilities. It comes in various
configurations listing at $7,995 to $9,995, projected to ship in third
quarter 1995.
  Whether you need to shoot onsite digital video, or just want to work on
and record your animations at some remote cabin, this SCSI device certainly
catches the imagination. It is reported to provide battery-powered video
recording direct to disk (it has three SCSI-2 ports), single-frame
recording, still store, TBC, non-linear editing, four-input switcher, eight
16-bit sound tracks, proprietary compression with realtime playback, digital
video effects, and a 5.6" LCD color monitor. And it comes with LightWave 3D
and NewTek's Flyer software. (Amiga Flyer owners can buy this unit without
its Flyer component for $2,995 to $4,995 to use with their Amiga system.)
It's about the size of a standard mailbox. Output is to analog NTSC.

509.01.02 - New Market Spotted for 3D Art
  By Kevin M. Kilbride <[e-mail]>

An interesting potential market for 3D artists is in creating geometry
objects for use in 3D digital video effect (DVE) systems to map video onto.
Play, Inc. announced a digital video editing system at NAB that makes use of
such geometry.
  Called "Trinity," the new system is an external chassis that connects with
two coax cables to any PC running Windows 95 or NT, pumping data at a
smokin' 330Mbits/sec. The chassis itself has a totally modular backplane
with dedicated video slots into which 2D and 3D DVE cards can be inserted,
along with I/O cards and disk interfaces. With a 3D DVE card installed, the
Trinity can map video onto 3D objects in real time while the objects move
and morph.
  At $6,000 ($14,000 with 3D DVE), Trinity won't be available until the end
of 1995, but it threatens to outfight Newtek's Video Toaster on the holy
field of price-performance by at least an order of magnitude. And, yes, it
does have Y/C inputs, as well as options for component, 8- or 10-bit digital
serial, and 24fps film sync I/O.
______
Kevin Kilbride heads Sapient Systems Laboratories and occasionally reports
to 3D ARTIST's readers about shows and the state of technology. This report
is an excerpt from a draft of his full NAB report for 3DA#20.

509.02 - Multiple Moscone Multimedia Meetings

One of the grand scheduling accidents of 1995's multitude of multimedia
shows is that both the Macromedia International User Conference & Exposition
and the Autodesk University Conference & Exhibition will overlap at the
Moscone Center in San Francisco on Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 (Autodesk University
starts a day earlier).
  We hear there is preliminary talk about allowing attendees at one show to
visit the exhibit space at the other. But there is natural wariness between
the two sides. Autodesk is poised to enter Macromedia's main market area
with multimedia authoring tools, and Macromedia is readying a new product
(still code named Daffy) that will compete with 3D Studio.
  Autodesk University, which went from having one 3D graphics booth in 1993
to several in 1994, will have a "Multimedia Pavilion" this year. And
Macromedia, which has been underplaying its suite of 3D products, should
have real reason to push 3D at their show.
  We'll report registration details later in the year, but here's info for
potential exhibitors: For Macromedia, call Reed Exhibition Companies at
203/840-5860. And for Autodesk, call Miller Freeman at 415/905-2476.
  A question: Why do these shows always happen on weekdays? There must be
many working and aspiring artists who would be more likely to attend a
weekend event.--B.A.

509.03 - Other News

509.03.01 - Caligari TrueSpace 2.0

Caligari says now that trueSpace 2.0 will come ship at the end of May.

509.03.02 - Publisher's Notes
  By Bill Allen <[e-mail]>

Starting this issue, TESS Editor Alex Kiriako takes over the main tasks of
assembling each week's *Tessellation Times*. He is responsible for our
Internet site and other special projects, and has been at work on preparing
a Web edition of TESS. Though it will be great to add graphics and get away
from dull text, we'll also continue the E-mail edition.

"500 Nations" seen last week on CBS was produced by Kevin Costner and
included segments about American Indian civilizations done with Form-Z,
MacRenderMan, CoSA After Effects, Photoshop, and Wavefront. Computer
production was by Santa Barbara Studios with XO Digital Arts and
Kleiser-Wolczak.

Thanks to *Morph's Outpost* for mentioning TESS and how to subscribe.
According to their April 1995 issue, you can download TESS from the "current
issue downloads" section of Morph Online BBS (510/704-7100).

Writer Rob Glidden commented after NAB that desktop video and 3D graphics
seem to be growing in parallel in their sophistication and availability.
There must be dozens of magazines now that cover general multimedia and/or
video. For some solid outside reporting from the mainstream computer press,
check your newsstand or library for the May 1995 *Byte* cover story on "Our
Unhappy Digital Video Experience" and related articles. The issue also
explains Apple QuickTime VR and Microsoft Surround Video. The April 11th *PC
Magazine*, now off newsstands, also did a major video wrap-up.

We hear that Disney's movie, "Toy Story," is finishing up at Pixar as
perhaps the first feature-length movie to be fully produced with 3D
graphics. It will run around 70 mins., and is slated for release this Nov. 17th.

Send your news tips to [e-mail]. We may add your info to a
story we have in the works, especially where a company is helping 3D ARTIST
and TESS to be jolly on the spot when they make a development public. On the
other hand, if we haven't been informed by first party sources, we may just
run your tip up our electronic flag pole at an appropriate moment and see
who salutes!

509.04 - 3D Online

http://www.wimsey.com/PhotoModeler/
E-mail: [e-mail]
Eos Systems has a new WWW site for their PhotoModeler program for Windows.
PhotoModeler is used to build 3D models from photographs (a demo is
available for US$25). E-mail to [e-mail] for an automated reply.

http://www.creativity.net/ccafe
E-mail: [e-mail]
The Creativity Cafe (TESS#508.03) is sponsoring an "Arts for Social Change"
award to promote works of art to address categories such as people care,
planet care, species rights, family, recycling, peace, energy, and
metaphysics. No deadlines or rules yet. Call organizer Peter Rosen at
415/776-0821, or 985-7040 voice mail.

509.05 - What's Up in Santa Fe

Alternating days of snow and sun seems to be the new norm here in Santa Fe.
Almost makes you wish for the dust storms of May... But by then, we'll
almost have the pristine skies of June.--A.K.

509.05.01 - TESS

Deadline for TESS#510 will be 1pm MDT (3pm New York time) Mon., 5/1/95.

TESS#511 will be published early, and deadline will be 5/4/95.

509.05.02 - 3D ARTIST

We're still looking for 3D related how-to's on medical illustration articles
for 3DA#21.

509.05.03 - 3dartist.com Internet Site

Here are some recent file changes on our Internet site. You can grab these
files by anonymous ftp, which we hear is now readily available to those of
you on CompuServe.
/(root)
  3d_books.txt: book reviews, updated with "Readings" from 3DA#19
  calendar.txt: completely revised
/3dartist subdirectory
  3daprevu.txt: the status of current and upcoming issues
  bakissue.txt: a new file listing available back issues

509.06 - Continuing Listings

See 509.00 above for new items of immediate interest.

509.06.01 - Special Offers

Through 4/30/95: Avalon site archive on CD-ROM for $30 postpaid instead of
$49.95 + S&H, from Syndesis. Contains 1,200 models in 20+ file formats, file
conversion utilities, textures, and more.

Through 5/30/95: Schreiber Instruments' IPAS six-pack: Lightning, Explode
Volume, Particle Cloud, Rings, Comet, Starburst, all for $150.

Through 5/31/95: SGI version of LightWave $995 (regular $1,995), available
from Xaos Tools, SGI version distributor.

Through 6/15/95 Macromedia's MacroModel with RenderMan for Mac or Windows
for $199. It has been confirmed that buying now puts you on the upgrade path
for Macromedia's coming full 3D animation package ("Daffy") for Mac and
Windows. A free demo can be requested. See 509.00.02 above for ordering info.

509.06.02 - Galleries & Exhibits

Through 5/28/95, Sharon Arts Ctr., Sharon, N.H.: "Out of the Internet," held
by the Center and *Digital Video* magazine. Works by artists from 17 states.
Open Mon.-Sat. 10-5pm, Sun. 12-5pm, four miles south of Peterborough on Rt.
123, admission free, 603/924-7256.

509.06.03 - Shows & Exhibitions

VR World 5/22-25, Convention Ctr., San Jose, Calif., sponsored by *VR World*
and *CyberEdge Journal*, held by Mecklermedia, 800/632-5537; 203/226-6967,
-6979 fax; [e-mail].

509.06.04 - Artists' Calls

May 1 for 3rd annual New York Digital Salon, hosted by the School of Visual
Arts. Contact Dr. Timothy Binkley at the school, 209 E. 23rd St., New York,
NY 10010; 212/592-2535, -2509 fax; E-mail [e-mail].

June 1 for Autodesk's Siggraph '95 Demo Reel. Send Betacam SP tape(s) to the
Autodesk Multimedia Unit at 111 McInnis Pkwy., San Rafael, CA 94903,
attention "Siggraph 95 Video." See TESS#506.00.05 for more info. Fax
inquiries to 415/507-5150.

June 16, 1995 for CD-ROM Showcase, a CD of software demos with a "Digital
Portfolio" section for artists' work, to debut at Siggraph '95. Contact
Oregon Data Products, 1730 S.W. Skyline Blvd. #208, Portland, OR 97221;
503/292-5119, -5146 fax.

June 30, 1995 for "3-D Coolness '95" animation contest. See TESS#507.00.04
for more info. Contact World Fusion Software, 5942 Edinger, #113-718,
Huntington Beach, CA 92649; 714/894-4094; worldfusion.com.

509.07 - 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
> Caligari Corp; 1955 Landings Dr., Mountain View, CA 94043; 800/351-7620;
415/390-9600, -9755 fax
> CrystalGraphics, Inc.; 3110 Patrick Henry Dr., Santa Clara, CA 95054;
800/867-2733; 408/496-6175, -0970 fax
> Eos Systems Inc.; 2040 W. 12th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6J 2G2, Canada;
604/732-6658; photomodeler.com
> Macromedia; 600 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94103; 800/326-2128;
415/252-2000, 626-0554 fax
> Play, Inc.; 2890 Kilgore Rd., Rancho Cordova, CA 95670; 800/306-7529;
916/851-0800, -0801 fax
> Ray Dream, Inc.; 1804 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043;
415/960-0768; 415/960-1198 fax
> Schreiber Instruments, Inc.; 4800 Happy Canyon Rd. #250, Denver, CO 80237;
800/252-1024; 303/759-1024, -0928 fax, -3598 BBS; [e-mail]
> Vibrant Graphics; 12741 Research Blvd. #102, Austin TX 78759;
512/918-2270, -3411 BBS
> Xaos Tools, Inc.; 600 Townsend St. #270E, San Francisco, CA 94103;
415/487-7000, 558-9886 fax

__________________
3D ARTIST magazine

If you haven't seen 3D ARTIST and can't find it on a newsstand or through
your local user group, E-mail your snail mail address to
[e-mail] for a sample issue in North America. Elsewhere, we send
an info kit including sample pages.

[end]