Light ROM 3/Light ROM 3 - Disc 2.iso/tess/tess513.txt

Text File | 1995-09-04 | 18KB | 371 lines

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 THE   T E S S E L L A T I O N   T I M E S   #513
     Issue #13 of 1995,  for Monday, May 22nd
==================================================

*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.
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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]>
________
CONTENTS
513.00 - Heads Up
  513.00.01 - The Fortnight in 3D
  513.00.02 - Special Offers
  513.00.03 - Computer Shows Soon
  513.00.04 - Artist' Calls
513.01 - Acceleration for 3D Quadratic Patches - by Rob Glidden
513.02 - Long Island Symposium - by Gary Dohanish
513.03 - News on High End
513.04 - Other News
513.05 - What's Up in Santa Fe
  513.05.01 - TESS
  513.05.02 - 3D ARTIST
513.06 - Continuing Listings
  513.06.01 - Special Offers
  513.06.02 - Shows & Exhibitions
  513.06.03 - Galleries & Exhibits
  513.06.04 - Artists' Calls
513.07 - Contacts


513.00 - Heads Up

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

513.00.01 - The Fortnight in 3D

May 29-June 2, Montpellier, France: InforMatique 4th Int'l. Conference &
Exhibition: "Interface to Real & Virtual Worlds," at the Corum on Explanade
Charles de Gaulle, exhibition starts May 31. Held by Montpellier Languedoc
Roussillon Technopole, 33/671361-21, -10 fax

June 5-8, Atlanta, Ga.: A/E/C Systems exhibit & conference, Georgia World
Congress Ctr. Contact: A/E/C Systems '95, 365 Willard Ave. #2K, Newington,
CT 06111; 203/666-4782 fax.

513.00.02 - Special Offers

Syndesis Corp. is offering a three-pack CD ROM bundle of 2,000+ models
contained in the Syndesis 3D-ROM volumes I and II, and its Avalon CD.
Through 6/30/95 for $150 you can get all three CDs shipped anywhere in the
world.

513.00.03 - Computer Shows Soon

June 9-11, Albuquerque, N.M.: New Mexico Computer Fair & Expo, Albuquerque
Convention Ctr., includes computer art exhibit, 9am-6pm daily. Sponsored by
*ComputerScene* magazine. 505/271-0072, 800/658-6790, 505/271-1211 fax.

513.00.04 - Artists' Calls

Scan '95 Computer Art Exhibition at the Silicon Gallery in Philadelphia
Penn. for Nov. 3-25, 1995. Any computer generated art media will be accepted
in the categories of print, 3D, animation, and multimedia.
  First send slides with a dot on the lower left corner of the slide mount,
the artist's name, and title of the work. Deadline for slide receipt is
8/18/95. You can send final entries done as VHS, 3/4" video, 3D
stereoscopic, textiles and crafts, holograms, interactive work, and even
robotics. There is a limit of three works per artist.
  Contact Rick de Coyte 215/235-6060, 238-6067 fax, CIS 71233,1437,
[e-mail].

Scan '95 will host its 15th Annual Symposium of Small Computers in the Arts
at the Franklin Institute Science Museum Nov. 3-5, 1995. They are looking
for topics of interest to be presented at the Symposium in the form of
papers to be distributed, presentation talks, performances, workshops, and
corporate presentations. All areas of computer related art will be considered.
  Deadline is 6/30 for sending an abstract or tape (for performances).
Contact Misako Scott 610/664-3417, [e-mail].

513.01 - Acceleration for 3D Quadratic Patches
  By Rob Glidden <[e-mail]>

The Swiss-army knife of 3D multimedia is here, according to new chip
manufacturer Nvidia and consumer electronics giant SGS-Thomson. The
companies announced today 5/22/95 their jointly marketed NV1, a single-chip
multimedia accelerator with photorealistic realtime 3D, wave-table audio,
VGA and GUI acceleration, full-motion video with special effects, and
enhanced game port performance.
  The chip's 3D functionality includes peak rendering speeds of 100 million
pixels per second (allowing for 3D in 800x600, 16-bit color), realtime
quadratics (curved patches), and 30fps video texturing (more below).
  The Nvidia/SGS-Thomson strategy is to win the race to deliver
full-solution multimedia and to spark an early battle for multimedia space
on PC motherboards. Nvidia will market a VRAM version of the chip to add-in
board companies (Diamond has announced endorsement), aiming for boards with
$200 range street prices this summer. SGS-Thomson will market a DRAM
version, the STG2000, directly to computer manufacturers, hoping to get them
to begin motherboard-based designs as early as this fall.
  Early software developer support includes Domark, Interplay, Papyrus, and
Velocity. NV1's quadratic patches are supported by Intel's 3DR 3D API
version 2. And although quadratics raise infrastructure issues for 3D
content developers, companies like Velocity view quadratics as a bonus
feature (by giving smoother results than from polygon-only 3D accelerator
boards).
  A key element of Nvidia's strategy is an "architectural alliance" with
SGS-Thomson (1994 revenues $2.6 billion), which allows for the NV1 to be
produced on SGS-Thomson's state-of-the-art 0.5-micron, 3-volt fabrication
process. Nvidia hopes the partnership will avoid the shortcomings of
contracting out manufacturing to a silicon foundry, which may not get access
to the latest chip processes or guarantee high-volume supply. "The
semiconductor industry is badly capacity-constrained," says Nvidia president
Jen-Hsun Huang. Also, Nvidia hopes SGS-Thomson's clout will encourage major
computer manufacturers to take the risk of designing a multimedia-enabled
motherboard around a single chip.
  The NV1's 3D capabilities include: fast polygon rendering, texture-mapping
engine to accelerate rendering of photorealistic environments, quadratic
texture-mapping for perspective correction and rendering curved surfaces,
bilinear texture-mapping, surface effects (such as diffused and specular
lighting, opaque and translucent surfaces), alpha blending for fog, smoke,
and transparency, antialiased sprite animation, and double buffer for smooth
animation.
_________
Rob Glidden reports often to *Tess* and *3D Artist* about accelerating
developments that will bring expanding 3D capabilities to home and business
computers during 1995-96. His company, Soft Press, is a content developer.

513.02 - Long Island Symposium
  From messages from Gary Dohanish <[e-mail]>

Just got back from the symposium on computer visualization & digital
production technologies held at the College of Aeronautics in Brooklyn May
16-17.
  Workshops featured HSC Gradient Designer, In:synch's Razor Pro, Animator
Studio, 3DS script programming with Martin Doudoroff, and 3DS network
rendering. Exhibitors included Schreiber, NEC, Xaos Tools, Visual Software,
DEC with an Alpha just waiting for 3D Studio NT, and SGI with an Indy and a
neat, large, color active matrix standalone screen.
  The event was very low key but, for us on the East Coast, it was great to
have any show at all. Since it was small and semiformal, with what looked
like a couple hundred attendees, one could get a lot of information from the
exhibitors.
  The highlight was a rousing 3D Studio IPAS workshop by Tim Forcade. New
Riders will be publishing his new book *3D Studio IPAS Plug-Ins Reference*
sometime in June for $55.00, CD included, ISBN 1-56205-431-7. It will cover
all the IPAS routines now available (over 240) with explanations and screen
shots of each, and many demos and examples on the CD.
_________
Gary Dohanish has been writing for *3D Artist* since 1993. He specializes in
courtroom presentation using AutoCAD, 3D Studio, and various add-on programs.

513.03 - News on High End

In a press release dated 5/15, NEC Technologies, Inc. and 3Dlabs, Inc. have
teamed up to incorporate the Glint chip into NEC's new line of RISC
workstations for Windows NT. The NEC Riscstation 2200 is based on a MIPS
VR4400 200MHz CPU, and can handle up to 12Mb of graphics-specific memory.
The Glint 300SX chip reportedly processes up to 300,000 polygons per second
and fully supports OpenGL.
  A complete NEC Riscstation 2200 will be available through resellers in
June, configured with 64Mb of RAM and a 1Gb hard drive, for a price
somewhere under $11,000.

Viewpoint DataLabs announced 5/11 at the E3 show in Los Angeles that they're
offering a new motion capture and laser scanning service. Available
internationally, the service is set to start 6/30/95. The first two sites
will be in Los Angeles and in London. Viewpoint will be able to offer
cross-platform formats for its capture data, along with its extensive
modeling expertise.
  The motion capture end of Viewpoint's business in London will be handled
by William Plant and Quentin Plant who previously worked in CGI at Jim
Henson's Creature Shop. Their performance captures credits include "The
Flintstones," "Dinosaurs," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
  Viewpoint's West Coast manager, Tom Tolles, will be responsible for the
L.A. studio.

513.04 - Other News

Visual Software, Inc. has just released a bonus CD for Simply Scenes, its
pre-made world models. Anyone using Simply 3D, Visual Reality, or Renderize
can access the GED files and textures on the CD. Current models include a
California beach scene, a medieval castle, and a futuristic space station.

Boss Game Studios, a division of Boss Film established in 1994 for creating
games, in a release received today 5/22 announced a worldwide distribution
agreement with BMG Interactive Entertainment. Their first game due early
next year will run on Sony and Sega 32-bit systems.

513.05 - What's Up in Santa Fe

513.05.01 - TESS

Deadline for TESS#514 will be early due to Memorial Day: 1pm MDT (3pm
Eastern) Fri., 5/26/95. Our regular 1pm Monday deadline will resume 6/5/95.

513.05.02 - 3D ARTIST

Many U.S. readers have already received 3DA#19, but we're still hearing from
those who haven't. Some copies mailed 5/5 and most 5/8/95. Delivery in some
areas will take until the end of June. With 3DA#19 we resumed using regular
postal channels for all mailings outside the U.S.

Writers and advertisers have a little more time to prepare for *3D Artist*
issue #21. Deadlines have been moved back to 7/1/95 for advertising space
reservations and editorial materials, and 7/18/95 for advertising materials.
3DA#21 will mail after Siggraph.
  3DA#21 has medical illustration as its special focus and, if there is
space, will also feature courtroom presentation.
  Advertisers: Because of time constraints, we are limiting 3DA#21 to 48
pages; please note that the advertising portion may close out before the 7/1
deadline.
  Medical illustrators: The 3DA#21 centerspread will have our first-ever
image gallery: a collection of 3D medical illustrations. To receive
submission guidelines, send E-mail to <[e-mail]> with the
subject "3D Medical Gallery." No message body is necessary. (Images cannot
be ftp'd and please do _not_ send images via E-mail without first receiving
a go-ahead with instructions.)--B.A.

513.06 - Continuing Listings

See 513.00 above for new items of immediate interest.

513.06.01 - Special Offers

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, distributor of the SGI version.

Through 5/31/95 you can get a Corel Stock Photo CD-ROM for $9.95 and/or buy
three at the regular price of $24.95 each and get a third one free. See
TESS#512.01 review.

Through 6/15/95: Macromedia's MacroModel with RenderMan for Mac or Windows
for $199. It can be ordered from Macromedia vendors such as Audio Images
415/957-9131 and PC/MAC Mall 800/222-2808. A free demo on CD is available
from Macromedia.

Through 6/15/95: Vibrant Software's Liquid Speed, a display speed enhancer
for 3D Studio for $195 (normally $295). Use reference #207 when ordering;
U.S. 800/937-1711, Europe 44 (0) 91/478-1016.

513.06.02 - 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.

Through 6/16/95, Santa Fe, N.M.: Binary Visions '95, a juried show hosted by
The Printmaker, Ltd., 1807 - 2nd St. #40, 505/425-9456.

513.06.03 - Shows & Exhibitions

June 10-12, Los Angeles, Calif.: ShowBiz Expo West, L.A. Convention Ctr.
Covers feature films, TV, new media, commercials, and theater. Held by
Advanstar Expositions; 800/854-3112, 714/513-8400, -8481 fax.

June 22-24, San Francisco, Calif.: ArtTeco II, Fort Mason Center. Held by
*Morph's Outpost*, the second annual developers festival will deal with the
full gamut of multimedia. This show boasts an "atmosphere akin to that of a
state fair." Sponsors include Autodesk, Apple, Intel, and Macromedia.
510/601-8284, -9074 fax, [e-mail].

513.06.04 - Artists' Calls

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 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.

July 3 for the San Francisco ACM Siggraph Animation Contest, open to
everyone everywhere. See TESS#512.00.04 or contact S.F. ACM Siggraph, 310
Richland Ave., San Francisco, CA 94110; 415/642-9605, CIS 73052,624.

July 31 is the new deadline 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; [e-mail].

513.07 - Contacts

Mention *Tess* when contacting companies about products mentioned here!

> Corel Corp.; 1600 Carling Ave., Ottawa, ON K1Z 8R7, Canada; 613/728-8200,
761-9176 fax
> Macromedia, Inc.; 600 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94103; 800/326-2128;
415/252-2000, 626-0554 fax
> New Riders c/o Prentice Hall; 201 W. 103rd St., Indianapolis, IN 46291;
800/428-5331; 317/581-3500, -3535 fax
> Nvidia Corp.; 1226 Tiros Way; Sunnyvale, CA 94086; 408/720-6100, -6111
fax; http://www.nvidia.com
> Schreiber Instruments, Inc.; 4800 Happy Canyon Rd. #250, Denver, CO 80237;
800/252-1024, 303/759-1024, -0928 fax, -3598 BBS; [e-mail]
> Summagraphics Corp.; 8500 Cameron Rd., Austin, TX 78754; 512/881-5400
> Syndesis Corp.; 235 S. Main St., Jefferson, WI 53549; [phone],
-6363 fax; [e-mail]
> Vibrant Graphics; 12741 Research Blvd. #102, Austin, TX 78759;
512/918-2270, -3411 BBS
> Viewpoint DataLabs International; 625 S. State St., Orem, UT 84058;
800/328-2738; 801/229-3000, -3300 fax; http://www.datalabs.com
> Visual Software, Inc.; 21731 Ventura Blvd. #310, Woodland Hills, CA 91364;
800/669-7318; 818/883-7900, 593-3750 fax
> Xaos Tools, Inc.; 600 Townsend St. #270E, San Francisco, CA 94103;
415/487-7000, 558-9886 fax
__________________
3D ARTIST magazine

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