BodyPaint 3D and CINEMA 4D exclusive 3D texturing and digital matte environment software used.
MAXON, June 11, 2007 – MAXON’s software played an important role in the making of Spider-Man 3 according to visual effects powerhouse Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. For this record-smashing blockbuster, Sony Pictures Imageworks utilized CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D as part of their production pipeline to bring the third installment of the Spider-Man franchise to the big screen. MAXON’s BodyPaint 3D and CINEMA 4D were among the 3D texturing and digital matte environment software used by Imageworks on Spider-Man 3.
The talented texture artists at Sony Pictures Imageworks used MAXON’s products to create detailed textures on objects as minute as a grain of sand and as extensive as multifaceted cityscapes. Concurrently, the equally talented artists in the matte department were busy using CINEMA 4D to create realistic digital environments and repaint sky elements in numerous scenes as diverse as the storm in the bell-tower sequence to the richly colored sunrise sky featured at the culmination of the climactic battle sequence.
MAXON’s software is designed to integrate into any pipeline, and facilitate a flexible work environment that accommodates an artist’s workflow and creativity. So it easily plugged into the Sony Pictures Imageworks’ production pipeline alongside its proprietary tools and other graphics applications.
“BodyPaint 3D integrates extremely well. This gave us the complete toolset we needed for all our texture mapping needs on Spider-Man 3,” remarks Elbert Yen, Texture Paint Lead at Sony Pictures Imageworks. “I especially like BodyPaint 3D’s feature of keeping discrete layers for each texture map and allowing the texture artist to paint on and map individual layers separately. By keeping the texture maps in multi-layered Photoshop files, BodyPaint 3D is more flexible and robust than other 3D texturing programs I’ve tried.”
MAXON’s products also lived up to their reputation for being stable and robust.
“Many of our largest skyscraper models, as well as the subway cavern on Spider-Man 3, utilized multi-layered texture maps as large as 8K square (8192 x 8192 pixels), really pushing the software to its limits,” added Yen, “but BodyPaint 3D performed like a champ and we were able to paint and publish all the maps without a hitch.” The world’s moviegoers were caught in the web of Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man 3 at the global box office opening weekend as the film grossed $382 million worldwide, the highest opening ever in motion picture history.
Adobe – Switching to Dreamweaver
Before purchasing Adobe GoLive 9 software, consider Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, the market-leading tool to design, develop, and maintain websites and web applications. Part of Adobe Creative Suite 3 software, Dreamweaver CS3 offers a visual layout interface, a streamlined coding environment, and intelligent integration with related Adobe software. Free tools and support are also available to help ease your transition from GoLive to Dreamweaver.
Wading Through Formats: JPEG, TIFF and Friends – New York Times
Two editing programs, Apple’s Aperture and Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom, also work nondestructively. Like RAW and DNG, they add a packet of instructions to each image without actually changing the original. Your editing commands affect the image that you see on your computer monitor or print, and are incorporated into copies you export to JPEG, TIFF or other processed files. You can also copy the unmodified image and your editing instructions to a DNG.
Even more flexible is the system used by image-editing programs like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro and PhotoImpact. They let you save edited images in a proprietary format (PSD, PSP and UFO, respectively) that includes the original, unaltered, image plus a list of all the changes you have made to it. You can undo the changes one by one, if you like. Not all programs can read other programs’ proprietary formats, which can be a problem if you change software or send the files to someone else.
Announcing MindManager 7!
MindManager 7 helps students, faculty and administrators visually and logically organize ideas, information and resources. Use MindManager 7 to capture notes, share research and resources and enrich class time to significantly enhance academic success.
Students – MindManager 7 helps you to organize your class notes, research, and lecture materials in a way that is most meaningful for you. Make measurable strides in academic performance by taking control of the facts along with your prospects for the future.
Faculty – MindManager 7 presents complex information in an easy-to-interpret visual map, effectively increasing your productivity while streamlining your communication. Enhance your ability to transfer knowledge to students, build consensus with colleagues, and make the most of your time producing research and scholarly materials.
Administrative Computing – MindManager increases administrative effectiveness by providing a campus-wide structure for facilitated consensus building and big picture thinking. Deliver quick results that drive long term impact with simple-to-use maps that capture creative thinking while encouraging rapid alignment around complex issues.
MindManager Lite 7 vs. MindManager Pro 7 Comparison Chart
Download a trial version of MindManager 7
Security Matters: Acrobat and Reader 8.1 – Now Available
Adobe Acrobat 8.1 and Adobe Reader 8.1 are now available for download. In Acrobat, check the Adobe Updater (Help menu -> Check for Updates) to look for the update. You can also directly download Adobe Reader 8.1.
A partial listing of what’s new in 8.1:
* Microsoft Windows Vista™ and Office 2007 support
* Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista
* Print documents to a FedEx Kinkos office in the United States.
* Easily extract documents from a package. Search and print the current or selected document, or all documents within the package.
* Read and organize eBooks and other publications with Adobe® Digital Editions (a separate product). When you first click the Digital Editions menu item, you can download and install the Adobe Digital Editions software. After installation, choose Digital Editions to go directly to your Adobe Digital Editions bookshelf.
* Acrobat 8.1 provides a FIPS mode to restrict data protection to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 approved algorithms using the RSA BSAFE Crypto-C 2.1 encryption module. This article has more information on enabling FIPS mode.
The following knowledgebase articles describe the 8.1 update in more detail:
401730: Adobe Acrobat 8.1 Update
401732: Adobe Reader 8.1 Update
Reason 3.0 Free 1GB Thumb Drive Special
Purchase Reason 3.0 between 6/1/07 and 8/31/07 and receive, via mail from Line 6, a FREE 1GB Reason Thumb Drive containing an exclusive BandmateLoops.com ReFill and a FREE Reason 3.0 DVD tutorial – a combined value of $100! Rebate form submission required.
Adobe Education eSeminar Series 06/14/2007 – 07/12/2007
Join Adobe Education experts as they conduct free, live online product demonstrations. Find out how to engage students in learning while teaching essential digital communication skills. Discover how to simplify and streamline administrative workflows, allowing your institution or entire district to concentrate resources where they’re needed most on teaching and learning.
Do You Need Pricey Photo Software?
By Ben Long, creativepro.com senior editor
If you’re a digital photographer who shoots regularly, you can benefit from workflow software. But if you already have Bridge (which comes free with Photoshop), do you really need to pay for Aperture or Lightroom? Read this and find out.
Is your performance maxed-out? Here are 10 reasons to try XSI
1. Non-destructive everything
2. Gigapolygon processing
3. Modeling that feels like sculpting
4. Delta Referencing: breakthrough collaborative 3D animation
5. Commitment to scripting & development standards
6. Animation Mixer
7. Asset reuse made simple
8. Render Passes
9. Built-in XSI Illusion compositor
10. Custom Display Host
Pixologic releases the long awaited ZBrush 3.0 to a hungry community.
CGSociety :: Software Release
ZBrush 3.0 has continued the development of artist-friendly digital art tools. Pixologic has boostedZBrush’s speed; added real-time shadows, real-timematerial-capture and render (MatCap).
ZBrush 3.0 also now allows full 3D sculpting and texturing with alphas and textures and has activated advanced ‘digital clay’ with up to one billion polygons using HD geometry.
Within this long-awaited release, three years in the making in fact, Pixologic includes real-time posing with ZBrush’s Transpose functionality; perspective camera; 2D / 2.5D /3D mesh projections; mesh retopologizing; topology/cavity/color based maskings; one-click turntable recording and QuickTime export; support for 32- and 64-bit systems and multi-threaded support for up to 256 processors.
“With ZBrush,” says Ryan Kingslien, well known Product Manager at Pixologic, “we have set out to create a tool, which alleviates restrictions imposed on artists, and to unleash the ‘artist within’. We want nothing else but to create an environment that is an extension of your own creativity; an environment that will not only allow you to ‘get the job done’ but will also encourage you to experiment and go the extra step. Ultimately, our goal is to enable you to create and then be truly impressed with your own creations.”
ZBrush 3.0 continues Pixologic’s development by putting the artist in an immersive digital sculpting environment. The developers have boosted ZBrush’s speed, refined its functionality as well as expanded its capability by adding real-time shadows, real-time material capture and render (MatCap), full 3D sculpting and texturing with alphas and textures, advanced ‘digital clay’ with up to one billion polygons using HD geometry, real-time posing with ZBrush’s Transpose functionality, perspective camera, 2D / 2.5D /3D mesh projections, mesh retopologizing, topology/cavity/color based maskings, one-click turntable recording and quicktime export, support for 32 and 64 bit
ZBrush 3.0 feature from CGSociety
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