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SOFTIMAGE|XSI Software Makes 3D Animation Magic in Holiday Blockbuster Film Happy Feet
Animal Logic chooses SOFTIMAGE|XSI software to animate, rig and key frame lovable penguins in box office-topping and toe-tapping animated feature film
Tewksbury, Mass — December 21, 2006 — Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID), and its Softimage, Co. subsidiary today congratulates the artists and technical directors at Animal Logic (Sydney, Australia) for their contribution to this season’s wildly popular 3D animated feature film “Happy Feet.” Animal Logic chose SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® software, Avid’s flagship 3D animation and character creation tool, to create complex character animation, rigging, muscle systems and fat simulations needed to make the near photo-real emperor penguins talk, waddle, jump, and most important to the film—sing and dance.
Happy Feet is the story of Emperor penguins that attract their mate through individual heart songs. The film’s protagonist, Mumble (voice by Elijah Wood), is born totally incapable of singing, but with a brilliant talent for tap dancing. Because he is different, the blue-eyed penguin is ostracized from the clan and goes on a journey to find acceptance and self-realization. Along the way, he meets a cadre of other penguins, including spicy Latino-influenced Ramon and guru Rock-hopper penguin Lovelace, (both voiced by Robin Williams). The film delivers amazing visuals of Antarctica as well as messages about ecology and learning to celebrate diversity.
Director George Miller (Mad Max series and Babe Pig in the City) and producers Doug Mitchell and Bill Miller spent four years on the 3D animated feature. Two years were devoted to setting up the digital pipeline to animate and render the penguins in the icy, watery world of Antarctica. Animal Logic created a system using SOFTIMAGE|XSI software to shade and animate the penguins, allowing director George Miller to preview how live dance performers’ motion capture data would look on small, fluffy 3D-generated penguins. The process worked and Animal Logic successfully built, rigged and animated the clans of penguins and other creatures using XSI software.
“We relied on SOFTIMAGE|XSI software to rig, animate and deform pretty much every single creature in Happy Feet, and I think the results were amazing,” said Brett Feeney, Digital Supervisor at Animal Logic. “Softimage provided excellent support during the making of this animated feature, and they really understand what it takes to build a 3D pipeline that allows artists to realize animation magic,” added Feeney.
Softimage recently unveiled SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 software, the latest version of its 3D modeling, rendering, character creation and animation software. With a next-generation scalable architecture called the Gigapolygon core, XSI 6 software will offer artists and studios, such as Animal Logic, the ability to easily set up and integrate their 3D pipelines in a collaborative workflow environment. Accelerated animation features in XSI 6 will simplify the process of working with 3D characters and motion capture data, as created for Happy Feet.
A full feature list for Softimage XSI 6 can be found at: http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/whats_new
About Softimage Co.
Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., delivers innovative, character creation and effects tools to animators and digital artists in the film, broadcast, post-production and games industries. Its product line includes SOFTIMAGE|XSI, the industry's only non-destructive character production software, and SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT, the first production toolset that multiplies animation productivity while giving artists precise control. For more information about Softimage, please visit www.softimage.com.
About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company’s Oscar®, Grammy®, and Emmy® award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.
One of the world's most highly respected digital production companies, Animal Logic produces award-winning design, animation and visual effects solutions for the film, television and advertising industries. The company has a studio in Sydney, Australia and a production office in Los Angeles. Information about Animal Logic is available at www.animallogic.com.
© 2006 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, Face Robot, Film Composer, Pro Tools, SOFTIMAGE and XSI are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc., or its subsidaries in the United States and/or other countries. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid’s audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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