*Houdini 4.0 unshackled

Toronto-based Side Effects Software has begun shipping the latest version of its Houdini 3D animation software.

Houdini 4.0 features a new visual user interface and navigation which the company says will streamline work flow and make it faster and easier to create and edit 3D content.

‘The [redesign] team collaborated with animators and modelers from around the world to produce a procedural work flow that is powerful yet intuitive. The result is a customizable interface that provides new levels of production efficiency for the animator,’ says Paul Salvini, Side Effects’ chief technology officer.

The highlight of the new package is the vex (vector expressions) programming language, which can be used both to create programmable shaders for Mantra (Houdini’s native renderer) and to modify geometry particles or channels. This allows for the seamless integration of the formerly distinct processes of rendering and modeling/animation, the company says.

Houdini 4.0 is also available on the Linux platform, a first for a major 3D animation package, the company says.

*Avid NAB unveilings

Avid Technology has announced it will unveil new releases of its Media Composer and Symphony professional editing/finishing systems at nab in April.

Symphony 3.0, a nonlinear finishing and mastering tool for high-end television projects, will provide a new realtime keyer for chroma keying, plus advancements in the area of multi-format, multi-version editing and mastering – including the ability to output Web streaming formats directly.

Media Composer 10.0 will be available for both the Macintosh and Windows nt platforms. Features include 24P universal offline editing, 24fps feature film editing, realtime moving mattes, and the ability to output streaming formats directly from the Media Composer system.

Symphony Version 3.0 and Media Composer 10.0 will be shipped, tentatively, in the third quarter of 2000. Additional features will be announced at NAB 2000 in Las Vegas.

*Shaw digital set-top boxes ready for iTV

Shaw Communications has signed a deal with San Carlos, Calif.-based Liberate Technologies to bring Web-based interactive tv services to Shaw’s cable customers.

Shaw plans to deploy Liberate software with its digital set-top boxes, making interactive tv available to 300,000 subscribers. Shipments will begin in the summer.

‘Liberate’s standards-based software will allow our customers to tap into the wealth of existing Web content and to deliver e-commerce, banking, e-mail, electronic program guide and other applications,’ says Shaw Cablesystems president Peter Bissonnette in a statement.

Liberate software is a leading Internet-based platform which provides full html, JavaScript and Java support for enhanced tv.

*Maya ports to new Intel IA-64 processor

Alias|Wavefront has announced plans to develop a version of its Maya 3D animation software for Intel’s upcoming IA-64 Itanium processor and Microsoft’s 64-bit Windows nt operating system.

The Itanium processor uses a 64-bit architecture, which is said to offer greater power for data-intensive 3D visualization and computer graphics.

‘Our film, video and games customers should significantly benefit from the Itanium processor’s highly advanced floating point performance and 64-bit addressing capability,’ says Jack Moran, general manager of Alias|Wavefront’s entertainment business division.

Alias|Wavefront is one of the first software developers to port its technology to Itanium.

*Sumatra beta 3 marks final countdown

Montreal-based Softimage is shipping the final beta version of its Sumatra 3D animation software, marking the final stage of the much-anticipated launch of the new product. Softimage says online demonstrations are available at www.3don

steroids.com in February and www.thefutureof3d.com in March.