*Puppet Works at Beevision

Toronto-based Beevision, a 3D animation shop which recently joined Michael Terry’s Post City conglomeration of post and production services, has expanded its capabilities with the addition of a motion-capture studio. The new motion-capture initiative features the Puppet Works J2000 desktop system, based on a reconfigurable mechanical puppet which drives the movement of cg models.

Burlington, Ont.-based Puppet Works recently expanded the puppet-based system’s range of input tools and is also developing a motion-capture suit, which will be beta tested at Beevision.

The suit will incorporate 22 sensors, which can be taken off the puppet version of the system and applied to a wearable suit to expand the array of motion that can be applied to cg models. An alpha version of the suit is expected in February.

Beevision president Nina Beveridge says the Puppet Works system was a cost-effective and workable way to enter the motion-capture market, launching with the puppet-based system and then gearing up to the suit, versus opting for full magnetic or optical suit configurations, which require a dedicated space.

The Puppet Works system costs about $21,000 fully configured and the motion-capture suit will likely be available for about $7,000 as an upgrade or about $26,000 for the full system.

Puppet Works and Beevision are working with Toronto’s Side Effects Software to develop system compatibility with the new version of Side Effects’ Houdini animation software, scheduled for release early this year.

Beveridge says initially the shop will use the motion-capture system on commercial projects.

*SMPTE confab

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers 32nd Advanced Motion Imaging Conference is being held at the Sheraton Center in Toronto Feb. 5-7 and will feature a day-long seminar on the issues surrounding the digital tv conversion process.

With the u.s. federal broadcast regulator’s aggressive time line for American adoption of digital tv, issues of digital standards for Canadian broadcasters have come increasingly to the fore.

The morning session of the Saturday seminar will be chaired by Craig Tanner, executive director of the Advanced Television Standards Committee, the group responsible for the digital standard adopted by the fcc. Tanner and several technology developers will explain atsc standards and both the North American and European implementations of dtv, including discussions of standard definition and the ballyhooed high-definition video formats and the overlap of dtv and analog tv broadcasts.

The afternoon session is devoted to digital video broadcasting techniques and will feature presentations on dvb transmission standards for satellite, cable and terrestrial tv.

The overall theme of the conference is Migrating Toward a Networked Digital Future. Other seminars include Evolution to Digital Disk Recording and Using Video on a Network.

*LORtech reps Alex

Montreal-based Alex Informatics has added LORtech International to its worldwide list of resellers with a specialization in telecine high-end post, broadcast, computer graphics and communications industries.

lortech will represent Alex’s scalable multimedia/video servers systems, and will introduce the Alex Aurora Broadcast Video Server to the Canadian broadcast market.

*Quantel boosts font capabilities

U.K.-based Quantel has extended its open strategy and has increased the font handling capabilities of its graphics, video design and visual effects systems. Quantel users can now import pc format True Type fonts; once brought into the Quantel shared disc, the pc-generated fonts can be used with all available Quantel text functions. True Type fonts are available now on Paintbox, Hal and Henry, with other systems to follow.

*ICE’d Edges

Integrated Computer Engines, which makes the ICEfx Effects Editor for desktop special effects creation, has announced a new set of effects called ICE’d Edges, the first set of ICE’d Effects aimed at the compositing process.

ICE’d Edges enables the production and editing of border highlights and edge treatments by reducing common effects sequences that require multiple layers and multiple effects to a single effect applied to a single layer.

The package offers several effects which act as compositing tools for use in titling sequences. Waltham, MA-based ice is also making these available for use without ICEfx hardware.

ICE’d Edges is available now as an add-on module for ICEfx for us$995 or as a software-only system running on Windows nt and Mac for us$495.

*No charge

Microsoft Canada has opened up access to its Canadian online shows from a subscribers-only to everyone on the Net. msn’s offerings, including its Canadian communications show Splice, developed with Toronto’s Digital Renaissance, and Freaky Stories are now accessible free at //ca.msn.com.

*Moves

Visual Effects producer Cordell Wynne has joined Vancouver-based Enigma Animation. Recently, Wynne worked as visual effects producer on Lexx: The Dark Zone.

* Julie Bannon has joined Vancouver’s Finale Editworks as post coordinator to handle the shop’s increased volume.

* Toronto’s Atomic Broadcast Design has added Dorothy Vuk to its staff to head up the company’s sales and marketing efforts. Vuk had previously been a partner at Bluefields Editing and had also worked at The Partners’ Film Company

* Baton Broadcasting/ctv has appointed Malcolm Macallum as vp, information technology. Macallum has spearheaded several of the broadcaster’s systems implementations including the Vancouver Television installation.