WAVEFRONT GETS
OSCAR NOMINATION
Copyright 2002 Market News Publishing Inc
[ February 14th 2002 ]
Alias/Wavefront,
an SGI company, announced that its Maya 3D animation
software was used in all three of the films representing
an Oscar nomination in the category best visual
effects. The films distinguished by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are: AI: Artificial
Intelligence, Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring, and Pearl Harbor.
According
to Jon Labrie, chief technical officer at Weta
Digital Ltd., Maya is their primary 3D application
for the Lord of the Rings films. Referring to
the creation of the computer-generated effects
in the first film, Weta 3D Supervisor, Wayne Stables
states: "We were up against some pretty tight
time constraints, but we knew we'd be able to
rely on Maya to get the work done on time. It's
a very reliable, mature package."
In addition
to providing the computer graphics technology
behind all the films nominated in the "best visual
effects' category, Alias/Wavefront's Maya was
used to help produce the eye-catching computer
animation in two of the three films nominated
in the new Oscar category "best animated feature."
The films nominated in this category that made
use of Maya are: Monsters, Inc. and Shrek.
The winners
of these two categories will be announced at the
Annual Academy Awards Presentation on March 24,
2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. This
year is the Academy's 74th Annual Oscar Presentation.
Alias/Wavefront's
Maya software is the world's leading professional
3D animation and effects package for the film,
broadcast, video, game development, 3D web and
location-based entertainment markets. It has been
used in almost every film nominated by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the category
"best visual effects" since its inception six
years ago including: Titanic, The Matrix and What
Dreams May Come. Currently it is being used on
such ground-breaking projects as: The Matrix II,
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Tomb
Raider (game) and Superman (game).
|