"California's population grew this year by nearly a quarter of a million
residents," reports the Los Angeles Daily News, "closing in on record-high
populat...
14 minutes ago
Kanye West | 808s & Heartbreak | Preview
Track Listing
1. “Welcome to Heartbreak”
2. “Heartless”
3. “Love Lockdown”
4. “Robocop”
5. “Anyway”
6. “Streetlights”
7. “Say You Will”
8. “Bad News”
9. “Amazing” featuring Young Jeezy
10. “Tell Everybody That You Know” featuring Lil Wayne
11. “Coldest Winter”
12. “Interlude | What It Is”
SAW School Musical | Trailer
The Pitch: “What if the world of Saw and High School Musical came together and made a baby? It might resemble this, Saw School Musical.”
Autodesk Acquires Softimage For $35 Million
In a surprise announcement, 3ds Max and Maya owner Autodesk has revealed that it has acquired Avid's Softimage business unit for $35 million, uniting three of the most-used and formerly competing 3D game art construction tools under the same roof.
A dominant player in the market, Autodesk acquired Maya creator Alias in early 2006, and since then has continued its expansion, also purchasing Mudbox creator Skybox in late 2007 and AI firm Kynogon in early 2008.
Softimage was founded in 1986 by Daniel Langlois; its flagship product is Softimage|XSI, an extensible 3D animation software solution used by game companies including Ubisoft, Capcom, and Sega as well as major CG companies.
However, the division is a reasonably small portion of Avid, which also produced industry-leading editing and media asset management software and hardware, and which evidently decided to divest its Softimage division to Autodesk.
According to an official statement released by the two companies, "Upon completion of the acquisition, Autodesk intends to continue developing and selling Softimage's core product line, while integrating certain Softimage technology into future versions of Autodesk solutions and products."
Autodesk plans to acquire and continue developing the following Softimage products:
- SOFTIMAGE|XSI: Including XSI Essentials, XSI Advanced, XSI Academic, XSI Mod Tool and the XSI software development kit.
- SOFTIMAGE|Face Robot: A complete software solution for easily rigging and animating 3D faces.
- SOFTIMAGE|Cat: This advanced character animation system is a plug-in for Autodesk 3ds Max software. It is intended to be integrated into the 3ds Max
product line.
- SOFTIMAGE|Crosswalk: This interoperability solution is intended to be integrated with Autodesk's own interoperability technology."
Marc Petit, senior vice president of Autodesk Media & Entertainment, commented, "As we have demonstrated since the acquisition of Alias in 2006, we're committed to giving our customers choice when it comes to their 3D tools. We plan to maintain and grow the Softimage product line, and through Autodesk FBX provide better interoperability between Softimage products, 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya.
"FBX also provides interoperability between Softimage products and our specialized applications such as Autodesk Mudbox, Autodesk MotionBuilder, Autodesk ImageModeler and Autodesk Stitcher, as well as numerous third-party applications."
Related Links
Autodesk Acquires Softimage For $35 Million
Vice Presidential Debate 2008
PART 1
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Ford | Restrictive Car Keys for Parents
"Ford is set to release a management system that will restrict certain aspects of a car's performance based on which key is in the ignition. The speed is limited to 80, you can't turn off traction control, and you can't turn the stereo up to eleven. It's targeted at parents of teenagers and seems like a generally good idea, especially if you get a break on your insurance." The keys will be introduced with the 2010 Focus coupe and will quickly spread to Ford's entire lineup. 
Related Links
Ford | Mykey
SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival
I had the pleasure of attending the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival in Los Angeles this past summer, and had a great time. I found this video that gives some of the highlights of the event.
Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display
This is amazing - an airborne ultrasound tactile display, created by Shinoda Labs at the University of Tokyo:
Usain Bolt | World's Fastest Man
Usain Bolt has picked up a sweet endorsement deal with Puma, they have themed the whole site around him and started a campaign called "ChasingBOLT". It really gets into his origins, like his home town of Trelawny, Jamaica, his inspirations and much more. He has even invented his own dance called "The Lightning Bolt" LOL. It's Bolt-amonium in J.A. right now. Below are some videos and pictures from the site.
Related Links
Puma Website
Usain Bolt | World Record Video
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