SUNNYVALE,
Calif., May 25 -- 3Dlabs, Inc. (Nasdaq: TDDD) today announced that Tigar
Hare Studios (Los Angeles) has used its award-winning Oxygen GVX1 workstation
graphics accelerator throughout the creation of the Mission: Impossible
2 title sequence -- enabling the rapid production of sophisticated,
high-quality animation effects using 3D Studio Max and the Mental Ray
renderer.
"The Oxygen GVX1
provided excellent redraw speed that enabled us to get real-time animation
approvals from our client for the Mission: Impossible 2 project,"
said David Hare, creative director, Tigar Hare Studios.
Tigar Hare has also used Oxygen cards extensively on other animation
projects, including work for Outback Steak House and eMachines, among
others. For the Outback spot, the Oxygen GVX1 was used for its interactive
texturing ability. It allowed the animation house to create over 20
animated texture layers for the wave surface to be later composited
in Digital Fusion, along with the many particle layers.
"The Outback project was very challenging. We created a photo-real
tidal wave using 3D Studio Max. The Oxygen GVX1 allowed us to get real
time visual feedback from the animated maps and procedural textures
without rendering. This cut down the tweaking process from days to hours,"
said Hare.
For the eMachines
spot, "we completely recreated the computer using Maya and 3D Studio
Max. We created several hundred CG models that were very highly detailed.
If it was not for the excellent geometry acceleration of the GVX1, we
might still be modeling. Even with all the geometry in the scenes we
still had respectable redraw speeds," explained Hare.
The design productivity delivered by the Oxygen family of professional
graphics accelerators, combined with the animation skills of Tigar Hare,
is strongly appreciated by the clients of this fast growing studio:
"The interactivity that Tigar Hare provided cut my design time in
half, and when it went to film it was exactly what I expected to see,"
Bruce Schluter, designer at Greenberg/Schluter, Inc., Title
Designers for Universal Studios.
"The Oxygen GVX1 provided Tigar Hare Studios with the power to quickly
create dozens of animated texture layers for the tidal wave surface
-- so that in just a week, we had an incredible looking rough draft,"
said Christopher Willoughby, creative director, Artifact, Inc.
"We were able to use this as reference for the shoot, allowing us
to stay on time and on budget."
"3Dlabs is focused
on developing graphics accelerators that bring outstanding productivity
to graphics professionals - and it is great to see Oxygen cards delivering
in intense design projects such as M:I2," said Neil Trevett,
vice president of marketing of 3Dlabs. "It is also good to see the
key industry publications, and their readerships, appreciating the unique
blend of performance and quality that Oxygen boards bring to design
professionals around the world."
Accolades from the Press
3Dlabs continues to be honored by many of the industry's leading
professional 3D design and animation magazines. These awards and reviews
recognize and support 3Dlabs' leadership position in professional 3D
graphics technology on the PC and were awarded to 3Dlabs and its partners.
A/V Video Magazine, January 2000:
"Oxygen GVX1 Earns Reader's Choice Award"
This award was awarded to the Oxygen GVX1 based on a vote of A/V
Video Magazine users asked to select their favorite graphics card.
Cadalyst Magazine, January 2000:
"The Compaq AP550 and the Oxygen GVX1 offer an excellent combo of
2D and 3D performance with AutoCAD 2000," said Art Liddle,
senior technical editor for Cadalyst Magazine, in an extensive workstation
system review.
Mac World UK, April 2000:
"Editors Choice, Multimedia Hardware"
Formac is a partner of 3Dlabs using the Permedia3 graphics processor
on the Proformance III graphics card - bringing professional 2D and
3D graphics power to the Mac platform. This honor was awarded to the
bundle of the Formac Proformance III & stereo glasses.
The Award-winning 3Dlabs Oxygen Family of accelerators will be available
for viewing on 3Dlabs' booth #3029 at Siggraph in New Orleans, LA July
25, 26 & 27, 2000.
About Tigar Hare Studios
Tigar Hare Studios is a high-end 3D computer animation and graphics
design studio providing innovative and creative solutions. Visual Effects
Supervisor/Co-Creative Director Michael Tigar and Technical Director/Co-
Creative Director David Hare have built a completely integrated and
powerful animation studio from the ground up that has quickly gained
a reputation for expert execution and value-added client support. The
company services clients in commercial, broadcast, feature film, special
venue markets, computer gaming, convergence media and web animation.
For more information please visit http://www.tigarhare.com/
About 3Dlabs
Founded in 1994, 3Dlabs is a leading supplier of integrated hardware
and software graphics accelerator solutions for workstations and design
professionals. 3Dlabs develops silicon, boards and software drivers
to create products that effectively meet the performance and quality
needs of users who rely on graphics for their productivity. 3Dlabs sells
its award-winning Oxygen and Permedia products to leading PC OEMs including
Compaq, Dell, Everex, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, IBM, MaxVision,
NEC and Siemens- Nixdorf, through an international distributor and reseller
network and directly to end-users at 3Dlabs' online store. For more
information, visit http://www.3dlabs.com.
To read more about
3Dlabs' End User Successes and to see animations of the work produced
on the Oxygen family of accelerators, please visit: http://www.3dlabs.com/success/index.asp
