Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1585
6 February 2009 PRODUCT: CONTENT CREATION To coincide with the annual Macworld Conference & Expo held recently, Autodesk announced that it has expanded its port- folio of Macintosh 2D and 3D software tools for entertainment, multimedia, and design professionals. The three new 2009 products for the Mac OS X platform include Toxik procedural compositing software, Mudbox digital sculpting and texture painting software, and ImageModeler image-based modeling and photogrammetry software. These offerings complement the 2009 versions of Maya 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software as well as Stitcher photo-stitching software, which are already available on the Mac. The rollout of the products for this platform was in response to the growing adoption of Mac OS X within the Mac community. "Mac OS X Leopard, combined with our Mac hardware, offers creative and design specialists a compelling platform for creat- ing everything from stunning 2D visual effects to advanced 3D models for digital entertainment," says Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. Toxik 2009 is a node-based digital compositing software that brings integrated compositing and effects capabilities to independent 2D visual effects artists and large-scale fi lm and broadcast facilities. Toxik 2009 facilitates effi cient, collaborative, iterative workfl ows, and offers a suite of new tools to support stereoscopic productions and the creation of set extensions with real-time, interactive, high-resolution compositing. Toxik 2009 for Mac OS X is expected to be available in March for $3495. Mudbox 2009, meanwhile, gives 3D modelers, artists, and designers an intuitive, "organic" application for painting, textur- ing, and re-touching 3D models. Mudbox 2009 for Mac OS X is expected to be available this month for $745. ImageModeler 2009, image-based modeling and photogram- metry software, generates 3D models from photos, giving archi- tects, designers, and entertainment-industry content creators a different approach to 3D modeling with real-world accuracy. The Mac OS X version is set to be available in March for $995. Pixellexis Introduces Single-Card Solution PRODUCT: VIDEO CARDS Pixellexis introduced the LXGD351SC, geared to imaging users who want to speed up their JPEG2000 encoding/decod- ing (compression/decompression) throughput. The LXGD351SC is a single PCI Express card with four lanes holding one MPPA device with 332 processors capable of 1.2 TB/sec operations. Forming part of the Pixellexis LexiGrid product line, the LXGD351SC card is a fully integrated hard- ware and software solution supporting lossless (and lossy) compression/decompression. The LXGD351SC is available now for an introductory price of $1999. After this period, the offering will carry a price tag of $2999. Autodesk Grows Its Mac Portfolio