Computer Graphics World

April/May 2012

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■ ■ ■ ■ AI•Computation Athena: The artifi cial intelligence that helps produce Hollywood's blockbusters fi ction. In fi lms ranging from Colossus: Th e Forbin Project (1970) and Demon Seed (1977), to Th e Terminator (1984) and its sequels, these machines have repeatedly risen up to take over the world. But in an unassuming complex near Newport Beach, California, a "comic-book artist turned computer scientist" not only has created a computer that can think, he has enlisted his creation, along with a room full of work- Computers 38 April/May 2012 that can think are the stuff of science stations, to help produce stunning special eff ects for some of the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Bit Th eory Inc. (BTI) creates high-end, computer-generated images and animations using a proprietary CG animation software engine known as Athena. Developed by BTI Founder and Chief Architect Allen Bolden, Athena automates key parts of the animation and render- ing processes that are labor-, hardware-, software-, and capital-intensive.

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