The most cherished telephone call in the multimedia business these days is the one that comes from the new all-star high-tech movie studio DreamWorks SKG, so there is general rejoicing in Tewkesbury, Massachusetts, where digital bradcasting autonation systems specialist Avid Technology Inc just received the call. The two companies have signed a contract for joint development and implementation of an all-digital editorial process that will become part of DreamWorks’ cutting-edge Digital Animation Dreammachine all-digital computer animation production system for feature animation films. Under the agreement, the DreamWorks editorial department will use Avid’s Media Composer and Film Composer systems to edit the work of the hundreds of artists into living story reels for review. The systems will also be used for regular examination and evaluation of the work-in-progress by relying on the interchange capabilities of the Open Media Framework standard to integrate all the digital imagery. The Open Media Framework Interchange, initiated by Avid in 1993 and now supported by close to 400 manufacturers and end users, is an open container format for exchanging digital media between different systems and applications. DreamWorks signed Silicon Graphics Inc as architect and systems integrator for the Digital Animation Dreammachine, and Cambridge Animation Systems Ltd and IBM Corp are also on the team.
