Alias/Wavefront, a Silicon Graphics Inc company, has signed a partnership deal, upgraded its games development software and appointed a UK reseller. The San Jose, California-based firm has partnered with Canadian firm, Eyeon Software, to work on its NT- based digital content creation tool, Maya Fusion. Aimed at HDTV and video producers, the firm claims that the software will include new production techniques, dubbed Z depth for realistically placing 3D objects in live-action videos. The system will be previewed at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas in April.
The firm is also talking up the new features of its Maya Complete 2 games development software. The Maya Artisan tool in the software has been upgraded to with polygon surfaces as well as Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline, or NURBS, that are mathematical representations of a 3D object. NURBS can be used to represent analytic shapes, such as cones, as well as free-form shapes, such as car bodies. The software will be available for NT and SGI’s Irix workstations.
Alias/Wavefront has also appointed Keoti Ltd as a reseller. The Camden Town, London-based firm will also sell SGI products. Nigel Hall, Keoti’s director, was co-founder of Parallax Graphics Systems.
