Play Inc, a Rancho Cordova, California-based video production software house, is to merge with Electric Image Inc, the 3D animation modeling and rendering software house from Pasadena, California. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Electric Image concentrates on the high-end of the market, and its software has been used for the special effects on such films as Star Wars Special Edition, The Mask, and Terminator 2 – Judgement Day. It’s also used for broadcast television graphics such as Dateline, the X Files and Babylon 5, and for videogame titles for the Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation. Play says it will integrate the 3D animation software into its own video technology, and will retain the Electric Image name for modeling, rendering and animation products, along with the Pasadena offices. Play was formed in 1994 from a three-way merger of Digital Creations Inc, Progressive Image Technology Inc and a breakaway group of eleven developers from NewTek Inc. It has concentrated on the home, retail market, and its first product, the Snappy Video Snapshot, has become a best-selling video add-on for Windows-based PCs. Its Trinity real-time video production system, said to be the first PC product to combine live, post and graphics production into a single PC-based application, was announced last fall and began shipping at the end of last month. Both companies are privately held.
