|
|
 |
 |
 New Xbox Game Dev. tools from Softimage Posted by: amigo
Source: Press Release
Date: Wed Mar 19 2003
Montreal, Quebec--Mar. 19, 2003-- Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., announced the immediate availability of a new suite of utilities and tools designed to speed-up and simplify the creation of games animation and effects for the Xbox� video game system from Microsoft. This new Platform Development Kit (PDK) for the SOFTIMAGE�|XSI� software brings the industry�s leading nonlinear 3-D production environment directly into the hands of Xbox developers and artists, offering them in-context control over their art and dramatic productivity boosts.
The SOFTIMAGE|XSI PDK offers an advanced suite of tools and libraries that deliver a robust asset-previewing and delivery platform for SOFTIMAGE|XSI artists and developers working on Xbox platform-based projects.
In addition, the new PDK allows users to create and edit shaders directly from within the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software with immediate on-target feedback. This greatly reduces creation, iteration, and validation time and gives artists the most accurate possible review feedback.
The SOFTIMAGE|XSI PDK contains a customized version of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI Viewer for accurate Xbox real-time 3-D pre-viewing. The PDK also features a File Tool Kit (FTK) for flawless integration of the dotXSI� file format to facilitate the integration of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software into any interactive media pipeline. Finally, in addition to the Viewer and the FTK, the SOFTIMAGE|XSI PDK includes a wealth of add-ons for simplifying the creation of surface and texture effects - making it easy to build rich, custom real-time shading effects for the designated platform, while allowing tight integration with the SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 system.
�The XSI PDK for Xbox is the best on-target pre-viewer I have ever seen,� said Drew Angeloff, Xbox Tools and Middleware Manager. �With a dynamic display of full Xbox pixel and vertex shaders, SOFTIMAGE|XSI artists have unprecedented power.�
Key features of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI PDK for the Xbox platform include:
DirectX8 Real-Time Shaders: SOFTIMAGE|XSI comes with a set of DirectX pixel and vertex shaders, which let artists create subtle shader effects without programming. A series of Xbox specific Net View pages provide easy access to these shaders and all PDK tools.
Xbox On-Target Viewer: Lets artists preview and test on-target, even when the project in development is broken or unavailable. SOFTIMAGE|XSI, the on-target Viewer, and the final game engine use exactly the same real-time effects so that artists see the final results as they work.
Xbox Communication: Changes to effects and Real-Time Shaders are dynamically updated and synchronized with the Xbox PDK development system.
SOFTIMAGE|XSI FTK (File Tool Kit) for Xbox: Developers can use the FTK to quickly integrate the SOFTIMAGE|XSI art pipeline with their game engine.
On-Target Viewer SDK: Developers can also add new functionality and plug-ins to the on-target viewer using the Viewer SDK.
Product pricing and availability
The SOFTIMAGE|XSI PDK for the Xbox system is available immediately to Microsoft-registered Xbox developers from Softimage and its resellers. The SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 3-D nonlinear production environment, which supports Windows, Linux and IRIX operating systems, is available today with a suggested retail pricing starting at $6,750 USMSRP. Additionally, for a limited time, Softimage is offering attractive trade-in credits of up to $6,500 USMSRP for old 3-D software towards the purchase of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI environment.
Related Links: Softimage website
| Database error: Invalid SQL: SELECT replycount FROM vbulletin.thread WHERE threadid='904'
MySQL Error: 1142 (SELECT command denied to user 'webmaster'@'localhost' for table 'thread')
Please contact the webmaster and report the exact error message.
Session halted. |
