HARDWARE
MOBILE
Kepler Architecture
Nvidia has released a new line of Quadro professional graphics solutions for the latest leading mobile workstations. These new Quadro GPUs feature the fast, efficient Kepler GPU architecture. Kepler delivers large performance gains over previous generations, albeit with the same power budget as those Quadro mobile graphics solutions. These latest Quadro mobile GPUs offer at least double the number of Nvidia CUDA cores of previous generations. The new mobile lineup includes the Quadro K5000M, Quadro K4000M, Quadro K3000M, Quadro K2000M, Quadro K1000M, and Quadro K500M.
Nvidia; www.nvidia.com
MOCAP CAMERA
Eye on Raptor-12
Motion Analysis has announced a new camera in its Raptor motion-capture camera lineup, the Raptor-12 with a resolution of 12 megapixels (mp). Varied resolutions include 150 fps with 12mp, 200 fps with 9.4 mp, 300 fps with 6.3mp, 500 fps with 3.8mp, and 900 fps with 2.0mp. The Raptor-12 features a new processor, firmware, sensor, and ring light, creating the first camera with components manufactured specifically for motion-capture capability. With a high-speed electronic pipelined global shutter, each pixel measures 5.5 x 5.5 µm. The camera’s grayscale processing enables outdoor capture capabilities that are not possible with optical filtering methods. The Raptor-12 will be available this fall.
Motion Analysis; www.motionanalysis.com
More Volume
OptiTrack has expanded to the high-end motion-capture market with the introduction of the Prime Series, a new family of motion-capture cameras tailored specifically to large-volume capture. Offering capture volumes that extend up to 150 feet, the 4.1mp Prime 41 provides VFX studios and game developers with the tracking technology necessary for the most ambitious motion-tracking and capture applications. The Prime 41 enables capture volumes of up to 75 x 150 feet. The 4.1mp cameras offer a camera-to-marker range of more than 80 feet, and their infrared strobes are usable with other film/video/photography gear. The cameras have a capture rate of 180 fps, and offer simultaneous body and finger tracking. The system can even be used outdoors and features a simple and quick single-user setup. The Prime 41 is available now and is priced at $4,999 each.
OptiTrack; www.optitrack.com
SOFTWARE
ANIMATION
Not an Illusion
Reallusion has released the iClone Animation Pipeline, a creative suite for real-time production and development. The iClone Animation Pipeline features a real-time viewport with pixel-shader preview during creation of character animation and motion capture. The iClone Animation Pipeline is a trio of character creation, facial, and bodymotion animation production and motioncapture tools with exportable results for use with game engines, such as Unity3D or UDK. Character animation with iClone5 is a new approach to animation and offers shortcuts to creating walk cycles or basic human gestures using the Motion Puppet tools and library of various emotion- and action-based character puppeteering modes. Custom 3D content comes to life with iClone’s animation tools through the import capability of 3DXchange 5.
Reallusion; www.reallusion.com
RENDERING
Team Effort
TeamUp, a new company focused on making 3D more accessible, has unveiled its Multi-Optics renderer with real-time 3D collaboration. The TeamUp platform is completely cloud-powered, so no software download or install is necessary. Typically, the tools and workflows for collaboration are all tied to desktops, renderfarms, and so on; as a result, 3D rendering has been slow in this type of setup. TeamUp improves this experience so creative teams and their clients can see the same render live, edit and make decisions in real-time on multiple devices, and arrive at the look they want for any 3D asset. TeamUp is available as a monthly-paid service subscription.
TeamUp; www.getteamup.com