SIDE EFFECTS ANNOUNCE RENDERING SOLUTION

Side Effects Software have announced that they have entered into a strategic alliance with mental images, to add support to Houdini 5 for the mental ray renderer.
In response to strong demand by leading effects houses for mental ray support in Houdini, the new output driver will be demonstrated at Side Effects Software's annual Houdini User Group Meeting at SIGGRAPH 2001 on August 12.
The companies are currently beta testing the solution, which will be available commercially when Houdini 5 is released.
Paul Salvini, chief technology officer at Side Effects Software, said:"Houdini is the backbone of many production pipelines because it provides significant productivity. "We are committed to providing the best and most flexible animation solution for our users. Houdini 5's tightly integrated support for mental ray will result in even greater improvements in production efficiency for many studios. Moreover, we are giving all of our customers greater freedom in selecting the best renderer for their particular job."
Houdini is an award-winning 3D animation software package that includes a comprehensive set of capabilities for digital content creation including modeling, animating, compositing, characters, textures, shading and rendering.
Established in 1987, Side Effects Software are a world leader in the development of advanced 3D graphics and special effects software for use in film, broadcast and game development. Today, Side Effects Software leads the field of non-linear animation with their award-winning Houdini technology. Houdini is used by numerous digital content creation leaders including Digital Domain, DreamWorks SKG, Electronic Arts, Namco, Nickelodeon, Rhythm & Hues, Sega, Sony Computer Entertainment and Weta Ltd.
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