Friday Flashback #608

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Canadian Made
A new breed of wizards makes it big in the magical world of animation
June 24, 1996

Something I found in my basement while puttering around over the Christmas break…

Toronto companies Alias and C.O.R.E are mentioned a few times. If you look hard you’ll find the word “Softimage” somewhere

Canada is home to the high wizards of the nextwave of animation magic, the computer artists who fabricate fantasy from nothing more substantial than the electronic plasma that flickers through a microchip. Using innovative software such as Toronto’s Alias|Wavefront, computer animators like Steve (Spaz) Williams have dazzled and delight audiences in movies including Jumanji and 1994’s The Mask, which earned Williams an Oscar nomination (page 42 [where you’ll see SOFTIMAGE|3D running on his computer])

Friday Flashback #605

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SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.5 “Done” ad.

This is a demanding industry. The time from
quote to delivery is getting shorter and shorter
– and the pressure to deliver on tight budgets
and ahead of schedule is steadily growing.
We chose SOFTIMAGE | XSI because of
its return on our investment – higher quality
images, unmatched customer support and the
peace of mind that comes from dealing with
professionals who understand our needs.
In the end, it’s all about getting the job
done right.”

Chris Wallace
President/Founder

TOPIX
TOPIX has created visual effects for some of the largest corporate
clients in North America, including Budweiser, General Mills,
Goodyear, Mars M&M, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble.

Friday Flashback #600

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From a 2002 presentation…

Hybride

A digital Post & FX facility:

  • Film, commercial and television work
  • Founded in 1991
  • Grew from 4 to 50 over 10 years
  • On path to double in size

At the forefront of new technology:

  • SOFTIMAGE|XSI is the backbone of their production pipeline
  • Lead user of SOFTIMAGE|BEHAVIOR

Press Coverage

Playback, March 2001

–“The growth of F/X house Hybride Technologies is a reflection of the long-form production renaissance in Quebec”

CGW September, 2002

–“Hybride was responsible for about 650 shots [in Spy Kids II] – almost 43 minutes of animation…”

Post Magazine, September 2002

–“Hybride Technologies in Montreal was the lead visual effects house [on Spy Kids II], with Daniel Leduc in charge… both Hybride and [colleagues] Janimation run XSI as their main 3D system, and this also made for smoother transitions for shots.

§CGW, October 2002:

–[For Napoléon], Hybride artists used XSI and Mental Ray to create 3D animated imagery, including horses, carriages, trees, birds, people, and even reflective water, which they added to the backgrounds to make the scenes more lifelike.

–The group then generated sophisticated crowd animations and movements using a beta version of RTK

Cinefex, January 2003

–(to come!)