Friday Flashback #439


Blue Sky Studios: Joe’s Apartment, 1997

Scene Description of Funky Towel:
In the movie “Joe’s Apartment”, Joe’s only friends are the talking roaches that infest his lower east side apartment. In this scene, they prepare for Joe’s first date by throwing a party of their own in his funky bathroom, paying homage to every movie musical style in the book.

Technical Notes:
Blue Sky Studios created 13 minutes of character animation for over 200 shots in the feature film JOES’ APARTMENT.

  • The roaches were modeled on CGI workstations using a combination of Softimage, CGI Studio™ (Blue Skys’ proprietary software) and 2D paint systems for creating texture maps.
  • The characters were animated using Softimage on SGI workstations . Flocking animation was created by customizing Wavefronts’ Dynamation Software.
  • The rendering was computed using Blue Sky Studios’ proprietary renderer on an eight processor SGI Challenge L and several dozen desk side SGI Workstations. Compositing was completed using proprietary software in conjunction with Discreet Logics’ Flint running on an Indigo 2.

The production lasted over 13 months and employed up to 20 people at any given time.

Friday Flashback #256


Softimage 3D 3.8 Extreme boxed set – eBay
by SiliconClassics

Complete boxed set of Softimage|3D 3.8 SP2 Extreme – includes installation discs for IRIX and Windows, manuals, pamphlets, and a working license file.

Soft|3D runs great on vintage SGI hardware because it is highly streamlined and memory-efficient. Even an Indy will run it perfectly. Requires IRIX 6.2. You can check my photo gallery for a screenshot and a description of the software.

This is the ultimate classic 3D animation package – along with PowerAnimator and Renderman, it was part of the trifecta of high-end 3D apps used by the major visual effects studios. The huge box looks awesome on a shelf, and the software is a joy to use.
soft3d-1

soft3d-3

soft3d-6

Friday Flashback #239


Vintage Softimage software CDs and docs, and vintage SGI boxes:
Pictures 425

A bunch of old-time stuff, including:

  • Silicon Graphics O2, Octane, Indy, and IRIS Indigo boxes
  • SOFTIMAGE|3D, Toonz, SOFTIMAGE|Creative Environment CDs
  • SOFTIMAGE|3D Documentation box set
  • SOFTIMAGE|3D 4.0 Fundamentals manual
  • MegaFonts for SOFTIMAGE|3D

Friday Flashback #172


From a picture dated 12 May 2004, a variety of memorabilia, including:

  • SGI Iris Indigo, octane, and Indy
  • MegaFonts, 1001 Professional Fonts for SOFIMAGE|3D
  • SOFTIMAGE|3D 4.0 Fundamentals book
  • SOFTIMAGE|3D, SOFTIMAGE Creative Environment, and “Softimage for the Creative Mind” CDs
  • SOFTIMAGE|3D documentation set

Pictures 425