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SCMP Reporter

A FREELANCE animator has paid $2.73 million for three-dimensional graphics hardware and software to add new perspective to his work.

  Uwe Walter, of Kryptos Ltd, is the first Hong Kong customer for the Silicon Graphics Onyx graphics supercomputer and the advanced Reality Engine2.

  The order is for Onyx with four symmetric multi-processing (SMP) MIPS R4400 processors, which will run Alias PowerAnimator software.

  These will be linked to a Cyberware 3D scanner supplied by Manufacturing Information Technology Ltd, a leading Silicon Graphics value-added reseller.

  Mr Walter, who has used Silicon Graphics for many years, said the powerful graphics capabilities of Onyx and Reality Engine2 were required now to meet the sophisticated demands of his customers, most of whom were in Europe.

  ''Our customers now demand the highest quality of ray-traced imagery, which is a very computer-hungry technique,'' Mr Walter said.

  ''The power of the four-processor Onyx and the real-time texture mapping of Reality Engine2 allow me to produce very high quality 3D animations and images within the tight time schedules that customers demand.''   Much of the work carried out by Kryptos in Hong Kong is sub-contracted from animation and design studios in Europe.

  The projects cover a wide range of areas, including music videos, television advertising and high-quality images for print media.

  ''The hardware platform for this kind of work is obviously Silicon Graphics,'' Mr Walter said. ''I also selected Alias Power Animator Release 5.0: where before I used a number of different software products for different task, Alias now provides the best tool for all areas.''   Mr Walter said he used the Cyberware 3D scanner to speed the 3D modelling.

  A scanner scanned an object as it rotated on a turntable to provide a 3D image of the model in the database of the Silicon Graphics Onyx computer, he said.

  ''Despite the power of the system I have, 3D modelling on the computer is still time consuming,'' Mr Walter said.

  ''With the 3D scanner, I have already captured the 3D image and can immediately start the more productive elements of enhancing, texturing and animating.'' 



Supercomputer adds extra dimension to artist's work