August 6 - SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, FRANCE - Realviz, based here, is at SIGGRAPH introducing a new software product that promises to forge a valuable link between storyboards and film production by simulating the shooting phase and pre-editing the final shots by using high-quality realtime 3D animation. The software was developed by the film post production/effects house Duran Duboi Studios in Paris, and has already been used extensively on a number of major movies.
Called StoryViz, the software enables directors, visual effects supervisors, 3D animators, graphic artists and others involved in the filmmaking process to plan each individual film scene in detail in realtime, from the pre-shoot phase onwards. StoryViz runs on a powerful 3D rendering engine and features a complete set of nonlinear editing tools. With its intuitive interface, Realviz StoryViz promises to enable users to animate all the components which constitute each film scene.
StoryViz offers the ability to: create the director's scene in 3D, either by importing elements from Maya, 3DS Max, or Realviz ImageModeler, or by creating it directly within the application using a full library of 3D models for interiors; define and animate actors and props which can be created directly in StoryViz, or be imported, then animated using posing information or pre-set animations; define, locate and animate cameras and lights; and edit and compose sequences using NLE tools and previewing sequences in realtime.
"Special effects are an integral part of films today," says Dominique Pouliquen, Realviz CEO. "But they also have their price, and can take a huge bite out any director's budget. In order to gain tighter control over the time and money spent on shooting and in post production, detailed pre-shoot planning and storyboarding is invaluable."