Avid Technology, Inc., today announced that its Softimage, Co. subsidiary has released SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® 6, the latest version of its flagship 3D animation and character creation software. Available now for download, XSI 6 software offers new features and solutions that result in a fast and highly integrated way to work with complex 3D characters and motion capture data in a mixed-studio pipeline. Whether used for visual effects in film and broadcast programs or for designing next-generation PC and console games, XSI 6 software delivers many powerful capabilities to 3D artists this holiday season.

Along with major advances in animation and data management for complex 3D scenes, the rendering core within XSI 6 software has been enhanced for increased performance, scalability and extensibility. The software offers integration with the mental ray® 3.5 rendering application, and now includes expanded support for the integration of third-party renderers via a new open rendering API (Application Programming Interface).

In addition, XSI 6 software includes free DVD training from Digital-Tutors , an innovator in interactive video and online training. The five XSI software training chapters include: Introduction; Modeling & Texturing; Animation; Animation & Dynamics; Lighting and Rendering - a total of 43 lessons. The new DVD training underscores Softimage's commitment to provide new and existing XSI software customers expanded learning tools.

"I've always been impressed with the way Softimage XSI software addresses the fundamental creative or technical challenges our staff faces on a daily basis. Softimage truly realizes the importance of building intelligent tools focused on managing the most important aspect of any CGI pipeline," said Ben Girard, three-time Visual Effects Society award winner and President of Digital Dimension. "The development team working on Softimage XSI 6 software understands the back-end requirements of a 3D production studio, and the work Softimage is doing in this area is simply brilliant. The C# and Python scripting language support, used by the best 3D game developers and visual effects artists today, is key to projects we're working on right now. To everyone at Softimage - you guys rock!" added Girard.

By Avid