Blur Studio used Splutterfish's Brazil as their primary renderer for the feature film Bulletproof Monk starring Chow Yun Fat. Full press release from Splutterfish:


VENICE, Calif.--March 3, 2003--SplutterFish LLC, a high-end 3D rendering software solutions provider, today announced that Blur Studio, a leading computer animation and visual effects studio,deployed its high performance Brazil Rendering System(TM) to meet the intensive visual effects rendering demands on the upcoming MGM Pictures feature film "Bulletproof Monk," starring Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, and Jaime King, set for release April 16, 2003. Brazil r/s is also serving facilitywide at Blur as the principal rendering technology to deliver the highest quality rendering capability for the studio's live action and computer animated features, commercials, theme park attraction films, game cinematics and studio test projects.

The Brazil Rendering System is a fully integrated rendering suite for Discreet's top-selling animation software 3ds max and Autodesk VIZ, Autodesk's visualization solution. Brazil r/s is designed by and for production professionals as a powerful, flexible and affordable high-end commercial solution for film, broadcast and cross-visualization applications. Now in use worldwide, Brazil r/s offers a comprehensive feature-set and highly evolved global illumination and ray-tracing engine that addresses the need for the natural, streamlined workflow that today's CG artists demand.

According to Richard Bluff, visual effects supervisor at Blur Studio on "Bulletproof Monk," "Brazil r/s has been deployed throughout the Blur Studio pipeline on all of its workstation and renderfarm machines. The software was used to render approximately 90 percent of all the visual effects shots on the film. Integrating Brazil facilitywide as our primary rendering system was critical to meeting our production efforts on the film. The visual effects requirements on 'Bulletproof Monk' necessitated the ability to manipulate complex lighting situations in a way not afforded by other renderers.

"Having worked with Brazil since its inception on previous projects at Blur, I was confident that from a technical point-of-view, Brazil's production-proven functionality would allow us to tweak lighting as needed, in a stable, predictable and accurate manner. We have been especially impressed at Brazil's superior anti-aliasing, allowing us to avoid scintillation problems, such as with bump maps, which was critical on this particular project," said Bluff.

"SplutterFish is privileged to enjoy an ongoing, close and dynamic relationship with the team of talented creatives at Blur Studio," said Scott Kirvan, chief executive officer at SplutterFish. "Blur's aggressive and extremely fast-paced production environment, along with the breadth of its work, has been instrumental in making Brazil a reliable and truly flexible production tool. Anyone that has done feature film work knows that these types of jobs push all the tools -- hardware and software -- to their limits. `Bulletproof Monk' is an ideal demonstration, not only of Brazil's ability to cope, but its ability to shine by offering the control and toolkit that production professionals need."

Brazil Tackles Numerous Rendering Challenges

Among the rendering challenges that Blur faced while creating the visual effects on "Bulletproof Monk" was the ability to maintain a consistent and credible lighting quality. "Brazil's lighting qualities took the variable out of the creative process and allowed us to judge the scale, model and textures of each scene accurately and easily. The `skylight' and `arealight' tools were especially useful in allowing us to create depth and detail on objects that were flat or overcast.

"In short, with Brazil, 3ds max users are afforded real-world lighting calculations that are stable and 'bulletproof' (pun intended). It is like having a lighting expert sitting next to you on the job," added Bluff.

Brazil r/s Feature Set Highlights

Brazil r/s v 1.0's advanced arsenal includes sophisticated filtering; anti-aliasing; highly evolved illumination and shading models, including super-fast ray-tracing; task-specific accelerators and shaders; state-of-the-art core architecture that easily renders multi-million polys; camera and film effects; motion blur; depth of field/bokeh lens simulation; global illumination; non-photoreal capabilities; and support for all the standard artistic "fakes."
(Editors' note: For a full feature set description, please visit: http://www.splutterfish.com/features)

The trailer for "The Bulletproof Monk" can be viewed on the Internet at www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/bulletproof_monk/


About Blur Studio

Blur Studio, a leading broadcast design, animation and visual effects studio, located in Venice, Calif., was founded in 1995 by a group of highly motivated digital artists. Founders Tim Miller and David Stinnett have assembled a talented crew and provided them with the tools, the support and an environment that allows them to thrive. At Blur, the focus is on the production of innovative imagery; and creative excellence is the sole measure of success.

Currently the studio is working on a number of high profile computer animation; visual FX; concept art and broadcast design projects for large format films, feature films and trailers; FMVs for games, commercials, network branding, and on-air promotions projects. Some of their recent clients include Warner Bros, MGM Studios, ABC Network, Microsoft, Paramount Parks, CBS and Mattel.

Additional information on Blur Studio is available on the Internet at www.blur.com

About SplutterFish

SplutterFish LLC, established in 2001, is a Venice, Calif.-based software provider of high-end, affordable and efficient 3D rendering tools. The company develops solutions focused toward the needs of production professionals working in the film, broadcast, architectural and product visualization, design engineering, 3D cartoon-style animation, and CG research industries. SplutterFish software products are currently available from the company and its international reseller representatives.
Additional information on SplutterFish is available on the Internet at www.splutterfish.com.


CONTACT: Ambient Public Relations
Vicky Gray-Clark, 408/629-8842
vicky@ambientpr.com

Brazil Rendering System is a trademark of SplutterFish, LLC. Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. 3ds max and Autodesk VIZ are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.