NEW YORK CITY (July 14, 1999) – Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc., today announced the New York premiere of a new work by modern dance master Merce Cunningham that is extending the world-renowned choreographer's efforts to revolutionize dance using cutting-edge 3D software technology. The New York debut of the 45-minute piece, titled "BIPED," is slated for 8 p.m. July 21 at the State Theater of Lincoln Center. "BIPED" features striking projections by computer artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar of "hand-drawn" virtual dancers, rhythmic abstractions, and spatial transformations that envelop the live performers on stage.

Employing the award-winning Character Studio® R2 software from Discreet™, "BIPED" displays the advanced motion capture animation features of Character Studio to bring real-life movements to animated 3D dancers. The technology behind the Dancing Baby phenomenon, Character Studio features the patented BIPED™; component that inspired the title of Cunningham's latest work. All 3D animation, modeling and rendering was done on high-performance Compaq Professional workstations. The stage projections themselves stream directly from a Compaq workstation in dazzling high-resolution.

"With the New York debut of 'BIPED', we are able to demonstrate how we are using Discreet software to bring powerful new freedoms of expression to movement," said Merce Cunningham, founder of the Cunningham Dance Foundation. "I am continually exploring technology as a tool for communicating my ideas and choreography. Character Studio's amazing ability to capture the spirit of dance and recreate it in 3D is helping to make this possible."

"Discreet is thrilled to be a part of Merce Cunningham's historic new direction for modern dance, and the Lincoln Center performance offers a wonderful venue for his remarkable genius" said Jim Guerard, vice president of marketing and product management for Discreet. "Because the human eye often judges the realism of animated dancers with skepticism, we have ensured that 3D Studio MAX® and Character Studio possess advanced technologies to make these achievements possible. There is no truer test for recreating human movement."

The new work features a mixture of animated figures and computer-generated sets projected onto a scrim in front of the stage. Interacting with the 3D animations are live dancers who perform behind the scrim. Cunningham dancers Jared Phillips, Jeannie Steele and Robert Swinston provided the movement that was recorded as motion capture data. With their recorded movements, Kaiser and Eshkar developed the figure animations using advanced Character Studio techniques developed by programmers Michael Girard and Susan Amkraut. The sets and décor were created using Discreet's 3D Studio MAX software, the world's leading professional 3D modeling and animation solution for PCs.

"It's a tremendous honor to be part of a remarkable legacy of visual artists – including Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns – that has helped Merce explore new avenues for dance expression," said Paul Kaiser. "This honor is made even greater by presenting the New York debut of this groundbreaking work at Lincoln Center. At this prestigious venue and with the help of an integrated solution powered by Discreet software and Compaq workstations, 'BIPED' will make the talents of this dance master accessible for generations to come."

"Compaq is excited to be partnering with Paul and Shelley and Discreet to help create such innovative and artistic animation based on the legendary choreography of Merce Cunningham," said David Parsons, director of North America Workstation Marketing for Compaq. "Compaq is committed to delivering powerful and affordable workstation solutions for the digital content revolution. Artists such as Merce Cunningham can now have access to the kind of high-performance 3D workstation capability that was previously limited to exclusive Hollywood effects studios."

Cunningham's immense body of work includes "Ocean," a dance in the round that is widely recognized as one of the greatest choreographic innovations in history, and "Hand-Drawn Spaces," his first virtual dance created with Kaiser and Eshkar using Character Studio software. Cunningham has been the most visible pioneer in the field of computer-animated 3D choreography and dance notation and one of the first choreographers to integrate dance with video and computer content.

Character Studio allows Cunningham to modify motion capture data using the award-winning software's suite of animation capabilities to create completely customized animated characters. By combining Character Studio software with 3D Studio MAX, Cunningham was able to collaborate within the visual art form that will accompany the live dance component of "BIPED." Character Studio's sophisticated motion capture animation tools heightened the dance legend's ability to elevate dance beyond live performance. As a result, broader audiences worldwide can study his dance techniques as an art form.

Extensive still illustrations and digital video clips of the BIPED projections may be found on Kaiser and Eshkar's website at http://www.riverbed.com/duoframe/duobiped.htm. Illustrations suitable for publication may be obtained in high-resolution format by emailing requests to paul@riverbed.com.

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