Godzilla created with Microsoft tools

Though it opened to mixed reviews, few will doubt the blockbuster potentialof Godzilla, which opened in theatres across America this week. All of Godzilla's animation effects were created exclusively on SoftImage|3D, ananimation tool created by SoftImage Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiaryof Microsoft.

"To create a creature of this caliber and complexity, we needed a softwarepackage with the power, flexibility and speed to animate at a high level ofquality in a very compressed time frame," said Steven Puri, president of Centropolis Effects. "By choosing SoftImage|3D as our sole character animation platform, we were able to complete more than 220 creature shots in just 10 months with 15 animators. We could not have done this project without SoftImage|3D and the Special Projects Group."

The Godzilla character seen in the movie is a 900 MB 3D-rendered object that can be fully animated in a life-like fashion. It consists of 200 surfaces, each with up to six texture layers. Many other effects in the movie were rendered in SoftImage as well, including the Brooklyn Bridgethat's seen in the climactic end-scene