Silicon Graphics subsidiary Silicon Studios Inc says it will support Apple’s QuickTime multimedia technology in a new suite of archiving and authoring tools it has developed for building digital studios as the two are being drawn closer and closer while seeking to drive home their expertise in digital film and animation technologies. The pair also plan to develop file viewers and converters that will enable three-dimensional and animation content to run in applications on each other’s systems. The SiliconStudio suite includes client-server-based asset management software, described as an object-oriented program for capturing and archiving digital content into a shared repository which can be extended to support Cosmo MediaBase, Oracle, Informix, Illustra, Sybase and IBM Digital Library databases. (The existing Cinebase application is stand-alone). A $15,000 StudioCentral software development kit will be available for independent software vendors to create plug-in modules from the summer. A StudioCentral Silver release, for small networks is due in the fall priced at from $5,000. A Gold workgroup version will be priced at $20,000 in the winter. Keys that link StudioCentral’s repository to third party databases will cost $10,000 each from the summer. The tools are available on Silicon Graphics Irix systems only to begin with; Oracle and xFS (Irix’s 64-bit file system) Keys will be released first. The base price covers a five-user license only. The company says it hasn’t decided whether it will put StudioCentral up on Mac or Windows clients yet. A FireWalker three-dimensional authoring system for creating games and interactive titles on Windows and the Sony Corp PlayStation is being developed in conjunction with customers and is due as part of the SiliconStudio line in December. Sega Enterprises Ltd, Time Warner Interactive Inc, SegaSoft Inc and MediaX/toonsmiths are on board the FireWalker alpha program. Single user prices start at $10,000. SiliconStudio support services, forums, news and other information will be offered via StudioLive at Silicon Graphics’s Web site. It said its workstations have been chosen as a programming and creation environment for Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 game players. Sega’s development tools division, Cross Products Ltd and Sony’s game authoring division, Psygnosis Ltd, plant to run game programming tools on Silicon Graphics workstations.
