AUDIOMOTION STEPS UP MOTION CAPTURE CAPABILITIES BY ADDING VICON 8I AND 14 VICON MCAM2 CAMERAS

Captures Coveted Projects, Including Motion Capture Animation for Sony's "Athens 2004" Olympic Game, with State-of-the-Art New Setup

Oxford, UK (April 13, 2004) VICON, the leading developer in motion capture, announced that Audiomotion has stepped up its motion capture capabilities by upgrading to a VICON 8i system with 14 VICON extreme accuracy MCam2 cameras. The UK-based studio has already used its new VICON setup, along with a full suite of VICON's award-winning iQ software, to capture a range of exciting and challenging projects, including motion capture of Olympic weightlifters, swimmers, field athletes and gymnasts for Sony's forthcoming "Athens 2004" game title.

Since joining forces with Rebellion Studios and re-establishing its offices in Oxford, UK, last March, Audiomotion has been booked back to back with projects for top game developers and post-production companies in Europe. With motion capture animation project for several difficult sports titles on deck, the studio decided to upgrade its motion capture capabilities to VICON's state-of-the-art, MCam2-based solution.

"The VICON 8i MCam2-based system is a great fit for motion capture studios like Audiomotion, whose operations and production teams need the absolute best the motion capture industry can offer. Many of the major post-production and games companies we want to work with these days almost demand we have VICON," said Mick Morris, co-founder of Audiomotion. "We decided to upgrade because the VICON MCam2s are simply the best motion capture cameras on the market; other solutions we tested did not come close in terms of ease of use and quality of data. Having VICON iQ software also makes our lives a lot easier, and a faster, more robust pipeline now benefits all our clients."

According to Morris, installation of the new VICON system has enabled Audiomotion to bring in much more business, with the studio paying off its investment in the equipment by landing such prestigious projects as the "Athens 2004" Olympics for UK game developer Eurocom and Sony. Audiomotion previously motion captured Olympics action in 2000 for both Sydney and Salt Lake City. But the Athens assignment, which involved motion capture sessions for weighlifting, swimming, javelin, hammer, discus and female gymnastics, presented some demanding requirements both in terms of logistics and in lending authentic athleticism and accuracy to these events.

"The female floor routines were by far the most difficult," Morris explained. "We took our VICON system on the road, installing a 12.5 x 12.5-meter, Olympic-sized spring floor in a remote studio. The gymnasts conducted their routines along a 17.5-meter diameter and it really was a marvel to witness and subsequently capture the human form in all its athletic glory. The speed and heights the girls achieved were breathtaking, but the VICON MCam2 cameras, with their million-pixel accuracy and high-speed capture, were fast enough to follow every single detail. We were also able to function very successfully in this make-shift, remote studio due to the portability of the VICON gear."

Rebellion Studios and Audiomotion formalized an ongoing collaborative relationship last March, with Rebellion acquiring a majority shareholding in Audiomotion. Other recent work captured and delivered by Audiomotion includes the Rebellion/Wanadoo games "Sniper Elite" and "Iron Storm," both due to be published this year, "Perfect Ace Tennis" for Aqua Pacific, the First-Person Shooter (FPS) game "Coldwinter" and "World Rugby Championships" for Swordfish Studios. The busy and knowledgeable Audiomotion team, which also handles motion capture for television and films ranging from "Gladiator" to "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," has also been completing a series of commercials for Irish telecom giant Eircom.

VICON's high performance, scalability and portability, as well as world-class service and integration with Alias Maya, discreet 3ds max and character studio, Softimage XSI and Kaydara MotionBuilder, MoCap and Online, provide key advantages for Audiomotion and other customer sites. Users also benefit from the unique features of VICON iQ, an intelligent software application that automatically processes complex or occluded data sets. For more information about VICON?s cameras, complete systems and software, visit www.vicon.com.

About Audiomotion

Audiomotion Limited is a subsidiary of Rebellion Studios with global headquarters in Oxford, UK. Since 1998, Audiomotion has been providing motion capture animation for films, games, TV series and adverts worldwide. For more information about Audiomotion services, visit www.audiomotion.com or contact Mick Morris at +44 0870 1600 504.

About VICON

VICON Motion Systems is a subsidiary of OMG plc (LSE: OMG) with global headquarters in Oxford, UK, and US headquarters in Lake Forest, CA. OMG subsidiary 2d3 Ltd. produces innovative visual geometry software deriving 3D data from moving images. Since 1984, VICON has been providing professionals with the latest tools to accurately capture the subtleties of three-dimensional human motion for research, medicine, sport, engineering, game development, broadcast and film. For more information about VICON, or to view a comprehensive list of worldwide distributors, visit www.vicon.com or contact +44 (0) 1865-261800 in the U.K. or (949) 472-9140 in the U.S.

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