VICON MOTION CAPTURE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT CONTRIBUTE TO SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS’ EFFORT ON COLUMBIA PICTURES’ MONSTER HOUSE

Los Angeles, CA (August 1, 2006)—VICON, developer of Academy Award® winning motion capture technology, provided state-of-the-art motion capture systems and support to Sony Pictures Imageworks for Columbia Pictures’ Monster House, an animated family comedy/adventure directed by Gil Kenan, produced by Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke and executive produced by Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg and Jason Clark. The movie marks the second feature film to employ Sony Pictures Imageworks’ ground-breaking Imagemotion™ “Performance Capture” innovation, following The Polar Express.

Performance capture developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks unlocks new flexibility and creative potential by allowing filmmakers to record every detail of an actor’s facial and full-body performance with high-speed, high-resolution optical motion capture cameras. The performances can be directed and delivered with multiple actors simultaneously, as if shooting live action. The movie-making team can view this information as 3D data, which is then carried over to create true-to-form performances for digital characters.

VICON delivered several hundred ultra high-resolution VICON MX motion capture cameras to support performance capture-related projects, including Monster House. VICON has also worked closely with other Imageworks performance capture productions, supporting Sony Pictures Imageworks with on-the-ground product service and support.

“When developing our proprietary performance capture pipeline, our vision demanded capabilities beyond existing motion capture workflows. The speed and performance of the VICON cameras, along with the excellent support and customization provided by the VICON feature unit, made it a great fit for this project,” said Debbie Denise, executive vice president, production infrastructure and executive producer, Sony Pictures Imageworks.

"Sony Pictures Imageworks is constantly pushing the bounds of filmmaking and breaking new ground in visual effect, animation and performance capture. It's always exciting to see their innovations within the industry, and we're very pleased to be a trusted technology resource to this very talented team," said Tom Armbruster, Business Development Manager, Vicon Motion Systems.

In Columbia Pictures’ comedy thrill-ride Monster House, three kids (newcomers Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner and Spencer Locke) cross over to the other side of the street to unlock a mystery and experience the greatest adventure of their lives.

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 UK or (949) 472-9140 in the US.

About Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is an Academy Award® winning, state-of-the-art digital production studio dedicated to the art of visual effects production and character animation. Imageworks’ production environment facilitates four diverse pipelines including live action visual effects and character work, ImagemotionTM performance capture, all CG animation and Imageworks 3D stereoscopic. The company has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Oscars® for its work on SPIDER-MAN® 2 and the CG animated short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS!, as well as nominations for THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, SPIDER-MAN®, HOLLOW MAN, STUART LITTLE and STARSHIP TROOPERS. Imageworks continues to raise the level in the visual effects and character-animation industry, becoming a major force by providing leading edge technology to its world-class artists.

Current projects include SUPERMAN RETURNS, CLICK, MONSTER HOUSE (also in Imageworks 3D), GHOST RIDER, SPIDER-MAN ® 3 and BEOWULF, as well as the first two features from Sony Pictures Animation – OPEN SEASON (also in IMAX 3D) and SURF’S UP!

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