Mill TV recently completed visual effects production for PYRAMID, a 50-minute special for the BBC. The show combines live-action with computer-generated pyramids and backgrounds to tell the story of the great pyramid at Giza through the eyes of the men who built it. The animation team at Mill TV used both SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.2.0 software and a beta version of SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 to create a historically accurate depiction of this monumental architectural endeavor, replete with massive crowd scenes. The SOFTIMAGE|XSI system's animation mixer was one of the main tools used by Mill TV to create the large crowd scenes. Designed into the core, nonlinear animation (NLA) architecture of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI system, the animation mixer is fully integrated and works seamlessly with all toolsets including customized ones. This enabled the Mill TV artists to apply and edit the large amount of motion-capture data required for the crowds and to build and reuse these banks of animation. PYRAMID debuted in the UK on BBC ONE, October 28, 2002. PYRAMID is a BBC production for BBC ONE in association with Discovery Channel and NDR. Mill TV, a division of the Oscar-winning visual effects house The Mill, was launched in September 2001 specifically to bring high-quality visual effects to long-format television projects. In addition to PYRAMID, Mill TV has recently completed the High Definition project ROCKFACE for the BBC.
