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Press NewTek and Digital Element Work to Bring Animation Annex to Siberia Software, Computers Donated to Russian Scientists to Begin Training for Animation San Francisco, CA – December 18, 2001 – NewTek, Inc. and Digital Element today announced that they are working together to create an Animation Annex in Russia, to retrain unemployed Russian nuclear scientists in the formerly closed city of Snezhinsk in computer graphics. Their efforts will involve working to outfit the Annex with computer hardware and software, including NewTek’s LightWave 3DO and Digital Element’s WorldBuilder, and training on those systems and software. These activities are planned to move towards the creation of a new animation studio and a new form of economic viability for these former nuclear scientists.
The project began earlier this year under the auspices of a program by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and its Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons and to create commercial initiatives in former “closed” Russian nuclear cities. Upon successful completion of the Animation Annex, they will continue in further efforts to support Strela, the company in Russia with whom NewTek and Digital Element are working. In addition to working together to publicize the work of those at Strela, Digital Element is also working to facilitate work-for-hire technology development contracts using those resources in Snezhinsk.
"The efforts of NewTek and Digital Element to create commercial jobs at Strela in Snezhinsk, Russia directly supports our nonproliferation objectives under DOE’s Nuclear Cities Initiative Program," said Bill Dunlop, Proliferation Prevention and Arms Control Program Manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “Their efforts are very helpful to our overall program goals, and well coordinated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's non-proliferation efforts.”
"Digital Element is very excited to work with NewTek to bring opportunity to a very isolated part of the world,” added Don McClure, CEO of Digital Element. “All talk of unemployed weapons designers aside, we're simply excited to see the output in the coming year from the Animation Annex and we hope that the computer art community will embrace this effort to globalize the opportunity to express oneself with computer graphics."
“NewTek is honored and thrilled to be a part of this effort. As we see day after day, and now more than ever, the world is a community. The LightWave 3D team is eager to work with Digital Element to create the Animation Annex and to help the people in Snezhinsk to become profitable working with our tools,” said Kriss Craig, Worldwide Marketing Communications Manager for 3D at NewTek.
The two packages, LightWave 3D and WorldBuilder, provide a powerful combination for animators and will create the base of software used by the scientists at the Animation Annex. An announcement is expected soon from NewTek and Digital Element about a direct plug-in from WorldBuilder to LightWave, which will create an even better workflow and advanced interactivity for those using the programs together.
For information about how to contribute to the effort, Don McClure, CEO of Digital Element should be contacted at don@digi-element.com.
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