Background on Electric Image
For those of you in the 3D software space who are too young to remember the original TRON movie, chances are you may not know much about Electric Image and its storied history. Although this interview is focused on the present Electric Image Animation System software and, more importantly, its future, we wanted to go back in time a bit and recount some valuable history.
Anthony Frausto-Robledo (AFR): Tomas, you are the new owner of Electric Image Animation System, commonly known as EIAS and have been for a few years now. Can you tell me about how that came about? How did a film director and VFX supervisor end up co-owning a legendary piece of software like Electric Image?
Tomas Egger (TE): I bought my first copy of EIAS (Electric Image Animation System) in 1996 (version 2.7) because I was amazed with the EIAS Demo Reel. It contained a lot of work created by John Knoll of ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) using a Mac. I have always used Macs.
I become totally addicted to the idea of an easy-to-use Macintosh 3D application that could handle tons of geometry while generating gorgeous and amazingly fast renderings. I used the software to produce documentary animations and CGI for advertising. I also created several Music Videos using EIAS. Several of these videos won Brazilian MTV awards. EIAS helped me to become a CGI artist, a VFX supervisor, and finally a film director.
01 - A sample of the stunning rendering capabilities of Electric Image Animation System (EIAS 9). (image courtesy of EIAS 3D. All rights reserved. Image created by Ash Bird. Title image above also courtesy of EIAS 3D, Image created by Ash Bird.)
AFR: So EIAS was, in essence, a gateway to your award-winning career in film and VFX.
TE: Yes, very much.
AFR: Can you tell me more about those early years working in VFX and Electric Image?
TE: When I started to create my music videos and more complex CGI TV ads I was invited to work closely with the EIAS beta testing team and the developers, including “The Igors”. I have met most of the best VFX artists in the field there and I learned a lot. I gained an understanding of how to create better CGI effects and which software features needed to be expanded on.
AFR: Looking back at the history of Electric Image, what do you feel was the most important moment or moments in its famous past? Is there a particular film project or technology that comes to mind?
TE: A few key moments for me include the Star Wars Special Edition trilogy, which used a lot of EIAS with full 3D space ships and camera maps…camera maps or Cmaps were added to EIAS at the request of ILM and it was the first Camera Map system available in commercial 3D software. Other key moments included Space Rangers (John Knoll), Terminator 2 – Nuclear Destruction, and Mission Impossible (ILM).
AFR: How involved are the Igors with the future of Electric Image? What role do they play in the new Electric Image?
TE: They have been the key developers of EIAS in recent years and were helping me to achieve my goals on my latest projects. We work well together — I‘m more of a dreamer and they are more logical. I really admire their work.
Next page: Electric Image Through the Years
Electric Image Through the Years
AFR: I definitely remember many years ago learning that Electric Image was being used at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic. Was ILM a major big customer back then and who else was influential in using it back in the 90’s?
TE: The EIAS team worked closely with the Rebel Unit (a team of artists using Macintosh computers) at ILM to develop features in the software. EIAS has always had users at Disney, ILM, NASA and a wide variety of VFX houses.
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AFR: Back in 2003, Architosh reviewed Electric Image Universe 5. Where did the Universe name go? Or more precisely, where did it come from to begin with?
TE: The Electric Image company was bought in 1998 by Play, Inc, a video hardware company. Play decided to change the name of the software from the Electric Image Animation System to Universe. They felt the name was more appropriate for marketing purposes. In 2001, the original developers bought the intellectual properly back from Play. The original name was restored at that time.
AFR: What has been the evolution of Modeler? I understand that Modeler got terminated and a new modeling solution was being developed. Can you tell me about that history a bit?
TE: EI Modeler (EIM) was discontinued in 2003. The previous company tried to modernize EIM, naming it Tesla, but after that they had some problems updating the Spatial ACIS modeling kernel license and stopped development. We didn’t buy the intellectual property of EIM.
Electric Image: Users and Pipelines
AFR: Can you tell me if EIAS 9 today has a built-in modeler solution or does the user need to bring in their own models?
TE: Right now, we don’t have a built-in way to model inside EIAS (Animator application). EIAS 9 includes a complete rewrite of its model importation system to provide fast and accurate importation of popular 3D model file formats.
02 - EIAS 9 continues to expand on its renowned rendering engine in both quality and speed. (image courtesy of EIAS 3D. All rights reserved. Image created by Hesham El-Tyeb )
AFR: What is the technology and purpose behind the new Import System?
TE: We are bringing to EIAS the latest technologies. The new Import System is able to bring in GoZ ZBrush files, LWO2 LightWave files, modo files, EPS/AI Files, Autodesk DXF files, and OBJ files with materials and textures and so on.
It is an amazingly fast system and has been re-designed to provide advanced options and model diagnostics for all imported formats. The importer validates the geometry uncovering possible problems before you get to the rendering stage. Custom presets can be created for each 3D format. Multiple 3D files can be added to a project in alphanumeric order with a single import operation. The import software for every 3D format has been rewritten and support for new formats have been added.
03 - EIAS v9's is utilized for a Mercedes engine. (2010 © JCM Animation for 5D Film/Mercedes AMG, All rights reserved. Image courtesy of EIAS 3D.)
04 - An interior view of an Evermotion scene. EIAS is popular with architects and designers for its rendering quality.
AFR: That’s great but EIAS is also an important file format in the industry itself–am I correct? And many long-standing CAD and 3D apps have exported to it’s native format also…
TE: Yes, you are absolutely right. Autodessys’ popular formZ and bonzai 3D comes to mind, Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD and others including Silo, Shark, and ViaCAD.
AFR: A lot of studio pipelines use a bunch of Autodesk tools. And those tools are now getting connected together with Autodesk FBX. Can you tell me about FBX support in EIAS 9? Do you have it and if not why?
TE: Yes, the Autodesk tools are being used in many studios. We have an FBX import system and will be updating it with the latest libraries in a future release. Connecting with other 3D apps is one of our main goals.
AFR: You have a lot of new features in the latest version. What features were the existing users asking for the most?
Next page: Electric Image: Today and the Future
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TE: Generally there are two big categories of requests and it’s always difficult to find a balance between them. The first category is new features. To address this in EIAS 9 you see multi-threaded and 64 bits rendering, Global Illumination that is faster and easier to use than ever, Bullet built-in dynamics, smart IBL presets, and the new import system.
The other category is workflow improvements, optimizations and polishing. Those are just as important as the new features to our customers. In EIAS 9 we have improved the preview system in Animator, added locked Camera maps, greatly enhanced the speed and stability of our network rendering system, added new plugins and shaders, improved our OpenGL rendering, and made numerous UI changes to improve the overall workflow.
AFR: Your user interface is independent of the operating system UI functions–much like CINEMA 4D, is that correct? Does this make it easier for you to support both Mac and Windows at the same time and with the same speed?
TE: Yes, but we have just about out-grown our cross-platform [development] framework. We are studying new technologies to allow users to have an improved and more modern customizable interface.
AFR: Electric Image has been famous for a very long time for its rendering speed and quality. Your latest rendering samples on your site show some incredible imagery. Why has Electric Image been so fast through the years?
TE: Camera, our own rendering engine, is state-of-the-art technology. Camera 9 is the fastest yet and the combination of increased speed and new features makes it a fantastic tool. It has a new Global Illumination engine, new sampling system, is multi-threaded and 64-bit compatible. This allows it to render huge frame sizes with tons of geometry.
Electric Image: Today and the Future
AFR: What is your company doing to grow Electric Image again? How do you see expanding beyond your loyal customers?
TE: Our first step is complete with the release of EIAS 9 by showing we really care about the software and its development. We are working to make EIAS more and more modern, easier, and faster, with great built-in solutions.
The world is changing really fast and our customers need to deliver work faster, with a high-end quality, but they don’t have more resources than they had a few years ago. Our focus is to bring them an affordable product with amazing features and support.
05 - EIAS was used on the hit-movie Austin Powers and its sequel. (© Newline Cinema. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of EIAS 3D. )
06 - Electric Image Animation System 9 has many UI improvements but the company will be modernizing in future releases. (images courtesy of EIAS 3D)
07 - Another image of the user-interface of Electric Image Animation Systems 9 (EIAS 9).
AFR: What things do you guys have to do to make Electric Image fit into more sophisticated production pipelines in the future releases? What is your general strategy?
TE: Upgrades like we did with EIAS 9, new technology features, lots of workflow improvements and huge optimizations. We are connecting EIAS via model and scene importation to other applications.
AFR: What is exciting about Electric Image for you in the future?
TE: We dreamed to own EIAS and to do professional development with it…and we did!! So now our next steps are to work harder and deliver even better upgrades!
AFR: Tomas, sounds like Electric Image Animation System (EIAS) is in very good hands and has a good roadmap ahead of it. The many images you have provided us for this article are amazing! We look forward to learning more and seeing more great updates come out of this legendary 3D software application. Thanks for talking to us.
TE: You are very welcome, it is always a pleasure to talk with your publication.
Learning More About Electric Image Animation System 9
Electric Image Animation System version 9 (EIAS 9) retails for 895.USD and runs on Mac and Windows operating systems. Upgrades start 395.USD. The product comes with a dongle option. To learn more about Electric Image Animation System version 9, go to their main home page here.
A really good place to see some of the latest animation reels is at their company Vimeo page here. And you must check out the EIAS 9 official company introduction reel here. Great stuff!