Avid Elastic Reality

As early as 1994, Elastic Reality for SGI, (written by Paul Miller at ASDG in collaboration with Ted Fay at VisionArt) became the de facto morphing system in the film and broadcast industry, and contributed to hundreds of feature films and television effects, including The Iron Giant, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Independence Day, The Mask, and Batman Forever.

The newest product to make these available is Softimage|XSI v6.0, released in December 2006, which features an integrated 2D image compositing module that is derived from Avid Media Illusion 6.0.

Compared to the classic Elastic Reality application, these effects use the 2D shape, user interface and other features native to these products, and the interaction is different, although the results can be the same.

For example, in Avid Media Illusion and XSI 6.0, morphs can be performed with B-spline curves and polygonal lines, can process 16-bit images, and offer an interactive OpenGL preview of the warp.

Perry Kivolowitz and Garth Dickie received a 1996 Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the invention of shape-based warping and morphing embodied in Elastic Reality.

Avid Elastic Reality setup with SGI Octane and WACOM graphics tablet
Several members of the Elastic Reality team including three original members, one almost original member, and one member who came later.