The reader will have an exclusive look into how the design process of characters for motion pictures by Aaron Sims at Stan Winston Studios has changed through the application of XSI. Sims talks about his current project Tethered Islands , a short movie, and how he creates his alien world using XSI. The co-author and character animation expert, Michael Isner, at Softimage discusses the groundbreaking technology and the powerful tool set that XSI delivers. This book also covers new technology in crowd animation. The reader will learn everything needed to create a detailed animated character that can then be composited into a live action scene using the XSI compositor. Well-known 3D artist Sims includes his own incredible characters to inspire the reader while clearly demonstrating the techniques applied in their creation.