Mississippi learning

State-of-the-art animation techniques
come to life in Southern college town

February 27, 1996
Web posted at: 3:15 p.m. EST

From Correspondent Dick Wilson

STARKVILLE, Mississippi (CNN) -- It looks like a scene from the hit computer-animated movie "Toy Story," but the creative force behind a computer-generated film made in Starkville, Mississippi, was actually Todd Keller, a former graduate student Mississippi State University. (629K QuickTime movie)

Keller learned state-of the art animation technology at a private company called NewIDEAS, located across the street from the Mississippi State campus. (553K QuickTime movie)

It is a one-of-a-kind training facility that brings together the resources of more than a dozen animation software companies as well as Silicon Graphics, a group perhaps best known for bringing dinosaurs to life in the movie "Jurassic Park."

From Web sites to cat litter

NewIDEAS is an electronic institute for design with a diverse client base, founder Patty Seger said. Projects include graphic design for Web sites, CD-ROMs, publications, corporate image, and even animated commercials.

A computer-created ad for Kat Box King, a cat litter, was on-the-job training for six student interns from Mississippi State. (621K QuickTime movie)

They mastered the high-tech graphics work stations and programs while serving an actual NewIDEAS client. "What the kids were doing with the animation was just incredible," said Sean McGivern of Kat Box King. (136K AIFF sound or 136K WAV sound)

NewIDEAS also attracts established filmmakers eager to learn new techniques such as composite shots -- filmed images layered on top of computer-generated backgrounds.

But the emphasis at NewIDEAS is on training. So the next big Hollywood blockbuster might have its roots in a Mississippi college town.