Upcoming Shows:
September 12-14, 2011 | imX 2011 | Las Vegas, NV
September 13-15, 2011 | ALIHANKINTA 2011 | Tampere, Finland
September 19-24, 2011 | EMO 2011 | Hannover, Germany
September 28 - October 1, 2011 | KOMAF 2011 | Goyang, Korea
September 29 - October 2, 2011 | MECT 2011 | Nagoya, Japan
October 3-7, 2011 | MSV 2011 | Brno, Czech Republic
October 4-6, 2011 | Wisconsin Manufacturing & Tech. Show | West Allis, Wisconsin
October 18-22, 2011 | FAKUMA 2011 | Friedrichshafen, Germany
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Surfware would like to invite you as an eXecutive Guest during imX – the interactive manufacturing eXperience – being held in Las Vegas September 12-14, 2011.
To confirm your place in the Surfware Guest List, please click here and then enter your email address.
This eXclusive event is by invitation only and space is limited, so complete your profile today!
imX is a revolutionary, purpose-driven event for decision makers in U.S. manufacturing. Join other invited executives, engineers and technology managers from the industry’s leading companies for an unprecedented opportunity to:
- Participate in multiple eXperience Zones and Learning Labs on applied and emerging manufacturing technology solutions
- Learn from manufacturing’s brightest minds and influencers at the daily Keynote presentations, Interactive Industry Panels and Knowledge Bars
- Investigate multiple solutions in one location through scheduled, in-depth dialogues with OEM’s and solution providers
- Network with power players over the course of three eXceptionally rewarding days
We'll see you at imX!
—The Surfware Team!
Matt Sweeney Special Effects, Inc. was founded in 1984 in Van Nuys, CA by Matt Sweeny and Lucinda Strub to design and develop a specialized Automatic Capsule Gun that would shoot a capsule that would simulate a bullet hit for motion picture filming. After a few years of development, the pair received an Academy Technical Achievement award in 1987 with their finished product, known by some as the Sweeney Gun, which is still used in the motion picture industry worldwide.
Matt Sweeney first adopted SURFCAM shortly after purchasing his first CNC machine. "When I bought my first CNC, a 1979 Hitachi-Seiki Horizontal, I asked my machinery broker about which CNC software would be the most economical to use. He got me another CAM system, which failed to operate the way that I wanted it to. I then asked him to get me high quality software that was also reasonably priced and he recommended SURFCAM," explained Sweeney.
Matt sitting in the completed Time Machine
"I find SURFCAM to be highly intuitive and very easy to use and configure. Currently my shop has a few Haas machines as well as a Bridgeport and a Warner-Swasey Titan. I use my 3-axis seat of SURFCAM on all of these machines, working with the out of the box toolpaths and post processors (Mpost and Lpost) that are offered for 3-axis and lathe," said Sweeney. "We mainly machine with aluminum, mild steel, 303 Stainless Steel and brass as these are easy to work with in mechanical special effects. An example of the type of mechanical special effects we produce can be found in the above photograph. Using SURFCAM, we created the title device from the 2002 film The Time Machine using only anodized aluminum."
This dolly ran 1800 feet at 60mph to capture the green flag shot at the Indianapolis 500 in 2007
Since its founding, Matt Sweeney Special Effects has grown in scope to also manufacture for various testing services, government institutions, and theatre and camera rigging. "One example of camera rigging that we developed with SURFCAM was a special highline dolly that was designed for the Indianapolis 500 in 2007. The dolly was designed to run on a highline over 1800 feet long at 60mph to capture the green flag shot," said Sweeney. To see more of the mechanical special effects devices created with SURFCAM, visit http://www.sweeney-special-effects.com or check out other films where Sweeny’s special effects were used, such as Apollo 13 (where there was a nomination for an American Academy Award) and The Fast and The Furious series.
-Matt Sweeney, Matt Sweeney Special Effects, Inc. (http://www.sweeney-special-effects.com)