Expresii 寫意
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Introduction

It all started some twenty years ago when Nelson Chu was not satisfied with existing paint systems, in which brushes were often a blob or some  pixel-sized strings. Resulting strokes often look too clean, too sterile.  Our goal is to be able to make organic strokes - just like in the real world - in real time and high resolution.

Our development is directed by leading digital painting tech expert Nelson Chu. He devised break-through techniques for simulation brushes, wet (watercolor &  oil)   and dry media. Being a painter  &   calligrapher himself as well as  a computer graphics specialist, he understands what can be done to improve the state of the art.

Chronicle

  • 1995 -  Nelson Chu sprouted the idea of simulating a Chinese brush.
  • 1999 - Nelson started working on brush simulation at HKUST.
  • 2002 -  Published     technical paper on brush simulation at Pacific Graphics.
  • 2003 - Nelson started ink simulation research.
  • 2005 - Published on ink simulation at SIGGRAPH. Prototype dubbed MoXi.
  • 2006 -  Adobe Systems Inc  licensed  MoXi. Nelson went to Adobe for tech  transfer.
  • 2007 -  Sony Electronics Inc licensed MoXi.   Nelson  ported part of MoXi to Sony's new hardware platform.  Nelson awarded PhD for his research.
  • 2008 - MoXi generated visual effect for the Beijing Olympics . Nelson accepted Microsoft's invitation to work on  Project Gustav, later released as  Fresh Paint.
  • 2011 - Nelson resigned from Microsoft.
  • 2012 - We started the development of Expresii, a successor of MoXi.
  • 2013 - A preview of Expresii demo'ed at SIGGARPH ASIA.
  • 2014 - Expresii in Closed-Beta stage;  Expresii Lite released as Public Preview.
  • 2015   - Expresii released as  Public Beta.
  • 2016 -  Demo'ed at CES ASIA.  Nelson invited  as  panelist  at  Wacom's  Connected Ink.  Demo'ed at SIGGRAPH ASIA. Expresii officially launched!
  • 2017 -  Microsoft featured Expresii  at the New Surface Pro launch events  (Global launch at Shanghai, local at Hong Kong & Taiwan).  Expresii started to be sold at Microsoft Store.   Showcased at   SIGGRAPH 2017.   
  • 2018  -  Expresii  demo'ed at SIGGRAPH ASIA  & Wacom  Connected Ink   .
  • 2019  -   Animated film  "Red Squirrel    Mai"   teaser    released at Hong Kong Filmart  . Expresii is being used extensively in the production.
  • 2020  -   Added support for Lenovo E-Color Pen. Free Store Demo version available.
  • 2021 - Animated short   "Find Find " by   Studio Biped  revealed, demonstrating new art-tech collaboration with Expresii; Devised & deployed next-gen zooming tech 'vexel rendering'.
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Nelson Chu at SIGGRAPH 2005, Los Angeles

State-of-the-Art

Watercolor has been a major challenge in digital painting technology. Many  popular  paint programs offer  "watercolor brushes"  but they  lack  fluidity, which essentially is the charm of the medium. The   MoXi  paint simulation, on the other hand, brings watercolor simulation to a whole new level using Computational Fluid Dynamics. Coupled with an expressive deformable virtual brush, it gives the serendipity of painting with water-based media all digital artists deserve. 


for Artists, by Artists

We understand what artists wanted and also have the technical skills to make tools that delights them.


'Expresii'?

'Expresii' is the Romanian word for 'expression'. You can also take it as 'express' + 'yi', where 'yi' is the pinyin of 「意」 in Chinese.  「意」 means 'idea' or 'meaning'.
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