Montreal-based visual effects and animation studio damnfx, which contributed over 20 minutes of key-frame character animation to the cinematic sequences in Microsoft's Halo 3, announced that cinematics director CJ Cowan and his team at Bungie Studios have won an award from the Visual Effects Society (VES) for Best Real Time Visuals in a Video Game.

"We are extremely proud to have executed on the cinematic content for Halo 3," said damnfx animation director Emilio Ghorayeb. "CJ Cowan was an engaging and focused director with tremendous foresight. We are incredibly thrilled that his vision, and the support given by his producer James McQuillan, have been honored by the Visual Effects Society."

Separately, damnfx also was honored by VES with an award for Best Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project, for work delivered on Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure, which is an IMAX 3D stereoscopic film directed by Sean Phillips and produced and distributed by National Geographic.