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[Monday at NAB]
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Autodesk Amps Up VFX, Finishing Tools
Focus Is on Support for Hybrid Systems, Acting Faster
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by David E. Williams,
~ April 14, 2008
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DV MAGAZINE
“Our approach is not about ‘thinking different’ but acting faster,” said Mark Petit, senior vice president of Media and Entertainment of Autodesk Inc.
Petit, speaking at the company’s Sunday morning NAB Show press conference, explained that Autodesk’s customers in the high-end motion picture visual effects and finishing sectors “are under tremendous production pressures and moving four times as much data as they were a few years ago. But the aren’t getting four times the money for doing that work, so we’re supporting them with more efficient workflows, more capability and better interoperability.”
To this end, Autodesk, which took home its fifth Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honor with a Scientific and Technical Award earlier this year for its contributions to the visual effects industry, announced the 2009 releases of its Inferno, Flame and Flint visual effects software and Smoke finishing system, as well as an Extension 1 addition to the Toxik compositing toolset.
“Our customers use hybrid systems and we have to support that,” said Maurice Patel, Autodesk’s head of industry management, media and entertainment, who recited a litany of the features and enhancements included in each of the company’s upgraded offerings.
With “interoperability” in mind, the 2009 releases of Inferno, Flame and Flint offer expended format support, including the ability to input Panasonic P2 MXF files and common professional QuickTime codecs. They also offer high-quality glow and blur tools and enhanced 3D tracking and auto-stabilization capabilities, as well as enhancements to OpenEXR workflow, which allows artists to perform compositing operations using high-dynamic-range files from such applications as Autodesk’s Maya 3D and Toxik.
Improvements to Smoke for 2009 include a new tree-based compositing workflow dubbed Batch FX, which marries the system’s editorial timeline with a 3D compositing environment, and expanded format support, including Panasonic P2 MXF files and common professional QuickTime codecs. Seeking to expand its marketshare, Autodesk now starts Smoke at $64,000, including storage.
The Extension 1 addition to Toxik offers a Warp Image tool; a new programming tool called Pixel Expression Language (PXL) that allows compositors to create and customize commonly applied effects; and support for video previewing to allow artists to make more informed color decisions.
Autodesk’s 2009 releases of Inferno, Flame, Flint and Smoke will be available this month, with the Toxik Extension 1 following this spring.
At its NAB Show booth, Autodesk is demonstrating these updates, as well as hosting presentations from users such as Brickyard VFX founder Dave Waller and visual effects artist Mandy Sorenson; Imarion Inc. President Alex Olegnowicz; E3 Post Senior Visual Effects Artist Victor Wolansky; and Resolution President and Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Todd Iorio.
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