News

Autodesk Releases New Versions of its Visual Effects, Editing and Digital Colour Grading Systems (26/7/2005)

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today released new versions of its visual effects, editing/finishing and digital colour grading systems. Used to create high-value feature film and television content, Autodesk's systems have enabled digital artists to realise their ideas on major projects, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man 2, The Sopranos and the CSI franchise. The new systems will be showcased at the Autodesk stand (#1700) at the SIGGRAPH exhibition in Los Angeles, 2-4 August 2005.

New versions include Autodesk's Discreet Fire 7.0 and Discreet Smoke 7.0 editing systems, Discreet Inferno 6.5, Discreet Flame 9.5 and Discreet Flint 9.5 visual effects systems, and the Discreet Lustre 2.6 digital colour grading system. Autodesk's SGI-based Fire, Smoke, Inferno and Flame systems feature a new 64-bit architecture, delivering superior performance in handling the increasingly large and complex data sets of today's digital media creation.

Beta tester Brad Wensley, a Smoke and Flame artist at CBC Media's Studio 57, commented on his experience with the Discreet Smoke 7.0 system: "Autodesk has thought of everything for working in larger resolutions, including making the user interface on colour correctors transparent over the larger frame sizes. Add to this their unbelievably intelligent keying technology and you've got a formidable artistic toolset. This kind of thinking makes the artistic side of the equation jump to the front row where it belongs, and puts technical details in the background, out of the artist's view." Long Island-based CBC Media is currently using its Smoke and Flame systems on a Nike television spot.

Key New Features in Fire 7.0 and Smoke 7.0

* 64-bit architecture: Provides more addressable memory, enabling greater interactive manipulation of multilayered, uncompressed high-definition (HD), 2K, 4K images and higher resolutions (Available only for Fire 7.0 and Smoke 7.0 systems on SGI IRIX) * New, optimised Timewarp: Uses proprietary motion analysis technology from Autodesk's Media and Entertainment Division. Provides improved accuracy in frame interpolation; helps create crisper images, especially when calculating significant changes in timing * Clip History: Allows artists and editors to go back and make changes to the work they create with greater ease and efficiency. Clip History is stored with the media in the Clip Library and can be shared between Autodesk's editing and effects systems for improved interoperability and collaboration * Soft text in timeline: Create, edit and play back text directly in the timeline without rendering * Burn from the timeline: Users can now use Autodesk Burn to render effects remotely from both the timeline and the source area, improving workflow * Overlay user interface (UI) for colour correction: A powerful new colour-correction UI that enables the user to see more of the image full-screen without the visual distraction of a permanent interface * DPX keycode support: Keycode support allows conform of DPX film scans based on keycode information from the offline edit (Available only on Fire 7.0 and Smoke 7.0 DI on SGI IRIX)

Key New Features in Inferno 6.5, Flame 9.5 and Flint 9.5 Systems

* 64-bit architecture: Provides more addressable memory, enabling greater interactive manipulation of multilayered, uncompressed HD, 2K, 4K images and higher resolutions (Available only on Inferno 6.5 and Flame 9.5 systems) * Motion Estimation Timewarp: New Autodesk motion estimation algorithms provide advanced time-warping capabilities for high-quality slow-motion and speed-up effects * Layer-based Paint: This advanced paint module provides users with a high-resolution paint system, offering more design flexibility for layer-based graphics creation within the Batch workflow

Key New Features in Lustre 2.6 System

* New editorial metadata architecture and subsystem enables powerful new conform and editorial capabilities * XML-based cut files enable more transparent cross-vendor interoperability * Intelligent handling of problematic edit decision lists (EDLs) * Expanded film key code and video timecode handling * Expanded flags system and new integrated notes for greater project collaboration * Enhanced linear-mode primary colour correction * User-selectable keyer source as pre/post input primary * Improved browser performance with fast parsing of huge clip libraries * Autodesk Stone Shared optimisation increases real-time performance from centralised storage area network (SAN)

Availability and Pricing

The Fire 7.0, Smoke 7.0 and Lustre 2.6 systems are now shipping. It is anticipated that the Inferno 6.5, Flame 9.5 and Flint 9.5 systems will be available in late summer 2005 to customers covered by appropriate and valid annual Autodesk Media and Entertainment Division support or subscription contracts.

www.discreet.com