Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 20, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
“Two developments are particularly exciting to us this year,” said Stig Gruman, Digital Entertainment Vice President at Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “First, we are introducing Flare, which gives customers of our visual-effects software solution a tremendous gain in creativity and productivity. Second, we have expanded our RED workflow functionality to provide particularly fast and flexible import options. Both are already proving popular with our beta customers. In the current economic climate, our software solution gives entertainment customers a real creative and competitive advantage.”
Autodesk visual-effects systems were used on several blockbuster films, including all three nominees for Best Visual Effects at this year’s Academy Awards: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Iron Man.” Autodesk solutions were also used to produce Emmy-winning television programmes and miniseries including “Mad Men,” “John Adams,” “House,” and “Entourage,” as well as several popular 2009 Super Bowl commercials, including Budweiser’s “Fetch,” CareerBuilder’s “Tips,” and Bridgestone Tires’ “Taters.”
New Feature Highlights in Flame and Inferno 2010
• “This is the best RED workflow I have ever seen.” – Victor Wolansky, VFX Artist, E3Post
• “The speed and interactivity of Flame still amaze me every day; I use Flame on feature films. Add GPU Burn and there is no time left to check your Facebook page!” – Ara Khanikian, Lead Flame Artist, Rodeo FX
Autodesk Flame and Autodesk Inferno visual-effects systems provide high-speed 2D and 3D compositing, advanced graphics, and interactive client-oriented design. They give digital artists reliable, flexible, interactive tools for complex high-resolution projects. Development concentrated on expanding 3D technology in Flame and Inferno. Features and improvements in the new versions include:
• Additional creative tools including GPU-accelerated 3D Blur, 3D Path, normal-mapping, and UV-mapping tools, plus improvements to 3D text and displacement-mapping tools.
• Expanded format support through WiretapCentral software for REDCODE RAW files, multichannel OpenEXR import, and DNxHD in Apple QuickTime.
• A file-based conform workflow with a powerful new search engine and configurable import settings for metadata-mapping control.
• Expanded floating-point processing support and a redesigned Modular Keyer with customizable presets.
Flare 2010: A Fully Compatible Creative Companion for Flame and Inferno
• “Flare takes the productivity of the Flame artist to a completely new level without sacrificing any of the creative tools familiar to us.” – Craig Russo, VFX Supervisor, 310 Studios
• “Flare will reinvent the way we do our work. With Flare, we can mobilize capacity for the creative tasks our customers demand from us every day.” – J. Schulte, Head of Systems, Condor Digital
Autodesk Flare 2010 is an integral part of the Autodesk solution and is intended to bridge 2D and 3D. Flare includes all the fundamental creative tools of Flame and Inferno and is intended to expand capacity and support talent development for Flame and Inferno customers. Flare is designed for advanced creative tasks including compositing, sophisticated graphics, and interactive design, as well as supporting work such as rotoscoping, retouching, dust removal, project setup, and keying. Flare is available through Autodesk Subscription and with floating licences for greater flexibility. Principal benefits include:
• A software application based on the Batch compositing environment.
• An Action 3D compositing environment with advanced 3D tools.
• Integral support for Flame and Inferno workflows.
Autodesk said the 2010 versions of Flame, Flare, Flint, Inferno, and Smoke would be available later that month.
Further Links:
- Autodesk Inc.
