Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 21, 2012. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Autodesk, Weta, and Lightstorm entered into a partnership so that software environments for virtual productions could receive improvements and thus provide better workflows. The latter is James Cameron’s production company, which was responsible for blockbusters including Avatar. According to reports, the first workflow improvements and tools have already been integrated into new Entertainment Creation Suite products.
The Entertainment Creation Suite 2013 in particular is said to benefit greatly from the collaboration. In addition to tools and fundamental workflow improvements, Autodesk Maya and MotionBuilder received optimizations aimed specifically at image reproduction fidelity. According to Autodesk, the improvements in MotionBuilder include, for example, faster saving, loading, and connecting of scenes. Furthermore, MoCap data can be saved directly to the hard drive through the integrated NLE editor. According to reports, this aspect in particular is intended to benefit directors, since they can record shots at short intervals or the crew can already work on refining the data. Autodesk also wishes to point out that HD SDI output support is now possible and that MotionBuilder can therefore be integrated into studio broadcast workflows.
Anyone wishing to learn more about these technologies who was not part of FMX 2012 can watch recorded presentations on the associated Autodesk AREA page.
