Clarisse iFX 2.0 – The Newcomer Shows Its Claws

Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 31, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

Among the innovations being presented are changes to the rendering engine and truly powerful file referencing. The newly added features include innovations in the rendering engine. In detail, the long-awaited volume rendering is now supported, followed by OpenVDB. In addition – one of the big surprises – Clarisse iFX 2.0 has Deep Image Output through OpenEXR 2.0 as well as a powerful AOV Engine. But double-sided Vector Displacement is also said to have been implemented, alongside full support for OpenColorIO. This is intended to enable high-quality color management.

In version 2.0, Clarisse iFX’s internal material editor has additional sets of texture nodes. Those artists responsible for look and feel will benefit in particular. In addition, there are new manipulation tools for the 3D viewport that allow the scene to be filled even more efficiently.

Probably the biggest feature is the implementation of a sophisticated File Referencing System. This is intended to make teamwork within large productions as pleasant as possible. Local overrides as well as incremental updates are supported within this system.

Isotropix speaks out

“We are all very pleased to announce the new version, as it represents a true milestone for every production pipeline. We worked very hard on version 2.0, over the course of a year and in close collaboration with our customers. Many thanks for the feedback we received from artists. This enabled us to make the pipeline integration of Clarisse considerably easier, alongside fine tuning and improvements to the unique tools within Clarisse. We have not only implemented new features such as high-quality volume rendering or Deep Image Output, but also improvements across large parts of Clarisse in order to offer the best out-of-the-box lighting and rendering solution on the market,” says Sam Assadian, founder and CEO of Isotropix.

Availability

Clarisse iFX will be available in the fourth quarter of 2014 directly from Isotropix or authorized software dealers.

Anyone who wants to see the new features for themselves and is considering visiting Siggraph 2014 – Isotropix can be found at booth #701. The visit is worthwhile, as Graham Jack, CTO at Double Negative, and Zoe Cranley, CG Sequence Supervisor at Double Negative, will be there as guests and demonstrate the use of Clarisse in their productions.

No money for the ticket? No problem. The presentations and videos will be available after the event on Isotropix’s official YouTube channel and its homepage.