Discreet introducted new versions of its inferno, flame, and effects software today. The software is planned for a fall release and brings to reality many of the new features seen at the technology demo at NAB 2004. Fxguide will be taking an up-close look at the software in the coming days, but for now, here’s the Discreet press release…..
Montreal, CanadaAugust 4, 2004Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced powerful new versions of its real-time compositing and visual effects systems, inferno 6, flame 9 and flint 9, for feature film and television post-production and graphics. From Emmys to Oscars , Discreets visual effects systems empower the worlds leading creative professionals to achieve their most ambitious visions. Delivering improved productivity and workflow, the new versions offer more creative freedom and tools to simplify tasks. Discreet will unveil inferno 6, flame 9 and flint 9 systems at the SIGGRAPH Exhibition in Los Angeles, August 10-12, 2004.
Digital artists have been recognized with Best Visual Effects Oscars, CLIOs, Emmys, and numerous other awards for their ground-breaking creative work shaped by Discreets inferno, flame and flint visual effects systems, said Martin Vann, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at Discreet. Our visual effects systems are the tools of choice for digital artists working on blockbuster feature films like Spider-Man 2, television spots for advertisers such as Nike and Sony, and episodics like The West Wing and The Sopranos.
Key New Features
Discreets inferno 6, flame 9 and flint 9 systems offer a range of new creative features including a spline-based warping and morphing tool that gives users unprecedented control using animated splines with support for tracking data.
The new releases also feature 3D look-up-table (LUT) capabilities a breakthrough visualisation tool for accurate colour display. Used to show how a digital image will look when it is printed to film and projected in a cinema, the 3D LUT capability allows filmmakers to perform colour correction with greater confidence and precision than was previously possible.
Also new is an improved automated 3D Tracker that analyses a clip, selects the tracking points and processes the results in the background, freeing-up artists to focus on more creative tasks.
Numerous other enhancements have been added, including clip history that allows artists to see how clips have been constructed and quickly modify previous settings. Many new collaborative workflow features are present, including open file access, the ability to add schematic notes, and support for the Adobe PSD layered file format.
Jake Parker, senior inferno, flame, flint artist with Crash & Sues (Minneapolis, MN), said, The Clip History feature is incredible. It lets you double-click on a clip to bring up the module and setup that created the clip something users have been dreaming of for years. This feature can change the way we all work for the better!
Segment Effects have been added to the Batch Editing timeline for tighter integration between the schematic tree workflow and timeline editor. This allows users to apply effects directly to segments in a timeline and see the results in context. This enhances the creative workflow and it allows users to create multiple independent processing trees which can be applied to different clips in the timeline.
Discreets inferno 6 system is available on the SGI Onyx 350 visualization system, and the flame 9 system is available on the Silicon Graphics Tezro visual workstation. The Onyx 350 is unsurpassed for multi-layered compositing. The rise in digital cinema mastering and the new enhancements in inferno 6 on the Silicon Graphics Onyx 350 make it an amazing platform for resolution-independent visual effects, said Paul McNamara, SVP and GM, Visual Systems Group, SGI. The continued success of Discreets flame system on the Silicon Graphics Tezro speaks to the capabilities, performance and power that both companies have worked hard to bring to the desktop.
The flint 9 system features all of the above enhancements with the exception ofthe 3D auto-tracker feature, and is available on the Intel-based IBM IntelliStation Z Pro workstation running Linux.
Discreet collaborated with industry leading partner NVIDIA to build world class, high-performance Linux drivers for the flint 9 system. Discreet selected the advanced NVIDIA Quadro FX 3000G graphics hardware for its genlocking feature, powerful high-end graphics, and video capabilities.
Jeff Brown, NVIDIAs general manager of workstation product management, said, Together, Discreet and NVIDIA are delivering advanced functionality on standard computing platforms so that digital artists have a powerful and cost-effective visual effects system at their disposal on a Linux-based platform.
Discreets Academy Awardwinning visual effects systems have dominated the industry for over a decade and continue to transform digital film production all over the world. In 1999, Discreet’s inferno and flame systems were each recognized with an Academy Award – Scientific and Engineering Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Pricing and Availability
Discreet plans to release inferno 6, flame 9 and flint 9 in fall 2004. For availability and configuration details, please contact Discreet at 1-800-869-3504 or 514-393-1616, or visit www.discreet.com.
About Discreet
Discreet empowers media professionals to realise the visual experience and transform their most evocative and ambitious visions into reality. Discreet’s award-winning solutions are designed for digital media creation, management and deliveryacross all disciplines from film and television visual effects, colour grading and editing to animation, game development, web/interactive, and design visualisation. Discreet is based in Montral, Qubec and is a division of Autodesk, Inc, the world’s leading design and digital media creation, management, and distribution company. Product and corporate information: www.discreet.com.
Contact:
Discreet Public Relations
Roohi Saeed , Manager of Corporate Communications
Tel: (514) 954-7296 / Mobile: (514) 961-7296
Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk, Discreet, inferno, flame, and flint are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc./ Autodesk Canada Inc. in the USA and/or other countries. Silicon Graphics, SGI, Onyx and Tezro are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. NVIDIA and NVIDIA Quadro are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other countries. Academy Award is the registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Copyright 2004, Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.