rajan-realdreams

Pixologic UV Master

UV Master: UV Creation Has Never Been So Easy!When creating or using a texture map, a 3D model needs UVs. These are 2D coordinates that tell all 3D applications how to apply a texture to your model. Until now, the process of creating those UVs has been a time consuming challenge that requires a high level of technical expertise and has little room for creativity.UV Master is a free plugin which will create very efficient UVs for your models with a single click. Any artist can now quickly and easily create excellent UV maps. This free ZBrush plugin clearly represents the ZBrush ideal of maximum artistic freedom with minimal technical hurdles!With UV Master's cutting-edge technology you can leave all the technical work to the computer. Because the UV maps generated by the plugin can be in one UV island you will be able to understand your model's UVs in any 2D image editor and paint or edit them like you would do with manually unwrapped UVs. Amazingly, what needs mere minutes with UV Master could take hours in other dedicated solutions! Just load your model, click Unwrap and you're done!

If you need more control over this automatic process, use the Control Painting mode to restrict seams creation in specific areas of your model or paint areas which will attract seams. Just a few broad strokes will add more power to the process with minimal effort.In addition, UV Master's density mode lets you define areas where you need more or less pixel space for your texture -- without the need to locally scale or stretch your UVs by hand. For example you can give more density to the face and less on the back by simply painting the areas before clicking Unwrap!

UV Master Provides Several Utilities:
-Flatten and Unflatten the model's UVs for easy visualization. You can even tweak them with TransPose or the ZBrush sculpting brushes.
-Copy and Paste UVs between models of the same topology.
-Create UV islands based on Polygroups.
-Load a model with existing UVs and/or seams to unwrap it using the high quality UV Master algorithm!
-Use specialized Ambient Occlusion calculation to attract UV seams to the less visible parts of the model.

Website: http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/features/UV-Master/

Pixar’s Tractor 1.0
Tractor 1.0 is Pixar's totally new, next generation, distributed processing solution for rendering and other network intensive applications. Derived from years of experience in managing the computational demands of the worlds largest render farms, Tractor is specifically engineered to address the extreme scalability and performance requirements of multi-core networks of tens of thousands of processors and more.

Functionally, Tractor consists of three primary components:
1. The Tractor-Engine maintains the central job queue and dispatches tasks.
2. The Tractor-Blade is a Python based execution server running on each remote node.
3. The Tractor-Dashboard is a customizable web browser user interface providing centralized control of the Tractor-Engine.

Tractor's streamlined architecture is designed for rapid deployment, delivering very high performance with a queuing engine capable of dispatching over 500 tasks per second. Tractor utilizes proven, open web standards and is highly customizable. Systems administrators can easily add Python extension modules to Tractor-Blades and customize the specifics of how various tasks are executed.

Features:
Engineering focus on high-throughput job distribution for large farms.
Simplified "plug-and-play" blade deployment on any size farm.
Web UI for ubiquitous access.
Simplified scripting and control using web technologies.

Website: https://renderman.pixar.com/products/tools/tractor.html

Trapcode:
Products:
Particular is a powerful 3D particle system that can produce a wide range of effects from natural smoke and explosions to geometric or organic abstract motion graphics design elements.The extensive built-in help provides text and animated images that visualize how the parameters work and includes several step-by-step tutorials on specific techniques.New features in v2 include shading particles from composition lights, new Textured Polygon particle primitive, new Streaklet primitive, self-shadowing, 32bpc float and much more.
Tight integration with Adobe After Effects provides bouncing particles on 3D layers, emitting particles from layers and lights and using a layer as custom particle. Comp-camera aware and built-in motion blur of course!The physics engine includes air resistance, gravity and turbulence, providing very realistic particle motion. The keyframable Physics Time Factor gives you full control over time so you can freeze time and move the camera around in a scene.Other features include Depth of Field and Motion Path.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 7.0 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)
Features

• Available for Mac OSX and Windows• Fast rendering• Advanced physics• Custom particles (use a layer as 2D sprite, or Textured Polygon)• Comp-camera aware• Shading from composition lights• Numerous presets• Works in 32, 16 and 8bit per channel color depths• Handles non-square pixel aspect ratio correctly • Built-in motion blur• Extensive built-in help• Available for instant purchase on-line

Horizon is a camera-aware color gradient and image mapping tool. It is a fairly straightforward utility plug-in. It is meant to be used on the bottom (backmost) layer in a 3D comp. It generates a background that corresponds to the camera's viewing direction. Trapcode Horizon is useful for creating the stuff that is really far away (at infinate distance) in a 3D comp.It can be used for example when a 3D camera move leaves the viewer confused; Horizon can help generating a background that corresponds to the camera move and thus help the viewer understand what is actually going on. Or it can be used just for fun!Trapcode Horizon is a great companion to the other 3D plugs from Trapcode, such as Particular and Form etc.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 7.0 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)

Features

• Available for Mac OSX (PPC+Intel) and Windows• Uses AE's comp camera• Built-in Motion Blur• Fully MP-enabled• Works in 32bit (float), 16bit and 8bit per channel color depths• Handles non-square pixel aspect ratio correctly• Extensive documentation• Available for instant purchase on-line

Form is a grid-based 3D particle system with a twist. It can be used to create fluid, organic patterns, complex geometric structures and swirling stringy animations. Using other layers as maps for various properties provides endless possibilities to create unique designs. Furthermore, Form can be used as an audio-visualizer, automatically generating stunning visuals for your audio.The unique animation features in Form allow for easily creating seamless loops (as can be seen in the animation just above to the left here). Form ships with 61 ready-made presets that easily can be customized to perfectly fit your needs and amaze your clients. The built-in help thoroughly explains all features.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 7.0 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)
Features

• Available for Mac OSX (PPC+Intel) and Windows• Uses AE's comp camera• Audio visualizer features• Controls to easily make seamless loops• Supports Depth of Field• Fast rendering • Works in 16bit and 8bit per channel color depths• Handles non-square pixel aspect ratio correctly• Built-in motion blur• Extensive documentation• Available for instant purchase on-line

Shine is a fast light effect plug-in. The effect looks very much like volumetric light, but is actually a 2D effect. There are special controls to make shimmering lights and numerous coloring modes. This is an effect that you see everyday on TV and in many movie titles. Before it was only possible to make using 3D apps (real volumetric lights) or using slower rendering 2D plug-ins.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 6.5 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)Adobe Premiere Pro FCP, MotionAvid
Features

• Available for Mac OS, Mac OSX and Windows • Works in 16bit (AE5 PB) and 8bit per channel color depths • Fast rendering • Special controls to make shimmering lights (loopable) • Numerous coloring options including 3- and 5-color gradients • Tweakable coloring presets • Extensive documentation: Manual and Tutorials • Built-in transfer modes, threshold and circular mask to maximize your workflow • Available for instant purchase on-line

Starglow is a fast-rendering glow effect. It creates a star-shaped glow around the highlights of the source. The star shape consists of eight directions, and each direction can be assigned an individual colormap and streak length.The effect looks similair to shooting with a star filter on the camera. It can be used to add realism to CG clips or to create a magical, dreamy or romantic feeling in a clip shot with camera. It can also be set up for effects that are completely new or to simulate lens artifacts. And it works nice with particle effects and text.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 6.5 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)Adobe Premiere Pro FCP, MotionAvid

Features

• Available for Mac OS, Mac OSX and Windows • Works in 16bit (AE5 PB) and 8bit per channel color depths • Fast rendering • Numerous coloring options including 3- and 5-color gradients • Tweakable coloring presets • Extensive documentation• Built-in transfer modes, threshold and circular mask to maximize your workflow • Available for instant purchase on-line

3D Stroke uses paths from one or more masks to render volumetric strokes that can be rotated and moved freely in 3D space. It has a built-in camera for AE41 and Combustion 3 users and can also use AE5's comp camera. Path reveals in 3D are easily made using the keyframable sliders for start and end.Since After Effects allows pasting Adobe Illustrator paths as masks (provided both programs are running on the same machine), you can use your own vector art and fly around it any way you like, the paths will not disappear when viewed from the side. The repeater section allows for repeating the strokes applying a 3D transform for each instance. 3D Stroke also features motion blur so that fast moving strokes animate smoothly. Built-in transfer modes are provided for easy stacking of the effect in one layer. There is also a feature to bend the strokes in space and taper controls to make strokes that are thinner at the ends.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 6.5 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)Adobe Premiere ProFCP, MotionAvid
Features

• Available for Mac OS, Mac OSX and Windows • Works in 16bit (AE5 PB) and 8bit per channel color depths • Option to use AE5 comp camera • Built-in camera for AE41 and Combustion 3 users • Motion Blur• Extensive documentation: Manual and Tutorials • The repeater allows easy object repetition with a 3D transform applied for each instance• View-space z-clipping• Built-in transfer modes • Available for instant purchase on-line

Sound Keys is a keyframe generator plug-in for Adobe After Effects 5.0 and higher. It allows visually selecting a range in the audio spectrum and convert the audio energy in the selected frequencies to a stream of keyframes. It is very handy for making extremely audio-driven animations.Sound Keys fundamentally differs from the keyframe generators that comes with AE. They (wiggler, motion sketch etc) have their own palette, whereas Sound Keys is applied as a regular effectand keyframes are generated into its own output parameters and then linked with an expression (or copied into place). An advantage with this approach is that all settings for the plug-in are saved with the project.Since Sound Keys was released After Effects 6.0 came out and included the handy new keyframe generator "Convert Audio to Keyframes". The main difference between the two lies in that Sound Keys can extract keyframes from frequency ranges rather than just the overall amplitude. This makes it possible to extract motion from only the kick drum, or only the voice for example. Another difference is that Sound Keys offers different falloff modes.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 5.0 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)

Features

• Available for Mac OS, Mac OSX and Windows • Easy-to-use visual interface • 32-band adjustable spectrum• Instant, Linear and Exponential falloff• Adjustable output range• Extensive documentation: Manual and Tutorials • Available for instant purchase on-line

Lux simulates the phenomena of light reflection in a sparse medium, also known as "visible light". This can be observed when lights are present in a slightly foggy environment, like on stage during a concert or outdoors on a misty night.Lux uses Adobe After Effects’ built-in lights to create visible light that matches how layers are lit. Lux will read properties such as position, color and cone angle from all point lights and spotlights and render visual representations of them. For even more integration, the spotlight cones can be set to reach a specified 3D layer in the composition.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 6.0 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)
Features

• Available for Mac OSX and Windows• Fast rendering • Lux takes full advantage of all processors (Mac&PC) and Intel Hyperthreading• Works in 16bit (AE6 PB) and 8bit per channel color depths• Internal 256bit (64bpc) calculations for exquiste results• Reach Comp Layer option for spot lights to reach a specified 3D layer in the comp• Option to select Light Model for different light looks• Handles non-square pixel aspect ratio correctly • Extensive documentation• Available for instant purchase on-line

Echospace is used to duplicate, manage and animate layers in a convenient manner. It works similair to an echo effect, but instead of creating 2D echoes, it creates new instances of a layer in 3D space.Trapcode Echospace can be applied to footage, text, solids or even nested compositions. It features a built-in animation delay to create time-rippling effects. It can also add randomness to the positions of layers to spread them out randomly in 3D space.Trapcode Echospace was co-designed by Mike Goedeke at Belief.

Hosts: Adobe After Effects 6.5 and higher (Mac OSX/Windows)
Features

• Available for Mac OSX and Windows• Fully utilizes Adobe After Effects built-in OpenGL acceleration• Created layers intersects and casts shadows on other layers in the comp• Built-in help• Available for instant purchase on-line

Website: http://www.trapcode.com

TopoGun
What is TopoGun?
TopoGun is a stand-alone resurfacing, and maps baking application. The resurfacing functions in TopoGun will help you modify and/or recreate the edgeflow of your digital 3D models. The maps baking functions, will help you bake various types of texture maps from your high resolution 3D models and then allow you to apply them to your newly created optimized meshes. These texture maps contain information that will help you recover the appearance and features of the original high resolution mesh.
In today's 3D graphics, high quality 3D models, due to their nature, usually have millions of polygons. This is because most of today's 3d models are created from real world scanned models, or they are digital sculptures, created using brush based 3D sculpting applications.In order to better serve their purposes, 3D models should have a much lower polycount and must provide for a deserved ease of handling. Even more than this, they need to have specific edgeflows in order to be more easily animated, or further detailed.
A lot of artists nowadays create their concepts as 3D models, using brush based sculpting applications. They usually start from basic primitive objects, such as cubes. At a certain point, they need to rework the topology of their models. There are several reasons for doing this: to make the 3D models more animation friendly, to create lowpoly versions for gaming or further sculpting and detailing, or as a way to change the highres topology in order to improve the model's capability of handling the highres information at a lower polygon budget. A resurfacing tool like TopoGun is needed for these purposes.
Furthermore, you can use TopoGun to bake multiple maps out of the original highres meshes. These maps can be used by texture artists when texturing the models. They can also be used by 3D engines in order to preserve the original mesh's features, (i.e., small details that couldn't be recovered after retopologizing due to the limited polycount an engine can render in realtime).

Why use TopoGun?
There are several reasons an artist should consider integrating TopoGun within his/her workflow:
PORTABILITY
TopoGun is a standalone application that will be available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux operating systems. TopoGun licenses are cross-platform and after buying one, TopoGun can be installed on any of these operating systems.
FRIENDLY INTERFACE
TopoGun supports several widespread viewport navigation models and there's a great chance you'll get used to it quickly. The interface is simple, straightforward and very customizable, giving you the freedom to modify it to fit your needs. You can add/delete interface elements and/or rearrange them easily.
REALTIME FEEDBACK
The newly created geometry, wraps around the highres model in realtime. When you move the retopologized mesh components around, they will stick to the highres mesh's surface.
FRIENDLY FILE FORMATS
TopoGun uses the .obj file format which is becoming more and more of a standard in today's 3D graphics. TopoGun's own file format is XML based and very easy to parse. Furthermore, TopoGun also supports the .ply file format (including per-vertex color information), used extensively in the 3D scanning industry.
MULTITHREADING
TopoGun's baking and subdivision modules are fully multithreaded and up to 256 CPU cores are supported.
NATIVE 32 and 64 BIT CODE
TopoGun is available in 32 and 64 bit executable code. The 64 bit version can access and use much more memory, thus increasing performance and capabilities.
MULTIMILLION 3D MESHES
TopoGun can handle extremely highres 3D data. The polycount limit is set by the available RAM on your system. It uses special rendering techniques to achieve unparalleled highres mesh rendering framerates.
ONE PASS MAPS BAKING
One great feature TopoGun has is one pass maps baking. Instead of baking one map at a time as most of the baking engines do, the types of maps you select are baked in a single pass, thus saving you precious time.
HARDWARE AMBIENT OCCLUSION
TopoGun uses the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) for baking hardware ambient occlusion maps. The speed that GPU computing and multithreading offers is much greater than the ambient occlusion baking methods used by today's existing software.
32 BIT FLOATING POINT MAPS OUTPUT
TopoGun's maps baking module can export 32 bit floating point .tiff displacement maps and ambient occlusion maps. The advantage of using 32 bit floating point displacement maps are that you don't have to worry about displacement maps parameters such as "displacement amount" and "offset", because the displacement values within the displacement map are real worldspace displacement values. Using the displacement map, as is, in your rendering engine will lead to perfect results, without ever having to tweak any displacement parameters. Another advantage of 32 bit floating point maps are that you can modify them without the fear of getting dithering artifacts, (the dynamic range a 32 bit floating point image has is huge compared to the dynamic range of a regular 8 bit image).
SUBDIVISION SURFACES SUPPORT
TopoGun can actually help you recover all the details the original mesh has, by using the Subdivision extension. A highres subdivided mesh is created, (starting from the retopologized model), and is "wrapped" on the original mesh's surface in order to recover all the fine details. Furthermore, the subdivided mesh can be used to fully recover the intermediate subdivision levels for later use within applications like ZBrush or Mudbox.

Website: http://www.topogun.com

Autodesk Smoke
The Autodesk® Smoke® system, an all-in-one solution for online editing and finishing, offers
Creative features—Smoke now has a redesigned DVE compositing model and new audio capabilities.
System integration—You can transfer projects between Autodesk Smoke and Autodesk® Inferno®, Autodesk® Flame®, and Autodesk® Flint® software and work in a common 16:9 interface throughout each application.
Open workflows—Autodesk Smoke now supports standard data formats and can be mounted to standard filesystem volumes such as a SAN or NAS.
3D application integration—You can import 3D objects into Autodesk Smoke using the Autodesk® FBX® file format.

What’s New
With new creative tools, tighter integration with Autodesk effects and compositing systems products, and versatile workflows with standard file system support, Autodesk® Smoke® 2010 software is a comprehensive editing and finishing system for your most complex projects.
Autodesk Smoke digital video editing software is now available as a software-only application for Apple® Mac OS® X operating system.

New Creative Tools
--The Modular Keyer, a comprehensive Autodesk keying tool, has now been incorporated into Smoke to help provide an extensive and flexible toolset for solving keying problems. Keyer algorithms are available in the Modular Keyer. This tool also features keyer presets allowing artists to work more quickly in challenging keying situations.
--Displacement Mapping is now available as an independent object to enhance workflow and extend the range of control when you use displacement maps in the Action 3D compositing environment.
--A library of at least 80 3D text presets offers artists an easier way to get started using the powerful 3D text tool. Customize presets to help create stunning visuals by integrating your text elements into 3D composites.
--Use the Audio Tracker tool to more easily add movement and create interesting animations in synch with your audio tracks.

Auto-Stabilization Tool
Autodesk® Smoke® Advanced now shares the Auto-Stabilization tool found in Autodesk® Flame® software to automatically counteract shakes or bumps in a camera’s motion while retaining overall camera movement. You can now more accurately track an object based on the region of interest.

Expanded Format Support
--Autodesk® WiretapCentral™ software provides parameters to optimize import properties and color management settings, enabling easy and efficient importing of RED ONE R3D™ format files directly into storage.
--Import RED files as isolated files or in a batch using an EDL file or an Apple® Final Cut Pro® XML file to enhance efficiency.
--Import the footage you need by setting in and out points for RED files prior to transcoding.
--RSX files contain color settings applied in Red Alert!™ and enable you to exchange color information between production and postproduction. Reuse or modify these settings when transcoding RED files to help you process content faster, as the RSX file provides a logical starting point and helps to better convey client requirements.
--Automatically import multichannel OpenEXR® image files using WiretapCentral.
--Import and export of Avid DNxHD® codec in an Apple® QuickTime® application program wrapper to extend the range of collaboration with offline editing applications, such as Avid® Media® Composer software.
--Directly import Avid DNxHD codec files in a Material Exchange Format (MXF) wrapper to help bring efficiencies to your finishing workflow when collaborating with Avid Media Composer and Symphony. Support of the native Avid DNxHD codec enables you to more easily conform Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) projects that reference these files.
--Import Sony® XDCAM EX codec for your broadcast projects.

Workflow and Productivity Enhancements
--Extended support for floating-point processing enables finishing workflows that use 16-bit file format, including OpenEXR image files. Now you can take advantage of these high bit-depth files in the Action 3D compositing environment.
--16-bit floating-point processing is supported in Batch FX, enabling you to access this enhanced visual effects workflow from the Smoke multilayer timeline.
--Faster file-based conform workflow—the redesign of the Recapture module provides more effective recursive searches of directories, the list of recaptured media, and found media.

website: http://usa.autodesk.com

Autodesk MotionBuilder
Autodesk® MotionBuilder® software is a powerful, real-time 3D character animation productivity suite for film animation production and virtual cinematography to complement both Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® 3ds Max® software, as well as other Digital Content Creation (DCC) applications that support Autodesk® FBX® file format. MotionBuilder is a professional package designed for 3D data acquisition, manipulation, and visualization, which makes it not only an animation productivity solution, but a tool that drives the iterative process of creativity.
MotionBuilder offers animators and technical directors
Real-time display and animation tools
Revolutionary HumanIK character technology
A unified nonlinear editing environment
Tools for customizing and extending the software
As one of the leading real-time CG technologies, MotionBuilder enables the process of virtual cinematography, allowing directors and cinematographers to interactively direct a virtual camera with the same freedom as a live shoot.

Features
The latest release of Autodesk® MotionBuilder® motion capture and 3D character animation software delivers faster overall performance, expanded physics capabilities, productivity-enhancing animation workflows, and improved interoperability with Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® 3ds Max®, and Autodesk® Softimage® software.
With MotionBuilder 2010, you can now take poses from an object or group of objects in a scene, not just characters. The pose browser will contain all the poses you’ve created from your scene, and you can organize them all into folders according to what you need for your project. This video also shows how you can create custom keying groups to facilitate object animation and to enhance your character animation workflow.
Create more efficient groups for setting keys, and work more efficiently with custom rigs including camera rigs, lighting rigs, and props. MotionBuilder now supports user-defined keying groups that include any arbitrary property from any object in the scene.
Work interactively with animation tools that maximize speed and efficiency. Get instant playback of character performances, so there's no need to preview or render animations.

Core Architecture
Animation tools built upon real-time architecture provide instant feedback with no wait time for previews.

Performance
--time support for deformation of highly detailed, fully textured characters
--Support for multiple characters with large animation data sets
--Real-time support for advanced CgFX and CG hardware accelerated shaders

Integrated Animation Trigger Tool
Create and trigger animation clips in real time.

Time-Accurate Scene Playback
Enjoy accurate playback, regardless of scene size or complexity.

Website: http://usa.autodesk.com

KRAKATOA
KRAKATOA™ is Prime Focus' production-proven Volumetric Particle Rendering, Manipulation and Management Toolkit.

It provides a pipeline for acquiring, caching, deforming, shading and rendering vast quantities of particles at unprecedented speed to represent natural phenomena like dust, smoke, silt, ocean surface foam, plasma and even solid objects. Krakatoa™ integrates well with Particle Flow, the flexible 3ds Max built-in Event-Driven Particle System, and provides data exchange capabilities for sharing particles with other 3D and simulation applications.

The rendering features include support for shading and texturing using standard 3ds Max maps and materials; Motion Blur and Depth Of Field effects; Particle Self-Shadowing and Shadow Casting from and onto matte objects; Ambient Participating Medium Extinction to simulate atmospheric and underwater light and color behavior and more.

The Particle Manipulation pipeline includes Particle Culling using arbitrary geometry and Particle Deformations using 3ds Max deformation modifiers and Space Warps like Bend, Twist, PathDeform and Free Form Deformation lattices.

The Particle Management features include the ability to generate millions of particles using a unique Particle Partitioning method which overcomes memory and system limitations of 3ds Max; Input and Output support for Prime Focus' open, compact and flexible .PRT particle data format, NextLimit's RealFlow 3 and 4 particle BIN file format and a versatile and easy to use ASCII Comma Separated Values .CSV format which could be used to interact with any application that can read and write text files. Particle files can be saved from Krakatoa™ and also loaded into 3ds Max using Krakatoa™ Particle Loader objects or into Particle Flow using dedicated Krakatoa™ File Birth and Krakatoa™ File Position operators, thus allowing for a full data flow cycle where particles can be saved, reloaded and processed multiple times through different particle system setups.

Krakatoa™ provides a highly sophisticated Presets and History System which does automatic book-keeping and thumbnail management of any rendering and saving operation performed in the Krakatoa™ GUI and allows any settings and render results to be browsed, compared and restored partially or completely to easily achieve the same look in later projects.

Krakatoa™ integrates well with Deadline, Prime Focus' Network Management Software and allows any number of CPUs to process particle files or render particles.

Krakatoa™ takes full advantage of 64 bit computing and has proven to run up to twice as fast on 64 bit builds of 3ds Max and Windows XP64 thanks to better memory management.

Krakatoa™ has been used to generate visual effects and elements for movies like Marc Forster's "Stay", Wes Craven's "Cursed" and Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" (and is currently being employed on projects like Journey 3D and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium by Walden Media.)

Feature Set
Particle Sources:
· Input particles from 3ds Max particle systems like Particle Flow and Thinking Particles.
· Use geometry vertices as particles.
· Load particle files in Krakatoa´s PRT format, CSV files or RealFlow BIN files.
Rendering Options:
· Render using volumetric or additive shading models. The volumetric model simulates attenuation due to the density of particles that the light passes through accurately modeling physical light.
· Particles can be rendered as self-illuminated, or with volumetric lighting. Use specular shading when the particles have normals.
· Shade particle color and density with 3ds Max material´s color and opacity, or supply a custom color, use blended z-depth and blended camera distance as alternate methods.
· Full support for motion and depth of field effects. Use 3ds Max´s built-in multi-pass effects for compatibility.
· User can cache particle pipeline results in RAM before or after the lighting phase – allowing for quick adjustments to lighting parameters or camera placement.
Partitioning
· Advanced partitioning enables more particle rendering than 3ds Max can normally process by itself. When running Max in conjunction with Deadline®, users can distribute large particle simulation jobs over multiple machines.
· By evaluating the same system multiple times – with different random seeds for each partition – Krakatoa™ can generate massive particle counts.
· Recombine partitioned files and render them as a single particle cloud.
· Ultimately, the only limitation on particle counts is your available RAM.
Interaction With Other Renderers
· Load specified scene geometry to act as matte objects, obscuring particles from the camera and casting shadows onto particle systems.
· Use shadowing attenuation maps created during the rendering process to project shadows from particles onto scene geometry in other renderers. Several provided scripts simplify the process of switching between renderers and re-applying the shadowing attenuation maps to the scene lights.
PRT Loader
· Krakatoa´s PRT loader allows users to preview input particle files in the 3ds Max viewport – and specify how they will load and render in Krakatoa™.
· Apply 3ds Max object space and world space modifiers to particles just like any other object.
· Use custom geometry to cull volumes for selectively deleting particles.
· Playback graph lets users change timing on particle sequences

Website: http://software.primefocusworld.com

Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited
Autodesk® Stitcher™ Unlimited professional photo stitching software allows artists working on film visual effects to create high-quality panoramas and wide-angle images. Stitcher Unlimited enables you to create environment maps easily and quickly for 3D rendering or matte paintings.
Stitcher Unlimited offers:
-Support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) workflow—global illumination and image-based lighting
-A variety of rendering options and projection modes (spherical, cylindrical or cubical)
-The possibility to create large sized panoramas at a very high resolution and to render it in various image formats.
-Interoperability with Adobe® Photoshop® software, which enables editing mattes for precision retouching

Features & Specifications
Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009 photo stitching software introduces powerful, new creative tools and functionality to enable you to quickly create wide-angle images and panoramas for engaging virtual tours, interactive 3D web content, large-format panoramic prints, and seamless matte paintings.

Highlights of Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009
Automatic photo stitching engine—Create partial or full spherical panoramas in just a few clicks. All the steps can be automated: stitching, alignment, and color correction.
Double shot—Stitch together images taken with a two-shot fish-eye lens. This enables you to create fully spherical virtual tours with only two pictures.
Image-based lighting—Create exceptionally high-quality environment maps and panoramas through support for EXR and HDR input and output.
Hotspot support—Create Apple® QuickTime® VR application program hotspots and links integrated within a panorama that reference another panorama.
Tripod cap—Cover up the tripod in your image with an image of your own.
GPU acceleration—Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009 is optimized to take advantage of graphics card graphics processing units (GPUs) to preview rendering in the main viewport. The GPU is now also used to accelerate final renders.
Selectable rendering area—Use the crop tool to precisely select an area to be rendered. This tool can be used while in full-screen mode.
New user interface and workflow—Stitcher Unlimited 2009 has been given a new look and feel through a redesigned user interface, including new icons and a new palette to manage thumbnails more efficiently.

Fully Automatic Process
With an automatic process, Autodesk® Stitcher™ Unlimited panorama stitching software enables professional photographers, multimedia artists, and photography enthusiasts to create panoramas from overlapping pictures shot from a single point of view. Not only does Stitcher Unlimited automate the panoramic stitching process, it delivers automatic alignment and color correction.

Image and Lens Support
Support for Spheres-Stitch together a variety of images, from rectilinear to fish-eye to create fully spherical panoramas—up to 360 degrees horizontal by 180 degrees vertical.
Fish-Eye Lens Support -Import as few as two or three images and obtain a digital panorama in about the same amount of time it took to shoot the photos. Using the Double Shot feature you can assemble two images acquired in opposite directions using a fish-eye lens with a field of view larger than 180 degrees to quickly create a digital panorama covering the whole viewing sphere in only 2 minutes. Stitcher Unlimited panorama stitching software also takes into account the specific distortion parameters of the Sunex® fish-eye lens.
Automatic Lens Detection- Based on properties of the image, Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited detects the type of lens used to take a photo, including lens properties such as aperture and focal length. It then uses this information to produce high-quality results.
Panorama Import -Existing panoramas can be imported into Stitcher Unlimited 2009 for modification (for example, to make a spherical panorama a QuickTime VR panorama).

Image-Based Lighting Support
Support for EXR and HDR- Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited supports OpenEXR® and radiance RGB HDR, two file formats that contain information coded in 16 or 32 bits per channel, for high dynamic range imagery. You can load bracketed LDR (low dynamic range) images to stack them to create HDR (high dynamic range) images or tone mapped images. Stitcher can also import existing HDR images, stitch each picture in 32 bits, and enable you to adjust the lighting in the viewport in real time. The panorama can then be exported directly in 32 bits to a 3D software package.
Environment Map Support -HDR panoramic images can be used to create sophisticated environment maps that can then be exported to Autodesk® Mudbox™ digital sculpting and texture painting software, Autodesk® 3ds Max®, or Autodesk® Maya® 3D modeling and animation software.

Web Publishing Support
QuickTime VR Hotspot Support -Create Apple® QuickTime® VR (QTVR) application program hotspots and links integrated within a panorama that reference another panorama, allowing the end user to move from one virtual location to another. Define any number of hotspots of any shape, including arrows placed on doors, windows, and other openings.
Supported Web Formats -Stitcher Unlimited 2009 supports embedded publishing formats—Apple QuickTime VR, Adobe® Flash®, or Java™ players—through the ImmerVision™ Panoramas (IVP) file format. It also supports global positioning system (GPS) data of the panorama, which can be specified in files saved in KML format for the Google Earth™ mapping service. You can also create HTML pages to display panoramas directly in a web browser.

GPU Acceleration
Preview Renders Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited is optimized to take advantage of graphics card GPUs (graphics processing units) for fast preview rendering in the main viewport.
Rendering Productivity The GPU accelerator also speeds final renders, reducing render times by as much as 30 percent.

Touch-up and Photoshop Interoperability
Image Retouching -The Stencil toolset facilitates artifact removal (moving objects in the overlapping regions) as well as the correction of anomalies such as ghosting and lens flare. The image can also be exported to Adobe® Photoshop® software for retouching.
Tripod Cap -The tripod cap feature provides a user-specified tripod cap with automatic alignment so you can hide the tripod at the bottom of the image. You can choose one of your own images or use the included tripod-cap image. The image, which can be a TIFF with an alpha mask, will be positioned at the bottom of the current 3D view and oriented in the direction of the 3D view.
Adobe Photoshop Support -Stitcher Unlimited 2009 provides interoperability with Adobe Photoshop image-editing software—supporting the import of images with their masks and the export of the stitched panorama with blending masks for highly precise image touch-up.
Smart Blend -The software supports multiple blending, sharpening and interpolation methods, including “Smart Blend.”

Rendering
Crop Tool -The Crop Tool (Render Area), which can be used to define a render zone, is now available in full-screen mode—creating a very fast, efficient workflow.
Choice of Panorama Projection -Several projection modes are available for panoramic pictures: flat (as seen in the preview window), spherical, cylindrical, or cubical (6 faces of a cube). Rendering with Templates -Panoramas can be rendered with HTML templates, streamlining the review and publishing processes.
Movies -Movies can be created by rotating or zooming a virtual camera around the central point of the panorama. A timeline editor enables you to add, remove, or edit key frames. Movies can be rendered at a user-defined resolution or frame rate and output to AVI or MOV format using any available codec.

User Interface and Workflow
Five-step Workflow - A five-step workflow and automatic engine make it very easy to learn and use Stitcher Unlimited 2009. The workflow consists of image import, stitching, alignment, touch-up, and rendering.
Display- A full 3D viewport allows you to place yourself at the center of the panoramic view. For those more comfortable working in 2D, a full screen 2D view is also supported, and you can move between the 3D and 2D views in one click. The productivity-enhancing Stitcher Unlimited user interface remains the same no matter which of the two views the user selects.
Redesigned User Interface -Stitcher Unlimited employs a highly intuitive user interface that enables you to become productive in as little as one hour. The look and feel of Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited has been recently improved through the addition of new icons and a new palette to manage thumbnails more efficiently.

Printing
Large Format Printing -Stitcher Unlimited 2009 panorama software enables photographers to produce large-sized panoramic prints.
Print Output -Artists can output to a variety of image formats, with support for adjustable parameters.

Website: http://usa.autodesk.com

Autodesk FBX
Autodesk® FBX® technology is an open-standard, platform-independent 3D data interchange solution that gives you access to content authored in any supported software package.

-Provides universal 3D asset exchange, removing barriers to data compatibility and giving users the freedom to build the most efficient pipelines
-Enables facilities to open their pipeline to multiple 3D applications, including in-house applications
-Gives users access to content authored in any software package supporting the FBX format, including Autodesk® 3ds Max®, Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® MotionBuilder®, Autodesk® Mudbox™, and Autodesk® Flame® software
-Supports the development of new workflows—for example, between authoring tools and middleware, such as Autodesk® HumanlK® software
-Facilitates easy enhancements—Autodesk FBX plug-ins and other select downloads are available at no charge

Features
Are you looking to switch 3D packages while continuing to use legacy content? Do you want to expand your pipeline to include multiple 3D applications? If so, Autodesk® FBX® technology can help. FBX is a widely used and supported platform-independent 3D data interchange solution.

The FBX API layer supports a variety of 2D and 3D data types and has a customizable scene graph optimized to represent complex animated 3D scenes. The processing and transport layer includes technology and algorithms that convert geometry, animation, and rendering to and from the FBX object model and publish to various file formats such as .fbx, .3ds, .obj, and .dae (COLLADA). The FBX file format (.fbx) is a sophisticated, extensible, binary/ASCII format that enables you to store, convert, and transport 3D scenes as well as 2D data, audio, and video. Use it to exchange data between applications, and to publish scenes from asset creation tools to level editors, game engines, and interactive viewers.

Core features of FBX enable you to:
-Use multiple 3D tools to realize your creative vision in the most efficient manner possible
-Support a wide range of 3D and 2D data
-Enjoy high-fidelity data conversion
-Exchange digital assets with other studios whose pipelines are standardized on tools different from yours
-Integrate off-the-shelf and proprietary toolsets
-Transfer custom data between applications
-Access legacy content after upgrading your pipeline

Detailed Features
FBX Plug-Ins
Autodesk® FBX® 3D conversion technology plug-ins are included with Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® 3ds Max® software. Autodesk® MotionBuilder® software supports FBX files natively. In addition, Autodesk® Softimage® software can read and write FBX through Autodesk® Crosswalk software. This technology offers a high level of interoperability between these packages. The FBX plug-in for Apple® QuickTime® 7 application program is a component plug-in for the Apple® QuickTime® viewer. This plug-in allows you play back and interact with 3D files from major 3D applications inside QuickTime.

Support for a Wide Range of 3D and 2D Data
FBX enables the acquisition and exchange of 3D assets and media from a variety of sources more quickly and easily. This means you can interchange major NURBS and polygon surface types, plus Maya subdivision surfaces, keyframe and mocap animation, shapes and morph targets, materials and textures, lights, cameras, hierarchical information, and character animation data: inverse kinematics (IK), envelopes, and deformations. We expect the list of data supported to grow with each new release.

High-Fidelity Data Conversion
Enjoy robust, accurate data translation. An intelligent conversion library enables precise conversion and transfer of production data between various applications. FBX delivers a particularly high level of interoperability between Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, Softimage, MotionBuilder, and Mudbox.

FBX Software Development Kit
The FBX software developer kit (SDK) is a free*, easy-to-use, C++ software development platform and API toolkit that allows you to manipulate information stored within FBX with minimal effort. The FBX SDK is particularly useful for application and content vendors and for in-house development teams.

Robust Conversion Capabilities
The FBX SDK offers robust conversion capabilities, including the ability to convert animation and geometry data across multiple data structures. It also offers the ability to parse data files of various origins into data structures you can then access via the application or tool you are writing.

Multiple Formats, Multiple Platforms
The FBX SDK gives you the freedom to work on your platform of choice—Microsoft® Windows®, Mac OS® X, or Linux® operating systems. Plus, the SDK can read and write multiple formats, such as .fbx, .3ds, .obj, and COLLADA, without additional plug-ins. So you can access to these formats without having to learn a new API.

FBX Extensions Software Development Kit
The FBX Extensions SDK contains source code, instructions, and examples to enable you to customize various aspects of FBX.

Plug-Ins of Plug-Ins
Add your own abstraction layer to the import/export mechanics of the FBX SDK and current plug-ins, making it easier to wrap custom data inside the FBX file format for transport to other applications. So you can focus on implementing your custom code, rather than on managing interoperability issues between applications. The FBX Extensions SDK has examples for Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max, as well as instructions for modifying the FBX 3ds Max and Maya plug-ins to add your custom data.

Published Source Code
The FBX Extensions SDK also includes source code for the FBX and COLLADA readers and writers.

FBX Converter
The FBX Converter lets you convert OBJ, DXF™ files, and 3DS files to and from the FBX file format (.fbx) in order to more quickly and easily transfer project data between applications. It's available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems.

Website: http://usa.autodesk.com

Nuke:
Nuke is a powerful compositing application that delivers unparalleled speed, an efficient multi-channel scanline rendering engine, and a first-class feature set that is unrivalled in the desktop market. If you are in the business of creating high-quality digital images Nuke is a production proven visual effects tool that brings speed, functionality and flexibility to your VFX pipeline

Features
Nuke is a powerful compositing application designed to work for you…

3D Compositing
Nuke's powerful 3D workspace supports OBJ import, projection mapping, geometry modifiers, and more. This true 3D environment creates powerful workflows and exciting new ways to approach compositing.

Stereoscopic Support
Nuke 5 has included support for working with stereoscopic and multi-view projects.
Multi-channel, high dynamic range compositing
Nuke delivers the industry's broadest support for EXR images. Read, process and write over a thousand channels per stream, improving data management and workflow.

Keying
Nuke’s exclusive Image Based Keyer (IBK) gives artists powerful tools for dealing with uneven backings. Primatte is built-in and Keylight is available as an optional extra.

Flexible User Interface
Savable layouts, dockable panels, GUI customization capabilities and features like the 'bullseye' and 'input' buttons make managing large, complex composites easier than ever.

Fast Rendering
Even when processing high resolution footage at 32-bit floating point precision on modest hardware, Nuke's multi-threaded, scanline-based rendering engine gives rapid feedback.

Scripting
Nuke offers an extremely open architecture. Both its node graph and user interface are accessible through the Python and TCL scripting languages, making it possible to customize Nuke in innumerable ways. If you really want to drill down, Nuke supports the industry standard OFX plug-in API as well as a native developers’ kit (NDK) for creating your own tightly integrated plug-ins.

Plug-ins
All of The Foundry's OpenFX™ (OFX) plug-ins are fully compatible with Nuke. Currently, the Keylight keyer, the Tinder collection (which includes lens flares, warpers, and lens blurs), and the Furnace collection (which includes motion vector retiming, wire removal, clean plate creation, grain, and texture tools) are available for OFX, with more collections added all the time.

Supported Operating Systems
Nuke is available on Windows®, Linux® and Mac OS X® platforms – all at equal cost. Licenses float across operating systems, so every artist can work where they are most comfortable and creative.

A cost effective solution
Not only does Nuke run on relatively modest hardware it comes with an economical price tag, so even on a fairly tight production budget you can gain access to a functional, fast and intuitive compositing solution.

http://www.thefoundry.co.uk

Autodesk Lustre
The Autodesk® Lustre® high-performance, color-grading and color management software not only makes your shots look better than real, but it also addresses various needs within your facility.
Creative—New creative tools, such as Stereoscopic capabilities, graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated plug-ins, streamlined project management, and new editorial capabilities allow colorists to spend more time on unlimited-look design and creation, and less time on managing workflows.
Pipeline—InfiniBand™ networking technology and GPU-accelerated technologies allow facilities to implement workflows that increase productivity. Combined with connectivity via the Autodesk® Wiretap® software application programming interface (API), these technologies allow facilities to take advantage of concurrent workflows with Autodesk® Smoke®, and Autodesk® Flame® software without the need to move, or duplicate data.
ROI—A concurrent workflow allows artists to work on different shots within the same project at the same time, working from the same media for finishing, color grading, and VFX, increasing the overall efficiency of operations.

Features
Features in Autodesk® Lustre® color-grading solution help provide artists with remarkable control over final color and lighting effects for television and film projects.
Primary and secondary grading—Modify primary grades before and after secondary correction. Create up to 48 secondary layers, based on keys and an unlimited number of shapes, with independent inside/outside settings.
Freehand shapes and geometries—Creative shape system capable of extremely precise looks using animated free-form shapes or geometries.
Hierarchical shape system—Simplify animation of multiple shapes with powerful tree-based parent-child system.
Advanced edge softness—Create variable-edged softness around shapes to blend colors organically, or imitate natural lighting falloff.
Multipoint and region-of-interest tracking—Fast, accurate tracking to animate shapes and stabilize images.
Keying—Isolate regions, colors, or brightness using the powerful HLS keyer.
Pan and scan—Reframe the composition and mastering to different formats.
Accurate dust and grain removal—Automatic dust removal tools, including use of infrared scan data, helps you find and remove dust and scratches faster. Degrain tool enables you to remove grain from entire shots or specific areas to help create a consistent grade.
Add up to 48 secondary layers to refine the look of your project. Each layer can be keyed and includes an unlimited number of shapes to draw attention to elements in the shot and add subtlety to the grade. Secondaries are integrated into the Lustre control panel and Lustre user interface so you can focus on creativity.
Logarithmic (printer light) and linear (telecine) style color correction.
Master brightness, contrast, lift, gain, and gamma controls.
Pivot sliders and color balance wheels.
Separate control of shadows, midtones, and highlights.
Adjustable soft-clipping parameters with control of black and white clipping and reference points.
Editable curves (hue, master, and RGB) for fine-tuning the grade.
Lock down grade on a shot-by-shot basis once a look is established.
User-definable calibration units for numerical entry of lab printer light settings.
Ability to re-create the print look of a particular lab.
Auto grading and color matching. Natural balancing and luminance conservation.
Color picker and vector scope, waveform, and histogram monitoring tools.
Create, edit, and delete projects and users in a unified project management environment.
Establish project preferences and configuration options with greater ease.
Set project paths to source file and render directories.
Save and load project templates to get up and running quickly.
Save and load user preferences, including display settings, panel sensitivity, animation options, and auto-save.
Create and combine multiple vector shapes per selective channel.
GMask-type shapes for more accurate light and color simulation—non-uniform edge gradients enable different regions of the shape to have different degrees of softness (falloff).
Use preset geometries (squares, circles, and ovals) or create free-form shapes.
Per-shape axis with global adjustment tools.
Multiple shapes per selective (secondary) channel.
Shape hierarchy—multiple shapes can be parented to a master axis for faster and easier animation of multiple shapes.
Auto tangent—faster, simpler shape creation.
Unlimited softness for creating graduations to subtly blend and hide shape edges.
Highly accurate automatic 2D region tracker for quickly tracking elements.
Animatable keyframe and multipoint tracking controls for shape offset, corner pin, and control point enables shapes to be locked to objects in the scene.
8-bit and 10-bit SD/HD serial digital video I/O, stored as 10-bit RGB data.
1080i, 1080p (24p and 25p), 720p, and SD video I/O.
Support for dual link and HSDL interfaces.
Capture and play out progressive or interlaced video material and up to 16 channels of audio.
Play out to video in assemble mode or insert mode using record timecode mark in and mark out.
Toggle field preview for greater precision in grading.
3:2 pull-down removal and insertion.
PAL hybrid frame creation on output for 24 to 25 frame rate conversion.
RS-422 control for frame-accurate VTR control.
VTR emulation for playout control of Lustre via RS-422.
Frame-accurate playout without rendering of 10-bit SD/HD to VTR via SDI with real-time primary grade, animated reposition and scaling, 3D LUT, and reformatting.
Output “telecine-style tape” using source timecode with black inserted between shots.
Monitor capture progress in the graphical user interface during digitization.
Real-time playback of DPX files from standard file systems at up to 2K resolution.
Real-time resizing, primary grade, 3D lookup table (LUT), and playback of 2K resolution film frame to 1,920 x 1,080 10-bit HDTV via the NVIDIA® Quadro® SDI graphics card output.
Real-time playback of 2K DPX files with embedded infrared dust-detection data.*
Playback of 4K (non-real time) with real-time proxy support (1K or 2K).*
Real-time 2K primary and secondary grading with preview LUTs applied.
Synchronized playback capabilities of up to 16 channels of audio from, and playout to, a VTR.
On-the-fly projection gate cropping from full scan: 1.85 and 2.35.
Real-time primary color grading of 10-bit and 16-bit 2K scans.
Printer light color timing mode (that can be calibrated to lab process).
GPU acceleration offers:
Real-time playback of primary and secondary color correction operations.*
Dual-head grading mode to grade interactively using the reference monitor.
Real-time output of animated primary and secondary color correction to videotape without rendering.
Real-time formatting of video deliverables from 2K resolution film frame to HD/SD 10-bit video at mastering quality.
Accelerated plug-in performance.
Resolution independence (including 4K).**
Very high quality: 32-bit-component secondary processing.
Autodesk® Wiretap® stored media technology provides direct access to the Autodesk® Stone® Direct high-speed fiber channel storage solution from Lustre via TCP/IP and InfiniBand® networks.
Lustre can use clips and timelines residing on Stone disk arrays attached to Autodesk® Inferno®, Autodesk® Flame®, Autodesk® Flint®, Autodesk® Flare™, Autodesk® Fire®, Autodesk® Smoke®, or Autodesk® Backdraft® Conform systems.
Grade a Smoke timeline using native media (on Stone or via direct file linking to Soft Imported media), which allows media to reside in one place without the need to copy.
Create local proxies in Lustre from a remote Stone file system via the Wiretap server.
Publish graded Lustre timeline metadata and media back to a Stone disk array or central storage.
Render Autodesk Stone media directly into a Stone clip library for immediate use in Smoke or Flame.
Shots rendered to Stone are available in Smoke or Flame before rendering is complete.
Exchange basic (raw) GMask vector and tracker data with Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire, and Smoke.

http://usa.autodesk.com

Autodesk Flare
Autodesk® Flare™ software is a creative companion to Autodesk® Flame® and Autodesk® Inferno® visual effects software. Flare provides artists with an interactive 3D compositing environment and industry-leading tools for video, 2K digital cinema, and 4K feature film post-production.

Flare allows you to expand your workflow with:
A creative toolset that allows artists to take advantage of the same Batch functionality as Flame and Inferno, as well as the Action 3D compositing environment and other award-winning creative tools.
A compatible creative subset of Flame and Inferno which allows you to develop internal talent by providing access to the Flame creative toolset to junior artists and add value to your Flame suite by expanding capacity.
A scalable way to increase your creative capability as you can attach multiple seats of Autodesk Flare to your Flame or Inferno suite. Floating licenses provide flexibility within your facility.

Flare Workflow

Flare is the creative companion to Autodesk® Flame® and Autodesk® Inferno® visual effects software. Flare helps you expand your creative capacity and fits easily into your existing pipeline.

3D Blur Tool

The 3D Blur tool uses vector passes and z-depth maps to create optical blurs like those generated by lenses. The blurs can be animated.

Normal Mapping

ToolUse the Normal Mapping tool to relight rendered 3D scenes without going back into a 3D application.

Enhanced 3D Text Tool

3D path is a new 3D spline object in Action. Character-focused animations enable you to animate letters individually and cascade an animation across letters.

RED ONE Support

Autodesk® WiretapCentral™ software provides parameters to optimize import properties and color management settings, providing an easy and efficient way to import RED ONE R3D™ format files directly into storage. RED files can be imported as isolated files or in a batch using an EDL file or an Apple® Final Cut Pro® XML file to dramatically enhance efficiency.

Floating-Point Processing

Integrate CG content into complex scenes in the Action 3D compositing environment thanks to extended support for floating-point processing in Batch nodes. This support provides greater control over 16-bit file formats such as OpenEXR® image files.

Features
Action
Keying and Rotoscoping
Paint
Tracking and Stabilization
Color Correction
2D and 3D Text
Warping and Morphing
Image Processing: Plug-ins, Filters, and Optics
Batch
Infrastructure
Motion Estimation Timewarp
Animation: Channel Editor
Expressions
Advanced Media Player
Monitor Calibration and Film Tools
Audio Tools
Input/Output (I/O)
Interoperability
Workflow and Productivity

http://usa.autodesk.com/

Autodesk Flame
The Autodesk® Flame® system is an industry standard for online visual effects and compositing, accelerating creative workflows with:
The high level of interactivity required for client-assisted production and quick turnaround on time-critical projects
A powerful 3D compositing environment for artists
Industry-leading tools for high-definition multiformat post-production, including standard definition (SD), high definition (HD), and 2K
Action, the unique Autodesk 3D visual effects design environment; 3D tracking; Motion Estimation; and the powerful Colour Warper™ and Modular Keyer functions
Scalable workflow with the fully compatible creative companion Autodesk® Flare™ visual effects software
Setup compatibility with Autodesk® Smoke® software and integration with 3D applications

Features:
One of the most sought-after online visual effects systems in postproduction today, Autodesk® Flame® visual effects software gives artists the interactivity and flexibility they need to create at the speed of thought. Flame offers Academy Award®-winning tools and superior performance at any resolution up to 4K and an industry-renowned creative toolset for 3D compositing, advanced graphics, movie editing, and client-driven interaction.
Action
Keying and Rotoscoping
Paint
Tracking and Stabilization
Color Correction
2D and 3D Text
Warping and Morphing
Image Processing: Plug-ins, Filters, and Optics
Batch
Infrastructure
Motion Estimation Timewarp
Animation: Channel Editor
Expressions
Desktop Editing
Advanced Media Player
Monitor Calibration and Film Tools
Audio Tools
Input/Output (I/O)
Conforming and Archiving
Interoperability
Workflow and Productivity

What’s New
The newest version of Autodesk® Flame® 2010 visual effects software features significant creative, performance, and interoperability enhancements. Updates include the new creative companion Autodesk® Flare™ software, 3D text upgrades, Batch workflow enhancements, extended format support, and new productivity tools.

New Creative Tools
Autodesk Flare is a fully compatible creative companion to Autodesk® Inferno® software and Autodesk Flame. Flare features many of the same creative capabilities as its parent product and offers a scalable way to help expand your business and develop talent.
The 3D Blur tool helps you to create optical blurs like those generated by lenses. It uses vector passes and z-depth maps as inputs and can accept high-contrast images or patterns. The tool can help you animate blurs.
The Normal Mapping tool enables you to take advantage of render passes typically generated by 3D applications and transported via multichannel OpenEXR® image files. This tool helps you to relight rendered 3D scenes without going back to the 3D application.
The Displacement Map tool is now available as an independent object to enhance workflow and extend the range of control with displacement maps in the Action 3D compositing environment.
Apply normal and displacement mapping to 3D geometries, including 3D text, extruded geometries, and objects created with 3D applications.
The redesigned Modular Keyer delivers Flame software’s most extensive and flexible toolset for solving keying problems. Keyer algorithms are now available in the Modular Keyer. New keyer presets help artists to work faster in challenging keying situations.
Enhanced 3D text tool provides motion graphics artists with powerful typesetting tools, such as the ability to render 3D text on a path, focus animations on individual characters, and cascade an animation across letters.
A library of over 80 3D text presets offers artists an easy way to get started using the powerful 3D text tool. Customize presets to create stunning visuals by integrating your text elements into 3D composites.*
Design tools built on the powerful GPU-accelerated Substance generator help you create a variety of unique organic patterns, textures, and effects—key elements to your visual effects. Use the substance you create with other elements in the scene such as normal and displacement maps, mattes, or as part of 3D text to add movement and atmosphere. Animate Substance parameters to enhance visual impact and specify resolution and bit depth to work in multiple resolutions. A library of Substance presets helps you get started quickly.*
Fifty (50) particle presets offer artists additional creative options when using the powerful 3D particle effects tool. Presets help provide a fast and easy way to experiment with particles and can be used as is or customized to help you create the effect you want.*

Audio Tracker

Use the Audio Tracker tool to easily add movement and create interesting animations in synch with your audio tracks.*

Expanded Format Support
Autodesk® WiretapCentral™ software provides parameters to help optimize import properties and color management settings, to enable easy and efficient importing of RED ONE R3D™ format files directly into storage.
Import RED files as isolated files or in a batch using an EDL file or an Apple® Final Cut Pro® XML file to help dramatically enhance efficiency. Use WiretapCentral to import multichannel OpenEXR files.
Import the footage you need by setting in and out points for RED files before transcoding.*
RSX files, which contain color settings applied in Red Alert!™, are used to exchange color information between production and postproduction. Reuse or modify these settings when transcoding RED files to help you process content faster, as the RSX file helps provide a logical starting point and a better way to convey client requirements.*
Import Sony® XDCAM EX codec for your broadcast projects.*
Import and export Avid® DNxHD codec in an Apple® QuickTime® wrapper to extend the range of collaboration with the offline editing application, Avid Media Composer.
Directly import Avid DNxHD codec files in a Material Exchange Format (MXF) wrapper to help bring efficiencies to your finishing workflow when collaborating with Avid Media Composer and Symphony. Native Avid DNxHD codec support enables you to easily conform Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) projects that reference these files.*

Workflow and Productivity Enhancements
Extended support for floating-point processing in Batch nodes helps to provide greater control over 16-bit file formats, such as OpenEXR. Now you can more realistically integrate CG content into complex scenes in the Action 3D compositing environment.
Faster file-based conform workflow—the redesign of the Recapture module provides more effective recursive searches of directories, the list of recaptured media, and found media.

http://usa.autodesk.com

PhotoKey 3
By photographing your subjects against a greenscreen you can transport them to anywhere in the world and place them in front of any background. All you need is PhotoKey 3, the latest version of FXhome’s powerful, best-selling compositing software. It’s an easy, fun and creative way to expand your photographic horizons.

Highlights
Fast, high quality results
There’s no waiting around for PhotoKey 3, with its automatic keying ability and professional compositing features creating high quality results in just a couple of clicks. All you need to do is import your foreground and background images and let PhotoKey 3 do the rest. If you want more control you can manually adjust the settings whenever you want. Whether you’re after speed, quality or both, PhotoKey 3 provides the tools you need.

Easy to learn
Powerful doesn’t have to mean difficult. PhotoKey 3 has been designed to be intuitive and simple to use, whether you’re new to greenscreen photography or are already an expert. The interface provides streamlined access to all the tools, providing a natural workflow that guides you through the compositing process from start to finish. You’ll be up and running in no time – check out the free demo if you don’t believe us.

Creative & fun
PhotoKey 3 is about providing exciting creative options in addition to the essential compositing features. A comprehensive range of color correction filters and special effects can be used to stylize your images, while the overlay layer can transform your project into a greeting card or magazine front cover. Check out the FXhome image packs to see some of the options – and you can always create your own.

Versatile features
PhotoKey 3 provides everything you need to create amazing composites. You don’t need to use any other image editing software, as your foreground and background layers can be positioned, adjusted and finished from inside PhotoKey 3. The flexible masking tools ensure great results from even the most challenging of source material.

Features
Greenscreen & Bluescreen
Create perfect composites every time using PhotoKey 3's highly automated keying abilities. Choose your photos and let PhotoKey 3 do the rest!

Color Filters
Use powerful color grading filters to blend your foreground and background seamlessly, or to create an exciting visual style.

Masking
Fix problematic greenscreens and clothing color clashes using PhotoKey 3's hand-drawn masks.

Special Effects
Add the finishing touches to your photos using PhotoKey 3's effects such as light spill, sepia and silhouette.

Text
Add custom titles to your images, choosing from any font on your computer and a variety of justification and formatting options, including color, opacity and rotation.

Export Options
Print directly from PhotoKey 3 or save to a high resolution, lossless image file. Alpha channel data can be saved for use in 3rd party software such as Adobe Photoshop.

Precision Controls
Enter values directly or use accurate controls to alter settings incrementally. Enter values directly or use accurate controls to alter settings incrementally.

Exotic Locations
PhotoKey 3 can use any still image for the background. Take your models and clients to exotic locations from the comfort of your greenscreen studio!

Multiple Resolutions
Choose from a selection of standard photographic sizes from 2"x2" to 11"x14" up to a high resolution of 400dpi. Alter your canvas size and shape at any time to suit your needs.

Greeting Cards
Design your own customized greeting cards with PhotoKey 3's layout guides and a selection of seasonal overlays.

Custom Interface
Change the layout of the interface to fit your own way of working.

http://fxhome.com/photokey-3

VisionLab Studio
VisionLab Studio combines compositing tools, CG effects engines and digital color grading to form a powerful post-production toolkit. A full commercial license and enhanced features make this ideal for low-budget professionals.

Highlights
Combine and create
Use a range of greenscreen, masking and animation tools to combine images and videos into brand new shots, widening the scope of your filmmaking to include any location and setup you can imagine. Compositing can revolutionize any project, from action movies and sci-fi to documentaries and corporate presentations.

Amazing visual effects
Choose from over 1200 free effects in the FXhome.com library or create your own using the fully customizable effects systems. VisionLab Studio includes the world’s most advanced muzzle flash system, a rapid lightsword drawing tool, a dynamic electricity generator, a versatile lens flare designer and a powerful particle engine for weather and magical effects.

Color and style
Finish your movies with a unique style using VisionLab Studio’s comprehensive range of digital filters. Whether you need essential color correction or a sophisticated movie look, VisionLab Studio has everything you need to enhance your cinematography and ensure that your movies look incredible.

Studio exclusives
All of the FXhome Lab products provide amazing value for money, with VisionLab Studio offering the best deal of all. Exclusive content includes the lightning effects engine, numerous color filters and compositing abilities, a commercial license and full access to every preset in the FXhome.com online library. The single, integrated interface reduces rendering times, speeds up your workflow and opens up additional creative potential.

Features
All-in-one
Combines the award-winning features of EffectsLab Pro and CompositeLab Pro with the technology of PowerPlug and MuzzlePlug in a single, cohesive interface.

Green & Blue Keying
A wide variety of sources can be composited, from greenscreen video to photos and CGI. Optimized for miniDV and professional HD studios, the keying process is easy and flexible.

Particles
The sophisticated particle system can create thousands of effects, including weather, smoke, fire and fantasy visuals. Precise control over emitter attributes allows for endless creativity.

Digital Grading
Create a unique and cinematic style for your movie using exclusive filters like bleach bypass, day for night and multi-colorize. Grade specific areas within a shot for complete visual freedom.

Muzzle Flashes
The world's best muzzle flash generator works for any type of weapon - historical, modern and futuristic. Muzzle flashes can be rotated in 3D, with full control over appearance and behaviour.

Stunning Lightning
Combines the award-winning features of EffectsLab Pro and CompositeLab Pro with the technology of PowerPlug and MuzzlePlug in a single, cohesive interface.

Optical Effects
Ideal for both subtle enhancements of your lighting or for epic landscape shots, you can use a preset or create your own using the built-in designer.

Masking
A precise freehand drawing system makes common tasks such as tidying composites garbage matting, simulating depth, layer interaction and area-specific grading quick and easy.

Neon Lights
This freehand tool allows shapes to be drawn directly onto the video, with full control over glow attributes and animation. Perfect for light swords, neon lighting and laser blasts.

Compatible
An intuitive interface makes visual effects simple to create. VisionLab Studio will open up creative opportunities for your projects and work directly alongside other software such as Apple Final Cut and Adobe Premiere.

http://fxhome.com/visionlab-studio/

EffectsLab Pro
Amazing special effects can be created using your home computer, EffectsLab Pro and your imagination. With an easy to learn interface and over 800 presets available in the FXhome.com library, there’s no better way to add magic to your movies.

Highlights
Lightswords, lens flares & lasers
EffectsLab Pro includes the fastest, easiest method for creating classic lightsword fights that look just like the ones you see in the movies. Accompanying sci-fi effects include a huge range of lens flares, perfect for creating a second sun in the sky, and a versatile laser system for anything from blasters to spaceships.

Particles & gunfire
The massively powerful particle engine can create hundreds of effects all on its own, from atmospheric smoke and dust to weather such as rain and snow or even fantasy and superhero powers. Meanwhile the advanced muzzle flash system can generate a limitless range of weapon fire effects, from small pistols to tank and anti-aircraft guns, all fully rotatable in 3D.

Use presets or create your own
EffectsLab Pro is provided with over 200 effects presets, with several hundred more available for free in the FXhome.com online library. You can work with and customize existing presets or create your own entirely from scratch. You can even upload your inventions and share them with the community!

Features
Lightswords
This freehand tool allows shapes to be drawn directly onto the video, with full control over glow attributes and animation. Perfect for light swords, neon lighting, security beams and laser blasts.

Muzzle Flashes
The world's best muzzle flash generator works for any type of weapon - historical, modern and futuristic. Muzzle flashes can be rotated in 3D, with full control over appearance and behaviour.

Particles
The sophisticated particle system can create thousands of effects, including weather, smoke, fire and fantasy visuals. Precise control over emitter attributes allows for endless creativity.

Optical Effects
Ideal for both subtle enhancements of your lighting or for epic landscape shots, you can use a preset or create your own using the built-in designer.

Professional Quality
HD resolution support, additional grading filters, improved performance and enhanced effects engines make EffectsLab Pro the best choice if you want to take your movies to the next level.

http://fxhome.com/effectslab-pro

CompositeLab Pro

CompositeLab Pro opens up a world of new possibilities for creative filmmakers, providing a massive range of tools for altering and combining images and videos to create brand new shots. Discover how to use greenscreen, grading and animation to broaden the horizons of your movies.

Highlights
Green screen
By shooting your actors against greenscreen, or incorporating a greenscreen into your sets, you can easily expand your vision to include virtual sets, exotic locations and all manner of sci-fi and fantasy possibilities. It can also be used for more down-to-earth projects, such as interview backdrops and presentations. CompositeLab Pro makes working with greenscreen fast and easy.

Amazing effects
CompositeLab Pro includes a versatile collection of compositing features that have limitless potential. Single actors can be turned into clone armies; superhero effects such as flying, superspeed and invisibility can be created with ease; props, people and animals can be shrunk or enlarged to any size; an ordinary beach can be turned into a warzone – there’s no limit to the possibilities.

Stunning visuals
Turn your videos into cinematic masterpieces using CompositeLab Pro’s arsenal of color grading filters. Recreate classic movie looks or forge your own unique style so that your productions look truly professional and stand out from the crowd.

Features
Greenscreen & Bluescreen
A wide variety of sources can be composited, from greenscreen video to photos and CGI. Optimized for miniDV and professional HD studios, the keying process is easy and flexible.

Masking
A precise freehand drawing system makes common tasks such as tidying composites garbage matting, simulating depth, layer interaction and area-specific grading quick and easy.

Animation
Rotate, resize, move and warp your videos and images, whether you need giant (or miniature!) actors, a flying superhero or picture-in-picture for news broadcasts and presentations.

Color Filters
Filters can color correct your video and composites as well as create a unique, cinematic style for your movie. Any production will benefit from the visual improvements offered by digital grading.

Professional Quality
HD resolution support, additional grading filters, improved performance and enhanced effects engines make CompositeLab Pro the best choice if you want to take your movies to the next level.

http://fxhome.com/compositelab-pro

Autodesk Combustion
Autodesk® Combustion® software is an all-in-one professional compositing application designed to meet the needs of the world's most demanding digital artists. Bring your imagination to life and get your work done faster with the easy-to-use Combustion interface, efficient workflow, and extensive 3D graphics toolset.

Powerful creative tools—Experience in-context access to motion graphics, industry-leading 3D compositing, vector paint, roto, color correction, and much more.
Artist-friendly interface—The easy-to-use interface features multiple-screen, in-context design work, easy navigation, and a schematic node-based view.
Broad interoperability—Combustion software delivers unmatched integration with Autodesk® 3ds Max® 3D animation software and Autodesk® Flint®, Autodesk® Flame®, Autodesk® Inferno®, Autodesk® Fire®, and Autodesk® Smoke® 3D graphic systems.

Features & Specifications
The definitive creative solution for desktop paint, color correction, compositing, and visual effects. Autodesk® Combustion® software is the all-in-one professional compositing application designed to enable the full creative potential of digital video artists. With its easy-to-use interface, nondestructive workflow, and extensive toolset, Combustion delivers incredible power at an economical price and instantly augments the creative potential of any serious desktop video artist.

Key Combustion Features
Single integrated application for vector paint, motion graphics design, animation, and compositing
Full 3D compositing environment
Advanced visual effects tools—keying, color correction, tracking, grain management, and masking tools inherited from the Flame visual effects system
Edit Operator—break free from your NLE and assemble clips complete with transitions right in Combustion
Rich set of effects tools, including a fully integrated, interactive particle system, warping and morphing, and 3D Post filters
Comprehensive paint and rotoscoping tools, including fully customizable brushes
Comprehensive animation tools, animation curve editor, keyframing, and expressions
Intuitive schematic view to simplify visualization and organization of complex effects
OpenGL® application programming interface acceleration, multiprocessor support, and extensive caching for improved system performance
Multiple simultaneous viewports with real-time RAM looped playback
Resolution-independence with 8-, 10-, 12-, 16-, and 32-bit (float) per component image processing

Composite
Colour Warper™ (NEW)
Color Correction
Paint
Capsules
Edit Operator
Character Generation and Text Effects
Particle System
Timewarp
Expressions
Selections and Masks
Keying
Motion Tracking
Advanced Film Tools
Audio
Filters and Plug-Ins
Keyframe and Timeline Controls
Schematic View

http://usa.autodesk.com/

DigiCel FlipBook

DigiCel FlipBook Makes 2D Animation Easier Every Step of the Way!
DigiCel FlipBook lets you draw right on the computer with your mouse or tablet. Or you can draw on paper, like the pros, and shoot your rough drawings under a camera for speed and then scan your cleaned-up drawings for quality. FlipBook will keep track of all your drawings in its traditional exposure sheet with thumbnail images and play them back instantly with sound. FlipBook also provides specially designed tools to help you paint your drawings quickly and easily without having to learn or go through a lot of difficult steps. You can add pans, zooms, rotation, blurs and dissolves and then export movies that you can play on TV or post on the internet.

Features:
Storyboards - Get Your Story Straight

Once you've got the idea for the storyline you want need pictures to help you tell story. Traditionally these pictures were tacked up on a cork board and moved around until they were finally in the best sequence to tell the story. FlipBook lets you can scan, shoot or draw these pictures directly into the timeline and drag them up and down to change the sequence until the story unfolds just the way you want it to

Animatics - That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It

Once the sequence is the way you want it, it's time to start working on the timing. If you tell the story too fast your viewers don't have time to get involved. If you tell it too slow they lose interest.
FlipBook lets you add the sound track lengthen or shorten any part of the story by simply dragging the storyboard panels up or down, individually or collectively. You can even pan across or zoom in on any of the storyboard panels to show how the scenes will look in the movie.

Lip Sync - Read My Lips

No matter what kind of animation you do sooner or later you're going to have to break down the dialog into syllables and figure out the correct position of the lips and tongue to so the images will match the sound. FlipBook makes this easy. Some animators like to write the alphabet letters into the frames where they belong so they'll know which mouth drawing to use in each frame. Others use a standard set of mouth drawings and position them in the xsheet so they can see the lips move in sync with the dialog as the scene plays. Either way, FlipBook makes it easy.Start by scrubbing through the scene to find the first word you want to breakdown. Then use the cursor keys to step back and forth through the frames and syllables. As you determine which sound goes into which frame you can either write the letter in the image window so that it shows up in the xsheet like you see to the left or just highlight a square in the xsheet and press an alphabet key on your keyboard to insert one of FlipBook's standard mouth drawings into that frame like you see on the right. You can also drag any mouth drawing up or down to fine tune the timing while the scene is playing by holding down the Alt Key while you drag the thumbnail.

Rough Animation - Diamonds in the Rough
Animators do rough drawings first and test them for movement before they do the final cleaned-up drawings. These drawings can be basic stick figures, simple shapes with volume or something that actually looks like the character. But right now it's more important to get the position right than to have a perfect drawing. And it's more important to get the images into the computer quickly than it is to get the best possible image quality. Shooting your roughs into FlipBook with a web cam or video camera is the fastest way to capture your roughs. FlipBook has several features that make camera capture faster and easier. The images are are captured directly in a traditional exposure sheet with thumbnails and you can make the paper transparent so you can see through lots of layers.

If you animate "straight ahead", doing each drawing in sequence, you can set FlipBook to automatically hold each drawing for one, two or three frames as needed. But when your animation has to fit in a certain time frame you'll probably do the key frames first. Since your key frames won't all be held for the same number of frames FlipBook lets you capture them and set their timing by pressing a number key on your keyboard. When the key frames are timed out and play correctly then you can go back and fill in the in-betweens or move on to the clean-ups.
FlipBook has several features that make camera capture faster and easier. The images are are captured directly in a traditional exposure sheet with thumbnails and you can make the paper transparent so you can see through lots of layers.

If you animate "straight ahead", doing each drawing in sequence, you can set FlipBook to automatically hold each drawing for one, two or three frames as needed. But when your animation has to fit in a certain time frame you'll probably do the key frames first. Since your key frames won't all be held for the same number of frames FlipBook lets you capture them and set their timing by pressing a number key on your keyboard. When the key frames are timed out and play correctly then you can go back and fill in the in-betweens or move on to the clean-ups.


Clean-Up Drawings - Back to the Drawing Board

When the roughs are done and the timing is all worked you're ready to start on the clean-up drawings. This is where you draw one nice steady line in place of the scribbles you had in your roughs. These are the drawings that will be painted and show up in your movie so you want the best quality you can get, even if it takes a little longer. That's why it's important to scan these drawings. FlipBook makes scanning fast and easy too. It can scan the drawings right into the same frames where you put the roughs and it will clean up smudges and erasures while it scales, rotates and registers the images automatically.

There's also a despeckle feature to get rid of small dots left by dark spots on the paper, lint or eraser dust. And you can easily erase things outside of your characters like timing charts and scanning shadows from the edges of the images.


Ink & Paint - With all the Colors of the Rainbow
Whether your film has light, delicate, wispy pastels or strong, bold, saturated colors, FlipBook makes it easy to get just the look you want. And FlipBook has lots of powerful painting tools to help save you time, improve quality and prevent mistakes.

Compositing - Putting it all Together
This part used to require a special camera mounted on a table with lights that would fill an entire room. The background and the transparent cels were attached to peg bars and shot 1 frame at a time. Between each shot someone had to change the cels on the table and if the scene called for a pan or a zoom then someone had to remember to crank the knobs just the right amount for every frame.

Disney's original multiplane camera was several stories tall and required several operators and so many lights they could only use it at night or they'd brown out all of Burbank. Then after working on the camera all night they'd have to wait for the film to be developed, go into a dark room and load it into a projector to see how it turned out.

Now you can set it up on a laptop and let FlipBook do it for you. To pan the background you just set key frames at the beginning and end of the pan and drag the background into place to compose the key frames. FlipBook handles the rest. It changes the drawings, cranks the knobs and clicks the camera for you as it creates a movie file you can watch on any media player, post on the internet or record onto DVD and play on TV.


3D Animation

FlipBook helps 3D animators do better animation faster. The new MayaLink creates a connection between FlipBook and Maya to export your key frames from Maya into FlipBook where you can re-time your key frames with real-time feedback. Directors and teachers can sketch over your key poses to improve the animation. Then FlipBook updates the timing in Maya and transfers the sketches into a Maya image plane for you to use as reference.

Stop Motion Animation

FlipBook is great for stop motion too. Just aim your camera and start clicking. You can see the previous frame while you're posing the next frame. You can step back through the previous frames and forward into the live image. You can even play the scene in real-time pausing on the live image to see how it will look and you can drop out the background and replace it with anything you want.

Website: http://www.digicelinc.com