Autodesk Announces ‘11 Versions of Flame, Flare, Smoke and Lustre

Autodesk has announced the 2011 releases of its creative finishing products for visual effects, editorial finishing and color grading: Autodesk Flame, Autodesk Flare, Autodesk Flint, Autodesk Smoke and Autodesk Lustre. The 2011 releases offer new creative tools, improved interoperability and introduce an end-to-end stereoscopic 3D (S3D) finishing workflow for TV and film.Autodesk creative finishing products helped create stunning content for films ("Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds" and "Shutter Island"), popular TV shows ("CSI NY," "NCIS," "Mad Men" and "Big Love") and many commercials (E*Trade Super Bowl campaign, Snickers "Game," "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game trailer and "American Idol" music videos)."Film and TV production is a highly competitive, high-stakes game, whether competing for viewers or tackling new technology challenges such as stereoscopic 3D," said Arun D‘Souza, Head, M & E, Autodesk, India & SAARC. "The 2011 releases of our creative finishing products are designed to help customers stand out from the crowd, helping them create the kind of unique content that turns heads. 3D is core to what we do at Autodesk, so being a leader in end-to-end stereo workflow capabilities is a natural extension for us."

Commenting on the opportunities in the M&E industry Jayant Keswani, Head, Marketing, Autodesk, India & SAARC said "Globally, demand for S3D in TV and film is on the rise with ESPN, Sky, Discovery and other TV networks launching stereo programming this year, including this year‘s Masters Tournament. Seventy percent of the gross for "Avatar" came from S3D screens, and Hollywood is expected to release at least 20 stereoscopic films this year. He also added, "Our solutions are designed to provide that creative capability, making it easier and more affordable for artists to build a cohesive pipeline-integrating 2D and 3D, simulation and animation, rendering and compositing-so that they can create innovative entertainment more efficiently."The 2011 releases of Flame, Flare, Smoke and Lustre offer stereoscopic 3D finishing capabilities, augmenting the stereo computer graphics (CG) capabilities of Autodesk Maya 2011 software while providing familiar and proven creative workflows for visual effects, editorial finishing and grading. The new stereoscopic capabilities are designed to help implement S3D finishing with minimal disruption to existing creative workflows.