American Cinematographer - May 2010 - 82

DP displays the flight path changes in real time. ZipCalc DP is available for free download from the ZipCam Systems Web site. For more information, visit www.zipcam.com.

Avid Updates DS Avid has introduced version 10.3 of its DS finishing solution, combining advanced effects, compositing and graphics capabilities with new features designed to deliver real-time finishing and accelerate the rendering process of popular file-based formats. DS is also now optimized to handle Red, 2K and ArriRaw projects, and it supports the Red Rocket Accelerator Card, which decodes .R3D files, alleviating the CPU of this process. DS version 10.3 allows post facilities and high-end independent professionals to more effectively manage file-based project pipelines by reducing ingest and conform requirements. In particular, DS 10.3 offers native conform from Avid Media Composer for .R3D and ArriRaw files, enabling customers to instantly re-create complete timeline information — including effects, titles and colors — for real-time playback and faster rendering. Additionally, AVX2 support offers customers a simple path for total conform of visual effects generated in Media Composer and Avid Symphony editing systems. Customers can also benefit from the full creative effects toolset at any stage of the editorial process with a new AVX2 plug-in interface, making it possible to use Boris FX and Sapphire effects in DS from any offline Avid project. DS version 10.3 can be downloaded now from Avid’s download center. For more information, or to download a trial version, visit www.avid.com.

The Foundry Upgrades Nuke, Allies with GenArts Visual-effects software developer The Foundry has released the Nuke 6.0 and NukeX 6.0 composting engines, designed to meet the latest creative and workflow needs. Nuke 6.0 incorporates a completely new shape rotoscope and paint toolset based on a rewritten core curve library and new RotoPaint node. This release introduces a flexible, non-destructive layer-based hierarchy integrated with Nuke’s animation and tracking capabilities and supporting perobject attributes such as blending modes and motion blur. As an additional benefit, The Foundry’s Keylight keyer is included as a standard feature with Nuke 6.0. NukeX 6.0 extends the range of tools usually found in the compositing environment, adding an integrated 3-D camera tracker, automated and manual lens-distortion tools, FurnaceCore (The Foundry’s reengineered set of Furnace plug-ins) and a DepthGenerator plug-in. Both Nuke and NukeX are fully script compatible, with Nuke capable of viewing and rendering nodes created using the extended NukeX toolset. Offering visual-effects users two different Nuke products enables facilities of all sizes to implement a Nuke solution to fit a range of artist and customer needs. Additionally, The Foundry and GenArts Inc. have entered into a broad strategic alliance. Under the terms of the agreement, GenArts will acquire The Foundry’s Tinder and Tinderbox plug-ins business, and the two companies will enter into an arrangement to collaborate closely to expand the capabilities of the Nuke platform. This strategic alliance allows the development teams from The Foundry and GenArts to work closely together to fully maximize the functionality of their future products, opening the door to more effective delivery of new technology as the host platform and plug-in development can be more synchronized. For additional information, visit www.thefoundry.co.uk and www.genarts.com. ●

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American Cinematographer - May 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2010