Toolbox

As teams become more dispersed geographically, and the data used in entertainment creation is growing in both size and complexity, Autodesk provides solutions to help streamline creative, collaborative workflows that will allow for greater experimentation with new cloud and mobile technologies.

“Our customers are the world’s best artists, and our tools would be nothing without them. This year, we worked hard to connect artists more closely with one another and across projects,” said Autodesk sr. VP Chris Bradshaw. “Our 2016 software is more intuitive, connected, powerful, scalable and accessible than ever before. Our tools’ expanded flexibility enables new and seasoned artists to more easily navigate industry disruptions so they can keep telling great stories, without compromising quality.”

3D animation improvements
This year, the 2016 3D animation portfolio is stronger than ever with significant updates to Maya and 3ds Max. Each release includes new features and improvements designed to boost performance, collaboration and simplify daily operations for advanced creativity.

Maya 2016: Significantly faster and easier to use
-- Supercharged animation performance with a parallel evaluation system takes advantage of the CPU and GPU to increase the speed of both playback and character rig manipulation.
-- An all new look and feel, and the updated hypershade showcase improve ease of use and artist-friendly workflows.
-- New capabilities in Bifrost, including adaptive foam and guided simulations, help deliver state-of-the-art, realistic liquid simulations.

3ds Max 2016: Procedural content creation, tools for better collaboration and ease of use
-- New Max Creation Graph: A new node-based content and tool creation toolkit integrated by user request. Empowers users to extend 3ds Max with geometric objects and modifiers. Users can package graphs and share them with other users.
-- New XRef Renovations: Externally reference objects to scenes and animate/edit material on the XRef object in the source file without having to merge the object into the scene, non-destructive animation workflows and improved XRef stability simplify collaboration among teams and throughout the production pipeline.
-- New intuitive Design Workspace and Template Systems: The Design Workspace provides easy access to object placement, lighting, rendering, modeling and texturing tools to create high-quality stills and animations; built-in settings for rendering, environments, lighting and units.
-- 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design are coming together.

Updates to Flame Family
The new releases of Flame and Flame Premium provide customers with a comprehensive, high-end VFX and creative finishing toolset, new look development tools, a connected workflow, faster, interactive performance and other user-requested improvements.

New Look Development Tools to help artists exceed customer expectations, including:
-- Lightbox- An interactive GPU shader toolkit for 3D color correction
-- Matchbox in Action- Applies fast, interactive Matchbox shaders to texture maps/textures for image treatments without leaving the 3D compositing scene
-- Color Management Workflow Enhancements

A more connected workflow for connected creativity:
-- Tighter Shotgun Integration: Quickly and easily send shots to other apps/exchange formats, share content for review/approval and load Shotgun projects into Flame.
-- Flame Desktop Enhancements: Artists can now create VFX in a faster, artist-centric environment with easily accessible and essential tools.

Interactive performance enables artists to work faster, meet deadlines and impress clients: New method to handle proxies in players; faster indirect module creation in action; and new foreground export

New improvements to the Batch Workflow address user-requests: MUX-node links are semi-transparent and links in batch setups are more articulated; easier access to operational information with image generators and basic operators; better handle inputs with different bit depths.

The 2016 Entertainment Creation Suite includes all the new features and updates to Maya 2016 and 3ds Max 2016, in addition to updates and enhancements in Mudbox 2016 and MotionBuilder 2016 that help improve the daily work of artists, developers, directors and cinematographers.
-- Mudbox 2016 with news sculpting tools and relax brush for smoothing surfaces
-- MotionBuilder 2016 includes story tool updates and enhancements.

Codex has announced Codex Review Live, a new color management and look-creation system enabling set-to-post color confidence for feature and high-end episodic TV productions. Codex will demonstrate Codex Review Live during NAB 2015 in Las Vegas, at its new and larger booth at the front of Central Hall--located at #C1817--as it continues to focus on more than simply recording for motion pictures and broadcast production.

Codex Review Live features an easy-to-operate user-interface and enables users on-set to create and preview looks and color grades directly from multiple live HD-SDI camera feeds. These looks and grades are applied automatically when generating deliverables via Codex Review, or can be exported in various formats (ASC-CDL for example) for application downstream in the workflow. Crucially, the looks and grades delivered by Codex Review Live can be used to communicate the creative intent from the set, and form the starting point for color-consistent dailies and post-production deliverables.

Codex Review Live works seamlessly with Tangent panels for interactive on-set primary color grading, and third-party 3D LUT boxes, such as the Fujifilm IS-mini. The system can control and manage up to 32 3D LUT boxes, installed in-line with the HD-SDI outputs of the camera, and supply on-set monitors with color graded HD-SDI signals. Codex Review Live has simple controls to adjust a range of color parameters including offset/power/slope/saturation and is ASC-CDL and ACES-compliant.

Codex Review Live is optimised to work with Codex Backbone, the company’s secure digital production pipeline and media management system, where looks and user-defined look-related metadata are securely managed in the “Look Library” for collaborative use in downstream image-processing tasks.

“Whilst Codex products are known for streamlining the safe transition of images and metadata from production into post, there’s also need to establish equally secure color pipelines--so that the look created on-set is exactly what appears in the VFX and editorial deliverables, and in the DI grading suite,” said Brian Gaffney, VP business development at Codex. “Codex Review Live is a simple addition to the workflow, that supports creative color decisions and provides confidence in color consistency from the set and beyond.”

The Tiffen Company will be demonstrating for the first time at NAB 2015 (booth C6019) version 4 of its award-winning Tiffen Dfx digital filter suite. Designed to work with industry-standard photo and video editing applications, Tiffen Dfx is the only plug-in package that replicates Tiffen optical filters, Rosco and Gam gobos and gels.

The new version 4 adds support for OFX, making it compatible with the Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve and Assimilate Scratch solutions, as well as the high-end Nuke visual effects program from The Foundry. Catherine Pantazopoulos, a senior colorist with La Couleur Poétique, echoes the value the new OFX support brings to the Blackmagic Davinci Resolve environment, “For unique pictures and textures, I use a combination of DFX filters within Resolve for commercials, television series and features. To create looks of any period--from early photography to sophisticated modern, Tiffen DFX based on the original glass filters gives me and the DOP fast, limitless possibilities at my fingertips.”

In addition to the digital intermediate system support, Tiffen Dfx 4.0 now supports Sony Vegas and Resolve Lite editing suite. The new version also expands on the filter front, adding 12 new visual effects filters, 93 new historical photographic processes, and 30 new motion picture film stocks. User experience enhancements include a dramatic speed increase thanks to GPU acceleration, state-of-the-art floating-point precision for a non-destructive workflow, and vivid Retina display support for Mac.

Tiffen Dfx 4 Features and Highlights include:

    OFX plug-in support, making Tiffen Dfx compatible with professional digital intermediate programs Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve and Assimilate Scratch, as well as the high-end Nuke visual effects program from The Foundry. The Ofx Standard plug-in also expands NLE support to include Sony Vegas and DaVinci Resolve Lite.
    12 new filters – Borders, Cartoon, Colorize Gradient, Detail, Develop, Grunge, Harris Shutter, Pastel, Pearlescent, Radial Tint, Satin® and Tone Adjust
    93 historical film processes and 30 motion picture film stocks added as new presets within the popular film stocks filter
    More parameters and tools added to presets – includes new tools for color correction, tint enhancement and gradient control
    Process in 32-bit floating-point precision – ability to selectively access your image’s dynamic range without clipping values in a true non-destructive workflow; improved easier and faster “on board” masking tools for the Dfx still programs (photo plug-in and standalone)
    New edge-aware smoothing algorithm (great for skin smoothing) added to some filters for refined control and application
    New Curve Tool for still programs, designed to control tonal range through RGB and individual red, green and blue curves; adjustable curve points for shadow and highlight control
    Improved Interface – new optimized preview size – images can now be previewed in 4096, 2048 and 1024 pixels; keyboard control added for brushes plus a new look to sliders, buttons and icons; Mac Retina display support
    Tiffen Dfx 4 supports the newly released Adobe® Creative Cloud 2014.

Tiffen Dfx 4 film/video plug-in is available for $499.95. One Dfx video plug-in will run in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro X and Apple Motion 5, and Avid Editing Systems 64 bit, if installed and activated on the same machine.

Tiffen Dfx 4 photo plug-in is available for $149.99. One Dfx photo plug-in license will run in Adobe Photoshop/Photoshop®Elements, Adobe Lightroom® and Apple Aperture if installed and activated on same machine.

The standalone version of Tiffen Dfx 4 is available today for $129.99 USD. This still image workflow is for Jpegs, Tiff and RAW files. It works as an independent software and does not require host software.

The Dfx 4 OFX Pro plug-in is now available at an introductory price of $999.95. One Dfx 4 OFX Pro plug-in will run in Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve, Assimilate SCRATCH and The Foundry’s NUKE software, if installed and activated on same machine.

The Dfx 4 OFX Standard plug-in is now available at an introductory price of $499.95. One Dfx 4 OFX Standard plug-in will run in Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Lite and Sony Vegas editing software, if installed and activated on same machine.

Telestream, a provider of digital video tools and workflow solutions, and Deluxe AdServices, a leader in providing highly reliable and innovative end-to-end advertising management and delivery solutions,  today announced the integration of the Telestream Vantage media processing platform to centralize, automate and speed-up its entire secondary finishing and delivery pipeline for advertising content across all its facilities. This groundbreaking new product offering, billed as an industry first for advertising management and distribution, will improve advertising turnaround times by 85 percent.

Deluxe AdServices offers comprehensive creative, distribution and workflow management solutions for agencies, advertisers, and postproduction companies. With facilities in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Toronto, Deluxe AdServices specializes in providing the most complete and reliable suite of services to get advertising video ready-to-air, at higher quality, to thousands of broadcasting and digital outlets across multiple markets. From closed captioning, re-slating, and localization, to dubbing, logo insertion, duplication, QC, and tagging/versioning, Deluxe offers a wide range of production and post-production services to its clients.

With the installation of the Telestream Vantage platform, Deluxe AdServices has made additional advancements to automate most of the manual tasks in secondary postproduction services.  This results in additional quality output improvements and faster turnaround times.  As programmatic media buying becomes mainstream for video, speed will be critical.

“Deluxe knows content and it’s part of our DNA.  Customers trust us to handle, manage, and distribute their advertising assets at the highest quality and to their exact specifications. By integrating Telestream, we will now do it faster than anyone else,” said Robert Burkhart, VP, Product Management at Deluxe AdServices. “With numerous locations around the country, we wanted to drive process and workflow consistency across our entire operations footprint.  With Vantage, we were able to achieve this objective which in turn, further ensures the highest quality that our customers expect while improving industry turnaround times by factors up to 85%.”

“Deluxe AdServices is driving innovation in the advertising industry and we’re pleased to be part of this important initiative,” said Paul Turner, VP of Enterprise Product Management at Telestream. “By using Telestream’s Vantage software-enabled media processing platform, Deluxe AdServices is redefining traditional workflows that required resource intensive, manual processes into next generation workflows that leverage the latest technologies and innovation inherent in our platform.”

Using Vantage applications like Post Producer, Deluxe AdServices can quickly create unique versions of spots for different affiliates, franchises, and branches of nationally recognized brands. This process is commonly called Bagging and Tagging, where an operator adds graphics and burns in titles and audio unique to individual locations.  With Post Producer, all of the unique information is simply added to a programmatically delivered work order spreadsheet that Vantage reads, to automate the entire process.

Deluxe AdServices also creates programming content as well as advertising content, and handles the distribution of both. The Vantage platform is leveraged in both scenarios to orchestrate media movement and smart transcodes, based on the ordered destinations from the editing suite, all the way to Deluxe AdServices’ Javelin distribution network.  This level of automation and integration further improves time to market metrics.