Autodesk Releases Flame Premium 2012

Introduced in late 2010, Flame Premium combines the award-winning Autodesk Flame visual effects tool set with a timeline workflow for conform and editing, as well as real-time color grading. Flame Premium 2012 features groundbreaking tools for relighting in post, an enhanced stereoscopic 3D (S3D) finishing workflow, and improved integration with Autodesk 3D animation software. 

"While budgets and production schedules shrink, creative expectations are growing," says Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. "Our 2012 lineup prioritizes artistic control and efficient workflows from production through post-production. The relighting tools in Flame Premium are a great example of how Autodesk continues to innovate with next-generation finishing tools that empower artists to tell the immersive 3D stories of today, and tomorrow." 

With the introduction of relighting capabilities in Flame Premium 2012, artists can now take advantage of the real-world 3D information inherent to their images or composites and dramatically change the look of their final scenes. With relighting, artists can radically adjust and refine the look of their scenes through a variety of lighting, shading, shadows, 3D lens flares and volumetric light rays tools -- all of which can have their effects isolated by GMasks directly in the Flame Premium Action 3D compositing environment. Flame Premium also uses image-based lighting and camera mapping techniques from the CG (computer graphics) software world that, when combined with certain other relighting tools, enable artists to have total control over the final look of their imagery. 

Flame Premium includes a comprehensive toolset for S3D visual effects and finishing: powerful technical and creative S3D compositing and graphic design tools, multilayer S3D timeline editing, and real-time S3D color grading. In addition, the advanced S3D creative tools can benefit from the creative relighting tools that are now available in Flame Premium. 

Postproduction facilities rely on efficient workflows between CG and finishing. With Flame Premium, artists can more quickly and easily use Autodesk Maya and  Autodesk 3ds Max CG content in their projects -- from render passes,  Autodesk FBX software models or animated geometries. Furthermore, the new Gateway Clip gives facilities an open and flexible way to build a finishing workflow using XML that is customized to their CG finishing pipeline needs. 

Autodesk Flare takes advantage of the complete set of Flame creative tools and provides facilities with more access to the tools they rely on to get their work done. Streamlining workflows between Flame Premium and Maya or 3ds Max, Flare is procedural compositing software that can be used in a broad range of workflows to deliver finished content for commercials, feature films or television - even in stereoscopic 3D. With the Flare 2012 release, facilities have more reasons than ever to adopt multiple Flare licenses as part of their creative 3D finishing workflows. 

During the NAB Show, Autodesk is showcasing its Digital Entertainment Creation solutions with the 2012 releases of Flame Premium, Flame, Flare, Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS X 2012,  Autodesk Maya Entertainment Creation Suite 2012, and  Autodesk 3ds Max Entertainment Creation Suite 2012 at booth SL2120. Customer presentations and product demonstrations will be streamed live on  AREA -- Autodesk's digital entertainment community.

Flame Premium, Flame, and Flare are now shipping.