SOFTWARE
Rendering
Presto! Rendering
GridMarkets, a cloud rendering service powered by a plethora of high-performance servers, will be available to Side Effects’ Houdini users with rendering needs that exceed the capability of their local servers. It launches with the simple push of a button from within the Side Effects Houdini interface and is easily integrated into existing Houdini workflows. Project data and processing are managed by GridMarkets. GridMarkets is also providing rendering services for users of other major software packages through affiliated renderfarms and strategic partners.
www.GridMarkets.com
Workflow
Productivity Tool
Shotgun Software is shipping Shotgun Panel for all Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit users. The Shotgun Panel gives artists a simple mini-Shotgun user interface directly within common creative applications such as Autodesk Maya and The Foundry’s Nuke, enabling quick access to key information and the ability to communicate with other artists on their team, without having to switch over to a Web browser. Shotgun Panel can also be integrated directly into proprietary pipelines, will work as a floating panel in Autodesk Flame, and is customizable to support a facility’s specific workflow. Shotgun Panel comes just ahead of the Shotgun 6.3 rollout, scheduled for later this fall.
www.shotgunsoftware.com
Editing
Problems Resolved
Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 12, professional editing and color-correction software, is now available for download. The free DaVinci Resolve 12 is a complete professional editing and color-grading solution for editors working on SD, HD, and Ultra HD projects. It features a familiar multi-track timeline with context-sensitive editing tools, real-time multi-camera editing, asymmetric and dynamic trimming, a new mixer, audio plug-ins, keyframe animation with on-screen motion paths, new media management tools, and more. The DaVinci Resolve 12 Studio is priced at $995.
www.blackmagicdesign.com
Finishing
Flame Burns Brighter
Autodesk has unveiled Extension 1 for its Flame 2016 family of 3D VFX software, which includes Autodesk Flame, Autodesk Flare, Autodesk Lustre, and Autodesk Flame Assist. The release introduces new workflow improvements and creative tools, along with a performance boost that streamlines the creation, management, and delivery of assets for artists within a multi-delivery pipeline. New to the release is a unified media management approach to share, sort, and sync media across different sequences, plus other features.
www.autodesk.com
Collaboration
A Good Match
Toon Boom Animation and The Foundry are joining forces to bring FLIX to Storyboard Pro users. FLIX, The Foundry’s Web-based story development tool, allows creative teams to collaborate in one place. Also, Toon Boom and The Foundry are integrating Storyboard Pro and FLIX, including a new workflow between the two solutions. Now, artists can feed panels from Storyboard Pro into FLIX, where they can review and manage them in step with changes from multiple departments during story evolution. In Storyboard Pro, FLIX maintains version control and keeps track of all pre-production assets.
www.toonboom.com
www.thefoundry.co.uk