Digital Anarchy, a leading provider of cost-effective vfx software for Adobe, Apple and Autodesk products, announced version 3.0 of the acclaimed Knoll Spark Pack. The new features in this package gives increased control over the look of hundreds of lighting effects, and furthers the creative abilities of broadcast designers and visual effects artists to deliver innovative effects in 2D composites.
The Knoll Spark Pack was originally written by ILM vfx supervisor John Knoll to create the Photon Torpedos in STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT. The pack contains three filters. The centerpiece is Knoll Lens Flare Pro, which is designed to create lens flares and other lighting effects, including lasers, explosions and suns. The other two filters are Knoll Unmult, used for matte generation, and Knoll Min/Max, used for matte adjustments.
"Customers are always looking for new creative opportunities," said Jim Tierney, president of Digital Anarchy. "This update will provide even greater potential for Flame and Inferno artists to create stunning new effects."
With Knoll Lens Flare Pro, a user can choose from 19 different flare elements, then layer those elements to create the desired light effect. Almost any real life camera lens can be matched, or the spark can generate completely original settings, and save out a preset for later use. Powerful functions include the ability to obscure the light with a grayscale matte; attaching flares to multiple points in your footage; and tracking/moving with those points.
The other two Knoll sparks are invaluable for cleanly extracting elements from black backgrounds and removing matte fringing. Knoll Spark Pack 3.0 provides special effects artists with an unprecedented level of precision and control over lighting effects and lens flares.
Knoll Spark Pack 3.0 highlights include:
* 64-bit SGI and 32/64-bit Linux support: The sparks have been updated to take advantage of AutoDesk's newest systems.* 12 and 16-bit Color Support: The flares now render out to higher bit depths. This makes for less banding and better-looking flares.* Built-in Flare Editor: The Flare Editor is now available from within the normal interface, and no longer requires a separate application. The workflow is more efficient, integrated, and stable.* Animatable Flare Elements: The individual elements that make up a complete flare can now be animated. This allows more flexibility and will lead to more interesting animations.* Undo Functionality: This improved workflow makes designing flares even easier.
Knoll Spark Pack 3.0 is priced at $1,295, the same price as version 2.0. Upgrades from version 2.0 are $249 and from version 1.0 are $449. Knoll Spark Pack works on Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire and Smoke. Demo filters and samples are available at the Digital Anarchy website.
Digital Anarchy (www.digitalanarchy.com) is a privately owned company operating out of San Francisco that creates high-quality creative software for broadcast designers, 2D animators and professional photographers. These tools solve a wide range of design issues, from creating text effects and background design elements, to masking out bluescreens for commercial still photography.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
