Coinciding with Discreet's release of flint and smoke for the Linux operating system, GenArts Inc. announced Sapphire Plug-ins for them.
Featuring the same familiar interface and wide range of effects and features that Discreet users have long depended on, Sapphire for flint and smoke on Linux is available immediately for $6,000. The software can be purchased directly from GenArts, or from Discreet's extensive worldwide network of resellers and sales representatives.
"Let the tradition continue with Sapphire Plug-ins for flint on Linuxthe same great functionality with tremendous performance to boot. I can't imagine flame or inferno without Sapphire Sparks. Now I can enjoy the same functionality and impressive performance when I work on flint on Linux," comments Christian Boudman, senior flame artist at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
"We are blown away by the speed, consistency and quality of Sapphire Plug-ins on Linux. We are already using them successfully with smoke and flint for several projects including a promo for USA Network's premiere of Jim Carrey's film THE MAJESTIC, the 2004 ESPY Awards for ESPN and some effects work for our own SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE," says Andy Milkis, visual effects supervisor at DesignLab @ Broadway Video in New York.
Sapphire Plug-ins provide the Discreet customer base with a collection of more than 200 state-of-the-art image processing and synthesis effects that can quickly and easily transform any film or video clip. They are fully and seamlessly integrated in the Discreet user interface, and include many useful tools such as Glows, EdgeRays, LensFlare, Glint, Blurs and RackDefocus, as well as a host of sophisticated effects such as Lightning Zaps, FlysEye, JpegDamage, HalfTone and Textures. Sapphire Plug-ins are resolution-independent and include multi-processor support for faster rendering.
"GenArts' creative tools have long been of incredible benefit to the Discreet user community; and now Linux customers too can round out their new flint and smoke systems with their favorite Sapphire-Plug-ins," says Maurice Patel, product marketing manager at Discreet.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., GenArts (web.genarts.com) is a premier provider of digital visual effects plug-ins for the film, broadcast and video industry, and offered vfx for the SPIDER-MAN films, THE MATRIX trilogy and THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
