Thisweek at SIGGRAPH 2002 (Booth #8062), Discreet announced new productreleases for its visual effects and compositing systems inferno 5,flame 8 and flint 8. According to Discreet, these latest versionsinclude software architecture modifications designed to improvepost-production workflow by offering digital artists increasedfreedom, flexibility and speed. New features include support formixed resolutions, enabling artists to combine various film, video,graphics and other multimedia formats within one project at anyresolution or format; new timeline editing, enabling extended controlover the design of a visual effect; new support for Kaydara's FBXfile format, enabling import of more 3D data for better 2D/3Dintegration; and hundreds of specific user-requested features thatunderscore the richness of the toolsets. In addition to demonstratingits new products, the company noted the continued success ofcombustion 2 software, its professional desktop 3D compositing, paintand animation software. combustion has been used as part of thecompositing package for such high-profile films as MINORITY REPORT,XXX and STUART LITTLE 2. "This year, at SIGGRAPH, we aredemonstrating our continued leadership across multiple marketsencompassing animation, visual effects post production and streamingdistribution," said Paul Lypaczewski, general manager of Discreet andexecutive vice president, Autodesk, Inc. "With our new productreleases, Discreet clearly demonstrates its commitment to staying atthe forefront of providing customers with the latest technology tofuel their creative needs."
Scott Jenkins reviews combustion 2 and checks in with a production inprogress to see how combustion stacks up against key competitor AfterEffects.
