At IBC 2016 Autodesk has announced its Flame 2017 family extension 1 release for professional 3D visual effects, compositing and finishing.
The update includes new 3D scene navigation features and enhancements, collaborative workflow enhancements for working with Autodesk and third-party 3D animation tools, a new way of working with multichannel (EXR) render passes, render quality improvements, better color management and batch compositing enhancements including a new compass tool.
“With this Flame extension, we’ve added intuitive navigation for artists who are new to the product along with a host of features to make navigating 3D scenes much simpler and in line with Autodesk Maya 3D workflows,” said Marc Stevens, VP of film and television at Autodesk. “Many other new features, including better color management and batch tools are a direct response to some of our most popular user requests.”
Flame Family 2017 extension 1 highlights include:
- New Maya inspired 3D scene navigation and manipulators to make action more fluid for modeling, selecting geometries and modifying complex scenes.
- Improved compatibility with Autodesk Maya and third party 3D animation software through a new .FBX scene export feature. Flame artists can now export complex projects – including geometries, deformed surfaces and textures as well as object animation and timing facilitating more collaborative workflows.
- Enhanced pipeline integration for color management, pipeline compositing and multi-channel clips, simplifying the user experience and strengthening the versatility of Flame products.
- Upgraded action render quality enables artists to texture and light 3D scenes with creative flair and technical accuracy. Extension 1 combines the latest techniques in physically based rendering (PBR) with core lighting and texturing tools and includes a new package of 60 algorithmic substance textures.
- Improved EXR handling for upgraded pipeline compositing. Multi EXRs can now be imported, conformed, cached and archived while maintained as a single clip.
- Connected color workflow improvements for finishing artists. Batch effects applied in Autodesk Lustre can now be rendered through the background reactor, and tangent ELEMENT panels are now automatically switched to the focused application.
- Batch setups are now project independent and contain all metadata to re-import content or transfer assets from remote workstations.
Flame Family 2017 extension 1 will be available globally via subscription on October 13, 2016.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More