Discreet, a division of Autodesk, has launched a new version of combustion, its visual effects product for the Mac and Windows NT platforms.
Version 2 of the paint, animation and 3D compositing software provides new multi-format project capabilities for film and video, including 64-bit image-processing, advanced film grain tools and color Look-Up Table (LUT) management. The product offers a unified paint, animation and 3D-compositing environment for visual effects creation. And it’s been “Carbonized” to run natively on Mac OS X, as well as with Mac OS 9.x (with the proper CarbonLib extensions installed).
The update supports new multi-format project capabilities, including video, HDTV, and 64-bit color. New tool sets in combustion 2 include a fully-editable, interactive schematic view, an intuitive compositing flowchart designed to make complex visual effects creation faster and simpler, a fully-integrated 2D particle system, an expansive and interactive text and motion graphics module, and garbage masking technology compatible with inferno, flame, and flint, Discreet’s online visual effects systems.
According to combustion product manager Howard Gutstadt performance enhancements in combustion 2 include a new, and highly optimized 2D software renderer, as well as high performance OpenGL support for combustion’s new particle system and unique 3D compositing environment, “providing superior on-screen interactivity.” combustion 2 also has a network rendering task manager similar to 3ds max, providing users with an easy way to manage all their background rendering requirements across multiple distributed systems, he added.
combustion 2 software is designed to work with most popular applications, from Adobe’s media products to Final Cut Pro, Apple’s high end video editing application.
combustion 2 is shipping now for US$3,495. Beginning February, 2002, combustion 2 will sell for US$4,995. The upgrade price from the original version of combustion is $795 until May and $1,495 afterwards.
Also, Discreet is offering full-day combustion workshops for $99 per person that provide hands-on training for visual effects artists, video editors and 3D animators. Training cities, dates and registration information are listed at the workshops’ Web site. North American workshop dates run until April 29. Seats are limited.
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