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Encyclopedia > Autodesk Media and Entertainment
Autodesk Media and Entertainment, Inc.
Type Subsidiary of Autodesk, Inc.
Founded Montreal, Quebec (1999)
Headquarters Montreal, Quebec
Key people Martin Vann, VP Worldwide Sales
Marc Petit, VP Product Development
num_employees = N/A
Industry Computer software
Products 3ds Max
Flame
Inferno
Smoke
See complete products listing.
Website www.autodesk.com/me

Autodesk Media and Entertainment, formerly Discreet, is based in Montreal, Quebec as the entertainment division of Autodesk. This division produces software used in feature films, television commercials and interactive gaming. It also provides products for storage, management and distribution to complement its primary product line. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... In business, a subsidiary is a company controlled by another company or corporation. ... Autodesk, Inc. ... This article needs cleanup. ... This article needs cleanup. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Computer program. ... 3ds Max is a full-featured 3D graphics application developed by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. ... Inferno is a high-end system designed for special effects, originally designed by Discreet (now Autodesk). ... A website (alternatively, Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a... This article needs cleanup. ... A stilt-walker entertaining shoppers at a shopping centre in Swindon, England Entertainment is an event, performance, or activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience (although, for example, in the case of a computer game the audience may be only one person). ... Autodesk, Inc. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... Film may refer to: photographic film a motion picture in academics, the study of motion pictures as an art form a thin skin or membrane, or any covering or coating, whether transparent or opaque a thin layer of liquid, either on a solid or liquid surface or free-standing Film... From the earliest days of the medium, television has been used as a vehicle for advertising in some countries. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Look up storage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Management in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Distribution is one of the four aspects of marketing. ...

Contents

History

Autodesk's Yost Group initially developed 3D Studio and later 3D Studio MAX. Autodesk re-named the Yost Group as Kinetix and operated it as a subsidiary in 1996. In 1999, Autodesk acquired Discreet Logic and combined Kinetix with Discreet for several years. In 2005, Autodesk reorganized Discreet as Autodesk Media and Entertainment.


Software

Software produced by this company include Maya, 3ds Max, Viz, Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire, Smoke, Lustre, Combustion, Cleaner and Toxik. Autodesk Media and Entertainment's advanced compositing and editing product line, or "systems" line, is commonly referred to as IFFFS, which stands for Inferno/Flint/Fire/Flame/Smoke. It is also sometimes referred to as FFI or FFFI (Flint, Fire, Flame, Inferno).


Maya

Academy Award® winning Autodesk® Maya® software is one of the world's most versatile 3D modeling and animation solutions. Maya, used in many feature films today, is named from the Sanskrit word meaning illusion and is a popular, proprietary integrated 3D software suite, evolved from Alias PowerAnimator. One of Maya's most appealing factors to large studios is its openness to third-party software, enabling rapid development of proprietary software manipulations and extensions. Maya is a high-end 3D computer graphics software package by Autodesk Media & Entertainment used in the film and TV industry, as well as for computer and video games. ... A computer simulation or a computer model is a computer program which attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. ... The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Maya (illusion) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Alias Systems Corporation (formerly Alias|Wavefront), headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a software company that produces high-end 3D graphics software. ... PowerAnimator and Animator, the precursor to what is now Maya and StudioTools, was an expensive, complex, highly-integrated industrial 3D modeling, animation, and visual effects suite. ...


3ds Max

3ds Max is a professional 3D modeling, animation and rendering software suite which provides advanced tools for character animation, game development, design visualization and visual effects production. 3ds Max supports animators, designers and game developers with a unified object-oriented platform, customizable real-time interface, multiple-processor support and 3D graphics acceleration capabilities, including extension via a wide range of plug-ins and specialized products such as Ball’s character studio. 3ds Max is a full-featured 3D graphics application developed by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. ... 3D computer graphics are different from 2D computer graphics in that a three-dimensional representation of geometric data is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. ... A computer simulation or a computer model is a computer program which attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. ... Rendering has several different usages: Rendering (computer graphics) is the process of producing the pixels of an image from a higher-level description of its components. ... Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a computer programming paradigm in which a software system is modeled as a set of objects that interact with each other. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... Character Studio is a plugin which makes the animation of characters and crowds easier in 3ds max. ...


Gmax

Gmax was a free scaled down version of 3ds Max. Its modeling function is basically the same as 3ds max R4 but with fewer options and tools. There is no capability for photorealistic rendering. Gmax's file format is not compatible with 3DS Max. Gmax can be expanded with special packs usually for designing in video games. It was available for download free of charge. As of 2006, Gmax is a discontinued product, but support information is still available through a free support websitefrom Turbo Squid


Viz

Autodesk VIZ is an architectural visualization application, based on 3ds max. It features the same interface and functionality, but lacks the advanced animation (such as Character Tools and Particle Systems). There is also no support for sub-object animation.


Edit

Edit was a real-time, non-linear editing system originally designed to compete with Avid. At the time it was popular due to its low cost (relative to similar Avid products). Edit was discontinued in August of 2002 and support contracts expired one year later. The last version released was version 6.5, which was released only with Targa 3000 video board. A non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing system that can perform random access on the source material. ... AVID (meaning Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a college-preparatory program designed to aid economically disadvantaged, and academically average first-generation students of both elementary and high schools into college. ...


Flint

Flint is Autodesk Media and Entertainment's entry level compositing platform for systems product line. Flint currently works on a dual Xeon PC with an NVIDIA FX3000G gfx card, running Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3. And this makes Flint perform very well in terms of processing speed and interactivity. When it was running on the SGI O2, it had a bad reputation in terms of processing speed. The latest version running on the O2 is 7.1, and current version is 9.5 and it still supports the Octane2 V10 graphics. SGI Octane SI/SE support was dropped after 8.3.2.


Major missing features from Flint are: modular keyer (one of the best tools in FFI for keying work), 10 bits per component images (which is a must for cineon log workflow for film work), 3D tracker.

Flame

Flame is Autodesk Media and Entertainment's flagship online visual effects system. Flame is a creative solution that enables artists to craft visual effects for feature films, television commercials, music videos and broadcast promos at the highest resolutions from film to high definition television (HDTV). It offers the ability to interactively create, composite and edit highly challenging sequences that merge live action with computer-generated imagery, including new support in version 8 for editing, 3D graphics and mixed resolutions. Post-production facilities and broadcasters integrate Flame within dedicated suites and networked environments. A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... High-definition television (HDTV) means broadcast of television signals with a higher resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow. ... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... Post production is the general term for the last stage of film production in which photographed scenes (also called footage) are put together into a complete film. ...


Flame v9.x runs on these platforms: SGI Tezro V12(SD/HD resolutions), SGI Octane2 V12(SD/HD resolutions), SGI Octane1 MXI/MXE(SD resolution). Since Flame v9.5.5, it also runs on IBM 6217 workstation under Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3 Update 5.(Dual processors dual cores AMD Opteron 252 with NVIDIA FX4500G) International Business Machines Corporation (known as IBM or Big Blue; NYSE: IBM) is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating back to the 19th century. ... Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ... NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) (pronounced ) is an American corporation specializing in the manufacture of GPU technologies for video cards, graphics cards, workstations, desktop computers, handhelds and more. ...

Inferno

Inferno, an online visual effects system, is a creative solution that builds on the feature set of Flame with film tools, and increased image resolution and color control for digital film work, including film-specific tools for grain management, wire and scratch removal and color calibration. It is tuned to provide high levels of feedback on large format imagery and is designed specifically for film and high definition content. The aim of Color calibration is to adjust the colours of one output device to match that of another. ...


Currently, Inferno runs on Silicon Graphics Onyx2 or higher. Support for the original Onyx has been dropped by version 5, Inferno v4.7.4 was the latest version that runs on Onyx InfiniteReality (IR). Current (2005) Inferno hardware is an SGI Onyx350, mostly with IR4 graphics with 1024MB texture memory, though Onyx2 is still supported.


When Flame and Inferno are compared, the toolsets are remarkably similar and the main difference is in their processing speeds. Inferno Product configurations are much faster than same-generation Flame configurations, although newer Flame systems can sometimes be faster than an older Inferno's. It is for this reason that Inferno systems are usually preferred for situations where time-critical high speed compositing is required, for example visual effects sessions with film directors as well as TVC directors and agencies. A television advertisement or commercial (often called an advert in the United Kingdom) is a form of advertising in which goods, services, organizations, ideas, etc. ...


One important feature difference between Flame and Inferno is the motion module. The motion module was bought from Realviz, and it is actually the Retimer software integrated into inferno GUI.

Smoke

Smoke is an online non-linear creative editing and finishing solution that enables editors to edit, conform and finish television commercials, broadcast programming and other content. Smoke supports HD and SD resolutions, can work in a 3D environment, and is compatible with Flame and Inferno.

Fire

Fire is very similar to Smoke as far as features go. Fire differs on the level of performance. Fire used to run on the SGI Onyx, a very scalable system. It can go up to eight processors and features a very high I/O bandwidth. This enables a Fire system, for example, to load thirty-two 2K layers, and interact with thirty-two 2K layers. Silicon Graphics, Inc. ...

Lustre

Lustre is a digital intermediate system for 2K and 4K color grading and look creation. It delivers real-time primary color correction and grading capabilities while working with high-resolution imagery and digital intermediates. Color grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture or television image, either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. ... Digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) describes the process of digitizing a motion picture and manipulating color and other image characteristics to change the look, and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before distribution in theaters. ...


Currently, it works on a PC, running Windows XP and Linux. It uses NVIDIA FX4000SDI as the graphics and video monitoring card. It was originally developed by Colorfront [1] in Hungary and named 5D Colossus. Windows XP is a line of proprietary operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) (pronounced ) is an American corporation specializing in the manufacture of GPU technologies for video cards, graphics cards, workstations, desktop computers, handhelds and more. ...


Its first major use was the Lord of the Rings Trilogy operated by Peter Doyle. Lord of the Rings (film) may refer to a trilogy of films, directed by Peter Jackson: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film) This is a...


Combustion

Main article: Combustion (software)

Autodesk Combustion (formerly known as Autodesk Media and Entertainment Combustion) is a node based, desktop video, compositing and visual effects program produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. Combustion has a variety of tools including Particles, Paint, an advanced tracker/stabiliser, colour correction, chroma keying, text generation and others. Combustion is sold as a small version of the Inferno and Flame compositing systems, but includes a different interface. Combustion 4 is a computer program for motion graphics, compositing and visual effects (Discreet, n. ... In visual effects post-production, compositing refers to creating new images or moving images by combining images from different sources – such as real-world digital video, film, synthetic 3-D imagery, 2-D animations, painted backdrops, digital still photographs, and text. ... Visual Effects (or VFX for short) is the term given to a sub-category of special effects in which images or film frames are created and manipulated for film and video. ... A computer program is a collection of instructions that describe a task, or set of tasks, to be carried out by a computer. ...


As of August 2006, Combustion version 4.0.4 is the current version. 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Cleaner

Cleaner is an encoder sold by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. Cleaner can encode in Realplayer, Windows Media, QuickTime and MPEG2 formats and is offered on the PC (XL version 1.5) and Macintosh (version 6.5) platforms. RealPlayer, briefly known also as RealOne Player, is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo codecs. ... Windows Media is a multimedia framework for media creation and distribution for Microsoft Windows. ... QuickTime is a multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc. ... MP2, also known as Musicam, is a short form of MPEG-1 Audio Layer 2 (not MPEG-2), and it is also used as a file extension for files containing audio data of this type. ...

Toxik

Toxik is a collaborative software for interactive film compositing. Node based.

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Autodesk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (819 words)
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a design software and digital content company, was founded by John Walker and 12 other co-founders in 1982.
Autodesk is organized into two segments: the Design Solutions Group and Autodesk Media and Entertainment division.
This is a photo of the Autodesk founders who were still active at the time of the IPO in 1985.
Autodesk Media and Entertainment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1106 words)
Autodesk Media and Entertainment, formerly Discreet, is based in Montreal, Quebec as the entertainment division of Autodesk Inc., and produces software used in the development of high-value design-intensive content for effects-rich feature films, premier programming, television commercials and interactive gaming.
Discreet was established in 1999 after Autodesk acquired Discreet Logic, Inc., and merged its operations with Kinetix.
Autodesk Combustion (formerly known as Discreet Combustion) is a node based, desktop video, compositing and visual effects program produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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