AUTODESK IMPROVES 'HIGH-VALUE CONTENT CREATION TOOLS'

LAS VEGAS - Montreal-based Autodesk (www.autodesk.com) is at NAB with a collection of tools designed to improve the creation of high-value content, says Maurice Patel, head of industry management for the company's media and entertainment division. The company is showing Inferno, Flint and Flame 2009, all of which received updates that add new creative tools, including effects for blurs and glows. The tools' 3D compositing capabilities have also been enhanced, and format support has been expanded to include compressed media, P2, QuickTime and audio formats.

Autodesk is showing Smoke 2009 at NAB, its upgraded effects -centric finishing system. The new release has expanded creative capabilities, including the tree-based Batch FX, which marries Smoke's editorial timeline with the 3D compositing environment. Format support has been expanded to include Panasonic P2 MFX files and common professional QuickTime codecs. The company is offering Smoke 2009 at a new starting point of $64,000, which includes storage.

Toxik 2008 has been upgraded with the Extension 1 release for subscription customers. A new warp image tool delivers nonlinear warping of an image with precise control over transformations. Pixel Expression Language (PXL) allows compositors to quickly create and customize commonly-applied effects. Support for color decision lists has also been added.

Marc Petit, Autodesk's senior VP for media & entertainment, says the company is at NAB for reasons that go beyond product demonstrations. NAB, says Petit, is a place where Autodesk can host users groups and master classes, as well as preview beta products, offer Japanese and Spanish demos, and even certify instructors for training. He notes that as many as two million students train on Autodesk tools each year, through thousands of educational institutions throughout he world. Autodesk, he adds, currently has nine million users worldwide.