Flame Premium can do that

The Vanity: Uncompromising creativity on a deadline

Bill Ennis — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:54:59 UTC

We recently visited The Vanity, a Toronto-based post production company and Flame customer specializing in TV commercials. We talked with Naveen Srivastava and Sean Cochrane, Flame artists, co-owners and partners, about how they meet tight deadlines without compromising creativity.

During our visit, we got a behind-the-scenes look at how Autodesk Flame, as well as Flare and Maya, help The Vanity win highly sought after commercial projects for notable brands in automotive, sports drinks, the fashion, and fast food industries – and how they take on each new project with the goal of making it their best work.

On The Vanity website they describe themselves as a “collective of visual effects and motion design artists….who work alongside imaginative people to create extraordinary visual effects and motion graphics”. See how Flame supports their high standards in creativity while providing the performance they need.

[video]http://youtu.be/CijeTfeehG0[/video]

The Flame Award - Nominate your Favorite Flame Artists!

Bill Ennis — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:15:06 UTC

At NAB this year, we announced the Flame Award. It is our way of celebrating the achievements of all the amazing Flame artists who have been advancing VFX creation for over 20 years. The award will go to a Flame artist who has gone above and beyond in demonstrating a dedication to advancing visual effects creation through the skilled use of Flame – and we need your help in selecting the winner!

Nominations are open to the public until May 17, 2013.

Once you’ve nominated the candidates, you will have the opportunity to vote on your favorite Flame artists. Then, a special Flame advisory board comprised of independent visual effects and industry experts, along with representatives from Autodesk, will help name the winner.

So if you know a Flame artist renowned for creativity, originality & community involvement; a Flame artist who has advanced VFX creation and produced awe-inspiring work; a Flame artist who has a deep knowledge of Flame, nominate them now for the Flame Award!

http://area.autodesk.com/flameaward

More Master Classes by Lyne Lepage on AREA

Bill Ennis — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:37:03 UTC

As promised, more Flame Premium Master Classes are now available on AREA. Lyne Lepage, Visual Effects Artist and Colorist, joins us again to take you through a project from A-Z in Flame Premium.

With her latest installment titled Taking a Project from A to Z, Lyne dives into the Flame Premium toolset to help bring you up to speed on the 20th Anniversary Edition toolset and workflow. In three master classes, she covers the three main tasks the you can accomplish with the software – editing, visual effects, and grading.

Find Lyne's latest master classes here and log in to watch: http://area.autodesk.com/masterclasses

New Flame Premium MasterClass by Lyne Lepage!

Bill Ennis — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:39:20 UTC

I am pleased to share with you a new master class by Lyne Lepage, Visual Effects Artist and Colorist. In this master class titled Unified creative workflow in Flame Premium 20th Anniversary Edition, Lyne guides you through the creative process she used for the look development of a visual effects scene from beginning to end, and helps you understand Flame's story-centric creative workflow using Batch, the Desktop and the Timeline while exploring the interface.

Find Lyne's master class here: http://area.autodesk.com/masterclasses

Looking forward to your feedback and stay tuned for more master classes to come!

Autodesk Celebrates Game Day!

Bill Ennis — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:50:35 UTC

Image courtesy of The Mill

Clydesdales, space babies, and hotbots: these are just a few of the creative revelations we saw in commercials during this year’s big game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.

Each year, we like to celebrate the outstanding spots created by 3D & visual effects artists to entertain millions of sports fans. Below we’ve included a small sample of game day commercials that show the artistry and amazing work of Autodesk Flame, Maya, and Softimage artists. Congratulations to all the artists who worked on game day spots, and who continue to push the boundaries of 3D and VFX.

In this spot from The Mill, Budweiser shows us how the majestic Clydesdales grow up:

[video]http://youtu.be/o2prAccclXs[/video]

Also from The Mill, here we see the Rock on an early morning Milk run:

[video]http://youtu.be/lpOeHnotqDQ[/video]

In this spot from PSYOP, Beck's introduces us to Sapphire, a new way to enjoy beer...

[video]http://youtu.be/TJoiCP2Wnpw[/video]

In this Space Babies spot from KIA Sorento, by Method Studios, we see creativity at work answering the eternal question: "where do babies come from?"

[video]http://youtu.be/t535BjVmXq8[/video]

And also from Method Studios, this KIA Forte spot combines sexy robots and high tech to show off their latest car model:

[video]http://youtu.be/emhtp2prOxQ[/video]

Again, thank-you for sharing your work with us, and congratulations to all the artists who worked these and other spots for the big game. And for brands that don't compromise on quality - you make our viewing experience that much better!

P.S. We've also compiled a playlist of memorable past game day spots for your viewing pleasure.

Vico Sharabani Shares his Experiences on the Flame 20th Anniversary Edition

Bill Ennis — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:59:14 UTC

We are very pleased to welcome Flame artist and Right-Brain of The Artery VFX, Vico Sharabani, who has joined us as a guest editor. Vico is partnering with Autodesk to share his experiences as he adopts the 20th Anniversary Edition of Flame Premium: from first contact, to learning the new workflow, to use in full production. In his first blog post, Vico talks about what he is doing now. Stay tuned for more from Vico in blogs, webinars and at events.

My Journey with Flame

I am excited to share with you some of my experiences pertaining to being a new owner of Flame Premium, and an adopter of the 20th anniversary version. My posts will include my honest personal experiences and observations, and I hope you’ll find them valuable.

I am quoted in the Flame 20th anniversary video saying “You can say Flame is my longest relationship”. This relationship is not between an individual and a machine, it is a relationship with the global community surrounding Flame. A community packed with talent, generous with its knowledge, and one that inspired me to become better at my craft throughout the years. It’s been 18 years since I used Flame for the first time, and some of you may know me through different events and activities in the Flame community.

Flame has had a defining role in my work and career path. It continuously inspires me and I am committed to the product. Other than working on it every day, I develop tools and concepts, contribute to Beta cycles, and demonstrate the system around the world.

Over the years I have grown from being a Flame artist into creative direction, managerial positions, owning my own business, directing etc. I often compare my own versatile fields of interests to Flame’s ability to tackle cross-discipline challenges.

It’s the perfect tool, in perfect sync with my personality.

Years have passed since I first started using Flame, and the industry has changed dramatically. New market conditions call for a shift in thinking, and for a redesign in our business model.

While some managers struggle to find ways to transform existing businesses, I intentionally decided to focus on designing a company from the ground up to fit the new climate, as it was evident to me that a modern organization is more complex than a conventional business after trimming fat. After three years of testing and refining different business models, my partner Yfat Neev (EP/MD) and I launched The Artery VFX.

In just a few months since its inception, The Artery VFX has delivered large scale projects starring hi-profile talent. Luckily, we also connected with a company that shares our values, vision, and managerial structure: Harbor Picture Company. They built a 15,000sqf facility, and chose The Artery VFX to be a permanent resident in their beautiful space.

Flame Suite at The Artery VFX

Embracing Flame Premium and the 20th Anniversary Edition

In the past year, I had to re-evaluate my tool of choice for multiple reasons. With all the love and history described above, I must admit that when I saw the redesign of Flame 20th Anniversary......I ….GOT.....SCARED! No other way to put it. My initial reaction to the changes in Flame was a lot of resistance. I was afraid of changing my habits, of adopting a new workflow, and of reprograming my muscle memory.

And in addition to being an artist, I am a business owner building a new kind of company. This required me to consider all of the options available.

After analyzing the compositing software market and becoming more familiar with the 20th Anniversary Edition, I decided once again on Flame Premium as my tool of choice for creative finishing. It is still the main muscle behind delivering large projects, in short amounts of time.

In future posts I’ll go more deeply through some of the ways we’ve used Flame Premium in production.

What Lies Ahead

As I just mentioned, the decision to buy Flame Premium as our main station, was largely influenced by the 20th anniversary Flame. I believe Autodesk’s investment in a complete redesign and rewrite of the product opened up the future of the software – and laid the foundation for the next 10 years. That being said, it’s not a plug and play transition in any way! But the benefits of the new software architecture were evident on the first day we installed the software.

Getting footage in and out of Flame has been streamlined. You can start working immediately on footage and tedious exporting tasks have become simpler. The first job we tested the new software required exporting 250 shots as dpx sequences into individual directories (This is the standard way of delivering film work for DI). Can you imagine doing that on an older version…? It took 20 seconds to set up with the new export tools.

Being able to jump back and forth between the timeline view (desktop) and batch seamlessly makes work productive, eliminating any hesitation of switching between the different modules.

Editing tools have become much more intuitive, and they now function like what you would expect from an editing station.

And, Flame Premium proved to be even more valuable due to its newly integrated workflow with Smoke on Mac. It allowed us at The Artery VFX to expand rapidly, while taking on very large-scale projects.

[video]http://youtu.be/6X7tlntNqRI[/video]

Chris Noellert: Thoughts on the 20th Anniversary Edition

Bill Ennis — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:14:48 UTC

Chris Noellert, Creative Director and VFX Supervisor at CarbonVFX in Santa Monica and long-time beta customer for Flame, talked to us about all things Flame including his career, his favorite spots, and his experiences with the 20th Anniversary Edition.

CT: Hi Chris. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for our ‘Flame Can Do That!’ blog. We’re thrilled to have the chance to talk to you. While many people in the Flame community probably know your name, they may not know just how deep your Flame experience goes. So, let’s start there. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Chris: 19 years ago I started as an intern at Chimera Digital Imaging, a 3D/VFX boutique that had just opened in New Orleans. They had an Indigo Elan, an Indy, and a handful of Macintosh desktops and were trying to break in to what, at that point, was an industry in its infancy. It must have been either SIGGRAPH or NAB that year that the partners saw Flame and were convinced that it was the way forward for the company.

After that convention, the office was scattered with Discreet Logic marketing blitz -- spec sheets, copies of Logik magazine, testimonials -- everything that you could get your hands on regarding Flame and Flint. I read through everything, trying to suck up whatever glory there was to be had by being near such an amazing new product, even if it was just through press-kits and sales pieces.

The first time I actually saw Flame would have been when a reseller from Dallas installed our Indigo 2 Extreme-based Flint, complete with a DL4 disk array and Accom WSD. I sat off in the background watching them assemble the kit, curious about this magic box I had read so much about. It sure as hell didn't look like much, but, as was the general feeling back then, everything from SGI was exotic and cool and exciting, and a cut above the rest.

When they powered it up for the first time and opened Flint, I was immediately taken with the fact that there were no floating windows – that everything was locked down. More impressive was the speed at which the trainer whisked through the various menus, the Wacom pen moving at a pace I had never seen before. Showing off a simple warp setup in the warper, throwing some 3D text around in 3D Effects, playing SD video in real time (via the Accom): I was amazed. I had truly found my niche.

Since then I've lived in New York, London, Stockholm, and now LA. I've had the amazing good fortune to work with and for some of the most talented people in our industry. Apart from my duties as a Flame artist, I've built multi room, multi-scanner DI facilities at Nordisk Film, written and designed multi-user collaborative database driven back-ends for desktop compositors, driven every compositing package ever made, and opened my own visual effects boutique, Syndicate, together with the amazingly talented and sometimes controversial Bjorn Benkert – and all before the age of 30. Since returning to the states, I've had the pleasure of working with talented crews at shops like Public VFX and Mirada.

A couple months back I took the post of Creative Director and VFX Supervisor at the newly opened west coast office of CarbonVFX in Santa Monica, a sister company of Whitehouse Post. There, I just finished up the Microsoft Windows 8 launch campaign for 1st Avenue Machine and Crispin Porter.

I'm an avid photographer, husband, and father of three crazy but amazing children. Life has been kind.

CT: As you are a die-hard Flame artist, we are curious to hear your thoughts on the 20th Anniversary Edition workflow. What do you like the most?

Chris: The static connection between the different areas is fantastic now, especially for Flame users who got used to having to go into batch to access any of the timeline features including BatchFX. It's a whole new world opening up.

Since my kit of choice has been Flame Premium Timeline for the last couple years, the single thing that I was most excited about in the 20th Anniversary Edition was that I would be getting my reels back. Just the idea of being able to blend those two ideologies into a single cohesive workflow was such an exciting prospect. That being said, I still think we’re a little ways off from the perfect execution of that concept, but this first step at an "advanced system's grand-unification" is without a doubt a giant leap forward, and ultimately I believe it's the only way forward for the products.

CT: It’s a big change for experienced artists who know how to drive the Flame system with their eyes closed. How are you adapting? What is the biggest challenge for you?

Chris: Once I got the first beta of Flame Premium installed, I realized that alongside all of the malarkey of relearning the hotkeys, button positions and pulldown menu madness, I had to completely relearn how to work. Driving the machine blindfolded was obviously out of the question now but that concern paled in comparison to completely rethinking how to take a job from start to finish in the kit. Tasks on the reels that I had relearned in the timeline had to be re-considered. The revamped desktop and library structure were also huge game changers. How would that figure into my new workflow? How would I do breakouts? How will I version now? How will I organize? How the HELL do I export a quicktime movie? Everything was up for grabs.

However, with a bit of time on the kit the dust began to settle and throughout the arduous process of refining my workflow, my mantra slowly but surely became "Finally!" The core logic finally jelled between the different creative dichotomies--there is a method to the madness. Finally.

CT: We are continuing working on improving the product and listening to feedback. Even with the challenges you’re facing, you still sound optimistic about the 20th Anniversary Edition. Can you give us some examples of what you find exciting about the upcoming release?

Chris: I would say I'm cautiously hopeful and significantly more so after having seen a preview of Extension 2. I think this extension is about restoring the user’s faith by completing what started in the 20th Anniversary Edition. In essence, this release is the logical progression of what is currently shipping - with the emphasis on stability and refinement. If people were saying that the 20th Anniversary Edition was only half way there, then I would say Ext2 is going to take us to 90% of completion.

A few standout enhancements for me: the desktop improvements and fixes will make the Flame crowd draw a large breath and sigh of relief. Most, if not all, of the usability has returned, and much of the annoying GUI strangeness has been wiped away. Conforming and file handling seems to be improved a bit, and libraries appear to have made a comeback which will definitely make some people very happy. But as I said before, this release is really about stability, and the logical conclusion of things left incomplete or broken – as well as a fair amount of spit and polish.

CT: Thanks Chris. And now that we’ve talked about the latest release, with this year being the 20th anniversary of Flame, what are some of your favorite Flame projects from over the years?

Chris: Most of my own favorites have not just been "mine", but rather the product of "many's" hard work and dedication. In the Chimney days the best was probably Madonna's "Nothing Really Matters" where I was working with Bjorn Benkert on a Flint O2 and Cineon. That was a blast. Or "Erase and Rewind" for the Cardigans--lovely old promos for great songs with amazing directors. But, the one that sticks out most in my mind pre-millenium was a pair of adverts I did for Mats Stenberg for Sensel where we did all the effects & CG in 2k from Spirit scans, filmed-out and struck a print which we telecined for the final. The results were gorgeous.

At Syndicate I loved all the work we did for Renck--TGV, Audi, Tiger and the big standout for me being Kylie's "Love at First Sight" promo. I did a lot of work for Adam Berg, Fredrick Callinggard and Amir Chamdin which also really sticks out in my mind. We were making beautiful pictures most of the time--the commercial aspects came second.

Since being back in the states I loved being such a big part of the Lincoln films we did a couple years back at Public for Lance Accord--they were really something new and special both in look and process. It was fantastic seeing the full gamut of Flame's toolset being traversed on an hourly basis. It was amazing, and it really felt like a tip of the hat to the European visual sensibility. And at Mirada, I was lead flame on Jon Favreau's adverts for Wrigley's 5 Gum which is hand's down my favorite job in years--an absolutely amazing effort by many talented artists lead by Zach Tucker and the legendary John Fragomeni.

Regarding other people's work, there are too many amazing projects to name, but one will forever stick out in my mind. Bjork's "All is full of Love" has got to be one of the most artful uses of the kit that I have ever seen. Aside from the fact that Cunningham is a visual genius, all of the physical elements, 3D and 2D elements are so seamlessly blended into a symphony of visual awesomeness. The polish on everything is astounding. Pasi if you're reading this I will forever be jealous. It remains an amazing piece of work by you and your team, brother.

CT: Your Flame experience and artistry has taken you around the world: New Orleans, London, Stockholm, New York, and now LA. What would you say to someone thinking of getting into this business?

Chris: When I look back on my own career and consider how I got from where I started -- over the river and through the hills to LA in present day, I always jokingly say that I owe it to a mix of Apple Computers, one scoop of talent and a gallon of blind luck.

In New Orleans, Matt Hales and Matt Wisdom at Chimera took me in because I showed that scoop of talent, and because I just happened to be the right person at the right time. I also cold-called them every day for months until they caved. Once I was in a whole world opened up.

Hales and Wisdom mentored me in 2d and 3d respectively. I learned what I could of Alias and moved on to that fascinating green-powerhouse. COSA and Denim Software came out with cool new programs that ran on Macs called After Effects and Paint/Composite and I just drank it all up.

I think that in any industry one needs to take chances and jump off into the deep-end--sometimes at a moment’s notice. Our abilities aren't enough to get us recognized by our peers alone. We need to take risks, not with just with our craft but in most aspects of our lives. In retrospect, I could have gone to LA or to London immediately after New Orleans, but a series of events found me, ticket in hand, on my way to Stockholm to start at the Chimney Pot, under Flame god Mads Linden, and with Henric Larsson at the helm.

After New Orleans, moving to Stockholm was like sensory overload. Everything was different from the food to the music to the culture, and I just focused all of that into my work. If Chimera had taught me the framework, Mads taught me to be the artist I am--how to run the room, how to play the game, how to be fast--all that came from Mads. When he stepped aside I did my best to fill those shoes. Conversely, Henric showed me what it means to be a business man and a proprietor of the highest grade, something that would become invaluable in the coming years. When I left Chimney, I knew that I could do anything and go anywhere.

So, aspiring artist, you need talent and you need luck (neither of which you have control over) so hope for the best there. You equally need to be driven, possess an insatiable desire to learn, and most importantly, you need to be willing to trust your intuition and take chances--sometimes veering hopelessly off course. Once you're in, find a mentor and stick to them like glue or until they threaten bodily harm. Without Wisdom, Hales, Mads and Henric mentoring me, I would never have made it.

[video]http://vimeo.com/5733523[/video]

Announcing Extension 2 for Autodesk Flame Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Edition

Bill Ennis — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 11:00:11 UTC

Extension 2 for Autodesk Flame and Autodesk Flame Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Editions are now available for download by Autodesk Subscription customers!

Extension 2 continues the evolution of the 20th Anniversary Edition and is the next step toward making the new workflow the best ever. With performance optimizations and feature enhancements that are based on customer feedback, Extension 2 further refines the 20th Anniversary Edition workflow. Autodesk is also pleased to announce support for the Apple® Quicktime ProRes format (for Flame and Flame Premium).

Extension 2 is available for download by Autodesk Subscription customers for the following software:

Autodesk^® Flame^® Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Edition software
Autodesk^® Flame^® 2013 20th Anniversary Edition software
Autodesk^® Flare™ 2013 software
Autodesk^® Smoke^® Advanced 2013 software
Autodesk^® Lustre^® 2013 software
Autodesk^® Inferno^® 2013 software
Autodesk^® Flint^® 2013 software
Autodesk^® Smoke^® 2013 software (Linux® operating system)
Autodesk^® Backdraft^® Conform 2013 software

Autodesk^® Subscription customers are recieving an email with instructions on how to download the software.

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 4 of 4

Bill Ennis — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 10:11:53 UTC

For the final installment of sneak peaks into Extension 2 for the 20th Anniversary Edition, Product Designer Fred Warren shows you some more customer requested enhancements - this time in the Media Library.

Frederic Warren
Flame Premium Product Designer

Fred shares a few workflow improvements that the development and design team have made in response to your feedback. In this sneak peak, Fred shows you how to protect your media in the media library and improve performance by managing unused libraries.

[video]http://youtu.be/XFjvex83VGg[/video]

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 3 of 4

Bill Ennis — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:43:18 UTC

With Extension 2 for the 20th Anniversary of Flame Premium days away, Product Designer Julien Didierjean shows you some more customer requested enhancements to the Flame desktop.

Julien Didiejean
Flame Premium Product Designer

Check out his video:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR4bJy57zr4[/video]

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 2 of 4

Bill Ennis — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:17:40 UTC

Continuing my search for what's coming in Extension 2, I checked in with Product Designer Francis Bouillon. He took a few minutes to show you some customer-requested enhancements to the Snapshot workflow.

Francis Bouillon
Flame Premium Product Designer

Besides working on product design of Flame Premium, Francis enjoys doing a little damage to his titles. Take a look at his sneak peak of what's coming in the extension for 20th Anniversary Edition of Flame Premium.

[video]http://youtu.be/X6FyNM08B-Y[/video]

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 1 of 4

Bill Ennis — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:13:35 UTC

Extension 2 for the 20th Anniversary of Flame Premium is just around the corner. So I went in search of what's in store for this release. And who better to talk about it than our own Flame Premium Product Design team? Product Designer Stephane Labrie was the first to take the leap.

Stephane Labrie
Flame Premium Product Designer

Temporarily stepping out of his usual role as Product Designer, Stephane gives you a quick sneak peak at what you can do with projects from Final Cut Pro using XML and RED RAW metadata in Extension 2.

[video]http://youtu.be/zzFluxAoEik[/video]

Watch for more sneak peaks. Tomorrow, Francis Bouillon talks Snapshot!

Philippe Soeiro Talks About the Flame Premium 20th Anniversary Edition

Bill Ennis — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:00:11 UTC

Today, Autodesk released Flame Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Edition for customers with Subscription. In honour of that occasion, here is a video we recorded at IBC that features Philippe Soeiro giving his perspective on the redesigned workflow, the contributions of beta customers, and Autodesk's commitment to Flame.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOX2LoNH3sg&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Flame Premium Can Do That is back!

Bill Ennis — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:20:39 UTC

Hi everyone! There’s been a bit of a hiatus from posting to Flame Premium Can Do That, so we thought it the perfect time to give you a general update. First, a couple new contributors (including me) are joining Bill on the Flame Premium Can Do That blog team. We'll bring you the latest news, tips, inside scoop and general bloggy stuff. We are:

Caitlin Troughton (that’s me), product marketing for all things Flame…and team whip
Will Harris, technical specialist and general demo artist extraordinaire
And Bill Ennis, famous Flame demo guy from the mother ship

Now to the news. As you probably already heard, it’s the 20th anniversary of Flame, and a new Flame release is due out this fall!

Images courtesy of Che Revolution Post

It’s a major redesign with very tightly integrated visual effects and editing capabilities and takes a big leap forward in workflow. So, to help you get up and going faster, Will Harris takes….

A Closer Look at the Flame Premium 2013 20^th Anniversary Edition

At IBC Autodesk announced the subscription release of the new Flame and Flame Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Edition that’s coming out later this fall.

In an on-demand webcast, Will takes an in-depth look at the newly redesigned creative environment that tightly integrates visual effects and editing capabilities in Flame. See Will’s take on the powerful new relationship between the Flame desktop, timeline, & batch compositing environment, and learn more about the new drag and drop clip management, optimized conforming, the real-time color grading workflow, and the ACES color management system. This is definitely worth a watch!

And finally, if you’re on facebook, come join us on our new Flame facebook community site: www.facebook.com/autodeskflame

NAB 2011 Flame Premium "Total Control in Finishing"

Bill Ennis — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:00:00 UTC

Hello Flame Premium World!

With the convergence of Grading, Finishing and Creative Tools in Flame Premium 2012, and the fact that Finishing Artists now have access to more 3D data deeper into the post production process, Flame Premium allows for more sophisticated Look Development by taking Total Control over Light and Atmosphere in 3D space.

Highlights in this presentation include:

• The ‘Relighting package’ of tools such as Volumetric Light Rays, Lens Flares and 3D Cast Shadows - integrated directly into Action’s 3D Compositing Environment
• The re-imagined Gmask core compositing tool with planar Shape Tracking in Action
• Matte containers within Multi-Layer Timelines shared between Grading, VFX and Timeline
• The redesigned ‘Analyzer’ Camera tracking system - which works for both mono and stereoscopic scenes
• Powerful ways of working with Multi-Channel OpenEXR sources and FBX geometries

In Flame Premium, Total Control in Finishing means Flame Artists now have Real-Time Color Grading as part of their toolset. For Colorists, it’s all about having control over Light in 3D Space. And for Smoke Editors, you get all of the creative tools of Flame you’ve always wanted but with the Timeline workflow you know and love.

I hope you enjoy the presentation,

Bill

Part1

Part 2

Flame in a whole new light: Introducing Flame Premium 2012

Bill Ennis — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:00:00 UTC

Flame in a whole new light: Introducing Flame Premium

Today Autodesk is announcing the 2012 versions of its Digital Entertainment Creation products. This includes new 2012 versions of Creative Finishing products Flame Premium, Flame, Flare, Smoke, Lustre and Flint. While each product has plenty of new features and creative capabilities, possibly the most exciting new tools are in Flame Premium 2012 centered on the creative concept of relighting.

Relighting in Flame Premium 2012 describes a broad set of creative tools and workflows that give artists the ability to control the fundamental interaction of light and color in their scenes. With the ability to combine practical production footage with real world 3D data captured on location or created in post, artists can manipulate images using creative tools that respect the 3D nature of the composite. Relighting in Flame Premium 2012 gives artists total control over the final look of a scene without impacting the interactive finishing experience Flame is known for.

The Beginning

When Flame Premium was introduced in late 2010, it brought the worlds of 3D visual effects and real-time grading together as a single offering and gave artists the flexibility to take on any creative challenge in terms of grading, visual effects, or finishing. With digital acquisition formats making raw image data available at any stage of post, Flame Premium gave artists the tools they needed to combine real-time grading with the visual effects tools they already depended on to deliver stunning results and offer more creative services to their customers. For colorists, Flame Premium brought the full Flame creative and technical toolset into traditional grading environments. It allowed these artists to take their projects beyond grading with powerful creative and technical visual effects tools. So, when a particular shot required more than grading, artists could easily move into Flame and manipulate the imagery as needed. In just a few short months, Flame Premium has quickly become a popular choice for facilities that want to offer a broader range of services and give their artists access to end-to-end finishing tools.

Flame Premium 2012: Next Generation Creative 3D Finishing

Today relighting in Flame Premium represents the next step in the evolution of creative 3D finishing. Relighting takes advantage of the inherent 3D nature of the Flame toolset and introduces the principle that lights reacting with objects and cameras in 3D space should be fundamental tools for look development – just like in the real world. As 3D becomes ubiquitous at all stages of production - from multi-pass renders in CG pipelines to 3D data acquired on-set such using techniques such as motion capture, Lidar scanning or environment mapping – finishing artists require tools that let them access 3D data deeper into post. Relighting in Flame Premium 2012 allows artists to take advantage of the 3D data generated before finishing, giving artists more control during finishing.

Color, Light and 3D Space

Throughout Flame Premium 2012, there are examples of cutting edge 3D technology to deliver amazing creative capabilities. Action (Flame’s 3D compositing environment) features a brand new lighting system with new light types that have unique properties. Lights cast shadows and generate lighting effects in true 3D space - ranging from highly stylized to ultra realistic – all without impacting interactivity. By simply positioning lights in a composite, shadows, volumetric rays, lens flares and occlusion effects are generated automatically. The result is a fun and interactive way to create dramatic looks using only lighting tools. And it works in Stereo3D as well.

When working with CG assets in Flame Premium 2012, artists will find new options for working with multi-channel CG render pass image data and FBX metadata.

Furthermore, the 3D tracking system has been redesigned to offer a more flexible workflow and now supports both mono- and stereoscopic clip analysis. A new Gmask tool has been introduced directly inside of Action – allowing selective 3D masking within composites. In Batch, the new Gateway clip workflow makes it easier than ever to build a finishing pipeline for CG-intensive finishing that can be customized to facility or project needs allowing artists to have the most up-to-date renders and versions at their fingertips without manually reconnecting complex schematics.

Image courtesy McRAY Corporation

3D Grading

Colorists will find that relighting in Flame Premium 2012 can be the first step in taking their traditional grading workflow into the 3rd dimension. Instead of using masks and shapes to simulate lighting effects, relighting tools in Flame Premium lets them use real 3D shadows and lighting to set the mood of a scene. These new tools work in both mono- and stereoscopic workflows reducing the complexity and headache of creating looks and effects when grading stereo3D projects. It’s also easier than ever to work with mattes created in Action when using real-time grading tools. This means colorists have access to some of the best tracking and masking tools in the industry for color isolation when grading. The combination of real-time grading, visual effects and new relighting capabilities in Flame Premium 2012 make for a powerful next-generation finishing solution that goes beyond the capabilities of dedicated color correction software.

See For Yourself

You really have to see the 2012 release for yourself, so be sure to visit the Flame Premium page on Autodesk.com. There you’ll find product details and over an hour of new feature videos. If you already own a Creative Finishing product such as Flint, Smoke Advanced or Lustre, you’ll find detailed information on the benefits of crossgrading to Flame Premium.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about the new version of Flame Premium leading up to NAB 2011 in April. If you aren’t able to attend NAB in person, Autodesk puts its entire show online. Check out area.autodesk.com/NAB2011 for details.

Finally, check out the video below for a sampling of some of the new relighting tools in Action. This video just scratches the surface of what’s possible in Flame Premium 2012, so be sure to visit the product page to find out more.

Flame Premium - "Something for Everyone"

Bill Ennis — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:00:00 UTC

Flame (Premium) Can Do That

I’m happy to present a series of videos talking about Flame Premium aimed at current Flame and Smoke Advanced artists. I call this series “Something for Everyone” because if you’re thinking about cross-grading to Flame Premium – or just want to know more about how it works, you gotta check these out. I worked with my old friend Marc Hamaker to put the videos together with the goal of introducing the benefits of Flame Premium in familiar terms.

If you’re not familiar with Flame Premium - it combines Flame, Smoke Advanced and Lustre as a single license on one workstation. The idea is to combine the power of Flame for 3D visual effects with Lustre for real-time color grading. With Flame Premium, artists have access to our best finishing tools in the suite and can work with color at any point in the process while efficiently sharing media.

For both Flame and Smoke Advanced artists, Flame Premium is a great way to take your creativity to the next level with access to end-to-end finishing tools on a single system. Most significantly, Flame Premium lets you add real-time color grading skills to your creative offerings. Let’s face it – Flame and Smoke Advanced artists represent the best-of-the-best, and tools for real-time grading are a natural fit. I know a lot of Flame artists that already use color correction as part of their compositing process. Having the flame tools you already depend on and real-time color grading can give you total control over finishing.

For Smoke Advanced artists, we like to say that Flame Premium gives you the tools you’ve always wanted in the timeline you already know. This is because a lot of Smoke Advanced artists are surprised to learn that Flame Premium unlocks the full Flame Batch and Action creative toolset in the timeline workflow they are already using. For editors, moving to Flame Premium gives them more Flame tools and real-time color grading – all on the same system.

Bottom line: Flame Premium gives you more options and more creative choices when working on projects in session. You can use it to take on grading projects – or as part of the VFX and compositing you’re already doing. As you’ll see in the videos below, real-time grading can change the way you use color by eliminating the need to render every time you make a change to color.

So check out the videos below. Whether you’re a Flame, Smoke or Lustre artist today, you should find something that appeals to you and the way you work. For even more on Flame Premium, be sure to check out:

www.autodesk.com/flamepremium

Have a great holiday season, and I’ll be back next year!

Bill

* Videos look best if viewed in Fullscreen 720 or 1080 HD

First of four videos about Autodesk Flame Premium 2011. This video introduces Flame Premium and speaks directly to Autodesk Smoke Advanced and Flame artists about the benefits of the timeline workflow within Flame Premium.

This video focuses on visual effects workflow using the Flame creative tools within Flame Premium. Examples include timeline compositing and 3D visual effects integration with elements from Autodesk Maya.

This video focuses on creative 3D finishing in Flame Premium and preparing VFX elements for use in color grading.

This video focuses on the real-time color grading capabilities of Flame Premium and how Flame Premium gives artists total control of finishing in post.

Flame - Looking back at the "Lost Demos"

Bill Ennis — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:00:00 UTC

Hello Flame World!

Trade shows play a huge role in the life of a Technical Specialist at Autodesk. It's our chance to reunite our global team, create new content and demonstrate the new releases of the software to customers face to face. It's also an opportunity to connect with the Product Design team in Montreal at what we call "Boot Camp". Like the name implies, it's a very intense and ambitious exercise but one that propels us into the show and gives us the product knowledge and energy that we take back to our various regions.

Looking back over the last 3 releases of Flame it amazes me to see how much the product continues to evolve and improve. I thought it would be fun to share with you 3 of what I call the "lost demos" from IBC 2009, NAB 2010, and IBC 2010. In these demos you will see different features but in the context of solving real world client problems.

A big thank you to everyone at The Mill in London, New York and Los Angeles (as well as Inertia and McRay) for allowing us to use their footage at these trade shows!

Enjoy,

Bill

Here is the demo from IBC 2009 of Flame V2010 EXT 1:

PT 1

PT 2

Here is the demo from NAB 2010 of Flame V2011:

PT 2

www.youtube.com/v/BkE7SFEp8Tg

Here is the demo from IBC 2010 Flame V2011 EXT 1:

area.autodesk.com/ibc/movie35

IBC 2010 - The Making of Redrum's "Carousel" for Philips

Bill Ennis — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:00:00 UTC

Hello Flame World!

Get a "Behind the Scenes" look into the making of the award winning "Carousel" by Richard Lyons from Redrum in Stockholm, Sweden. See why Flame was so important in the execution of this highly complex project that was produced for Philips Television and directed by Adam Berg. Richard takes us through the concept, scouting the location, pre-visualization, production and finally the post-production challenges of probably one of the most interesting projects we've ever presented at IBC.

See my interview with Richard Lyons:

area.autodesk.com/ibc2010/movie21

And the Guest Demo Presentation here:

http://area.autodesk.com/ibc2010/movie23

All the best,

Bill Ennis

Taking Familiar Tools into a New Dimension

Bill Ennis — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:00:00 UTC

Hello Flame World!

All of the 2011 releases of Autodesk products feature stereoscopic tools and my good friend Marc Hamaker had a chance to sit down with some of our best clients to discuss how artists, especially Flame artists, are preparing to meet the challenge of Stereoscopic Finishing. Take a look at Marc's guest blog post and be sure to watch the you tube video he links to at the end.

thanks,

Bill

As Senior Product Marketing Manager for Creative Finishing here at Autodesk, I recently had the opportunity to sit down with some of our customers to talk about the emergence of stereoscopic 3D (S3D) in all facets of post production. While feature length S3D films like Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon are obvious successes in movie theaters, I was curious to see how S3D was impacting Flame and Smoke customers in the commercial post and broadcast market. I’m excited to see S3D content is quickly picking up the pace, and in the second half of 2010 we'll continue to see more and more television and broadcast outlets adding S3D programming. Though viewers love the feeling of S3D - it’s adding a whole new dimension to the way they are experiencing and demanding entertainment, literally - it does create new challenges for artists, designers and content creators at all levels of production.

S3D and broadcast
HD infrastructure already in place has made it relatively easy for broadcasters to deliver S3D programming to the home, and this is putting pressure on production houses working to bring this technology into their workflow as they deliver show and promo content for the small screen. David Klinkowize, Designer/Editor from The Creative Group in New York City, upon hearing that one of his biggest clients was launching an S3D channel, said, “Ok, this is happening. We’re going to be creating S3D content, in the very near future, and how are we going to do that?”

Uncharted territory – familiar workflows
Branching out into any new creative direction can be nerve-racking, but in the case of stereoscopic 3D, the people who have ventured out are really walking into uncharted territory. The thought of taking on that first stereoscopic 3D project can be daunting, but it’s becoming a reality that we may all have to face soon. Artists must learn new skills and take on a new thought process for S3D projects. When moving into S3D, there are a lot of things to consider. However, with Autodesk solutions, your pipeline can remain virtually unchanged as Autodesk tools like Flame or Smoke make moving into S3D almost as easy as a single button click. As Scott Malkie, Post-Production Supervisor and Flame artist for The Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia, explains, “There isn’t a new workflow for stereo; there isn’t anything different you have to do to make it stereo. You basically tell [Flame or Smoke], 'this clip is stereo,' and all your soft effects, all your batch effects, all your action set ups, everything just works. It’s a very quick and easy transition from working in mono to working in stereo.”

While delivering whole stereoscopic project might not be that simple, making the move to S3D as easy and flexible as possible was paramount to our goals for the 2011 releases of Autodesk’s Creative Finishing software. 3D technology is at the core of all of Autodesk’s software offerings, and S3D is simply the next logical step in a creative workflow where artist are already used to working in a true 3D compositing environment. In the relentless world of high-end finishing, artists have to learn quickly - often trying new tools and workflows only when that first S3D job comes into their suite - so asking them to learn a whole new toolset for stereoscopic work would be overkill. Our 2011 line of Creative Finishing tools provides an out-of-the box solution for editing, viewing and compositing Stereoscopic 3D content that integrates S3D into your existing creative workflow to ease the transition from 2D to 3D delivery. “It’s a big bonus for us. We aren’t having to learn a complete system from scratch again," says Jonathan Hancock, Flame artist at UK broadcaster B Sky B. For artists already familiar with Flame’s 3D compositing toolset, the new stereoscopic 3D finishing tools in Flame and Smoke simply builds on the existing creative and technical workflows that they are already depend on.

“Yes, I can do that!”
We sometimes like to say that being a Flame or Smoke artist means never being able to say “no” - even to your clients' most outrageous requests - so we understand that it is important for to be able to adapt quickly and easily to new technology in order to be successful. We hope that the 2011 releases deliver a stereoscopic 3D workflow that anticipates the needs of artists working in real-world sessions. Dale Boyce, Senior Editor/Compositor at The Creative Group in New York City said, “It’s nice to have the tools arrive having already thought through some of the problems you were wondering how you were going to face.”

So with that, I leave you with this video on Stereoscopic 3D for television featuring Autodesk customers from around the globe sharing their thoughts on S3D as they pioneering this new workflow in broadcast and commercial post.

-marc hamaker

Flame Premium can do that

The Vanity: Uncompromising creativity on a deadline

The Flame Award - Nominate your Favorite Flame Artists!

More Master Classes by Lyne Lepage on AREA

New Flame Premium MasterClass by Lyne Lepage!

Autodesk Celebrates Game Day!

In this spot from The Mill, Budweiser shows us how the majestic Clydesdales grow up:

Also from The Mill, here we see the Rock on an early morning Milk run:

In this Space Babies spot from KIA Sorento, by Method Studios, we see creativity at work answering the eternal question: "where do babies come from?"

And also from Method Studios, this KIA Forte spot combines sexy robots and high tech to show off their latest car model:

Vico Sharabani Shares his Experiences on the Flame 20th Anniversary Edition

My Journey with Flame

Embracing Flame Premium and the 20th Anniversary Edition

What Lies Ahead

Chris Noellert: Thoughts on the 20th Anniversary Edition

Chris Noellert, Creative Director and VFX Supervisor at CarbonVFX in Santa Monica and long-time beta customer for Flame, talked to us about all things Flame including his career, his favorite spots, and his experiences with the 20th Anniversary Edition.

Announcing Extension 2 for Autodesk Flame Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Edition

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 4 of 4

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 3 of 4

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 2 of 4

Flame Premium Extension 2 Sneak Peak: Part 1 of 4

Philippe Soeiro Talks About the Flame Premium 20th Anniversary Edition

Flame Premium Can Do That is back!

A Closer Look at the Flame Premium 2013 20th Anniversary Edition

NAB 2011 Flame Premium "Total Control in Finishing"

Hello Flame Premium World!

Highlights in this presentation include:

I hope you enjoy the presentation,

Bill

Flame in a whole new light: Introducing Flame Premium 2012

Flame in a whole new light: Introducing Flame Premium

The Beginning

Flame Premium 2012: Next Generation Creative 3D Finishing

Color, Light and 3D Space

3D Grading

See For Yourself

Flame Premium - "Something for Everyone"

Flame (Premium) Can Do That

Flame - Looking back at the "Lost Demos"

IBC 2010 - The Making of Redrum's "Carousel" for Philips

Hello Flame World!

See my interview with Richard Lyons:

Bill Ennis

Taking Familiar Tools into a New Dimension

Hello Flame World!

A Closer Look at the Flame Premium 2013 20^th Anniversary Edition