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Nothing
Real Ships Shake 2.1
LOS ANGELES -- Nothing Real, a leading high-end compositing
software provider to the digital image creation market, is now
shipping Version 2.1 of its Shake product line. The latest release
provides substantial feature enhancements to include new keying
technology, spline-based garbage mattes, per-operator masking,
on-screen manipulators and unlimited undo/redo, along with improved
control functions for greater ease-of-use. These enhancements
provide further capabilities for digital creatives in feature
film, broadcast, high-definition video and game development
to more interactively and powerfully bring sophisticated composites
to completion. For the next year, Version 2.1 software customers
will receive Photron's Primatte S-100 chromakey and compositing
plug-in at no additional charge. Shake 2.1 is available on the
Windows NT and IRIX platforms.
Version 2.2, tentatively scheduled for release later this year,
will feature a timeline-based compositing workspace, multiprocessing,
and new tracking tools.
Beta Site Enthusiasm for Shake 2.1
Los Angeles-based Digital FilmWorks is a full-service visual
effects facility specializing in film scanning and recording
for feature films. The company has used various versions of
Shake and is now participating in Nothing Real's Version 2.1
beta program. "Shake version 1.0 gave us the speed. Version
2.0 gave us the graphic user interface. Version 2.1 has given
us the features," said Marco Paolini, Digital FilmWorks
senior graphic artist and head beta tester for Shake version
2.1. "When you combine Shake 2.1's speed, quality and affordability,
there is no comparison. The new feature set has made an already
easy-to-use program even easier and more enjoyable to use. We
have already started using Version 2.1 on our next feature project.
At the rate it's going, Shake will be the future of film compositing."
"The availability of Version 2.1 represents the next generation
in the Shake software product line to provide users with outstanding
power and a big step forward in interactivity," said Allen
Edwards, president of Nothing Real. "We are enthusiastic
that our growing base of customers can really 'wrap their hands'
around the product to more easily meet the growing compositing
challenges present in today's complex digital entertainment
marketplace."
Shake Version 2.1 Highlights Shake 2.1 includes a number of
key new features that are designed to increase the capability
and productivity of digital compositing artists. Features include:
- Spline-based
Shape Generator: Nothing Real provides users with a general
tool for creating shapes and animating their characteristics
over time, which can be used for quick garbage matte generation.
- Masking
Capabilities for Every Operator: Shake now allows the user
to add a mask to any node in the compositing tree, providing
a quick method to limit the effects of any image processing
operation.
- Auto-Keyframing:
With the addition of auto-keyframing, workflow is improved
since animation parameters can be modified over time without
the need to interact directly with the curve editor.
- Defocus:
This operator is designed to better mimic the optical effect
that occurs when the lens viewing a particular scene is thrown
out of focus. This includes support for highlight blooming
and control over the shape of the virtual camera's aperture.
- Z-depth
Blurring: This feature allows the user to blur an image based
on its Z-channel, and includes control over the focus position
and the range of focus.
- Software
Developers Toolkit: Nothing Real provides extensive support
allowing users and third-party developers to extend Shake's
functionality even further.
- On-Screen
Manipulators for Image Transformations: Shake takes users
a step beyond traditional on-screen manipulators allowing
them to directly manipulate layers no matter what stage of
the composite is being viewed. The manipulators are translated
in the same fashion as the image itself, providing a more
intuitive method for working with multiple transformation
hierarchies.
- Ease-of-use
Enhancements: The Shake 2.1 package also sports a number of
ease-of-use enhancements to include cut and paste, as well
as changes to the node viewer and the curve editor.
- Primate
Plug-in: Primatte(tm), a new third-party plug-in from Photron
USA, will be bundled with Shake 2.1. The powerful Primatte
keyer has been seamlessly integrated into Version 2.1 and
can be placed anywhere within the compositing hierarchy. It
provides ultra-precision matte-control for bluescreen/greenscreen
compositing and is also a tool for matte creation, spill suppression,
or image combination. The plug-in is valued at $2500 and will
be sold to customers at no additional cost.
According
to Nothing Real's Ron Brinkmann: "In addition to all of the
feature enhancements and new operators that are included with
Shake 2.1, an extensive number of ease-of-use requests from
the customer base have also been implemented. The result is
a product that is not only more powerful, but significantly
more interactive."
Pricing and Availability
Shake version 2.1 is currently available directly from Nothing
Real through the internet. The software is priced at $9,900.
Additional render-only network licenses are available at $3,900.
About
Shake
Shake is Nothing Real's award-winning compositing software product
line. Shake is a general-purpose image manipulation toolset
that provides users with a low-cost, high performance compositing
solution without the need for specialized hardware. Shake is
the fastest, most memory-efficient 2D image processing tool
for handling the heavy demands of film and high definition effects
that is currently available from any vendor. It features a graphic
user interface that emphasizes intuitive "process-tree" control
features for the most complex image manipulation tasks. This
interface, in combination with its speed and quality, enables
creatives in film, broadcast, interactive games and multimedia
a powerful and interactive tool to quickly manipulate high resolution
images in conjunction with the creation of composites, effects
and animations. It is available on both the Windows NT and IRIX
platforms.
Shake is currently being used by leading entertainment companies
worldwide including Cinesite LA, Click 3X Los Angeles, Digital
FilmWorks, DKP, Dream Quest Images, DreamWorks SKG, Gray Matter,
Manex Visual Effects, Mikros Image, and many, many others. It
has been used to meet the compositing needs in films such as
"Inspector Gadget," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Matrix,"
"Pleasantville," "Prince of Egypt," "Star Trek IX," "Titanic,"
"What Dreams May Come," as well as in the upcoming films "Fight
Club," "Anna and the King," "Mission to Mars," and "Bicentennial
Man."
About Nothing Real
Nothing Real L.L.C, established in October 1996 by Allen
Edwards and Arnaud Hervas, is a high-end software provider of
high performance imaging tools. The company offers products
for the digital image creation market that enable entertainment
creatives the ability to easily and quickly create and manipulate
high resolution images. The company's open system software is
used primarily for feature film, broadcast and interactive game
applications. Approximately one-third of the company's sales
are overseas in the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. Nothing
Real is headquartered in Los Angeles.
Additional information on Nothing Real is available on the Internet
at www.nothingreal.com
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